The Beatles - Abbey Road (8.9/10)

Lena Willemark and Ale Moller - Agram 7.7/10
Cave In - Until Your Heart Stops 8.3/10
Itzhak Perlman - Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 and Solo Works 8.5/10

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"Nowhere Generation" by Rise Against: 8/10

I've been sitting on this one for whatever stupid reason. I love these guys. Knowing their history in regard to how they tackle current events and social issues with their songwriting, I was curious how they'd approach the four years since their last album. They kick things off strong from the get-go with "The Numbers" and it just snowballs from there. The title track is probably the highlight but there's no shortage of good shit. Their late-2000s stuff is pretty hard to top but this definitely hangs with it. Hopefully I'll be able to make their show here in August.

Got tickets to see Orville Peck next month. I am pumped. Gonna wear cowboy shirt, cowboy hat, and lucha mask. It's going down.

Grace Jones - Nightclubbing 8/10
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story 7.7/10
The King's Noyse - Le Jardin de Mélodies - 16th Century French Dances & Songs 8/10
Wieniawski, H.: Chamber Music 8/10

A good month of music.

The unraveling of pup the band by PUP

Sounds like a bunch of guys all yelling at me. Just the way i like it

Iron Maiden- Senjutsu

4/5

All these years later, and these dudes still go just as hard.

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Halestorm - Back From the Dead: 9/10

Yes, I'm biased. I don't care. This another release that showcases how well they can weave in and out of headbanging riffs and melodic and moving ballads. My copy is an autographed one so I love it even more and will do so until I die. I may even request to be buried with it.

Florence + the machine - Dance Fever 8/10

Will have to give it a second spin but it might be my favorite album from them behind Lungs.

I listened to the first half. Very fun album so far.

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Stand Atlantic - f.e.ar.: 6/10

Fun, energetic, catchy but nothing to really help it stand out from the rest of the pop-punk crowd. Maybe in two albums or so down the line they'll evolve and "grow up" but it's a relatively safe release. Not sure what the point is with the "guest tracks" either. This isn't like getting David Bowie or Ozzy Osbourne to come in and actually add to what you're trying to do.

HAIM's Women in Music Pt. III

Jewish excellence on display here

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Oh, crap, I forgot to rate this one. It's a fine 7/10 for me, about on par with their last effort. A few songs, like "3 AM", have a nineties feel to them, which I enjoy. I wouldn't have figured being into a group like this but credit to Guitar Hero for exposing me to this.

Metric- Formentera

9/10

Just incapable of making a bad album. This might be my favorite one.

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I second this motion.

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The Wallflowers - Exit Wounds: 7/10

Jakob Dylan's really trying to become his father more and more. Bringing Down the Horse will always be the definitive album for them, I think, but listening to this brings me back to 1996 just as easily as listening to "The Difference" or "6th Avenue Heartache". There's a relaxing mood to it all and it feels like reconnecting with an old friend.

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The Warning - Queen of the Murder Scene: 6/10

The Warning - Error: 7/10

This band is part of the undercard for a show here later in the month, the one I cried over the expensive price for the tickets. I figure I should familiarize myself with what they're about.

Both albums have such a grit to them, with the former having an almost haunting vibe throughout but nothing really standing out. "Error" is where Daniela really shines as a vocalist and feels like the album that defines them. "Money" is the highlight track off of that album, in my opinion. You wouldn't think this was a band from Monterrey in Mexico. They'll be a group I'll keep an eye on.

Fat Money - Money Got Wings 8/10

Best unknown rap album I've come around.

The yeah yeah yeahs - Cool it Down 7/10

Fucking finally. Not their best but still worth the wait. What I love about the yeah yeah yeahs is that every album has its own unique influences and identity while still retaining the core sound that made them special in the first place. A lit of bands either don't change at all and end up sounding redundant, or change too much and end up turning away a lot of existing fans. YYY seems to be able to walk the line in between.

This one strays from that core sound a little more than the others, but its still there. It would have scored higher with me but its too damn short. 8 tracks and one of them is some sort of short spoken word thing so theres only 7 real songs here. Still a good album though and im really happy they're back.

oh shit i had no idea they had a new one out! awesome.

Looking forward to the LS Dunes album.

I'm really considering going to this. I have a friend that lives in the Vegas area. I'm guessing it's going to be around 300 bucks... I could care less for most of the nu-metal but there's some damn good industrial attached to it..

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Non genre comments

Incubus was cool when I saw em
KoRn the couple times, too
KMFDM has fallen off over the years
Ministry is fucking awesome
My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult *thumbs up*
Mr Bungle. bucket list
Skinny Puppy - THEY'RE BACK?!
Coal Chamber - That'd be cool to see
Melvins - Bucket list
Alien Ant Farm - Could be fun...
Hoobastank - Might catch their hits if I'd go
Monster Magnet - self explanatory
Soulfly - i had a t-shirt I borrowed from a friend and never returned

I'll finish this later

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Get the fuck out of here; Lacey is going to be back with Flyleaf?!?! :eek:

JFC - that's almost my entire teenage years of listening.


FUcking COAL CHAMBER?!!?!?






Like, they quit due to major fucking differences, Dez Fafara went on to lead Devildriver (also very good). Their last album (Chamber Music) was not very good.


Just saw they had two releases after an I never knew! Rivals came out in 2015, listening to it now.

to go or not to go

holy shit. it sold out...well, that sucks.

i'm not paying to get put on a waitlist

edit - oh, i guess it only charges you automatically if tickets open. still...

Too many fucking albums since I last posted. Too. fuckin'. Many.

Highlights:

Enkel - Love Hurts 8.5/10
The Cars - The Cars 9/10
Astor Piazzolla - Edición Crítica: Música Popular Contemporanea De La Ciudad De Buenos Aires, Volumes 1 and 2 8.5/10
Roxy Music - Country Life 8.5/10
The Go-Gos - Beauty and the Beat 8.5.10
Barbra Streisand - People 8.5/10 (I don't give a fuck, son; bring it!)

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - Crooked Tree 8/10

It's been awhile since I listened to a bluegrass album, but when you've got Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminski and Old Crow Medicine Show guesting on a record, you take note.

Elder - Innate Passage 8/10

I don't think it touches 2017's Reflections of a Floating World, but it is a stronger effort than their previous album, Omen.

Wo Fat - The Singularity 6.7/10

I liked it, but there is nothing particularly memorable about the record and I feel no desire to revisit it. I feel Wo Fat have a great record in them, but this is not it.

Barbora Xu - Olin Ennen 7.5/10

An odd mix of Finnish and Chinese traditional music, but it works.

Frode Haltli - Border Woods 7/10

'Avant folk' music, but a bit more soundscapey.

Ensemble Masques - Schmelzer: Sacro-Profanus Sonatas 8/10

Early-mid Baroque trio sonatas. You dig?

Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach 8/10

Standard fare by Clutch, but they do it well.

PIG - The Merciless Light

10 outta 10

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Lady Maisery - Tender 8.5/10

A return to form; their last album, six years ago, was feeling tired and stale. The break has done them well.

The Askew Sisters - Enclosure 8.5/10

Contains one of the members of Lady Maisery; really strong album of English folk music, just like the above record.

Heilung - Drif 7/10

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero 7.5/10

It doesn't touch Downward Spiral or The Fragile.

Romanesca - Schmelzer: Violin Sonatas 8/10

Zoltan Kocsis - Debussy: Images Books 1 and 2, etc 8/10

Jutta Rahmel - Heijastuksia 6.5/10
Kayhan Kalhor - Night Silence Desert 8/10
Genghis Tron - Board up the House 8/10
Ensembles Masques - Rosenmuller 7/10

Car Bomb - Meta 8/10
I bought their most recent album, Mordial, a few years ago and I was yearning for something a bit 'mathy,' so I decided to get another record from this band. It is Calculating Infinity-era DEP mixed with Meshuggah. Good stuff.

Ensemble Gamut! - RE 7/10
Early music mixed with a bit of experimentalism. I preferred their first record, UT, more.

Bjork - Utopia 7/10
A strong album, but it does not have the emotional weight of Vulnicura, which was a late career high for the artist. I still need to buy her new record, Fossora, which I will get to at some point.

Team Sleep - Team Sleep 7/10
I don't know why I didn't buy this album back on its release in 2005, when I was at the peak of my interest when it came to Deftones. A solid album that mixes rock and electronica.

Yo-Yo Ma - Bach: Cello Suits Nos. 1-6 8/10
I've never been fussed about Yo-Yo Ma; I've also been more of Jacqueline Du Pre fan when it comes to all things cello. However, I enjoyed his rendition of these works.

Nickel Creek - Celebrants 8/10
A fine record. An improvement on their previous album from 9 years ago, A Dotted Line. My only gripe is that it could have done with a bit of editing; there was no need for it to be nearly an hour long with 18 tracks.

Floating Sofa Quartet - Sofa Songs 8.5/10
Nordic folk quartet collaborating with various other Nordic singers and musicians. Great stuff.

Motley Crue - Shout the Devil 8.5/10
Everyone needs a bit of Crue in their life.

I forgot:

Varttina - Kokko 8/10

Perhaps the peak of their 90s output; definitely the poppiest.

Hazelius Hedin - Silverdalen 7/10

A good Nordic folk album, comprised mainly of bouzouki, nyckelharpa and vocals.

The Askew Sisters - In the Air or the Earth 8/10

Another really strong folk album from this duo, but not as captivating as their most recent record, Enclosure.

Extreme - Extreme II: Pornograffitti 7.5/10

If you want some latter day hair metal, you can't go wrong with this record.

Jesus Piece - Only Self 7/10

If you're a fan of Converge, Botch and those kind of bands, I think you'll dig this record.

George Benson - Give me the night 7/10

A solid 1980s R'n'B/Pop record. I enjoyed it but I did not feel myself coming back to it very often.

Vesselil - Vesselil 7/10

Danish string trio playing Nordic folk music. Solid outing.

Solstafir - Otta 7.5/10

It's metal, but also not. I'm not quite sure what category/sub-genre it falls under. Out of all the new albums (to me) that I listened to over the past month, this record marginally stood out from the others.

Pyrithe - Monuments to Impermanence 7/10

Band that mixes death, hardcore, sludge and other metal genres. A solid record.

Michael Jackson - Thriller 8/10

I can see why it was such a phenomenon back in the 80s and why it made Jackson a megastar. With the exception of 'The Girl is Mine' and perhaps the title track, it's a very strong record, but those previously mentioned tracks stop it from getting higher than an 8 from me.

Virelai - Virelai 8.5/10

I really enjoyed this record and I can see myself coming back to it on a regular basis. An album of medieval Swedish music, so it won't be for everyone.

Boris - No 5/10

I generally enjoy their work, but this record was rather average and nothing about it stood out to me. It doesn't come close to Heavy Rocks (2001), Pink or Smile for me.

Leila Schayegh & La Centifolia - Ciaconna! 8/10

If you like a ciaccona, you can have a full album of them.

Tailcoat - Tall Tales in Tiny Places 7/10

An album of Nordic folk music. I enjoyed it but I've heard better, and the percussionist brings the record down a little, but I'm generally not a fan of percussion in my folk music, unless said band is The Duhks.

Loverboy - Loverboy 6/10

Nothing comes close to 'Working for the Weekend' that came on their following album.

Yakuza - Sutra 6.5/10

Fine, but I wasn't really feeling it.

Jenny Lewis - Joy'all 7/10

I always like a bit Jenny, but not her strongest record.

Rush - Power Windows 9/10

Fookin' loved this album! I know some people don't like their synth-era, but I do.

Talking Heads - Little Creatures 7/10

I liked it, but the record is not as good as their previous albums.

Rush - Grace Under Pressure 8.7/10

This is more of a grower than Power Windows, which immediately grabbed me. However, it is still top and I want me some more 80s synth Rush.

Billy Squier - Don't Say No 9/10

This is a great 80s rockin' album. It doesn't do anything new, but it delivers the goods. I'm going to get another one of his albums.

Eberhard Weber - The Colours of Chloe 7.7/10

If you want a non-guitar-based prog album, I don't think you can go wrong with this record. I need to spend more time with it, and I think once I have, my score will go to full 8/10.

Barbra Streisand - Stoney End 7/10

A more 70s pop-oriented album for ol' Babs, rather than delving into Broadway/West End musical numbers. There is perhaps too many Brill Building Pop songs, but the Laura Nyro and Gordon Lightfoot tracks, along with Bab's performance, raises the record above the average.

Epoca Barocca - Johann Fasch: Trios and Sonatas 6/10

I like it, but I don't necessarily need to listen to this record again. At least not for a while. Perhaps I just need to spend more time with it in order for the works to grow on me.

8/10


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