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Underground > Radio & Music >

A 'What are you listening to?' thread

  
  

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COG
19:03 / 09.09.05
I have been listening to anything with MF Doom on it. His lyrics are just on the intelligible side of convoluted, and he has a "buttery flow" if he is to be believed. I believe him. Also some tracks contain guest raps from Mr. Fantastic and you can't argue with that.
 
 
GogMickGog
09:40 / 10.09.05

Teardrop Explodes-"Killimanjiro"

Having begun to grow steadily more obsessed with Copey over the last year, have finally taken the plunge and snipped up this ace bit of funky post-punk. MUCH better than I expected, and even the 80s ness of the production, dripping with synths and funk bass, can't undermine the sheer quality of tunes like "Treason"

The Trash Box set

Just shelled out for this wee gem, basically a comp. of all the Pebbles records from the 70s, given a different name for contractual reasons, and put out by Mike Spenser of the Cannibals. Ace stuff. Particularly loving the Psych. disk...
 
 
Are Being Stolen By Bandits
11:19 / 10.09.05
For the last few weeks I've been tracking down and listening to a variety of bootlegs from Bruce Springsteen's current (solo acoustic) tour. Last time he toured solo, in the mid-90s, the results were occasionally superb but often slightly awkward - as though he was so busy proving a point that the music didn't really take off to the extent that it usually does when he plays with the E Street Band. This time round, though, he's clearly much more relaxed and comfortable with the concept, and he's playing some of the best shows of his life.

Particular highlights of the shows I've heard include acoustic (piano or guitar) performances of every single song from the Tunnel Of Love album (most of which stand up very strongly indeed without the slightly dated synth-laden production of the original album), a strikingly-rearranged, astonishingly stark take on 'The Promised Land' (just vocals accompanied by a rhythmic slapping of the body of his guitar - hard to describe, but surprisingly effective), and the downright gorgeous organ-and-reverb cover of Suicide's 'Dream Baby Dream' which he's finishing every show with.

Glorious stuff, and any Boss fan would be well advised to seek some of these recordings out - his latest album, while good, still hasn't entirely blown me away, but the live performances are stunning.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
20:35 / 10.09.05
Just David Bowie's beautiful In the Heat of the Morning, a stunning song from his 'Laughing Gnome' era (a seriously undervalued part of his career, IMHO). A soaring melodic masterpiece, with beautifully placed strings, achingly romantic/very silly lyrics, and a brilliant clipped psychadelic freakout at the end. Awesome 'first song of the day' type affair.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
13:43 / 12.09.05
No man loved, like I loved you,
Wouldn't you like to love me too?

Cocking _genius_. I love that song so much.

I'm listening to the third track on the New Pornographers' "Twin Cinema" over and over again.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
08:49 / 13.09.05
Are they good? I seem to remember Flux ranting about them a while back?
First person to tell me why they're worth listening to in 100 words or less wins a big wet kiss!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
09:06 / 13.09.05
Old thread about the New Pornographers here. This is what I said at the time about The Electric Version:

It seems like ages since I heard an album of this sort of music that I could actually listen to and enjoy pretty much all the way through (I know it's heresy to some, but I find the Flaming Lips only quite good, not godlike). So many bands try to make power pop which is sunny and breezy (and other adjectives to do with weather), and the music press tells you it's great and it sounds like the Beach Boys and Abbey Road-era Beatles, and when you finally hear it it's just so uninspiring and lazy and fucking dull. This album is not like that. This album is a whole bundle of music-critic cliches being renewed and made true, for once. It's a joyous explosion of harmonies - see?

I would recommend downloading 'The Laws Have Changed', 'It's Only Divine Right', and 'Miss Teen Wordpower' from that album, and 'The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism' from its predecessor Mass Romantic. Haven't heard the new one yet.
 
 
uncle retrospective
09:07 / 13.09.05
Arcade Fire and lots of it. I loved some of the album but they seemed to be a bit of a hype band. I saw them last weekend and they were amazing! So now I can't stop listening to Wake up.
I’m also listening to the Kaiser Chiefs, despite the hate, there’s some great bouncy music on there.
 
 
Scrambled Password Bogus Email
10:01 / 13.09.05
Shhhhhh! Look around....
 
 
Jack Vincennes
11:03 / 13.09.05
This morning I listened to Different Class, because after talking about Pulp in the Kaiser Chiefs thread I wanted to see if it still sounded as good as I remembered. Which it does, thankfully. I might spend the rest of the week revisiting indie albums of yesteryear to see which have aged well and badly. Tomorrow it will probably be Whipping Boy, and if I'm feeling very brave, I could be listening to Perfume by the end of the week. I suspect the latter will be very much in the 'badly' category.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
11:55 / 13.09.05
It was always His 'n' Hers and Intro for me. They, to my mind, hold up better in the long run. There's only so many times I can handle Disco 2000. There's no limit to the amount of times I can hear Razzmatazz...
 
 
Jack Vincennes
10:14 / 14.09.05
Yes, the reason I chose Different Class was that it's been so long since I listened to it even though I played it to death when I first got it, whereas I've been listening to His 'N' Hers on a fairly regular basis since buying it. Been ages since I heard Intro though, I've only got it on vinyl so listening on the commute isn't so much of an option...

I did listen to the Whipping Boy this morning, and it turns out that 2 years of listening to it about once a day - however long ago that was - means it's still impossible for me to form an objective opinion on it. Even now it's over-fammiliar, listening to it feels roughly equivalent to slobbing around in a dressing gown (albeit a ragged, tattered dressing gown flapping wildly, hopelessly, amidst the raging storms of Fate and Love.)
 
 
Shrug
02:32 / 18.09.05
Busdriver-Fear of the Black Tangent.
It's alternatingly downtempo jazz rap coupled with accelerated bitterly cartoonish delivery that is often both funny and concise. There's something decidedly original and pleasing about his delivery. Alot of use of tonality and rhythm.
There's alot of fun in the album too with atypical word choice and disparate cultural references from Buckaroo Banzai to Jean Michel Basquiat.
It's hard to pick a stand out song because it all stands out.
Although Personal/temporary favourites include the acerbic self examination/depreciation of Happiness('s Unit of Measurement):

I've got a point system that determines my happiness/
Its unit of measurement is your interest in my crappy shit/
Because I'm not a dope, I'm not fresh, ideas are overshot and undersung/ What a dumb verse that is, I'm definitely not number one/ A verse drowning deep within my flooded lung/ A song dying deep in a pit of blood and cum/ The kids don't want to listen they just want to have some fucking fun".

And the fast paced Befriend the Friendless Friendster:

"Let's make friends/And not refer to rap monikers and astronomers/And be fun loving/I'll give you roses about one dozen/Everyone at this party is so dumb and aloof/But you pry open closed minds like a sunroof/And your interplanetary/And they hindered while your're candid and carefree/Your impression of that political figure was done with cynical vigour/And it was so fucking funny".

I've been listening to it alot for a month or so and it still sounds fresh. It's so idea packed and layered that I find stuff only half heard/understood/appreciated before upon every listen.
But beware as Busdriver jokingly states himself "Only appeals to hipsters who dress like Russian spies/Who are painfully cool and have button eyes".
 
 
babazuf
22:03 / 18.09.05
I'm thoroughly enjoying Worlds Apart, by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.
 
 
Tim Tempest
00:30 / 19.09.05
"Passive". By 'A Perfect Circle'.

Cool song.
 
 
Rage
14:39 / 19.09.05
The Locust. The Avengers. Clock DVA. Hanin Elias. Das Ich. Sand People. GraveDiggaz. Specimen. Phantom Limbs. All over, really.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
14:45 / 19.09.05
Uncouth, Oddman, Quiet and Relaxed: what do you like about these bands, songs and albums?
 
 
Rage
15:23 / 19.09.05
Let's start with bands here.

The Locust: The purest chaos. Feels like the entire universe is exploding. Hardcore noise that is actually not synthesized. Very rare, that kind of thing.

The Avengers: What can I say? Penelope Houston rules. I actually found out about The Avengers when I performed open mic in San Diego. This one girl told me that I screamed in a similar way to Penelope. So of course I checked them out and holy fuck! A badasss riot grrrl who doesn't scream about relationships. Songs are catchy and easy to understand without being pop. Great stuff here.

Clock DVA: This is industrial the way it should be done. Sound collages that somehow manage to be fluid. Very dark atmosphere and lyrics. A symophony of destruction and machinery.

Hanin Elias: The lead singer from Atari Teenage Riot has her own project now. Caught her with Pigface about 6 months ago and loved her performance. Had to check out her CD. A lot of the songs on it are pretty silly, but Future Noir and the War extreme v4 remix (especially) blow the rest of the album away. I feel like I'm getting to know Hanin on a more intimate level now, as opposed to with ATR where I was just getting to know her politics.

Das Ich: Catched these guys in Germany. Bruno is probably one of the most intense live performers I've ever seen. All of their songs are composed in an amazingly intricate way. Beautiful. There isn't a song of theirs that I wouldn't describe as epic. One of the best German industrial bands out there. Don't be fooled by shit like Rammstein or any of those rip-off EBM acts. Das Ich is the high quality.

Sand People: Dark and political hip-hop. Enlightened both mentally and street wise. Psychic without being overly geeky. Survivalist without being overly ghetto. Non-stop flow.

GraveDiggaz: Hip-hop that a lot of goth bands would die to be as gothic as. Insane demon party on the streets of hell. This guy knows how to rhyme high syllable words in a way that a lot of people on barbelith would envy.

Specimen: 80's deathrock that is zombies and zombies of fun. I can't stop moving to this stuff. Really interesting guitar that works perfect with these sorts of vocals. Their songs always tell a bizarre story. Did I mention fun yet?

Phantom Limbs: Holy shit. I love absolutely everything about these guys. Hardcore deathpunk that is emotional, absurdist, and experimental electronic. Could you ask for anything more? I couldn't.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
19:38 / 19.09.05
Sugartown by Nancy Sinatra. A friend played me this the other day, and I fell in love with it. One of the many awesome Lee Hazlewood penned songs for her, it is quite simply one of the most gorgeous songs you'll ever here. A jaunty rolling piano line, sweetly reserved strings, and a hauntingly catchy refrain topped off by Nancy's effortlessly give-a-fuck vocals. A perfect two-and a bit minutes that I've listened to so many times today, I now have brain damage.

i never had a dog that liked me some
i never had a friend or wanted one
so i just lay back and laugh at the sun
cos i'm in shu shu sugartown.
 
 
Mike Modular
21:10 / 19.09.05
A fine song indeed, MacGyver, which pleased me when it popped up in the background in Six Feet Under last week. Have you listened to much Nancy & Lee? 'Cause there's plenty more gems like that to get addicted to (and the Movin' With Nancy TV Special brings them to technicolour life)
 
 
Haus of Mystery
21:14 / 19.09.05
Picked up a 'best of' just today, which is about 90% Nancy & Lee. 'Summer wine', 'Jackson' and 'Did you ever' are all superb. In fact the whole thing's pretty stellar. I want Lee Hazlewood to be my Uncle.
 
 
matthew.
23:49 / 19.09.05
I'm more of a metal person, but I branch out every once in awhile. Right now, this second, I'm busting out Disc 2 of Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, if only 'cause my metal pipes need to latch on to something less harsh. Also, I'm listening to Illmatic by Nas, which is blowing me away with its complexities.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
08:43 / 20.09.05
A righteous album indeed.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
08:45 / 20.09.05
New Half Man Half Biscuit Album!

I haven't listened to much of it so far, but am listening now and it is making me insanely happy. Not perhaps one of their finest, but they are usually growers. Plus, there is an entire song devoted to calling Pete Doherty a twatster, and pointing out that he has a shit arm and a bad tattoo.

If you're going to quote from the Book of Revelation, don't keep calling it the Book of Revelations.

I love them so much.
 
 
chiaroscuroing
00:04 / 15.10.05


Division of Laura Lee - Trapped In.

Just perfect.
 
 
Haus of Mystery
16:47 / 16.10.05
WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????? Tell us why!!!!
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
17:34 / 16.10.05
Currently a strange blend... as fucking usual, I guess...

Shivaree's "Who's Got Trouble", which I've written at length about elsewhere, and which I listen to pretty much every day.

The new Half Man Half Biscuit.

And Emperor's "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk", which I only got yesterday, and which is rocking my world right now as far as Black Metal is concerned. Previously I'd only heard "Prometheus- The Discipline Of Fire And Demise", which was a grower. "Anthems", on the other hand, grabbed me by the knackers on first hearing. Proof that Black Metal and decent production values needn't be exclusive to one another.
 
 
poly
20:13 / 16.10.05
Movement - The Gossip

MP3s here
 
 
Spaniel
23:08 / 16.10.05
Annnd another one. They're coming thick and fast.

Fucksake, don't bother posting if you can't be bothered to, you know, post.
 
 
chiaroscuroing
23:37 / 16.10.05

Oh, cos Baby Jesus said so.
 
 
Spaniel
09:32 / 17.10.05
You do understand why people make such a fuss, don't you? I mean, you have actually bothered to read Barbelith, haven't you?
We're not being prescriptive dicks, or killjoys, or Your Dad. We're trying to raise the standard of posts to the board, and, perhaps of more immediate importance, we're trying to understand what you like about the music you've mentioned. I mean, why bother posting about something you can't be bothered to talk about? Why should I, or anyone else other than you, and perhaps your special friends, give a shit about your suggestion. And, if your post is of no interest to anyone else, why bother posting in the first place? I don't understand. Please explain.
 
 
lord nuneaton savage
10:26 / 17.10.05
That Circulus album, I believe it's called "A lick on the tip of an envelope yet to be sent", is absolutely brilliant.

Basically if you haven't seen any photos of them, they dress like medieval royalty (including one member in a suit of armour. With a Moog!) and live in complete ignorance of any musical trend since 1974. While I would normally not approve of such behaviour, the actual album itself is a stormer, with a fantastic Fairport/Steeleye Span vibe that should be really annoying if it wasn't so obviously heartfelt and genuine.

It's not for everyone, some of the instrumentation is incredibly proggy, but it has some beautiful songs on it and has become an indelible part of my autumnal experiences this year. Even if they are half joking (people have taken to calling them "The folk Darknees") it simply doesn't matter when you are faced with such rich and evocative stuff.
 
 
Mistoffelees
10:40 / 17.10.05
I bought that Circulus album, too. It´s very nice. I never had heard about them before. They were on a sampler of the german goth/electronic magazine Sonic Seducer with their song My Body Is Made Of Sunlight, which I had on loop for a couple of days. I like these quirky kinda bands, that mix progressive rock with folk.

If you like them, check out
Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day,
Fursaxa - The Cult From Moon Mountain and especially
The Trees - The Garden of Jane Delawney (one of my favourite albums ever).
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
08:03 / 18.10.05
Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day,

That's an amazing record. It sounds kind of like it should be the music off a 1970s BBC2 children's educational programme, but somehow that isn't a bad thing. It's really grown on me. It's almost childlike in its... I dunno... purity of expression. Lovely songs. She has her first record in 30 years out this week. I was reading an interview with her in Plan B the other day, apparently she made "...diamond day" in her 20s to a lukewarm reception then gave up on music and forgot about it. She put her name into google a few years back and discovered she had somehow become a legendary figure and copies of her old record exchanged hands for large amounts of money.
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
08:10 / 18.10.05
That Circulus album, I believe it's called "A lick on the tip of an envelope yet to be sent", is absolutely brilliant.

If you like that, you might like The Eighteenth Day of May whose debut album is out this week. Replace the prog rock influence and silly costumes with sinister folk murder ballads, beautifully delivered female vocals, Byrds-esque guitar and psychedelic drone.
 
  

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