Desert Island X: Group 4 Listening Thread

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pfan:

Not gonna lie, but when I first viewed your playlist, the first thing that came to mind was, this is B&C's greatest hits, or something to that effect. And for some strange reason, it put a sour taste in my mouth, although I can't explain why. Perhaps it was the familiarity of it all, as I've heard most of these songs before.

But then I listened...

Loved the start, and then going into Kayne and Autre Ne Veut. I like certain Phantogram songs but not that whole album; this is one of the better tracks.

Never really cared for Flying Lotus or The Antlers, but the tracks surrounding them are all great. Hell, you even included Mute Math from back in the day. Great stuff. And then a fantastic stretch from God Is An Astronaut to Dum Dum Girls, one of the best parts to this.

I've indicated not liking Nick Cave previously, but this track was interesting and kept my attention, which is a plus. The Tim Hecker cut was one of the few on here I didn't know, but man, that was beautiful.

Probably my favorite Broken Bells song - nice choice. Followed by Destroyer, it went well, even if I'm in the minority with his stuff.

Haim's Edge should have been on the regular album, in place of one of the weaker tracks in the latter half of that record (i.e., My Song 5). And what a trifecta to end with, even if I'm still a bit annoyed that U2 didn't give The Troubles a better fade out.

I thought the transitions were very well done, really no compaints there.

My only nitpick, and it's minor, would have been the inclusion of some older songs. I think some classics would have fit in well with the theme presented here and given this just a bit more variety in terms of eras represented.

But again, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I think this is probably the best playlist you've ever put together. Well done.
 
Alright, time for iYup, the last list of the group. I'm not even going to discuss the flow on iYup's list because, unless he was totally incompetent, there's no way these tracks would sound bad together. Even if you put them on shuffle, they would probably work together OK. It's not just that they're "blues," but it goes down to the chord progressions themselves: this is pretty much one 12 bar blues progression after another. Had he made a 2 hour list, this could have been disastrous. Thankfully, he kept it to a trim hour and a half and, actually, the similar chord progressions gave the list one very nice twist: despite covering electric blues, Delta, folk and jazz, all of these songs come from the same tradition. There was a surprising amount of variety here. And the sequencing was in fact very clever. The only really lazy moment was putting the Dead Weather and the White Stripes back-to-back.

As far as the song choices go, I'll say this list had a low ceiling but a high floor. I liked nearly everything on here, but very few of these tracks are all-time favorites for me (The Stooges, Leadbelly and Bob Dylan tracks are an exception). There are some artists I wish had made the cut (early Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal, Albert King, John Lee Hooker), but many classics are present here. In fact, for me, there weren't a lot of surprises because these are blues songs many people have at least heard covered at some point or other, but they're also essential. Overall, I would say this was a very consistent and high quality sampler of the origins and influence of blues.
 
I like that iyup has the pair of jack white things together so I don't have to hear him resurface later on, it would not fit between the later old timey stuff, or the new school old timey stuff (springsteen's cover of pay me my money down, for exmple).

And I fucking love that "in the mood" is on his list. Absolutely love it. It doesn't belong in the same sentence as zeppelin, and that's why they aren't back to back. But they both have a place on this list.
 
LemonMelon said:
Alright, time for iYup, the last list of the group. I'm not even going to discuss the flow on iYup's list because, unless he was totally incompetent, there's no way these tracks would sound bad together. Even if you put them on shuffle, they would probably work together OK. It's not just that they're "blues," but it goes down to the chord progressions themselves: this is pretty much one 12 bar blues progression after another. Had he made a 2 hour list, this could have been disastrous. Thankfully, he kept it to a trim hour and a half and, actually, the similar chord progressions gave the list one very nice twist: despite covering electric blues, Delta, folk and jazz, all of these songs come from the same tradition. There was a surprising amount of variety here. And the sequencing was in fact very clever. The only really lazy moment was putting the Dead Weather and the White Stripes back-to-back.

As far as the song choices go, I'll say this list had a low ceiling but a high floor. I liked nearly everything on here, but very few of these tracks are all-time favorites for me (The Stooges, Leadbelly and Bob Dylan tracks are an exception). There are some artists I wish had made the cut (early Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal, Albert King, John Lee Hooker), but many classics are present here. In fact, for me, there weren't a lot of surprises because these are blues songs many people have at least heard covered at some point or other, but they're also essential. Overall, I would say this was a very consistent and high quality sampler of the origins and influence of blues.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review here. I was conscious of the run time, as these kind of genre workouts are prone to overstaying their welcome. Re: Allman Brothers, I was strongly considering them, but for some reason I find that particular brand of white-man southern blues somewhat bastardized. And I know that sounds odd considering the presence of Zeppelin and the Stones here, but in those cases the songs sound a lot less forced than say, Lynard Skynard or whatever.
 
I took a while to get through Afliktor's list, but now have it finished. Breaking it into the three sections was wise, because they would have had trouble meshing with each other despite the similar tone running through them. The first section was probably the strongest in terms of variety and sequencing, with Bonobo and DJ Shadow being standouts (I really need to get around to Entroducing, which I have had for a while but never listened to).

Section two was more patchy to my ear; these weren't poor songs by any stretch, but they were arranged in a haphazard way, especially (as others have noted) with Crystal Ballroom seemingly shoe-horned into the list. That said, Mogwai was an excellent closer, adding a bit of menace to an otherwise mellow section.

The third section is cohesive but also a bit abrasive in spots (e.g. the Lincoln Park-esque screaming in "Can You Feel My Heart"). If I'm honest, "Love Me to Death" is one of the worst songs I have heard in a while, with extremely half-assed lyrics (I don't think the term "email" should ever appear in lyrics) and a generic beat. That one unfortunately soured me a bit on what followed. Overall I would say a mixed-bag with some very strong moments.
 
iron yuppie said:
Thanks for the review here. I was conscious of the run time, as these kind of genre workouts are prone to overstaying their welcome. Re: Allman Brothers, I was strongly considering them, but for some reason I find that particular brand of white-man southern blues somewhat bastardized. And I know that sounds odd considering the presence of Zeppelin and the Stones here, but in those cases the songs sound a lot less forced than say, Lynard Skynard or whatever.
Click to expand...

I specified early Allman Brothers because, prior to Duane's death, they delivered two very good blues rock records and At Fillmore East, one of the finest live albums of all time. They weren't comparable to Skynyrd until Dickey Betts took over for Duane and they started writing Ramblin' Man type shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkLCWrRFBPs

Nothing bastardized about that IMO, just pure heat.
 
Also, I've been listening to a lot of blues since hearing iYup's list. Man, I'm really digging the White Stripes' debut. I haven't heard it in ages.
 
So cobbler, I liked the rest of your list as well, but not as much as the first part. The short hiphop section was great following the mellow DJ Shadow track. I did expect it to be a bit longer though. It certainly wouldn't have hurt. In general, I thought you were genre hopping a tad too much in the second part of your playlist. I know that's what you were aiming for but I usually prefer it when you stick to a genre/sound for say 5-10 songs and then mix it up.

I still enjoyed basically every song I heard though, with some standing out more than others of course. St Vincent followed by Something for Kate was a highlight. I love the chorus of that last song. This Is the Last Time is one of my favorite tracks by The National so that one's always nice to here. The inclusion of Radio Cure was great as well, as that's my favorite track on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I'm a fan of Passion Pit but I've never heard Manners which is something I should correct because Swimming in the Flood is fantastic. Probably the highlight of the second half. The final four song stretch was a strong end to the mix.

Great list from you Dan, definitely one of my favorites so far.
 
Yes you goddamn do, iYup. You'll love Endtroducing.....

nielsgov said:
So cobbler, I liked the rest of your list as well, but not as much as the first part. The short hiphop section was great following the mellow DJ Shadow track. I did expect it to be a bit longer though. It certainly wouldn't have hurt. In general, I thought you were genre hopping a tad too much in the second part of your playlist. I know that's what you were aiming for but I usually prefer it when you stick to a genre/sound for say 5-10 songs and then mix it up.

I still enjoyed basically every song I heard though, with some standing out more than others of course. St Vincent followed by Something for Kate was a highlight. I love the chorus of that last song. This Is the Last Time is one of my favorite tracks by The National so that one's always nice to here. The inclusion of Radio Cure was great as well, as that's my favorite track on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I'm a fan of Passion Pit but I've never heard Manners which is something I should correct because Swimming in the Flood is fantastic. Probably the highlight of the second half. The final four song stretch was a strong end to the mix.

Great list from you Dan, definitely one of my favorites so far.
Click to expand...

Thanks heaps man! And yeah, that SFK chorus is stunning. You should definitely check out Manners. I prefer it over Gossamer by a very wide margin.
 
Philsfan:

- Holy crap the Go Team are an energetic, lively opener. Got me super pumped up. Great melody, great interplay between the horns.

- Unfortunately all of that momentum is jettisoned by Kayne. The only good thing about this song is the weird backing vocal throughout.

- Autre Ne Veut is all over the place. Can't say in a place for more than a few seconds. I think this is great, because the textures keep changing, which keeps the song progressing.

- Phantogram aren't bad. The "eh eh" backing vocals are SUPER FUCKING ANNOYING though.

- Flying Lotus - very well placed.

- The Roots and Gorillaz both do very little for me. Something about the singing just grates. I feel like I'm being preached to, and I hate being preached too.

- Mutemath's combination of hip hop and reggae is pretty interesting! The lyrics are pretty cliched reggae, but in this context they're far more convincing.

- The Antlers - beautiful, soulful stuff. Restrained singing over a jazzy, electronic ballad.

- Good contrast between God Is An Astronaut and We Were Promised Jetpacks - it's heavy rocking, but also sort of Celtic? (This leads really nicely into Cults.)

- Hey, a decent Wilco song! Well I'll be damned.

- In the context of a long indie-rock section, you can hear what makes St. Vincent really stand out - she writes unusual chord progressions, she makes production choices that nobody else would.

- Hey, Radiohead still fucking suck.

- The National = Leonard Cohen?

- I guess the length really got to me by the second half of this list. It was consistently good, but I just couldn't get into it because I had just come off an hour of stuff that wildly varied in quality. I'm not sure why.
 
Cobbler, I thought you nailed your concept, especially with that ending. Worked very well along with the story you tell in the write-up. I do find it a bit presumptuous of you to suggest that your list is as genre-dense as IWB's or LeMel's, simply because your stretch of dance music was relatively short in comparison with their respective genres and the rest of your list goes pretty much to the B&C well. I found that a tad disappointing, but not overly much so.

A few stand-out tracks, from albums I'd already heard, but apparently just didn't quite click with, initially. Specifically the DJ Koze and Jon Hopkins songs. Maybe I just needed to hear them in a new way to really click with them.

Also nice to hear a Something for Kate song that I didn't find really boring, because I keep hearing so much about this band, but nothing's ever really done anything for me up until now, but that one was good.
 
Wow thanks heaps for that :) and yeah just to clear that up when I was talking about my list being genre dense I was only referring to the first eight or nine songs, not the whole thing, my bad.

I would say give Immunity a listen. It is a tremendous piece of work,.

If nothing else comes of this tournament I'm just so happy everyone's loved that SFK song.
 
I listened to iYup and Cobbler's lists and have been crazy busy with work issues so this is short for the moment. I intend to go back and explain more, but I'll just say I liked both concepts.

For iYup, I preferred the second half to the first. The acoustic and harmonica stuff isn't as much my taste, but the first half I thought had great energy, and there were certainly songs later on that appealed to my taste.

For Cobbler, there was great vibes overall in the list and it worked well. Before the songs in my ballpark, it was a mixed bag on what songs worked and which ones didn't, but I don't recall any song I outright disliked. Just a matter of some grabbing and some not.

Both were strong efforts.
 
Affliktor:

- Paper Tiger is a pretty effective overture - loving all of the backwards parts makes it feel off kilter and surprising.

- Okay, the rest of the song is boring but the orchestral break in Let It Rain is super cool. Was definitely not expecting that.

- It seems I gotta check out DJ Shadow. This was both musically entrancing and lyrically compelling. I can empathise with what this is trying to do, in a big way.

- Playlist is getting very slow and moody - doing little for me. It's indistinct, notes without being melodic.

- Working For A Nuclear Free City is an excellent name. Great segue to Hunting Grounds. Great guitar playing on both of those songs, even if they are plenty different in tone.

- It disheartens me to hear how people go gaga over The Crystal Ballroom. Corny, overproduced, lifeless. Really doesn't fit within this list at all.

- Bloc Party are not a highly regarded band by me, but the temp change midway through Uniform was totally unexpected and very well done.

- I find Mogwai to be tring way too hard to be epic, when they could pull back a little and be much more effective. Bleh.

- The Amon Tobin/WIKAN songs are really boring, especially played together. I suppose they work well as background music, but there's just not enough going on to necessitate full attention.

- Jez Dior, you're boring.

- El Ten Eleven remind me of a more chilled out Maps and Atlases - there are lots of wirey guitar parts that work together to create this interesting tapestry of sound.
 
Afliktor:

Part 1 was easily my favorite. Saying that, I can't remember specific songs that stood out to me (it's been nearly a week since I've actually listened to it because I'm lazy like like that).That kind of chill electronic music never lends itself to specific songs standing out though. It was a nice, laid-back listening experience with one song standing out as a sore thumb, namely Let It Rain. I'm not a fan of trap. I'm relistening to your list as I type this. 2nd Day Back followed by Kiara is one hell of an opening.

The guitars were a welcome change for part two. This was also the part where I knew a good chunk of the tracks. Ididn't know there was such a thing as Nugaze. Seeing the prefix Nu- always makes me vomit a little (thank you Linkin Park) but Kingdom was a very nice song. Untitled works in any context and you also managed to include my favorite Bloc Party song. And I'm a huge fan. This part was solid through-out.

Part 3 was the most interesting but also the least enjoyable section. I don't know what your aim was but it was a bit of a mess genre wise. I did like the Jez Dior song however. The post-rock at the end was nice as well, especially the combination of Balmorhea and El Ten Eleven.
 
PFan:

As others have mentioned, this is probably the most B&C list of this tournament, but that didn't detract from my listening experience at all as it was still varied. Going from Kanye West through Autre Ne Veut, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz to The Antlers in the space of only a few tracks and it all sounding good together is pretty impressive. On top of that, about half of the songs you included were still new to me. However, I am partial to lists that focus on a few genres I'm not that knowledgeable about and this one clearly doesn't do that. That is just personal preference of course.

Your lists was filled with great songs though. These are all personal favorites of mine: Play By Play, Stylo, Director, Heavy Metal Drummer, Jubilee Street, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Ultraviolence, New Year, Love Is To Die, Suicide Demo and Daniel. You can clearly see that that middle section with Radiohead and Beach House among others was my favorite. Of the songs I didn't know these stood out to me most: Quiet Little Voices, Edge, Honeymoon and most notably Perfect World. For some reason I've never cared to check out Broken Bells.

So overal it was a very enjoyable listen but not one of my favorites.
 
Resuming...

cobbler:

Loved the first section of your playlist, although it probably did go on a bit too long. Wasn't too keen on the Thundercat track, but based on your commentary, its inclusion is obvious. And man, that Kele song was, I don't know, jarring to hear after being accustomed to Bloc Party for so long.

Outkast was great as usual, but I don't particularly care for Chance, and the transition to the Nightlands cut was rather abrupt, but it gets you to the next portion of your list, so I get the gist behind it.

A selection of songs I really like (The National, Passion Pit) mixed with others that I don't (St. Vincent, Wilco) took over things from there. Man, that Wilco song was a slog to get through. However, Courtney Barnett was absolutely fantastic - one of the best songs I've heard in this DI that I previously didn't know. And my favorite part of this playlist was the ending. What a great pairing with Jon Hopkins and Brian Eno.

The theme and flow was impeccable throughout, and apart from the one noted transition, I thought the songs mixed together nicely. Great to listen to...
 
AtomicBono:

It took a while for this to get going for me. The first two tracks were unremarkably decent, then Let It Rain followed which was, I don't know, a bit annoying.

Starting with DJ Shadow (albeit with an abrupt ending - the edit didn't work so well there), I really, really enjoyed the remainder of Part 1. In particular, I loved Neon Ghosts, and then I'll give you props for your own track at the end. I'm assuming that is you. When I googled Afliktor, your twitter feed came up, and that pic definitely reminds me of some older ones you used to post on here. Cool name, and I really like that piece you did.

For Part 2, I pretty much enjoyed the whole thing, but I'll agree with others in that throwing in Crystal Ballroom just didn't go well. An earlier, moody piece from them, or a Passengers track, would have worked much better there. Special shout out for including Mogwai.

The last part was probably my least favorite overall, but I did really like Seattle, and I thought Can You Feel My Heart was also good - looks like you remixed that one yourself. Nice touch.
 
Catching up with this after a somewhat long trip with super slow internet access… sorry for not posting comments earlier.

PFan

Like in the last DI, there’s a lot of stuff I really loved in your playlist. I think our tastes overlap to a great extent, so it’s not surprising. Bust Out Brigade was a great opening song. Auto Ne Veut -> Phantogram -> Flying Lotus was a smart sequence transition-wise, and I think you selected some of the best songs from these artists (I also used Play by Play in the previous DI). The long middle section from Dum Dum Girls to Beach House was very strong, and my favorite part of the playlist.

Tim Hecker is an artist I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, but never get around to it. Have added it to my list. Perfect World is such a great song from an underwhelming album. The Bat for Lashes song was great - I need to check that album. My only (very minor) criticism is the flow at the very end. The Haim - War on Drugs -National transition didn’t work that well for me, but the closing with National and The Troubles was very strong. Great job!


cobbler

Loved your list, especially the first part. I listened to it while jogging - it works as a good running companion. I didn’t know a bunch of stuff in the first part, as it’s not a genre I generally listen to often. I was happy to finally listen to the song quoted in the title of the dance music thread. The transitions were really well done throughout this section, and it really did sound like a DJ mix in a way. That Todd Terje album is great fun, I need to go back to it more often than I do. I expected a lot of hip hop in your list, and was somewhat disappointed that there wasn’t all that much, as it’s generally a good introduction to stuff I’m not generally familiar with.

The second part of your list was great fun, some of my favorite songs from my favorite bands. Loved to see Courtney Barnett there - you are doing a good job publicizing her work. That The Avalanches song was really good, one of my favorite things in your list, even though it was more of a transitional song, I felt. I thought the ending worked really well, by the way. Great job too!


Affliktor and iYup are next.
 
iYup:

Blues isn't a genre I'm well acquainted with. I've heard a few classic records of course but they've never convinced me to delve deeper into the genre. This playlist is very good in that sense. I enjoyed it overal but that kind of music will never be a favorite of mine.

The opening song was nice and epic. A good introduction. Nick Cave was a very good follow-up. The three more uptemo songs after that were all great. The acoustic guitar was more prominent in the following songs. They didn't do as much for me as those truly bluesy songs aren't the kind I enjoy. Nothing I hated but nothing I need to hear again.

Nothing stood out to me until the jazzy section started in the second half. Just like with blues, I've only heard a handful of classic jazz albums but it is a genre I enjoy a lot and want to hear more of. The Burrell and Miles Davis tracks were the highlights. The final few songs were nice as well, especially Lord I've Been Changed.
 
iYup, you are up.

Kinda surprised to see something as jazz-by-the-numbers as "In the Mood" on here, but I love that song so who cares, right?
 
You're in luck, iYup, you caught me on one of those days I really love blues rock, so this playlist is flowing by like a dream.

That Zeppelin track was a treat, and I've always been a big fan of "Country Honk".

Onto a little blues.
 
Just finished your list, iYup. Work got a bit in the way.

Loved every bit of it. Except of course for Tom Waits :wink:. Everything else was great. And it was fairly seamless, to boot. Never seemed to overstay its welcome in any one sound, either. Good stuff. Favorite song was "Sue's Last Ride", but that Etta James track was beastly good as well.
 
iYup: like Ashley, I caught your playlist in a good day for blues (especially the jazzy half). A drizzling, foggy New York winter. I liked all of it, but tended to gravitate towards the second, less "dirty" part of the list, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong: I like a bunch of songs in that first part, especially Country Honk (which I find slightly underrated in general) and the Neil Young/Bob Dylan combo. But I think the second half better showcases some of the work you put in building this list - the song choices were very good throughout. Summertime in particular, worked very well. I love Porgy and Bess, though (by the way, check out the new Rufus Reid album if you like the Miles/Gil Evans collaborations, especially Sketches of Spain). I was not absolutely crazy about the flow into Bruce and Tom Waits, but that's really the only (minor) criticism I can make.
 
Thanks, all, for the reviews. Glad you guys are finding something to like in there. Gump, I will look into that album - thanks for the recommendation.
 
I keep falling behind on these but I'm still here!

PhilFan:

So far, this is my favorite playlist. It was a wonderful mix of great songs I love with songs I didn't know. You avoided obvious picks most of the time and helped me rediscover old favorites (Heavy Metal Drummer, Bust-Out Brigade). Plus, now I have some new artists to look into, like Haunted Hearts, Warpaint and God Is An Astronaut.

Great flow as well. Somehow you got from the New Pornographers to Nick Cave in five songs without me getting whiplash. Then there's the incredible ending of The National and U2. Can't say enough good things about this list. I absolutely loved it.
 
iYup:

This was a solid playlist to listen to, although under normal listening parameters, I can only listen to a certain amount of blues for so long.

First song was great, but man, I really don't know what a lot of you see in Nick Cave. Quite frankly, I think he sucks, and this song didn't change that opinion.

A nice little stretch followed, although I probably would have had Dead Weather and White Stripes separated. Zeppelin to Dylan was a treat though.

Sue's Last Ride - never heard it before, but one of the highlights on this. That was a great track.

Loved the older stuff that came after, although I'm not sure In The Mood fit well from a thematic perspective, as good as it is. But the songs around it, from Robert Johnson to Lightnin' Hopkins to Nina Simone to Etta James was all top notch.

Certainly don't mind seeing a Seeger track from Bruce on here, but as was said by someone else, the transition to him was a bit rough and it stood out from what was otherwise a very well done playlist in terms of flow and feel. Thought you picked a great closer with Leadbelly.

So again, really liked your playlist, even if it isn't something I'd listen to all that much outside of this competition.
 
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