New Music Friday!

wokeupnew said:
Another stacked Friday!
  • Squid
  • Youth Lagoon
  • Jess Williamson
  • Jenny Lewis
  • Anna St. Louis
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Squid - Haven't had a chance to listen
Youth Lagoon - decent. sounds like a proper follow-up to Year of Hibernation.
Jess Williamson - very good. I was worried based on some discussion that it would be very country-pop but it's not.
Jenny Lewis - solid. Very chill and not poppy as the last two. This'll be a nice summer afternoon album you throw on the turntable.
ASL - Haven't had a chance to listen


Related -- how do you folks manage to listen to like a dozen albums when I can't even listen to 5 in a day? Or are you listening through the weekend and next week? I don't really stream/mp3 on the weekend as much as I do during the work week.
 
Listened to Squid earlier. I remember liking their first one, not loving it. But I always felt if I gave it more time I would have come to love it. This one sounds different, with some darker, stranger shades. Still gotta listen to it some more.

Jess Williamson is really good! Walked around today listening to it and just really enjoyed the whole thing.

Started the new This Is The Kit, but haven't finished yet. So far it sounds about what I expected, but I'm not totally engaged in it yet.


Still need to listen to the new Jason Isbell, but I was hoping my vinyl would come today. No luck, maybe tomorrow.
 
Of the 4 releases I've checked out today I'd rank them:

1. Jason Isbell (another classic outing for the 400 Unit, some great storytelling and affectionate lyrics here)
2. Jenny Lewis (feels like a strong effort)
3. Janelle Monae (short, underwhelming, content doesn't really resonate with me)
4. Youth Lagoon (was hoping his voice would go back to LoFi, just not into it anymore)
 
wokeupnew said:
Related -- how do you folks manage to listen to like a dozen albums when I can't even listen to 5 in a day?
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I forgot to respond to this.

Back when I was working at my job of four years, I could easily run through a a set of 6-8 new releases a day while working concurrently as I was working 12hr days Fri-Sun. I'm not as driven to listen to new releases in my own time, so at most three a day at this time (especially since I'm still unemployed). Really more like one a day on average lately.
 
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wokeupnew said:
Related -- how do you folks manage to listen to like a dozen albums when I can't even listen to 5 in a day? Or are you listening through the weekend and next week? I don't really stream/mp3 on the weekend as much as I do during the work week.
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I take a superficial approach, in that I'm skimming the albums I'm on the fence on to figure out which ones I want to go all in on first. It's like watching a trailer of a movie to see if it'll interest you. Then I revisit albums that didn't make the initial cut (sometimes months, maybe years later).
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
I take a superficial approach, in that I'm skimming the albums I'm on the fence on to figure out which ones I want to go all in on first. It's like watching a trailer of a movie to see if it'll interest you. Then I revisit albums that didn't make the initial cut (sometimes months, maybe years later).
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I do the same.

As for today, Jenny Lewis did make the immediate complete listen cut. In fact I played it twice driving around in the car. I really like it.
 
wokeupnew said:
Related -- how do you folks manage to listen to like a dozen albums when I can't even listen to 5 in a day? Or are you listening through the weekend and next week? I don't really stream/mp3 on the weekend as much as I do during the work week.
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I have the same issue. I’m allowed to listen to music during work so that’s when the majority of my music listening is but it’s not good for listening to new albums. I can’t focus enough and turn off my work brain to actually take in a new album while also working so that’s been making hard to find and fall in love with new albums recently
 
wokeupnew said:
Related -- how do you folks manage to listen to like a dozen albums when I can't even listen to 5 in a day? Or are you listening through the weekend and next week? I don't really stream/mp3 on the weekend as much as I do during the work week.
Click to expand...

When I was still working, Fridays were usually a day I could just work on my own and have my speaker going pretty constantly so I'd plow through a big chunk of my list at work, plus the 30-minute drive in and 45-minute drive home. Then I'd work to whittle away whatever else I could over the weekend.

These days Friday is the one day the toddler is in daycare, and my wife is usually off to work around the same time so whether I'm taking downtime or doing chores I'm able to get a lot of listening in. I'm picking up my son at his school now that I'm not working, also, and that's a 1-hour drive where I can do some quality listening. I also have the benefit of living on the west coast, so 9 o'clock Thursday night is when everything goes live, so I'm typically 1-4 albums into my new release list by the time I go to bed.

Ideally, by Saturday evening I'm back to the vinyl spins and sprinkling in albums that didn't make my initial list to my Stupify downloads so I can check them out throughout the week - mostly while I'm in the car or the kitchen, since vinyl is not the practical listening option in either of these cases.

I keep an ongoing three-tiered list every month where I chart initial impressions and shuffle things around as I figure out my top picks every month. First tier is for the ones that hit me hardest and best; second tier is for stuff that I like well enough but don't necessarily love (this is where a lot of the stuff I'll try revisiting later lives); third tier is where I put the stuff I likely won't go too far out of my way to listen to again, or much. 1st and 3rd tier are always pretty obvious placements - anything I'm even a little unsure how I feel about goes into the middle tier so it's more likely to be revisited to see if I can suss out a more obvious feeling for whether it should move up or down, or stay in the middle.
 
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avecigrec said:
I keep an ongoing three-tiered list every month where I chart initial impressions and shuffle things around as I figure out my top picks every month. First tier is for the ones that hit me hardest and best; second tier is for stuff that I like well enough but don't necessarily love (this is where a lot of the stuff I'll try revisiting later lives); third tier is where I put the stuff I don't really care whether I hear again or not. 1st and 3rd tier are always pretty obvious placements - anything I'm even a little unsure how I feel about goes into the middle tier so it's more likely to be revisited to see if I can suss out a more obvious feeling for whether it should move up or down, or stay in the middle.
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For example, this week my Radar List consisted of 13 titles and I've just wrapped up listening to my 10th.
The current spread on my list looks something like this:

1st Tier
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Weathervanes
Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure
aja monet – when poems do what they do

2nd Tier
Jenny Lewis – Joy’All
Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood – Jarak Qaribak
Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin – Archetype
Marquis Hill – Rituals + Routines

3rd Tier
The Dead Milkmen – Quaker City Quiet Pills
TEKE::TEKE – Hagata

1st Tier EP
lophiile – The Good Days Between


NOW PLAYING:
Emile Mosseri – Heaven Hunters


Still to listen...
BLK ODYSSY – DIAMONDS & FREAKS
Darkside – Live at Spiral House


Added after-the-fact:
My Morning Jacket - MMJ, Vol. 3 (Live at Bonnaroo, 2004)
Slipknot - Adderall


...and there you have it: a longwinded and likely over-detailed look at the workings of my brain when it comes to exploring new releases!
 
I'll join the first impressions (of what I've listened to convo).

The Jess Williamson exceeded my expectations. While I agree with what was mentioned above, that the singles are some of the strongest tracks, I think "Something's in the Way," "Roads," and "Stampede" are right up there with those singles after just two listens.

I wasn't fully prepared for the length of the Christine and the Queens album, because I hadn't read anything about it going in. It has it's moments, but it's so long and meandering, as an album and within certain long songs as well. I really don't see myself going back to the album much, but there are probably 5 tracks that stood out. To it's credit, my "so long and meandering" comment may be a plus for others, since this was part of the point, in that the album is meant to be this long operatic experience.

The Olof Dreijer & Mt. Sims homage to the steel drum is fascinating and I really enjoyed it. I'll be listening to this a lot when I work.

This is Kit was solid, but didn't hold my attention. I was mainly thinking about how I wanted to return to the Jess Williamson album while it was on. I'll give it another go sometime.

That's it for now … Monáe, Amaarae, Youth Lagoon, Squid, Krule, Isbel, Lewis, feeble horses, Lightning Dust still on the docket.
 
This one's a compilation from last week not this week, but it's absolutely gorgeous and really helping me keep composed (haha) as we did into the back end of a really tough day...

download (1).jpeg
Groundbreaking composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi announces the release of a new collection of hidden gems from his rich and extensive back catalog. Following on from 2020's Vol. 1, Undiscovered Vol. 2 contains tracks hand-picked from Ludovico, including tracks previously unreleased physically and featuring a new solo piano version of "Experience," his globally beloved track.
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@Ghost @nolalady @Rip_City @Lee Newman @musicjunkiegreg
 
Radar List for 6.16.23


Drive-By Truckers – The Complete Dirty South
Killer Mike – Michael
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
The Flaming Lips – Hypnotist EP
Balmorhea – Pendant World
Kresten Osgood / Bob Moses / Tisziji Muñoz - Spiritual Drum Kingship
Meshell Ndegeocello – The Omnichord Real Book
Chocolate Hills – Yarns from the Chocolate Triangle
La Sécurité – Stay Safe!
Creep Show – Yawning Abyss
Kool Keith – Black Elvis 2
Ahmed Ben Ali – Subhana
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra – 60 Years
Thy Catafalque – Alföld
Betty Lavette – Lavette!
Charlie Apicella & Iron City meet The Griots Speak – Destiny Calling
Various Artists – Hip Holland Hip: Modern Jazz In The Netherlands 1950-1970
Various Artists – Taa! Our Language May Be Dying, But Our Voices Remain
Son Volt – Day of the Doug
Yawning Man – Long Walk of the Navajo
 
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