MUSIC THREAD

I saw the Antlers last night in Boston and they were fantastic. Silberman's singing has become so much stronger since I saw them in 2010. The new songs sound great live and definitely benefit from their awesome sound engineer. Just one of the prettiest sounding shows I've been to.

 

Does anyone else like Neil Young way more than Bob Dylan? I can't really rationalize it. Maybe it's simply the guitar.

 

I keep a running playlist each year on Spotify of albums I like, or think I could like with more listens. That way I don't forget the ones from early in the year when making my end of the year top 10. Here's what's on there as of now. Any albums you guys think I should check out to consider adding (I know Verse will put in a vote for Antlers)?

St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Phantogram - Voices
The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
Jack White - Lazaretto
First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
Lykke Li - I Never Learn
Strand of Oaks - HEAL
La Roux - Trouble in Paradise
Bleachers - Strange Desire

 

My favorites this year are:

1. St. Vincent, St. Vincent
2. Real Estate, Atlas
3. The Antlers, Familiars
4. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Piñata
5. The Hold Steady, Teeth Dreams
6. ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron
7. Sharon Van Etten, Are We There
8. Ratking, So It Goes
9. Future Islands, Singles
10. The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream

It hasn't been a very good year for music, and that extends past album-oriented stuff. I'll check out what I haven't heard from your list.

 

First Aid Kit might be my second favorite of the year behind St. Vincent. That's one that I kind of liked at first and has grown on me a lot with each listen. Also, I've never been a big fan of Lykke Li, but this album is solid.

 

I've spent most of the past three months digging into 1980s stuff I missed, like Echo and the Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain (whom I was somewhat familiar with) along with more Sonic Youth and Kate Bush and early My Bloody Valentine.

 

A few that have remained on my playlist for quite some time:

Sturgill Simpson, "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music"
Lydia Loveless, "Somewhere Else"
Jim Lauderdale, "I'm A Song"
Strand of Oaks, "Heal"
Sweet Apple, "Golden Age of Glitter"
California Breed, "California Breed"

 

Heal is my favorite album of the year. Lost in the Dream is a very close second. I do anticipate the upcoming Spoon album to challenge those two, however.

My most disappointing was probably Dum Dum Girls. The lead two singles were great, but the rest of the album kind of fell flat. It was disappointing because the EP they had previously released was so good.

 

My favorite new album of late is "Midnight Sun" by The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT).

Basically it's Sean Lennon, Charlotte Kemp Muhl and some studio musicians mixed in on various songs.

This song, "Animals," is pretty representative of their late 1960s-early 1970s Prog Rock sound ... the video is NSFW due to a few flashes of nudity:

 

Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique" was released 25 years ago today.

 

I'm not sure there's an album I own that ages better than Paul's Boutique. It sounds fresher with every passing year.

 

I judge people who prefer Licensed to Ill.