A new album each week in 2023

[Jamie John]

I like keeping logs of stuff, and I want to listen to more new music instead of listening to the same 5000-odd songs on rotation, so I thought I'd try to listen to at least one album I'd not listened to each week next year, and then post about it in here with some thoughts on it, sort of like the 'Rate the last film you watched' thread. I'm going to start with some of 2022's best albums, according to various end-of-year lists, not least the forum's own best albums of 2022 (once @ngchol compiles it, anyway).

 

I don't think it's a particularly ambitious target to set for yourself - 52 albums in one year - but, personally, I don't devote that much of my week to actively listening to music: my commute is quite short, I can't listen to music at work, so listening time is usually delegated to times when I'm doing something else, whether it's cooking, exercising or doing chores. I'm going to limit the number of podcasts I listen to next year, as I've got too many on the go at the moment, and spend time listening to music instead.

 

Anyone else fancy doing this with me? 😃 We can use this thread to keep track.

[Fierce Poodle]

I will certainly give it a go. Fairly confident I can manage an album a week although like yourself I do have a fuck tonne of podcasts on the go.

[Jamie John]

3 minutes ago, Fierce Poodle said:

I will certainly give it a go. Fairly confident I can manage an album a week although like yourself I do have a fuck tonne of podcasts on the go.

 

I'm going to keep TCGS and The Back Page as my weekly listens, but then dip into others only as and when I have the time, or if the weekly topic piques my interest. At some points this year I've listened to 5 different gaming podcasts each week, most of which repeat the same things, so I need to knock that on the head a bit.

[Stanley]

I’m in! 

[Quest]

I listen to a new (to me) record pretty much every day, but I'm not sure I have the time or energy to write down my thoughts about all of them. Maybe I could just pick the most interesting one each week or something.

 

 

[Stanley]

Just write anything, it’s doesn’t matter, music is all about feeling. Let’s start a revolution 

[Jamie John]

It's the new year, so time to get started. This week's album will be The Car by Arctic Monkeys (2022).

 

 

I love the Arctic Monkeys' first couple of albums and would class their debut, especially, as one of the formative records of my early teenage years. I've seen them live a few times now. I can't say I enjoyed Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (2018) much, however, and, from what I've read, this has a similar sound, so we'll see. They're supposed to have turned into 'Lounge Lizards', although I don't really know what that means, so this will be a journey of discovery! I'll check in again with my thoughts later this week.

 

What's everyone else starting off the year with?

[Darren]

On 31/12/2022 at 08:14, Quest said:

I listen to a new (to me) record pretty much every day, but I'm not sure I have the time or energy to write down my thoughts about all of them. Maybe I could just pick the most interesting one each week or something.

 

 

I’m the same (work days at least) so I’ll try to do the same at the end of every week.

[BlackHoodedCrow]

10 hours ago, Jamie John said:

This week's album will be The Car by Arctic Monkeys (2018).

 

2018 ? You got hold of that album before the rest of us. 😂

[Jamie John]

6 minutes ago, BlackHoodedCrow said:

 

2018 ? You got hold of that album before the rest of us. 😂

 

Whoops! That was the date of their album before this one. Edited.

[Corranga]

This sounds good, but as I don’t actively subscribe to any music services (I have Amazon prime so can listen to artists ‘and similar music’ which sometimes helps but often I end up with genre or artists I know inside out).  Basically new music discovery for me is done the old fashioned way, I buy a CD and give it a spin. Perhaps I can sort of combine this with the charity shop CDs I pick up or something.

 

A few years ago I had a couple of Spotify trials giving me a year or so for free and started working my way through a top 500 albums of all time list, which was a decent way to find new stuff, but I couldn’t be bothered / didn’t have the time to document stuff. I gave up after about 112 albums as I found I generally already knew the ones I liked and didn’t like the ones I thought I wouldn’t like 😅

[Jamie John]

Charity shop lucky dip sounds good, @Corranga.

[Stanley]

Ok so it’s the New Year, need something to bring you down, level you out, get you in the vibe? Look no further.

 

Luke Una Presents É Soul Cultura

 

 

Lost gems and nuggets galore, here’s the press release which says it’s better than I can.

Quote

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo. Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of “E-Soul Cultura”. 

It’s best described by Luke himself, who writes: “As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura. Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro-spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B-sides, £1 bargain-bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33BPM pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin jazz dancing in outer-space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul-de-sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again.” 

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene, and later Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to E soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ cultural landscape. 

Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM has captured imaginations and has already become a cult four hour must-listen monthly journey with fans all over the world. Today Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing scene, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.

Track listing

 

1. Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti – Eva 

2. Chêne noir - Le Train

3. Metropolis – Every Time I See Him 

4. The Brand New Heavies Featuring N'Dea Davenport – Stay This Way (The Lunar Dub) 

5. Typesun - The P.L. (Extended Edit) 

6. King Errisson - Space Queen

7. Yusef Lateef - Robot Man 

8. Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau, Henri Texier - Le Cyclope

9. Airto Moreira - O Galho Da Roseira (The Branches Of The Rose Tree) 

10. Francisco - Waché 

11. Nar'Chiveol - Apocalypse Now Ho 

12. On - Southern freeez 

13. Soylent Green - After All

14. Crooked Man - B&E

15. Michael J. Blood & Samizdat – Love Locked

 

Listen/buy (bandcamp)

 

Listen on Apple

 

Spotify

 

 

[Jamie John]

That sounds great from the preview, @Stanley. I might check it out myself. Be interested to hear your thoughts on it once you've given it a listen.

[Stanley]

It’s superb, I’ve listened to it a couple of times now. An early highlight for me was The Brand New Heavies dub - I used to listen to a lot of soul & funk around that time, but also went to a lot of acid house nights and that record is like the connective tissue that links the two. 
 

On’s Southern Freeez is a great version of the classic, and the one I always refer to with that song now over the original. It’s deeper and more house. 
 

Lots of stuff on here I ain’t heard before - Metropolis- Every Time I See Him is a downtown soul funk groover of some order of magnitude, check that one out - whack up the volume and dance to that sucker.

 

This ain’t a compilation to be analysing too much, that’s all been done for us via the incredible curation. Every track is a winner and totally fits my mood right now which is that of optimism and creativity. 
 

I have a few more of these compilations to listen to having got them as Christmas presents, so expect a few more 
 

 

 

[Fierce Poodle]

3 hours ago, Stanley said:

Ok so it’s the New Year, need something to bring you down, level you out, get you in the vibe? Look no further.

 

Luke Una Presents É Soul Cultura

 

 

Lost gems and nuggets galore, here’s the press release which says it’s better than I can.

Track listing

 

1. Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti – Eva 

2. Chêne noir - Le Train

3. Metropolis – Every Time I See Him 

4. The Brand New Heavies Featuring N'Dea Davenport – Stay This Way (The Lunar Dub) 

5. Typesun - The P.L. (Extended Edit) 

6. King Errisson - Space Queen

7. Yusef Lateef - Robot Man 

8. Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau, Henri Texier - Le Cyclope

9. Airto Moreira - O Galho Da Roseira (The Branches Of The Rose Tree) 

10. Francisco - Waché 

11. Nar'Chiveol - Apocalypse Now Ho 

12. On - Southern freeez 

13. Soylent Green - After All

14. Crooked Man - B&E

15. Michael J. Blood & Samizdat – Love Locked

 

Listen/buy (bandcamp)

 

Listen on Apple

 

Spotify

 

 

This sounds ace, I’ll give it a spin this week.

[acidbearboy]

1/52 - Junior Boys - Waiting Game (2022) Spotify  Bandcamp

Best album I've heard for a while. Quite a departure from their previous material, which was more upbeat. This one is more of a mood piece, with a mixture of songs with vocals and ambient instrumentals. Some background info on the albums creation and production in the press release. 

 

#quiet #contemplative #healing #dreamy #synth-pop #ambient

 

Fave tracks:

Night Walk - those synth pads at 2:40 and 4:22

 

Samba On Sama

 

 

[Darren]

This week's new-ish albums (all from late 2022):

 

1. Special Interest - Endure

 

 

My album of the week is Special Interest's Endure. I find it virtually impossible to describe, a bit dancy, a bit rocky, a bit noisy, a bit electronic-y, a bit of all sorts really, mixed together into a glorious raucous chaotic whole. I'd love to see them live, I imagine it's absolute mayhem. It reminds me of hearing Revolting Cocks' Beers Steers & Queers album for the first time thirty years ago, and I mean that in a very good way.

 

2. Larkin Poe - Blood Harmony

 

This is straightforward American southern blues rock but done really well. They're sisters hence the title, but it's not the harmonies that really shine, it's their guitar playing. After just a few listens several songs are already earworms.

 

3. Veps - Oslo Park

 

Jangly indie goodness, nothing particularly original but again just well executed.

 

4. Skullcrusher - Quiet the Room

 

Don't be fooled by the name - this is hazy, verging on ambient, dream-folk-pop with just a hint of something lurking under the surface.

[MW_Jimmy]

I'll join in and see if I can keep it going too. My rules are it has to be  an artist that I have never heard an album from before (ie: Weg Leg I know of, and have probably heard a song from, but not an album) but more ideally it will be a brand new artist for my listening.

 

1 - piri & tommy - froge.mp3 (light drum and bass garage pop)

 

Saw them on the BBC Sounds of 2023 list. Good background listen for the vibes and reminded me a bit of PS1 demo discs and Katy B/Alunageorge. Pretty heavy vocoder usage. Beachin was my favourite as most dnb and dreamy.

 

 

[Jamie John]

On 01/01/2023 at 11:59, Jamie John said:

The Car by Arctic Monkeys (2022)

 

I've listened to this a lot over the last six days, in lots of different settings - in the car (fittingly), in the background, through my speakers, through my good headphones in dedicated listening sessions with no distractions - and as much as I've willed myself to fall in love with it, I'll admit to not quite managing it. I've 'Liked' a handful of the tracks on Spotify, but I'm not entirely convinced by any of them, to be honest, and it's telling that my favourite of the ones that I have liked is the most reminiscent of the band's sound circa AM.

 

I think it's Turner's voice that's the problem. It just sounds too affected, like he's putting on an accent, and I can't quite deal with it. I'm not sure if the impenetrably ambiguous lyrics help, either - there's a frankness and a transparency to the band's other stuff that I've always found refreshing, but this seems to be complete arcane by comparison. The actual music I like - the strings are often beautiful - although most of the time I'm willing the songs to take off a bit more than they do.

 

Liked tracks: 5/10

 

Best track: #3: 'Sculptures of Anything Goes'

 

---

 

Next up: (#2/52) Hellfire by Black Midi (2022)

 

 

This is number 2 on Rllmuk's very own albums of the year list. I've not listened to it yet and don't know much about it, although I have heard @elmo mention it a few times on TCGS and the Patreon bonus show in the same breath as Ants From Up There, which was by far my favourite album last year, so I'm expecting great things. The album art is cool, at least.

[MW_Jimmy]

2 - Nu Genea - Bar Mediterraneo (World Music Balearic)

 

Discovered via Gerd Janson Track IDs Spotify playlist

 

Groovy and rhythmic this looks to be a musical routes project from two DJs from Napoli (I think!). Track 2 is a super disco track with two breaks (reminding a lot of Rupa Disco Jazz). Track 7 is my other favourite with children chanting over a percussive rhythm. Oh! Way! Oh! Way! *keyboard break*. Good stuff!

 

 

 

[acidbearboy]

2/52 - Koreless - Agor (2021) Spotify. Bandcamp

This was in my Spotify library but I couldn’t remember what it was like. I’ve given it quite a few listens this week and it has really grown on me. Calling it glitchy electronica is under selling it slightly. Like much of the album, the opener Yonder is beatless, but this is not ambient music. The dynamics constantly switch between loud and soft; with big (almost Trance-like) synth stabs and angelic voice samples sitting on top of deep bass pads. Black Rainbow is a highlight, followed by the complimentary Primes. White Picket Fence and Act(s) work together in a similar fashion. It’s not until track six Joy Squad that we get a rhythm track, but even so, I don’t think there’s a kick drum there. Likewise, track eight Shellshock has a driving rhythm to it, but it’s all done with the synths and some hi-hats lower in the mix. Unfortunately the last two tracks let the album down, which is a shame as everything flows really nicely up until that point. 

 

Other records that I’m reminded of whilst listening to this: The glitch effects from BT’s This Binary Universe. 

The trance-y overtones from Sasha’s Airdrawndagger. The beatless rhythms from Barker’s Debiasing EP. The big synths from Dorian Concept’s Joined Ends. Plus a hint of the Ico soundtrack in a couple of places!

 

Favourite track - Black Rainbow (crank it up loud and let it wash over you)

 

#synthetic #glitchy #deep #ethereal #dynamic

[ZOK]

On 02/01/2023 at 11:18, Stanley said:

On’s Southern Freeez is a great version of the classic, and the one I always refer to with that song now over the original. It’s deeper and more house. 

This has made me so upset and angry, I barely know where to begin.

[Stanley]

36 minutes ago, ZOK said:

This has made me so upset and angry, I barely know where to begin.

Well you might as well say something! 

[ZOK]

11 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Well you might as well say something! 

Southern Freeze is one of the greatest soul tracks ever made, and without any shadow of a doubt the greatest track to be spawned by the Brit funk movement. It’s a multi-layered work of pure wonder - to think that a bunch of kids could come up with something so staggering in its sheer and dazzling perfection that it remains as fresh as a daisy and killing dancefloors forty years later, it almost makes me cry, I’m just so proud of them. It’s touchstone music.

 

That cover…oh lord. It’s like comparing a slice of heaven with a slice of pizza. If you like it, fair enough, and it’s certainly not without its workmanlike charms…but I am aghast that anyone would say they prefer that over the original.

 

Aghast.

[Stanley]

Fair enough! 

[Stanley]

That reminds me I need to do my album for this week, it’s Nilüfer Yanya.

 

As an aside I have my 9 year old daughter also doing this each week which contributes towards her pocket money, here’s her first one.

Quote

Review for super trouper £1.00

Artist  ABBA

 1st song Super trouper loved it but couldn’t understand some of the words.9/10

2nd song the winner takes it all . Really liked it nice and slow and calming, quite long.7/10

3rd song on and on and on. Liked the song but some lyrics were weird.
Probably favourite song in album. 100/10

4th song andante, andante. Liked it the other people at points singing with her sounded good in unison but I don’t know what andante, andante means.

5th song me and I LOVED IT 10/10

6th song happy new year very nice lyrics but a bit too slow at the start but I loved the ends.10/10

7th song  our last summer didn’t like it as much as the other ones but wasn’t bad bits were very good. 9/10

8th song  the piper very dramatic at the start then it becomes  louder and  a bit Scottish.   8/10

9th song lay all your love on me start was very snazzy good lyrics . 8/10

10th song the way old friends do   It was quite Scottish but not the best. 5/10

11th song Elaine. Very good great lyrics.  Loved it 7/10

Thanks

 

[Darren]

Her scoring system is all over the place! Wasn't bad - 9/10. Loved it - 7/10. A career in games journalism awaits.

 

But that shortcoming can be completely ignored in favour of her revolutionary approach of using Scottishness as a measurement of the quality of Abba songs. Loved it 10/10

[ZOK]

Yes it’s great, she’s got very good taste. She probably already knows, but the most ABBA section in any ABBA song happens in Super Trouper, eighteen seconds from 2:59 - you can use them as a Rosetta Stone to decipher their entire genius.

[Art Vandelay]

Glad Luke Una is finally having his time in the sun, the man is a national treasure. That compilation is a corker too.