The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 36

Thanks to @dadbolt for this weeks recommendation for me: A Ghost Is Born by Wilco.

I am new to Wilco so i did not know what to expect. The album began pretty strong with
“At Least That's What You Said”, which started off as a subdued mellow song and then exploded into a louder more energetic instrumental jam. From there the album continued to not disappoint. "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" is a pretty enjoyable 10 minutes and a major highlight for me. One of the interesting things about this album is that it's the type of music that i feel you could put on as a background to a lot of everyday life things and it would just work as suitable music for that instance. A lot of the songs are calm and relaxing, and give off a Beatles vibe at times musically. The Beatles comparison was especially strong for me in the upbeat "Hummingbird". Overall it is a pretty good record and I enjoy a lot of the stripped down elements. As someone who usually doesn't go for that sort of thing, I will say Wilco seems to do it well. The only complaint I have about the album is the majority of the song "Less Than You Think". The first couple of minutes were fine, but the next 10+ minutes were grating and at times i wanted to take off my headphones and get a break from the noise haha. Overall I enjoyed it and definitely would not mind listening to them again sometime!

 

Don’t know how I missed it!

 

@nickyeatworld gave me Magic Man - Before the Waves to listen to.

I'll be honest, I struggled. From the first listen, it is clear to me that this record is good, but it failed to stick with me in any way. It seems that while the production is incredibly verbose and layered, the singer's vocals lack a distinction whether it's in performance or in timbre.

Again, I would like to stress that this is a good album. Lots to love, but not for me. I am happy to hear a counterpoint and it's likely that I revisit in the future and I'll feel differently about it.

Thanks for the pick, @nickyeatworld!

EDIT: Writing this today because I will not have time this weekend.

 

I've always been indiferent to Trainwreck not quite a trainwreck but nothing special imo. Their ep from last year was good but I've never been a big BNO fan for some reason that band never clicked with me.

 

I really enjoyed that Magic Man record. I would agree that it's not particularly special or unique, but I thought it was a very fun listen and one of the better electronic pop/rock records I've heard in the past few years.

 

@Cody I’m listening to this PJ Harvey album right now. Long Snake Moan is insane.

 

I lovvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeee this album.

 

God, you're in for such a treat. PJ Harvey is truly one of the best songwriters out there

 

Ok, onto @Bloodsucker II's recommendations.

Scarlet - This Was Always Meant To Fall Apart



I've listened to this album three times and it's definitely grown on me. On first listen I wasn't keen at all, although to be fair that might partly be down to the fact that I've had the new Converge album in my brain for the last few weeks and it'd be hard for this to compare to that.

There are aspects of this I really like. It's clearly well made. The band are well 'locked-in' with each other. The layered guitar work is a joy to listen to at points, probably my favourite part of the record right from the beginning of Obsolete (as an aside, I was really pleased that they continued to build throughout that song and resisted the temptation to kick in properly until Swarm Manifesto). The screamed vocals are fantastic.

I have to say though that the clean vocals grated on me a lot. I couldn't help it. Apart from on Obsolete and a couple more occasions, they pretty consistently tarnished the vibe for me. On Fire - a song where the more straightforward arrangements otherwise really shone through - irritated the most for this I think; the screaming was great and the gang vocals part worked brilliantly (I fucking love gang vocals done well) but every time the cleans came in, something about that guy's tone, in addition to the production decision on that particular vocal, ruined it.

I will probably listen to this again though. Pretty good.


The Dear Hunter Act II: All Things Regarding Ms. Leading



Not going to lie, I went into this expecting it to be a real drudge. Progressive music frequently bores me and when I initially googled it to get a bit of background, someone on Sputnik had referred to it as rock opera, which sounded like the worst thing in the world to me.

I have to say though that I was very pleasantly surprised. The fact that it was so upbeat, often in contrast to the lyrical narrative (which I looked up and tried to follow along with), pleased me greatly. The melodies are great, the arrangements are generally rich and well-crafted and somehow sound effortless, while the intertwining of different styles works really well. It's probably a little overly long for me and there were a few moments that lost me a little but I genuinely did not expect to enjoy it this much. The second half has some fantastic stuff. Red Hands rules.

As someone who is definitely a music >>> lyrics guy (lyrics are important to me but the actual music much more so), this concept isn't usually the sort of thing that appeals to me but I'll definitely be checking out the other albums.

 

Good choices dude. Thanks to you as well.

 

@bree1981 recommended I listen to Survival Pop by Worriers which I loved. I've listened a good 25-30 times through by now and even moved on to their debut Imaginary Life. I'm definitely into short, pithy songs that get in and get out, and the same thing goes with an album as well. Both of these Worriers albums do exactly that. There are a few genres that I don't really listen to much of anything from because it's just not my thing like hip-hop and metal, but there's others, like this, that I don't listen to much of anything from because I don't know it's there. "The Possibility" is a catchy song that's been stuck in my head for the week. The lead singers voice is fascinating in the way that it sounds hushed and eminently dramatic at once. The way she rolls into "keep me sane/get me high" from "Gaslighter" is just wonderful. My favorite tracks from both albums were "Life During Peacetime", "What We're Up Against", "My 85th Rodeo" and "WTF is Sleep?"

And I'm glad that @bree1981 enjoyed Too Far To Care. It's one of my favorite albums of all time, and a seminal recording in the history of alternative country. The band gets poppier than this and they get more country than this, but this mix here is them at their best. "Big Brown Eyes", "Barrier Reef", and "Timebomb" still tear it up at 97s shows while "Salome", "Melt Show", and "Niteclub" are the oft-overlooked gems that I wish got more attention from the fanbase.

 

With Session 2 thoughts coming in, I felt it is time to post Session 3 pairings. Here we go. This session starts Monday and runs through December 10.

SESSION 3

@KidLightning / @Erwin89

@skurt / @ComedownMachine

@Mary V / @Larry David

@BTDandFeelingThis / @bachna84

@sean_rugy / @Fuck You Aurora

@Raditz / @dadbolt

@JoshShulkin / @nohandstoholdonto

@Kiana / @Drewski

@JM95 / @Cody

@bree1981 / @Matthewconte

@mattfreaksmeout / @Wall Of Arms

@Joe4th / @duritzfan13

@manoverboard365 / @AlwaysEvolving21

@Mister Lyrical / @iCarly Rae Jepsen

@nickyeatworld / @jorbjorb

@js977 / @ImAMetaphor

@Colin Your Enthusiasm / @Contender

@shanerockey / @littlejohn

@Bloodsucker II / @Micool1

@DesolateEarth / @Zac Djamoos

@carrytheweird / @JRGComedy

@Patterns in Traffic / @navidson

@EmmanuelSCastle / @angrycandy

@St. Nate / @mescalineeyes

@marioeatworld / @skogsraet

@ChaseTx / @LuigiPeppercorn

Did I forget you? Let me know. Repeat partner? You can trade new albums or tell me and I’ll fix it. Enjoy!

 

Sorry mannnnn, I'm gonna have to bail this week.

 

@Zac Djamoos had me listen to Luck of Aleia - Six Songs and The American Scene - Safe for Now.


Luck Of Aleia- Six Songs

This was not what I expected when I threw this on during my training session! This album has some very catchy sounds to it, and I can relate some of the lyrics to the death and destruction I have seen in my life time. Just as the album title delivers, there are six songs on it. Sunken Eyes and Spark are probably my favorites from the six songs. Sometimes, this album made my Saiyan blood flow with passion! Then other times, not so much. It was hit or miss with me, but mostly good.

The American Scene- Safe For Now
This one actually sat with me more than Aleia did. Something about the compositing in the guitars and the drums it made me almost achieve the next level in my training with how much I liked this album! There were moments on this album that I could feel my power level rising just from listening to it. Great vocals, great sounding music. This is what this Saiyan wants to hear! Blood Orange and Shape Shifter are going on my normal routine playlist, and possibly will remain there for a good time to come!

 

Glad you were into Worriers @Matthewconte, seem's we both got our picks spot on, I'm still listening to Too Far To Care although I haven't dug any deeper into the band yet (more from a lack of time this weekend. Looks like we have drawn each other again for the next round

 

Suuuuuper late to the boat on this but this is the best thing I've seen around here and would love to partake in the future if it's still possible to do so?

Loved reading through the back and forth and open minded approaches and discussions here.

 

Welcome aboard sir !

 

@bachna84 and I have agreed to do THREE albums this week.

I will be listening to:
Thursday - War All The Time
The Menzingers - After The Party
At The Drive In - Relationship Of Command


He will be listening to:
Starset- Transmissions
Saint Asonia- Saint Asonia
Hawthorne Heights- Zero

 

He's nailed his recommendations. Enjoy Relationship Of Command.

 

I’ll have my thoughts as soon as I can gather them!

 

A true warrior does not bail!

 

Thank you so much! I look forward to a pairing in the future!

 

You’re paired now. With @mattfreaksmeout . Get with him and trade sometime this weekend

 

Ta very much!

 

@ComedownMachine and I have ironed out our recs this week.

I will listen to:
Glass Animals- How To Be A Human Being

He will listen to:
Story of the Year- Wolves

I have lived up to @bachna84 prediction.