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So now they're a Prince clone. Ew. I'll take my fuzz and malaise back, thanks. Plus I don't think the production is as good as Dave Sitek's recent work with ScarJo. This seems like a bold step into thoroughly paved territory.

I don't think it compares in terms of ecstasy either.
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Tim, that song makes me think you might enjoy a disc by the Stick Men called "Insatiable." Actually, a lot of people here would.
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Sure, but I'm disagreeing with it turning out well. It sounds to me like casting out in too many different directions and just kinda sounding like other bands. It's like they've got some quota to fill on each track, so the whole thing lacks cohesion.

My disappointment is bolstered by the fact that these guys were one of about 5 indie rockers I still enjoy. I had pretty high hopes, and I think this is easily their worst album.
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Listening to The Private Press again, I'm pretty sure I like it better than Endtroducing. I really take it as a collection of glorious sound; there's so much stuff dropped into the background that makes it simply huge.
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Go here for an African mix that's way more fun than Nine Inch Nails.
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http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stephen+O%27Malley
http://www.discogs.com/artist/James+Plotkin

Those two dudes will take you to a lot of interesting places, many of them dronemetal-related, many not.

I think you might like Nadja too. And maybe Expo '70?
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I really liked Thaumogenesis; I think Daymare just reissued it with Thaumoradiance as well.
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Ben Frost's By The Throat: texture is ENORMOUS, composition leaves a little to be desired. Still think Theory of Machines is his best work by miles.

Stuff I've been digging from this year:
Paul White
Aethenor
Current 93
Broadcast & The Focus Group
David Sylvian
Henry Threadgill Zooid
Moritz Von Oswald Trio
Richard Youngs - Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits
Spring Heel Jack
Sly & the Family Stone's Woodstock set
Willie Isz
Vieux Farka Toure
To Blacken The Pages
all the typically awesome Analog Africa/Soundway/Strut/Sterns/Sublime Frequencies goodness.
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Man, I love the new Sylvian, though Blemish is one of my favorite albums ever and I'm into the whole EAI sound/scene he got his players from for this one (and I don't really care for his solo stuff for Virgin). But I love Manafon- it's very spare, mostly big beautiful vox over assorted electronic rubble. Werner Dafeldecker's bass is a really good anchor (he's the most jazz-based of the players), and Sylvian knows how to really punctuate with instrumentation this sparse.

Hey Brian- been a while! You should check that latest Aethenor if you haven't- I think David Tibet was the perfect addition to their unit, and I really kind of see Faking Gold & Murder as the other side to the Aleph coin.

Funny, I caught that Snow Lark album on the LJ psyche-folk comm. I think I was a little put off by their worship of Natural Snow Buildings -a group I've always found massively overrated- and it feels like they're trying too hard.

How do you feel about Cobalt? I expected to love Gin, but it never pulled me in the way Eater of Birds did.
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Yeah, I've been really into Æthenor the last couple years- adding their two free jazz drummers starting with Betimes Black Cloudmasses made totally transformed their sound and whole direction. It's a direction I wish more heavy groups would pursue. You'd be a good person to ask- is there any free metal out there?

Interesting thought on Tool and Cobalt there. As I think about it, that may be exactly what turns me off about Gin actually- it's hard to hear all the tuned tom work and think not of the epic wankery of that Tool drummer, especially when that's half the instrumentation, and the guitar is more melodic with that album.

Going back to Eater of Birds it's definitely a similar situation, and I don't think I still love like I did a couple years ago, but I think there's a bit more crunch and bottom end and less emphasis on the drums, and really excellent production to bring out the fullness of the duo. Worth a listen anyway.

I haven't been doing much metal lately, but going back to Chaining the Katechon, I really like it much better than I remember, so I may go back and check out Fas or some of their other stuff. As someone who's never gotten any physical stimulation out of metal, the sound you can wrench out of guitars and voice is the real reason I get into it, and those guys do that really nicely.


On a completely separate note, Amerie's new In Love And War sounds pretty disappointing so far (halfway through), knowing how great she can be when she's on. I keep thinking she'll eventually make for the best retrospective compilation ever, but I'm not sure I'd put any tracks on it from this album. Sounds like she's got no budget- why open a pop album with such awful synthesized horns?
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Yep. There's a good little feature on him in the latest Wire- on Disintegration: "A big influence on this record if only for the weird way in which that music, and particularly the title cut, just launches in - no intros, no decoration, and very little changes over the piece. It's like: here is this world, submit to it, and then Robert Smith sort of just uses the space it creates to tell a story. This is often true of Michael Gira and Ian Curtis, too"

He also talks about going to bed to Chris Watson's Outside the Circle of Fire for several months, specifically the close-mic'd vultures on a carcass.
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Paul White just released a free album (in lossless and other formats). His Strange Dreams Of Paul White is one of my favorite albums this year.

http://paulwhite.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-from-the-skylight-side-a
http://paulwhite.bandcamp.com/album/sounds-from-the-skylight-side-b
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Hee hee. Darth Vader's weekend helmet?

G-Side - Huntsville International Project

Really good. Really really good.
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Plastic Beach is the first Albarn project in years (ever?) I haven't liked. It kicks off with that fucking awful Snoop track and never recovers.
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Well, that was more interesting than I expected. She still strikes me as someone whose talent doesn't quite shoulder her concepts yet. Certainly worth watching, but this album's really only half good.
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nah oatmeal's pretty good for you.
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Hoodie kid's like "dammit this is gonna be on the internet but I'm really trying to get these chicks to make out with me both at once."
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So Boris' New Album: worth talking about? I can't decide.
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Lula Côrtes died.


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