Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Group 1 Listening Thread

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Planning on downloading Laz’s list tonight and listening tomorrow. So yay for being on track!
 
I didn't like that Busy Signal track very much either.

It was one of the only songs I didn't like on Laz's list though. I'm having a really bad day and am a little sleep deprived, so this is a very informal commentary, but Laz's list was an absolute blast. Everything a good mixtape should be, engaging and full of variety with some great discoveries. The first disc had all kinds of interesting left turns and the second disc was right up my alley, featuring lots of power pop goodness. I could quibble with a few of the transitions (I would have flipped the Steely Dan and Rickie Lee Jones tracks), but for the most part the structure was fine and didn't get in the way of the strong song selection.

There were, however, some volume issues throughout that made individual transitions rough and hindered my enjoyment a bit. I had to mess around with the levels frequently to keep things consistent. I'm sure there's a setting I don't know about that simplifies this.

Really liked that Slaughter and the Dogs song, BTW. Never heard of them but they should be on my radar. Nice tracks I hadn't already heard by Tim Maia and Neil Diamond.

Anyway, I'll be ranking this one very highly. It was a real treat.
 
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For Jerry’s list:

- I am not super-familiar with a lot of the artists coming out of Philly, so this playlist was a great opportunity to dive into another city’s musical DNA. I really liked the way you displayed the breadth and scope of your city’s scene. I could definitely feel the pride you have for Philly coming through.
- First, the transition from Marian Anderson to Vacationer was brilliant. To take two songs recorded so many decades apart and find a way to make it sound almost natural? Great job.
- The next few songs were hit-or-miss for me. I loved the energy of Meek Mill, but the next couple of songs lost me. The Roots brought me back though with their great tune.
- For some reason, Sheer Mag and Beach Slang always get mixed-up in my mind. No idea why. Having them next to each other more definitively cleared up their respective sounds for me. I liked both of these numbers.
- Cayetana is a super underrated band. I was lucky enough to see them live on one of their last tours before they broke up. I’m more familiar with their second album than Nervous Like Me, but this track just reinforces how tight and lively they sounded. If you haven’t listened to it yet, Augusta Koch’s solo record as Gladie is pretty good as well.
- The alt-rock vibes of The Wonder Years and Circa Survive aren’t my usual wheelhouse. Can’t say I liked the former, but I surprisingly got into the latter. It feels like the type of band I have to be in a specific mood to want to hear, but it would fulfill what I’m looking for in that moment perfectly.
- It’s impossible to go wrong with Waxahatchee, but I appreciated your use of a deeper cut as your pick from her. Also, the entire segment from Sheer Mag through Modern Baseball flowed wonderfully.
- I don’t particularly like Ween, Hall & Oates or Dr. Dog, so these three didn’t work much for me.
- Great, apt choice with “Work from Home.” I feel like a lot of our playlists couldn’t help but reference our current pandemic, whether intentionally or subconsciously.
- I never get tired of listening to “Everybody Wants to Love You” or “Myth.” Two of my favorites from the last decade. Following Beach House’s spaciness with the driving beat of War on Drugs was a nice way to change up the pace.
- Hop Along is always great. And that Districts track initially felt like an odd pick to close, but by the time it wrapped up, I thought it was a fantastic way to end things.
- All in all, lots of discoveries for me here. I thought your playlist flowed really well, even if I didn’t love every song. But for the most part, this was a really enjoyable playlist that had lots of good stuff to offer. Good times.

Axver’s playlist tomorrow to wrap up Group 1!
 
lazarus said:
Ugh, I'm so sorry about all the difficulties for you and everyone. I did foresee some issues due to a non-streaming list but I thought I had made it as seamless as possible. :sad:
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No apologies necessary. It took five extra minutes to set up.

I'm going to try and finish up disc 2 now, but I think my daughter is going to wake up in about 10 minutes, so I probably shouldn't even bother. But I need tunes while I sneak in my video game time, so whatever. Let's hit it.
 
I love bands that sound like Buffalo Tom, but I listen to so few of them, I feel like...Great way to kick things off.
 
Onto Laz’s list.

I didn’t have any trouble importing it, but the only thing is that I won’t have the track listing in front of me the whole time. Typically I listen on headphones with my phone, but I’m listening to this on my computer through headphones. While working, my MacBook is behind me so I’ll have to pause working to check artists. Due to this, my commentary will be more sporadic than it has been with other lists. The benefit is I’ll be listening to this through an assuredly better preamp than an iPhone since my headphones plug into my Universal Audio Apollo Twin Quad recording interface.

Prince is a good way to start any list and this is no exception. Hadn’t heard this song before, and in fact I think there’s very little on this list that I will have previously heard. The guitar work on Soubour was really solid. The chorus on New York Groove is really good. Love that melody. Something about this seems like something John Lennon would have released in the 80s had he lived. And then there’s John Mellancamp mentioning John Lennon, so there’s a nice connection.

Through the Tim Maia song, aside from a volume jump, the flow is impeccable. The rhythm track on this song is really great. It’s got a fantastic groove. The same is true of The Is The Me Me. Joni Mitchell is an artist I’ve never cared for, which is probably sacrilege, but this does nothing to change that for me. I dig the Caribbean vibe on Ghetto Of My Mind, but to me it’s too long - I would have enjoyed it more if two minutes was cut out of it. The Steely Dan song was fantastically executed and produced, but other than appreciating the musicianship, it didn’t do a whole lot for me - which is also probably sacrilege.

Coppers is absolutely not what I expected from Rancid (whom admittedly I’d never heard before). It was a whole lot less punk than I expected. And then Well Prepared echoes that unexpectedness. It took about ten seconds to figure it out and then it made me laugh out loud. Daddy I’m Fine is the first song my Sinead O’Connor that I’ve heard aside from Nothing Compares 2 U. A lot more rock than I expected, which is good. Volume jump to Lady Gaga, but I love early Lady Gaga quite a bit so I’m happy with this. I’ve always liked this song.

The Space->China Crisis->Underworld->Tracey Thorn->La Femme section was alright but didn’t really grab me. Nothing grabbed me positively or negatively. It’s just not my thing. Great flow though. My only previous experience with any of these artists was Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn from the Batman Forever soundtrack way back in the day. That was a great soundtrack and is a reason I’m a fan of U2 and also Sunny Day Real Estate. I’m not familiar with much of David Bowie’s discography, admittedly, but the instrumental on Dead Against It really surprised me. It makes me wonder how surprised I’d be by other eras. I should probably listen to more Bowie.

And now I’m taking a break and will pick up again later this afternoon.
 
Alright, Laz, I have finished disc 2.

I loved this list overall, and had a really great time listening to it. It may have been the most fun of the lists I've heard so far. The second disc, I feel like, ran into a few more sequencing issues than the first, but the song selection was rock-solid. I really enjoyed the first four songs the most, and th The I Don't Cares track was probably my favorite of the batch. Not familiar with the New Order song, but it's no surprise I loved it.

Solid good stuff! Sorry I didn't offer more commentary. Parenting today caused a lot of delays with getting this done.
 
I’m done w Laz and halfway through le citron melon.

I’m revising my comment scheme where instead of annotating my thoughts, I’m going to listen to them without thinking too hard, and then running through the list later to try to recapture what I was thinking. This’ll keep me from disrupting the flow from pausing, and speed me up a bit so I can catch up.
 
Alright, onto disc two of Laz’s list.

The beginning of disc two is a bit rough for me. I think I just don’t like this sound very much, but I still appreciate the flow. Neither of the tracks of Buffalo Tom or La Rocca inspire me to seek them out any further. And then the recording quality of Situation made it difficult to listen to. It sounded like an mp3 ripped to like 48kbps. But that went out into Boys Boys Boys which had a nice melody and it’s nice to see Lance’s mom make an appearance on your list. I think maybe if I’d been older when a bunch of the artists on this list released these songs, I’d like them a lot more.

A lot of it is kinda blurring together in this section (great flow!), but the chorus of King of America definitely stood out. I dug that. I think it might be pulling out of that section because I enjoyed the song by The Jayhawks, and I always enjoy Neil Diamond when I hear him. Which isn’t often! But I still do. And woah, that’s Van Halen? Was totally not expecting that to be Van Halen. I really like that.
Obviously a good song to follow that with would have been I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.
delete my account

Hey, I like this Bob Dylan song. To be fair, I knowingly have not given him much of a chance because of his voice. But he sounds an awful lot like George Harrison here. So I think maybe I need to listen to some of his stuff now. Followed by a Jesus and the Mary Chain song I hadn’t heard. Liked it for sure. The chorus chords and melody of Same Old City reminded me of a certain feeling at a certain place in time when I was a teenager. I have no idea why. Maybe I heard it once before. I have no idea because it’s not familiar. But I liked it. Something that I struggle with is listening to music with vocals in another language, unless it’s big post rock stuff and the vocals are more like an instrument than anything else. That’s definitely just a personal preference thing, so I struggled with the next section, aside from Don’t Touch That Dial, which was pretty good.

I liked this Ween song more than the other one that I heard in Jerry’s list, but still didn’t really grab me, but then fuck yeah Blue Oyster Cult. Love them, and this is one of my favorites by them. I need to listen to them more than just my greatest hits collection I think. And then the transition to Deap Vally was masterful. Another artist I’ve heard of but never heard. Reminded me of Yeah Yeah Yeahs which is a good thing to me. Not familiar with New Order other than the hits, but that was a great ending.

Final thoughts:

This playlist was put together immaculately. The flow, aside from some volume blips thanks to different mastering eras, was incredible. Although I didn’t have many songs that really jumped out at me, I’d definitely say I need to investigate Bowie, Dylan, BOC, Prince (although I have a handful of his albums) and New Order more deeply, and Deap Vally was my favorite discovery. Biggest surprises were Ace Frehley and Van Halen. And of course I love Lady Gaga.

A lot of the alt rock stuff kinda lost me a little, but it made me think of the college parties I went to back in the mid-00s. If that had been a decade prior, a lot of similar stuff probably would have been played and this would bring me back to it, so I can appreciate that without really loving the genre.

The downloading and importing was something that seemed daunting as an idea but as soon as I did it, the whole process was less than 5 minutes. Thank you for participating anyway. Downloading a Desert Island list brought me back.
 
If I had participated, I would have provided a download as well. I’m very particular about sound quality and using the best versions of songs (obviously applying to older stuff). Plus I probably would’ve had some rarities in there that wouldn’t have been elsewhere.
 
Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth, guys. I listened to LM and Peef's lists days ago, I just haven't typed my thoughts out until now. I only have Axver's left to listen to, which I'll do tomorrow. You can still start Group 2 tomorrow if everyone else is ready. My own list is in Group 2 so I'll only have four to listen there, so I can afford an extra day or two while everyone else is starting Group 2.

LM -

The very first thought I had listening to your list was that the first 45 seconds of your opener, "Delirious", sound like the THX sound test sound that plays before movies. Just felt like saying that off the top.

As always, your flow is impeccable. Like, almost too good. I think others have said it, but the flow in the first half of your list is so good that it all starts to blend together, such that I had to go back a second time in order to figure out what song was what. You did a great job establish a very specific atmosphere and sticking with it.

I guess the standouts for me early in the list were said opener "Delirious", Bjork, Phantogram, and Shura - all tracks that were new to me(I really need to dig deeper into Bjork's catalogue). Also, I'm not that high on Robyn's "Honey", but "Ever Again" is certainly one of its strongest tracks, so thanks for reminding me of that.

After Grimes, the list enters a stretch, lasting probably up to (but not including) Beach House, that did a bit less for me on the whole. The flow kept up, but the songs just didn't click with me as much. That said, I did enjoy The Beths and Sweet Trip, the latter of which sounds like old school video game music, which for me is always a good thing. Regarding Tindersticks...someone said they sound like The National...I can hear that, but that particular track was moreso giving me REM circa "Country Feedback" vibes.

The list picks back up with a tremendous Beach House/Beach Boys/Weyes Blood/Angel Olsen stretch.

Beach House has created one of the most identifiable and unique sounds of any artist of the last decade, and I'd never be unhappy to hear them.

Although I'm familiar with all of the old 60s hits, I didn't know this 70s Beach Boys track. I liked it though! I think it actually sounds a lot like Tame Impala circa Currents? Maybe that's just me?

I was already big into Weyes Blood because of you, so thanks for that. You were promoting her in here more than anyone else last year, and I gave Titanic Rising a chance based on your recommendation, and it pretty much blew me away. "Something To Believe" is great, but then pretty much any song from the album is great. She's tremendous.

"Sister" is great, of course.

I very much enjoyed the back end of your list, with the more r&b-oriented stuff - A Girl Called Eddy, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and Laura Nyro being highlights.
"Jody" is fantastic - if GCE's music is all like that, I should listen to more. Nyro is also someone I've never heard of, who I should maybe look into more. A brief look at her wiki page reveals a tragic story...both her and her partner died of cancer. Oof.

Fiona and The National close it out well, recapturing the mood that started and enveloped most of the list.

Overall, that was really good LM, and will probably rank near the top of my list.


Peef -

I'm going to be honest - the first half of your list was pretty hip-hop heavy, and those hip-hop tracks didn't really do a whole lot for me. So, I liked the Todd Rundgren track and the Beach Slang track a lot, Cayetana was good and, believe it or not, I liked the Marian Anderson opener, but aside from that, I was struggling a bit until it got to Hall & Oates, and from there the list got a lot stronger for me.

I dug Hall & Oates(I liked their track that Dave used too; they're 2/2 for me in this DI), Kurt Vile, Japanese Breakfast, Queen of Jeans, Beach House, War on Drugs, and Alex G. Two of these - Japanese Breakfast and Queen of Jeans - are artists I'd never heard of, so glad to know of them now.

Flow was good, though I felt like the mood started in one place and then went to another, but that's understandable since your only theme was that everyone was from Philly.

Overall, it's a solid list that I would probably rank higher if the first half of it weren't bogged down in all that hip-hop.
 
I listed to Laz's second disc a couple of days ago but didn't manage to post my thoughts. I was out when listening to it so I don't have a song-by-song breakdown - it would also be difficult to do so because everything was so consistent. I appreciated that this disc leaned more on rock - particularly with women at lead vocals in a number of songs - as I at times have gravitated away from that sound. As an early 1980s person myself, I really liked some of the 1990s stuff there. Velocity Girl in particular was a fantastic discovery - I love that kind of sound and will check them more. Other favorite parts of disc 2 were Boys, Boys, Boys, the Jesus & Mary Chain song (I think you used another one of theirs in a previous playlist if I remember correctly?) and the Blue Oyster Cult.

Even though I preferred Disc 1 to Disc 2, I think there are more new artists/discoveries I will check out in the rock portion of your list.

Great stuff, Laz.
 
Right knackered after PPE and night shifts but finally my thoughts on Laz's second disc. I gave it another spin after my night shift and it was a tonic to a tired brain!

It was a very pleasant listen, but I think it really kicks off from the Wannadies on to the end.

I loved the Liz Phair and keep meaning to check more of her out. I will also be looking further into the Jayhawks, Bettie Serveert, The I Don't Cares and I really need to listen to Ween since I've really liked both songs I have heard so far in this Desert Island.

The flow was great which just helped me bliss out after work and while maybe not as many memorable tracks as the first half, the second half meshed together very well.
 
I was wondering why Spotify was letting me listen to these playlists without any ads. Apparently that was just a 7-day free trial period, and now the app is saying I can only listen to these playlists on shuffle?

If there's a workaround to this, let me know. Otherwise I may have to DQ myself and my list from the competition.
 
lazarus said:
I was wondering why Spotify was letting me listen to these playlists without any ads. Apparently that was just a 7-day free trial period, and now the app is saying I can only listen to these playlists on shuffle?

If there's a workaround to this, let me know. Otherwise I may have to DQ myself and my list from the competition.
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I don't know about a 7-day trial. I signed up for the free trial as well, but mine is for 30 days.
 
How much $ is a month of Spotify? Can we pitch in and get Laz a month? It would be, what, maybe a dollar each?
 
I listened to Axver and Laz's lists this week. Both were very good. There were a lot of similarities in terms of execution: both lengthy lists that required a brief break (with one built in by Laz), but impeccably sequenced and well thought out. They also had a lot of artists I was completely unfamiliar with.

Ax, your list had just four artists I had listened to before (Beach House, Angel Olsen, Chromatics, Slowdive). But I really liked a lot of it. I need to give it a second listen to figure out what specific songs really jumped out at me, but I fully intend to do that. Even songs that I thought were't my cup of tea (like "Fulton Street") ended up coming to a strong ending. Really well done.

I was a little more familiar with Laz's list. However, your intent on keeping most of the tracks deeper cuts meant even the artists I was familiar with I was surprised by. I'm really not familiar with 80s and 90s Bowie, so a song like "Dead Against It" was new to me. I'm a very lyric-based person, so the foreign language tracks were tougher for me to get into without understanding them, but they all fit well. As I also said on LM's list, I'm not a huge fan of older music, so there were some songs I also kind of let go by me there. But this list flowed so well that it never felt like there was a lull. Well done.

This was a great first group. If this is any indication as to how these playlists are going to go for the rest of the competition, it will be a treat.
 
namkcuR said:
LM -

The very first thought I had listening to your list was that the first 45 seconds of your opener, "Delirious", sound like the THX sound test sound that plays before movies. Just felt like saying that off the top.

As always, your flow is impeccable. Like, almost too good. I think others have said it, but the flow in the first half of your list is so good that it all starts to blend together, such that I had to go back a second time in order to figure out what song was what. You did a great job establish a very specific atmosphere and sticking with it.

I guess the standouts for me early in the list were said opener "Delirious", Bjork, Phantogram, and Shura - all tracks that were new to me(I really need to dig deeper into Bjork's catalogue). Also, I'm not that high on Robyn's "Honey", but "Ever Again" is certainly one of its strongest tracks, so thanks for reminding me of that.

After Grimes, the list enters a stretch, lasting probably up to (but not including) Beach House, that did a bit less for me on the whole. The flow kept up, but the songs just didn't click with me as much. That said, I did enjoy The Beths and Sweet Trip, the latter of which sounds like old school video game music, which for me is always a good thing. Regarding Tindersticks...someone said they sound like The National...I can hear that, but that particular track was moreso giving me REM circa "Country Feedback" vibes.

The list picks back up with a tremendous Beach House/Beach Boys/Weyes Blood/Angel Olsen stretch.

Beach House has created one of the most identifiable and unique sounds of any artist of the last decade, and I'd never be unhappy to hear them.

Although I'm familiar with all of the old 60s hits, I didn't know this 70s Beach Boys track. I liked it though! I think it actually sounds a lot like Tame Impala circa Currents? Maybe that's just me?

I was already big into Weyes Blood because of you, so thanks for that. You were promoting her in here more than anyone else last year, and I gave Titanic Rising a chance based on your recommendation, and it pretty much blew me away. "Something To Believe" is great, but then pretty much any song from the album is great. She's tremendous.

"Sister" is great, of course.

I very much enjoyed the back end of your list, with the more r&b-oriented stuff - A Girl Called Eddy, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and Laura Nyro being highlights.
"Jody" is fantastic - if GCE's music is all like that, I should listen to more. Nyro is also someone I've never heard of, who I should maybe look into more. A brief look at her wiki page reveals a tragic story...both her and her partner died of cancer. Oof.

Fiona and The National close it out well, recapturing the mood that started and enveloped most of the list.

Overall, that was really good LM, and will probably rank near the top of my list.
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Glad you enjoyed it! Please do check out more GCE, Cobbler seemed to enjoy what he's heard in the aftermath of his listen because there's quite a bit of continuity from that track to the entire album.

Laura Nyro was a genius. One of the best and most influential songwriters of the 1960s. To me, she's Carole King but with a much stronger voice and better musical chops. Albums like New York Tendaberry and Christmas and the Beads of Sweat rival much of Joni Mitchell's catalogue for creativity, emotion and personal insight. Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is a straight up pop masterpiece and probably the best place to start with her. If you like soul, she put together a collection of covers with Labelle in the early 1970s that's superb.
 
Axver’s list:

- I feel like with a few exceptions, there’s not much crossover between my musical tastes and Axver’s. But I always wind up enjoying a good portion what he puts on his playlists. This one is no different. There’s a great amount of range found here, but a throughline of musical haze. There’s both aggression without giving me a headache and serenity without putting me to sleep.

- The Orbweavers song is a great opener and one of my favs on the list. I need to give Deep Leads a listen.

- “All Mirrors” is one of Angel Olsen’s best songs bar none. Ever since I first heard it, it’s been heavily featured in playlists I’ve made. Works wonderfully here.

- Woodes and Chromatics were strong tracks to follow, adding a bit more a pulse that I can quietly groove out to. Hundreds in the Hands through Marnie works to increase the strength of that rhythm gradually, which hit all the right spots for me.

- The HEALTH song didn’t do anything for me. But I really loved the Depeche Mode cover. Shana added just enough of her own flavor to stand out as more than imitation. Also, I think “Stripped” often gets overshadowed by Depeche Mode’s other hits. I wish the band played it more often live.

- I’ve been getting more into soundtracks and other instrumental music lately, so the Caspian track was appreciated. Again, it stayed on the right side of aggressive. Repulsive Woman found its own path to aggression and tension through its lyrics more than music. This song was great, and I’ll definitely be listening to more of her.

- Cable Ties is one of my breakout artists of the year so far, mainly off the strength of “Sandcastles.” Goddamn is that song a fantastic blast of rage – the type of anger that pushes you towards activism rather than cynicism. If anyone’s looking for some new punk music to play loud, listen to Cable Ties.

- “Fading Light” was a nice mix of punk and light melodies – liked the echoing vocals as well. Usually that effect turns me off but it really worked here.

- The new few songs fade for me a bit in the playlist, but Suldusk really stuck out to me. It’s icily haunting – reminds me of Chelsea Wolfe but has its own unique touches. Midas Fall always got me with those brittle, icy guitar notes. Again, one of those things that if done well, it really works for me. So many bands try and fail at it though.

- Death and the Maiden is another discovery for me. Loved the way the rhythm faded in and out.

- The only two Beach House songs I like are “Myth” and “Dive.” This song sadly didn’t change it for me. I feel like they’re one of those bands I won’t get for years, and then one day it’ll connect, and I’ll become obsessed with them.

- Nadia Reid was alright, but when it comes her style of folksy, low-key indie rock, there are many others I like much better. But the Erica Freas track was excellent. I need to give that album another proper listen.

- I feel like sleepmakeswaves would’ve worked better higher up in the playlist, maybe next to Caspian. It didn’t really work for me between Freas and Purity Ring.

- That Young Galaxy song really takes you places! I thought it was great the whole way though, but when the beat rapidly increases towards the end and it goes into this sharp, speedy groove is one of my fav moments from your playlist.

- Flyying Colours seemed to combine the two bigger elements of your playlist – immensely catchy rhythms and expansive guitar work that use up every inch of your speakers. That’s a hell of a closing statement. I wish they stretched out the ending jam a bit more though.

- This might be my favorite of your playlists that you’ve put together Axver – even without your usual suspects of U2 or Porcupine Tree. I feel like Orbweavers, Repulsive Woman, Suldusk, Death and the Maiden and Young Galaxy are going to be new favorites of mine.
 
Yes, I actually went on to listen to A Girl Called Eddy's new album and just bought it on CD. Had to buy it from overseas and get it imported, so it won't arrive for a while and it was a bit costly, but I really dug it.

the tourist said:
How much $ is a month of Spotify? Can we pitch in and get Laz a month? It would be, what, maybe a dollar each?
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I am sure Laz can find the $10 dollars to get a month-long subscription and then cancel it. It's not a huge ask. I'm saying that without knowledge of how his work/life situation has been impacted by COVID-19, but I wouldn't have thought $10 is going to break the bank.
 
Been through Peef, wrapping up Ax. Before I write up a bunch of comments though I’ll just say I think LM’s list has hit “I want to revisit that artist” the most times for me.
 
i've listened to all except for laz's and half of ax's, i'll collect my thoughts on all of them into one post tomorrow.
 
Jerry Dunk said:
I listened to Axver and Laz's lists this week. Both were very good. There were a lot of similarities in terms of execution: both lengthy lists that required a brief break (with one built in by Laz), but impeccably sequenced and well thought out. They also had a lot of artists I was completely unfamiliar with.

Ax, your list had just four artists I had listened to before (Beach House, Angel Olsen, Chromatics, Slowdive). But I really liked a lot of it. I need to give it a second listen to figure out what specific songs really jumped out at me, but I fully intend to do that. Even songs that I thought were't my cup of tea (like "Fulton Street") ended up coming to a strong ending. Really well done.
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Awesome, cheers. :up:

Joey788 said:
- The HEALTH song didn’t do anything for me. But I really loved the Depeche Mode cover. Shana added just enough of her own flavor to stand out as more than imitation. Also, I think “Stripped” often gets overshadowed by Depeche Mode’s other hits. I wish the band played it more often live.
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I've got to be honest here, and all of you can laugh at me: I had absolutely no idea this was a cover until this tournament. Friggin' Axver, I know. Funnily enough, it was one of the very first selections for the list. When it came out, by sheer chance it ended up after that Health track on one of my Spotify playlists of new music. I kept putting on the Health track and suddenly finding myself halfway to the end of the Shana Falana one. So I resolved that if there was ever another DI, I would put in the two songs if they were appropriate. And here we are.

- Cable Ties is one of my breakout artists of the year so far, mainly off the strength of “Sandcastles.” Goddamn is that song a fantastic blast of rage – the type of anger that pushes you towards activism rather than cynicism. If anyone’s looking for some new punk music to play loud, listen to Cable Ties.
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Could not agree more. One of the gigs I'm really sad got cancelled thanks to COVID-19 was Cable Ties, they were going to play a show in a tiny venue here in Wollongong, a former petrol station. It would've gone off.

- Flyying Colours seemed to combine the two bigger elements of your playlist – immensely catchy rhythms and expansive guitar work that use up every inch of your speakers. That’s a hell of a closing statement. I wish they stretched out the ending jam a bit more though.
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You'd possibly dig them live then: they really jam out some of their stuff. I remember when the ROYGBIV EP came out and I saw that "I Don't Want to Let You Down" was 6 minutes long and "Leaks" less than 4. I did a double take because they'd been playing them live as huge 10-15 minute jams. "Leaks" has often been their big blow-out closer. Now they've moved onto other songs for big jams. Always great live shows.

- This might be my favorite of your playlists that you’ve put together Axver – even without your usual suspects of U2 or Porcupine Tree. I feel like Orbweavers, Repulsive Woman, Suldusk, Death and the Maiden and Young Galaxy are going to be new favorites of mine.
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Must admit I honestly never even thought of including PT, didn't cross my mind, even though I've actually been listening to a fair bit of their stuff again lately. And thanks for all the thoughts, most appreciated!
 
LemonMelon said:
Where's my commentary, LN7? :waiting:
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I know I know I know, I’ve been nonstop listening, writing, and coding for DIXI since I got off work at 8 and most of Sunday! I’ve listened to all of thread 1 once, and now I need to do a walkthrough of each list. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew in a positive way! Apologies apologies, I’m working on it!
 
Alrighty, time for the first side of laz's list. I should've got onto this sooner, my apologies. It's been a busy and tiring few days. I must admit I'd been discouraged by Prince right up front. I must be the only person on this forum who thinks Prince is awful, easily one of my least favourite musicians, and this song did not do much to shift my opinion - it's just not the sort of stuff I dig. But gee the next tune was great. I've listened to various artists like Tinariwen, but had not yet come across Songhoy Blues. Can only say I'd wish I'd heard of them sooner.

The first half of The Phab Dead is really impeccably sequenced, volume issues aside. It's mostly not the sort of stuff I listen to regularly, or even really enjoy, but it's put together so well that I'm getting into some tracks that wouldn't normally interest me, like the Joni Mitchell one (not Ace Frehley though, yikes). Mellencamp is an interesting one for me because I associate him with really cheesy music that is too much a cliche of American culture, but a couple of his hits were all over New Zealand radio when I was a kid and there's a bit of a nostalgic glow to them. And he's an obvious influence on stuff I like such as The War on Drugs or Wild Pink. Didn't mind this song.

This is definitely not what I thought Rancid did - for some reason I thought they were either glam metal or really hardcore punk. Likewise, China Crisis, who I imagined were glam metal, and whose track is not only quite different to that but also rather enjoyable. The Lady Gaga song is another surprise, more tolerable than her hits that I know. And the Sinead O'Connor song absolutely goes off.

Neat Underworld pick from an album I haven't played enough. This more electronic part of the list is a bit more my style and it just feels fresher to my ears. Been ages since I've listened to La Femme - this is a good reminder. I feel they're the sort of artist I enjoy hearing occasionally, in a setting like this, but I rarely choose to put on their tunes.

Is it just me or is the Bowie track a really low-quality MP3? A pity it feels so thin because this is a good song and an effective ending to this half of the list.

I'll give the second part a spin later.
 
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