What the Hell are you Listening to (2024)?

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Waiting on the new one from this guy.

100%. I probably mentioned Wednesday in the 2023 thread and Lenderman is their lead guitar player. They seem like a great group of young people.

[Suicane75]

Started about 4 years ago with a suitcase and was blown away by how more open particular records sounded than on digital. Quickly upgraded to a mid level Audio Technica turntable/speaker combo and it's been an absolute joy. I'm not gonna preach, but to my ears there is definitely a difference IF you have a good record/pressing, which discogs is a godsend for. It is expensive, and storage can be a hassle if you're buying rare stuff but I have had so many amazing experiences that it's made the time and money more than worth it.

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Anyone here listen on vinyl? Final got around to getting a somewhat real turntable and speakers. It really does feel warmer. And having to get up every 20 minutes or so makes the music feel more engaging. 90% of my "collection" are Goodwill dumpster dives, but I've still found some albums I've always liked. Like listening to Chicago Transit Authority, even a copy I literally paid a dime for, sounds more enjoyable than streaming it losslessly from Apple.

Also, cleaning records really does make a huge difference. As a kid I just assumed everything had pops and cracks every second or 2. It's because my dad played the shit out of his records on bargain turntables without ever cleaning them.

[Ksyrup]

I absolutely hear the difference, but the way I listen to music, vinyl is worthless. 90-95% of my listening is in the car or my phone while not in the house. The other 5-10% is on my computer in the house, but only for searching for new music. I can't think of a situation in which I would just sit around the house listening to music. And of course with the kind of music I listen to, and at the volume levels I listen to it at, no one else in my house wants to hear it and I'd probably invite some neighbors to call the cops.

It's just completely at odds with how I consume music these days, so there's no point. I've learned to deal with it.

[GrantDawg]

You get one of those little turntables for the dash of you car.

[Ksyrup]

Uh...no.

[Suicane75]

Ha, I'm pretty much the same way due to living arrangements and constraints, but that's why I enjoy it so much. Every 6-8 weeks I set my rig up and just give myself 2-3 hours to listen to whatever I have queued up. I still haven't listened to about half the stuff I've bought.

To stay on topic, I just listened to Sarah Harmer: You Were Here, and it's bloody beautiful.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I absolutely hear the difference, but the way I listen to music, vinyl is worthless. 90-95% of my listening is in the car or my phone while not in the house. The other 5-10% is on my computer in the house, but only for searching for new music. I can't think of a situation in which I would just sit around the house listening to music. And of course with the kind of music I listen to, and at the volume levels I listen to it at, no one else in my house wants to hear it and I'd probably invite some neighbors to call the cops.

It's just completely at odds with how I consume music these days, so there's no point. I've learned to deal with it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I absolutely hear the difference, but the way I listen to music, vinyl is worthless. 90-95% of my listening is in the car or my phone while not in the house. The other 5-10% is on my computer in the house, but only for searching for new music. I can't think of a situation in which I would just sit around the house listening to music ... It's just completely at odds with how I consume music these days, so there's no point.

That's me.

My level of engagement with whatever is playing may vary low or high but there's literally NEVER a time -- beyond assessment for suitability, reviewing, etc -- that I'm ONLY just listening to music. Games are just about the only thing I do that isn't part of multi-tasking, I simply don't do "sit around and do a single thing" otherwise.

[Ksyrup]

It's been a pretty low-key summer for music for me. I have a bunch of pre-orders queued up but I haven't bought anything since mid-June, which is unusual for me.

That said, it's about to start heating up. New Leprous, Bent Knee and Zeal & Ardor by the end of this month, followed by Oceans of Slumber.


Z&A continue with the evolution of their black metal-meets-soul/black gospel sound that was born as a dare on 4Chan:




This is classic Leprous - bloody awesome. The way they use dynamics to build a song is phenomenal. First 2 minutes are quiet, funky, meandering, then a gut-punch into a heavy/intense last 2 minutes. This song will be EPIC live.




Bent Knee is a band I loved early on, then they went weird (crappy music and over-saturation of auto-tune), then lost 2 key members. But the 2 songs they've released for the upcoming album feel like them going back to their roots. As usual, Courtney Swain's vocals are amazing but definitely a "love her or hate her" type of quality to them.




Oceans of Slumber is an under-the-radar great metal band. From Houston, and what sets them apart is that their vocalist is an A-A R&B singer-type. You rarely hear such direct soul/R&B sound melded with metal and they do it really well. They've been adding covers to the past few albums, and this time it's Wicked Game, which is pretty good. But this is the first single, an original. It kicks in for real at about the 1:50 mark.

[thesloppy]

Going to see old-school punk icons FEAR tonight. Purposely super-offensive but also remarkably tight and musical, compared to the other punks of that time.

[Ksyrup]

Damn, I remember listening to them in college. Fear - More Beer was one their albums, right?

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Damn, I remember listening to them in college. Fear - More Beer was one their albums, right?

Yes indeed! That was their second record. I took 5 years of lessons from their drummer (on those first two records) Spit Stix. He's a solid guy.

[stevew]

Went to see the Chilfish Gambino New World Tour last night and it was absolutely wild. All kinds of crazy lasers and fiber optics. An absolute spectacle

[Ghost Econ]

Saw The Smashing Pumpkins last night. Not the most energetic or greatest concert ever, but they're also mid-late 50s. It's basically like having gone to see the Eagles in the 2000s. It is weird thinking this is the same group from the 90s moshing heyday. Never saw them earlier as their better run when I was a young teen and had no money, and by the time I did they were basically broken up.

Still, hearing the songs in person does put me in a good place. But I still feel awkward at concerts. I'm not really a dancing, sing along kinda guy. I just want to watch people who make good music play that music in person.

Seeing Weezer next month where they play the blue album. Opening is Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr., which is always fun.

[Qwikshot]

Nick Cave Wild God

Amazingly Heartbreakingly Beautiful

[Ksyrup]

August has been a great month for music for me, and today especially - Leprous, Bent Knee, and Anciients plus a few others.

And I just found out that Dan Spencer, who I posted about earlier in this (or the other?) thread is opening for Amigo the Devil at the Asheville show were going to in a couple weeks. Super stoked for that show, even more now.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Not the most energetic or greatest concert ever, but they're also mid-late 50s.

Not entirely an excuse IMO. Just saw Rob Halford, he's 73. Bruce Dickinson is 66 and beat cancer. Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns is 67 and might be more active than ever (certainly sounds as good/better than ever).

I could go on but you get the idea.

[Edward64]

Going to start listening to some Bon Jovi songs. Pretty cool what he (and woman) did. Check out the video.

Jon Bon Jovi helps talk a woman down from the ledge on Nashville bridge | AP News

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi and a video production assistant persuaded a woman standing on the ledge of a pedestrian bridge in Nashville to come back over the railing to safety.

[Ksyrup]

Headed to Asheville tomorrow to see Amigo the Devil and Dan Spencer. Stoked! And oh yeah, we get to see my parents and brother and his wife.

[Ghost Econ]

Saw Weezer last night for the 30th anniversary of the Blue Album. While they had a giant video board and a few props, they're basically the 90s version of the Eagles. You'll hear the hits but not much else. It's technically well done and most of the songs are good to great, but not much of a show.

Dinosaur Jr. opened and they still sound the exact same. Flaming Lips played between them and as usual put on a great set. Their music is pretty much exactly the type of music I should like, but I've just never gotten into them. But every time I've seen them live they're a blast.

I will say, we had seats behind two guys that showed up early in the Flaming Lips set. They proceeded to drink and loudly talk to each other the entire rest of the concert. I mean I could hear their conversation over the music. Why the fuck are you there if you're not going to listen to the music?

[korme]

I'll be seeing Dinosaur Jr at B&B on Sunday!

[thesloppy]

Whenever I see the words Dinosaur Jr I am compelled to blurt out that I saw Nirvana open for Dinosaur Jr in 1991




...but I also saw Dinosaur jr earlier this year before the Weezer tour, and they do still sound great.

[Suicane75]

Gave a relisten to Caroline Rose: The Art Of Forgetting, yesterday and it's a lot better than I gave it credit for upon my first listen. I think I was expecting a more poppy sound, but it's not that. I cried a lot.

[Ksyrup]

I've got a ton of new music to catch up on. A few I'm listening to on a lazy Friday night with nothing to watch on TV.


New Unto Others! This album is so good, and they continue on a run of great releases. This band is the perfect amalgamation of traditional 80s hard rock crossed with a Sisters of Mercy-like goth sound.




Native Howl - how about some "thrash grass?" I am absolutely loving all of this dark folk/country/bluegrass I've found in the past couple of years. This is another one.




Lizzard. Love this band. If I had to compare, I'd say it's like a prog metal version of Incubus - that's the vibe I get from listening to this band.

[Ghost Econ]

Not really listening to it, but I've heard Green Day's Bobby Sox come on the lone Alt Rock station a couple of times. It's a fine song, but I can't shake that it's the best Weezer song in the last 30 years and makes me sad Rivers forgot how to write fun music.

- YouTube

[JonInMiddleGA]

I hate to admit that I really only dove deep into The Native Howl just a few weeks ago.

Some first rate fun to be had in their catalog.

[Ksyrup]

They really are a lot of fun. I believe they are opening for Clutch on their short tour where they (Clutch) are playing the entirety of Blast Tyrant. I would love to see that show, but they are only doing 4 of them.

[Edward64]

Been watching a YT cover band, primarily pre-2000 songs. They are surprisingly good

Middle Aged Dad Jam Band - YouTube


Here's one with a guest appearance by Kristen Bell (she's still ... attractive).

[Ksyrup]

There's some fascinating stuff in this article:

“If you had suggested this in 2015, you would have been laughed out of the room”: Music is now reportedly bigger than cinema globally | MusicRadar

[Ghost Econ]

Not necessarily what I'm listening to now, but what ends up on my daughter's various playlists is very odd. Most is obviously pop/whatever we're calling this era of hip-hop. But then every now and again a random early/mid-2000s hip hop song pops up and I'm like, where the hell is she hearing this?

Like, I enjoy Youngbloodz Chop Chop, but of all the random 2000s rap songs I would expect her to rap along to, that would be fairly low. She was singing along to the Nappy Rootz the other day.

I don't feel like this dynamic really existed with our parent's music. I was obviously familiar with 60s/70s rock when I was a teen through osmosis, but my musical taste was locked in very specifically to songs coming out during my teen years. I guess with any song at your fingertip now, kids mostly treat music as a flat timeline. Though I don't think there's any 90s alt rock on any of her playlists, so maybe things haven't really changed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Dunno. I mean, I knew the stuff of the 50s fairly well as a kid (okay, granted, I was probably not exactly an average kid, but still).

[Ksyrup]

Just like social media has increased the odds of more people's opinions being seen/heard more globally being, on balance, a negative (IMO), I feel the same way about this (although what I can't or don't want to hear won't hurt me or the world, so I guess who cares?).


More music released in a single day in 2024 than the whole of 1989, says study.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Dunno. I mean, I knew the stuff of the 50s fairly well as a kid (okay, granted, I was probably not exactly an average kid, but still).

Lawrence Welk every Saturday will do that for ya.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Lawrence Welk every Saturday will do that for ya.

Nah, was the old 45s and LPs actually.

"I found my thrill ... "

[Ksyrup]

Farthest back I went as a kid was the Beatles. I don't recall my parents ever listening to anything older than that, even Elvis (that's not to say I didn't hear that, of course, just that it wasn't music my parents played or listened to).

[thesloppy]

I listened to a lot of Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry with my oldies, as a kid

[GrantDawg]

My parents/grandparents listened to old country and bluegrass. A lot of Elvis as well. And the fore mentioned Lawerence Welk was on every Saturday. Right before Hee-Haw if I remember correctly. It would be wrestling, Welk, then Hee-Haw.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Farthest back I went as a kid was the Beatles. I don't recall my parents ever listening to anything older than that, even Elvis (that's not to say I didn't hear that, of course, just that it wasn't music my parents played or listened to).

My parents are now in their mid-80s, so that could (maybe) be an age thing.

[Ksyrup]

My early musical tastes were definitely shaped by the albums I raided from my Dad's collection from about 6-10 years old. Beatles, Beach Boys, Guess Who, David Bowie, and America are the main ones I remember and have stuck with me to today. My first independent purchase (or probably gifted album) was Supertramp's Breakfast In America. I'm thinking that was 78 or 79? Pretty sure that album was before the 80s.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nicko McBrain announces that today will be his final performance as Iron Maiden's touring drummer.

42 years behind the kit, 72 years old, and had to recover from a stroke just to do this final run.

I hate to see it but I certainly understand it.

[Ksyrup]

Just saw that. I ran into him once in Coral Springs close to where he lived and he and his wife had opened a lingerie store and/or restaurant (not combined!) at some point.

[Fidatelo]

I went though several phases of older rock appreciation in my teens. Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Beatles, and CCR are ones that stick out.

I'd say there are two big changes that impact how my kids discover (or don't) older music:


1) When I heard a Buddy Holly song and thought it rocked, I then dug up whatever albums my parents had and listened to them in totality. Or maybe went and bought some CDs if their catalog was sparse. But I went deep on the whole artist, whereas my kids will just come across a single song by some 90's rapper and then end up hearing "songs like it" from Spotify or whatever so instead of going deep on a single artist they end up listening to a bunch of songs by various artists of a similar vein.


2) Until my later teens we didn't really have walkmans/discmen, and even then we didn't have any other 'devices', which meant when my parents listened to music in the car or at home on the stereo I was quite often hearing them too. Conversely my kids are almost always watching a video or listening to their own music or whatever and ignoring the stuff I'm doing, so they aren't picking up songs through osmosis in that manner.

[NobodyHere]

I didn't see this combination coming. It's even more impressive that Ice T got permission from both to Roger and David to make this song.

[Ksyrup]

His/their cover of Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies is hilarious.

[korme]

Thursday recently released their first 2 new songs in 13 years. This one is so quintessential Thursday, it's so good to have them back.

[Ksyrup]

Just saw an article about Billboard's EOY top 200 list. According to the article, it's depressing for rock fans because only 29 out of the 200 albums are rock and none of them were released this year.

Then I saw the list, and it got even more depressing because Rumours is first at #34 followed by Elton John's Diamonds at #35. They also included an Abba album. I might buy Fleetwood Mac as rock, but not Elton John or Abba. So, the list of pure rock albums in the top 200 is actually lower than 29.

There are 7 Taylor Swift albums before you get to Fleetwood Mac.

[larrymcg421]

What do you mean by pure rock? I have no idea how you could question Fleetwood Mac as a rock group. Elton John is definitely rock as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

What do you mean by pure rock? I have no idea how you could question Fleetwood Mac as a rock group. Elton John is definitely rock as well.

Fleetwood Mac might qualify within their era, zero resemblance in a more contemporary era.

Elton John is a definite hard no.

[Ksyrup]

I would classify Elton John as pop. Just because an artist has musicians playing instruments - while that is rare-to-nonexistent today - doesn't make them rock.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I would classify Elton John as pop.

Bingo.

Similarly, a lot of Fleetwood Mac output is really more AC in today's terminology.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nah, was the old 45s and LPs actually.

"I found my thrill ... "

There was one of those 5x5 things a while ago -- pick your five songs each from five artists. Fats Domino came pretty close at the time to making my list.

Little Richard did make my list. As did Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations. Were I to do reassess today Wilson might get bumped. Could be Elvis, could be James Brown.* Not really sure. (JB is one of my mom's professed favorites, though I don't remember a lot of it around the house. Elvis was one of her sister's - much younger and closer to my age - favorites. Of course Ozzy, KISS, also rank highly there.)

Growing up I'd say I heard a lot of current airplay, a lot of "classic" rock. Some soul/Motown probably, but maybe not enough to explain my level of love for it. I am not sure where I picked up Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, etc. Probably when a local pop station went oldies.

Of course, I also like 80s, Disco, etc. One of the first songs I put on my kids' devices was "Funkytown." (Which the other day my mom also proclaimed "oh, I like "Funkytown!" Which makes some sense I suppose, she was only 30 when it came out.)

Oh, and Elton is absolutely pop and not rock.


* At other points in time I may have included Glenn Miller, Led Zeppelin, Prince, ZZ Top...