What albums did you listen to today?

Yesterday...

Sam, I can NEVER make it through that Mars Volta album, as you said, waaaaaaaaay too long. I seem to get quite fed up with it by the half-way mark, even though I know there's good stuff afterwards.

But the biggest hurdle I've always had with the band are the overwrought squealing vocals, just exhausting! Instrumentally they're frequently dynamic, but I do find the band hugely self-indulgent, and they often mistake droning feedback and noise as `art'!

Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei
Henry Kaiser & Bob Bralove - Ultraviolet Licorice
Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell - The Celestial Squid

Ultraviolet Licorice combines kick-ass guitar with classical piano. The Celestial Squid combines sick Steve Vai-like guitar with Jazz saxophone. Great stuff. You never know what you're going to get with Henry Kaiser.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: Sam, I can NEVER make it through that Mars Volta album, as you said, waaaaaaaaay too long. I seem to get quite fed up with it by the half-way mark, even though I know there's good stuff afterwards. But the biggest hurdle I've always had with the band are the overwrought squealing vocals, just exhausting! Instrumentally they're frequently dynamic, but I do find the band hugely self-indulgent, and they often mistake droning feedback and noise as `art'!

Sam, what do you think of the Steve Roach one? I'll be honest...I find it all a bit of a bore...Each piece is so repetitive and barely changes. While it's nice to see him return to the more upfront sequencer stuff, it's not a patch on many of his recent albums. All those beautiful serene subtle synth washes have been pushed so far to the back that they're often almost not even there.

I don't find Wolfmother very interesting at all (although I think they make a good `gateway' band for people being introduced to more proggy stuff), but that curse of poorer production hits a lot of Australian artists. Signed to a major label for a few albums, then dropped, and then they release a more `humble' and lo-fi album due to what they have to work with. Either that, or perhaps WM never liked sounding so slick and polished, and so wanted to dirty up their sound? I don't know....down here, WM were kind of considered too commercial and radio-friendly to be taken seriously by the snobby indie-rock listeners, and only commercial radio stations ever played their music. THey were kind of looked upon as a `fifteen minutes of fame' kind of thing. Probably not fair to dismiss them like that, but that's how it was. I don't think they have much of a fanbase left?

Finisterre - self titled

Cabezas De Cera - Metal Musica

Yesterday...

Bob Dylan - Infidels
Bob Dylan - Empire Burlesque

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation
Tim Blake – New Jerusalem
Steve Roach – Skeleton Keys
Alpha Wave Movement – Earthen