What the hell are you listening to...2012 Edition

[Scoobz0202]

[Recoil]

[Young Drachma]

I'm a big fan of that Yuck album, gotta say. It's the 90s all over again when I hear it, but it's totally okay. And El Camino is holding up well after a good month into it now.

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Very awesome. Jeff Tweedy did great things producing on that "You Are Not Alone" LP of hers.

[Young Drachma]

[korme]

This song is very personal for me

RYLAN
THE NATIONAL

[whomario]

The National is easily the band i´ve listened to most in the last 2 years, spent countless long train trips with their songs on repeat.


thank you TNT for this song btw (played in their NBA season Intro) :



on of the songs i´ve listened to most in the last month. Just works for me.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nice find this morning, courtesy of the lower end of the Canadian Active Rock chart. One YouTube fan said it was like "Nickelback meets Slaughter" and I'm not sure I can describe it much better (although I might have mentioned early Def Leppard in there somewhere). If that doesn't scare you off, check out Hard Honey, from Calgary.

Ok your description actually intrigues me, but the video says private only. Anywhere else to check this out?

[Matthean]

Odd, it was playing before. It literally sounds like Nickleback with a different guitarist and Chad able to sing higher when need be.

[Draft Dodger]

[JonInMiddleGA]

FWIW, I'm pretty impressed with integration of iHeartRadio into XBox Live. Connection between actions (likes, recently listened, etc) on XBL & PC are blazing fast, virtually instantaneous and that's quite different than my limited experience with some of the other apps ported over to XBL.

Also thought iHeart did quite a bit better job of picking songs as part of a custom artist station (used Kyng as a test). 1st 4-5 songs were from bands I've absolutely never heard of but there was a clear logic behind why the songs were connected to the baseline artist. Certainly did a better job than anything I would have expected to be produced by Clear Channel.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Odd, it was playing before. It literally sounds like Nickleback with a different guitarist and Chad able to sing higher when need be.

Huh, makes me think I can bring back my old band from 1989-1994 and re-issue our songs. What was once dated is now cool again, LOL.

[Easy Mac]

From the indie among us, new album streams from Dan Sartain and Of Montreal.


3voor12 - Dan Sartain - Too Tough To Live


3voor12 - Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

[JonInMiddleGA]

Definitely digging the first listen to the new Halestorm EP "Hello, It's Mz. Hyde".

Odd video, audio-only released by the band themselves with all four songs in full but all in a single video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18CsONbjOFE

Cut #3 Daughters of Darkness would make Doro proud, #4 Here's To Us for some reason reminds me of GN'R but with Lzzy's killer voice, #1 Love Bites is right in line with the bad girl tone of their earlier stuff, not as impressed by #2 Rock Show but maybe it'll grow on me.

edit to add: In a completely different vein, I'm still chuckling at my reaction to the first time I heard Foxy Shazam's I Like It. I had to invent a new personal music award "Most Unexpected Lyric"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq3hyX99nbg

[Lonnie]

Ghost - I agree these guys are bad ass. I was so excited to see the tour announcement of Mastodon, Opeth, and Ghost. The three bands I've probably given the most playtime over the last three years.

Hard Honey - exactly as you described. I hear Nickleback, Slaughter, and Def Leppard in the songs. It's a revival of the 80's.

My addition to these fine previously described acts is Revocation. I learned about them in several best of '11 lists focusing on Metal. It's thrash, it's hardcore, it's death, it's Joe Satriani??? Yep it all works. I've been burning them up on my Spotify.

Speaking of Spotify, they have added apps. One is Tunewiki which shows the lyrics of the song you are listening to. A big help to me as when I was a youngun I loved reading the album liners and following along with the song lyrics. Then that progressed to tape and then CD liners, but now we just download the shit and don't have a way to follow up unless we go to lyrics.com or something. This fills that gap. They also have a app to let your friends DJ for you like that that one site that I can't recall at the moment.

For the new movement phase, I can't believe I beat Ksysrup to this, but the new Lamb of God dropped today. I am enjoying it quite a bit over the last release, Wrath. A lot of die hard metal heads are saying it's more of the same, but I see a good diversity on the new album and enjoy it quite a bit. One of my favorite bands for sure. Not exactly Ashes of the Wake, but I like it. Enjoy Ghost Waliking:

[Recoil]

Can't wait..

[Qrusher14242]

Mark Reale, founding member of RIOT, passed away today from complications from Crohn's Disease at 56 So i'm listening to a bunch of Riot tunes today. RIP Mark

[JonInMiddleGA]

RIP Mark Reale. Sad news indeed

[CrimsonFox]

These Chuck Mangione attacks feel so good...

[britrock88]

Thank you for bringing Chuck Mangione out of the realm of King of the Hill references and into the real world.

[whomario]

Stream of the new Nada Surf Album : Play Full Music Albums Free - Spinner

[Young Drachma]

I didn't hear Hanni El Khatib before, but goodness gracious if you like garage rock sounding tunes (think a Dan Auerbach-ish sound less blues, more rock though), you should enjoy this LA native's debut LP "Will The Guns Come Out"

[thesloppy]

Just got back from Ghost, Blood Ceremony, and Ancient VVisdom. Awesome show, catch 'em if you can. Hail Satan.

[Young Drachma]

Hospitality - "Friends Of Friends" from stereogum on Vimeo.

[ISiddiqui]

New Jack White!!

[Draft Dodger]

new VH album has hit the usual uh...pre-release stores. gave it a quick listen at lunch and diving in deeper now. Honestly, so far it's better than I thought it would be (but my expectations were very very low, like VH3 low)

[Ksyrup]

I don't know what it is with the 2nd page of this thread, but I can only get to it if I go to the 1st page and then click to the next page. If I try to go directly to the 2nd page (by the new post button, or just hitting page 2), the page freezes every time. Very odd.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Thank you for bringing Chuck Mangione out of the realm of King of the Hill references and into the real world.

you're welcome Indeed Chuck is forever now a cardboard cutout in the MegaloMart aisle for me.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

new VH album has hit the usual uh...pre-release stores. gave it a quick listen at lunch and diving in deeper now. Honestly, so far it's better than I thought it would be (but my expectations were very very low, like VH3 low)

The few clips I've heard have been OK, far better than Tattoo (that song is awful). I don't like the production, and Dave doesn't sound that great. But otherwise, the way they made this album was probably the best way to do it, grabbing a bunch of unreleased stuff and re-doing them.

King's X did something similar about 10 years ago with an album full of pre-KX songs they re-recorded 25 years later, but the problem there was the songs mostly sucked so it wasn't that great.

[Matthean]

I guess I get where Hagar is when he rips on the band at this point. He points out Chickenfoot made an album and wrote new songs for it. VH does an album and it's basically a B-side type of deal.

[Matthean]

Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth - ESPN

Six songs from VH's new album. It took some time to adjust to 1978-1984 type of VH versus Van Hagar. It still gives a B-side vibe with virtual no ability to write a chorus. Frustrating hearing the choruses when I hear stuff I like musically elsewhere. "Beats Working" is my fav from the list.

[Ksyrup]

What I will be listening to in April:

Mikael Akerfeldt And Steven Wilson’s Storm Corrosion Receives Release Date, Officially Signs With Roadrunner Records | Metal Insider

[Ksyrup]

Metallica To Curate Two Day Festival In Atlantic City | Metal Insider

Metallica have confirmed that they are holding their own two day festival in Atlantic City, NJ on June 24 and 25 at Bader Field. Dubbed the Orion Festival, Metallica will headline both days of the festival, while they’ll be playing The Black Album AND Ride The Lightning in their entirety! While more acts (which have been hand picked by Metallica themselves) will be announced soon, but so far the following bands are set to perform:
Arctic Monkeys
Avenged Sevenfold
Modest Mouse
The Gaslight Anthem
Cage The Elephant
Fucked Up
Best Coast
Hot Snakes
Titus Andronicus
Gary Clark Jr.
Lucero
Roky Erickson
The Black Angels
The Sword
A Place to Bury Strangers
Liturgy

[Grover]

Something entirely new. From Domino Records, the same folks who have Miles Kane and the Arctic Monkeys signed. This is their newest artist, Eugene McGuinness.

This tune is very James Bondsian. I was hooked right from the start. If you 'like' his Facebook page you also get a free download of the track 'Thunderbolt' which is quite good in its own right.

I love my Brit rock.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Grover

This tune is very James Bondsian.

Or Peter Gunn

[Grover]

oh, absolutely. Imitation is the sincerest form a flattery though

[korme]

FUN.
"We Are Young" ft. Janelle Monae

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Metallica To Curate Two Day Festival In Atlantic City | Metal Insider

Yeah, I saw this last week, although it appears the word "major" (as in "major announcement") doesn't mean what they seem to think it means.

Let's be honest, this looks more like the "Mostly Bands We Could Get Cheap Festival" or "Other Than Metallica And A Couple Of Others Who The Fuck Cares Festival"

For the sake of comparison, look at the lineup Metallica "hand picked" versus the Carolina Rebellion coming up May 5th in Rockingham, NC (which is at least arguably weaker than last year's lineup)

Shinedown
Korn
Evanescence
Staind
Five Finger Death Punch
Slash
Chevelle
P.O.D.
Halestorm
Volbeat
Adelitas Way
Paper Tongue
Red
Weaving the Fate
Redlight King
New Medicine
Ghosts of August
*w/ Foxy Shazam for special Friday night concert for campers

Looking at the lineups, seems downright comical for Metallica to hail their show as anything special for any reason other than the full album performance gimmick. That seemed to be how it was received in several places after the announcement too, with a general vibe of "first the Lou Reed thing and now this? WTF?"

[Easy Mac]

And I would go the opposite way and say the Carolina Rebellion makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

The Metallica curated event looks fantastic and way out of left field compared to what I would associate them with.


Arctic Monkeys
Avenged Sevenfold
Modest Mouse
The Gaslight Anthem
Cage The Elephant
Fucked Up
Best Coast
Hot Snakes
Titus Andronicus
Gary Clark Jr.
Lucero
Roky Erickson
The Black Angels
The Sword
A Place to Bury Strangers
Liturgy

[whomario]

holy shit

Never in a million years would i have expected her to have anything close to that success when i first heard the Song "Hometown Glory" in 2007, it´s pretty surreal really that an artist like that could not only succeed in the modern music industry but pretty much be the universally accepted artist while also selling better than everybody else.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

And I would go the opposite way and say the Carolina Rebellion makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

The Metallica curated event looks fantastic and way out of left field compared to what I would associate them with.


Arctic Monkeys
Avenged Sevenfold
Modest Mouse
The Gaslight Anthem
Cage The Elephant
Fucked Up
Best Coast
Hot Snakes
Titus Andronicus
Gary Clark Jr.
Lucero
Roky Erickson
The Black Angels
The Sword
A Place to Bury Strangers
Liturgy

IMO, this is Metallica circa 1994 trying to look cool, current, and relevant by handpicking a bunch of Pitchfork faves for their festival. I've heard of 5 of those bands.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

And I would go the opposite way and say the Carolina Rebellion makes me want to shoot myself in the face.

The Metallica curated event looks fantastic and way out of left field compared to what I would associate them with.

And with the underlined part lies the rub.

There's essentially one recognizable band that seems like a rational fit ... and since A7X seems to be reviled by the same people who hate anything past the first few years of Metallica's career, there's a certain logic to having them on the show.

Beyond that, Cage the Elephant is probably the next most recognizable act for the fanbase. Then there maybe three bands that most people have ever heard of on the bill, the rest are ciphers that could be just about anything (heck, some of them might even be a logical fit) ... but add little to the appeal.

I'm a believer in their being at least something complimentary about artists grouped together on a show. Don't have to all be clones (indeed, that can backfire too) but either they compliment the primary act(s) or they're strong enough on their own to sell tickets that wouldn't otherwise be bought. I just don't see much of either factor here.

[Ksyrup]

This is Metallica's Bonnaroo/Lollapalooza/SXSW, etc. The only band on that bill I'd have any interest in seeing is The Sword.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

IMO, this is Metallica circa 1994 trying to look cool, current, and relevant by handpicking a bunch of Pitchfork faves for their festival. I've heard of 5 of those bands.

Hell you're in worse shape than me.

I can identify 7 as being bands (the first 5 + Sword + Liturgy)... even if there's 2-3 of them I couldn't pick out of an audio lineup if my life depended on it.

[Ksyrup]

The funny thing is, looking at the list of bands you cited for that Carolina Rebellion festival, I know far more of them, but I still only would be interested in seeing one band - Volbeat.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

The funny thing is, looking at the list of bands you cited for that Carolina Rebellion festival, I know far more of them, but I still only would be interested in seeing one band - Volbeat.

I wouldn't necessarily be breathless with anticipation about some of them either, and I'd sooner have my ears chiseled off with a rusty screwdriver than have to endure the steaming pile that Korn has fully become but while Volbeat is clearly the standout attraction among those I haven't seen yet,
I'm surprised that there's no love for Redlight King from you though, coming off what I thought was an exceptionally good album.

I've seen Staind & would happily see them again and I've made my feeling known about Halestorm already (of current touring acts they're certainly in my Top 10 and might be in my Top 5 at the moment). I wouldn't head to the concession stand without seeing Slash live (just for curiosities sake if nothing else) and since I haven't seen 5FDP they'd also be a highlight. Also surprised that Foxy Shazam wouldn't at least hold curiosity level interest for you.

While Rockingham is simply too much of a haul for me to pull off right now, happily I get a crack at several of these bands the following day in Atlanta, as the local rock station celebrates Cinco de Mayo on the 6th. Shinedown, 5FDP, Chevelle, Hellyeah, Volbeat, Adelita's Way, and Art of Dying.

Pretty good mix of bands for me, 2 I've seen (Chevelle & Hellyeah), 2 I'm very interested in seeing (Volbeat & 5F) and I'm fine with the other three (would have been happier with Shinedown prior to the current single which I think feels very contrived).

[Ksyrup]

I've never heard of Redlight King or Foxy Shazam. Red Fang would be cool, though. But I'll check them out.

The rest of those bands are just a bunch of hard rock/"metal" (I guess) that I have never been able to get into. I hate sounding like the typical old guy who grew up in the 80s, but I just don't like any of it. I've trended toward more progressive, European, and extreme metal in the past decade precisely because those bands are what passes for mainstream metal these days. And that's lead me to pretty much pass on what I have heard, and not be in the loop on other bands that are in the same vein but I might enjoy. Although I'm a huge metal fan, I'm really not current at all with what's popular or emerging on the scene, unless I happen upon it by accident. Someone on another forum brought up Shinedown, for instance, and I have to admit, I've never heard them. Maybe accidentally and didn't realize it was them, but I've never bothered because they seem to be grouped with the type of bands I've already passed on.

I've been a big Volbeat fan for about 5 years or so. Just love the unique mixture of rockabilly and Metallica they bring along with a great melodic vibe and an interesting vocal style. I imagine they would be a strong act live, because they've got some kick-ass riffing songs.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I've never heard of Redlight King or Foxy Shazam. Red Fang would be cool, though. But I'll check them out.

Neither are remotely metal, so for them to stand out in some way for me says something about 'em I suppose.

Foxy Shazam is a band that's gotten some traction with the hipster crowd over the past few years, 70's throwback groove with what's usually described as Freddie Mercury-inspired showmanship (or something like that). Still, what little I've heard is interesting enough to figure they'd either be entertaining live or a spectacular trainwreck. Getting their first taste of rock radio airplay at the moment with "I Like It", a song which caused me to honor them with an award for "Most Unexpected Lyric" after the first time I heard it

Redlight King is one of the lightest things you'll find me listening to, but it's just a damned solid sound. I'm generally an unforgiving sort, but I appreciate the story of the singer who derailed his own career a few years ago while battling both drugs & depression. Now clean, he broke into the consciousness with Old Man last year, impressive enough to get Neil Young to agree to let them sample the song (a first for him), interesting enough to catch & hold my attention despite the unlikely combination of a rap-style intro & a classic rock staple sampled into the middle. It was the current hit Bullet In My Hand that pushed me into fandom though, just really a song that I connected to, a combination of desperation, realism, and optimism that feels like a lot of my days, or at least the better ones.

A lot of the backstory can be found here Hell, his determination to get permission for the sample earns him a fair listen afaic.


re: Shinedown - Odds are if you've heard them then it's probably my favorites from their catalog, 45, or Sound of Madness, although Crow and the Butterfly got plenty of buzz showing their more AC side.

I can certainly relate to the issues you've had connecting with a lot of the current stuff, we seem to come at this from about the same place. I think the tipping point for me was being able to find music that could dredge up the same energy that I found in favorites back in the day. It's still a challenge, there's a lot of crap out there that I still can't stand, but I think after a decade or more of estrangement from music in general, I've become more able to take things on a song by song basis.

At the end of the day, I'm looking for songs that give me something I can take with me, whether it's a three minute musical sugar high, a lasting respect for talent, or lyrics that impress me with anything ranging from thoughtfulness to a simple ability to turn a phrase.

I'll extend one of those analogies and go so far as to admit that there's more musical "fast food" than anything else at this point. But that beats starving the way I did during the grunge era. At least with some of the post-grunge stuff - a term that took me a while to really figure out but have gotten comfortable with now - I hear something that has some appeal.

The rest of those bands are just a bunch of hard rock/"metal" (I guess)

That's a great point there btw. The lines between what's "rock" vs "metal" are blurrier than ever. And there seems to be a lot more rock than metal creeping into my listening. {shrug} I just take what I can find, that happens to be where some of the more interesting stuff lies at the moment. Ebb & flow and all that.

I've been a big Volbeat fan for about 5 years or so. Just love the unique mixture of rockabilly and Metallica they bring along with a great melodic vibe and an interesting vocal style.

I love me some Warrior's Call, the almost accidental nature of it becoming a breakthrough hit for them amuses me. But that led to backtracking them a bit and running into Guitar Gangsters and they took on a whole new dimension, just really hard to not like what they've done (and seemingly they've largely done what they wanted to do, not sure there's anything else quite like Rockabilly Metal)

[Ksyrup]

If I'm not mistaken, you've got a son you go to shows with, right? Well, that undoubtedly has helped to get you into some of the more recent stuff, as I imagine that would be a cool way to bond with him. For me, I have 2 young girls and my wife refuses to allow me to listen to the heaviest stuff with them around, so I'm relegated to adding a bunch of extreme/death/black metal stuff to my collection for use when they bring their first boyfriends around.

I seem to be veering away from the middle ground of rock and either listening to the heavier stuff, or going completely the opposite way with singer/songwriter and power pop stuff.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

If I'm not mistaken, you've got a son you go to shows with, right? Well, that undoubtedly has helped to get you into some of the more recent stuff, as I imagine that would be a cool way to bond with him.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't every bit as great as you suspect it would be. I tend to be on the front end of finding groups than he is (I still try to check at least every new single every week, just like when I did it for a living) but he's got better recall of the differences between As I Lay Dying and A Day To Remember.

edit to add: just realized I had a typo. I meant to say (and now do say) it IS every bit as cool as you suspect.

[Young Drachma]

The new Tennis album "Young & Old" came out today. It's pretty great. I like it even more than Cape Dory, which I wanted to like but found to be not as long-term listenable. This sounds more like Cults -- in the sense that it's perpetually good to hear.