[noisereductions]

no.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

old radiohead is boring too

Really old Radiohead is SUPER boring.

But the Bends had "High & Dry," which is one of the best pop songs of the '90s. And it had "Street Spirit." And having lived through it, I promise you "Planet Telex" and "The Bends"... hell, the whole first half of the album... was anything but boring at the time.

As for Radiohead "proper" from '97-2010... I call big fat hairy bullshit on you. You're as wrong as they come.

But then again, you think Kanye'S "boring" and "shit" and what have you, but you like Future and Drake. Sooooo... much as I respect your literary opinions (how BOTNS coming by the way?), I think you're an extremely unreliable source when it comes to music.

[noisereductions]

I love The Bends beginning to end honestly. Love it. "Sulk," "Black Star," all those songs nobody talks about. I adore that album. Probably because it was the first Radiohead album I bought.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I love The Bends beginning to end honestly. Love it. "Sulk," "Black Star," all those songs nobody talks about. I adore that album. Probably because it was the first Radiohead album I bought.

Mine to brohammed. And it soundtracked my meeting and falling for my first *real* honest to God love. So it will always be special to me. But I can't stomach "Black Star" anymore. Yuck.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

Pitchfork on ATCQ's We Got it From Here...

"Nothing about this feels like a legacy cash-in; it feels like a legit A Tribe Called Quest album. We should be the ones thanking them."

Nailed it.

I think this album may have a legitimate shot at being their album of the year, actually. I predicted it would get a 9.0 or above rating. That means that it's one of the top rated new albums of the year. TLOP and Bon Iver's 22, A Million got the same rating... Coloring Book and A Moon Shaped Pool both got 9.1s, and since Coloring Book isn't entirely an album in every official sense of the word, and the rest of those artists have all been given album of the year honors before (Kanye twice ), I think Tribe has he best chance at the moment.

Also, it's their last opportunity to give ATCQ top honors.

Still not sure why they jizzed over the new Radiohead so much, but whatever.

I don't know about pfork but I'll say this... the new Tribe is without a question my favorite hip hop album of the year. It's like... Tribe and then... whatever else.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I don't know about pfork but I'll say this... the new Tribe is without a question my favorite hip hop album of the year. It's like... Tribe and then... whatever else.

Pablo's better in my book. Quite a bit better. As I said before, the highs are just so much higher. Neither album has any lows, but We Got it From Here feels more like a series of very high quality tracks, without very many "oh nuh uh" moments. That's not a bad thing. It's a tremendous album...

But it doesn't have anything like "Real Friends" or "FADE" or "Ultralight Beam."

More of an Automatic for the People kind of album. I don't know why, but ever since the early '90s I've associated strong albums that are solid and good throughout, but don't necessarily have any "OH SHIT" tracks with Automatic for the People.

At this point I've got to decide what I like better between Tribe and Chance. I love the FUCK out of We Got it From Here, and I couldn't have ever hoped for anything better, but as good and satisfying as it is, it can't quite compete with this year's peak releases, like Pablo and SIRENS.

Just one guy's opinion though.

[noisereductions]

for me it's got "oh shit tracks" though. Just me. But again... this is my favorite group going back what? 23 years? And I'm 35. So that's most of my life. I mean... I think it just MEANS more to me. No disrespect to Kanye or Chance or anyone. But just. You can't really compete for me. The fact that there's a new Tribe album and it's not a mess. It SOUNDS like Tribe. Dude. That's it for me.

[noisereductions]

btw, not to dwell, but I still don't think it's a double album. None of the physical copies are being advertised as "2CD" and it's only 60 mins. Not that it matters. We'll find out tomorrow I guess.

[louder]

Fuck what y'all said about Gambino earlier.

Yeah he wasn't that good in the past. But he's a brand new artist now and his new album is gonna be epic.

[louder]

"Mars, 31, said the album was inspired by his love for R&B acts like New Edition, Boyz II Men and Jodeci, as well as West Coast rap (DJ Quik came to the studio to give him a flexatone, the percussion instrument, to use on the album)."

"Mars says the trendy sound that some of his peers have adopted — downbeat, alternative R&B — isn't him."

I respect that a lot.

Sure Bruno might not be revolutionary by any means, but as a huge fan of 80's-90's R&B, I really enjoy this new album.. a lot of the rappers we all like don't bring anything new to the table either.

[louder]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I like Sia. I like the sound of her voice anyway. She can belt it. I don't own a single album, nor have I heard one beginning to end. But I do like all the singles she drops.

I agree that her voice is great but I can't really get into her music for the most part. Just bores me.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

btw, not to dwell, but I still don't think it's a double album. None of the physical copies are being advertised as "2CD" and it's only 60 mins. Not that it matters. We'll find out tomorrow I guess.

*shrug*

Look on iTunes. It's listed as two "discs" there. That's what I'm going from.

But you're right, it doesn't matter. "Double album" almost doesn't mean anything anymore. Since about '08/'09, albums marketed as "double" have often just been on one disc. Like the Flaming Lips' Embryonic. The whole concept surrounding that album was based on the Lips deconstructing classic doubles like White Album, the Wall, and Zen Arcade. It was called a double by all the reviewers and magazines. But... ain't not double album. It's one disc. Sure, it's two LP's, but what isn't?

You can fit a lot of shit on a CD, and with streaming and MP3s, forgot about it. No point. Double albums are aesthetic decisions at this point.

BUT... it's still showing up as "disc one" and "disc two" in iTunes. That's all I'm saying.

[noisereductions]

yeah more than anything I'm just curious why iTunes calls it disc 1 and 2 when the actual physical disc is singular:

https://www.discogs.com/A-Tribe-Call...elease/9373120

EDIT: The back artwork does call the tracklist "side a" and side b, but it's one actual disc.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

for me it's got "oh shit tracks" though. Just me. But again... this is my favorite group going back what? 23 years? And I'm 35. So that's most of my life. I mean... I think it just MEANS more to me. No disrespect to Kanye or Chance or anyone. But just. You can't really compete for me. The fact that there's a new Tribe album and it's not a mess. It SOUNDS like Tribe. Dude. That's it for me.

Fair enough man, and I feel you. Big time. Trust me. But while ATCQ is one of the first hip-hop groups I got into, and I love them and always will, they've never been my "favorite" band ... though they were probably my favorite hip-hop group before Wu-Tang Forever came out.

Sonic Youth is my favorite band of all time period, and if they were to put their differences aside and release a new album that was good and sounded like Sonic Youth, fuckin' A right, that shit would be my favorite album of the year no question, simply because it would be an answered prayer.

But in 2016, with SY gone, Kanye's my hands-down favorite artist in the world, and I waited three years for Pablo, and I've never listened to an album so much in one year, but it still hits me right in the nuts every single time I hear it. Plus, I finally saw him live touring behind this material, and it was magical. So it's really quite in the bag for him and has been since February 11.

That said, I think I prefer We Got it From Here... to Coloring Book. Because, yeah, it's new Tribe. And that's freaking HUGE.

[Severian]

Also, I think Tribe has successfully passed the Portishead test.

As far as I'm concerned, Portishead's Third is the gold standard for "reunion" alums, as it held onto the best bits of that extraordinary band's dynamic from their first two albums, but also veered into brand new, completely forward-thinking territory, and actually ended up being BETTER than their absolutely essential debut and self-titled follow-up.

Tribe has done something similar. Not *quite* as big on reinvention of course, and definitely not better (yet) than Midnight Marauders or Low End Theory, but the new album looks forward and pays homage to the past at the same time while managing to sound utterly fresh and downright necessary for the times we live in.

The album's only a week old, but I already rank it alongside D'Angelo's Black Messiah and Aphex Twin's SYRO... above My Bloody Valentine's m b v, and Mission of Burma's OnOffOn (if still below Third) on the hierarchy of "comeback" albums (for lack of a better word.)

It's simply the tits, and about that we can agree.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yeah more than anything I'm just curious why iTunes calls it disc 1 and 2 when the actual physical disc is singular:

https://www.discogs.com/A-Tribe-Call...elease/9373120

EDIT: The back artwork does call the tracklist "side a" and side b, but it's one actual disc.

Aesthetic choice then. No biggie. I'm glad it's one disc. Means I won't have to switch CDs when I'm listening to it. Not trying to argue. I was surprised that it was listed that way on iTunes too. Not only that, but when I bought it, it automatically sorted itself into two albums, which is ... well, kind of a pointless thing to do on iTunes, where one track just goes into the next.

Again... Shrug.

[noisereductions]

yeah, Third was great.

I love this Tribe cuz it sounds like Tribe but doesn't sound like they're forcing some nostalgic sound either. It's not an imitation of themselves. It's just them.

Forever the optimist, I'm still not ruling out a SY reunion.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by louder

Fuck what y'all said about Gambino earlier.

Yeah he wasn't that good in the past. But he's a brand new artist now and his new album is gonna be epic.

Calm down boyo. Maybe we're missing something absurdly awesome about the dude. I'll look into the new material if it'll make you feel better (no need with Bruno Mars, as I can count on that shit playing in Target every time I shop).

Don't get offended... like I got offended when you see inexplicably disappointed by TLOP and remained inexplicably disappointed for ¾ of a year (by the way, I'm almost afraid to ask, but do you still like it?)

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yeah, Third was great.

I love this Tribe cuz it sounds like Tribe but doesn't sound like they're forcing some nostalgic sound either. It's not an imitation of themselves. It's just them.

Agreed. In fact, I think it might actually be their most consistently A-game album yet. Their first three albums had moments that felt a bit childish and immature, even though for my money I'd still say they're a 9/10, 9.5/10, and 10/10 respectively. This one is just loaded with top shelf shit from everyone involved. Q-Tip and Phife, sure. No surprise there. But also Jacobi and the (uncredited at this point) sick contributions from Muhammad. Not to mention Busta sounding better than he has since the Coming, and Cons, KENDRICK, KANYE!!!! Even the licks by Jack White fit the bill perfectly (I like this version of White's hip-hop accompaniment better than I like his comparatively bloated and heavy handed work on Lemonade, btw) ... it's all quite seamless and very much what the doctor ordered.

Take a lesson, Wu-Tang.

Originally Posted by noisereductions

yeah, Third was great.

Forever the optimist, I'm still not ruling out a SY reunion.

I need to take optimism lessons from you.

Who knows though? Maybe the Trump election will kickstart something. If there's one thing Kim and Thurston hate more than each other at this point, it's radical right-wing political bullshit and socio-cultural injustice.

That would be sweet. A much needed cherry on top of the shit sundae that is the world circa 2016.

(New re-energized Fugazi album couldn't hurt either... but I'm setting myself up for heartbreak)

[noisereductions]

eh. I like political music as much as I like discussing politics on the internet. Which is not at all. I'd rather SY reunite to make dreamy violent swirls of sonic love (again).

I do think Spinhead is fantastic tho. Archival releases still make me very happy.