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The biggest surprise IMHO was Jaga Jazzist coming in third. Not the album's bad, but it's very underwhelming, specially considering that it came after two excellent albums: the Zappa-esque One Armed Bandit and the ethereal What We Must. I really hope they don't continue like this in the future.
I think Starfire is every bit as good as the albums leading up to it...maybe with the exception of the live release they cut with the "Britten Symphonia", which imo smokes everything else they've done.
Also, I really dig the way they've incorporated electronics into their sound. Feels fresh and bubbly like sodapop.
Sorry, maybe my reference to the other album's styles may have given you the impression I didn't liked the style, which isn't the case: innovation and reinvention is something I very much look forward to in a prog band. I didn't like the compositions. Same thing with Riverside's newest: they are one of my all-time favourite bands (I've been following them since the debut), but Love is their absolute worst release, tied in the bottom with the EPs Memories in My head and Voices in My Head.
I just didn't point out Riverside because it's basically prog's equivalent to FM radio: easy listening, 0 risks and it marked all the checkboxes regarding "do this in order to sound prog".
Sorry Caio - I kinda forgot about this thread, but suffice to say that I understand where you're coming from. I haven't listened to the newest Riverside more than twice, but nothing on it stuck with me. Then again, I think I'm somewhat allergic to Dudazs' vocals, so that may have something to do with my distaste for the album
Edited by Guldbamsen - February 14 2016 at 07:50
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Did you by any chance check out Agusa's second album Två?
I just spun this on Youtube the other day, Dave, and I plan on buying the vinyl, it sounds really great! A very folky kind of symphonic prog with a welcome hint of darkness.
Ahh Michael you're in for a real treat albeit you'd improve the whole experience by snatching up the debut
My first impressions of Två was that it was a big step down from Högtid... I still feel that in some ways, but it has won me over through numerous spins. I think the change in sound has to do with the inclusion of Jenny Puertas on flute. While this has made the band's connection to the past all the more evident - sounding particularly close to Kebnekaise and Fläsket Brinner - it still feels a little too docile and rural compared to that fiery first album. Still very good imo.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Joined: January 24 2012
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Posted: February 14 2016 at 13:50
Guldbamsen wrote:
Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote:
Guldbamsen wrote:
Did you by any chance check out Agusa's second album Två?
I just spun this on Youtube the other day, Dave, and I plan on buying the vinyl, it sounds really great! A very folky kind of symphonic prog with a welcome hint of darkness.
Ahh Michael you're in for a real treat albeit you'd improve the whole experience by snatching up the debut
My first impressions of Två was that it was a big step down from Högtid... I still feel that in some ways, but it has won me over through numerous spins. I think the change in sound has to do with the inclusion of Jenny Puertas on flute. While this has made the band's connection to the past all the more evident - sounding particularly close to Kebnekaise and Fläsket Brinner - it still feels a little too docile and rural compared to that fiery first album. Still very good imo.
"Två" was a major step up from "Högtid", I thought. I'd sort of written them off after their debut, which I found a bit underwhelming, but after hearing one of the two tracks from "Två" (thanks to one of your polls, David) I knew it was something different and more to my taste, and I'm glad I gave them another chance.
Excellent work as always, Andy. A bit disappointed with the top 2, which neither did much for me, but I got three of my 20 in the top 10 (and Jaga and E9 in very deserved positions, I might add), with a total of four in the top 20, and 15 in the top 100, which is basically what I expected, so I'm fairly pleased.
My top 20 list:
1. Møster! - When You Cut Into the Present (47)
2. Agusa - Två (89)
3. Zs - Xe (63)
4. Jaga Jazzist - Starfire (3)
5. Elephant9 with Reine Fiske - Silver Mountain (5)
6. Magma - Slaǧ Tanƶ (24)
7. Lindsay Cooper / Fred Frith / Gianni Gebbia / Lars Hollmer - Angels on the Edge of Time (196)
8. Dungen - Allas sak (30)
9. Battles - La Di Da Di (21)
10. William D. Drake - Revere Reach (67)
11. Krokofant - Krokofant II (166)
12. Simon Steensland - A Farewell to Brains (49)
13. Sannhet - Revisionist (89)
14. Rêve Général - Howl (19)
15. Toe. - Hear You (89)
16. Jono El Grande - Melody of a Muddled Mason (273)
17. Motorsycho and Ståle Storløkken - En konsert for folk flest (243)
18. Ciccada - The Finest of Miracles (8)
19. Homunculus Res - Come si diventa ciò che si era (72)
Heh...funny how these things work. Then again, I might just pull it out tomorrow and see if it's improved (the album that is;) just because of your post. Some albums really do "change" with time - or you do - or maybe the mood is just right that particular day.
Oh and here's my final list (which already has changed quite a bit except for the top two):
Ballsack Balzac Boulebag Beeniepouch Baggins
1. Elephant9 - Silver Mountain 2. Circle - Pharaoh Overlord 3. Rêve Général - Howl 4. Hooffoot - s/t 5. Dungen - Allas Sak 6. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green 7. Turzi - C 8. La Fabbrica dell'Assoluto - 1984 9. Necromonkey - Show me where it Hertz 10. Møster! - When You Cut Into The Present 11. Homunculus Res - Come si... 12. Akinéton Retard - Azufre 13. Pond - Man it feels like Space again 14. Guapo - Obscure Knowledge 15. Agusa - Två 16. Motorpsycho w/ Ståle Storløkken - En Konsert for folk flest 17. Jaga Jazzist - Starfire 18. Vespero - Fitful Slumber until 5 A.M. 19. Hands - Caviar Bobsled 20. Schnellertollermeier - X
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
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Posted: February 18 2016 at 13:57
I would add Manna/Mirage - Blue Dogs to my top 5 if I had only heard in time. Fantastic album everyone, don't miss on this beautiful Canterbury inspired album!
Oh and I guess I would bump Jaga Jazzist a few spots too.
Last year was such a great year for music - so much so that I thought 2016 only really had one destiny...which was to disappoint big time - sorta like pooping out a pebble after a colossal astrofart. I stand corrected though. Ever since Bowie's gutwrenchingly beautiful swansong 2016 only seems to have grown wider and more interesting musically. I most definitely have a difficult time deciding on what to put in my AOTY list. It literally makes my head spin just thinking about it Before we reach that stage though I thought it would be interesting to hear people's thoughts on yesteryear's finest output. Are there any changes or late newcomers - things that later clicked with you or indeed stopped making sense? If so please share your thoughts.
Personally I feel a little bad looking at Pond adorning the 13th spot. Listened to it last night and absolutely loved it. Right there and then it felt like the best thing that came out last year. I couldn't believe my own list now but then remembered something about grading it down on account of it not really being a "prog album". Hell I still don't think it's a prog album! But a very fine contemporary psych rock album with colourful synths attached to it. It is also an album you can dance to!?!!!?? Yes! Crazy right? -and not in an LSD-type-snaky-Woodstock-aspiration kind of dance but more like funky Bob's your uncle kind of thang. Anyway when I take a look at what is listed above 'Man It Feels Like Space Again' (and below for that matter! Schnellertollermeier for instance should be MUCH higher!!! But I bought it late in the year...) I realise that the "competition" just happened to be insanely good.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
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Posted: October 24 2016 at 06:06
I'd probably put Hooffoot a few places higher. I only got the LP this year and it really grew on me since then
About Pond's latest, I have it on CD and heard quite a few times but it never clicked for me. Still more interesting than anything I heard from Tame Impala though.
I also discovered this year Maserati's "Rehumanizer" and I'm sure it would be on my top 20 now.
I haven't followed them since their 2010 album Pyramid Of The Sun, which is sorta strange seeing as I really dig it. May just have been the inclusion of Steve Moore from Zombi on electronics that pulled me in...and when he then went away on the subsequent album I too went away. Wasn't entirely done on purpose though...but I guess the mind works on autopilot most of our lives.
Haven't spun Hooffoot in a while - definitely making up for that today!
A latecomer that certainly should've been on last year's list is the Finnish band K-X-P and their lll album:
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Listening to the Maserati tune right now and it seems as if Steve Moore rubbed off to their sound...big time! Damn... far more electronic and fluttering than what I would've thought.
Heh...without planning anything we accidentally posted clips of the same kind of atmospheric spacey almost post rocking music The force is strong with this one.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Joined: June 25 2013
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 10215
Posted: October 24 2016 at 07:44
Guldbamsen wrote:
Listening to the Maserati tune right now and it seems as if Steve Moore rubbed off to their sound...big time! Damn... far more electronic and fluttering than what I would've thought.
Heh...without planning anything we accidentally posted clips of the same kind of atmospheric spacey almost post rocking music The force is strong with this one.
I'll have to check out their previous albums. When I saw this cover I couldn't ignore it, that's how I found it
I'm listening to that K-X-P album, really cool stuff I didn't know Sonar either, I'll have to listen to the album that track is great
zravkapt wrote:
Isn't that supposed to be music from late '70s/early '80s East Germany...but it's really some dude with vintage gear who recorded it recently?
Yeah, I really like the albums but I find the backstory grating
Yup Darryl it is basically a bogus Krautrock album from last year claiming to be an old forgotten gem. It is however very well done and while I don't run to it as I hate all forms of running - I do use it as a soundtrack for cycling and it works.
I know the feeling Samuel - that is buying an album based solely on the cover art;) Found quite a few humdingers that way.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
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CCVP wrote:
The force is strong with this one.
I didn't know Sonar either, I'll have to listen to the album that track is great 
