Inspired by a thing I saw on Reddit earlier today, I’m going to try listening to more complete albums this year. Maybe daily? We’ll see how it shakes out.
@brennx0r I had picked it up on release and honestly never listened to it more than once or twice. Just didn’t connect with it. I decided to give it another go in case 20 years changed that (also wtf how did THAT happen?!). I enjoyed the instrumentation better this time but lyrically it still mostly doesn’t do much for me. (Exception: “The Gloaming” seems particularly timely.) I seem to prefer their albums before and after it.
@grantmc I suspect that my relationship to Thom Yorke’s vocal stylings is similar to most people and Geddy Lee.
Also, I feel like most of the HttT lyrics are a little weak compared to other Radiohead albums. But that could be my fault for having recently done a Bowie and a Nick Cave. 😅
Hot take: this is such a good album, it’s even good without drums. As soon as it finished I went back and skimmed it to firm up my recollection of which tracks had my favorite bits in them.
@mpirnat I was just thinking of Ray Lynch's "Deep Breakfast" recently.... My college friend Seth Schoen introduced me to free software, and to the writing of Neal Stephenson and the music of Ray Lynch and Dar Williams.
Of course the entire trajectory of the second half of my life so far is worlds away from what it would have been otherwise. But also - maybe without him, at UC Berkeley in the late 90s, I still would have gotten into everything else. But Lynch seems least likely.
@Donatella I'm kicking myself for not seeing them the when they were in town here. I couldn't convince any of my concert-going friends to join me and so ended up just staying home. :-(
No Songwhip link this time since this isn’t available on any of the major streaming services. A pity, since (in particular)“Spice” is still a banger, and relevant again with all the Dune stuff in the zeitgeist at the moment. Lots of other cool movie samples on this album too (@onelson might appreciate the Basket Case stuff, for example).
#AnAlbumADay 80/366: The Boy with the Arab Strap by Belle and Sebastian
I’m embarrassed to admit this is my first listen to this album. 😅 I was aware of it but just never got around to it, and then way too many years went by… Thanks to @brainwane for the nudge.
#AnAlbumADay 93/366: A Rose Made of Galaxies by Orange Yellow Red
A shame they only seem to have recorded this one album and vanished into obscurity. It’s the dreamy sort of shoegaze, and the vibe feels really right for me tonight.
Skipping over “P” for reasons that will become obvious on April 8… it’s been a lonnnnnnng time since I’ve listened to this one all the way through. And the expanded version has a cover of “Scarborough Fair” that I hadn’t heard before.
Holy smokes, the #eclipse was really something! Hours later I’m still giddy and awestruck. Even though we had some wispy, high-altitude clouds, the sun punched right through it to give us a spectacular display at totality. I cannot believe our good fortune here; I was anticipating MUCH worse weather.
A bit late with album listening thanks to a spicy work day followed by taking the kiddo to a concert, so you’ll get a double feature today. First up is…
#AnAlbumADay 103/366: Cool it Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This feels like the right speed/vibe for a post-concert recovery day.
@mpirnat Not sure if you take suggestions, but the new Vampire Weekend album is so good. I’ve never really listened to them before, but the songwriting and production really blew me away.
@grantmc I do, thanks! I also haven't really ever listened to them (only enough to find out that the song I was looking for, "Vampire Lake", wasn't them). If I don't get to it on “album-title-O day", I'll probably do it for an “artist-name-V day” (since I'm still doing this silly alphabet game to give me some structure).
Maybe not my favorite Kitaro album (it’s good, I just haven’t listened to it as frequently as some of his others), but it’s the only one with a total eclipse of the sun on the album cover, which is a definite win in the wake of my own totality experience this week.
Wasn't going to double-dip on Bowie right away, but when it’s "H" day on a Sunday and that's also the title of the opening track… Yep. Gotta do it. This thing still slaps.
I’ve adored the glorious rock madness of opening track “Hocus Pocus” ever since @reasie introduced me to it while helping out with one of my first on-air slots at WRUW, but I’m ashamed to admit it’s taken me nearly 30 years to finally listen to the rest of the album. Friends… I should not have waited.
If I’ve timed this right, “Monday” should start right about midnight. Also, this album still rules, and it’s really fun with headphones on. Don’t think I’ll ever get enough of “Halcyon + On + On”. Also: Star Trek samples, if that’s your jam!
#AnAlbumADay 125/366: Unforseen Consequences by Morch Kovalski
Apparently futuresynthy covers of Half Life and Black Mesa soundtracks? I dunno, I did Portal but not Half Life. Anyway, this is cool; dark, driving, has a good edge to it. Satisfying listening for my post-D&D nightcap.
#AnAlbumADay 126/366: The Velvet Machine by Neal Acree
Meant to post this for Sunday. My friends who dig cinematic synthy instrumental stuff will love this, I think. I stumbled onto it by accident—turns out Acree has a TON of cool soundtrack credits (Stargate SG1, Vox Machina, WoW, Diablo 3, more), and this is his first solo album.
Doing this alphabet game with my album picks sometimes pushes me to try artists that I’m completely unfamiliar with; today is one of those days. I’m a couple tracks in and it seems all right — a mid 90s dance sound that I definitely harbor nostalgic affection for.
#AnAlbumADay 130/366: Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police
I think “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” is the only thing I’ve ever heard off of this one; it was certainly inescapable on the radio and MTV. Time to see if there’s anything else interesting here…
#AnAlbumADay 131/366: The Dimension Gate by Aurora Sutra
I waffled a bit about what to pick today as I get back to alpha-by-artist, but after seeing an actual aurora tonight… Yeah. Had to do it.
I haven’t listened to this in a long time, but I remember I really dug the instrumental elements suite in the back half, and the third track, “The Garden of Temptation”, was on a cool sampler from Cleopatra Records that helped expand my tastes.
I’ve had this sitting in my library forever (because I’m mildly obsessed with “Duvet”, AKA “the song from Serial Experiments Lain”) but somehow had never heard the whole thing. I was a fool! This is really good.
More catch up; I think this is technically Monday’s pick.
I bought a greatest hits collection way back in high school and just… never listened to the actual Devo albums, even though I really liked their stuff? Not sure why that happened, so I’m fixing that now.
I am very familiar with a few of the inescapable hit singles that got immense radio play in my youth, but I’ve never sat down with a full Eurythmics album, and I doubt I’ve heard anything from this, their debut, at all. Hopefully it’ll be interesting!
#AnAlbumADay 138/366: Doctor Who Theme Collection Vol 1 by HardWire
I’m enjoying the latest run of Doctor Who; last night’s new episode put me in the mood for this lovely collection of different interpretations of the classic theme music. (This continues the trend of pleasant coincidences I’ve found with this “alphabet game” format.)
I’ve loved a handful of Ivy’s songs for a long time, but have for some reason never explored beyond those few. I’m glad to be remedying that tonight. Also, “Edge of the Ocean” is as perfect a track as ever.
#AnAlbumADay 141/366: Latent Whispers by Kite Base
I could never understand, nor figure out, why they never released anything else. It’s such a strong debut! Even the “main project”, Savages, seems to have just disappeared around the same time.
#AnAlbumADay 142/366: Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
Another “why haven’t I ever listened to the whole album” pick. This one goes out to all my #PyConUS friends (for reasons that come into focus in track 5).
#AnAlbumADay 144/366: Blood Spills Not Far from the Wound by Necessary Response
Meant to post this yesterday (got distracted by Baldur’s Gate); this will appeal to fans of bands like Covenant, VNV Nation, and Assemblage 23. I dig it.
#AnAlbumADay 145/366: The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld by The Orb
Meant to post yesterday, but work, and Baldur’s Gate… I’ll try to catch up today.
This is a beloved classic for good reason, though oddly it seems to have slightly different Songwhip listings for Apple Music vs. everywhere else, so you get your choice of links to enjoy it yourself:
I discovered this album 25 years ago, in the spring of 1999, as I was just about to graduate from college, and was on the cusp of meeting the phenomenal woman I'd end up marrying. “I'll Fall with Your Knife" was a big hit for me, and it resonated with her too -- an early signal that we'd found something special.
#AnAlbumADay 148/366: In Between Thoughts... A New World by Rodrigo y Gabriela
I'm a lot more familiar with their early releases, but they played a bunch of songs from this when I saw them a couple weeks ago, and I really like how they've evolved their sound.
Catching up with yesterday's listen. I'm super familiar with closing track "Dear God", but I'd never gotten around to listening to the rest of this. Good not-quite-summer weekend sounds.
#AnAlbumADay 155/366: Solid State Survivor by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Catching up with yesterday's listen. This was a cool discovery that I came across when not wanting to pick a "Y" artist that I felt was too easy or well known. They kind of remind me of Space and Kraftwerk.
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