14 votes

What have you been listening to this week?

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something!

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

21 comments

  1. [5]
    alessa
    Link
    Delta blues from the early 20th century. Robert Johnson, Skip James, Lightnin' Hopkins. A dash of more modern stuff here and there, like B.B. King. But I'm really into discovering the blues right...

    Delta blues from the early 20th century. Robert Johnson, Skip James, Lightnin' Hopkins. A dash of more modern stuff here and there, like B.B. King. But I'm really into discovering the blues right now and playing with a slide on my resonator. It's super fun. It's got this magic to it that I really vibe with.

    6 votes
    1. boredop
      Link Parent
      Don't sleep on Tommy Johnson. His "Cool Drink Of Water Blues" is one of the greatest performances ever!

      Don't sleep on Tommy Johnson. His "Cool Drink Of Water Blues" is one of the greatest performances ever!

      2 votes
    2. [3]
      clerical_terrors
      Link Parent
      I know nothing of Blues music, is there something specific about Delta Blues? Is the 'Delta' a geographical indicator, like a river delta, or does it refer to something else?

      I know nothing of Blues music, is there something specific about Delta Blues? Is the 'Delta' a geographical indicator, like a river delta, or does it refer to something else?

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        boredop
        Link Parent
        Delta Blues refers to a specific style that developed in the Mississippi delta region - the areas around the Mississippi River that traditionally flooded every year before the levees were built....

        Delta Blues refers to a specific style that developed in the Mississippi delta region - the areas around the Mississippi River that traditionally flooded every year before the levees were built. It's one of the main cotton producing areas from slavery times to the present day.

        The delta style flourished from the early 1900s up till about 1945, and is the acoustic wellspring that influenced Chicago blues and in turn much of the early rock and roll. To modern ears it can sound a little primitive or archaic, in part because of limitations of early recording and pressing technology, but also because the music is not as strictly tied to rigid song forms and scales as modern music is. It wasn't uncommon for the singers to add or subtract beats or measures, depending on how the lyrics went. Whereas a modern blues form is almost always 12 bars, back then you could have a 13 and a half bar blues for a few verses. As for pitch, the singers would often stray from western musical scales, singing the "notes in between the notes" for extra effect - a practice that was probably handed down across the generations from African music practices.

        In addition to the artists @alessa mentioned, other notable performers were Charlie Patton, Willie Brown, Son House, Honeyboy Edwards, Mississippi John Hurt, and Robert Lockwood. Later electric artists with delta roots included John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters (whose earliest recordings were actually straight up delta blues recorded on the plantation where he lived).

        If you are inclined to do some reading on the delta style, I suggest "Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer or "Delta Blues" by Ted Gioia.

        Examples:
        Tommy Johnson - Cool Drink Of Water Blues
        Charlie Patton - High Water Everywhere
        Tommy McClennan - Deep Blue Sea Blues

        7 votes
        1. alessa
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          This is a top notch comment. Thank you! I've bookmarked it for future reference. Those books are gonna be great reading. While my style was naturally bluesy and I know a selection of the older...

          This is a top notch comment. Thank you! I've bookmarked it for future reference. Those books are gonna be great reading. While my style was naturally bluesy and I know a selection of the older songs through modern covers I'd never actually made a venture to check out the older recordings, until I got a resonator a couple weeks ago. It's been really enlightening. I was like okay let's really do this - I switched from DADGAD to Open G and got a slide. So much fun.

          I dig Tommy Johnson, but that falsetto technique in Cool Drink of Water Blues ... really impressive but outside my personal preferences. I think it would be an acquired taste for me.

          1 vote
  2. [3]
    Erik
    (edited )
    Link
    New tracks dropped from two of my favorite UK bands: While She Sleeps and Architects. While She Sleeps - Anti-social: https://youtu.be/TuHv_QO8lV0 Architects - Modern Misery:...

    New tracks dropped from two of my favorite UK bands: While She Sleeps and Architects.

    While She Sleeps - Anti-social: https://youtu.be/TuHv_QO8lV0
    Architects - Modern Misery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kC_xaRs9lM

    Both are covering similar themes too: the banal evil of contemporary society. Pretty banging tracks, might add them both to my gym playlist.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. Erik
        Link Parent
        That Earth Caller track slaps. WSS definitely has transitioned a bit out of their more hardcore sound into a more mainstream rock sound. They haven't gone soft, but their last album was definitely...

        That Earth Caller track slaps.

        WSS definitely has transitioned a bit out of their more hardcore sound into a more mainstream rock sound. They haven't gone soft, but their last album was definitely more accessible than their previous stuff. Personally, I thought it was a great transition. I'm a little iffy on the new track, I think it's good but I hope they don't go much further away from their older sound than that.

    2. [2]
      Comment removed by site admin
      Link Parent
      1. Erik
        Link Parent
        You are definitely in for a treat if that's what you're looking for. Architects is drenched in angst, but unlike a lot of other groups, they seem to be a bit better about what they target with it....

        You are definitely in for a treat if that's what you're looking for. Architects is drenched in angst, but unlike a lot of other groups, they seem to be a bit better about what they target with it. That can be a bit of a downer, for example this new, upcoming, album is mostly dealing with the existential shock of losing the singer's brother (and former band member) to cancer. But at least their angst rings true.

        1 vote
  3. [4]
    Kropotkin
    Link
    I've been listening to a dark/doom jazz band! Super awesome if you want to relax or test out your bass speakers. Bohren & der Club of Gore

    I've been listening to a dark/doom jazz band!

    Super awesome if you want to relax or test out your bass speakers.

    Bohren & der Club of Gore

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      lamelos
      Link Parent
      Are you familiar with The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble? If you like Bohren & der Club of Gore you'll probably like that as well!

      Are you familiar with The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble? If you like Bohren & der Club of Gore you'll probably like that as well!

      2 votes
      1. Neverland
        Link Parent
        Sweet! Thanks to you and @kropotkin for both of these.

        Sweet! Thanks to you and @kropotkin for both of these.

        1 vote
  4. clerical_terrors
    Link
    Anyone else remember O-zone? Because I sure do. I've also been going through some Ska. Ska is one of those weird genres where I will sometimes hear something I kind of like, try and start up a...

    Anyone else remember O-zone? Because I sure do.

    I've also been going through some Ska. Ska is one of those weird genres where I will sometimes hear something I kind of like, try and start up a Pandora or Spotify radio, and then I'll be unimpressed and forget about it.

    2 votes
  5. [2]
    Neverland
    (edited )
    Link
    Ok, so on the radio here in Poland I have heard this song “A llama in my living room,” for the last year. Totally silly, not my normal style, but the production is excellent. So I finally googled...

    Ok, so on the radio here in Poland I have heard this song “A llama in my living room,” for the last year. Totally silly, not my normal style, but the production is excellent. So I finally googled it and of course the production is Swedish.. and the videos by these artists are amazing, and hilarious:

    Llama in my Living Room:
    https://youtu.be/l-sZyfFX4F0

    Rave in the Grave:
    https://youtu.be/Zokn4WDPcHE

    Edit: def file under “don’t take things too seriously”

    2 votes
    1. elcuello
      Link Parent
      Haha, I love it! I thought I recognized the sound an production. It's the same guys with "I'm an Albatraoz". So damn catchy and never apologize for what you enjoy :-).

      Haha, I love it! I thought I recognized the sound an production. It's the same guys with "I'm an Albatraoz". So damn catchy and never apologize for what you enjoy :-).

      1 vote
  6. [3]
    Eva
    Link
    New LJG album was just KILLER. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/661158897/first-listen-laura-jane-grace-the-devouring-mothers-bought-to-rot The new AV album was fantastic, too; really fantastic work...

    New LJG album was just KILLER.

    https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/661158897/first-listen-laura-jane-grace-the-devouring-mothers-bought-to-rot

    The new AV album was fantastic, too; really fantastic work from Jeff and Chris; my favourite from either of them that I've heard in a long while.

    https://open.spotify.com/album/0fB20lk7IujnEMO26kFGHa

    Other than that, I've been jamming out to a lot of Everyone, Everywhere. Evan Weiss's thousands of projects, too.

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      Neverland
      Link Parent
      Hey thanks for LVG, never knew, very cool.

      Hey thanks for LVG, never knew, very cool.

      1 vote
      1. Eva
        Link Parent
        She's really pretty awesome! You might have heard some of her Against Me! stuff; I think most of everyone's heard Thrash Unreal at least once or twice.

        She's really pretty awesome! You might have heard some of her Against Me! stuff; I think most of everyone's heard Thrash Unreal at least once or twice.

        1 vote
  7. Wes
    Link
    Having just finished Life is Strange and its prequel, Before the Storm, I've been binging on the soundtracks from those games. Unfortunately they're mostly licensed tracks so hard to link as a...

    Having just finished Life is Strange and its prequel, Before the Storm, I've been binging on the soundtracks from those games. Unfortunately they're mostly licensed tracks so hard to link as a collection, but this video includes the main tracks.

    1 vote
  8. Cuspist
    Link
    Catching up with some releases from the last few months: Pig Destroyer - Head Cage Yob - Our Raw Heart Conan - Existential Void Guardian High on Fire - Electric Messiah And in non-metal news, Jon...

    Catching up with some releases from the last few months:

    • Pig Destroyer - Head Cage
    • Yob - Our Raw Heart
    • Conan - Existential Void Guardian
    • High on Fire - Electric Messiah

    And in non-metal news, Jon Hopkins - Singularity is very enjoyable.