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Post by Lawrie on Jan 15, 2009 22:19:30 GMT
Haven't had the time/opportunity to check out this communal forum playlist yet, but will check out people's choices and maybe add some of my own over the weekend.  |
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Post by Lawrie on Jan 20, 2009 0:02:50 GMT
Right, just having a listen now. There's a few bad boys in there I'm already familiar with (and they're all good 'uns!  ) - was certainly gonna get Two Receivers (Klaxons) in there myself, so fair play to whoever stuck that in. Looking forward to hearing all the ones I'm unfamiliar with! ;D Would be good if people could post here who's added what tracks and why/a little about their choices etc. And lastly, how do I add some of my recommendations to you guys to the playlist? EDIT - scratch that last sentence, figured it out now - back shortly with a few of my own suggestions: hope you enjoy! |
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Post by blondeambassador on Jan 20, 2009 0:20:12 GMT
They were mostly me, starting the playlist off, as I said, with things that had been reccomended as similarish to PRR:
Choices of individual tracks were just a bit of a lucky dip to be honest on those ones.
I also added Depeche Mode because they are a recent (allbeit rather late) discovery of mine (obviously I'd heard Personal Jesus etc before but had never really listened) They are also clearly a favourite of the band, judging on their position on their myspace friends- and I can see some similarities there, in an influence kind of way, for PRR's 'new sound' so to speak.
Still trying to come up with a few more varied beauts to whack in there, I will do as and when they come to me and I figure the playlist will get less PRR sounding-centric as we go on and it just is a chance to share good music!
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Post by blondeambassador on Jan 20, 2009 0:25:12 GMT
Ok...added a couple more:
Fleet Foxes - Mykanos: Awesome track, very CSN&Y influenced and beautiful harmonies, falls into that kind of genre but I love it!
Guillemots - Last Kiss: Won't be everyone's cup of tea but I sometimes think the Guillemots are quite underrated, they do some really interesting things for an 'indie' kind of band and I found that whole album to be a grower. Also has the male/female dynamic in the vocals, so not completely straying away from PRR similarities yet...
Now I'm really not coming back on the computer til exam is done...honest...
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Post by Lawrie on Jan 20, 2009 0:45:17 GMT
Ok, here goes a quick rundown of the tracks I have added: The Music - Symbol Of Hope - This is a B-side off their most recent album, Strength In Numbers and it's currently my favourite song by them. Pretty much straight up funky rock with not much in the way of subtlety, but (IMHO) you'd have to be clinically dead not to have the urge to dance while listening to it, and it's a showcase song for singer Rob Harvey who has got arguably the best 'rock' voice in the business right now. The Music - Too High - Sorry for 2 tracks by the same band in a row, but just couldn't leave this one out. Taken from their eponymous debut album (released in 2002 when they were 17 years old [!!!] - my favourite debut album of any band anywhere, including PRR and The Dark Third) this is a much more considered number that veers a little more towards the proggy side of things. Could've picked any song from this album as an example of shining genius in my eyes, but I hope that PRR and generally rock-minded people here will appreciate the guitar solo at the end which pulls off the nifty trick of being both immense and danceable at the same time. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch - Know Ryan's no big fan of the 'Tron, so apologies to you mate, but I think they're a band that people who like the more electro side of new-PRR might warm to. A 2 boy, 2 girl outfit who do electro music - veering from pop to industrial to electro-rock, I've picked what is generally regarded as their most populist 'choon', and shows the band at their most dancefloor friendly. The Dears - 22: The Death Of All The Romance - Canadian band who consist of singer Murray Lightburn and his wife Natalia Yanchak (plus a Divine Comedy-style revolving door host of other musicians changing from album to album); they specialise in bittersweet orchestral indie. Murray's often accused of ripping off Morrissey in his vocal style (with fair cause), but The Dears just hit my emotional buttons really - and it's weird cos other bands with a similar sound just don't have the same effect. This is a big, lush duet between Murray and Natalia, and is easily the best song in their canon for me. Hope Of The States - The Black Amnesias - The band that accidentally introduced me to PRR, their studio albums didn't always do their excellent post-rock sound justice, with a few slightly-too-commercial indie tracks making the cut ahead of some really cracking adventurous B-sides. This is the opener from their debut album, and is an absolutely explosive instrumental, and brilliantly captures the raw energy of its live performance in their sets. UNKLE - Celestial Annihilation - One of my favourite tracks ever ever ever ever ever, this is a DJ Shadow effort at heart really. I'm not quite sure how it will go down here, so apologies if it doesn't hit your buttons, but I just love the juxtaposition of its futuristic beats set against some dramatically mournful strings. The Mars Volta - Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt - My token prog offering to the playlist. They're as barmy as a legion of Mad Hatters, but they're ****ing amazing musicians to boot, probably the most technically accomplished artists in my record collection. Tried to pick a number that falls halfway between their 'most accessible' and 'most outrageous' stalls - the fiddly-quick guitar solo about 1/2 way through the song is just to die for, IMO. Ok, well, hope you hear something you haven't heard before and end up liking with at least one of those choices, back with my thoughts on the existing ones in the playlist in a tick. |
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Post by ryan on Jan 20, 2009 0:52:52 GMT
I added I'm Impressed, by yourcodenameis:milo because it's really good and I thought you guys might dig it.
I thought I'd added more but it doesn't look like it. I will at some point, part of not was waiting to see what else went in to gauge taste, otherwise i'd have just stick doomy droney metal in!
Some good stuff in there from yous lot though, some stuff I wanted to check out for a while. I'm gunna stick it on shuffle now.
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Post by Lawrie on Jan 20, 2009 2:08:43 GMT
Okay, here are my thoughts on the tracks I'd previously not heard (take it as read that if I don't give a verdict, I've already got/heard the track before): Fields - Charming The Flames - Very nice track, and if you'll excuse the pun, quite charming. Wish the singer had a slightly more 'rough' voice (thought it was a tiny bit too Mew-ish of a voice to fit with the song), but a very minor quibble. Good stuff. Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here - I've got Fear Of A Blank Planet but nothing else by PT, and this reminded me of the songs I already have: pleasant enough and certainly very respectable, but not quite able to make the leap from 'very solid' to 'great'. Good song, but lacked a touch of wow-factor for me. The Cooper Temple Clause - Amber - Absolutely loved it, easily my favourite of the new ones. Exactly my type of song. Really, with my musical past and tastes, I should've been all over the Coopers ages ago, I suspect. Is this typical of their output, cos if it is then their whole back catalogue is getting bought NOW! The Beach Boys - Surf's Up and Wouldn't It Be Nice - Surf's Up was VERY PRR-ish, and having never really known any Beach Boys stuff before, I can totally see where Jon's been ripping them off all these years!   I liked that very much. Less impressed with Wouldn't It Be Nice: seemed a bit too jaunty and almost Cliff Richard-ish (in a Summer Holiday way) for me. Annuals - Dry Clothes - Not *bad* as such, but kinda left me a little cold. Reasonable, but pretty unremarkable for me. Depeche Mode - Walking In My Shoes - Really liked it. It's weird, I've always had a bit of a subconscious prejudice against DM without ever having heard them and for no reason other than, well, I don't know - maybe them being an older band, or summat!  Anyway, now that I give them a fair listen, I really enjoyed this song, and will certainly regard them with a much more open mind in future. Especially as they've influenced not only PRR apparently, but also Ladytron who are another fave of mine: need to stop having groundless dislikes of bands/people/everything is the moral of the story, methinks! Youthmovies - If You'd Seen A Battlefield - Got their debut EP but was never really all that impressed with that, and so never bought the 'proper' album when it was released. Seen them twice live: once supporting HotS (where they sucked - 'twas back in 2003) and once supporting 65dos (where they were great - that was in 2007), so they've always been a mixed bag for me. This particular track is ok for me: much better than the stuff on Hurrah!..., but not mind-blowing and not as good as I remember them being when I last saw them live. 7/10 effort, I reckon. Low - When I Go Deaf - A bit too mellow for my tastes, despite picking up at the end. Don't dislike acoustic music per se, but there wasn't enough going on here to grab me. YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO - I'm Impressed - I was. (Sorry for the pithy summation, but the title was calling for it! Good song, enjoyed it a lot.) Guillemots - Last Kiss - Heard bits and pieces of Guillemots on various radio and TV shows without ever owning any of their stuff or really taking time to check them out. Previous stuff I'd heard very much fell into the 'ok, not brilliant' category. I really liked this song, much more energetic and dancey than I thought they were about, and had all the quirkiness I expected of them thrown in to boot. Know they're supposed to be quite a varied bunch in their sound: if this is representative of their sound then I'm definitely super-interested in them, just wonder if they'd be consistently this good? Fleet Foxes - Mykonos - Fine. While not sounding like Porcupine Tree, I'd rate it as about the same standard for me - i.e. very solid and nothing wrong with it at all, but didn't bowl me over either. But essentially good. |
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Post by the dark fourth on Jan 20, 2009 11:58:18 GMT
iliketrains, 65daysofstatic and Low were me, bit of a random choice.... for both iliketrains and 65days they didn't have my favourite albums up but nevermind. Have to say Guillemots is really good. The only other tracks I hadn't heard (Annuals, Youthmovies, Fleet Foxes) were all nice (Annuals less so maybe). Amber, Black Amnesias, Surf's Up and I'm Impressed were all among my favourite tracks already, so kudos for those choices.
Lawrie: I'd say Amber is a fairly good representation of the Coopers, especially their early stuff. I wouldn't get the whole catalogue though - stick with See This Through and Leave, and Kick Up the Fire. The latest album (Make This Your Own) may dissapoint you, but you'll like those two.
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Post by Lawrie on Jan 20, 2009 20:36:00 GMT
Lawrie: I'd say Amber is a fairly good representation of the Coopers, especially their early stuff. I wouldn't get the whole catalogue though - stick with See This Through and Leave, and Kick Up the Fire. The latest album (Make This Your Own) may dissapoint you, but you'll like those two. Ta muchly - will have a look at those boys forthwith on Spotify: this really is a useful little bit of kit! ;D |
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Post by Lawrie on Mar 16, 2009 16:05:34 GMT
Added a couple more tracks to the communal Ambassadors Playlist that I wanted to included with my first batch, but weren't available on Spotify at the time. They're on the service now, so enjoy!
Sons And Daughters - Iodine - My favourite track off my favourite album of 2008, This Gift. S&D are another 2 boy, 2 girl combo who have their roots as a bluesy guitar band with dark, downbeat songs. Like the White Stripes with a large dose of Grand Guignol. Their 3rd album, This Gift, saw Suede's Bernard Butler drafted in to produce the record, and he cajoled S&D into making a far more polished, radio friendly album that still maintained an undercurrent of their previous darkness, and was a real breakthrough and positive development IMO. Picked this song because [lead singer] Adele's voice is just to die for on this particular number for me.
Clinic - Circle Of Fifths - Taken from their 3rd album, Winchester Cathedral. I got into Clinic after seeing them support Radiohead in 2000, and while it's fair to say that they've been churning out basically the same album in musical terms for years now, having only changed the song and album titles, this really is a great song: another that would easily make it into my top 25 songs of all time. The repeated piano/guitar refrain and lead singer Ade's indistinct, somewhat reptilian voice both make me a bit queasy (in a good way, I think!), but there's a relentless rhythm chugging along under the surface of this song that carries me along with it every time.
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Post by ryan on Mar 16, 2009 16:14:06 GMT
I might stick some more in later, you lucky people.
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Post by blondeambassador on Mar 16, 2009 17:42:39 GMT
Added a couple more tracks to the communal Ambassadors Playlist that I wanted to included with my first batch, but weren't available on Spotify at the time. They're on the service now, so enjoy! Sons And Daughters - Iodine - My favourite track off my favourite album of 2008, This Gift. S&D are another 2 boy, 2 girl combo who have their roots as a bluesy guitar band with dark, downbeat songs. Like the White Stripes with a large dose of Grand Guignol. Their 3rd album, This Gift, saw Suede's Bernard Butler drafted in to produce the record, and he cajoled S&D into making a far more polished, radio friendly album that still maintained an undercurrent of their previous darkness, and was a real breakthrough and positive development IMO. Picked this song because [lead singer] Adele's voice is just to die for on this particular number for me. Clinic - Circle Of Fifths - Taken from their 3rd album, Winchester Cathedral. I got into Clinic after seeing them support Radiohead in 2000, and while it's fair to say that they've been churning out basically the same album in musical terms for years now, having only changed the song and album titles, this really is a great song: another that would easily make it into my top 25 songs of all time. The repeated piano/guitar refrain and lead singer Ade's indistinct, somewhat reptilian voice both make me a bit queasy (in a good way, I think!), but there's a relentless rhythm chugging along under the surface of this song that carries me along with it every time. Well done for rejuvinating this...sadly I'm not fond of these tracks both for exactly the same reason and thats that I find the vocals too whiny, they both instantly grate on my nerves...but then, I think thats also why I've never got into The Music in the way you have, I like whats going on behind but the vocals just aren't to my taste. Then again, I like Radiohead. Alot. And Muse. So really there's no cohesion in my argument that I don't like whingy vocals... Rather than just saying what I don't like, I've stuck another in (yes, yes, nobody tell me it has quite whingy vocals because I'm well aware!!) Immune - 'Human' - This band are probably my favourite I've ever seen support PRR (closely followed by Vessels and The Domino State) Their first album was really quite good, quite Oceansize-ish I would say. From what I remember, they are a fairly young band and I found them really impressive live. |
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Post by Lawrie on Mar 16, 2009 19:18:10 GMT
Haha, in that case I'll refrain from adding any of my favourite JJ72 tracks then! Mark Greaney has got maybe the most 'Marmite' voice in music, and going on previous preferences, I think I could safely guess which side of the fence you'd be on with him, BA! Fair play with your opinions on the S&D and Clinic tracks, some voices just don't click with you, and that's the same for just about everybody I think. That said, still can't get my head round you not digging Rob Harvey's voice from The Music: that it just THE ultimate rock voice for me and I'm so up his arse that I simply cannot comprehend anyone not loving his vocals, and The Music as a whole for that matter! I know it's only your opinion... but you're wrong! ;D Immune - thought it was pretty decent. Was waiting for it to explode in a massive, heavy freakout that never quite happened at some points in the song, because it seemed like it was building up to that. But yeah, not a bad choice at all, very listenable. |
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Post by forwardrob on Mar 17, 2009 2:41:22 GMT
How can I add items to the playlist? There doesn't seem to be a way...
EDIT: Oh, drag and drop...should have realised.
I've added Alton Towers by The Fall - fantastic slightly odd rock, this first song off their latest album (of 39) is a real gem.
Battle of Electric Tongues by Punish the Atom - clever rock with electronic touches, I just love the way the song slyly morphs from one part to another, and gang vocals: who doesn't love 'em?
The Conformist Takes It All by Napoleon IIIrd - as they're going to be support to PRR at a festival, thought people should have an easy way to take a listen. Great odd pop by synthy multi-instrumentalist.
Might add some more later.
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Post by AlExMachina on Mar 20, 2009 17:37:43 GMT
OK, this is a cool aspect of Spotify I had not cottoned onto yet. Anyway, have added a few songs:
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Isis Unveiled - Probably the coolest song of the new trail of dead album. Have to thank The Dark Fourth for getting me into these guys. This song essentially sounds like a gospel of the bible being read from the point of view of God, with incredibly epic music going on around it. Oh yeah, and there is also an irish jig-like violin jumping in occasionally!
Million Dead - Carthago Est Delenda - Considering the Latin leanings of the latest album maybe this is appropriate. A beautiful song from Frank Turner's old post-hardcore band. Possibly my favourite song ever.
Minus The Bear - Michio's Death Drive - The only (reasonably good) song on Spotify by a really cool Math-rock band (not like Foals!). If you like that check out a song called The Fix by them.
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) - was certainly gonna get Two Receivers (Klaxons) in there myself, so fair play to whoever stuck that in. Looking forward to hearing all the ones I'm unfamiliar with! ;D
I liked that very much. Less impressed with Wouldn't It Be Nice: seemed a bit too jaunty and almost Cliff Richard-ish (in a Summer Holiday way) for me.
Anyway, now that I give them a fair listen, I really enjoyed this song, and will certainly regard them with a much more open mind in future. Especially as they've influenced not only PRR apparently, but also Ladytron who are another fave of mine: need to stop having groundless dislikes of bands/people/everything is the moral of the story, methinks! 
