2016 Musical Recordings

The Antonioni/Bresson thing might be too much though, u right.

Michael K. wrote:Wesley Morris said on Marketplace that Blond has a lot of music but very few songs, which is somewhat right. He said it like it a was proper critique, and my retort to that is this: fuck U Wesley Morris - U're shitty here and U were shitty on Any Given Wednesday the other night too.

aww, i like Wesley. he made some dipshit girls i know on Facebook go insane by ultra dismissively writing about Blake Lively: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/movies/in-the-shallows-blake-lively-surfs-in-kate-hudsons-wake.html

Michael K. wrote:FWIW, Jasper, "Super Rich Kids" is one of my least favorite songs on Channel ORANGE, so maybe we're after different things w/ Frank Ocean. I like his bounce and swagger, sure, but those aren't the reasons I listen to him.

i haven't thought about Frank too critically and never really did. i was introduced through the Odd Future association when i was obsessed with them in 2011. i really enjoyed Nostalgia, Ultra--i thought its musical approach was excitingly irreverent 4 someone who was singing over Coldplay and Eagles instrumentals. "Novacane" and "Swim Good" were fun singles and i really liked a bouncing track like "Lovecrimes" (though when i listened to those three songs yesterday they all sounded worse than i remember).

i was excited when Channel Orange dropped but it never grabbed me all the way through. "Pyramids" has some cool ideas, but it doesn't really work 4 me. Wesley's criticism rings true 4 me; lots of ideas, fewer composed songs. now that works with an artist 4 whom U really love the vibe and the "textures". i don't begrudge anyone 4 really enjoying an aesthetic, it's just not 4 me. i much prefer the songs with some austere songcraft like "Forest Gump" or "Super Rich Kids".

my favorite Frank thing at this point might be his chorus on "No Church in the Wild" from Watch the Throne

i'll check out Blonde

That's a great chorus. I think there's a case to be made that Ocean's trying to distance himself from that very chorus though - the exclusive wasn't through Tidal, but Apple, which is something a middle finger to Jay-Z, and the first track is called "Nikes" not "Adidas," which could be perceived as a fuck U to Kanye. I think I'm reiterating an argument I read at p4k here, but my point is that it seems like Frank Ocean himself is interested in those textures, in that non-song fabric, not the tunes. I personally am ok w/ that. Thrilled even. My least favorite part of Channel ORANGE is the song-to-song pastiche of it. There's a thematic that runs through it and ties everything together, but tracks exactly like Super Rich Kids and Forrest Gump - even though they're really good - just seem like sawngs to me. I'm definitely a sucker 4 the grandiloquent album statement, and Blond thoroughly smacks of that. I think the execution is damn close to perfect and the hooky bits stand in service to whole texture of thing rather than being encapsulated in stand-alone tunes.

Also, did U watch Wesley on last week's Any Given Wednesday? Really got in the way of Jon Favreau - the skinny, gay speechwriter, not the fat, sellout director - and Bill Simmons having a super interesting discussion about Obama.

i haven't seen Any Given Wednesday, The Ringer is terrible, and Simmons has reached ultimate levels of insufferability 4 me. RPI.

well ok then

I'm hoping when NFL starts again Simmons manages to make a slight comeback with Cousin Sal's picks because that podcast is horrible now.

Keepin It 1600 is fucking great though.

Michael K. wrote:The Antonioni/Bresson thing might be too much though, u right.

I liked this comparison and that was a great write-up. It made me appreciate both the album and Frank Ocean even more.

Thanks.

My recollection is that West offered to produce Ocean and Ocean said he wanted to do things himself. I don't think distancing oneself needs to be a middle finger.

Don't have much else at the moment other than I always thought "Novacane" was a fucking terrible song.

This album is the first piece of music that has actually affected me in over a year. I forgot how great of a feeling it is. I've spent the whole day chilling and just playing this over and over.

I honestly feel sorry 4 anyone who can't lose themselves in this.

Speaking of artists who've been written about with hyperbole, I am really enjoying two of the three new Bon Iver songs. This "33 God" and "22 (Over Soon)".

I listened to Blond a couple times on a flight earlier this week and the middle of the album does get crazy with the way he keeps layering on sounds and vocals and changing a songs "vibe" with the subtlest of changes.

Also, he made Andre sound like Andre again. Now I'm on my seventh listen which 4 an artist I've honestly found boring is confounding me. Even something like "Facebook Story" transitioning into "Close to U" and then "White Ferrari" is some serious prime Beach Boys level shit.

I've only heard like 4 albums, but this is the jam of the year so far:

King Creosote's new album Astronaut Meets Appleman is a pleasant surprise since I hadn't paid attention to a new album coming out from him.

I listened to Diamond Mine quite a bit when that came out but these songs R much more expansive and his singing is wonderful.

Nick wrote:
Also, he made Andre sound like Andre again.  

Well shit, maybe I should hear this popular 2016 album.

yes, U definitley should

Been going back to Eno's The Ship after not listening to it most of the summer. It is a very good album. But his version of "I'm Set Free" is just stunning. Like all the previous 40 minutes build to that.

http://thecaretaker.bandcamp.com/album/everywhere-at-the-end-of-time

THE CARETAKER IS RELEASING SIX NEW WORKS.

'Everywhere at the end of time' is a new and finite series exploring dementia, its advance and its totality.

Featuring the sounds from the journey The Caretaker will make after being diagnosed as having early onset dementia.

Is this really happening to him?

Looks like it. Wow.

Holy shit

Kirby has apparently just given his moniker The Caretaker “dementia.” Despite the ambiguous wording on Bandcamp, Kirby himself does not have dementia.

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/caretaker-diagnosed-dementia-release-six-works-recreating-its-progression-over-next-three-years

Funnily enough, I was basing my statement on the original Tiny Mix Tapes story. Sorry about that!