Forced Listening Thread

[tfaal]

In reply to Moh Tzu's video;

The mixture of popular music with traditional Asian instruments has always been something I thought I could get behind, so my hopes for this track from the outset were high. However, as the song rolls along, I cannot help but feel somewhat resentful toward the rock affectations, most acutely the keyboard. This is especially noticeable as the song quiets down after the minute-mark; the cheesy, almost eighties-ish quality of the synthesizer makes this restful period fall flat, turning the whole section more tiresome than contemplative. However, I have to give the song credit; when it recovers from this, it does so with gusto, segueing into a very engaging shamisen duel. Even the reintroduction of the guitars and synth is done gracefully, with the minor exception of that little lick at 2:17, which makes me want to punch the guitarist just a little bit. The main riff of the song was never a very compelling one for me, so it's return isn't one I initially welcome, but the shamisen in the background keep things interesting, and the song holds up well through its finish.

While this song still isn't something I'd be likely to listen to of my own accord, repeated listenings have made it grow on me somewhat. While the synth and inserted guitar licks can be distracting at times, the track holds up well in spite of them. I'd be unlikely to recommend it a friend, but if someone said they loved it, I could completely see where they were coming from.

Now for a bit of Abs, with some Format for good measure:

[Moh Tzu]

not going to lie i felt the same way when i could actually get the video to load for me. i just kind of went "well i like the yoshida brothers, this sounds like a good song" and then oops it's not a very good one

[slyfan64]

Vicious Battle Raps:
GIANT WALL OF HUMOROUS RAPS LYRICS AH. Not something I would listen to regularly and definitely hard to keep up with the lightning pace Format spews! I give the song points for talent, I mean jeez it's just a huge barrage of words words words. Basically, too many words for these untrained ears and not much else to the song but the lyrics.

here's my song:

[sarasvati]

oh shit i'm all up on this

i'll believe in anything: the only time i ever listen to indie is when i visit my uber-hipster sister and her uber-hipster husband, so it's interesting to actually sit and dig into stuff like this. i listened to it a couple times through and i can't enjoy it (and i tried!), but i can appreciate what it's doing, which is neat; the production gives it a warm kind of 60s folk rock glaze, and there's something distinctly traditional about the whole thing, like i'm sitting in on a story circle and someone just happens to start in with music. the vocals are grating but i really can't deny the bizarre sort of energy that's going into them, simultaneously passionate and borderline apathetic. i do enjoy the lyrics, because they're describing escapism and something so utterly mundane and making it seem extraordinary, taking a little slice of every day and dissecting and exposing it. pretty cool stuff all in all, even if it's not my cup of tea!

let's get some indonesian trip-hop up in here

[tfaal]

Skillfully delivered vocals over a chill electro beat, with a healthy dose of analog instrumentation; all qualities that ally "Rindu" with many of my favorites tracks. Despite this, there were a few elements that prevented me from fully enjoying this song. Y'see, my forays into trip hop and its relatives aside, I'm ultimately a drumbass at heart, and a big part of my brain still demands frantic, driving percussion. For me, the basic, almost static drums of this song were distractingly simple. But I'll be damned if I'm one to condemn a decent track for something so trivial. So, I popped out Supreme Beings of Leisure, got myself into a full trip hop mood, and gave this song another listen.

Having heard it with a clear head, I think I can be quite confident in my final assessment. This song is perfectly solid, and while the instrumentation plays a bit too passive of a role for my tastes, I can still enjoy it to a good degree. I don't find it particularly remarkable, but from my rather fickle and temperamental musical brain, it receives a passing grade. It has also made me start listening to trip hop for the time being, which is always a good thing. On that note, how about some Massive Attack?

[Superfrequency]

Man. Are they still making records? I stopped paying attention after Vowles left the group.

Uh. It's ok, I guess. It's not bad. But it's not compelling enough for me to want to listen again. They seem to have totally forgotten their once-prominent hip hop influence. Doesn't compare with anything off of Blue Lines for me. It wasn't worth waiting seven years for, I'll put it that way.

In the spirit of this thread, I will continue posting things nobody else would

[tfaal]

The disco influences of this track become clear a bit after fifteen seconds in. But hey, that's cool. A lot of the stuff I listen to has some disco aspects to it. No reason not to give the song a fighting chance. However, past the thirty second mark, the horns, guitar and vocals come in full force, it dawns upon me. This is real, full on disco that I'm listening to. My facial muscles instantly tense, as if to brace me for the musical barrage I am about to endure. But, after a few seconds of listening, I find myself rather puzzled. It would appear that my ear-drums are not, in fact, bleeding. Indeed, my foot would appear to be tapping to the beat. I am forced to consider the possibility that, despite being out-and-out disco, the music I'm listening to is... good.

As I get over the shock of this revelation, I begin to analyze the music, in an attempt to discover some element that differentiates it from all the other, brain constricting disco I've heard, and I am truly at a loss. The hyper energetic horn section, the funk-dripping bassline, the light, romantic lyrics, that weird electronic background instrument I never learned the name of, its all there. I am forced to simply shrug my shoulders and accept that this music is superior to all the other disco I have heard for some reason I cannot fully understand. I suppose the only remedy for this would be to listen to more good disco. Whatever the case, this song opened me up to a new genre of music, and for the first time in my life made me upset that I've forgotten how to dance the hustle.

Picking this song was difficult. I really enjoy this whole album a lot, so I'd prefer if I didn't have to pluck a single track from it:

[Superfrequency]

Shocking indeed that decades of racist and homophobic cultural memetics are wrong. There is an almost universal culture of 'disco hate' in the United States (and the United States only) that was born almost entirely from prejudice (although the lasting popularity and eventual commercial saturation of disco is partly to blame), and nobody under 40 years old even knows why they're expected to hate it. Disco is a sophisticated genre of music whose influence is still felt today, and it has its ups and downs just like anything else. But I suppose I digress. But if you want to know why all anyone remembers about disco is KC and the Sunshine Band and the Bee Gees and you'd like to hear some actually good music, I will be more than happy to totally derail this thread for the sake of disco. You've asked the right girl :U

Pelican: I expected some vocals I wouldn't like to come in eventually, but it was apparent halfway through that it is instrumental. It's not bad! It doesn't go anywhere unexpected, but it's good at what it's doing. I can listen to this without complaint.



A- and ... it's a synthesizer :x

EDIT: Massive Attack addendum: the song is good, but I am biased because I expect them to sound like their older material

[slyfan64]

SF: First listen, nice up-beat disco song with some great vocals going on. Not much else to say.
Second listen + reading lyrics, digging it a lot more now, not only for the lyrics (which are really good, like a 70s version of "She Is Leaving Home) but now the improvisations in the vocals take more shape and the bridge feels a lot better having already heard it. I love it mostly for the fast pace it keeps and the vocals, very nice and peaked my interest.

And now for a musical show stopper . Background: Benjamin Barker, a barber, was expelled from London years ago because a corrupt Judge lusted after his wife, once Barker was out of the way the Judge rapes his wife and she kills herself. Years later Barker comes back under the name 'Sweeney Todd' and plans to murder Judge Turpin, who now has his plans for marrying Barker's daughter (Joanna). A young boy who served on the ship Barker was exiled on falls for the daughter and they both plan to elope with the help of 'Todd.' Now, Turpin shows up at Sweeney's barber shop for a shave before his proposal to Joanna. Sweeney readies his blades...

[Superfrequency]

Am I not the only one who doesn't like musicals, then?

[Scumbarge]

I kind of have an issue with musicals, yeah. Or rather, musical music. See, musicals require a deliberate suspension of disbelief - it takes some start up effort, the ability to intentionally ignore how ridiculous the concept of breaking into song is, to allow yourself to enjoy it. Maybe it's because I've never seen Sweeny Todd, (or because I'm jumping to what I'm assuming is the middle of the play to listen to the song out of context) but listening to the song with no visual reference I couldn't stop thinking about how comically serious everyone was.
The lyrics themselves were impressive for something so long, though. I'd probably have enjoyed them more if I had any idea what the characters were so damn exited about.

and now for my latest addiction

[sarasvati]

this thread cannot die ffffff

girls: okay, while my specialty/taste is mostly in instrumental hip-hop/triphop/downtempo, pop music is my biggest weakness. this song is just addicting as fuck. i've listened to it probably five times just writing this up. not digging the lyrics, but hey, pop music doesnt have to be chock full of thoughtful personal philosophies and lyrics worthy of poet laureate status. shit is just catchy. great hook, and i love her voice.

speaking of songs i keep listening to on repeat

[toadfish]

Re: the Satillo track: I used to listen to trip-hop/IDM/downtempo almost exclusively for like a 6 month period and I've kind of gone off it, but this is something I'd actually chuck on while studying or something maybe. I have to admit, when I was listening to the intro and I felt the drop coming on i was expecting/hoping for some fuzzed bass guitar and maybe some nice trebly post-hardcore arpeggios and a math beat a few measures later; or maybe even a full-on wall of sound - the tinny filtered beat was a let down in comparison (in my books) but I can't hold it against the song specifically. I probably just listen to slightly too much Godspeed. How does this song sit compared to the rest of their work? More of the same? Does it get heavier? More ambient than this. Colour me curious i guess.

One of my favourite songs ever:

sadly only the censored version is available online which takes a fraction of the fun out of it.

[Stij]

....what is this I don't even

Like, I honestly don't know how to respond to this. It's some dude ranting about Martin Scorsese for two minutes with a punk bassline and a vaguely African drumbeat in the background. I guess it was kind of funny, but it left me feeling more baffled than anything else.



(reviving this thread with a shot of jazz)

[Superfrequency]

I wasn't too into that. You know I like-a the fusion Stij but this sounded a little too 80's/modern for me. Too clean and purposeful. The violinist seemed pretty good but he just makes me want to listen to Ponty. The actual composition also just sounded like "a jazz fusion song" and not much else. Not a lot of personality.

[Stij]

this sounded a little too 80's/modern

Yeah, I agree with you, actually, but I liked it anyway. I guess I just like big ensemble bands with a string/horn section. You don't hear too much of that these days.

Gonna let someone else go 'cause I don't want this to turn into the Stij and SF Variety Hour like the music thread usually is

[Superfrequency]

I guess I just like big ensemble bands with a string/horn section.

Check out the new Mike Patton album.

[Stij]

Oh, the one where he does covers of old Italian songs? That looked pretty cool, actually. I'll give it a listen.

[Superfrequency]

It's not really my bag but it's really well done, as usual.

[Stij]

Yeah, me neither, but someone posted a song from it in the musicthread and I rather liked it. Mike Patton can do pretty much any genre well.

[inexpediency]

modjo - What I Mean

First listen: the intro is really cool, it has this kind of foreign-futuristic-choral blendy sound to it. When I focus in on some of the looping parts they get on my nerves a little, but that happens even with songs I love (see "O Green World") so it's not really a big deal. I can't say I'm a big fan of the repeating vocals but whatev. It starts to get really catchy right around the middle, but from the middle to about the 3 minute mark seems to go on a little long with no change.

Second listen: still diggin' on that intro. The whole thing kind of has a relaxing trancy feel to it. It's also kind of...I don't really know how to describe it...70s glam rock feeling in places? Which is cool, I like that.

All in all I like it, would listen again.

[evilbobthebob]

So, one and a half minutes in, and it's nice. Kind of slurred vocals, which make it all seem very normal, which fits with the lyrics. The music is more of a background for the vocals I think, bringing them to the fore. Reminds me of 30/40s schmaltz a little? Or something like that. It's way out of what I usually listen to. Very easy listening. But I like it, in a "I'd be happy for this to be playing on the radio and wouldn't change station" kind of way.



Sorry about the quality. Only one I could find of it :I

[Superfrequency]

This is what it was before Aloud took a razor blade to the vocals.

[slyfan64]

@evilthebob:

botch - frequency the bass: definitely some cool instrumentation going on here, specifically dig the bridge that starts around 2:00, the hectic tempo changes and the more straight forward guitar chugg around 2:35. Of course, I have left out the one things that puts me off from a rather kick-ass track: the vocals. I can deal with screaming, but only when the screaming is an actual note, and not the entire song. Otherwise it's just listening to the same indistinguishable sound over and over again and fairly distracting. If this was an instrumental song, I'd go out and buy an album, but the vocals are too monotonous.



EDIT: Changed the video.

[Mirdini]

Stream of conciousness time!
Nice drum intro fading into guitar, sweet.
Country accent heh.
Background violin - I am a violin fanatic, pretty great.
The lyrics are pretty deep though, I like it.
Whoah gunshot.
This really is a very relaxing song so far (3 minutes in).
More drums excellent. Tempo building...
Fadin back from a crescendo at 5:00, very smooth.
And back up we go.
That fadeout ending was pretty predictable but nice nonetheless.

A bit of a long song for my taste but very nice listening music ^^.

Reposting this from music since I want someone else's opinion on it.