^^ yeah, pretty goddamn weird for a major label debut, even in the era when labels were willing to do anything for a dirty blonde dude in a sweater.

I don't listen to it much anymore, but there was a time when it was my favorite Beck album. I think it even had a resurgence a couple years ago. It's weird AF. Look at that cover... it's like the Eagles meets Metallica's Ride the Lightning. Unsettling image to be sure.

Beck is a moment. Despite all the crap he's released, he signaled the beginning of the end of purely guitar/bass/drum-driven alternative. Everyone from Radiohead to Xiu Xiu to fuckin' MIA probably owes him a massive debt.

Oh hey look! Something not from 1991-1997 alt rock radio!

;)

Love Kraftwerk, by the way. But who doesn't? Seriously. Does anyone here not love Kraftwerk? Like the Velvet Underground and Can, I kinda doubt that anyone who posts here and knows them doesn't love them.

love them. I love CAN too. I really like VU, (not "love" because I get bored by some of their songs)

I know YOU are not suggesting someone only talk about the same music all the time ;)

I appreciate them, but I don't like them, much less love them. The vast majority of their output either bores me or annoys me. But obviously I can appreciate their place in music history and there's some live footage I've almost been able to get into.

that's sort of me. Yeah. I feel like they are really interesting... to read about. But I've never really wanted to listen to one of their albums from beginning to end.

I do love the Velvet Underground, though. Big big time.

I like Can.

So yeah. I think outside of SY, I don't think it's really a safe bet to say that everyone posting here agrees on anything.

This is what drew me to the board initially. This thread is beautiful. So many different genres...but the one thing that drew us all here was SY.

Even so, I wonder how much each member loves SY. They almost always make my all-time top 5 if anyone ever asks me for my list, but I don't know if everyone else would rank them so highly.

I 100% consider SY my favorite band. It's been that way for close to 20 years now.

Damn. How often do you listen to them, though? Do you remember the last time you listened to an album?

Since 1986 SY has been my favorite rock band. Recently I find myself very conflicted as to whether that is still the case or whether it is the Butthole Surfers.

I listened to Evol on vinyl the other day and I turned it up so FUCKING LOUD!!!!!!

I have been listening to early Chuck Berry records, eearly Little Richard records, early Bo Diddley records, and early Jerry Lee Lewis records.

Funny. EVOL was the last one I listened to also. About a month ago. I think the volume was normal, however.

fairly regularly. At least monthly. And if I listen to them it's always a full album.

In the past few months I know I listened to Goo and Dirty in my car. Oh, Walls Have Ears as well. Actually come to think of it the Past & Present promo is in my car right now as we speak.

Generally speaking, once a year - usually around Autumn - I'll seriously listen to every single album (including major EP's, official bootlegs, SYR's, etc) in chronological order over a period of a few months.

I actually just finally got a hold of the Plato's Cave album they did w/ Mike Kelley too last week so I'll be listening to that soon as well.

Uh, Kanye?

Kanye Kanye Kanye, Kendrick. Aphex Twin Kanye Kanye — DJ Koze Nirvana Kanye Kanye. Flaming Lips? Kanye! Unwound, Kanyendrick.

Kendrickanyendrickanyephex.

Same. For about the same amount of time, really. Maybe, like, 17 years for me.

Some other guy with a big mouth is my favorite *current* artist. But my favorite band of all time is Sonic Youth. No question.

I only listen to SY once a month or so (at a guess) these days, but hats because I did them to death for a fucjibg decade and a half. I'm still blown away whenever I listen to BMR, Evol, Sister, Daydream Nation, Goo, Washing Mashine, ATL, Murray Street or Nurse. Just blown away. And those are just my favorites.

Yeah it's 17, 18 yrs for me.

#kanye

#kanyendrickanyephex. ;)

I didn't know there was a bigass new Martin Rev album out! Listening now.

I miss Alan Vega. :(

Built to Spill - There is No Enemy

This, and its successor Untethered Moon, sound like time capsules of underrated 90's era BTS.

Evan Dando - Baby I'm Bored (Deluxe Reissue)

When the weather warms up, I always give Its a Shame About Ray (undeniable classic pop rock), which prompted me to look into what Dando has been up to since 2009's lackluster covers lp Varshons. Turns out not much - but this 2003 solo release was given the reissue treatment by Fire Records. Great record IMO, check it out if you haven't heard it.

There's a deluxe edition of Baby I'm Bored? Woah. What's the bonus stuff? I love that album. And The Lemonheads in general.

Specifically "Carn Marth." What a blessed track!!!

I listened to the latest HELMET last night, I don't recommend you do the same.

the Elvis Costello cover is one of the worst songs I heard in a long time. Yes they really did an Elvis Costello cover

Still, I might go see them tomorrow. I need some loud noise in my ears

Yeah man, I listen to a bit of Dead to the World when it came out, and... yeesh.
But then it's not like they've been doing a great job recently. Or, like, since Aftertaste even... that album was not strong, and it's built around a kind of sound that was just omnipresent at the time in harder rock, making it largely forgettable..

They went from being this weird and melodically compelling jazzy/prog/stoner-metal band with definite chops and a unique sound to being a blueprint for an entire generation of terrible butt-rocky "alternative" cosplayers like — oh, let's see here... Chevelle, Stevendust, fucking Breaking Benjamin? Seether? Woof!

It's sad, because there was a time when Helmet was one of the more exciting bands on the mainstream periphery, with a nice sound that was sometimes chaotic, sometimes lean and mean as hell. "Unsung" sounds like a classic Black Sabbath track, with a gen x moan instead of a demented Ozzy wail. Betty is definitely my favorite album of theirs, and probably a classic in its own right. It's so weird. "Sam Hell" was, like, Ween-weird. "Milquetoast" just crushed it. "Vaccination" almost had an Unwound feel to it.

I guess Aftertaste wasn't all bad. "Pure" had a kind of rolling groove and borderline-emo chord progression that gave it some serious lift. That shit has certainly influenced modern "cool" metal bands like Defheaven. But all in all, I think Aftertaste was album where they lost it. And whoever the hell is in the band now besides Hamilton hasn't even tried to get it back.

They could have been better all around. I see them as kind of a casualty of the alternative boom. While Joshe Homme spent his time between Kyuss and QOTSA really teasing out a sound and approach that would be both traditional and exciting, pleasing enough to Kyuss faithfulls and immediate enough to get some airplay in a time that was basically a black hole for interesting radio rock music. Then he went on to become one of the biggest artists in the world... really just a few pop culture awareness points away from Jack White territory. But Page Hamilton took the exact opposite path. He started out with a bit of tradition filtered through a bizarro lens, and that lead to three pretty solid albums, but he didn't adapt or change anything, and he let his sound stagnate and become commonplace. Then he used his time off doing apparently fuckall, because he came back with a series of increasingly boring duds that sound indistinguishable from the duds his band inspired.

By the by, QOTSA's debut crushes everything in the Helmet discography, in my opinion.
And Shellac? Unwound? Forget about it.

man, I kind of forgot about Helmet. I haven't heard any of their output since. Hmm. Well technically I did get Unsung, though it had some b-sides and stuff I don't think it had new material, but still, so 2004 I guess was the last time I heard Helmet.

Devastating. Best "Betsy On The Roof" commited to tape.



Devastating... in a different way. :D

(still the greatest record ever)


(great unwashed - clean out of our minds)

K2 (James Ferraro) - Chameleon Ballet
https://oesbee.bandcamp.com/album/chameleon-ballet

Fun fact: this album's "Industrial Spy" is listed on the liner notes of Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga as being sampled on "Finer Feelings". However, the sample actually comes from a different African Anthem song, "Operator's Choice". Many people will be more familiar with this exact same sampled line ("Riddim fulla culture, y'all") from Public Enemy's "Welcome To The Terrordome", where it almost sounds like Flavor Flav is saying it.

This investigation has been brought to you exclusively by The Soup Nazi. Accept no imitations.

I didn't know that. Thanks Soup Nazi!

T-Swift's discography is back on Spotify. I know what I'm gonna be listening to. Haters be damned.

for the past week or so I've been back in that phase of wanting to hear nothing but Wilco all the time.

Pentagram - Relentless

One of those albums that doesn't stand up to too close a listen but if played with a bit too much bass on the EQ, and heard from another room so songs seem to bleed into one another, it transforms into an absolute monster.

these are the dark nights of the soul, castle perilous......

free improv...

Did you make this? If so, nice.

Also, nice cactus.