Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Listened to (Music)

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

How come we have one of these for movies, tv-shows and books, but not for music?

What, you guys don't like good tunes? Or is this actually a site for deaf people and I somehow never figured that out? Whatever tho, 'problem' is now fixed.

Oh, and when I say discuss and rate music, I mean that pretty broadly. Albums, individual songs, an artist's whole body of work if you feel like it. And that can and should include live performances. Go wild.

To start things of, my thoughts on:

Spoiler: Tool - Fear Inoculum

So Tool released a few album a few weeks ago. I don't really know what to think of it, hence no rating. It's a contradictory album. Sometimes really exciting, yet languid. Overworked and undercooked. More musically mature, but somehow also feeling like the band hasn't experienced much of any growth.

7 songs, all of which clock in at over 10 minutes, plus a few ambient intermezzos and one count of Danny Carey musically wanking all over drum soloing over some synths. But they don't feel like 10+ minute songs, they feel like there's only ideas enough for 5-6 minute songs, stretched out over 10+ minutes. Repetitive, even droning, soundscapes are a Tool staple, but here, while each part is meticulously crafted, it often veers perilously close to being obnoxiously lenghty. That said, each song does have things I like, from the delay- and flanger-infused bassline of Pneuma, the self-reflective lyrics of Invincible or the rawness of 7empest that harkens back to the days of Aenima. Or how Adam Jones guitar gets its moments in the spotlight, something that used to be more or less left to just Chancellor or Carey.

On the whole though, there are no surprises in this album. There's nothing here that couldn't have been on one of their previous outings. It feels safe. Tool paying homage to itself. A bunch of aging rockers doing an encore that ended up 13 years in the making, to where I think they put it out there out of obligation.

I know this all sounds pretty negative. I'm not as big on Tool as I used to and I never really took them all that serious (as you should, cuz they don't either), but I felt like they had one more great album in them. I think this ain't it. It's good, I do like it. When it hits the spot, it hits the spot. I don't love it.

 

[EvilRoy]

Its been a long time since I've thought about Tool. Shame the album didnt quite live up to hopes but I guess it sounds like they did a better encore than duke nukem forever at least.

---

I guess its about a year on now but I'm deep into Simulation Theory by Muse.

Typically I only listen to singles now. I'm not ashamed to admit I like the odd top 40 Swift/Perry song, but by the same measure I'm unafraid to say that usually that one song will be the only thing worth half a damn on the entire album its included with. So when I found myself thinking "wow Muse has had like 6 really good singles lately" it took me a minute to realize I actually just like an album. I've heard the criticism that the album is one big song which I can see from one extent to another, but personally the interconnectivity of the songs really helps the experience. Pressure and Algorithm go really well together without being the same song and by linking songs we can get the "Muse paranoia" dosage doen a little bit on a per song basis. There's a nice mix of techno with altrock cooldown, and their sound has evolved nicely from knights of cydonia without being unrecognizable.

What I don't get is why the album is out of order in comparison to the music videos. The dig down/thought contagion interconnectivity, or pressure/algorithm/something human/dark side grouping is really good, so why doesn't the actual album use it. In any case the music videos show a clear movie-like walkthrough of a central theme and I think it really helps ground some songs and elevate others.

 

[09philj]

Let's talk about Kketterwaul [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3dH_tZv03c&list=OLAK5uy_nFQEs7digW5ww6xl9jwkLiH5DQWK3TyXg] the debut album of Northumberland band Kkett. What are Kkett? Er, it's hard to say. There's a lot of hardcore punk in there, with growls to match, but also bits of poppier melodies, and some nice harmonised vocals, but also a lot of quite technical melodies, and every song contains at least one radical shift in musical direction. The album cover has a picture of a giraffe/kraken/rabbit/unicorn/human/fly chimera on it, which is quite a good metaphor for the album as a whole; it's got lots of bits of things you wouldn't expect, or even want, to be brought together, but is rather impressive overall. If you like heavier punk, give Kkett a go.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Its been a long time since I've thought about Tool. Shame the album didnt quite live up to hopes but I guess it sounds like they did a better encore than duke nukem forever at least.

The comparison probably holds true, I feel like I'd still be disappointed if it was only a, say, 3-4 year wait instead of 13. Fear Inoculum is far from bad, but as an album it sits at the bottom of the ranking for me. Then again, if I'd had to rank my all-time favorite Tool songs now, the list would probably look quite a bit different than 10 years ago. Who knows, it's only been a few weeks after all, maybe I'll warm up to it later on.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I exclusively listen to the sounds of Waluigi. Nothing else is hardcore enough for my tastes.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I've been listening to snippets from the soundtrack of Nodame Cantabile, and wondering if I could ever have played Chopin 10-4 (probably not, but it's a thing to daydream):


EDIT: huh, doesn't work... again... aptly nicknamed Torrent [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHiU-u2ddJ4]

 

[Xprimentyl]

Went and saw Flying Lotus [https://youtu.be/ibFIChvLnUI] in concert this past Sunday in Dallas. How to classify him? Lo-fi instrumental Hip Hop? Drum n? Bass? Trip Hop? Jazz? Experimental Ambient? All of the above and a bit of everything between and all around? Yup.

The link wasn?t the exact concert, but it gives you an idea of the experience without doing the experience near the justice it deserves. Absolutely in-fucking-credible concert. It had his visual in 3D, and combine that with the chest-pounding, skittering beats, ethereal synths and the intelligent genre hoping? words can?t really express what I felt. In the utter blackness and strobing lights with the music exploding around me, I felt like I was somewhere else. When I left and the doors to the venue closed behind me and I faced a sea of cars in parking lot in downtown Dallas at 2am with my Uber driver beckoning me into his Toyota Camry for what was sure to be a tiresome ?story of his life? during the 30 minute drive home, I just wanted to go back inside and find that magical place again and leave reality altogether.

The remainder of his tour is fairly limited,(I think California, Arizona and Nevada round out his Stateside stops with stop in Japan here shortly,) but I highly recommend seeing him if it?s feasible.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Shit, totally forgot to catch up with the new Tool album. The Tool collaboration was the fabled Half Life 3 of prog-rock for years, and here I am not feeling as excited as I should be, damnit. Something is lost. Perhaps dead. Or sleeping. I'll assume dead and work up from there. With necromancy.

 

[Elfgore]

I listening to the discography of two bands today, but one was certainly more interesting, Attalus. A Christian post-hardcore/post-rock band. They had an EP and three albums, two of which were really good. They started off as a solid post-rock band before settling in a nice middle-ground for their final album. Their second album though, was a let down. I'm not a Christian, but I'm okay with listening to music sung by Christians with straight up religious lyrics. I cannot do so when they just took hymns and turned them into a full-album. Taking hymns and turning them into a alt-rock song sounds like a good move, but the way the lyrics are laid out do not work well for the sound.

I don't regret listening to them, but besides a few select songs, I don't see me coming back frequently.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Went and saw Phil Collins on his ?Still Not Dead Yet? tour Monday night.

I first want to acknowledge what a genuine legend and icon this man is; the impact he?s had on music has been and will continue to be felt forever. That said, while the show he put on was still amazing, aged 68 years with medical issues, I think it?s time for him to bow out. Prior to this protracted tour, he?d had back and foot surgery, so when the lights dimmed and a spotlight fell on the man himself taking the stage, he had to use a cane. He took a swivel chair downstage center and gave us the stock ?Hello, Dallas!!!? speech before taking to the first song. He did the vast majority of the show seated in that chair, swiveling around to face his bandmates and the crowd while he sang; he looked like someone?s infirm grandfather; it was heartbreaking. But, he does appear to be of sound mind, and he still sounds like himself, so hopefully once he?s healed up, he?ll be able to be more of the performer he once was; he sung everything perfectly, and he did manage to stand for an amazing rendition of ?In The Air Tonight.?

But what impressed me most was his son. At only 18, he stands in as drummer since his father cannot anymore, and let me tell you, this kid is INCREDIBLE; close your eyes and you?ll have no idea you aren?t listening to his dad.

 

[Baffle]

Went and saw Phil Collins on his ?Still Not Dead Yet? tour Monday night.

He's not dead!? He's actually the first live musician I ever saw, though that was a long time ago (I'm going to say about 26 years; I was a kid). He was either very small, or far away (likely both, I think it was Wembley).