What are you listening to right now?

Freddielove · Post by **Freddielove** » Sun May 08, 2005 10:44 pm

Just got back from Feist and British Sea Power. Good show.

If you get a chance, chack out <a href="http://www.listentofeist.com" target="_blank">Feist</a>.

An interesting combination of 70s soul, bossa, and singer songwiter. And she's really cool too.

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Tue May 10, 2005 6:57 am

Just checking out some prerelease, umm..promo (coughcough..) albums by System of A Down (Mesmerize) and Dream Theater (Octavarium).

System of a Down are the fucking bomb. I can't wait for this album to hit the streets. I hope it makes them rich. Very very very very very good. Guitar sounds are so....System. They have a penchant for using this almost uncomfortable midrange crunch that conveys power really well. But it isn't pretty. And that's the beauty of it. BUY IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. A release that's made even cooler when you consider it will be followed up with the 2nd part, Hypnotize in the fall. May17th, I expect to see all of you in your local record store.

Dream Theater, musician virtuosos, prog metal genre definers, have finally crested the proverbial hill. This album is tired, blah and lyrically BRUTAL. I am a longtime DT fan, so it pains me to write this. I guess the danger of writing 20 minute songs that are performed at blinding speeds, touching on every musical style and mode is that you use up all of the juice pretty fast. This album is recycled crap. ***!!!!&&***THERE IS SCRATCHING ON ONE SONG***&&!!!!*** There shouldn't be scratching on this record. Also, they use these wonderfully ass presets of some dance/rave soft synth for some stupid reason...I'd guess it's some sort of attempt to be "hip" and "relevant" for the kids..I dunno. Retarded. I'm sorely disappointed.

jute gyte · Post by **jute gyte** » Tue May 10, 2005 10:55 am

jamie lidell

Gazelles · Post by **Gazelles** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:25 pm

I am a cellist and so when people don't know what to get me for presents, I often am given Yo Yo Ma albums. Yo Yo Ma is a very good cellist, but he doesn't quite do it for me like some other cellists. I do however applaud his versitility to Tango and Appalachian music, etc. And his latest album is an excellent example of this. He plays in the Silk Road Ensemble and they together put out Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon. It is absolutely beautiful and entrancing music. Very Oriental, Middle Eastern sounding. Highly recommended.

I've also been loving John Coltrane's Giant Steps lately. Why did it take me so long to appreciate jazz?

Gazelles · Post by **Gazelles** » Wed May 11, 2005 1:27 pm

TheHipCola wrote: System of a Down are the fucking bomb. I can't wait for this album to hit the streets. I hope it makes them rich. Very very very very very good. Guitar sounds are so....System. They have a penchant for using this almost uncomfortable midrange crunch that conveys power really well. But it isn't pretty. And that's the beauty of it. BUY IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. A release that's made even cooler when you consider it will be followed up with the 2nd part, Hypnotize in the fall. May17th, I expect to see all of you in your local record store.

Agh I am so psyched for the System album! I absolutely love them, and I've heard Cigaro, which is fantastic. I saw them perform a song on SNL last week I think it was too.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:30 am

"1997" by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Fri May 20, 2005 9:01 am

So from hearing 1997, I thought Sleepytime Gorilla Museum was just another nu metal band. I was wrong. Now that I've heard a few more songs like "The Neighborhood", I see that Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are the cousins of x-tokyo.

JonPorobil · Post by **JonPorobil** » Fri May 20, 2005 9:11 am

I give Mesmerize five stars.

Which reminds me, why have I been using the letter-grade system on here? I hate using the letter-grade system. Anyhoo, A+ for System; more on that later.

I also just bought Blinking Lights and Other Revalations, but I haven't yet listened to it.

I also say don't listen to Stephen Thomas Erlewine's dangling adjectives, and go check out the new Dave Matthews Band album, Stand Up. I've only given it one listen-through, but STE is, as usual, wrong. Man, I hate that guy.

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Fri May 20, 2005 10:56 am

DMB - great. I'm not sure they will ever get back to what I consider their best work in Under The Table and Dreaming..but this is better than Everyday. I think because it feels more band-ish then Everyday. Anyhow...solid album. Took me a few listens to dig it.

Mesmerize...A+++++.

And if anyone hasn't heard (feel like I'm the last one to know)..the Delays album from 04 is mighty nice. About as opposite of System as you can get.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Fri May 20, 2005 11:50 am

Gazelles wrote:I am a cellist and so when people don't know what to get me for presents, I often am given Yo Yo Ma albums. Yo Yo Ma is a very good cellist, but he doesn't quite do it for me like some other cellists. I do however applaud his versitility to Tango and Appalachian music, etc. And his latest album is an excellent example of this. He plays in the Silk Road Ensemble and they together put out Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon. It is absolutely beautiful and entrancing music. Very Oriental, Middle Eastern sounding. Highly recommended.

Girls playing cello is awesome. That's just a general observation.

The silk road stuff is pretty. I've always dug cello, and love string quartets supreme! Bartok. Oh baby baby baby. And the Beethoven quartets. But Bartok. Baby baby baby. I guess he gets the three babies vote. Some of the Bach suites are awesome. I played them on guitar and always wished I didn't have to resort to the transcriptions.

Also loved Gentle Giant for their use of cello, violin and mallets. Funny Ways is beautifully awesome (listening to this stuff getting ready for the Prog coverfest). And Oregon, they had some nice string accompaniment, beyond Icarus.

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Fri May 20, 2005 12:45 pm

Jorane

wow. I love her.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:17 pm

And when it comes to cello girls, you can't forget my all-time favorite group: Rasputina, who I will be seeing live for the 4th time next week at Brooklyn's Southpaw.

For a good example of their work, go here. They appear an hour or so into the radio show and play some of their favorite covers including their always stellar version of Belle & Sebastian's "Fox in the Snow" and their killer version of Heart's "Barracuda" (which was even better the night before at the Knitting Factory with a full drum set. It was so good that night, they played the song twice!!!

You can also sample several songs on the instinct records website or at the unofficial Rasputina myspace page.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:30 pm

Also enjoyable in the women with a cello realm is Bonfire Madigan.

Gazelles · Post by **Gazelles** » Sat May 21, 2005 9:19 am

roymond wrote:Girls playing cello is awesome. That's just a general observation.

Roymond, I completely agree with that statement. However I'm not a girl, so right now I'm laughing very, very hard. This is especially funny because this is not the first time someone on Songfight was almost convinced I was a girl. I think it was Generic before. Unless you don't think I'm a girl and I'm just making wild assumptions.

And while I'm here...

Lyle Lovett-Live In Texas
Joan of Arc-Live In Chicago, 1999
Joan of Arc-So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness
Sparklehorse-It's a Wonderful Life
Simon and Garfunkel-Greatest Hits
Sigur Ros-Von
Belle and Sebastian-If You're Feeling Sinister
Built to Spill-Keep It Like a Secret

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Tue May 31, 2005 6:00 am

Currently grooving to a new find, Medeski Martin & Wood - End of the World Party. Groovy kitchpop/jazz kind of thing...no vocals yet..just grooves. Nice.

Just finished listening to Boards of Canada - Twoism. Awesome morning drive music.

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Tue May 31, 2005 7:58 am

roymond wrote:Girls playing cello is awesome.

http://www.beautyinmusic.com/instument_ ... _page1.htm

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:12 am

Ever miss the boat? That's what I did with this band. I never heard of The Fall on Deaf Ears and when I heard "Your Reflection", it was phenomenal. Then I find out that this was Cedric Bixler's band before ATDI and they broke up when half the band died in a car accident. Still a small EP of songs remains...

Noise Brigade · Post by **Noise Brigade** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:40 pm

The Unicorns <3

JonPorobil · Post by **JonPorobil** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:17 pm

Better than Ezra - Before the Robots

It's a totally middle-of-the-road rock album in the vein of their earlier work (like that one-hit that made them wonders in the first place, "Good"), so if you like that sort of thing, you'll enjoy this. If you don't, then steer clear. For my part, I like it. Though it's funny because they're from my hometown and I happen to know that the school they all graduated from is the preppiest in New Orleans, so to hear them singing "A Southern Thing" is sort of an ironic experience. Oddly, the highlight of this album is the same as the highlight of their last album, Closer. It's called "A Lifetime," and I don't know why they chose to rehash it. Straight-up B.

Gazelles · Post by **Gazelles** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 6:18 pm

TheHipCola wrote:Currently grooving to a new find, Medeski Martin & Wood - End of the World Party. Groovy kitchpop/jazz kind of thing...no vocals yet..just grooves. Nice.

That is definitely a good album. I prefer The Dropper and especially Uninvisible over that. Though "Anonymous Skulls" is a fantastic song. Medeski Martin and Wood are awesome.

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:28 am

cLOUDDEAD> [ten] (everybody who's anybody needs to check this album out. honestly.)
The Residents> Animal Lover
Les Savy Fav> Inches (has not left my company in almost a year!)
Captain Beefheart> Safe as Milk and Ice Cream for Crow
ThunderBirds Are Now!> Just a Moustache
They Might Be Giants> Venue Songs
John Flansburg> State Songs
System of a Down> Mesmerize
Fruit Bats> Spelled in Bones
Coheed and Cambria> Live at the Starland Ballroom
Comus> First Utterance
The Mountain Goats> Come, Come to the Sunset Tree (not -quite- the same album as the Sunset Tree)

c.layne · Post by **c.layne** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 2:19 pm

les savy fav - inches i think that one needs to be reiterated.
the funeral orchestra - feeding the abyss
gorillaz - demon days
hood - outside closer
old man gloom - christmas
mastodon - leviathan
q and not u - power
the books - lost and safe

What are you listening to right now?

girls playing cello