Official new albums thread

[Rsdio]

Went and bought it and... wow, for the noise these two blokes make, some bands would be hard pushed to rock as hard as this lot do.

If you wanna hear two blokes REALLY making a noise, check out a bit of Lightning Bolt: http://loadrecords.com/sound/lightni...lamountain.mp3

[Ady]

Meh tbh.

[Rsdio]

Hmm.. Insightful. You don't appreciate Lightning Bolt I take it?

[Ady]

There were some interesting moments, but I found it annoying overall. A cacaphanous racket that didn't really go anywhere. :/

[Rsdio]

You're just not looking hard enough mate , but that sort of music's certainly not for everyone and I can understand why. But there are hidden depths in there once it sinks into your brain a little and you start to get past the wall of noise (which can admittedly be fairly overpowering).

And surely the point of music isn't always to 'go somewhere'? Loads of music employs brute force volume and discordance as an end in itself (take My Bloody Valentine droning out one ear-splitting note in the middle of 'You Made Me Realise' for over twenty minutes, or the music of Merzbow, Sonic Youth's more experimental stuff etc.). Quite frequently that sort of thing can take you to somewhere other music can't through the obliteration of any other emotions you might be feeling at the time.. Apologies if that sounds pretentious, but it's a tricky thing to explain.

Sometimes a good primal paggering is just what your ears want - and that's coming from someone with permanent noise-induced tinnitus

Sorry for the ramble, just wanted to offer a case for the defence

[Ady]

You don't have to preach to me about Sonic Youth or MBV, mate or -for that matter- the use of noise in music (I've got plenty of stuff that features dissonance). And I'm not necessarily saying that all music has to "go somewhere" either (there's no right or wrong way of making music, after all).

But the simple fact is, that track didn't do anything for me. Not because I don't "get" music with noise, but because it didn't appeal. That's all there is to it.

[Rsdio]

I wasn't preaching, just trying to explain the appeal they hold (for me) and address the points which you made in your post. Since I can't actually see your record collection from here how am I to know that you're a fan of Sonic Youth/MBV or whoever? I reckon it's probably a fair assumption that you wouldn't be, they're not exactly listed as favourites by a large percentage of the population of anything. My apologies if I seemed to patronise you in some way, it certainly wasn't my intention.

My initial point was only that there are two of them (like DFA1979) and they make a hell of a lot of noise.. Can we just leave it at that?

[Ady]

Since I can't actually see your record collection from here how am I to know that you're a fan of Sonic Youth/MBV or whoever? I reckon it's probably a fair assumption that you wouldn't be, they're not exactly listed as favourites by a large percentage of the population of anything.

I both of MBV's full-length albums and most of SY's (I thought everything pre-Evol was rubbish, and their post-1000 Leaves stuff has been pretty patchy though).

My initial point was only that there are two of them (like DFA1979) and they make a hell of a lot of noise.. Can we just leave it at that?

Of course.

[Rsdio]

Didn't you like Murray Street or Sonic Nurse then? I thought Sonic Nurse was one of the best albums of last year (along with the Madvillain, Tom Waits and Icarus Line LPs). 'Pattern Recognition' and 'I Love You Golden Blue' are worth the price of entry alone . And Murray Street is consistantly good IMO, but then there are only 7 tracks so maybe they had a little quality control on that one that had been missing for a lot of the 90s.

[Ady]

Actually I thought those two ablums were OK, but they lacked... something for me. I don't know what. Sonic Nurse especially sounded very by numbers.

It also seems weird now that Kim's no longer in the band, too. I really miss her contributions. :/

The Icarus Line's last album that you mentioned is also very good. Pity the track listing's so damn hard to read!

[Rsdio]

But Kim is still in the band... Or have I missed something earth shattering? Both those songs I mentioned of Sonic Nurse were her songs (the first great ones she's done in ages IMO). Got to admit that I was pretty unsure about Jim O'Rourke joining the band - more out of jealousy than anything I think - but he seems to have freed Kim up a little bit to take more of a centre stage I feel.

Got to agree that a couple of tracks on Sonic Nurse sound a bit 'Sonic Youth by numbers' but I think a lot of it sounds quite different to what they've done before. A lot of it sounds more intimate and personal to me, as if they're singing about things that relate to them rather than taking a detatched view of something else. There's not much in the lyrics to suggest it, it's just the way it seems to me.

And it's a pity the Icarus Line's guitarist has left to join NIN, it always seemed like he was the driving force behind them so I hope they continue to progress like they have been doing without him. 'Penance Soiree' has got to the one of the most dirty sounding records I've ever heard. Class

[Ady]

Hmm... I thought Kim had left. OK, maybe I was wrong!

Anyway, I reckon I'll give those two albums more of a listen at some point. You've got to admit though, NYC Ghosts and Flowers was appalling. It sounded like they were taking the piss out of themselves. Badly.

I can't believe I'm having a discussion about Sonic Youth on a forum. Normally when I drop that band into a topic, someone changes the subject!

[Rsdio]

I've never heard NYC Ghosts and Flowers, I thought it better not to bother than taint my opinion of them . It seems strange because I saw them play in London when they were touring it and they were absolutely awesome. I've seen them be so far up their own arses before at shows so it was weird to see them pull of a performance with the energy of a band twenty years younger when they'd just put out a record universally regarded as pretty crap.. I think it was something to do with an article the legend that is Steven Wells wrote in NME just prior to the gig, which was basically four pages of agism - probably made them feel they had a point to prove. Aah, the good old days when NME employed half-decent writers..

I might give NYC Ghost and Flowers a download to satisfy my curiosity, but I'm guessing it might still be best left alone..

[Bleeders]

System Of A Down - Mezmerize.

This is currently heading the AOTY for me so far; an absolutely superb effort. A progression on from Toxicity sees SOAD mix their trademeark riffage, with the cartoon-like vocals with their hook, tinged pop sensibilities making this effort making a fairly memorable one. From the opener, "Soldier Side" to the anti-war stylings of "B.Y.O.B" and everything in between, "Violent Pornography", "Radio/Video" and the awesome closing track, "Lost In Hollywood".

'Mezmerize' clocks in around the 36 minute mark, but don't let that put you off, this is them at their very best, and to think, there is still more to come in 6 months time.

[mastercom4]

mine just arrived from play

listening to it now, near the end but i must say its a superb album. Really great...