March 2021 Challenge Thread

March 15: The Ides of March - play an album that marked the beginning of the end for a band

The two selections I was waffling between both have time to prove me wrong, so I went with the one that I feel less confident in. Funny enough, I really don't have a ton of the beginning-of-the-end albums (a lot of current musicians or early/prime releases of older artists) and I also don't tend to believe in hard "ends" for a band.

The xx put out their third album after five years in 2017 with I See You. To be honest, I really enjoyed the album and the contemporaneous feedback on it was quite strong too. However, the band definitely moved in a different direction from their S/T debut (which is one of my Top 5 albums ever) and Coexist and it did not seem fans responded longer term, only pulling a fraction of the sales in the U.S. and U.K. that their debut or second albums did. I still see copies languishing, both box set and standard album, in Barnes and Noble discount shelves. Undeserved given the quality of the album but a little worrying

Since then, all three members of the group have done solo projects, with Jamie xx's getting acclaim and Romy's early releases looking solid. They do promise the band isn't over but I think some will have questions if they will ever reach the early peaks they had.

I am hoping this is really the beginning of a new era and not the beginning of the end, but for now.

(Note: Among UK based electronic-friendly early 2010s groups, Chvrches is probably a better fit for the category but my heart couldn't say it. The other choice I was thinking of was Matt and Kim's Lightning, but as long as they're together they'll make music, they tour a ton, and the recent cover that let Kim take the mic leads to some interesting possibilities and some cool production choices)

The xx - I See You

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waruv said:
March 15: The Ides of March - play an album that marked the beginning of the end for a band

The two selections I was waffling between both have time to prove me wrong, so I went with the one that I feel less confident in. Funny enough, I really don't have a ton of the beginning-of-the-end albums (a lot of current musicians or early/prime releases of older artists) and I also don't tend to believe in hard "ends" for a band.

The xx put out their third album after five years in 2017 with I See You. To be honest, I really enjoyed the album and the contemporaneous feedback on it was quite strong too. However, the band definitely moved in a different direction from their S/T debut (which is one of my Top 5 albums ever) and Coexist and it did not seem fans responded longer term, only pulling a fraction of the sales in the U.S. and U.K. that their debut or second albums did. I still see copies languishing, both box set and standard album, in Barnes and Noble discount shelves. Undeserved given the quality of the album but a little worrying

Since then, all three members of the group have done solo projects, with Jamie xx's getting acclaim and Romy's early releases looking solid. They do promise the band isn't over but I think some will have questions if they will ever reach the early peaks they had.

I am hoping this is really the beginning of a new era and not the beginning of the end, but for now.

(Note: Among UK based electronic-friendly early 2010s groups, Chvrches is probably a better fit for the category but my heart couldn't say it. The other choice I was thinking of was Matt and Kim's Lightning, but as long as they're together they'll make music, they tour a ton, and the recent cover that let Kim take the mic leads to some interesting possibilities and some cool production choices)

The xx - I See You

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production
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This is actually my favorite album they've done, and it's not even remotely close.
 
Day 14: Pi Day

Taking a lead from @waruv , I'm going with the humorous route. I'm thankful my wife is a 3rd grade teacher, as there's no way that I could have helped my kids with their math homework. New Math from this album sums my feelings up nicely:

"Hooray for New Math
New-hoo-hoo Math!
It won't do you a bit of good to review Math
It's so simple
So very simple
That only a child can do it!"

Tom Lehrer ~ That Was the Year That Was

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Catch-up day while I do some work.

March 12: Genealogy Day - Play something your grandparents would have liked...or at least tolerated.

Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie

Listening to records in my grandma's basement is my first ever memory of music. She was a cole miner's daughter from Virginia and had her roots firmly planted in southern soil, even after she moved to Detroit with my grandfather. She was one of, like, 12 kids and I remember road trips all throughout the Southern and South Eastern U.S. to visit extended family every Summer. She would have appreciated, if not insisted on, me listening to old Willie, Hank, Merle and Cash records.

...and the devil shivered in his sleeping bag
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March 13: National K-9 Veterans Day - We love dogs, play something with an image of a dog, song about a dog, dogs barking.

Pink Floyd - Animals

Subtlety isn't my strong suit, so I went for the obvious on this one (Since I passed over Fiona Apple on Apple day). Track 2 "Dogs" is not only named after our favorite furry companions, but there are multiple dogs barking during the course of this 17 minute masterpiece, and a wolf howl here and there for good measure. The song itself (if my banana-brain understands it right) likens us humans to dogs that have to fall in line with the rules set forth by our masters while trying to get whatever scraps we can before we die off, as well. But, just as subtlety is not my strong suit, neither is implied meaning. Now, The Fuck Shop by 2 Live Crew? I can parse out the meaning on that one. Any more subtle and it's like hieroglyphics to me.

...and it's too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around, so have a good drown.....
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March 14: National Pi Day - Play some Math Rock - or something associated with numbers.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

This isn't math rock, but Animals sounded so good today that I found an excuse to play this. Follow me close on this one..........."there's a lot of numbers in the names of the Shine On You Crazy Diamond bookends to this album" 🤪 . Did you catch all that? I know it was complex mental gymnastics, but what did you expect from a math-themed day? I was gonna play some King Gizzard and talk about how they have like 70 trillion songs in the 7/4 time signature, but I don't know anything about music theory, and I don't even know if that's considered an odd time signature in the style of Math Rock and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

come on you miner for truth and delusion and shine!
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March 15: The Ides of March - play an album that marked the beginning of the end for a band

Metallica - Metallica

What signifies "the end"? Is it when the band breaks up? Loses their original fanbase? Changes course and becomes something different? Being a child of the 80's I remember being taken aback by how "weak" this album sounded upon release, but you couldn't argue that the hits here are catchy and damn fine songs. It was one of those moments in adolescence where I had to pick a side. Was I going to enjoy this album for the songs that were (and still are) truly great, or was I going to go along with the friends that said "Metallica lost it. They ain't nothin but a buncha pussies now"? (I don't know why my friend's talked like the older kids in Stand By Me, but that's how I remember it.) Well, like any young teen I decided to take a stand and listen to the album alone in my room while probably trashing the band at the lunch table or some shit. Either way, this was it. Metallica, deservingly or not, had already caused a rift in our relationship with this release and then they went and spewed LOAD all over the public and it left me wholly unsatisfied (Pun entirely intended). And that's years before I even knew the cover was a picture of bloody semen!! I haven't been able to get into a Metallica album since this and the whole Napster debacle didn't help, since I was a broke college kid when that went down. So this was the beginning of the end for Metallica and Me. Except if you count the fact I still give them money for all these albums made before 1991.

But, I'll take my time anywhere.....I'm free to speak my miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind.........
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Day 15 - The Ides of March

Not too hard to imagine what Dave Berman was already thinking when he made this record. The lyrics and themes are dark, but this sounds like an album from a man finally at peace. There was never going to be another Purple Mountains record.

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March 15: The Ides of March - play an album that marked the beginning of the end for a band

As great as this record is, the cracks in Keith are showing. His death closed the door. Later releases had their moments, but it was mostly all downhill from here...




The Who - Who Are You

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March 16: Forgotten FOMO - play something that FOMO made you buy, but haven't really listened to much

Lil Wayne "tha Carter II"

I've bought this limited album by Lil Wayne together with the "tha Carter III" record from VMP as I wanted to explore this artist whose music was mostly unknown to me and as it was likely they would sell out very soon. I think I've just spun it twice in the recent 3 years or so. Not saying it's a bad album, I just mostly had forgotten about it. So this is a good chance to check it out again.

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March 16: Forgotten FOMO - play something that FOMO made you buy, but haven't really listened to much.

I don't really regret buying the Brian Eno remastered set a few years ago (Before And After Science, Another Green World, and Taking Tiger Mountain). It was a FOMO purchase, though. This one was even signed. At least now, my system is a little better to appreciate the quality.

Eno ‎– Taking Tiger Mountain
Pressed at Optimal
1/2 speed remastered by Miles Showell at Abby Road Studios

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March 16: Forgotten FOMO - play something that FOMO made you buy, but haven't really listened to much.

Ivy Sole - Overgrown

Since I ended my VMP subscription my FOMO has gone WAY down, but I remember getting caught by them on this one. I really enjoyed the album but wasn't sure if I needed it on vinyl so I had been holding off. It "sold out" in the webstore and Storf said it was gone gone, so as soon as I saw it in the store again I bought it right away because I didn't want to miss out on it. Turns out it stayed in stock for many many months after that, and may still be in stock today haha. Regardless I do really enjoy this album and am happy to own it on vinyl.

 
Day 11 - Apple
The Pharcyde - Bizzare Ride II

Since the only thing that pops up on my discogs when I search Apple is Beatles and Fiona and I didn't want to disappoint @TenderLovingKiller®, this was the first lyric with apple I found. Good excuse to spin this classic where Passin' Me By starts with Bootie Brown sharing that he used to bring his teacher an apple a day, because he had a crush on her.

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Edit:Haha, every time this song plays I am like "damn that is a noisy pressing, how did I not notice this and try to get another one...oh yeah."
 
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Skeletonframes said:
March 15: The Ides of March - play an album that marked the beginning of the end for a band[/B]

Metallica - Metallica

What signifies "the end"? Is it when the band breaks up? Loses their original fanbase? Changes course and becomes something different? Being a child of the 80's I remember being taken aback by how "weak" this album sounded upon release, but you couldn't argue that the hits here are catchy and damn fine songs. It was one of those moments in adolescence where I had to pick a side. Was I going to enjoy this album for the songs that were (and still are) truly great, or was I going to go along with the friends that said "Metallica lost it. They ain't nothin but a buncha pussies now"? (I don't know why my friend's talked like the older kids in Stand By Me, but that's how I remember it.) Well, like any young teen I decided to take a stand and listen to the album alone in my room while probably trashing the band at the lunch table or some shit. Either way, this was it. Metallica, deservingly or not, had already caused a rift in our relationship with this release and then they went and spewed LOAD all over the public and it left me wholly unsatisfied (Pun entirely intended). And that's years before I even knew the cover was a picture of bloody semen!! I haven't been able to get into a Metallica album since this and the whole Napster debacle didn't help, since I was a broke college kid when that went down. So this was the beginning of the end for Metallica and Me. Except if you count the fact I still give them money for all these albums made before 1991.

But, I'll take my time anywhere.....I'm free to speak my miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind.........
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Great pick....when I get time to spin anything you'll see that we think about the same. I already wrote up what I'm gonna post, but I'll be playing an album released after this one.
 
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March 16: Forgotten FOMO - play something that FOMO made you buy, but haven't really listened to much.

Ohfomo. That beast.

This one stands out. A few months prior I looked at a signed Justin Townes Earle Barnes and Noble release on a B&N sale and decided against it. He passed shortly after and that would never be found again. A little while later I stumbled upon a signed Lori McKenna with a roughed up but still okay sleeve and decided not to make the mistake twice. This has sat in my cube unopened...until today. Good day to spin it.

It was so forgotten I had a different album queued up until I saw it.

The signed Amos Lee at my local B&N now is the current temptation by the way in that ilk, both it and Lori are still on their website now so...

Lori McKenna - The Balladeer (B&N Signed Exclusive)

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