From Metacritics' top 30 of 2005, never heard the full cd's, perhaps some samples here or some songs there on a v/a comp of the artists mentioned-

"Hypermagic Mountain" by Lightning Bolt
"I Am A Bird Now" by Antony And The Johnsons
"The Woods" by Sleater-Kinney
"Minimum-Maximum" by Kraftwerk
"Mezmerize" by System Of A Down
"Late Registration" by Kanye West
"Separation Sunday" by The Hold Steady
"These Were The Earlies" by The Earlies
"Cole's Corner" by Richard Hawley
"Takk..." by Sigur Rós

I'd listen to these if someone burned copies for me or maybe if I found cheap used copies of some of the albums.

quote:

What a bad post.

Stupid thread.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:

quote:

What a bad post.

Stupid thread.

If you don't like a thread then stay out of it. It's that simple.

Also, I agree with Dubs on the Books, Wilderness, Lightning Bolt, and especially Deerhoof. Most of the stuff I listen to and don't like I can tolerate, but Deerhoof is just plain annoying.

Others I didn't like from this year:

CYHSY - CYHSY. Can't stand the voice. Don't particularly like the music.

Iron and Wine - In the Reins and Woman King. I really wish he'd go bacl to his spare, simple arrangements. I think he's butchering his songs by embellishing them. Also, the songs just aren't as strong as previous albums.

Isolee - We Are Monster. Just seemed like another boring electronic release to me. Same goes for Vitalic - OK Cowboy

Josh Rouse - Nashville. My brother bought this and I've listened to it numerous times, but it just strikes me as generic and lacking any zest.

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social SceneNo hooks. Boring. Unremarkable.

National - Alligator. Two good songs and that's about it.

Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die. Altogether too precious for me. Maybe a good record for 8-year old girls, but that's it.

M Ward - Transistor Radio. It's old-fashioned. I think that might be the only reason it gets any good press.

Antony and the Johnstons - I Am A Bird Now. I actually didn't even listen to the whole album. I just don't like this kind of music.

Animal Collective - Feels. I don't like the freak-folk. Too crazy for me.


Then there are several that I haven't listened to because of my anti-major label bias (My Morning Jacket, Super Furry Animals, Sigur Ros, LCD Soundsystem, Gorillaz, Franz Ferdinand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Ryan Adams, Kanye West, Kraftwerk, System of A Down) or because I've heard stuff from them before and didn't like it (Bright Eyes, Low, Stephen Malkmus, Clientele, New Pornographers) or for no particular reason at all (Go Betweens, Art Brut).

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:

Animal Collective - Feels. I don't like the freak-folk. Too crazy for me.

is a pure pop rock record, is amazing =(

big records that sucked this year:

lightning bolt
the books
new pornographers
sufjan stevens
minus story
need new body

and, uh

probably a lot more

One more to add.

Broken Social Scene - s/t

I didn't include it before because it's only semi-critically acclaimed. But..it's at #3 on Fiery's list. That surprised me because, I gave it the same extended chance I gave CHYSY, and...it didn't strike me as *bad*, but just really unspectacular.

Well, I don't think I should let the cat out, but hell...I didn't get BSS because I did get You Forgot It In People, and although it's certainly a fairly good album, after awhile it just held NO INTEREST FOR ME. It's sorta the same reason I didn't buy the new FF this year. I liked their debut probably the first 15-20 times I played it, but then all of a sudden, it got really boring. That doesn't happen too often to me, but both those albums ended up "feeling" the same way.

CYHSY I received from a friend for free, with a good recommendation, and although the first song was freaky, the rest of the album seems super good. The same friend (hal, take a bow!) also sent me the new FF. It sounds just like the last one but more pumped-up (kinda reminds me of the Strokes in that regard.)

So, anyhow that's the long, boring story of why CYHSY will make my top 20, but the others won't.

quote:

Originally posted by dubs:

And I can't get through more than about two minutes of "Lost and Safe" by the Books. Maybe I just haven't gotten to the good part.

you're right. the best part of "Lost & Safe" is the end. the album dominates from track 5 and on. "an owl with knees" reeled me in initially, but the last four songs, in my opinion, are remarkable and really sold this album for me. i now consider it one of, if not the best of the year. yeah it's not as inventive as their previous stuff but i simply can't get enough and it has tremendous replay value for me, which thus makes it great.

I guess I'll listen to the Books again.

m.leland: you should have taken the time to read what we were actually discussing, which is different from the topic of the thread, before making such an obnoxious and unnecessary post.

Is there anything RavingLunatic did like? I don't like majors either but a couple major releases this year were really good (just make sure you don't buy anything from Sony). I concur on BSS by the way. That record is sooo boring. It made a lot more sense when I read that it had been recorded bits at a time over the span of two years with never more than 2 of their 10+ members in the studio together at the same time. I guess the title was apt.

quote:

m.leland: you should have taken the time to read what we were actually discussing, which is different from the topic of the thread, before making such an obnoxious and unnecessary post.

There are three other identical threads. The only thing more useless than lists of music you haven't heard is repetition. It's in the forum guidelines, and this thread should be closed. If the thread were started by someone new to the board it would've been done already.

That's all I'll say on the subject. Carry on.

Regardless of whether the thread should be closed or not, I will continue on the subject at hand.

I love "Lost and Safe" and actually found it to be more consistent than "Thought for Food," which has some remarkable peaks (they haven't and never will top "Read, Eat Sleep") but was frustratingly inconsistent.

My brother recently saw them in concert. I'm very jealous.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
There are three other identical threads. The only thing more useless than lists of music you haven't heard is repetition. It's in the forum guidelines, and this thread should be closed. If the thread were started by someone new to the board it would've been done already.

That's all I'll say on the subject. Carry on.

I don't get it. Are you a junior forum detective? Are we wasting space on your server? I thought the goal of forums like this was to engender interesting discussion of a topic. That's exactly what is going on here. I'm new here, but I don't think the mods go around gleefully shutting down threads they find repetitive. If you don't like it, then don't read it. And where are these other three "identical" threads? The only similar topics I've found are "overrated or underrated bands" and "albums that you heard but didn't like...or did." Both of these are different from what's being discussed here. They're also less active.

At over a year under his belt and 500+ posts, I think m.leland should at least get the consideration of being a senior forum detective or forum detective first class or somesuch.

For the record, he's right. To this moderator this does seem a repetitive thread and had it been posted as a first post from a new member, I would have deleted it with a PM explanation to the member in question, which is never an occasion undertaken with glee since it generally results in much whingeing.

But, since enough people seem to want to talk about music they haven't listened to over the past year, viva la difference, I guess.

Now Playing: The Colts up 23-3 on the Jaguars with :30 left in the 3rd

Basically just the stuff that I didn't hear at all, or at not least enough to form any sort of opinion. I'm leaving off stuff that I've heard samples of and decided whether or not I'm interested in.

Wearemonster by Isolée
The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
Chavez Ravine by Ry Cooder
Blinking Lights And Other Revelations by Eels
Oceans Apart by The Go-Betweens
Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady
These Were The Earlies by The Earlies
This Right Here Is Buck 65 by Buck 65
Lost And Safe by The Books
Cole's Corner by Richard Hawley

The new BSS album strikes me as being extremely lackluster - - and I have listened to it in its entirety many, many times. Perhaps it's a little too ambitious - - but it just comes off as a mess to me.

quote:

big records that sucked this year:

lightning bolt
the books
new pornographers
sufjan stevens
minus story
need new body

I will agree with you about Sufjan (another example of ambitions exceeding the capabilities - - I loved Seven Swans, but Illinois grows mighty tiresome after a while), but I would have to call you mad for denouncing Twin Cinema and Lost and Safe.

M Leland is also one of those members you have to take criticism from with a grain of salt. He's our resident pisser.

And, at some point he decided that for some reason, I was all that is wrong with the universe. So he feels the particular need to denounce the thread that I started.

coldplay's 3rd cd is its worst. u2's cd w/the exception of the excellent, mindless 'vertigo' single is not worth listening.
white stripes are getting progressively worse.

as the music world becomes almost exclusively a singles, download world.....album discussions become more obsolete.

quote:

Originally posted by tmatt:
as the music world becomes almost exclusively a singles, download world.....album discussions become more obsolete.

I don't think it's legal downloading that is destroying the album. It's MTV and their absolute grip on all that becomes popular in music. Major bands hoping to sell lots of records (and of course their labels) have to make singles which can become viable TRL videos. So of course U2's new album sucked.

But the album's not dead at all. You just have to look a level or two below what could make MTV or commercial radio.

Hey guys,

I can't stand albums that sound like everything else out there. I love music that's different. I love variety. So, I guess it stands to reason that I have -- and love -- all of the following albums (some more than others, admittedly):

The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
Blinking Lights And Other Revelations by Eels
Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
"Z" by My Morning Jacket
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Runners Four by Deerhoof
Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens
Broken Social Scene
Twin Cinemy by The New Pornographers
In Case We Die by Architecture in Helsinki
Transistor Radio by M. Ward
I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnstons

I ESPECIALLY LIKE:
The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
"Z" by My Morning Jacket
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
"Z" by My Morning Jacket
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
... but I like the others thrown in on occasion for variety, though. I love music but can't stand listening to the same thing over and over.

... and who says anything by Minus Story has been "critically acclaimed," anyway?

quote:

Originally posted by nojax:

big records that sucked this year:

lightning bolt
the books
new pornographers
sufjan stevens
minus story
need new body

and, uh

probably a lot more

Hmm... uh, no?

Try Eluvium. One of my favourites of 2005.