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Post by B.E. on May 9, 2021 1:51:29 GMT
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Post by kds on May 10, 2021 12:42:04 GMT
It's pretty interesting that a critical darling like Weezer would pay tribute to an era that seems to be the bane of many a music critic's existence.
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Post by Kapitan on May 12, 2021 12:57:19 GMT
If 40 years old is new, then this is new: Warner Bros. is reissuing a deluxe version of an underappreciated relic of "the Minneapolis sound" that came to prominence in the '80s mostly thanks to Prince and the Flyte Tyme studio impresarios Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson most prominent among the acts they produced in those days).
Morris Day and the Time's 1981 self-titled debut will be released in July. The album is particularly interesting now because Prince not only produced it (under the pseudonym Jamie Starr), but played every note on the album except for one keyboard part. Morris Day, of course, sang.
And here is a single from it, "Cool."
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Post by kds on May 12, 2021 15:47:36 GMT
ultimateclassicrock.com/kks-priest-album-details/So, I mentioned this earlier, looks like we're going to kind of have two version of Priest now. The song, rather unsurprisingly, sounds like Ripper era Judas Priest. I also saw a blurb that Scott Rockenfeld, former Queensryche drummer, might be launching his own version of Queensryche, to go along with the current version of the band, as well as Geoff Tate's Operation: Mindcrime.
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Post by Kapitan on May 20, 2021 15:39:51 GMT
You know I'm a big fan of Robert Harrison, the former frontman and songwriter for Cotton Mather. Magnet did a nice little interview with him and had the first release of his new video from an upcoming solo album. Cool song, "Face in the Crowd." That voice of his really hits the spot for me.
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Post by Kapitan on May 21, 2021 20:11:58 GMT
I'm such an old man. I see this and think, "What? Why did you do that? Why are you making that face?" I'm confused. Not opposed, mind you: kids can do what they want. But I don't get this choice as an album cover.
pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/olivia-rodrigo-sour/
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Post by kds on May 22, 2021 0:59:01 GMT
Christ, a Tik Tok star. Why bust your ass playing in bars when you have Tik Tok?
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Post by Kapitan on May 25, 2021 11:51:15 GMT
Maybe 2021 is the year of old favorite 90s and 00s British indie rock bands. Scottish band Arab Strap had an album. Scottish band Teenage Fanclub (with newish member, the Welsh Euros Childs) had an album. (Scottish band Randolph's Leap is of more recent vintage, but sure sounds at times somewhere between Scottish bands the Delgados and Belle & Sebastian.)
And it seems the Welsh Gruff Rhys, frontman of Super Furry Animals, came out with a new album while I wasn't looking.
Seeking New Gods is apparently a concept album about some Chinese-Korean mountain, and from what I can tell it's a nice album of laid-back, classic sounding rock and pop. And very corny, funny videos.
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Post by Kapitan on May 25, 2021 22:29:20 GMT
I actually ended up buying the album and listening to it 2-3 times today. I really enjoy it--and I've actually never been that big a Super Furry Animals fan. (I only have one of their albums.)
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 25, 2021 22:42:05 GMT
Christ, a Tik Tok star. Why bust your ass playing in bars when you have Tik Tok? Actually, she's another Disney star! And yes, I'm a big fan of Good 4 U. It's a nice return to pop rock.
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Post by kds on May 26, 2021 12:05:37 GMT
Christ, a Tik Tok star. Why bust your ass playing in bars when you have Tik Tok? Actually, she's another Disney star! And yes, I'm a big fan of Good 4 U. It's a nice return to pop rock. Oh........goodie.
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Post by Kapitan on May 28, 2021 12:46:41 GMT
I've been sampling that Olivia Rodrigo album, Sour, just because I keep reading/hearing about/seeing her.
It sounds to me like 45% Taylor Swift (especially her vocal inflections), 45% Lorde (production and arrangements of some parts are uncanny, also some vocal quirks), and 10% across the spectrum. For example, "deja vu" has a very Flaming Lips/David Fridmann drum part and sound. The production across the whole thing is good, but very, very ... produced. Derivatively produced? So often there is the Swiftian trick of music swelling in intensity, it gets bigger, and then everything drops out and there's a single-tracked voice with no reverb suddenly with what's meant as a mic drop line. It's the kind of thing you hear once and think is a cool trick, but when it's already common and then it appears repeatedly in one album, it's just obviously cliche.
The album is surprisingly well done, and I've read it was exclusively (or nearly so?) the product of her and her producer, Dan Nigro. Honestly as I was listening, considering how exactly it aped other music and knowing she's a manufactured Disney girl, I assumed it would be 10 writers and producers per song, a fully corporate product. So good for her on that, anyway.
I don't think it warrants its hype or praise. In the end, it's a breakup album by a teenager, and it's nothing particularly spectacular or even original. (Compare to Billie Eilish, whom I like much, much less, but who is at least original.) I suppose Disney princesses have the time and money to create good imitations of their favorite pop stars, if they so choose.
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Post by kds on May 28, 2021 19:02:59 GMT
So, does she go full on pop tart, with dance beats and skimpy outfits, by the third or fourth album? I always forget the order in the Disney Playbook.
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Post by Kapitan on May 28, 2021 19:06:09 GMT
So, does she go full on pop tart, with dance beats and skimpy outfits, by the third or fourth album? I always forget the order in the Disney Playbook. That's usually the "good girl" Disney trajectory, so because this album didn't seem to start from there--explicit language warnings!--I'm not sure where she'll take it. She did at least (apparently) write the songs. Again, her music is not my thing, but I think I'd have to give her more credit than the worst of the manufactured stars.
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Post by kds on May 28, 2021 19:09:46 GMT
So, does she go full on pop tart, with dance beats and skimpy outfits, by the third or fourth album? I always forget the order in the Disney Playbook. That's usually the "good girl" Disney trajectory, so because this album didn't seem to start from there--explicit language warnings!--I'm not sure where she'll take it. She did at least (apparently) write the songs. Again, her music is not my thing, but I think I'd have to give her more credit than the worst of the manufactured stars. Maybe so, but to me, it's pretty telling of the times that we're giving someone credit because she wrote her own songs. I think by decades end, we'll have to start digging a trench in order to lower the bar any further. (Sorry, high temps in the 50s for Memorial Weekend coupled with some nonsense at work have me in a bit moody mood).
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