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❤ Eevee's Best of 2015 ❤
Member Since: 2/17/2012
Posts: 33,611
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Quote:
Originally posted by Ewan Chaos
What does PC music mean by the way? I still don't know and everyone is tossing this phrase around so much nowadays.
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Yeah it is a label that has a unique sound. Sophie isn't on the label but he's like a frequent collaborator.
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 24,463
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I keep seeing praise for Viet Cong so i'm gonna check their album out. I liked the couple of songs they released.
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Member Since: 11/18/2011
Posts: 5,396
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eeveelution
I think it's a label, don't quote me on that though. They all have that sort of bubblegum pop sound with the pitch shifted vocals.
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Originally posted by madonnas
Yeah it is a label that has a unique sound. Sophie isn't on the label but he's like a frequent collaborator.
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Ooooooo okay thanks guys. I'll look into it more sometime.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 12,760
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The most recent addition to my list, I only got around to hearing this about a month ago when I saw it was making a bunch of year end lists and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I def wasn't disappointed. I was pretty surprised at how accessible the album was, there were plenty of hooks to keep my attention. But as I listened to it over and over and paid more attention to the lyrics it dawned on me what a cold, hopeless album this is. Vince doesn't skirt around the point at all and addresses issues such as drug dealing and addiction without flinching. My favourite aspect of Summertime '06 is definitely the production, which is stellar on all of the album's tracks and always compliments Vince's lyrics very well, particularly the bleak, almost sinister beats on highlights "Surf" and "Like It Is". Meanwhile, the cowbells and haunting screeches and moans on "Jump Off the Roof" culminate in a very intense atmosphere. Over the course of an hour, perhaps some songs feel less essential than others, but nothing on here is bad and it all makes for a very rewarding listen.
Listen: "Jump off the Roof"
Chvrches have yet to release a bad song. Let's just get that out of the way. Granted, they only have two albums, but the quality control is still very impressive. At worst the songs feel slightly superfluous ("Empty Threat", "Under the Tide") but in every song there still a strong hook or a shiny synth to keep me interested. Every Open Eye seems to be somewhat of a sophomore slump for most people but for me it's just more of the same, just like their debut it's a nice, polished synthpop album. Chvrches haven't necessarily made drastic changes in their sound so much as they have refined it. For example, the slower songs are much more memorable on this album than on The Bones of What You Believe: "Down Side of Me" and "Follow You" are two of the album's standouts, the latter and the excellent "High Enough to Carry You Over" also make use of the male vocalist whereas on the debut his leads felt like a slightly forced change in formula that no one particularly wanted or asked for. Most importantly, Chvrches provided perhaps the year's biggest ANTHEM in the album's best track, "Bury It". With its razor-sharp synths and inspiring chant of "bury it and rise above!", it feels especially relevant as we reach the new year. I really feel like rising above 2015 ,which was a pretty **** year for me. The music was good though!
Listen: "Bury It"
There seem to be two types of people re: Divers: those that think it's amazing and one of the best albums of the year and those who were disappointed and think it's her worst yet. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. It's probably the Joanna album I'm most familiar with (it's the only one on my iPod!), yet it's probably my least favourite of her albums. It's certainly the one which has grown on me the least. While it took months for most of the tracks on Have One on Me to unravel and reveal their excellence to me, my opinions on Divers' 11 tracks are more or less the same as on first listen, for better or for worse. She certainly couldn't have made an album any more ambitions than the triple disc Have One on Me, so I definitely appreciate how accessible Divers is: it's the Joanna album you could play to your friends and family without them turning it off and/or falling asleep. Yet somehow it manages to maintain the intricacies of her more ambitions records, which is impressive. You can definitely tell that Joanna is a bit of a perfectionist and stressed for months making sure that every detail of each song was perfect, which is important as it's amazing how little details can really elevate a song, such as the way she drags out "the city is goooooooooooone" in "Sapokanikan" or the glittering synths that emerge in the second half of "You Will Not Take My Heart Alive". While none of the songs on Divers have stories that captivate me as much as "Monkey & Bear" or move me as much as "Baby Birch" and "You and Me, Bess", they are still excellently written, particularly the title track. So yeah, I don't love the record nor do i think it's a disappointment: I think it's a very strong album from a truly one of a kind artist.
Listen: "You Will Not Take My Heart Alive"
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 2,151
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This list is flawless omg, we practically have the same taste
Kelela, twigs, Bjork, Miguel, Róisín Murphy, Jamie xx, Grimes
Feel free to czech out my list qirls
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 2,151
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CHVRCHES too
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Member Since: 5/23/2007
Posts: 65,087
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CHVRCHES love their music
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Member Since: 8/6/2015
Posts: 5,766
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Every Open Eye isn't a bad album, it just had no replay value for me. Clearest Blue, High Enough to Carry You Over and Bury It though
I've checked Vince's album recently and it was really good, just wish it had been a bit shorter (the irony when my #1 is a 24-minute song, nn), and I obvs stan for Divers, however, I find it kind of strange that it has a higher metascore than both HOOM and Ys.
I hope 2016 will be better for you
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Member Since: 1/16/2011
Posts: 24,638
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I love CHVRCHES but I still need to listen to their new album
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 24,463
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Summertime 06 is definitely one of the best hip hop albums this year
I didn't like Chvrches's new album as much as everyone else did. Their album was alright though.
Divers was new for me, but overall enjoyable.
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Member Since: 10/28/2011
Posts: 5,786
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f agreed on divers. sapokanikan and time as a symptom are like perfection though and are among my favs from her
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Member Since: 10/8/2009
Posts: 8,118
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CHVRCHES
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Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eeveelution
d, what joke? I used to love Parks and Rec.
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Leslie (Around 1:20): Please enjoy a tour from Lesbian Afro Norwegian Funk Duo Nefertiti's fjord
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Ibeyi is a duo comprised of French-Cuban twins Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Díaz who sing in both English and the traditional Nigerian language of Yoruba.
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The adjectives just reminded me of that joke.
Anyway, happy to see Vince here! Summertime '06 was my favorite Hip-hop album I really like how he communicated the intent of the album, and I find it endlessly listenable.
Haven't checked out the Chvrches in full, or Joanna, but I loved Have One On Me so I have a feeling Divers would be great.
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Member Since: 12/14/2011
Posts: 21,274
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Yehh Vince was just so intense in a good way and agreed on Every Open Eye, I think they reeled some of the extra in for good effect
All these obstacles to me listening to Divers SMH, her voice, the (previously) long songs, the lack of streaming options. I think we're boutta move past em though
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 12,760
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Thanks for the comments everyone xoxo
More albums coming shortly.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 12,760
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 12,760
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Perhaps it's more 'pretentious' than her previous albums, but Hairless Toys is still excellent. With eight tracks after an absence of as many years, the album definitely favours quality over quantity, as there's more detail and precision in the eight tracks here than on certain albums with treble the amount of songs. I love how the best songs on the album, such as "House of Glass" and "Exploitation" take their time to unfold and really evolve over their run time. The latter is is over nine minutes long and it really takes some serious skill to keep a song that length from from dragging or becoming repetitive, but every second of "Exploitation" is vital. Other tracks on the album take real departures from the electropop of Overpowered. "Exile" is a spare, almost- Country influenced song while "Hairless Toys (Gotta Hurt)" makes up for it's ridiculous title by being perhaps her warmest, most intimate song to date as she reassures someone over an instrumental that reminds me of Vespertine era Bjork. While I still prefer Overpowered and maybe even Ruby Blue to Hairless Toys, I definitely appreciate how she changed up her sound and didn't just try to recreate her past work. Just don't take eight years next time sis!
Listen: "Exploitation"
**** Annie, Tove (both of them) and especially Susanne Somethingorother, the best Scandinavian pop of 2015 came from these twins. I have been checking for them ever since I heard the flawless "Julian" which was (dream) pop perfection. I only fell in love even more once they covered Tame Impala and even managed to make Daft Punk bearable! Their long awaited debut did not disappoint. The girls served bops with the immaculately produced opener "Everything We Touch" and then "Games for Girls" which made Robyn's career irrelevant. But the best songs are the slower numbers: "Angels (Above Me)" is the closest thing to a power ballad they have released and it works excellently. Later on, the glacial "Wilder Than Wind" proves they have perfected the dream-pop that made them famous and it's apparently their musician father's favourite track too. The one thing holding the record back is that their vocals are kind of, for want of a better word, dead-sounding. I don't know if it's the language barrier or the fact that they sing in unison, but the emotion required for some tracks just isn't there, which sells them a little short. This does work in their own favour occasionally though, "Hard for a Man" is a vaguely feminist song about those ~nice guys~ who blame women for their own misgivings, and the twins provide the perfect kind of cold, sarcastic delivery the track needs.
Listen: "Julian"
"Unstoppable" is about the most warm welcome to an album I've heard all year, a really uplifting song about how limitless you can feel in a relationship. But the album doesn't run out of steam at all with Lianne proving that she can craft uptempo soul driven songs ("What You Won't Do") just as well as wistful romantic ballads ("Wonderful"). The album still manages to remain cohesive though, it's all held together by Lianne's wonderful vocals. She has a lovely, rich voice that seems to have come on leaps and bounds since 2012's Is Your Love Big Enough? She makes singing seem like the must fun and effortless thing in the world, but doesn't feel the need to over-sing even though she definitely could if she wanted to. My only complaint would be that Blood feels a little safe, the record dips into several genres without committing to them and she doesn't really leave her comfort zone, (think: 25). At least, that's what I thought on first listen. When I got to track 9, "Never Get Enough". It started out as a pleasant bossa-nova leaning track, but then it got to that chorus and I took it all back. With distorted vocals and fuzzy guitars, it would be better suited on some indie rock album. But while the track sticks out like a sore thumb, the risk pays off as it perfectly captures the intensity of the lyrics and gives a new dimension to the record.
Listen: "Unstoppable"
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Member Since: 8/6/2015
Posts: 5,766
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Say Lou Lou are good! I have only listened to their album 3 or 4 times but really liked it. Still need to check Blood in full, so far I know Unstoppable, NGE and WYDD and all are v cute
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Member Since: 12/14/2011
Posts: 21,274
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these ~alt girls I've never listened to, just remember there was one song from Lianne this year that eye dug a bit. + Say Lou Lou had a couple I liked a lot on the rollout like waay back. let me check
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Member Since: 2/5/2014
Posts: 29,111
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I have heard of all of them, but haven't listened beyond one Lianne song (she's in like a room with a bunch of plants or something).
I really want to listen to the album though since I liked her first one.
Susanne Somethingorother though
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