The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 78

I would like to be added to this when possible

 

@Patterns in Traffic sorry I'm late! I've listened to the albums a couple times each, just need to carve out some time to write about them

 

Say hello to your New partner, @js977

 

We were partnered this week, and we did trade recs, but they did say it was unlikely they’d be able to listen.

Is there anyone not currently partnered up?

 

I can take on one more

 

@St. Nate and I are going to do one album each this week.

He will listen to: Trophy Eyes-Chemical Miracle

I will listen to: Hometown Anthem-Don’t Hold On To What You Hear

 

@Sheaver10 here you go!

 

Ok @Sheaver10 and I are trading:

He will listen to:
The Contortionist-Clairvoyant

I will listen to:
Caracara-Summer Megalith

 

Seeing as I have off tomorrow, I shall get a couple listens tonight on @skurt rec !

 

Awesome! I'm going to listen to yours after I finish listening to @mescalineeyes band's EP.

 

good thing it's very short

 

Short but sweet.

 

I plan on checking it out after work today, tbh

 

nice! let me know how you get on!
we also dropped the new single this week with an unmastered b-side so feel free to check it out too :)

 

All of them are fantastic and the music video is cool.

 

I always feel like I'm hijacking this thread haha but I can't tell you how much I appreciate you liking it so much! (and also everyone who's given us a listen!)

 

One of this threads main purposes is music discussion, and I started talking about it. Your good man.

 

haha I can't help but chime in when people are discussing it though!

 

It's great and your proud of it, nothing wrong with that man.

 

Alright so I have a couple of minutes before I head out to a working dinner so I just wanted to share my thoughts on the albums I've been assigned by @Fucking Dustin

First of, these are objectively both incredible albums and it's clear to me that Dustin's musical horizons are far more expanded than mine.

Xiu Xiu - Knife Play is an utterly devastating record. Not only that, it is also dissonant and noisy, structurally difficult, lyrically blunt and challenging, to a point where listening to it is overwhelming. Personally, this is not the place where I'm in in my life nor do I posses enough empathy to connect to it. I've always liked Xiu Xiu but these are the same criticism I would levy at them. I prefer their poppier cuts like Dear God I Hate Myself because I'm basic, but as an artistic achievement this is so obviously good.

Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy
Is this 16-bit racing game background music? Is this an anime soundtrack? This album is coo coo for cocoa puffs. It combines chiptune(?) with melodies that can only be described as epic, in the traditional sense of the word.
Honestly, I'm just confused. Call me utilitarian but I just don't see myself returning to this album but only because I don't know when I should put it on. For active listening it's a little too monotonous, for background music while working it's not low-key enough and I'd rather put on some Deadmau5 deep cuts (the theme of me being basic continues).

All in all I give this week 9/10 Wolves because even though I won't be returning to these albums they've given my ears a challenge!

 

I'm so glad you were able to appreciate the albums even if they weren't for you! Giving challenges is what I want to do and why I'm in here, there's so much that I write off as a listener and I want to be challenged on it and learn more about music, even if I don't end up liking it, so I'm glad I was able to do that for you. And truth be told I prefer poppier Xiu Xiu too haha (even though I think The Air Force and Knife Play are his best albums, Always is my favorite), it's so fun/morbid to listen to.

Also I feel obligated to share my Xiu Xiu live story any time I recommend them: I saw Xiu Xiu live opening for Swans (pre-Gira news coming to light) and it was the most depressingly insulting show I've ever attended. Jamie Stewart sat behind a keyboard and made drone sounds for 45 minutes while barking into the microphone. It was terrible and while I'll recommend his albums forever, I refuse to recommend his live show because of it.

I finally fixed my issue where my iPhone was playing all my music out of chronological order so I'll be listening to your recommendations today!

 

My round 4 reviews for recommendations from my good friend @sean_rugy.

The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving (2000)



Much like @carrytheweird, my experience with The Weakerthans was confined to "Aside," which closes David Dobkin's 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers as Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson ride off into the sun after fucking up Bradley Cooper's wedding. That song was, still is, and always will be a certified banger.

Two things that really stick out to me about this album that I was not expecting are the diverse instrumentation and vocals. Shifting gears from the hard rocking of "Aside" to the twinkly guitars that permeate album opener "Everything Must Go!" or the off-kilter drumming that runs through "Without Mythologies," the sounds on Left and Leaving had me perpetually on my toes. Highlights abound in the more dynamic sections, especially the chord progression in "This Is a Fire Door..." or the extended rock out that wraps up "Exiles Among You." John K. Samson's lyrics are appropriately Americana, touching on social anxiety at shopping malls, living paycheck to paycheck, gentrification and more, all wrapped up within the regrets of a romance gone sour. Samson's disarming delivery lingers somewhere between spoken word poetry and actual singing, one of the album's more unique features.

The real issue I'm having with this one is a matter of sequencing because from one half to the next it almost seems like you're listening to two different albums. While the first half features the album's louder and more lively moments, the second half switches to a more contemplative and reserved tone. Though I enjoy both of these styles and think The Weakerthans pull off the task of going between them, I do think some order rearranging would make for a better listening experience with this one.

Standout Tracks: Aside, Exiles Among You, This Is a Fire Door Never Leave Open

—————————

Have Heart - Songs to Scream at the Sun (2008)


In thinking of how to review this album by Boston's Have Heart, I'm drawn to a quote by the infinitely quotable and quirky NFL tight end Martellus Bennett when he was talking about quarterback Eli Manning while a member of the New York Giants:

“You ever go some place and have a burger, and don’t know why that places burger is so much better than others? It’s a hamburger at the end of the day, but this ones just better. Thats Eli.”

And I swear I'm not just using that quote because Sean and I are avid Giants fans, it's really applicable to the album at hand. Songs to Scream at the Sun is a hardcore stew with all the usual fixings: gang vocals, stop-start breakdowns, churning riffery, and a blistering 10 songs in only 21 minutes. In this instance, Songs to Scream at the Sun is the burger at hand—it's definitely a hardcore burger, but it's a cohesive, thoroughly listenable and digestible hardcore burger.

Buoyed by the typically brilliant production of Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, Songs to Scream at the Sun packs a lot of energy into those 21 minutes, but also touches on the softer side of hardcore with mid-album breather "brotherly love." Though you'd be hard-pressed to argue that there's much on Songs to Scream at the Sun that reinvents the wheel, it's hard to complain when some of hardcore's essential elements are pulled off successfully like this in a slim package.

Standout Tracks: on the bird in the cage, no roses, no skies

 

I like how well written your reviews are and that you include the album art and details. I’m excited for the reviews of mine lol

 

I don't want to see the Wolves cover ever again though

:)

 

You are trying to annoy me today aren’t you.

I thought we were friends.