Rose Screams About Indie Music

I don't like the new Autolux album YET but their other albums have been my personal darlings for ages. Carla Azar is amazing.

Are there any other albums in 2016 you've been really loving?

 

You'd mentioned Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop over Facebook messenger, so I'd decided to give the songs that are currently available to us in the plebeian public and can safely say that it's right up my alley. You were right - I really dig it. I missed an opportunity to review this for For Folk's Sake, since I'd put in for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes' PersonA and didn't want to take too many of the big guns for myself when it's a smaller avenue for publication than, say, PopMatters, who just straight didn't assign it to me because their formula is weird (though, I'm getting cozy with Clapton's management again this go-around, so I'm happy with that, anyway). 

I can see how Sam and Jesca could be pitched as country based off of "One Way to Pray"; it isn't a far stretch from an Everly Brothers-fueled kind of breezy Americana. Still, I'd say that's more along the lines of alternative folk than traditional country, as is the case with songs like "Roving Gambler" which, in the Everly or the Billie Joe & Norah Jones interpretations, veer more towards that inner-city bar kind-of Greenwich folk style than anything. "Every Songbird Says" is definitely more of a pure, modern folk, too... and okay, so "Valley Clouds" sounds pretty country, but that's only ~33% of what I've been able to listen to, so far. I'd label it alternative folk (as allergic to genre labeling as a whole as I am). The chorus is so pretty, too. I may end up even more of a fan of this project than Iron & Wine.

The new Lumineers album is better than their debut, which is saying something, considering that the original Lumineers slipped into my heart as one of my favorite albums of all-time for a number of reasons. I was a little afraid that their time out of the limelight would take some of their initial "Ho Hey"-fueled fame away, but it seems to be doing the opposite, as the slow burn has nabbed them TV spots and movie spots alike ("Gale Song" is originally from The Hunger Games) and has only given them time to create a more layered album than the first - and another infinitely listenable one, at that. I used to tote that they're my second-favorite American band behind the Avett Brothers, and while that maintains, the gap has certainly closed up quite a bit. 

I'm not huge on electronic stylings, even though I respect them, honestly, but Animal Collective are my guilty pleasure. The hazy maze cave which Painting With encapsulates is more entertaining than many of my fellow critics have given them credit for. It's solid. M83's original album was so fantastic for what they did and I'm not surprised it's on a lot of people's top album lists for the year that it was released, but lightning obviously doesn't strike twice for everyone, and I guess that's the case here. I'm aware that Cage the Elephant released a new album but I've been bad about getting around to listening to it. That'll change sooner than later, now. 

I'm allergic to Kanye and don't really feel like listening to his music, but I might catch one track or another just for a fair assessment between your recommendation and some of my friends from back home who ooze out of every orifice for him on a daily basis. As for the others, I've heard of some in passing but will have to look into them and come back with my thoughts on them, too.

Ultimately, really great idea for a topic. I look forward to some solid musical exchanges here as time goes by. B)

P.S. Some of my favorite albums this year, for the heck of it:
1. The Lumineers - Cleopatra
2. Weezer - White Album
3. Lake Street Dive - Side Pony
4. Andrew Bird - Are You Serious
5. Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
6. Parker Millsap - The Very Last Day 
7. Escondido - Walking with a Stranger
8. The Sea The Sea - In the Altogether
9. Lake Street Dive - Side Pony
10. The Crane Wives - Foxlore

 

They say "corporate sellout", yet they probably go to bed with the soothing sounds of their Radio Disney Junior app. Let's get real. :5

Anyway, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes are definitely an acquired taste. I personally quite enjoy the album, but can firmly say that it's probably more-so than most others. They've been panned and turned into a cult phenomena right out of the gate, and with Alex Ebert putting on the visage of a "Messianic character meant to save the world, but who is distracted as he falls in love with every woman he meets" when he sings as Edward, there's no mistaking why. In fact, he kinda sounds like Dog from CatDog when he sings with that bizarre affectation. However, "Free Stuff" is a pretty listenable song, at the least, and I've been thoroughly entertained by the spectacle. It's all very weird and only has gotten weirder, though. I remember @Eebit loving some Jade Castrinos, but not so much in regards to Sharpe when I'd shown the band to him back in the day. Again- not a whole lot of wondering why.

I'm a fan of Margo Price, but then again, I don't hate country music. I loved it when he fronted the SteelDrivers and love him just as much as a country star, too, with Chris Stapleton. Kacey Musgraves gives me some hope in the genre, too. Then again, this thematically significant country movement still has yet to usurp the evils of this borderline fascist bro-country movement, that I do abhor almost entirely. There's some Blake Shelton that I like, but I recognize that that's mostly guilty pleasure territory and not actually any sort of lyrical masterpiece (except for a few songs here and there, like "Granddaddy's Gun"), and I really like Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift's Red album, as far as pop country goes. But beyond that, I don't really do much with modern country. 

A few of my friends and I have a longstanding relationship with Animal Collective tunes and they have yet to disappoint any of us, from what I've seen, even with their latest album being a little panned. This isn't as drastic as, say, Weezer turning out Make Believe (which I liked for the most part, anyway), more-so than it is a somewhat muted step in terms of impact when objectively compared to their previous work like Merriweather Post Pavilion. One of these same friends introduced me to Andrew Bird around this time last year with the fantastic Pulaski at Night EP, and I've loved the guy ever since. Glad to hear that he's had similar reception at the station, and hopefully that bribery comes around full-circle for you all...! :5

Courtney Barnett is great, but I can't speak for what else that firm is sending you, of course! Hopefully they eventually send you something that you dig. It isn't obtuse for me to receive upwards of 100+ emails from PR and indie artists every day, around 90% of which ends up being stuff I don't work well with, or is otherwise disappointingly under-baked and/or garbage. I just hit that check-mark and mass delete all that bad stuff, haha.

 

Holy shit. I didn't realize that Beyonce collaborated with Jack White and Kendrick on her new album, and now I'll have to seek out actually giving it a real, firm listen. I've been kinda sitting on it since I don't want to form any major opinions on it until a few weeks have passed and I've been able to read enough from black journalists and listeners analyzing the album so I can more firmly understand what it means to their community, outside of the obvious with her calling out Jay-Z on it for cheating across nearly the entire track list (the fuck, dude?). Still, I'm gonna have to cop a full listen through now anyway, because Jack White and Kendrick. Heck yeah.

I've worked with Haulix once or twice, as well as systems very similar to it, and they are terribly over-complicated. My favorite is when people just give me a Dropbox link and tell me to download their stuff, so that I won't have to go in inputting passwords that don't work for files that may not process right during the download and end up a hull file that needs to be reprocessed in yet another download, only for it to hopefully work that time around.

I sure as hell am never getting PopMatters or For Folk's Sake or anything tattooed on myself as much as I love the publications, but heck, have fun with that WZBT tat life when you can afford it, if that's what floats your boat. :5

 

Ah, I couldn't catch Lemonade either! Really sucks since I've been super excited about it since Formation dropped.

That Andrew Bird album (@Jonno) is pretty interesting! I think my personal pick from it would be Truth Lies Low. Will probably give those other albums a listen at some point...!

 

@Rose - That would be kickass. I can PM you my email address (even if this isn't how you'd flip it my way, you can have it anyway). I'd make sure to regularly send you stuff on this end that I'm authorized to and that I think is pretty good.

Potential other tattoo idea: the cover art to A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra. :5

@'Gold Dullahan' coppin' that Bird. Heck yeah. B| My initial favorite off of the album was "Left-Handed Kisses" because I love Fiona Apple, but the more I chime into it and give it a listen, "Roma Fade" and "Truth Be Told" are becoming bigger favorites.

 

I can only begin to imagine. 

:5

Alright, cool, all aside. I'll shoot that your way (along with tunes and such as I get them in anyway, because reciprocation).

 

-crashes through the ceiling into this thread-

Speaking of music, I was wondering... have you guys (@Rose @Jonno @"CodasterTheDisaster") ever heard of the Arkells? I asked Jonno this last night -- they're a band of some repute here in the north (at least where I'm from) but I don't know quite enough about them to know if they've made it to the bigs south of the border. I was debating about putting this conversation in the "Now Playing" thread but I figured that hey, they're probably indie enough to qualify for this thread.

The reason I ask is because I think you guys in here would really dig their sound. They're probably most well-known for one of their more recent singles, "Leather Jacket", although the entire album that the single is lifted from (High Noon) is quite high quality. If I were to give some recommendations, I'd say to check out "Cynical Bastards", "11:11", and my current favourite tune "Kiss Cam" -- the lattermost of which is actually off of their previous album, Michigan Left.

 

!!!!!! (when you live near NYC)

Any idea which event it is??? Sounds super cool if they do get to send people over.

 

That sounds super cool, I'm gonna' wish your station the best of luck...!
also wow Instagram can we creep and follow