Music Music Music

[Eliahad]

All things move in cycles, I believe, in a continuous wave from 'simple' to 'complex' and back again. This does not make new music bad, or old music stodgy, it means that in our perception of the music, we appreciate the complex for what it is. We are better able to perceive, as we get older, the layers of nuance, we analyze it more, because we enjoy the understanding. Until we are hit with that one song or piece, that in its utter simplicity, floors us and we start to walk ourselves back again. Both have a place.

[Phoebe]

BACK TO THE 365 ALBUM CHALLENGE! DAY 58!!! NOT EVEN HALFWAY THERE!!!!!!

1. Beck - Morning Phase
2. God Lives Underwater - Empty
3. Beyonce - Beyonce
4. 21 Pilots - Vessel
5. 21 Pilots - Blurryface
6. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
7. Duke Ellington - Sacred Concert (the original one)
8. Elvis Country
9. Roy Harper - Whatever Happened to Jugula
10. Wicked (the musical)
11. Dusty Springfield - Brand New Me
12. Dusty in Memphis
13. Otis Redding - Otis Blue
14. Otis Redding - The Soul Album
[Nurse with Wound: Effort Aborted!]
15. Aretha Franklin – Gospel Greats
16. Duran Duran – Duran Duran
17. David Bowie - Blackstar
18. Gustavo Cerati - Bocanada
19. The Annie Movie Soundtrack
20. Nine Inch Nails – Not the Actual Events

I liked one song off this latest NIN album, "Dear World". The rest honestly sucked. It could be that I'm coming off a multi-day migraine and cannot afford to mess with bad noises right now, and it could be that like many other good things, this would take time to grow on me. However, the effort as a whole feels tired, lazy, and unpleasant to listen to. I don't really expect "pleasant" to listen to from NIN, but this is unpleasant unpleasantness. I'll probably give it another listen when I'm in less physical discomfort and see if it improves with time. For now, definitely not recommended.

[poorpete]

My latest haikus up to 56:
http://www.first2eleven.com/category/fun/365-albums/

55: Brooks & Dunn: Brand New Man
“Neon Moon” impressed,
Dunn is a good songwriter
of pop country songs

about girls and bars
though I am glad I listened,
might not return here.

[Phoebe]

I love that song. For reasons best left unexplained in detail I once learned how to do all those country contemporary dances and frequented an establishment where such things were done. This song was really big at that time and it was one of my favorites that would come on.

[poorpete]

lol, awesome.

Mea culpa:

Adele: 25

Lived up to the hype
A great pick for the Grammy
for year's Best Album.

Beyonce: Lemonade

Lived up to the hype
of being totally robbed
of album Grammy.

[poorpete]

Why yes, I do have a list of my favorite song I first heard this year from each of the (eventually) 365 albums I've listened to this year.

Why, yes, if you have Amazon Prime you can listen to most of it!
https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists ... 7a02-fdf9a

[Phoebe]

The movie I watched last night has rendered me incapable of tolerating the sounds of any music whatsoever. It was such a dumb movie, I can't emphasize enough how utterly dumb! Yet for some reason, perhaps some darkly French comment it smuggled in about the pointless Sisyphean struggle of existence, the impossibility of all true communication, the failure of all the best-laid plans, and the hollow, hopeless despair one must choke down each day simply to run through the maintenance movements of a life, it has ruined all the music. I'm sure it's temporary.

[Phoebe]

IT WAS TEMPORARY!

21. Prong - X No Absolutes

THIS ALBUM ROCKS! This may be the best album of theirs, I don't know. But yes yes yes a triple yes (wait is that now 4 or 6 yesses?) to this whole thing. CUT AND DRY a highlight. Do Nothing! Wow. Wow. This is just SO GOOD.

OK I found one I simply must add here too:


Consult with me in silence!

[Phoebe]

Making further progress - if we cannot sleep, at least we can listen to things!
22. Saltland - I Thought It Was Us but It Was All of Us

Pleasant mix with cello, various other instruments, interesting percussive sounds, soft layery vocals more like another instrument than a vocal track. I like it but it's kind of like the first encounter with certain forms of jazz - there's a lot going on here and I appreciate but can't really grasp all of it. I'm not really grabbed and moved by this in a particular way, though it is nice to listen to. Reminds me of the music they find somewhere and play at my kids' dance recitals. They have good taste, the dance people - emphasis on modern dance there.

[akiva]

Short memory
Must have a
Short memory

[Phoebe]

LOL great music today yes. You're a genius.

[akiva]

[Phoebe]

No really! You always pop in with the good musics at a good moment! But Prong... You should try this latest Prong album.

[akiva]

[poorpete]

Listening to TuneYards and her art pop reminded me of one of my favs, Vic Thrill.

[Phoebe]

[Phoebe]

The 365 Album challenge remains difficult when you can't sit your butt down anywhere for longer than 20 minutes, or when you can but there are constantly interruptions from phones and people and things happening. However, it's still in progress and moving slowly along. The song in head at the moment is that annoying-to-me one about not sitting still and looking pretty, blah blah blah, but the reason I listen to it sometimes is that my 9 year old loves it and for her the message is not tired. She takes it totally seriously, and that is pretty good. So thanks, Zendaya or whoever you are, it's a headache-inducer of a sing-song but my kid is benefiting.

[akiva]

I'm insanely excited to see Midnight Oil again, so their songs have been running through my head. Maybe my favorite of their songs:

[Phoebe]

Tonight was the night of Lupe Fiasco:
23. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book / 3
24. Cool
25. DROGAS
26. Food & Liquor
27. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II

I liked all of these albums. I really did NOT like the first song (with Kanye?) on Coloring Book, but after that it was great. Standout tracks were No Problem, Mixtape, All Night, and then the group of gospel-influenced songs like Blessings, FInish Line, How Great - I really liked these but in a different way from the others.

I had tried to start the listening event this evening with Run the Jewels but their lyrics are so bad. Usually I can kind of ignore or suspend belief regarding violent rap lyrics, but sometimes they are very specific and sociopathic and I just can't. Not today for Run the Jewels, sorry. After that it was so much nicer to hear powerful, inventive lyrics from Chance and Lupe Fiasco. Have some political issues with the guy behind the Lupe Fiasco name but that's partly what made me give the first one a listen, and it was interesting. Many of those songs are classics and even when they piece together imitations of older songs, it's done in such a creative way that you don't mind. He also mixes up styles - I guess what I found most surprising is the variety of styles of music on all of these albums. You never know what to expect next and usually the surprise is a good one. Drogas has some amazing songs near the end of the album that are more like dance tracks - very upbeat things you might expect to hear on the radio, if the radio would play good music more often!

[poorpete]

Nice! I've heard Lupe guest on a few songs, will need to check out some of his stuff.

As a theater of the mind, it's great comedy, try to ignore the fact that they never were able to make the video for it.