Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Group 3 Listening Thread

[the tourist]

Onto cobl04.

This playlist starts off a bit slow and lo-fi for me with a handful of artists I don’t know at all. To be honest it kinda all blended together for me until The Captain. I did recognize at least the name Jen Cloher, probably been mentioned here before. The Captain stood out though and I really liked it. The songs by The Drones and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds went well together, but I didn’t care for them. Rarely have heard a Nick Cave song I liked so that doesn’t really change here. The guitar is really pretty on the Stella Donnelly song. Probably my favorite song so far on the list. Didn’t care for Twenty Years but loved the energy on An Air Conditioned Man and Native Tongue. I liked the choruses in From Little Things Big Things Grow, but I don’t like harmonica much and the verses just kinda rambled for my tastes.

The next section was really conducive to production as I was working (which I have been for almost all of these playlists). It was a lot of upbeat stuff that sounded like it would be on our FM 89.5, but without the breathy female single on the hook. The song by LCD Soundsystem was one where I took note that I really liked it. I think overall I’ve made the determination that I don’t care much for house (that’s the subgenre of electronica that this would be tagged as, right) very much. There are pieces that I like, like the percussion in the Bonobo song, or the warped vinyl quality of the synth in the Rüfüs Du Sol song, but overall not much grabbed me. Aside from i used to, Innerbloom was probably my favorite of that section because of the synth and percussion.

Definitely a shift to my ears at I Am A Citizen Insane. I know I’ve heard this before because I’m positive I have the Com Lag EP ripped into some hard drive somewhere but I don’t remember it at all. Sleep Well Beast is my favorite song on the playlist up to this point. I adore that song, and The National are one of my favorite bands. Hilarious that Terrazzo was on yours and iron yuppie’s playlist and I listened to them back to back. Still hated the squealing halt but otherwise thought it was good. And then I drifted in and out of focus til the end.

This playlist wasn’t really my thing. There were a few songs that I noted that stood out to me, but it’s pretty apparent to me that we have fairly different taste in music. Haha! I still appreciate it and it was good at keeping me focused on production at work though, so thanks for that!

 

[cobl04]

Thank you for your thoughts I figured you wouldn't like much of it, and I was right Glad you found some parts to dig. I'm definitely triggered by the idea that it would be playlist that you'd hear on standard FM radio though.

 

[Joey788]

On to Joey’s list.

Starting with The National is super strong with me. Especially The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness, which is a top 5 song by them for me. Just brilliance. Probably the best opener of the competition for me. I’m not super familiar with St. Vincent but I know I’ve heard this song before. I liked it when I first heard it. Don’t know if I knew who it was at the time, but this is fire. PJ Harvey I think I’ve only heard through DI or the Batman Forever soundtrack back in the mid 90s. I don’t know that this will really make me go out and listen to more of her stuff, but it was alright. Liked the energy near the end for sure. Townie reminds me of something I would have loved when I was still playing in garage rock bands. Not something I go out of my way to listen to anymore but I really appreciate it when I hear stuff like it. Serpents was fantastic. I need to put Sharon Van Etten into my list of things to check out further. Really like it a lot.

Timefighter’s big slow burn was great, and they hey I remember this next song. Haven’t thought about Porcupine Tree in ages. And as with the other instances of All Mirrors on DI, it’s fantastic. Easily the best Angel Olsen song I’ve heard. And then Daydreaming. I think I’ve made my thoughts known on here about how I don’t really care for this era of Radiohead. I kinda stopped being a superfan post In Rainbow. But Daydreaming works really well in the context. Maybe someday I’ll revisit the last decade of Radiohead. And following one sacrilege with another, Blackstar does nothing for me. The NIN song was alright but didn’t grab me. Didn’t really care for Husbands or Pink White House, but Sprinter drew me back in. Another reason to check out TORRES further. Great sloppy guitar in the Big Thief song. Love that big instrumental outro. The vocals weren’t my favorite. Something about the delivery reminded me of Brandon Flowers but with less control. The melody didn’t go where I expected. Once upon a time I read somewhere (maybe here?) that someone hated it when people described a song as cinematic. But that’s exactly how I think of The Last Of Us.

And with that, I’m taking a short break for a meeting at work. Will pick it back up later.

Thanks for your thoughts, tourist! If you're looking to check out more of St. Vincent and Sharon Van Etten, I highly recommend the albums that contain the songs I included: Strange Mercy and Tramp. They're both among my favorite records of the last decade. For Torres, I recommend starting with her latest, Silver Tongue, or Sprinter. All four of her albums are excellent, but those are good starting points.

 

[the tourist]

Shoot. Just realize I must not have hit reply after typing up my comments on Ashley’s list. I listened to it on Monday so it’s not fresh in my head anymore.

The first section mostly wasn’t my thing and I had heard very little of it previously. I’d say if that section my favorites were the 2Pac and Tony! Toni! Toné! The only ones I know for sure I’d heard before were The Pharcyde and Snoop Dogg.

In the second half the one I liked the most was the Laura Branigan song, which was new to me. Her voice is really similar to Lady Gaga to me. Really surprised at The Who sounding like that. I only really know their early hits and Who’s Next. I also really got into Crockett’s Theme.

The section from Wang Chung to Gene Loves Jezebel was my overall favorite in this list and one of the strongest runs of four songs in the whole tournament. I didn’t know any of them going in.

Also American Girl is my favorite by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Red Eyes is my favorite by The War On Drugs.

Sorry this isn’t as in depth as my others - I had typed up more but must’ve lost it. Overall it had some huge highs for me, but some of it I didn’t really gel with. A specific example on the back half was the Sisters of Mercy song. But I know I’ll go back to that first four stretch on the second half.

 

[namkcuR]

Joey:

This will likely end up being one of my favorite lists of the competition. First, there's such a stable of B&C favorites here - U2, REM, Radiohead, Bowie, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, NIN, Angel Olsen - and they're all great selections as well.

But I made some discoveries here as well.

I'd never heard of Lucy Dacus, but I was sort of blown away by this track. A captivating voice, a brooding atmosphere, great guitar work that builds up really effectively as the song progresses. One of my favorite discoveries of the competition.

Likewise, I'd never heard of Laura Stevenson, but I enjoyed this track, a real folksy, authentic feel to it.

I've been a big fan of Torres' "Three Futures" album, but I hadn't yet gotten around to listening to her output previous to that. If this title track of 2015's "Sprinter" is anything to go by, I'll need to check out that whole album. I really love her voice / style. This is a great track.

Big Thief's "Not" is another new one for me that I enjoyed.

I of course know who Steven Wilson is, but I'd never listened to any of his solo stuff. This was a beautiful way to close out your list.

Great, great list.

 

[namkcuR]

LJT:

I'll be honest, as a whole, this list didn't grab me as much as some others. Still, there were a number of tracks that I did enjoy...

The opening track reminded me of the Neutral Milk Hotel track "The Fool", which is a good thing. A pretty start to the list.

Leonard Cohen is always good, he's really a unique artist, and this track proves he had it right up to the end. His deep voice, the atmospherics, the choral voices, it's all very good. Glad to have heard this track that I wasn't familiar with before.

Like I said when talking about Joey's list, I'm a big Torres fan and her new album doesn't change that. I love this track, "Good Grief".

Not familiar with This Is The Kit, I but I enjoyed this song and its folksy nature. The accordion parts - I think it's an accordion anyway - make the song for me. Her voice is pleasant as well.

Never heard of A Hawk And A Hacksaw, but this accordian/string instrumental is great! Well done putting it right after This Is The Kit too, since that song also has the accordion in it.

I know of Wild Beats, but I haven't listened to them. I liked this track a whole lot. Great atmosphere, and I really like the guy's vocals. His voice really reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. It's driving me crazy.

I liked the FKA Twigs track. Catchy synth-pop.

Agnes Obel was completely unknown to me, but wow, this is a great track. A bit new-agey maybe, but that never bothered me. Some Loreena Mckennit vibes here. I want to check her out more, she seems very talented.

I know nothing about Fever Ray, but I dug this track. Really haunting atmosphere.

Appalachian/bluegrass is not usually my thing, but I enjoyed this Black Twig Pickers track you closed with.

So, it wasn't my favorite list on the whole, but I did make a handful of exciting new discoveries, so thanks for that!

 

[namkcuR]

Iron Yuppie:

You win the award for 'list with the most stuff that's completely foreign to me'. I'm going to be honest, the first half of the list did almost nothing for me, outside of Slowdive, Four Tet, and Ibeyi, which I enjoyed. Other than that, it was just a little too post-rock heavy for me, and the list didn't really pick up for me until halfway through.

I very much enjoyed that little string of jazz tracks in the middle - Mulatu Astatke, Fela Kuti, Duke Pearson, Yusef Lateef - I don't know any of these people, but I'm always looking to expand my knowledge of jazz, and these were all great selections.

And then you finished strong with Bjork, Wild Beasts, and Bowie. I like Bjork, but for some reason I don't know Homogenic very well, even though it's one of her most well-known. I should remedy that.

"Bring Me The Disco King" is probably one of Bowie's most underappreciated tracks. I mean, his whole later output is underappreciated, but this song is so unique and captivating. Great way to end things.

Perhaps the most interesting list in this competition. You did a great job creating a haunting, disconcerting atmosphere. A strong second half makes up for a first half that didn't click with me too much. A real though-provoking list.

 

[namkcuR]

Ashley:

So, I'm a pretty selective hip-hop listener - there's some that I really love, and a lot that doesn't do much for me. So this first section of part one wasn't the best for me. I will say that I love the Tupac track, and I like the Snoop Dog track, but other than that, it was rough going for me at first. But then it picked up in a big way.

From Grace Jones straight on through to the end of Part I, that was seven tracks in a row that I had a great time with. The Prince and Who tracks are classic, the Grace Jones and Chaka Khan tracks were great new discoveries for me, and I wouldn't have thought of it if I were making an LA list, but a song from Miami Vice is perfect for a list about driving around LA at night. So Part I had a very strong finish for me after a rough start.

I smiled at your decision to start Part II the same you started Part I - with a song called To Live And Die In LA(as your list is titled). This Wang Chung track is ok, but I prefer Tupac's.

A lot of great selections in Part II. You can't go wrong with classic-lineup Fleetwood Mac, and I thought the run with War On Drugs->Bruce->Petty was great. I feel like that Bruce song into American Girl is one of my favorite transitions of the competition. I really liked that for some reason.

I made four discoveries here, three from artists I'd never heard of!

The Plimsouls sound like R.E.M., that Wiki informs me that they existed before R.E.M. They've got that jangly sound, at least in this track.

The Gene Loves Jezebel song gave me big Patti Smith vibes....not sure why haha, it just did. Read a little about them...interesting story...warring brothers, two different bands with the same name...crazy stuff.

This Sisters Of Mercy track is really propulsive and nighttime-ish. Feels a lot like Berlin-era Bowie to me, especially the vocals, which is always a good thing.

The Go-Gos are the one of these four artists I'd heard of, obviously. That chorus got stuck in my head. I like this one a lot.

The Tom Waits track was a beautiful way to end things.

I think you did a great job conveying the tone/mood/place you were going for. I've never actually been to LA, but listening to this list, I feel confident that it accurately represents the place. Good cohesion, flow, and accomplishment of purpose. I enjoyed it a lot apart from that opening stretch of hip-hop. Good job!

P.S. I told tourist yesterday about one of my favorite DI discoveries ever courtesy of one his lists, so I'll tell you that a decade ago, in DI7, you had 'Royksopp Forever' on your list, and that was the first time I'd ever heard of Royksopp. Long story short, Junior became one of my favorite electronic albums, still is to this day. Unfortunately they never released an album that strong again - some very good individual tracks, but never a whole album that good. Just thought I'd tell you that.

Ok Cobbler, you're up to finish things off for me.

 

[namkcuR]

Cobbler:

A tale of two halves for me, which I suppose is not surprising since your list is so decisively one thing and then another.

Going in, I didn't think I'd be that into the first half with all of the Australian artists, of whom I'd never heard of any other than Nick Cave and Gang of Youths(and I wouldn't even know about the latter if it weren't for you), but lo and behold, that's the half I liked more.

I very much enjoyed the soft acoustic stylings of Camp Cope and Stella Donnelly, as well as the Jen Cloher and Ali Barter tracks. These were all new to me, both song and artist. Happy to have been introduced to them.

Nick Cave is obviously great, and and I also enjoyed the track immediately preceding that one, the Drones track. Another artist I know nothing about, but the sound, at least in that track, is sort of reminiscent of Push The Sky Away-era Nick Cave, so I thought that was a great pairing.

The Kev Carmody track that sort of closes out the first half was an instant like for me. Sort of Dylan vibes. Liked that one.

Unfortunately, a lot of the second half, the electronic half, did very little for me. I'm just not terribly into that style of music. There were some exceptions, however...

That LCD track is a banger. Radiohead is always great.

The Pachanga Boys and Rufus Du Sol tracks were both really good, though the former is perhaps a bit overlong.

I liked the Visible Cloaks track...the first part of it struck me as sort of Japanese-sounding. Could be wrong about that. Enjoyable ambiance either way. It's weird, this was on Iron Yuppie's list too, and when I listened to that list, this track kind of went by me, I didn't take much notice of it, but now I have.

The Frusciante track, even though less than two minutes long, is probably my favorite track on the whole list. But then I'm a huuuuuuuge Frusciante fan, so that's probably not surprising.

Finally, I enjoyed the closer, DJ Koze. That was a nice, chill, mellow way to end things.

On the whole, despite the second part being hit-and-miss for me in terms of individual tracks, the list is a very solid whole. You did a great job achieving cohesion and flow - all of the tracks in the first part felt of a piece, and likewise for the second part. I can tell that it was a labor of love for you.

Good job, Cobbs!

 

[cobl04]

Thank you man and yes, it was certainly a labour of love. I'd recommend checking out a few of the artists in the Australian section if you liked them, they all make good music. Visible Cloaks are two white American dudes who fell in love with Japanese ambient, so you're certainly on the money there. (As an aside, if anyone is aware of actual Japanese ambient artists, send them my way.)

 

[iron yuppie]

Cobbler definitely check this out if you want a Japanese ambient sampler. I very nearly used a few of these tracks on my list.

https://open.spotify.com/album/63x6MwkzIVtoH6lbHIYEtr

 

[bono_212]

Shoot. Just realize I must not have hit reply after typing up my comments on Ashley’s list. I listened to it on Monday so it’s not fresh in my head anymore.

The first section mostly wasn’t my thing and I had heard very little of it previously. I’d say if that section my favorites were the 2Pac and Tony! Toni! Toné! The only ones I know for sure I’d heard before were The Pharcyde and Snoop Dogg.

In the second half the one I liked the most was the Laura Branigan song, which was new to me. Her voice is really similar to Lady Gaga to me. Really surprised at The Who sounding like that. I only really know their early hits and Who’s Next. I also really got into Crockett’s Theme.

The section from Wang Chung to Gene Loves Jezebel was my overall favorite in this list and one of the strongest runs of four songs in the whole tournament. I didn’t know any of them going in.

Also American Girl is my favorite by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Red Eyes is my favorite by The War On Drugs.

Sorry this isn’t as in depth as my others - I had typed up more but must’ve lost it. Overall it had some huge highs for me, but some of it I didn’t really gel with. A specific example on the back half was the Sisters of Mercy song. But I know I’ll go back to that first four stretch on the second half.

No apologies necessary, I just appreciate the feedback! I'm sorry I disappeared here for a couple of weeks. I was really depressed about things happening out in the world and then I got behind on my listening and reading here at Interference and started getting overwhelmed so I was trying to ignore it. Not the best move, just added more anxiety.

Ashley:

So, I'm a pretty selective hip-hop listener - there's some that I really love, and a lot that doesn't do much for me. So this first section of part one wasn't the best for me. I will say that I love the Tupac track, and I like the Snoop Dog track, but other than that, it was rough going for me at first. But then it picked up in a big way.

From Grace Jones straight on through to the end of Part I, that was seven tracks in a row that I had a great time with. The Prince and Who tracks are classic, the Grace Jones and Chaka Khan tracks were great new discoveries for me, and I wouldn't have thought of it if I were making an LA list, but a song from Miami Vice is perfect for a list about driving around LA at night. So Part I had a very strong finish for me after a rough start.

I smiled at your decision to start Part II the same you started Part I - with a song called To Live And Die In LA(as your list is titled). This Wang Chung track is ok, but I prefer Tupac's.

A lot of great selections in Part II. You can't go wrong with classic-lineup Fleetwood Mac, and I thought the run with War On Drugs->Bruce->Petty was great. I feel like that Bruce song into American Girl is one of my favorite transitions of the competition. I really liked that for some reason.

I made four discoveries here, three from artists I'd never heard of!

The Plimsouls sound like R.E.M., that Wiki informs me that they existed before R.E.M. They've got that jangly sound, at least in this track.

The Gene Loves Jezebel song gave me big Patti Smith vibes....not sure why haha, it just did. Read a little about them...interesting story...warring brothers, two different bands with the same name...crazy stuff.

This Sisters Of Mercy track is really propulsive and nighttime-ish. Feels a lot like Berlin-era Bowie to me, especially the vocals, which is always a good thing.

The Go-Gos are the one of these four artists I'd heard of, obviously. That chorus got stuck in my head. I like this one a lot.

The Tom Waits track was a beautiful way to end things.

I think you did a great job conveying the tone/mood/place you were going for. I've never actually been to LA, but listening to this list, I feel confident that it accurately represents the place. Good cohesion, flow, and accomplishment of purpose. I enjoyed it a lot apart from that opening stretch of hip-hop. Good job!

P.S. I told tourist yesterday about one of my favorite DI discoveries ever courtesy of one his lists, so I'll tell you that a decade ago, in DI7, you had 'Royksopp Forever' on your list, and that was the first time I'd ever heard of Royksopp. Long story short, Junior became one of my favorite electronic albums, still is to this day. Unfortunately they never released an album that strong again - some very good individual tracks, but never a whole album that good. Just thought I'd tell you that.

Ok Cobbler, you're up to finish things off for me.

I think my favorite thing about this list is how some of it has worked really well for everyone, but no one jived with the whole thing. That feels pretty L.A., honestly, .

Thank you for the kind words and feedback!

And yes, Royksopp have never got back to those heights for me, but I'm so glad I could point them out to you and that you got something great out of them.

 

[gump]

iYup

Sorry for taking so long to post my thoughts. I really loved this list. It’s so distinctive, amazingly cohesive, and peaked my interest throughout. It’s clear there was a lot of thought put behind it, and the execution was really great. I think your closing sequence may be my favorite of the competition: Bjork-Perfume Genius-Wild Beasts and then that perfect Bowie track that fit the mood so so well.

When I saw your list on paper I was curious if that stretch of long songs in the middle (a 14 minute song, followed by a 10 minute song, followed by a 7 minute song) was going to work, but as I was listening to the playlist that didn’t even register.

I was familiar with most of the artists in the beginning and end of the playlist, but the middle was full of new discoveries that I appreciated, including a lot of names off the beaten track.

Having spent some time trying to integrate jazz sounds in my playlist this year and previous DIs, I also appreciated how you managed to navigate those transitions, which worked pretty well.

I don’t really have any negative criticism, really thought the whole thing was so well put together. And I’ll definitely be going back to it from time to time.

 

[iron yuppie]

Thanks gump! The original ending I had was fairly upbeat, but then I realized that wasn't true to me so I went with more of a downer ending lol.