Go Back   Electric Mole Forums > Other > Off-Topic (Music)
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Off-Topic (Music) Similar/Non-Related Artists
Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 2011.12.17, 06:24 PM   #11
Superficial Fan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 373
Superficial Fan raises the standards of what a community can offer
Default

Boy Better Know – Tropical 2

I don't know exactly how this electronic dance (grime, house, "post-bassline," whatever the fuck that is, etc.) ended up as my favorite album of the year. Among many strong points, the tracks tend to build into one another quite beautifully. While in some respects it's a stripped down music, it can also be maximalist in the fractured vocals and variety of beats and effects it throws our way. There's something very urban feeling about much of it, but also an uncanny thread running through it which is difficult to put one's feeling on. I would not want to try to find words to express some of the emotions evoked. Here's a review by the person who inspired me to listen to this (on a thread on a different board, not via his review), not that I agree with (or even understand) everything he says: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15888-tropical-2/


Kimbra – Vows

I think awareness of this one came to me via Electric Mole itself. From one angle this looks like the sort of thing I might decide I've overrated, a year from now. That's okay. I'm not going to worry too much about second guessing myself that way. For now, I've listened to and enjoyed this quite a bit. I like the range of styles. I like Kimbra's voice even if she belts a bit too often. At first it was mostly just about the singles, but on repeated listens, the album tracks turned out to be nearly as satisfying.



Maria Rita – Elo

Honestly, much of the appeal boils down to what a great voice and vocal attack Maria Rita has, but the material itself is solid, sometimes excellent. An MPB mix with a somewhat traditionalist slant: some obvious samba, bossa nova, and jazz threads.



Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

My Kate Bush fandom does go back to the days when Never Forever was still brand new, but I definitely lost interest with Sensual World, and when I went back to Red Shoes, which I had never heard, I was not pleased. So, no, I don't automatically love everything she does. Aerial was an extremely strong comeback. This is an excellent followup to that album. If you didn't like Aerial, I wouldn't necessarily recommend bothering with this, but if you did, give it a chance.


Various – Pakistan Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-76

This is probably cheating, in the context of the sort of list Tokyo Jihad was asking for, but this music was all entirely new to me. I love this collection, which can be ridiculously kitsch at times, but then take you into subtle emotional territory. What I'm assuming are folk roots provide lots of great melody, and the rhythms alternate between traditional Pakistani, western pop/rock rhythms, or a mixture of both.

I will add that in playing catch-up with 2011 EOY best albums lists, I've torn through a bunch of the most acclaimed albums, and the more I listen around, the more content I am with my humble list of five titles. If I'm missing things I would like, and I'm sure I am, they don't seem to be the albums finding their way to the top of most EOY lists.

Last edited by Superficial Fan : 2011.12.17 at 06:35 PM.
Superficial Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.22, 12:55 AM   #12
SoulExperience
Senior Member
 
SoulExperience's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: ZAZENVILLE
Posts: 117
SoulExperience is an asset to this community
Default

Any and everything by anyone in Odd Future.

Salyu x Salyu

THATS IT.
SoulExperience is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.22, 08:36 AM   #13
BanFan
Senior Member
 
BanFan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 194
BanFan is an asset to this community
Default

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad View Post
I think the progression is from her as a musician. Before I think the songs centered around her vocal performance where Strange Mercy was more centered around her instrumental performance.

I mean, its a little bit of a push, sure; just depends on what you're expecting to take home from an album.
Have you guys listened to the NPR recording of her show at the 9:30 Club in DC? The sound's kind of shitty (I don't mind, it mostly bothers me that I have to turn my stereo up so loud to hear clearly) but I still prefer it over the album. She's so charming during the little talking bits in between songs.

Favorite Albums

01. St. Vincent's Live at The 9:30 Club - I adore this for being less sterile than the album
02. Galileo Galilei's Parade - Great major debut; Yuuki's voice is so refreshing in the context of J-pop
03. Friendly Fires' Pala - I love catchy music and this is relentlessly catchy
04. Twin Sister's In Heaven - Couldn't put this down once the dramatic mid-section grew on me
05. Chara's Dark Candy - Shockingly good considering she's been in the industry 20 years
06. Tokyo Jihen's Dai-hakken - Couldn't put this down either after tweaking the track order
07. Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes - Thought there were some duds but the standouts are insane
08. Sakanaction's DocumentaLy - Falters by the last quarter, but the first three are flawless
09. M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - Basically "Midnight City" stretched into a lovely two-disc album
10. Cults' Cults - I don't even remember what's on this but "You Know What I Mean" is ridiculous

The latest Dodos album was okay, but I thought the last third of the album was so boring, which is never a good thing when your album only has nine songs.

Last edited by BanFan : 2011.12.22 at 08:55 AM.
BanFan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.22, 04:50 PM   #14
justriiingo
Senior Member
 
justriiingo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SGP.
Posts: 2,664
justriiingo can barely hear you above the sound of how awesome they arejustriiingo can barely hear you above the sound of how awesome they are
Default

When I heard SBTRKT's album I thought to myself, wow, this album has a serious chance of breaking out of dance music circles and making its way to non-dance audiences... And I was right. "Something goes right" just gets me everytime.... it's that good. This album made it to Pitchfork hahahaha.

This year my music listening is more focused on singles and EPs than albums, maybe cuz I'm listening to a lot more dance music stuff.

One of my favourites this year is Mosca... young producer from UK. His sound is varied... his homage to the 90s garage sound is so on point with "Bax", but I think his true talent really shows on the tune Tilt-shift, which is dubby and dancey and hypnotic and just, wow.

One of the few albums I really liked this year was Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rolling. The album is so lush and rich... proper soul sound... but it sounds like it's made in 2010 and not 1960. The last 4 tracks of the album are so damn good, I always skip to them. It's unfair, but damn those last 4 tracks... Movin' down the line, Just don't, Good Man, The Answer.

(i'll have more in a bit!)
__________________
"You gotta have freedom! You gotta have freedom. You gotta have peace of mind! You gotta have peace of mind."
justriiingo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.23, 11:48 PM   #15
hoopra
Senior Member
 
hoopra's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 297
hoopra raises the standards of what a community can offer
Default

albums not mentioned yet i liked
toro y moi - underneath the pine
van hunt - what are you hoping for
brown eyed girls - sixth sense
the weeknd - thursday
jamie xx herbie hancock - we new here
little dragon - ritual union
j*davey - new designer drug

the one mentioned already
really liked
lykke ly
radio head
st vincent
fleet foxes
hoopra is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.28, 05:57 AM   #16
so_cold
Senior Member
 
so_cold's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: London
Posts: 480
so_cold puts considerable thought into their posts
Default

... My Favourite Album of 2011 ...




Teedra Moses - Luxurious Undergrind (mixtape)

Unlike someone like Janelle Monae who will make music with cross-genre appeal, this is straight-up, lushly arranged R&B and is all the better for it.

To Hell With It is an obvious single candidate with its Portishead-esque beat and sweeping bridge; Get Free has a spy-movie air, Invitation and Missing U are tuned into specific shades of romantic emotion; Special (ft. 1 Oak) is a treat for anyone who likes its kind of R&B chords. Like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd as well, noone would have complained if this were an album rather than "just" a work-in-progress.


... Honorable Mentions [YouTube links to favourite songs in brackets] ...




Zomby - Dedication

The kind of music only 2011 gives you really: a genreless post-dubstep album with a generation's worth of 8- and 16- bit game soundtracks percolated through it.

The album's in dedication to the producer's late father and there's a mournful quality to these melodies that stick very much in the memory. While Dedication is something of a grower, Zomby's Nothing EP makes deeper incursions into breakbeat and is just as good. [Natalia's Song]



Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place

Here's a good album to fall asleep to (rock n roll!) But somehow these somewhat repetitive but progressively pretty choral compositions do have a great effect while dozing off, or if you have synesthesia, because each one has its own set of colours.

Opener Envelop is like an extension to Lemonheads' My Drug Buddy that sounds properly narcotised, and that sets a tone for an album that any fan of Animal Collective or Fleet Foxes who had wondered what their favourite bands sound like underwater could wish for. [Listen to it all from her bandcamp]

Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse

Another short, good chillout album. Thundercat was responsible for one or two stunningly labyrinthine basslines on Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma and provides that here as well as excellent songwriting that recalls Roy Ayers, the Thundercats soundtrack and um... Sting (in a good way). Since FlyLo is producing, it sometimes comes across as a more accessible Cosmogramma as well. [In Love I Come]

Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

Yes, it really is about those last 4 songs. Best songwriter in the world on current form, for those four songs... [Just Don't ft. Yukimi Nagano]

SBTRKT - SBTRKT

A solid cocktail of UK dance music influences from the last 20 years, the masked producer hits on something wholly new in songs like Wildfire and Sanctuary. Future-disco anthem [Pharoahs ft. Roses Gabor] is my favourite song of the year.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Like the odd little painting that holds you as much as the blockbuster artworks crowds gather around, and like In Rainbows before it, this album reminded me of why I liked Radiohead personally, rather than going along with the generic "they're a good band" consensus - and this is from someone more into individuals than bands. Enjoyed Thom Yorke's work with Modeselektor and some of Jonny Greenwood's Norwegian Wood soundtrack this year as well. [Give Up The Ghost]
__________________

so_cold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.28, 06:33 AM   #17
deadgrandma
Senior Member
 
deadgrandma's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,764
deadgrandma knows what you did last summerdeadgrandma knows what you did last summerdeadgrandma knows what you did last summer
Default

NONE of those albums are remotely like ANY ringo, it really is doing my head in why you would have been interested in her to start with
__________________
Disco! Life is dead
deadgrandma is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.28, 06:49 AM   #18
so_cold
Senior Member
 
so_cold's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: London
Posts: 480
so_cold puts considerable thought into their posts
Default

Originally Posted by deadgrandma View Post
NONE of those albums are remotely like ANY ringo, it really is doing my head in why you would have been interested in her to start with

You really are an obnoxious prick aren't you.

My home styles if I have them are soulful electronic music / drum n bass / dubstep / some indie, particularly this year. Which is nothing like SR. But then neither is Tori Amos or Jun Togawa but that stop people talking about them. Diversity is good.

I got into her via a mention on a Shibuya-kei blog FWIW.
__________________

so_cold is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.28, 06:52 AM   #19
Superficial Fan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 373
Superficial Fan raises the standards of what a community can offer
Default

Just about every type of music is remotely like Shiina Ringo, given how diverse her output is.

What about the rhythmically slack, vocally incompetent, melodically challenged indie wank that appears on some other lists here? I'd say it has less to do with Shiina Ringo than most or all of what's on so cold's list.

(But what if it weren't remotely like any Shiina Ringo music? So what? Do you think Shiina Ringo listens exclusively to music closely related to Shiina Ringo?)

Last edited by Superficial Fan : 2011.12.28 at 07:08 AM.
Superficial Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011.12.28, 07:09 AM   #20
Tokyo Jihad
Senior Member
 
Tokyo Jihad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Antonio! Hoody Hoo
Posts: 4,868
Tokyo Jihad knows what you did last summerTokyo Jihad knows what you did last summer
Default

I took me all year to 'get' The Magic Place. It was one of those situations where I didn't often hear about it, but when I did people were heaping praise upon it. So I felt drawn to it, mainly because I was completely perplexed upon hearing it. I never dismissed it, I knew I just needed to figure out how to listen to it. I did have to "level up" as a listener a bit, but I'm finally at a place where I can dig into it.

Check out Oneohtrix Point Never's Replica if you haven't so_cold. Very cool record too.

I guess I have to check out Saadiq with two glowing recommendations.

EDIT: Wow I gotta re-learn to post quickly.

Its really easy to see where so_cold comes from. Its just some people that hopped on during SS, KZK have an affinity for music that occasionally (or rather goes all in) takes risks or thats just plain weird and different.
__________________
"Jihad is the soul of EMF"--Lena

Last edited by Tokyo Jihad : 2011.12.28 at 07:17 AM.
Tokyo Jihad is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The TV Thread frecklegirl Off-Topic (Movies, TV & Other Media) 336 2018.05.19 04:20 PM
The Music Video-Game Thread Inaudible-Whisper Off-Topic (Movies, TV & Other Media) 35 2015.01.01 07:47 AM
The Internet Music Thread TurtleFu Off-Topic (Music) 10 2011.12.28 07:11 AM
The 24 thread Inaudible-Whisper Off-Topic (Movies, TV & Other Media) 27 2010.01.18 06:08 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:03 AM.