Random Music CXXVI: The Woy Eet Eez

[cobl04]

That Big Thief album, which I put on my to do list after gump's mention, just got the highest Pitchfork score (9.3) in four-and-a-half years. You have to go back to D'Angelo in late 2014 to find a higher score, 9.4, although within the space of five months in 2015 there were four other 9.3s - Currents, In Colour, Carrie & Lowell and To Pimp a Butterfly. (Then, strangely, those albums rated #5, #2, #6 and #1 respectively for 2015, and Black Messiah came in at #7. Art Angels and Summertime 06 both forced their way into the #3 and #4, despite rating lower in their reviews.) The only other album to come close since D'Angelo is DAMN, with a 9.2.

 

[LemonMelon]

It's nowhere near the best album to come out in the last four-ish years, but it's pretty damn good.

 

[lazarus]

That Big Thief album, which I put on my to do list after gump's mention, just got the highest Pitchfork score (9.3) in four-and-a-half years. You have to go back to D'Angelo in late 2014 to find a higher score, 9.4, although within the space of five months in 2015 there were four other 9.3s - Currents, In Colour, Carrie & Lowell and To Pimp a Butterfly. (Then, strangely, those albums rated #5, #2, #6 and #1 respectively for 2015, and Black Messiah came in at #7. Art Angels and Summertime 06 both forced their way into the #3 and #4, despite rating lower in their reviews.) The only other album to come close since D'Angelo is DAMN, with a 9.2.

They gave the Big Thief a 9.2, not 9.3

Friggin' Cobbler.

 

[cobl04]

Literally, DAMN.

 

[bono_212]

Cobbler, I trusted you. How could you?

 

[mikal]

That Big Thief album, which I put on my to do list after gump's mention, just got the highest Pitchfork score (9.3) in four-and-a-half years. You have to go back to D'Angelo in late 2014 to find a higher score, 9.4, although within the space of five months in 2015 there were four other 9.3s - Currents, In Colour, Carrie & Lowell and To Pimp a Butterfly. (Then, strangely, those albums rated #5, #2, #6 and #1 respectively for 2015, and Black Messiah came in at #7. Art Angels and Summertime 06 both forced their way into the #3 and #4, despite rating lower in their reviews.) The only other album to come close since D'Angelo is DAMN, with a 9.2.

3 songs in and not really inspired to listen any further. Not that it’s bad, but for an album scored that high, I was expecting something more than that.

 

[lazarus]

Madonna just announced her next tour this morning, looks like it's going to be major cities only at this point.

She's starting with smaller venue residencies in the Big 3, including 5 nights at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. She's doing something interesting with the ticket sales which I suspect is to cut down on internet traffic as well as scalpers: you choose the date and section you want, plus any presale group password you may have (or just go for the general sale), enter your CC information, and then they're just going to text you within a couple weeks to let you know if you got tickets or not.

If you're really dead-set on going to a show, I realize this method could be frustrating, but for me, who's casually interested, it's worth a shot in the dark. Tickets range from $2000 for the GA pit in front of the stage, to $53 for the cheapest seats in the balcony.

 

[gump]

It's nowhere near the best album to come out in the last four-ish years, but it's pretty damn good.

I love their music, and I fully agree with LM.

 

[prbiker15]

Madonna just announced her next tour this morning, looks like it's going to be major cities only at this point.

She's starting with smaller venue residencies in the Big 3, including 5 nights at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. She's doing something interesting with the ticket sales which I suspect is to cut down on internet traffic as well as scalpers: you choose the date and section you want, plus any presale group password you may have (or just go for the general sale), enter your CC information, and then they're just going to text you within a couple weeks to let you know if you got tickets or not.

If you're really dead-set on going to a show, I realize this method could be frustrating, but for me, who's casually interested, it's worth a shot in the dark. Tickets range from $2000 for the GA pit in front of the stage, to $53 for the cheapest seats in the balcony.

I’ll give the ticket requests a shot when they announce the Miami dates. After 30+ years of arenas and stadiums, she was already teasing that she wanted to change things up.

Glad I got to see her in an arena on the last tour, but these theater shows should be very interesting.

 

[lazarus]

Despite being a fan since the mid-80s, I was only able to see her once, approx 10 years ago on her Sticky and Sweet tour, at Dodger Stadium. While I would have preferred to see Blonde Ambition or Drowned World, it was still a hell of a show. Very inventive visuals, diverse setlist with picks spanning her whole career, and guest appearances from both Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (the benefits of an LA show!).

If I can see her in a smaller venue for $75 or less, I’m sure it will be well worth it regardless of how good the new material is (I think the lead single is pretty weak). I don’t think she’s capable of putting on a bad show, or wouldn’t tour anymore if she knew she couldn’t deliver.

 

[corianderstem]

I've only seen her once on the MDMA tour (I think that was the one?), and I was a little meh about it - I wish I'd liked that album more. Glad to have seen her, but would definitely see her again if I had the chance.

 

[iron yuppie]

There's a new Hot Chip song out there and it's awesome.

 

[lazarus]

I've only seen her once on the MDMA tour (I think that was the one?), and I was a little meh about it - I wish I'd liked that album more. Glad to have seen her, but would definitely see her again if I had the chance.

Yeah, that's probably her weakest album so no surprise there.

 

[Axver]

Gee I missed some drama here.

I just want to say that I really don't get the big deal about Mikal posting about Biffy Clyro. Like, sure, I'm not crazy on the band, but they're perfectly fine, and the guy's enthusiasm has made me spin some tunes I might have otherwise forgotten about, and enjoyed being reminded of. Sometimes this place turns into Random Cure Talk (which I love) or Random Prince Talk (which bores me shitless), and Mikal posting every now and then about Biffy Clyro is neither a big deal nor out of character for the thread's general twists and turns. I don't know why some of you care so damn much or play thread content cop. The nature of the thread is that some posts will be interesting and some won't be, no matter your taste, because at least for the present we still have enough regulars to possess a measure of diversity.

Anyway, I guess we've moved on now but I wanted to say my piece.

A miscellany of other current music thoughts:

Never going to listen to that Big Thief album no matter how good a score it gets. Their debut was excruciatingly boring and then I had to sit through them opening for Warpaint and almost fell asleep.

New Little May album has some really good tunes. It's not as great as their debut album - I wondered how much Annie's departure would affect their songwriting, and it seems some of the airiness I really liked on the debut is gone. But there are still plenty of memorable moments: I'm particularly enjoying "Girl" and "Apples".

In a year that has had little to really make me sit up and notice so far, Westkust remains my clear leader for best album. Health and The End of the Ocean would probably then come second and third. Neøv, Rose of the West, Little May, Helms Alee, La Dispute all good, though the full La Dispute album isn't as arresting as lead single "Fulton Street I" made me hope it would be.

And to boost a good new Aussie band, Sweater Curse have put out a very good EP. I saw them at a festival in early March where they squeezed the whole thing into a very short time slot. Great fun.

 

[Salome]

I agree so much with everything you said up and until your Big Thief comment (though, like Mikal, I did check it out but gave up on finding nothing beyond 'decent' after 4 tracks) that I shall check out that Westkust album.

 

[lazarus]

So I was reading the Pitchfork article on “Joni Mitchell’s career in 33 songs” or whatever (it’s worth a look) and it led me to busting out some of her CDs to listen to in the car today. It dawned on me that I have a pretty unpopular opinion wrt her discography: aside from Ladies of the Canyon, Court and Spark is my least favorite of her 1970s albums. Ironically, it’s her best-selling LP.

That’s not to say I dislike it or that I find any of the tracks particularly bad, it just fails to grab me overall and there aren’t really standout tracks that I love. This is the album where jazz elements began to appear in the instrumentation and arrangements, but that’s not the problem because I love the next few where she went even further down that road. Many of the musicians continued to work with her so it’s not the players I dislike either: notable L.A. sessions guys like Larry Carlton, Tom Scott, Jon Guerin, etc. I really can’t put my finger on it. I guess the songs just sound the most generic 1970s AM radio to me?

Anyway, this is how I’d rank her 70s work:

1. The Hissing of Summer Lawns
2. Hejira
3. Blue
4. For the Roses
5. Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter
6. Mingus
7. Court and Spark
8. Ladies of the Canyon

 

[LemonMelon]

Couldn't disagree more about Court and Spark. It's in my top 20 all-time and my runaway favorite by her, outside of Blue. I do flip back and forth between those sometimes. C&S has many of the best love songs I've heard, largely due to their complexity and layered lyrical perspectives. It's full of lust, excitement, joy, sorrow and reflection. Most of the time, you just get one or two of those from songwriters.

Agree with Hissing of Summer Lawns being so high though. Fucking great record and so far ahead of its time in many ways.

 

[Salome]

I agree so much with everything you said up and until your Big Thief comment (though, like Mikal, I did check it out but gave up on finding nothing beyond 'decent' after 4 tracks) that I shall check out that Westkust album.

That Westkust album is really good. Though, for now, I am not enjoying the vocals half as much as the music.

 

[cobl04]

New Little May album has some really good tunes. It's not as great as their debut album - I wondered how much Annie's departure would affect their songwriting, and it seems some of the airiness I really liked on the debut is gone. But there are still plenty of memorable moments: I'm particularly enjoying "Girl" and "Apples".

And to boost a good new Aussie band, Sweater Curse have put out a very good EP. I saw them at a festival in early March where they squeezed the whole thing into a very short time slot. Great fun.

I played it the other day and none of it excited me much.

What sort of music do Sweater Curse do?

There's a new Hot Chip song out there and it's awesome.

I bumped the whole damn thread man cmon

 

[cobl04]

 

[lazarus]

Best song on that album and prob on my Floyd rushmore.

 

[cobl04]

Can you guess the relevance of me posting it?

 

[lazarus]

Nah, I'm good.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Hahaha

 

[nielsgov]

As a big Manchester United fan, these last few days (or years) haven't been great. Also doesn't help me in liking this track.

 

[Axver]

That Westkust album is really good. Though, for now, I am not enjoying the vocals half as much as the music.

The first Westkust album has lead vocals by one of the blokes but on this album they made a conscious decision to only have the woman sing. Suits me because I prefer her but perhaps your mileage will vary. He tended to sing sadder songs while this album is far more positive in lyrical content ("Rush" has basically become the theme song for my girlfriend and I).

I played it the other day and none of it excited me much.

What sort of music do Sweater Curse do?

It's definitely not as good as For the Company, that was a fucking sensational album, but "Girl" might be their best song. I can't stop spinning it today.

Sweater Curse come out of the emo/hardcore scene but they aren't particularly heavy. I'd call it emo-influenced indie rock really. I suspect some of the vocals might be an acquired taste.

 

[gump]

It's early, but this is turning out to be a pretty strong music year (especially after this week's releases). Best albums of the year so far for me, in no particular order:

Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride
Solange - When I Get Home

H/M Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared

And shout-out to Broken Social Scene for the two EPs.

 

[lazarus]

There’s a Typo on 46 Million of Australia’s Freshly-Minted Banknotes


Friggin’ Country.

Didn’t read this but I’m guessing they misspelled “Hogan” as “Bogan”?

 

[DaveC]

"home of world-famous fister's"

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

The three upcoming albums I'm most looking forward to buying are as follows:

The National - I Am Easy To Find
The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger
Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars