What are you listening to right now? - Page 2

These are the albums that I've kept in constant rotation lately:

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans, Greetings From Michigan, and Illinois
- All great, complete albums in their own right, but Illinois is easily my favorite record of the year.

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
- Insanely catchy all around; "The Bleeding Heart Show" and "Sing Me Spanish Techno" are two of the most joyous listening experiences I've had in a long time.

The Decemberists - Castaways & Cutouts
- I listened to this earlier this year and set it aside, but this past couple of weeks I played it again and have fallen in love. Picture your great-grandfather as a merchant sailor, writing letters to his love, then those letters were kept in an old chest in your attic for decades. This is what this record sounds like.

Brendan Benson - Alternative To Love
- This record came out of left field (I think I even listened to it after reading a recommendation from these boards), and I've been playing it non-stop. Ultimate replay value, fantasticly familiar yet quirky all at the same time.

The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
- Good record... lilting, interesting vocals.

Eisley - Room Noises
- Extremely catchy "family band," with great melodies and some of the most beautiful vocals I've heard in a long time. I'm seriously in love with these girls' voices, and would kill to be involved with a girl that has a voice like this. They're a very young band too, so hopefully they will only get better.

Stax of funk Vol 1.:

Broadway freeze-Harvery Scales.

The Russian Futurists-Our thickness, its happy beats disguises its sadness and i'm loving it

All-American Rejects

It's not technically a CD, it's a live DVD of James Brown called 'Body Heat' Current track is 'get up offa that thing'

Miranda Lambert - Kerosene. The DualDisc version is well worth picking up.

I can't get enough of Heavy Trash's album, a mix of Johnny Cash and Elvis. The singer/guitarist is Jon Spencer of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Ok, Go; Bloc Party and Led Zepplin.

Bloc Party's silent alarm for me as well, but at the moment I'm listening to sorrow by David Bowie.

Oh, such a good tune.

Open Sky by the Distillers

Bobby Darin-Beyond the sea

Pocket Revolution - dEUS

Takk - Sigur Ros

Livin' In The City - Fun Lovin' Criminals

Let Go - Nada Surf (can't believe I never listened to this one before...)

Extraordinary Machine (bootleg version) - Fiona Apple

Shake Off The Dust... ARISE - Matisyahu (picked up on this album from the thread posted here)

and Guero by Beck is still on in my car very very often.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
You guys sold it to me. Just great.

Pulp - This is hardcore
Still damn good

Dead can dance - Live in Milan
Still my personal best band

The Raveonettes - Pretty in Black
How can such a quirky 50's-inspired band be so good ?

Currently listening to "Touched" by Vast

just noticed the other 'whatcha listening to right now' thread is actually closed.

Small Time Blues - Pete Droge. Took some digging before some helpful amazon reviewer pointed me in the direction of this ditty. From the flick, Almost Famous, where William sees the cat playing this in the hotel room. Weird to see a faster version on the same album this came from.

Outsiders - Franz Ferdinand. The beat reminds me of a Gorillaz song. Proceeded to mix the tune seamlessly with Dare this afternoon on my computer.

The Blues Are Still Blue - Belle And Sebastian. Not exactly sad bastard music, ennit. Anyone know if the rest of the album, The Life Pursuit, kicks just as much ass as this tune?

I had a week off from school, and I've been on a huge Bright Eyes kick, so I've been listening to Fevers and Mirrors, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, Lifted...and Digital Ash In A Digital Urn in constant rotation.

I've also been listening to On Avery Island and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel quite a bit, it's astonishing how good they are...hopefully they aren't on hiatus forever.

currently Sonic Youth's Dirty.


but in the car today... alot of Los Crudos.

Deftones - Adrenaline

I try to play other things when I'm driving lately, but I always come back to this cd. I didn't even like it that much when I bought it back in 98 or whenever, but lately it's all I listen to.

I wouldn't play it around others though, because they'd probably ask "why are you so angry", or "what is this shit?".

The new Twilight Singers album is supposed to come out May 16th, so I'm sure I'll be listening to that all the time when that comes out.

Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions Ok, so why isn't there a thread about this album. Just knocked me on my god damned ass after listening to it this afternoon. I really dig the full sound the group pumps out. Imagine the aural joy of Spirit of the West's "And If Venice is Sinking" tune expanded into a nice full length album.

LA Woman - The Doors

Thank you for recommending this...I picked it up based on the concept. I love it!

I agree. One of the best albums in this young year. Nice reference to one of the most underrated Canadian bands ever.

I've currently got The Warsaw Village Band's debut going. Really great raw punkish interpretations of Polish folk music. Saw them with, interestingly enough, Spirit of the West a few years. One of the best jams I have ever witnessed.

Fiamma Fumana - 1.0 - An Italian folk/techno band that demands to be played loud in the summertime. Pretty much if Beck hooked up with the Chieftains and performed all songs in Italian. (Plus the women in the group are damn cute!)

Tom Waits - Small Change - I've been grooving on Tom's earlier stuff recently. I particularly like Pasties and a G-String but the whole album is amazing. Actually have been playing it on vinyl...I love Hot Wax here in Calgary, cheap albums in good condition.

Little Brother - Minstrel Show - Someone on CHUD recommended these guys and I love this album. Basically a slap in the face to "gangsta rappers" for turning a legit form of expression into the equivalent of the old black face shows.

Amon Tobin
Aphex Twin
Sigur Ros

new Killing Joke - Hosannas From the Basement of Hell. Takes a few listens, but it's quite good.

istanbul (not constantinople) - tmbg

picked up the new flaming lips album yesterday. 50% great, damn if i can stop yelling 'YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE' at people who annoy me, or 'yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah' at things i agree with.

White Collar Boy by Belle and Sebastian - Not as catchy as Blues... but still a fun song to have cranked in the house.

Father and Daughter by Paul Simon - A perfectly constructed song ruined by Hampton the Hampster.

Postcards From Italy by Beirut - Don't know where the fuck these guys came from but I like the unique sound they churn out.

As I comb through discs I might want to trade on 'LaLa' I've pulled out quite a few that I hadn't hit on in a long time.

Bill Laswell, Book of Exit: I'm not a huge Laswell fan, though some of his pseudo world stuff isn't bad. This disc, which combines blues, dub and a sort of Ethiopian vibe, is actually one of his better ones.

Monster Magnet, Dopes to Infinity and Powertrip: Why the hell wasn't I all over these discs when they dropped initially? Great, stupid, big fun stuff. Excellent summer driving rock tunes, huge and rifftastic with no pretensions.

Wire, the first 3 discs: Thanks good reissue fairy! What fucking fantastic stuff this is. I actually get off on 154 the most, because it's got so much tension and weirdness in it. But Pink Flag and Chairs Missing are minor miracles in their own right, and should be a lot better traveled in my listening rotation.

Nachtmystium, Instinct: Decay: Funny to see Pitchfork jizzing all over this when I woke up this morning. The black metal I like is typically the super lo-fi contintental European stuff, because there's such an incredible fuzz to it. The content and pretensions are funny, but there's something about the sound that's so crude and primal, I can't help loving it. This fuses the broken buzzing of my favorite discs (like the recent S.V.E.S.T. release from France) with a better production setup and mid-tempo drive. Lots of fun, this one, in a depressing sort of way.

I'm currently listening to Beck's "Girl" on Naspterlinks. I'll never forget the first time I saw the music video to this song. I was at a friend's house, and I heard a pretty good song that was playing the background on TV. The video was showing on VH1, and I was amazed as to how Beck had worked on making this video and the song. Since then, it's been one of my favorite songs he's done in a while.

Beck - Girl: http://www.napster.com/player/tracks/14169108

I've gotten a lot of albums this year (mostly older), but the one that's really stuck in my CD case for the last few months is the National's Alligator from last year. I've heard their earlier stuff since buying it, and I enjoy the fact that while a lot of bands "mature" into slower, more introspective material, these guys went the opposite way, slowly incorporating more guitars, more rock into their sound. Yet they still manage to maintain the barroom melancholy and angst even on the up-tempo stuff.

Also listening to:

Jon Auer - Songs from the Year of Our Demise
A grower from the ex-Posie. While the songs initially seemed to suffer from a lack of variety, they eventually started growing on me, showing this to be an album of rare attention to melody, dynamics and drama be damned. While it's certainly no lo-fi acoustic affair (in fact, most of the songs are pretty fleshed-out), it's surprisingly low on dramatic shifts, with all of the excitement unfolding from the lyrics and simple tunes.

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint - The River in Reverse
Definitely the best Costello album since When I Was Cruel, if not before. I'm not entirely sure which songs were Toussaint oldies and which were specifically written for the album, but it holds together surprisingly well, and Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas once again demonstrate the R&B chops they first used on Get Happy.

Scott Walker - the Drift
Difficult listening by most standards, but I enjoy Walker's late period stuff (which consists primarily of this recently released album and 1996's Tilt). Well, "enjoy" might be the wrong word. "Appreciate?" He's sort of the aural equivalent of Woolf or Joyce - there's a lot embedded in it, but you're going to have to work for it. The bizarre operatic crooning, lack of reliance on traditional pop (or, hell, jazz or classical) song structures, and frequent silences are all hurdles, to say nothing of the nominal subjects of his songs (Elvis talking to his unborn twin, the death of Mussolini on the Drift; on Tilt, he references Pasolini and Lorca). It might be tempting for some to label his compositions more potent as ideas than as actual songs. I'm still working on the Drift, as the structures are even looser and more difficult to absorb than on Tilt, which is saying a lot.

Walker's a fascinating character, though, who went from being a 60s pop star (in his adopted home of England, at least) to Jacques Brel-inspired cabaret interpreter and variety show host to cinema and politics-oriented singer-songwriter in the 70s to art music/whatever-the-fuck-it-is-he-does-now. If you have an extremely open mind, give him a shot.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
A spoonful of honey to chase the crazy, complicated medicine that is Walker. Deny this album at your peril. If you must, at least make exception for the Buckingham tunes, all of which are undeniable.

Listening to Journey's Captured album right now. Also, not listening to it right now, but I plan on digging out my old Montrose S/T album and playing it loud enough to annoy all these damn kids that hang out at Rubio's. Comb your hair, fuckers.

I'm currently listening to Donald Fagen's "New Frontier" on napsterlinks. This song came off of his Nightfly album, which I always thought was really good. I'm curious is any of you have heard Donald Fagen's solo work. He's pretty good, but he still sorta sounds like Steely Dan to me. What do you guys think?

Donald Fagen - New Frontier
http://www.napster.com/player/tracks/12198320

Been listening to a lot of Wolfmother and Led Zeppelin lately.

on the way home from picking the wife up from work we were listening to How We Operate by Gomez, on the radio. I swear you could hear tinges here and there of Alanis' Uninvited...just before the song gets nice and heavy.

It's a rangy album. "girlshapedlovedrug" is one of the best power pop singles of the year.

Lately my headphones have been ruled by...

Built To Spill's You In Reverse, Perfect From Now On, Keep It Like A Secret, and Ancient Melodies of the Future.

At The Drive-In's Acrobatic Tenement and Relationship of Command.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Grandaddy's Sumday.

Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.

Tripping Daisy's I Am An Elastic Firecracker.

Placebo's Black Market Music.

and VHS or Beta's Night On Fire.

Robert Randolph-Squeeze. Funkiest bass riff I've heard in ages.

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

How Many Mics by The Fugees, because I can't get over the incredibly sick couplet (that's now my signature) Pras delivers. I have no idea what a ponage is, but his accent makes the line one of my favorites.

Yeah, The Score hasn't left my CD player since I got it a few days ago.

The only thing that gets me is how they slip into the tired gangsta themes. I always figured they were a much more positive group than that, but they really do a lot of stealing and killing on that album.

nice track...completely different sound from the first song.

right now:

American V - Johnny Cash. First track is a strange track to get into, but nowhere as near as offputting as Queen's Made in Heaven disc. Album so far is pretty varied. Compliments Springsteen's Seeger disc and Neil Young's Prairie Wind...which I listened to before cracking this one open.

I've been listening to 'You'll Rebel To Anything' by Mindless Self Indulgence quite a bit lately, and I think it might be my favourite album of the moment.

The music has an immature little tantrum so I don't have to, and I love it. It's also great when you are doing something really active, I usually have to work out or clean when it's on.

A State of Trance (2005) by Armin Van Buuren.

Nothing better when you've got a pile of work that needs to be done quickly.

I'm currently listening to Alan Parsons Project's "Breakdown" on Napsterlinks. I've only heard this band for a couple weeks now, but they did a few more hits that I didn't realize they did. They're pretty classic rockish. Have you guys listened to this band much?

Breakdown by The Alan Parsons Project : http://www.napster.com/player/tracks/12000037

These are a few of the artists that have been getting heavy rotation in my CD player/harddrive lately:

Dangerdoom
Lady Sovereign
Neko Case
The Blue Scholars
Art Brut
Matthew Sweet
Tori Amos

At this moment, Voivod-Killing Technology.

The last Cds that I bought over the last month are such an odd mix, but I am trying to explore more:

Deltron 3030
Dr. Octagonecologyst - Dr. Octagon
- fullfilling my hip-hop needs

The Fast And The Furious Tokyo Drift Soundtrack
Nelly Furtado - Loose
- fullfilling my mainstream needs...we all have our weaknesses

Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality
- yea, well...it hits hard

And last, but not least my guilty pleasure in life...
Control Machete - Uno, Dos Bandera
- because I love to just crank this stuff up

Crotchduster - Big Fat Box of Shit
Funny as hell, and the music is technical and great. It blends death metal, 80's power metal, rap, jazz, pop, Danzig impressions. Very entertaining album.

The Haunted - Revolver
Just a good thrash album.

The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra
A good listen, and Devin Townsend is the man.