Random Music Talk CXXIX: Gump attends a concert

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Guys. Guys! The black midi album. Hot damn, it’s good.

My AOTY so far.

I've been waiting for a new progressive rock album to knock me on my ass like the first wave classics do and I really, truly believe if it had been released around the time of King Crimson's Red it would be revered to that degree.

The performances and arrangements are nuts. It feels unique but not so offbeat and challenging that you can't put it on whenever.
 
The performances and arrangements are nuts. It feels unique but not so offbeat and challenging that you can't put it on whenever.

All of this. I first tried to listen to it on speakers and it didn't really grab me, so I stopped after a few songs. Then I put the album again on headphones and went for a walk, and bang. It feels as though they are throwing everything at you with that opening track, John L. And Diamond Stuff, holy shit, the second half of that song is basically perfection.

I really can't think of any comparisons that work sonically for this album, though its ambition made me think of Side B of Low.
 
Gump, what are your thoughts on Bruno Pernadas? One of the most interesting Brazilian musicians getting any love in the US. Very good psych pop, his new album included.
 
Gump, what are your thoughts on Bruno Pernadas? One of the most interesting Brazilian musicians getting any love in the US. Very good psych pop, his new album included.

I think he is Portuguese, unless I'm not remembering it well (even if he has a song called Recife in it)? I listened to his latest and thought it was good, especially the first half, but never really went back to it after the first couple of times. I think its length made me lose focus a bit, though there were definitely good songs there, like Theme Vision. I have Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles... on my list, but haven't gotten to it just yet.

The last 2-3 years haven't been that great in terms of Brazilian music for me. My favorite recent Brazilian album is probably Mateus Aleluia's Fogueira Doce , which I think you might enjoy. Though that is already 4 years old. The title track is stunning.

 
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I think he is Portuguese, unless I'm not remembering it well (even if he has a song called Recife in it)? I listened to his latest and thought it was good, especially the first half, but never really went back to it after the first couple of times. I think its length made me lose focus a bit, though there were definitely good songs there, like Theme Vision. I have Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles... on my list, but haven't gotten to it just yet.

The last 2-3 years haven't been that great in terms of Brazilian music for me. My favorite recent Brazilian album is probably Mateus Aleluia's Fogueira Doce , which I think you might enjoy. Though that is already 4 years old. The title track is stunning.



My bad, he is from Lisbon. I hear music like his and vocals in Portuguese and have to assume. [emoji23] I honestly know zero about Portugal's music scene.

I heard this album yesterday and really enjoyed it, fairly traditionalist but great:

[YouTube]
 
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My bad, he is from Lisbon. I hear music like his and vocals in Portuguese and have to assume. [emoji23] I honestly know zero about Portugal's music scene.

I heard this album yesterday and really enjoyed it, fairly traditionalist but great:

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/wki0jhw8JOo[/YouTube]

Cuíca is such a fun instrument, and so Brazilian. It immediately takes me back when I hear it (I don't think it features in this song, though). I think it appears once or twice on my mini DI list.
 
Cuíca is such a fun instrument, and so Brazilian. It immediately takes me back when I hear it (I don't think it features in this song, though). I think it appears once or twice on my mini DI list.
I heard it for the first time on Beck's accurately named song Tropicalia. I understand that it's difficult to get good notes out of, so I appreciate when it's played well.
 
Rest assured, it’s very happy tears.

Excited to see how Pitchfork lamely attempt to come to the party five years too late if the album is received well.
 
It isn't "better" in that it lacks the unified themes and confessional songwriting that made Gossamer such a unique and influential juxtaposition of unbridled joy and bottomless angst. Albums like Paramore's After Laughter (which is also great) owe a lot to Gossamer.

But there isn't a single song on Gossamer that I like as much as The Reeling or Sleepyhead, so there you go.
 
This is a fun read:

Pitchfork’s Reviews Section By the Numbers


ARTISTS WITH THE LOWEST AVERAGE SCORES (among artists with ten or more reviews)
Weezer (13): 5.6
Foo Fighters (11): 5.7
Coldplay (13): 5.8


:applaud:

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You have your opinions and I have mine. Websites like pitchfork attempt to take an “expert’s” opinion and pass it off as fact. The closest factual approximation to what good music is would be what most people like. I don’t like that perspective and I’m sure neither do you. You might love Kanye West and you’re more than welcome to. I don’t. I also loathe Eminem, the two of them are not “geniuses”, they’re pricks with good flow. They’re assholes. They’re questionable character, I don’t like their sound, and I don’t appreciate their lyrics. The fact that one of them is “acclaimed” by pitchfork and the other is “the worst” is laughable. It’s someone’s opinion. The world loves Eminem and his music. I’m quite tired of the 10+ years of indie-bred snobbery’s ironic love for Kanye West. That’s what that is to me, and that’s what pitchfork is to me.
 
LN7 is fundamentally correct. I don't agree with him, but music is ultimately subjective.

He is tho

He was. I can't think of many, if any artists with the drop-off that Kanye has had since Pablo. I've gone from being a fierce Stan to someone who outright dislikes him (whilst still holding all the love I had for Pablo and back).
 
I’m hoping this is just a religious phase like Dylan went through and there’s plenty more good music to come. I want a divorce album from him as good as Blood on the Tracks.

And that’s the only time I compare Kanye West to Bob Dylan.
 
Haha, me and a good mate of mine have been saying for years we wanted them to break up so we could get a fucking fire, angry/sad divorce album.
 
LN7 is fundamentally correct. I don't agree with him, but music is ultimately subjective.



He was. I can't think of many, if any artists with the drop-off that Kanye has had since Pablo. I've gone from being a fierce Stan to someone who outright dislikes him (whilst still holding all the love I had for Pablo and back).
An artist doesn't just wake up one day and stop having immense talent. Rather, they drift away from their art and stop creating works that resonate with people. Edge still has the capacity for genius guitar playing, to be an innovator, but he doesn't put the effort in for U2 anymore.

Kanye got too bogged down by the context of his art - his mental illness, his business, his politics, his family life - to dedicate himself to music and the results are obvious. Maybe one day he'll sit down and start to craft a cohesive vision like he used to, but I can't see it happening under his current circumstances. Does that make him not a genius? I think the capacity for greatness is still there, but it's not likely to appear at this stage.
 
Kids See Ghosts was also a very good and very much beloved album, which came out all of 3 years ago. His beats on Daytona from the same year were also excellent.

Jesus Is King was the worst album of his career though. I've listened to it maybe twice and have no desire to go back. Empty lyricism and bad production. Like monkeyskin, I'm hoping that was just a fluke poor album and not the beginning of the end.
 
Not to pick on anyone, but I really think that “art is subjective” is overly simplistic a statement that ignores hundreds of years of artistic criticism. Of course it’s subjective like virtually everything involving humans. That doesn’t mean you can’t evaluate it according to a set of aesthetic and other factors, and distinguish great works from good ones from trash. You are free not to like the Jupiter Symphony, Kind of Blue or Crime and Punishment. That doesn’t mean one should ignore the overwhelming critical consensus around these work, or that prefers the latest Chainsmokers single has an equally valid point of view from a critical standpoint. Where Pitchfork goes wrong is trying to ascribe meaning to decimal point differences (particularly since their popularity in the industry means those decimal points can mean success or failure for many bands from a commercial standpoint). But trying to evaluate art? That has happened since men were painting on caves.
 
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