Micshazam's album and song picks

~~MicShazam~~ · 02-25-2018, 04:13 AM

Another bunch of tracks.
Just some things I've been checking out this evening.

Anat Cohen Quartet - Putty Boy Strut
From the album Luminosa.

Clarinet player Anat Cohen doing her thing.
Pretty sweet if you take my word for it.

Anna Calvi - Suzanne And I
From her 2011 self-titled album.

I've known about Anna Calvi for years, but quite recently I've been giving her a second chance.
I do appreciate her forceful vocal fireworks.

CMX - Puolikas hyvää
From their new album Alkuteos.

Reminds me a bit of two other Finnish groups, Stam1na and Waltari respectively.
This band is way more laid back and rock oriented, but a lot of the melodies and textures feel very familiar and very, well, Finnish.

Caligula's Horse - A Gift to Afterthought
From their 2013 album The Tide, The Thief & River's End.

Their newest album from just last year didn't really grab me much, although I tried to get into the band.
Having a bit more luck with some of their older material.
There's a lot of good ideas in the musical arrangements here.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Time of the Assassins
From the album IRM.

I got this album a while ago, basically just taking a chance with it, and it turned out to be one of the better things I've heard i a while.
A pretty much perfectly formed album.
This is one of my several favorite songs off that disc.
It should go without saying that I'm now massively interested in her fairly newly released, late 2017 album, Rest.

The Batlord · 02-25-2018, 10:03 AM

Caligula's Horse is a pretty great band name.

~~MicShazam~~ · 02-25-2018, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Caligula's Horse is a pretty great band name.

You might be disappointed to learn that they're about as mom-friendly, clean and agreeable as the Jonas Brothers.

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-03-2018, 02:13 PM

I've been going full pop/retard today, so here's some tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed:

Katy Perry - Pendulum
(From the 2017 album Witness.)

Katy Perry - Déjà Vu

I've been spinning this album most of this evening.
Bought the CD earlier today and felt like I probably just ****ed up and wasted money.
Turns out it's pretty rad.

The Dark Element - Last Good Day
(Frome their 2017 self-titled album.)

Got this album recently.
Pop hooks + power metal.
It's got a really crisp sound to it and there's some real ear-worm hooks here.

Lady Gaga - Venus
(From her 2013 album Artpop.)

I got this album a few years ago and always thought it was pretty neat.
It's generally considered a failure for Lady G, but to my ears, it's got the most interestingly detailed songs of her career.
The hooks aren't always as immediate as on the previous albums, so that's probably what sunk it in the eyes (and ears) of the general pop-listening public, as well as the professional critics at the time.
It's not a perfect pop album, but I think it's got some good songs and I consider its quirks more charming than off-putting.

The Batlord · 03-03-2018, 04:56 PM

Bro, as much as I love Ke$ha and more people need to give her a fair shake, I honestly think Britney Spears has been given the total shaft from being a teeny bopper pop star from a time before GaGa when all pop stars other than Madonna weren't even given a chance by non-teen girls. She doesn't have the most stellar discography, but she has way better **** than most people would ever suspect. Blackout is one of the best pop albums ever.

But of course you also need to listen to Ke$ha.

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-16-2018, 01:38 PM

I'm not really checking out any new music and haven't been for a while. I'm busy playing the albums on my record shelf that I've gotten since christmas or just giving some love to some old favorites.

I don't want this thread to just collect dust and generate spider webs until I start checking out new tracks again, so I'm going to post some of what I've been listening to.

I think that I can say without a doubt that my tastes in metal are rather... deviant (as in deviating from what I see other MB'ers gravitating towards). I rarely find myself listening to old-school meat and potatoes stuff like thrash, death metal and power metal anymore. There are exceptions, but it's pretty clear to me that I prefer more modern sounding metal styles and bands that are sort of placing themselves between several different styles.

Here's some kind of half-baked attempt at defining my tastes in metal through a series of songs. I haven't thought this through, to be honest. I wanted to post something, so I'm just gonna wing it:

Crisis - Bloodlines

Dir En Grey - Yokusou Ni Dreambox Aruiwa Seijuku No Rinen To Tsumetai Ame

Stam1na - Ikoneklasmia

Jinjer - Dip a Sail

Waltari - Below Zero

This is basically where my head is at these days, as far as metal is concerned. I need to explore a lot of 90's, 00's and 10's metal to find some more things to listen to. I'm just not feeling 99.9% of all bands in more 80's bound metal genres.
Sure, like Crystal Viper (heavy metal) and Megadeth (thrash metal/alternative rock/hard rock), but it's almost never what lights a fire under me anymore.

It's funny to me that I used to hate these modern metal genres, like nu-metal, groove metal, djent based progressive metal, metalcore, etc. - because these days, it's all that I care about. Every time I check out another old school death metal, black metal, heavy metal (etc.) track, I feel at least somewhat bored and and feel that I can't really relate to it. If you consider my age (born in 1981), you'd think that I would be all about 80's metal, but it doesn't do anything for me anymore, unless it's Megadeth (only a slight exaggeration).

The album that made me realize how much my tastes in metal have changed was King of Everything by the Ukrainian band Jinjer. I bought the album recently and I felt like it made it clear to me that, as a metal listener, I am not who I once was.

Jinjer - Just Another

From now on, I'll do what makes sense and be way more open to everything metalcore, groove metal, and other "new-fangled" metal things that the kids listen to these days. There's no point in pretending that it's not where I was meant to go.

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-16-2018, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Bro, as much as I love Ke$ha and more people need to give her a fair shake, I honestly think Britney Spears has been given the total shaft from being a teeny bopper pop star from a time before GaGa when all pop stars other than Madonna weren't even given a chance by non-teen girls. She doesn't have the most stellar discography, but she has way better **** than most people would ever suspect. Blackout is one of the best pop albums ever.

But of course you also need to listen to Ke$ha.

****, I forgot to reply to this. I will give them a full listen eventually, but I tend to forget about 25% of the things I've said that I'll listen to.

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-16-2018, 02:42 PM

I forgot to add a song by the current iteration of The Agonist to the above post. Screw the Alissa White-Gluz years of this band, but their newest two albums with Vicky Psarakis on board have been very convincing and those two albums have been instrumental in getting me to realize that I'm sort of over old-school metal.

The Agonist - The Moment

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-21-2018, 03:20 PM

I'm still not checking out much new music. The last few weeks, I've been all about coming back to stuff that I've been a fan of for a while. I've got so many CD's and so much music on my hard drive that deserves more attention. I find that my appreciation of music deepens when I'm intimately familiar with it, so it's really rather counter productive to focus all my energy on listening to new things. It's a question of balance.

So, what I'm going to do now is post a bunch of tracks that I've been enjoying coming back to. Some of this is from my CD collection, some of this is from my folders filled with odds and ends.

Elvenstorm - Legions of Steel

Some power/heavy metal band that I know very little about. I've never managed to find one of their CD's, but I have a few tracks on my PC that I ripped from Youtube some years back. It's hard to explain why I like it, because at the face of it, it's almost identical to a whole lot of similar metal that I easily dismiss as being uninteresting. I just like the vibe of this band for some reason.

Sharron Kraus - Brigid

Genre whiplash!
I never got around to checking out Sharron Kraus any closer, but I've known a few of her tracks for years and have them on my HD. This one is drop dead gorgeous. If low key 60's/70's folk is your thing, you absolutely need to give this one a close, concentrated listen.
Actually, her music is quite new. This track is from a 2008 album, but holy hell does it sound convincingly of another time. Didn't have much luck finding this album on CD, but I haven't tried again in recent years.

Ani Difranco - Icarus

I got into Ani DeFranco just a bit earlier this year and I've got to say that I used to underestimate her quite a bit. This song is from Evolve - an album that has impressed me very, very much. One of the best albums that I've discovered so far in 2018. I love the use of horns on this album and all of the instruments and voices just sound amazing. Top quality music.

Dir En Grey - Obscure (live at Download festival 2013)

This band has been a constant fixture of my music listening since I discovered them back in 2011. Recently, I've been looking for good live versions of their tracks and there's something about the energy and sound of this one that I really like. I also like how the singer drops the silly costumes for this festival. He should make it a habit.

Lady Gaga - Perfect Illusion

Been listening to my Lady Gaga albums as well and I've got to say that I think she's great. So many great hooks and a killer voice. This song encompasses everything I like about her music.

EDIT: Originally, I had posted Lady Gaga's song Venus, but then I realized I'd posted it in another context one page back... Perfect Illusion is another great track, so I'm going with that one instead.

~~MicShazam~~ · 03-21-2018, 03:56 PM

I was thinking of whether or not I would bother doing something big, like reviewing every single Tori Amos album. I feel like I ought to do something to put my favorite artists under a spotlight.

For now, I'll just throw some videos around:

Oysters (Live on 89.3 The Current)

From the 2014 album, Unrepentant Geraldines.

Reindeer King

From her 2017 album, Native Invader.
An excellent album, btw.

Winter (From "Live At Montreux 91/92")

This is an excellent live album, well worth getting if you are interested in her 90's output.

Star Whisperer

From her 2011 album, Night of Hunters. One of my all time favorite albums.

Give

From Abnormally Attracted to Sin.

The Beekeeper

One of my favorite tracks of hers. It's from the album of the same name. The album took me a while to appreciate, but I think it's good. She never really did a bad album.

Digital Ghost

From the album American Doll Posse. The album is good, despite the intimidating 23 song tracklist.

03-03-2018, 02:13 PM	#104 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I've been going full pop/retard today, so here's some tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed: Katy Perry - Pendulum (From the 2017 album Witness.) Katy Perry - Déjà Vu I've been spinning this album most of this evening. Bought the CD earlier today and felt like I probably just **ed up and wasted money. Turns out it's pretty rad. The Dark Element - Last Good Day** (Frome their 2017 self-titled album.) Got this album recently. Pop hooks + power metal. It's got a really crisp sound to it and there's some real ear-worm hooks here. Lady Gaga - Venus (From her 2013 album Artpop.) I got this album a few years ago and always thought it was pretty neat. It's generally considered a failure for Lady G, but to my ears, it's got the most interestingly detailed songs of her career. The hooks aren't always as immediate as on the previous albums, so that's probably what sunk it in the eyes (and ears) of the general pop-listening public, as well as the professional critics at the time. It's not a perfect pop album, but I think it's got some good songs and I consider its quirks more charming than off-putting. Last edited by MicShazam; 03-03-2018 at 02:30 PM.

03-16-2018, 01:38 PM	#106 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I'm not really checking out any new music and haven't been for a while. I'm busy playing the albums on my record shelf that I've gotten since christmas or just giving some love to some old favorites. I don't want this thread to just collect dust and generate spider webs until I start checking out new tracks again, so I'm going to post some of what I've been listening to. I think that I can say without a doubt that my tastes in metal are rather... deviant (as in deviating from what I see other MB'ers gravitating towards). I rarely find myself listening to old-school meat and potatoes stuff like thrash, death metal and power metal anymore. There are exceptions, but it's pretty clear to me that I prefer more modern sounding metal styles and bands that are sort of placing themselves between several different styles. Here's some kind of half-baked attempt at defining my tastes in metal through a series of songs. I haven't thought this through, to be honest. I wanted to post something, so I'm just gonna wing it: Crisis - Bloodlines Dir En Grey - Yokusou Ni Dreambox Aruiwa Seijuku No Rinen To Tsumetai Ame Stam1na - Ikoneklasmia Jinjer - Dip a Sail Waltari - Below Zero This is basically where my head is at these days, as far as metal is concerned. I need to explore a lot of 90's, 00's and 10's metal to find some more things to listen to. I'm just not feeling 99.9% of all bands in more 80's bound metal genres. Sure, like Crystal Viper (heavy metal) and Megadeth (thrash metal/alternative rock/hard rock), but it's almost never what lights a fire under me anymore. It's funny to me that I used to hate these modern metal genres, like nu-metal, groove metal, djent based progressive metal, metalcore, etc. - because these days, it's all that I care about. Every time I check out another old school death metal, black metal, heavy metal (etc.) track, I feel at least somewhat bored and and feel that I can't really relate to it. If you consider my age (born in 1981), you'd think that I would be all about 80's metal, but it doesn't do anything for me anymore, unless it's Megadeth (only a slight exaggeration). The album that made me realize how much my tastes in metal have changed was King of Everything by the Ukrainian band Jinjer. I bought the album recently and I felt like it made it clear to me that, as a metal listener, I am not who I once was. Jinjer - Just Another From now on, I'll do what makes sense and be way more open to everything metalcore, groove metal, and other "new-fangled" metal things that the kids listen to these days. There's no point in pretending that it's not where I was meant to go. Last edited by MicShazam; 03-16-2018 at 02:10 PM.

03-21-2018, 03:20 PM	#109 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I'm still not checking out much new music. The last few weeks, I've been all about coming back to stuff that I've been a fan of for a while. I've got so many CD's and so much music on my hard drive that deserves more attention. I find that my appreciation of music deepens when I'm intimately familiar with it, so it's really rather counter productive to focus all my energy on listening to new things. It's a question of balance. So, what I'm going to do now is post a bunch of tracks that I've been enjoying coming back to. Some of this is from my CD collection, some of this is from my folders filled with odds and ends. Elvenstorm - Legions of Steel Some power/heavy metal band that I know very little about. I've never managed to find one of their CD's, but I have a few tracks on my PC that I ripped from Youtube some years back. It's hard to explain why I like it, because at the face of it, it's almost identical to a whole lot of similar metal that I easily dismiss as being uninteresting. I just like the vibe of this band for some reason. Sharron Kraus - Brigid Genre whiplash! I never got around to checking out Sharron Kraus any closer, but I've known a few of her tracks for years and have them on my HD. This one is drop dead gorgeous. If low key 60's/70's folk is your thing, you absolutely need to give this one a close, concentrated listen. Actually, her music is quite new. This track is from a 2008 album, but holy hell does it sound convincingly of another time. Didn't have much luck finding this album on CD, but I haven't tried again in recent years. Ani Difranco - Icarus I got into Ani DeFranco just a bit earlier this year and I've got to say that I used to underestimate her quite a bit. This song is from Evolve - an album that has impressed me very, very much. One of the best albums that I've discovered so far in 2018. I love the use of horns on this album and all of the instruments and voices just sound amazing. Top quality music. Dir En Grey - Obscure (live at Download festival 2013) This band has been a constant fixture of my music listening since I discovered them back in 2011. Recently, I've been looking for good live versions of their tracks and there's something about the energy and sound of this one that I really like. I also like how the singer drops the silly costumes for this festival. He should make it a habit. Lady Gaga - Perfect Illusion Been listening to my Lady Gaga albums as well and I've got to say that I think she's great. So many great hooks and a killer voice. This song encompasses everything I like about her music. EDIT: Originally, I had posted Lady Gaga's song Venus, but then I realized I'd posted it in another context one page back... Perfect Illusion is another great track, so I'm going with that one instead. Last edited by MicShazam; 03-21-2018 at 03:37 PM.

02-25-2018, 04:13 AM	#101 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Another bunch of tracks. Just some things I've been checking out this evening. Anat Cohen Quartet - Putty Boy Strut From the album Luminosa. Clarinet player Anat Cohen doing her thing. Pretty sweet if you take my word for it. Anna Calvi - Suzanne And I From her 2011 self-titled album. I've known about Anna Calvi for years, but quite recently I've been giving her a second chance. I do appreciate her forceful vocal fireworks. CMX - Puolikas hyvää From their new album Alkuteos. Reminds me a bit of two other Finnish groups, Stam1na and Waltari respectively. This band is way more laid back and rock oriented, but a lot of the melodies and textures feel very familiar and very, well, Finnish. Caligula's Horse - A Gift to Afterthought From their 2013 album The Tide, The Thief & River's End. Their newest album from just last year didn't really grab me much, although I tried to get into the band. Having a bit more luck with some of their older material. There's a lot of good ideas in the musical arrangements here. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Time of the Assassins From the album IRM. I got this album a while ago, basically just taking a chance with it, and it turned out to be one of the better things I've heard i a while. A pretty much perfectly formed album. This is one of my several favorite songs off that disc. It should go without saying that I'm now massively interested in her fairly newly released, late 2017 album, Rest.

03-16-2018, 02:42 PM	#108 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I forgot to add a song by the current iteration of The Agonist to the above post. Screw the Alissa White-Gluz years of this band, but their newest two albums with Vicky Psarakis on board have been very convincing and those two albums have been instrumental in getting me to realize that I'm sort of over old-school metal. The Agonist - The Moment

03-21-2018, 03:56 PM	#110 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I was thinking of whether or not I would bother doing something big, like reviewing every single Tori Amos album. I feel like I ought to do something to put my favorite artists under a spotlight. For now, I'll just throw some videos around: Oysters (Live on 89.3 The Current) From the 2014 album, Unrepentant Geraldines. Reindeer King From her 2017 album, Native Invader. An excellent album, btw. Winter (From "Live At Montreux 91/92") This is an excellent live album, well worth getting if you are interested in her 90's output. Star Whisperer From her 2011 album, Night of Hunters. One of my all time favorite albums. Give From Abnormally Attracted to Sin. The Beekeeper One of my favorite tracks of hers. It's from the album of the same name. The album took me a while to appreciate, but I think it's good. She never really did a bad album. Digital Ghost From the album American Doll Posse. The album is good, despite the intimidating 23 song tracklist.