Acclaimed Music Forums

Heard a great one the other day:

Timothy Bloom - Timothy Bloom


Awesome album, somewhere between soul and R&B. Guy wrote for pop R&B, voice is unbelievable.

Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Streaming on NPR. Check it

I did not like High Hopes.

Maschine_Man wrote:Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Streaming on NPR. Check it

Yeah, this record is pretty good. Not a bad start for 2014 for me.

I'm so conflicted about this Blank Realm album. I can definitely see some good things in it - the songs are pretty catchy, and some of the instrumental jams are nice, but the sloppy playing and off-key singing repels me a bit.

Maschine_Man wrote:Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Streaming on NPR. Check it

Yes, I like it.
Warpaint - Warpaint is also on there. Not bad after a first listen.

drewcannon3 wrote:Heard a great one the other day:

Timothy Bloom - Timothy Bloom


Awesome album, somewhere between soul and R&B. Guy wrote for pop R&B, voice is unbelievable.

I'll second this. He does have a great voice, and the songs don't have that overly-glossy production that so much modern R&B seems to be burdened with these days. The guitars are an important element as we'll, giving it a slight rock vibe. Probably would have snuck into my top 20 if it came out last year, but good start to this year.

Gillingham wrote:

Maschine_Man wrote:Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Streaming on NPR. Check it

Yes, I like it.
Warpaint - Warpaint is also on there. Not bad after a first listen.

Yeah, the Guardian (who seem to share NPR's music streams) are also previewing Warpaint's self-titled album this week. They've also got the new Mogwai album in the same section if anyone is interested. I haven't gotten around to them yet but I'm also looking forward to listening to two albums Pitchfork hosted this week, also linked below:

Guardian Stream: Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Guardian Stream: Warpaint - Warpaint

Pitchfork Stream: Alcest - Shelter
Pitchfork Stream: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything

Matski wrote:Guardian Stream: Warpaint - Warpaint

Great. Thanks!

Matski wrote:

Gillingham wrote:

Maschine_Man wrote:Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Streaming on NPR. Check it

Yes, I like it.
Warpaint - Warpaint is also on there. Not bad after a first listen.

Yeah, the Guardian (who seem to share NPR's music streams) are also previewing Warpaint's self-titled album this week. They've also got the new Mogwai album in the same section if anyone is interested. I haven't gotten around to them yet but I'm also looking forward to listening to two albums Pitchfork hosted this week, also linked below:

Guardian Stream: Mogwai - Rave Tapes
Guardian Stream: Warpaint - Warpaint

Pitchfork Stream: Alcest - Shelter
Pitchfork Stream: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything

I was happy to see that Pitchfork is streaming the last one. It's quite good, but probably a bit too loud for my tastes.

Yeah, I finally got around to listening to all them at the weekend and it was the one that left the greatest impression. Hoping they keep the streams up a bit longer though as my judgements aren't best served with just one listen.

Maschine_Man wrote:Damien Jurado - 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'

Very belated (meant to post this above) but thanks for recommending this.

Went to NPR to listen to Warpaint, was blown away by the new Hospitality, "Trouble"

Just heard "High Hopes". Not a bad album, but nothing too great. There are some amazing songs in there, but they're buried under layer upon layer of overproduction. The album would've been much, much better if it was only Springsteen, a guitar, and a few other choice instruments. Maybe a backing singer or two on some songs. That would've made this a great Springsteen album. As it stands it's only a decent one. The overproduction just makes the songs sound bloated and cheesy much too often.

So far this is the only 2014 album I have heard.

Also, here's what I'm excited for that's coming up this year-

Broken Bells- After the Disco- February 4th

Phantogram- Voices- February 18th

St. Vincent- February 24th

Beck- Morning Phase- February 25th

Schoolboy Q- Oxymoron- February 25th

Real Estate- Atlas- March 4th

Elbow- The Take Off and Landing Of Everything- March 10th

Metronomy- Love Letters- March 10th

Damon Albarn- Everyday Robots- April 28th

Azealia Banks- Broke With Expensive Taste- TBA

Cloud Nothings- TBA- TBA

Flying Lotus- TBA- TBA

Frank Ocean- TBA- TBA

Kendrick Lamar- TBA- TBA

I have listened to three 2014 albums:

Warpaint's Warpaint: I was introduced to this band by this forum back in 2010. The Fool was great, but nothing quite enthralled me as Undertow did. This new self-titled record is beautifully crafted. The production is its strength. The problem so far rests in the songs themselves. Disco/Very and Drive are the two songs that stood out the most during the first few listenings, but all the others were largely unmemorable. If I remember well their atmospherics there's not a hint of lyrics or melody that stuck with me. That might be a problem, because, in the end, that makes Warpaint fall short of being remarkable. 6/10

Dum Dum Girls' Too True: I'll give it to Dee Dee, she is some kind of a survivor. Dum Dum Girls have been enhancing their profile since I Will Be and its fuzzy lo-fi girl group indie pop. I remember Jirin (?) comparing them to Elastica at the time and it was spot on when it came to the hooks. It's amazing how this band surpassed their originally proposed half-life while contemporaries like Best Coast, Tennis and Vivian Girls have quite fell into obscurity for music critics. Only in Dreams saw the band straying away from their bedroom and getting closer to those contemporaries and surf rock; cleaner melodies, vocals and a small failure in attempting introspection. To plenty the real breakthrough came with the much more atmospheric End of Daze; that saw them closer to the likes of 4AD rather than their 2010 past would suggest. Dum Dum Girls have recorded two albums and two Eps that sound distinctly different from one another. This time the leap was toward post-punk and not quite forward. Dee Dee released a promo letter alining both her band and their sound as followers of Lou Reed and Patti Smith, explaining how much french symbolist Arthur Rimbaud and his eternal companions Paul Verlaine and rock offspring Tom Verlaine were main influences alongside Charles Baudelaire. Align yourself with french symbolism in rock music has been usual since the 60s, but it caused a stir, since Dum Dum Girls are mostly known for their love affair lyrics, rather than anything deeper than that. Too True does very little to support the earlier claims of Dee Dee. A song might namedrop Rimbaud, but the lyrics are hardly symbolism, rather, we could replace the poet's name with that of an average Joe and the song would remain the same. Dum Dum Girls still face the very same problems surrounding their lyrics, especially when they try to go a little deeper than before. The thing is that the production of I Will Be and its melodies actually enhanced the material by prompting to an update of times where girl pop actually had those kind of lyrics. Too True has a more serious atmosphere, that also fails to stick because it is way too polished for its own good. Dum Dum Girls still didn't learn how to variate their melodies in a full-length, maybe explaining why some of their greatest material arrived in the form of Extended plays rather than long players. Last year we saw the likes of Savages fiercely executing an update of post-punk -- and perhaps saluting Patti Smith with its Husbands hook in a greater way. On the other hand, Dee Dee limits her Siouxsie influence to namedropping her in a letter and sharing her Arabian Knights video on Facebook. In the end, Too True is closer to the polished attempts of major labels to ride the post-punk-college rock transitional era of the 80s rather than a vital addition to the post-punk revival canon. It lacks identity and it fails to create a good mix of those she declared the main influences. Dum Dum Girls might be changing their sound with each record, but that might not be the equal of evolution. 4/10

Angel Olsen's Burn Your Fire for no Witness: Angel Olsen might be one of the greatest vocalists that arrived this decade. She just knows how to use them in ways to achieve the emotional height she aims for. Half Way Home had plenty of moments when her crying voice came to its fullest in heart shattering moments - Acrobat, Safe in the Womb, You are Always Song. Burn Your Fire for no Witness might be described as Angel Olsen going electric. In plenty of moments, such as Forgiven/Forgotten, she buries her vocals in the lo-fi mix surrounding by your usual indie rock production. Olsen remains a charismatic vocalist, and the electric moments are the best - Unfucktheworld Hi-Five, High and Wild, Stars. Those who found distaste the use of the vocals on the previous record, could end up enjoying this record, since she sounds more restrained as a vocalist. During the upbeats moments, she finds a great equilibrium of what her words really need and the diction. The problem appears during the more acoustic moments. First of all, most of them are placed at the bottom of the record. Only White Fire is not placed in the latter-half, but it breaks the great -- and more exciting -- upbeat sequencing of the first half in a bad way. Other songs placed in the bottom could have been fit instead of the meandering six minutes song. There are noteworthy moments during the second-half such as Windows when we find Olsen impersonating her best Vashti Bunyan or Dance Slow for Decades; But then there are Enemy and Iota, songs which Angel Olsen channels her previous record without taking the vocals risks she did back then. What made those slower ones great in the first record was exactly her ways of singing lines in different ways, building drama and creating a sense of sadness that few singer/songwriters have been able to match since. Short songs such as Can't Wait Until Tomorrow sounded vital coming out of the mouth of such a talented vocalist that could encapsulate timidity, desperation, comfort and introspection in the space of less than two minutes and sometimes in sequencing lines. The new sonic and vocal approach in Burn Your Fire for no Witness makes the songs more homogenous. It is a great record that could have been benefitted of better sequencing -- even if it doesn't quite match the force of her previous one. 7/10

My first really good álbum of 2014 was released at the end of october of 2013, but the first review I saw was this month, so to me it falls under the "Light Up Gold" category, being a 2014 album.

It is Battlefields Forever by Big Business. Excellent heavy metal stuff here.

There still isn't a standout album for 2014. I am enjoying the new Against Me! though. Pretty fun melodic punk music, making for a nice little listen.

So far this year:

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything 8.5
This album kept surprising me in pleasant ways. Every time I thought these long songs were beginning to get lost in repetition, off they went in a new direction.
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son 8.0
Hospitality – Trouble 8.0
Dum Dum Girls – Too True 7.5
I think HRS and I differed here in that I had very low expectations exceeded.
Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues 7.5
Usually Against Me! has to grow on me. I found this one very accessible.
Elizabeth & the Catapult – Like It Never Happened 7.0
Warpaint – Warpaint 7.0
MisterWives – Reflections EP 6.5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIC3h13taQA
Young the Giant – Mind Over Matter 5.5

Has anyone got a stream link to the new album by Have a Nice Day - 'The Unnatural World'? Pitchfork did have it on their site (Pitchfork Advance) but took it down earlier yesterday and it's not on Spotify.

EDIT: No worries, found one. Thank you Mr. Fantano. See the link below for those who interested...

Stream: Have a Nice Life - 'The Unnatural World'

HRS wrote: Angel Olsen's Burn Your Fire for no Witness: Angel Olsen might be one of the greatest vocalists that arrived this decade. 7/10

Great recommendation. Thanks!

DocBrown, Dum Dum Girls' have actually grew on me over the week. Some of the melodies really stuck, even though there are still songs that are too silly for me to fully enjoy it (Lost Boys and Girls Club, Rimbaud's Eyes). A fun record overall. I'd give it a 6.5 now. I wasn't expecting a lot from them, but they have been more consistently catchy in previous recordings and this shoegaze-ish post-punk approach isn't quite as exciting as the lo-fi aesthetic of I Will Be.

I'm glad you enjoyed Angel Olsen! The songs and overall sound aesthetic are really consistent. Although my only problem is still the sequencing, the latter tracks have also been maturing in my ears. I think it will eventually score a 8 over time. She's very charismatic and a really good vocalist; the phrasing serve the lyrics well and the production plays her strengths well. My opinion hasn't changed about Warpaint's and I want to listen to Have a Nice Life's new record soon.

Another new great album is Rosanne Cash's "The River & The Thread". For country lovers like myself, it's a full plate, filled with beautiful melodies, mixing guitars and banjo perfectly and the lyrics are very attachable and relatable, without being formulaic. It starts wonderfully (A Feather's Not a Bird, Etta's Tune and Modern Blue are beautiful)and just in the middle, where the weaker tracks come in, and you think the album will start to become forgettable, BANG!, tunes like Night School, 50,000 Watts and Money Road appear. Not as good as Big Business' "Battlefields Forever", but a good highlight from January.

Damien Jurado's album is awesome.

I'm hearing some Iron & Wine grooves, Fleet Foxes melodies, and indie noisy weirdness.

Very pleased to see so many positive comments about Damien Jurado's 'Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son'.
I'm completely knocked out by this album - I've already played it 4 times (in 10 days) and I very seldom do anything like that (I think the last time was Father John Misty's 'Fear Fun').
If it had been released 3 weeks earlier I'm pretty sure it would have been my favourite album of 2013.

HRS wrote:I'm glad you enjoyed Angel Olsen! The songs and overall sound aesthetic are really consistent.

If I hadn't read your review, I would have discovered Angel Olsen a whole four days later - she was the featured video on NPR. However, I always enjoy reading your reviews.

I begin the year with these two albums.


Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - Give the People What They Want 8,5/10 The year begin well with this 60's like album. A real sweet guilty pleasure.
Mogwai - Rave Tapes 6,5/10 Not bad but not really exciting at all.

I'm not sure how I feel about Broken Bells After The Disco.

I'm excited for St. Vincent (s/t) and Damon Albarn (Everyday Robots) based off their singles.

Edit: Young Fathers, Dead, is brilliant and on Spotify & Morning Phase by Beck seems a promising return to form.

I recommend Temples "Sun Structures" streaming now at NPR. Also the new Cibo Matta "Hotel Valentine".

Other upcoming albums I'm looking forward to:

The Drive-By Truckers "English Oceans", March 4
Band of Skulls "Himalaya", April 1

Looking forward to hearing Sun Kil Moon's Benji. Even more so after the rave review of Pitchfork.
Richard Ramirez is a great song for sure.

An ordered list of what I've heard so far:

1. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra- Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
2. Damien Jurado- Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
3. Against Me!- Transgender Dysphoria Blues
4. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings- Give The People What They Want
5. Bruce Springsteen- High Hopes

I've heard about a dozen so far, these are the four that made it onto my playlist:

1. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Give The People What They Want
2. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
3. Damine Jurado - Brothers and Disters of the Eternal Sun
4. East India Youth - Total Strife Forever

I also really enjoyed the song by that group that appeared on Colbert last night, I forget their name but I'll definitely take a look at their album.

Really looking forward to St Vincent and Drive By Truckers.

January wrap up
These are more or less in order of preference.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra
It took me about six listens to figure out how I felt about this one; there's a lot to digest. It's noise rock with grand aspirations, which it pulls off most of the time. It can still be a bit of a mess, but mostly it's a glorious mess.
Timothy Bloom
Old-school R&B meets new-school. This one grows on me each time I listen to it. He's been making hits for other people for a while, but it seems he saved some of his best for himself.
Against Me!
I haven't been a big fan in the past, but I like these songs a little better than what I've heard before. The concept holds it all together well, too.
Rosanne Cash
The mellow vibe starts to get a little old over the second half of the album, but this is still a quality set of Southern rock, even if the "rock" is somewhat deemphasized.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
It's just Malkmus being Malkmus, and that's a good thing. But a few of these songs to go by without making much of an impact.
Damien Jurado
Some pretty music, as we're all accustomed to from Jurado. This one might grow with a few more listens.
Warpaint
It was okay, but was a little too light-weight for my tastes, and none of the songs sounded all that different from one another.

Top five for now:

1. Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
2. Tinariwen - Emmaar
3. Bibio - The Green
4. Warpaint - Warpaint
5. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra - Fuck off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything

I think I just felt a few chills listening to that East India Youth album

It seems the song won't be attached to any album, but Occupy Your Mind by Villagers is chillingly great. Most certainly is going to be in my top 10 songs, year end.

Lord Steppington, by the hip-hop duo Step Brothers. Very solid!

It's taken me nearly a month and a half, but I've finally heard 5 albums from 2014. Here's how they stack up...

Very Good:

1. Sun Kil Moon- Benji

Good:

2. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra- Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
3. Against Me!- Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Alright:

4. Bruce Springsteen- High Hopes
5. Broken Bells- After the Disco

Haven't heard a bad album yet this year, and three great ones.

Alejandra Ribera - La boca 8.5 My two favourite albums so far this year are both from Montreal artists! Vive la Quebec!
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything 8.5
Quilt - Held in Splendor 8.5
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son 8.0
Hospitality – Trouble 8.0
Jeremy Messersmith - Heart Murmurs 8.0
Temples - Sun Structures 7.5
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness 7.5
Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues 7.5
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow 7.5
James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical 7.5
Dum Dum Girls – Too True 7.5
Elizabeth & the Catapult – Like It Never Happened 7.0
Maxïmo Park - Too Much Information 7.0
Broken Bells - After the Disco 7.0
Patterns - Waking Lines 7.0
Warpaint – Warpaint 7.0
Blank Realm - Grassed Inn 6.5
MisterWives – Reflections EP 6.5
Dappled Cities - Many Roads 6.0
Young the Giant – Mind Over Matter 5.5

A top 5 :
Cascadeur : Ghost surfer
I break horses : Chiaroscuro
Rosanna Cash : The River & the Thread
Asgeir : In the Silence
Warpaint : warpaint

Four more that made my rotation:

Bibio - The Green EP
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Piano Magic
Quilt - Held In Splendor
Sun Kil Moon - Benji

Benji in particular impressed me. I didn't think of Sun Kil Moon of a band that poetically rambled off very personal stories in freeform.

Benji stole me heart...

I'm enjoying the new Quilt album. Arctic Shark is a lovely opener that sets a good tone.

The St. Vincent album is interesting. It's pretty neurotic so I'll be interested to see how it goes with critics.

Klapp Klapp by Little Dragon is a great tune too! I'm looking forward to their album.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra just blew me away today. I'd argue that nothing is better on first listen than a really good post-rock album. The last time I remember feeling that way was Godspeed You Black Emperor's album from a couple years ago, where about halfway through the first song I knew I was listening to something special.

Hotdamn! Big week coming up. Both the Guardian and NPR are now playing streams for St. Vincent's upcoming album. NPR also have fresh streams for new albums by Beck, Neneh Cherry and the Notwist. Links for these are listed here:

St. Vincent - St. Vincent (via The Guardian)

St. Vincent - St. Vincent (via NPR)
Beck - Morning Phase (via NPR)
Neneh Cherry - Blank Project (via NPR)
The Notwist - Close to the Glass (via NPR)

I'm also currently trying to find a stream for the new Wild Beasts album too. Feel free to throw a link out there for it if there is one around...

EDIT: ...Finally, this one kinda came outta nowhere but I'd also recommend checking out Sabina Sciubba's debut:

Sabina - Toujours (via NYTimes)

My favourite 3 albums so far are from Damien Jurado, Sun Kil Moon and Rosanne Cash.

Just listened to the new St. Vincent album. It's really good, similar to "Strange Mercy" with enough tweaks to her style to keep things interesting. Right now I'd say it's my second favorite album of the year, behind "Benji".

"Benji" is going to make all of my future visits to Panera Bread a lot more depressing.

OMFG!! What is "Benji" ? What a breathtaking, fresh album. The calm and collected guitar just giving way to one of the most perfect albums i've heard recently, and possibly in my life, lyrically speaking. Just excellent, very rewarding.

I would say I might be equally floored by St. Vincent and Benji equally. They are both stunning. It seems 2014 is already putting out records at the same quality, if not better than the top releases of 2013.

I've heard most of the albums you guys mentioned. "Flesh and Blood" did not disappoint, either. Already we are in a better spot than last year at this time.

Very excited by new St. Vincent and Beck albums. Need to get on them soon. I agree that it's been a really good year so far, nothing amazing but just a lot of solid releases. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings has probably been the pick of the bunch for me though so far. Isaiah Rashad's Cilvia Demo has also impressed me. I think he's definitely got potential to do a bit of a kendrick over the next couple of years. One to watch for sure.