cobl04
45:33
God I'm excited for people to listen to mine.
Joey's list:
I love so many of the artists on this list, so this one was a lot of fun for me. The NASH! -> St Vincent was a great opening. That's one of my favorite St Vincent songs.
I think Mitski is a great songwriter and need to listen to more of her stuff.
I feel like there's been a ton of Angel Olsen in this Desert Island? I like her music fine enough, but just the other day she shared the "Plandemic" video on her social media. Yikes.
"Daydreaming" to "Blackstar" is devastating.
Love Savages.
I've seen Big Thief live twice and still haven't checked out any of their albums in full. You might have just inspired me to finally do that.
"Discoverer" is one of the best late-period R.E.M. tracks and of course ASOH is classic. U2 at their best. I liked the Waxahatchee song that followed it too and should probably investigate them (her?) further.
I legitimately got chills listening to "Sprawl II" because it'd been so long since I'd heard it. So thank you for that.
Jenny Lewis...again this list is full of artists who I like but need to listen to more.
Love Julien Baker.
Thought the Steven Wilson track was a good closer.
Good shit.
I hoped Kelso would do something a bit different to Camp Cope, but it's the same stuff: someone talk-singing over unremarkable instrumentation.
The list picks up over the next few tracks - I don't think I've even heard of David Bridie - and "The Captain" is easily one of Ali Barter's best songs. I wish I could understand what the hell has happened to her lately; she felt like such a vital musical voice on A Suitable Girl but everything since then sounds like she's just stumbled upon shit she recorded aged 15 trying to mimic Avril Lavigne.
I was thrilled when the Something for Kate track began because it was another track I could latch onto. It introduced the most consistently enjoyable trio of this section.
I absolutely cannot listen to "From Little Things..." any more without visualising the union ads. Also, harmonicas should be banned, and the vocals are more of that talk-singing that is starting to grate on me in the course of this list. But! It's a thematically appropriate introduction to the next two songs, which are absolutely great.
I'll be honest, I've forever ignored LCD Soundsystem. There's no particular reason why. Maybe I assumed I wouldn't like them? Maybe I didn't like a song in a past DI? Maybe I thought I'd missed the boat and just shrugged? Whatever the reason, this song is great.
Not sure what I was expecting from Rüfüs Du Sol, but not this. I had assumed they were some bogan band like DMAs, given the festival bills I've seen their name on. Anyway, this is better than what I had assumed, although it overstays its welcome by a couple of minutes.
But DJ Koze was a good ending.
In general, I really got into the electronic half. Absolutely never thought I'd prefer it to the Australian music half, but here we are. It's more relaxing, much more of a soundtrack to my day than the first half, more what I want out of music. I didn't actually notice the length of the Pachanga Boys track until after I had heard it, and I was surprised to note it's over 15 minutes long!
Bet you didn't expect this.
Joey, your list was great! To be expected. I have to say, overall, my favourite parts of it were artists that I'm not familiar with, which was surprising to me. The first track I really loved was Timefighter by Lucy Dacus, and I also dug Mellotron Scratch quite a bit.
All Mirrors > Daydreaming > Blackstar was a superb stretch, the transitions between these three songs were absolutely sublime, easily the best in the competition so far. You did a fucking stellar job, these each sounded so good back to back. How fucking good is Daydreaming, my god.
I'm not sure on Big Thief yet. This track did pique my interest, but I don't think quite enough for me to give them a proper chance. I was meant to see them live on the weekend, I'd have loved that. I really liked The Last of Us. Opeth, no thanks.
We then come to Porridge Radio, which might be my favourite new discovery of this competition so far. What a fucking great song. Will definitely be checking them out more. The transition into Decemberists was really rough, and this song felt like them trying to recapture their past but not doing it very well. A smart transition into REM, and that song worked so well into ASOH.
Overall, great job, I think I could have done with some deeper cuts from the artists I know well, and whilst I quite liked every part of it, there were several stretches that passed me by without really capturing my attention. But when it did, I was loving it. Some terrific song pairings too.
I'm sure you know she's CC's bassist? And fair enough. I like the song and think it sounds different enough, I think it has more of an indie emo vibe to it than CC's stuff, but there's no doubt it's not super polished or well-developed yet.
You should definitely watch the video for Delegate - not sure if you picked up on it but the song is a heart-wrenching, savage take on how we treat refugees. Bridie was also frontman of two older Aussie bands that you may have heard of? My Friend The Chocolate Cake and Not Drowning, Waving. But he's really not well-known. I only heard Delegate on Triple R.
I've not listened to her latest record yet, I think because your view has spooked me!
Ha! I had that same reticence too. I don't really know them, but I heard this track because it came like third in the Hottest 100 of the decade, which you obviously didn't listen to a rare example of a good song in that list.
I had a big grin on my face reading this! Definitely didn't expect it - I don't think I was even aware you had even the slightest affinity for electronic music. I genuinely thought you'd hate it, but it does make sense you enjoyed it given the way in which you prefer to listen to music.
Cobbler part 1: This one had a distinctive 90s vibe to me, with prominent strummed acoustic guitars and the kind of alt-rock vocals that were all over that decade (in the US at least). The Something for Kate track especially stood out in that regard, and when I checked the year I wasn't surprised it was from 2001.
The transitioning between Ali Barter, The Drones, and Nick Cave was exceptional - especially between the first two. And then Higgs Boson Blues is a beast in any context and at any time. Just an incredible song in so many ways, and one of Cave's best impressionistic lyrical efforts.
The Kev Carmody track was so reminiscent of Dylan's Nashville Skyline that the similarities must have been intentional. The vocal in particular is a dead ringer for Dylan in that era.
Cobbler:
- I immensely enjoyed the first half of your playlist, with Australian artists I’m unfamiliar with. There was plenty to love here. The electronic segment was more a mixed-bag for me. Some tunes worked while others dragged on or left me cold. But I liked more than I disliked, and the flow was strong.
- “I’ve Got You” made for a nice, understated opener. Those lyrics hit hard. I need to give that Camp Cope record another listen. I think I like their ballad side more than their rock side – I especially enjoyed Georgia Maq’s recent solo record.
- Kelso wins just based on that album title – I audibly laughed when I read it. I liked the gradual addition of elements for this song, especially the touches of brass. Jen Choler had the same type of low-key but entrancing quality – where the song gradually draws you in.
- At first, David Bridie’s voice turned me off, but the music around it was strong enough that I was able to deal with it. Still don’t like his singing but it fits well for the song.
- “The Captain” is excellent. It’s a shame to hear from Axver that her more recent work isn’t at the same level. I’m still gonna give this album a listen though.
- Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like Push the Sky Away is by far the most used Nick Cave album in our DI playlists over the years, mine included! Easy to see why – it’s a brilliant record with songs that fit such a wide variety of themes.
- Gang of Youths is just an awesome band. They put on a hell of a show too.
- I like the Kev Carmody song, but I think it would’ve been better if it was a minute or two shorter. Plus, the only rough transition in your playlist was from this into "Ngurra" – it was a jarring musical shift.
- Like I said, the electronic section was hit-or-miss for me. Against All Logic and LCD Soundsystem were a fantastic combo. Mr. Fingers and Bonobo for good follow-ups. But Pachanga Boys just lost me with its length. If a song’s going to be 15 minutes long, it needs to evolve more than this track did for me.
- “I Am Citizen Insane” basically sounds like a Thom Yorke solo track, which don’t usually interest me outside of The Eraser album. But it worked well here and segued perfectly into “Sleep Well Beast,” an underrated National closer.
- Mount Kimbie had a great, weird groove that I enjoyed, and it fit nicely next to the more upbeat 808 State tune.
- Black Thought and DJ Koze were alright, but I felt they were a weak closing combo. I think the Radiohead/National songs would’ve fit better at the end.
- All together though, lots of wonderful discoveries in the first half and a more uneven second half for me – though its highs were superb. I very much enjoyed listening to your playlist! Australia’s music scene has absolutely been killing it over the last decade.
cobbler's list:
Man, I've heard almost all the lists now and the first half of this one (the Australian section that leans more toward acoustic/singer-songwriter stuff) is one of my very favorite sections of this entire Desert Island. Really love this.
The Camp Cope song might be my favorite discovery of the DI. I'll be returning to this song. I love this kind of storytelling and confessional lyric. Very sad, seems like she's singing to her dying father?
I like the next two tracks a lot, too, and they fit very well. I notice that the Kelso album is called Always a Godfather, Never a God, which is the title of a Gilmore Girls episode from like 15 years ago. I wonder if that's where they got it.
Ali Barter sounds hot. I want to go out with her.
The Drones and Nick Cave also fit together well. In fact, the singer of the Drones definitely sounds like Cave.
Stella Donnelly is great, I found out about her a couple years ago somehow. It might have been through Twitter, actually. I can't remember. I'd also like to make it with her.
Gang of Youths rock. I had only heard Go Farther in Lightness so this was nice to hear. For a younger band I'm surprised they haven't put out an album in three years. Do they have another album coming out anytime soon?
Holy crap, this Kev Carmody song is a complete Dylan ripoff! Wow. Specifically, it steals the vocal melody from "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll." I still enjoyed it, though.
I'll say more when I do commentaries for all of group 3, but I felt the exact opposite about Cobbler's list as GAF did. [emoji38] I've been really into house music the past few years, so the second half of the list was a treat for me. Absolutely loved it and found some great new tracks. The chill Aussie indie stuff was mostly in one ear and out the other for me outside of the queen Stella Donnelly and the always great Rolling Blackouts CF.
Still need to listen to LJT and iYup's lists.
I've not heard of this. Any song in particular I should check out? And yes, Paul Kelly (who recorded the original and more well-known version of this song) owes a debt to Bob Dylan. I'd say he is the closest we have to Dylan.