I’m revisiting the album Cosmic Thrill Seekers by Prince Daddy and the Hyena (PDATH). While I’ve always loved this album I feel like it didn’t get the praise it deserved upon release and doesn’t even show up on the bands Spotify front page. It’s the middle child. It’s their Pinkerton.

I bring up the comparison to Weezer’s Pinkerton because PDATH’s sound reminded me of Weezer from the moment I first saw them live supporting another band, before I even knew who they were. That was my first taste. I immediately fell in love. I saw them live a few more times and they didn’t disappoint.

Trigger warning mental health shit and death

Cosmic Thrill Seekers was released on 2019 at the time I was playing in a band and working in the city. I listened to the record non stop.

All the while my dad was in a nursing home back home. He suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s. He was 6 hours away. I was settling into being a new father. I was spiralling. Drugs, alcohol and selfishness consumed me. I wanted to die and it’s all I could think about most days. I’ve come a long, long way since then. With more work to do but that’s why we are alive. To continue on the journey to the end of the night. To grow and die.

A few months later covid emerged. My dad died in a hospital about a week before nationwide lockdown went into effect. I got to spend his last days by his side listening to old outlaw country and blues. Telling him I loved him. Thanking him. Forgiving him for the times he wasn’t the perfect person I thought all parents were in my youth. Just loving him.

Cosmic Thrill Seekers was there for me. My dad would have hated it. But he would have loved how much I loved it. He would have let me tell him all about it. And why I thought it was such a special album. I can see his smirk even now.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s truly beautiful how much the soundtrack from a different part of your life can hit you so fucking hard in the future. My now present. I’ve listened to Cosmic Thrill Seekers twice today (just finishing my second listen a few minutes ago). Both play throughs have moved me to tears.

I just couldn’t let this feeling fade away into obscurity (lyric reference) so I’m posting this so that on the off chance someone reads it and listens to this record, they find a new band that they love and can share in the beautiful, weird, sarcastic, poppy, melancholic sound that Prince Daddy and the Hyena absolutely masterfully attain on their sophomore effort; Cosmic Thrill Seekers.

I was 13 years old a decade ago. Back then, I didn’t care what kind of headphones I used to listen to music, but I was obsessed with it even then. At the time, I was influenced by the mainstream, wore skinny jeans, had bangs, and listened to metalcore, nu-metal, and post-hardcore, thinking that detachment was something mysterious and unique.

Over the past ten years, I’ve transformed my love for detachment and uniqueness into a deeper love for art and music. I gradually moved from metalcore to post-punk and, for a while, was content with mediocre music, with the exception of the undeniably great Joy Division. Then I discovered old-school indie pop, particularly Morrissey’s solo work and The Smiths—and that’s when my life changed. The melancholy crooning of a guy with gladiolus in his pocket led me to dig deeper into something more original. That’s when I stumbled upon Morphine, and their sound blew my mind. I’ve always had a thing for a deep male voice in music, and Mark Sandman’s projects opened the door to more discoveries. The uniqueness of sound became my basic requirement.

After that, I got into jazz and fell in love with fusion. As I enriched my musical palette with more variety, I found myself drawn to more avant-garde and experimental sounds. Simultaneously, I delved into electro, post-industrial, EBM, and minimalistic electronic music.

That’s about it. It’s been quite the journey.

The problem with classical music today is that it’s lost its connection to the streets.

Once, it was raw and untamed, a visceral force that could stir chaos and provoke passion. Nowadays, the underground acts never get a fair shake. It’s all gallery concerts and stuffy halls, but I remember a different time.

Back in the day, I used to hit up these warehouse parties in Detroit. The kind of places where you’d walk through a back alley, find a steel door, and step inside to a world of wild, sweating bodies. The music wasn’t background noise—it was the pulse of the night. One time, the Arditti String Quartet showed up out of nowhere, and everyone went wild like they’d just dropped the heaviest bassline you’d ever heard. That performance was electric—so powerful that multiple women got pregnant that day. Yeah, that kind of energy.

And the very next day, you’d go to a Stravinsky show, and fists would fly because the crowd couldn’t handle the intensity. It wasn’t about clean precision or intellectual appreciation; it was primal, unpredictable. Classical music was as much a brawl as a ballet. You didn’t sit there politely clapping; you howled and screamed because the music hit you in the gut.

But now? Now it feels like only the rich get to make it in the classical world. It’s turned into a museum piece, preserved for genteel audiences sipping champagne and discussing concertos like they’re stock options. Gone are the days when classical music was dangerous, when it stirred people to do more than just sit still. The wild abandon has disappeared.

Where is our generation’s Paganini? Where’s the composer who makes you want to smash something or lose yourself completely in a wild night of passion? Classical music has become tame, and the streets no longer vibrate with its force. We need someone to break it free again.

Pearl Jam was grunge. Stone temple pilots were grunge. Bands that sounded like that were grunge.

Nirvana wasn’t even grunge. Kurt didn’t mind the term and took it as a compliment, but they had their own style of rock music just like Alice In Chains and soundgarden.

“Grunge” was all the derivative stuff with the put on accent that sounds like CCR. Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain….they never put on a fake voice. Their voices came from within.

They were not grunge

What are those rare music finds that made you instantly like the artist or the music? How you found them? and how unknown they are?

In my case is pretty common to get new rare finds with Discovery Weekly playlists or random vinyls I pick at the local store. In this case it was this song (World by a band named Felt) that spotify played randomly after my psychedelic rock playlist around 4 am (1 hour ish into the last song) at this point in time I knew pretty well what the algorithm tend to play but the song had a characteristic sound and it intrigued me, I ended up listening to the whole album and I was convinced I found a new band I like to my sad surprise that is their only album ever and no more music was released after. Digging a little I found the band was from Alabama and they released their only music in 1971 while one of the members was in jail, it was recorded when they were 16-18 and after the album they just went on to live normal lives. The cover is a strange photo but all the songs have such a nice 70s psychedelic sound and well made composition that I somehow feel they could have been a little succesful if they kept going. With only 6 songs of their self titled album (the longest being 10 min) and no more than 50k listens in their best song I always see them as a rare gem that unexpectedly found a way to me. Curious to read others rare finds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6AXczXAvl8

I recently re-discovered this band after coming across them in college, and they are in my opinion one of the greatest New Wave bands of the late 1970s, with only one problem: Nobody has ever heard of them.

Coming from the UK and headed by frontman Ken Lockie, they released one debut album (The Original Sin) and a few singles before dissolving in 1980. They were special for having a few other band members who went to join vastly popular bands, such as Terry Chimes from the clash, Keith Levine from PIL, and Marco Pirroni from Adam and the Ants. The name, while having little to do with Cowboys, does invoke some sense of a spaghetti Western, especially with songs like 'Pointy Shoes', with Lockie's voice sounding something like an 'International Cowboy' of sorts. Their music was electronic new wave, utilizing the then-new wasp synthesizer with a standard set of new-wave techniques and equipment.

I think the only way to explain their sound is to give examples. From their debut album 'The Original Sin' you have Thrash, which is characterized by a pulsing electronic bass with an improvised guitar solo. They delve into full synthesizer pieces which segue into new-wave songs such as this, and try to mimic something similar to Thrash with Here Comes a Saturday, which I consider to be one of the best songs on the album. The rest of the album fills in quite nicely with many of the songs embracing the futuristic sound of electronics while still keeping a conventional rock instrumentation. All in all, they attempt something new and they pull it off in such a way which still sounds sleek and futuristic, and it's obscure enough that it sounds quite fresh even today.

Their other characteristic of their music is seen from their singles, which doesn't necessarily utilize the same sound that 'The Original Sin' carried but is just as good in their own ways. Nothing Doing was their second single and is more whimsical in nature, sounding more light-hearted and soft than the rough and abrasive nature of their output. Their third single was a radio edit of the song Aftermath on their debut album, but the strong point of this release was the B-side Future Noise, which is an R&B flavored piece with Ken Lockie on saxophone. To me this song works extremely well because it's catchy and doesn't really follow their New-Wave antics, it attempts to carry similarities with David Bowie's Low (which the band was inspired by). Their final single, Today, was a revised version of the song of the same name from their OGWT performance, which sounds more pop-focused as it is nearly new-romantic in composition. Here, the traditional rock-oriented piece is replaced by disco strings and the occasional guitar stab and it's clear they attempted to branch out towards a more radio-friendly audience. The B-side Fixation is more discordant and noisy, with blaring synthesizers creating an unsettling atmosphere but at the same time clashing with the generally upbeat nature of the song. An honorable mention with a similar atmosphere is the B-side of 'Thrash', the moody and slightly discordant Many Times.

And that's where their discography ends. The band broke up in 1980 and nothing else came out of them, with most of their material being well out of print since the 80s (but still relatively cheap). Ken Lockie attempted a solo album called 'The Impossible', which I've listened to in small amounts but don't really find it to be as striking or important - to me the album seems like an attempt at a very experimental take on a synth-pop album, with conflicting rhythms and cacophony making up most of the album. Besides this is a re-work of 'Today' which removes the disco-production and sounds more in-line with what the band would have made, but other than that he retired for most of the 80s and 90s and moved on like many others.

As for what ended up happening in the 21st century, the band still exists with Lockie releasing a final (?) Cowboys International album and a compilation album on CD in 2003, with all of their singles being available on Spotify (minus a rare flexi disc). As for Lockie himself, he seems to have moved on and now makes Techno music, which you can find on the current label which holds the band (Pnuma recordings). I wouldn't say it's bad music, but I also wouldn't say it's my line of expertise. It is an interesting path to take but it's somewhat understandable, many new-wave musicians try too hard to re-live the sound of their past, and this oftentimes doesn't work. Some bands re-invent themselves, others dissolve with their members taking on solo projects. For Lockie, this seems to work fine for him.

Overall, a genuinely solid new wave band, an uncertain solo career, but I'm still left scratching my head as to why they never gained any long-time popularity considering they had many good things going for them. It does show that history has thousands of similar bands which ended up being like them, if anything.

What is everyone’s opinion on the latest glass animals record? I tend to agree with the article I’ve attached in that they really played it a little too safe this time. The lack of creativity and experimentation on this record is just so different than all their previous works. Each album felt unique and completely different. They clearly found a sound that they are happy with from Dreamland, but it doesn’t do anything new. is anyone else annoyed that they just made “dreamland 2” but with less sophistication in both lyrics and sounds?

Talk about whatever you want here, music related or not! Go ahead and ask for recommendations, make personal list (AOTY, Best [X] Albums of All Time, etc.)

Most of the usual subreddit rules for comments won't be enforced here, apart from two: No self-promotion and Don't be a dick.

2 years ago I was talking to a friend of mine asking about upcoming concerts. He tells me that Avatar is playing with Magic Sward (kind of a weird combination of bands if you ask me) on January, 29th. I told him he should get me tickets because January, 29th is my birthday... so like a good friend, he did. I had never heard a single Avatar song in my entire life... I knew they sounded like a more Swedish version of Lamb of God and that was about all I really knew about them. As we're standing in line I'm telling everyone how I've never heard a song by either band playing that night and everyone assured me I was in for a treat. I remember the Magic Sward (a live techno band of all things) was incredible. It was a drummer, guitar player and a Synthesizer/Keyboard player. They were completely badass and I would definitely see them agian if given the opportunity to. Then, out comes Avatar... holy shit you guys... I was expecting a kick ass show but they were absolutely phenomenal!!! It was such an incredible performance, not only musical talent wise but the stage presence was fantastic as well. The band opens up with their song 'Hail The Apocalypse'. The whole band is robotic and moving in sequence with the exception of the lead singer. Dude comes out marching with a bad ass pimp cane, wearing a cape, and to top it all off, a lederhosen... they put on THE BEST show I've seen in this life time!!! Everything about was just top notch... But the icing on the cake was the tix were free being that it was by birthday. All and all, if you haven't see Avatar live... DO IT!!! You will not be let down whatsoever!!!

So, since Post Malone’s newest country album release, I can’t help but think about the upcoming Grammys. Beyoncé’s country album did fairly well, and I’m assuming majority of its fans are long time Beyhive members which could totally be false this is all theoretical. Anyways, I thought it was kinda crazy that Post Malone’s album features country music’s greatest artists. Makes me think all of them band together with a well known, talented, mainstream artist in order to keep Beyoncé from winning any country music grammy… what does Reddit think?

The The's new album Ensoulment came out 5 days ago and I haven't been able to stop listening to it. I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive about this album prior to its release. I wasn't sure what to expect from their first studio album in 24 years, especially considering the variety between their previous albums (i.e. NakedSelf vs Soul Mining). But I was so pleasantly surprised when I heard this album the first time and it continues to grow on me the more I listen to it. Matt Johnson's voice and lyrics continue to hit me in a way that few other bands have and it feels like he picked up right where he left off. He manages to convey so much emotion in the instrumentals and lyrics, commenting on the way the world has changed in the last 2 decades as well as writing about his experiences with loss and grief. I fell in love with this band a few years ago and they've become one of my favorites, even inspiring one of my favorite tattoos. I can't begin to describe how surreal it is to hear new music from them and I'm beyond excited to have the chance to see them perform live in a couple months.

All this being said, it's not my favorite album by them (Soul Mining is about as close to a perfect album as it gets in my opinion) but every track has its place and I wouldn't take any of them out. I'm just in awe of their music and I'm happy that this album is no exception.

I'm hesitant to even try to determine by favorites because I think they're all solid, but I'll include links to the ones that have stuck out to me the most so far. I don't have anyone that I can talk to about this band/album that really "gets it" so I'd love to hear this sub's opinions on their comeback album. Which songs are your favorites and how do you feel about this release compared to their previous albums?

Life After Life: https://youtu.be/REchT3OPIMg?si=bdXAyowD2j5vBPVo

Risin' Above The Need: https://youtu.be/GVm2ErcBtBU?si=afficcssd5BMIdsb

Where Do We Go When We Die?: https://youtu.be/F8XiDb1YxS4?si=iYje4lMxVtmiG8f9

A Rainy Day In May: https://youtu.be/rs6_2yYLMag?si=tIK0sCjf4BaLdZbT

Full Ensoulment album: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ng-_1gxm0tGPQhxasPb8kgbZ7EteuLMqk&si=XligKFVXZ-TVzjwU

I had this question when I heard this song on my local classic rock radio station yesterday. In general, Christian rock is its own genre that gets played on its own radio stations and has its own followers, but "Spirit in the Sky" is the lone exception. There are bands with thinly veiled Christian lyrics (e.g. U2, Collective Soul), but even those aren't as overtly religious at "Spirit in the Sky". I know musical taste is subjective, but I would say it's a somewhat catchy song, but not anything special musically. What caused this particular song to become, and remain, so popular 50 years later?

Edit: I'm going back and listening to it again. I admit I undersold the quality or the song. It's more than just catchy.

I've been listening to the 500 rocks songs podcast recently, and of course, in the early days of music production there was really only the opportunity to realize short pieces of music, one song on each since of a 10" 78 etc. This was a tech limitation and other tech, with it's own limitations came along and turned the previous literal photo album stlye books of singles into a single 12" 33rpm record.

Since that point this notion of the "album" became meaningful, but is still only based on arbitrary decisions made by boffins as to how much music should fit onto an LP. Now there's no limitation whatsoever on how much music can be grouped together, what's the point in releasing albums any more?

I would guess that the only reason to keep doing it is because that's how it's always been, but clearly it HASN'T always been that way for all that long really. There were no (single object) albums 100 years ago, and music was sure popular back then too. I see various marketing benefits, fans looking forward to the day they get a new flood of songs, but that one banger on the radio is actually much more meaningful, right? Many bands craft arcs of music, and if that's what they want to do, then there are ways to do that without needing to call it an album.

I recall some purist bands in the 90s hating CDs as you were "meant to" stop an album in the middle and turn it over. Belle And Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister has a pause in the middle. Even Blur's Parklife has two clear halves, depsite almost never being listened to on vinyl. All feels a little... daft to me there, it's all just relics of technology, not art that got us there. But that's an aside really.

Maybe it's totally fine to abandon the notion of an album, and just see it as a relic of a limited technology?

Like say Hip-Hop declines in the mainstream and rock takes over the mantle, or perhaps as a precipitous of the aforementioned occurance, could you see rock return to its halcyon days as a genre of fun party and excess? For most of it's history up until the grunge era, it fit that bill entirely, but dourness has kind of set in ever since. I would say Britpop and the Garage rock revival of the early aughts are probably the only two exceptions but one was regional, and the other kind of just disappeared after facing backlash. Anyhow, just curious on your thoughts on this. Ciao

Barbie's Cradle, an alternative rock band originated from the Philippines back in 1999 with members Barbie Almalbis [guitar and vocals], Franklin Benitez [drummer] and Rommel De la Cruz [bassist].

Their first album named after their band name got popular in the Philippines because of a track titled Tabing Ilog (Riverside in English) was used for a television show that premiered on Philippine TVs back in 1999-2003. While Tabing Ilog was gaining popularity, they released their second album titled "Music From The Buffet Table" in the year 2000. It had new tracks like Shiny Red Balloon, Langit Na Naman (Heaven Again), Money for Food and more while the tracks from their first album such as Tabing Ilog (Riverside), The Dance and Goodnyt (Acoustic Version) were released in the album again.

After this, they were chosen to sing Pangarap Ko (My Dream) for a movie called Trip back in 2001.

Two years later, they hit the Philippine' Music Scene again with the 2003 release of Playing in the Fields with the tracks Limang Dipang Tao (Five People), Everyday and more songs gaining popularity and little did everyone know it was going to be their last album after performing one last time live in 2005 and Almalbis' pursuing a solo career as an artist in Music.

25 years later, Barbie Almalbis is now Barbie A. Honasan as she got married back in 2006 but still being popularly called Barbie Almalbis, Franklin Benitez is now a pastor in a Church and Rommel De la Cruz is still playing bass as I do not know him that much. I know he has Instagram though.

I want to ask people in this community, does anybody else know them? Are you from the Philippines or from another country? Comment from which country hehe. I just discovered them this year and currently obsessed with Tabing Ilog, The Dance and Goodnyt (Full Band / Rock Version) which was a bonus track from their first album that is now on Spotify.

They are a good band, and I recommend you listen to them especially their English songs The Dance, Goodnyt (Acoustic and Full Band versions) and Money for Food.

I've been on a serious binge of Marc Almond's discography lately, and i'm seriously amazed at how underrated this guy is. He's worked with lots of great musicians (from Nick Cave to Robert Smith to Nico to Coil, and beyond), recorded some wonderful albums, stayed (mostly) true to his underground roots to the point of commercial suicide and dared to be out and proud at a time when it was still unmentionable. There's so much to him beyond Soft Cell and Tainted Love, seriously.

Some of my favorites below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEtQROmgIC8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQAQcbXNTg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqXwUWxGIdE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibusVXUyZJI

Each week a WHYBLT? thread will be posted, where we can talk about what music we’ve been listening to. The recommended format is as follows.

Band/Album Name: A description of the band/album and what you find enjoyable/interesting/terrible/whatever about them/it. Try to really show what they’re about, what their sound is like, what artists they are influenced by/have influenced or some other means of describing their music.

Artist Name – Song Name If you’d like to give a short description of the song then feel free

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUTUBE, SOUNDCLOUD, SPOTIFY, ETC LINKS! Recommendations for similar artists are preferable too.

This thread is meant to encourage sharing of music and promote discussion about artists. Any post that just puts up a youtube link or says “I've been listening to Radiohead; they are my favorite band.” will be removed. Make an effort to really talk about what you’ve been listening to. Self-promotion is also not allowed.

Do you agree? Personally, I found her take on country left much to be desired. I’ll admit a lot of people unfairly don’t like this album bc they don’t like country music in general, but in all honesty, I love country music. I love Beyoncé.

But this album is too long, lacks cohesion, feels rushed and to be real, it’s not fun to listen to. Did anyone else feel like she had these songs sitting for a few years? Idk if she will tour this album but she’ll probably have to fill out that setlist with her old hits.

But let me be clear! Beyoncé has a great discography so even her worst album is not completely bad. It is, in my opinion, bloated and rushed, though.

“Jolene” was probably the biggest letdown for me. Even with the lyric changes, the song isn’t empowering. I was expecting something like a cover of “Before He Cheats” or even “Man! I feel like a Woman”- meaningful, empowering and also fun to sing along/dance to! “These Boots were Made for Walking” also would’ve been powerful and sexy.

(I’m sorry, Jolene will never be empowering. It’s a great classic(!) song but you’re begging Jolene not to take your man….even if you do it in a threatening tone)

I liked ya ya but I never came back to it. The other songs felt like filler. Which is something I’ve never said about a Beyoncé album in my life.

Would you pay to see Beyoncé on tour if the setlist was all/mostly Cowboy Carter songs? Personally, I’m checking out until act 3.

Was listening to some music today and I’m not rlly knowledgeable on the I did try and stuff but I’m just wondering why is it that most artists seem to use instrument sounds that come off a computer like for bass or drums and claps and basically most instruments, instead of maybe making the sound on that and then getting a session player to play it on a real instrument, surely that would lead to a better sound, more interesting and I guess full of life in a way.

When I listening to music from like the 90s earlier especially more rock based songs u can hear and feel the drums so much more, did mainstream artists just get lazy?

EDIT!!! Literally just asking why some people prefer midi and VSTs over live instruments, feels like it’s more common in pop than other genres. It’s not that deep and if ur gonna say “I have no argument” then ur reading comprehension is terrible, if u don’t have an answer then don’t comment lmao

This weekend I watched the documentary Thank You, Goodnight and it reminded me just how much I love this band. Episode 1 started with an exerpt of Runaway (which I love) then got me thinking that New Jersey was the 1st record I ever bought (I'm 45). That record is still in my top 10. Interested in hearing your opinions of the band, your favourite songs/albums etc.

Their new album is super too, love Legendary and Hollow Man etc, even though it was recorded under trying circumstances. Hope Jonny can overcome his vocal issues and the band continues to release.

Hey guys,

The songs are from the band the Dismemberment Plan album, "Emergency and I." This is a concept that I still don't understand. The meaning of the word, "Sentimental." I have seen it been used here and there yet it has not been as throughly definited.

Its similar to the literary concept, "Deux ex machina" where some critics will use the term here and there. However, the only way of understanding it is through a lot of examples and comparisons.

"Deux ex machina" is a very specific term in narratives, I only start to understand the concept after a professional writer broke it down. The best example in Jurassic park were the main characters are saved by chance as opposed to their own actions. It wouldn't have been "deux machina" it they had gotten a power up as long as they were the "main drivers" of the action.

What I have seen is the word sentimental used as describing that seen as "too nice" or "too noble." When someome expresses feeling that might make others uncomfortable. The standards might vary.

Any way, going back to the album, you have the song, "Spider in the Snow." It seems all about the singer feeling down,and depressed. He talks about having no friends. The song seems to be about the singer sad feeling and walking around his city(similar alley...etc).

Yet, I haven't heard people or critics saying, "This song sentimental," " nostalgic" or "overly emotional." It just seems to be one of the sad songs of the albums.

Meanwhile, a song like, "You are Invited" seems to be a much "uplifting" type of song. Its about this guy who is rejected by society. Yet the singer/lyricists tells him he is welcome to join them at a party. Yet this is the song the Travis Morrison(lead singer/lyricist) found too sentimental to include in the album.

In every conversation about best rappers from back in the day or classic rap albums from the 80s and 90s, it's always American artists. Now of course they invented it, pioneered it, and will always be deserving of 'classic' or 'legendary' labels.

But honestly, when you listen to early adopters from other countries, you discover some epic albums that were often released around the same time or even before the 'classics' we all know and love.

For example, French hip hop in the 90s was so ahead of its time (think Saian Supa Crew), and gets totally overlooked despite its contribution to the rap genre, probably just because of the language barrier.

I think you can appreciate rap even if you don't speak the language because of rhyme schemes and flow and beats. But is it better now? Do more people listen to rap in languages other than their own? Will any non-English language rap be regarded as classic outside their own country?

Another day, I was listening to my playlist and realized how many songs accidentally became keys to a specific part of my life in the past. "Tonight" was published by a girl I liked more than 15 years ago, and until now, every time I hear it, it automatically reminds me about that period, and vice versa. When I'm thinking about relations, love, etc., this is the first song that comes to my mind. The other one is pretty much all of the songs of Lonely Island, somehow it came as the greatest memory of my senior year. We always had fun with the texts and videos and this absolutely wasn't my favorite music at that time but after years this strongly calls up nostalgia about that period.

Curious, what are your stories about your special songs?

I've loved his music since a mate leant me the Gold album years ago. Some albums aren't to my taste but hope you'd agree, he's a hell of a song writer. I prefer Big Colours, Prisoner, etc over some of the other albums. He also rattles out the odd banging cover. I'd love him to put the effort into a really solid release rather than what appears to be rushing out collections like Chris, FM.....etc. What are your thoughts on his music, any suggestions on favourite songs, deep cuts etc?

What’s especially fascinating about post-punk is the really experimental stuff by bands like Pere Ubu, Public Image Ltd, the Pop Group & This Heat……it’s apparent that all of them benefited a ton from the rise of punk (specifically in the sense of that DIY/“anyone can do it” attitude), but at the same time, there are definitely strong avant-garde leanings in the aforementioned groups!

There really isn’t a lot of traditional American music in albums like The Modern Dance, Y, Deceit & Metal Box…..you can’t really tie Pere Ubu & the Pop Group to stuff like the Beatles & Led Zeppelin too. I’m tempted to say that the stuff that was achieved by the Pop Group, Pere Ubu, Public Image Ltd & This Heat was almost entirely divorced from rock altogether (in a conventional sense). Wire’s 154 came close to this as well!

Electronics, drones, repetition, noise, bizarre guitar playing that’s not like Jimmy Page/Eddie Van Halen at all, along with Velvet Underground influences, the motorik rhythms of Krautrock & the oddness of Captain Beefheart…….you can absolutely hear some of that (at least) in Pere Ubu, the Pop Group, This Heat & Public Image Ltd (along with bits of free jazz). What’s especially fascinating is that those elements were incorporated into a post-punk context…..it’s almost like punk’s DIY spirit was mutated into this thing that’s barely recognizable as rock. And I think that John Cage & Karlheinz Stockhausen were influences as well?

The more experimental post-punk is definitely different in comparison to the gloomier efforts of the Cure/Joy Division (and the more overtly punky stuff that’s in Magazine & early Siouxsie and the Banshees) as well.

The fact that post-punk could have such a strong avant-garde atmosphere is really fascinating to me!

So I’ve been thinking a little bit about what the differences tend to be between people who enjoy experimental, avant-garde, free jazz, dissonant type music and people who tend to enjoy more tonal consonant music. Obviously plenty of people enjoy both, but I’m mostly wondering about the shift in perspective or point of view that leads someone to enjoy the dissonant type music as most people in general start from a place of enjoying the tonal consonant music.

One thought I’m having is that most people start approaching music from a place of music as facilitator to a “vibe”, putting on happy or fast music to motivate a workout or a sad breakup song to validate feelings of sadness. Putting on smooth jazz for a refined dinner evening. Where the function of the music is less music as art piece and more music as emotional facilitator.

In my own personal life, I only started to really enjoy the more dissonant music when I started to approach it more as an art piece that was itself going to take me on a emotional journey rather than validating an emotion I was already experiencing. Obviously, this can be done with music that is more consonant, but I’m trying to look at some of the important differences in perspective that causes people to meaningfully engage with dissonant music. A lot of people’s initial reaction to genres like free jazz or noise is just “this must be a joke?” or overt scorn like what Yoko Ono got.

What do y’all think about engaging with music in these different ways? If you’re a dissonant music enjoyer what got you to start enjoying that type of music?

I find with beck that his career is everything before and after Colours. Everything he's released since that album has just been so different but in a much worse way. The more recent albums IMO have been way too polished for the artist I've known as beck. I liked the natural sound of all the other albums in whatever style they were. But his recent efforts have gone the complete other direction. If he continues down the current path is yet to be seen but my hope is he doesn't.

As for favourite albums I'd pick Mellow Gold, Modern Guilt and Odeley. He certainly has a really interesting discography. I'm surprised he's never put out a b-sides collection as he easily could.

I’ve been a fan of this band for 20 years, but I’ve never met another fan. I know they’re out there because tindersticks have been consistently releasing albums since the early 90s. They have a new one in a few weeks. I adore this band.

For fans of Nick cave, Scott walker, Lee hazel wood, and old soul music. Brooding often with strings and horns.

Any of you out there…please comment. This band is severely underrated

https://youtu.be/mpK58eRJQOw?si=4t8tuhumaE7FygXz

https://youtu.be/Nh7QuDWsVgQ?si=4ZZasbXurNqPqnbI

They’ve also done multiple covers of songs from my favorite show “twin peaks” as well. 3 that I’m aware of

In one of my recent reviews, a commenter pointed out that he didn’t appreciate that I was approaching music I’d never heard with preconceived biases. I understand that critique and wish I could just listen to music with an open mind, but that’s not how it works for me; I have a ton of biases about different genres of music I’ve never gotten into, and most of the time those preconceived ideas are what kept me from exploring those genres to begin with; whether it’s random clips of songs I’ve heard on the radio, to some of the artists themselves and how they present themselves, or even fans of the genre who annoy me - I can’t help having my thoughts on those genres clouded by those experiences.

I know I’ll get crucified for some of what I’m about to get into, but I’m just going to be honest. Before I even start, I understand I’ll get flooded with people telling me about all the exceptions to these issues, and how wrong I am overall, but just keep in mind these biases I’m about to admit are based on my own experiences and I totally admit I could be way off base with them, but it’s fair that I get them out of the way before getting into the review.

The thing I admire most about music is its artistic merit; I like listening to music that feels like it was made as a way for the artist to express something real; a message they feel strongly about, an emotion, a feeling; something real. Hip hop has always felt like a genre that is completely out of touch with that goal.

Maybe it’s just modern hip hop, but it seems like a genre that’s obsessed with commercialism and making money over anything artistic. The majority of popular hip hop I’ve heard seems to be about how rich the artist is, and even the fanbase seems to judge the music on how well it sells. The artists seem to see themselves less as artists and more as businessmen or “CEOs” - with many seeming happy to immediately pivot from creative ventures into other ways of making money off their fans.

I don’t know why the fans put up with that treatment; I think in most other genres, like my familiar metal, fans try to hold artists to some sort of standard of integrity. Accusations of “selling out” will damage an artist’s reputation, and bands who try to monetize products to make more money off their fanbase are widely mocked for it. In hip hop, not only is it seemingly expected that a successful rapper will try to bleed his fanbase for every last dollar selling various products, but they turn around and write lyrics bragging about their fancy cars and huge mansions they buy with their fans’ money - with seemingly no appreciation.

I have a lot of friends who like hip hop and I always laugh at the braggadocios lyrics - flaunting their insane wealth. I joke about how “relatable” the lyrics are to me - but I really can’t understand the appeal to listening to a rapper brag to me about how great his life is and how rich he is.

The other issue I have with hip hop in general from an artistic perspective is the music itself; sampling, which seems to be the primary “instrument,” just seems so lazy. I know lots of rock and metal borrows ideas, but at least it’s musicians playing instruments - sampling I really can’t respect as a real art form any more than something like AI generated art; it’s simply taking someone else’s music and repurposing it.

Those are my biases. With that out of the way, I listened to NWA’s classic album Straight Outta Compton with all of that in mind.

Now, obviously I’ve heard some of these songs before. The title track and Fuck Tha Police are classics, and I’ve seen the movie, and I’m obviously familiar with Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy E. However, I’ve never listened to the full album.

Right off the bat this album does address a lot of my criticisms with modern hip hop; the lyrics and delivery are much better than what I hear in modern hip hop - they sound like a young, hungry group of musicians looking to write about their perspective having grown up poor in a rough area and dealing with crime and drugs. It’s still very arrogant, but in a fun, sort of punk way. The bragging is so over the top it’s obviously more revealing of that attitude a lot of us had when we were young and dealing with a rough hand in life - turning your fears and insecurities into larger than life personas to protect you.

Some of it is a little contradictory and silly; I think Fuck Tha Police in particular is kind of funny in the way it both complains about the cops treating them badly and discriminating against them, while in the same song admitting they’re guilty of violent assaults and murder. However, in the context of the time I realize this was pretty revolutionary - an overlooked section of society that usually didn’t get a lot of recognition suddenly thrusting their point of view into the mainstream and claiming their own version of what was cool.

What about the music? Well, it is what it is and this album is really about the rap, while the beat is kind of a background element. Coming from a genre like metal where this is basically reversed is interesting. This is pretty simplistic stuff, where in most songs it’s the same beat and bass line (or sample) on a short loop, repeating for the entire song. Some songs are so strong on their own (the title track, Gangsta Gangsta, Fuck Tha Police) that it works, while some (8 Ball, Express Yourself) seem to drag and I get tired of the beat pretty quickly, which makes it difficult to want to revisit.

Overall though, this is a very strong, very fun album. It may not be extremely deep on its surface (musically or lyrically) and I doubt Eazy E, Dr. Dre or Ice Cube were intentionally trying to do much beyond make a cool sounding record, but it does have artistic merit and does act as a very interesting look into the mindset of young men coming up in a rough neighborhood, their unique experiences, and the larger than life personas they adopted to protect themselves from that environment. Its the type of album you can throw on in the car or at the gym and have some of that swagger and confidence rub off on you, making you feel similarly young and invincible for a short time.

I’m sure plenty of you will let me know how wrong I am about modern hip hop, and I’m open to hearing artists that would change my perspective on it, but this album also sort of helped me understand it to an extent. The larger than life personas that NWA adopted as these sort of gangster outlaws who were basically invincible and could get any girl they wanted laid the blueprints for how that would be adopted by rappers who are now making music at a time when hip hop is probably the most popular genre. Instead of bragging about their accomplishments as street kids, they brag about their accomplishments and success in business and in how much wealth they’ve accumulated - it’s a natural progression and probably still comes from a place of coping with some sort of deep fears and insecurities, and on some level it can be just as interesting to listen to an artist and interpret their art in a way they might not even be intending.

I recently had a debate about the interpretation of song lyrics and their potential religious implications. We discussed "Not Strong Enough" by Boy Genius and "All Good Girls Go to Hell" by Billie Eilish. My friend felt that the mention of God in "Not Strong Enough" made it blasphemous, despite the song's broader metaphor about self-perception and perfection. They also viewed "All Good Girls Go to Hell" as satanic due to its devilish imagery, even though I saw it more as a critique of morality and societal norms.

I find it frustrating that the accusations of satanism in music seem to be a recurring issue, much like they were in the 80s with rock and metal bands. Back then, some bands might have genuinely embraced controversial themes, but many simply used them to be edgy and rebel against societal norms. I thought we had moved past this kind of moral panic, but it feels like we're back in the early 2010s, similar to the controversy surrounding Lady Gaga's "Judas." Despite the song being about betrayal in a romantic context, it was labeled as satanic by some. And more than 10 years later we're still doing the same thing heck Megan Thee Stallion song Mamushi was also labeled satanic because she was rapping in Japanese.

I just feel like there's not enough critical thinking going when these accusations are brought up...