2016 Musical Recordings

Playing this in the car as Alfie hunts Pokemon out the window...

The new GLOSS ep is the best thing I've heard in awhile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZlbahhoEIo

okay look is he completely taking the piss here or what

edit: this is growing on me 4 some reason

I still haven't heard the Burial/Zomby track, is it really that bad?

Really feeling this.

This has been a big part of my life 4 the last 2 days.

No Frank Ocean chatter is somewhat surprising, but maybe CHANNEL ORANGE hasn't stayed w/ U all as long as it has w/ me. Likely my top played album from the last 5 years. Sure do love BLOND(E) so far.

Frankly chatter of any kind is surprising.

I am looking forward to hearing this record but I have not yet.

That's a fair point. I don't put the energy into this place that it deserves. Shouldn't be surprised that others don't also.

So what do U think so far?

I don't know Frank Ocean makes boring music. Channel Orange was some sleep inducing shit and Blond doesn't change my opinion.

Channel Orange had some cool songs, but nothing about it made me think it was something that would stick with people in some big way. I'm surprised by the number of people I've seen indicate that Frank Ocean is a meaningful artist 4 them. "Super Rich Kids" was my jam. Maybe I'll try this one out, though the hype/drawn out release announcement is off-putting.

I think @bloach on Twitter was pretty accurate the other day when he said white people that live 40 minutes outside a major city R the only people that care about Frank Ocean.

Nick wrote:white people that live 40 minutes outside a major city

isn't this U, Nick? how did they miss U?

not attempting to be a burn

Dunk'd.

I'll remind the board that "Thinkin Bout U" got a ton of airplay on hip-hop/R&B radio that year, though it is a bit of an outlier on that record. Lord knows Power 92 never played "Forrest Gump" 4 instance.

chrondog wrote:

Nick wrote:white people that live 40 minutes outside a major city

isn't this U, Nick? how did they miss U?

not attempting to be a burn

I live 45 minutes outside the city but am my own man, dawg.

Channel Orange is probably my favorite album of the last five years. I've been waiting 4 this album 4 a while but I haven't listened to it yet. I'm kind of nervous about listening to it actually because I very rarely have an album that I'm actually excited about hearing nowadays and I really don't wanna be disappointed.

I'm glad it has the Michael K seal of approval.

Michael K. wrote:Likely my top played album from the last 5 years.

Ҩ wrote:Channel Orange is probably my favorite album of the last five years.

this is an interesting pov

blonde is totally gorgeous and worth getting into the deep listening chair 4 an afternoon

chrondog wrote:

Michael K. wrote:Likely my top played album from the last 5 years.

Ҩ wrote:Channel Orange is probably my favorite album of the last five years.

this is an interesting pov

I've never been very good at verbalizing why a particular album resonates with me. I wish I was better at it so that I could motivate others to feel as strongly about this man's output as I do.

One thing that impresses me is his ability to do a lot with very little, which comes out a lot in his features and tracks like 'Fertilizer'. Or this little snippet from the Kanye album, which is so simple and beautiful:


That comes through a lot in the new album as well. There aren't many tracks that stand out by themselves but taken together it moves around effortlessly and creates a very beautiful, dreamlike atmosphere to fall into.

Gone about 6-8 listens through this thing. 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. Ivy, Solo, Self Control, and White Ferrari stand out in a big way, sure, but the fabric of the album creates such a lush & textured emotional environment. Frank's voice is filled w/ unaffected pathos - not super surprising even that he references Elliott Smith on "Seigfried." The album reminds me a bit of Talk Talk in terms of the "fabric" of it. Something Mark Hollis said about not using two notes when U only need one or something like that seems like a blueprint adhered to here. Spare & ornate w/ the end result feeling like U could breathe on it and it might fall apart. I'm also swayed by the character of Frank Ocean. He's full of artifice - the convoluted roll out 4 the album, the sudden surprise release at the end, the pop up shops w/ condom-wrapped glossy mags, the bizarre back and forth between him and Wolfgang Tillmans, the attraction of people like Wolfgang Tillmans, the shrouded sexuality - but also has a bleeding heart emotionality to his songs, like in Bad Religion or White Ferrari. This music is compelling on its own - I can't get enough of the chorus of Solo or the layered vocals of Self Control - but it points in all kinds of interesting intellectual and emotional directions 4 me too. The layers stack up like an Antonioni or Bresson film 4 me - beautiful and ornate, but also quotidian and seemingly casual.

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'm a good 4 listens through and i think it's a pretty astonishing record. probably one of the best things i've heard in years.

"seigfried" starts out sounding like a fucking grouper song.

Michael K U lost your mind with those comparisons bro this is Frank Ocean we R talking about and this album is 10 minutes old.

Take Michael K's post and just switch all Blond references with Thugger's mixtape that dropped today, LOL.

The Talk Talk comparison? I don't think Blond is on that level necessarily - that is, my comparison wasn't quantitative - I just think there's a similar ethos at work, or affect. The music does something similar to me. No sweat if it doesn't do that to U.