So What Are You Listening To?

[navelgazer]

Nightwish's "I Want My Tears Back"

http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858887080/

I'm going to dive into Sirenia next to find a really rocking tune I can listen to over and over and over again.  ;)

Edited April 29, 2018 by navelgazer

[JTMacc99]

On 2/27/2018 at 1:20 AM, BuyMoreAndSave said:

(I guess I probably should have posted this in the one-hit wonders thread, but this thread gets more responses.)

I don't think she really qualifies as a one hit wonder. It's just that one song was a huge hit. I actually enjoyed this performance from SNL:

[BuyMoreAndSave]

On 5/2/2018 at 2:33 PM, JTMacc99 said:

I don't think she really qualifies as a one hit wonder. It's just that one song was a huge hit. I actually enjoyed this performance from SNL:

 

To the average person she is. Most people have no idea of any of the music she made besides Call Me Maybe, despite the fact that she is basically a song factory.

[SunnyBeBe]

I actually don't recall this song from back when, but, just loved it when I heard it on the radio today.  I just love it. 

[Silver Raven]

Childish Gambino, "This is America".  Oh, my God.

[cpcathy]

I knew Donald Glover was hilarious and talented, but now I know he's an artist.

[Yokosmom]

I think that "This is America" is amazing, and I'm not even much of a fan of that type of music.

[DarkRaichu]

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

[GaT]

4 hours ago, DarkRaichu said:

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

I read your comment & now that song is stuck in my head. Damn it.

[GaT]

A lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day ...

 

Yeah, still a problem.
 

[BuyMoreAndSave]

Apparently I've become a middle aged dad (I'm a 20-something female whose main taste in music is grunge/metal) because I recently got into Steely Dan and Paul Simon. My parents used to listen to these in my childhood and I kind of forgot they existed and haven't heard them in over 15 years until recently.

I feel sad that people have forgotten about this song and album. It's one of those songs that just describes my life.

 

I re-discovered the Graceland album because my neighbors were blasting it really loudly in the backyard a couple of weeks ago. Some of the songs on this album are like on a whole other level of music.

 

Also just an overall question: how do people not get tired of songs about love and/or partying? I mean don't get me wrong, I like plenty of songs about those topics. But there's a Youtube channel I found that does countdowns of the 100 top popular songs from each year and like over 90% of them are about love or partying (most being about love). It's just weird that we have focused on this one thing, romantic love, when there's so much else out there to write about and so many other experiences that happen in life. I know Taylor Swift gets criticized a lot for this but I'm just going to use her as an example (I'm a fan of her BTW), Reputation could have been an album about all the angst she was experiencing and disillusionment with fame and the issues with being at her level of recognition, but instead it was yet another album about relationships, and she only referenced herself outside the context of a relationship obliquely. Like she has so much going on in her life and yet this one part of her life is what the vast majority of her songs are about, probably to appeal to the mass market which I don't understand how they aren't sick of all these love songs yet.

[2727]

I've been digging up some oldies this week. The 60s were such a varied musical decade with a lot holdover sock hop pop from the 50s mixed in with The Doors and Stones. I've been directing Alexa to play the holdover stuff.

Does this sound kind of stalkerish now? It was so innocent at the time -- ah, unrequited crushes.

Edited May 12, 2018 by 2727

[AgentRXS]

 

Ok, I know this is wrong on socio-political level and creating memes around the video gives in to the point Donald was trying to make. However, the 1st minute of Call Me Maybe fits SO well over the 1st minute of this video that I can't help that but feel like its some kind of Easter Egg planted by Donald. It fits perfectly with his sense of humor.

[navelgazer]

Into the way-back machine and I found someone who nicely uploaded Pat Benatar's full-length albums onto the YouTube.  The only song I skip on "Innamorata" is "Papa's Roses."

ETA:  Still on the Pat Benatar kick, this time "Wide Awake in Dreamland."  The earworm that brought me back to her this time was "Cerebral Man," but I always stick around for "Too Long a Soldier," one of the best anti-war songs I've ever heard. 

Edited May 23, 2018 by navelgazer

[GaT]

Another oldie I can't stop listening to - Across The River by Bruce Hornsby

 

[aradia22]

I haven't had the brain space to listen to a new album until today. I put on Kacey Musgraves' new album, Golden Hour, and I have to say... I was underwhelmed. I don't know what I was expecting. I've liked but haven't loved Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material. I'd say I like the overall vibe of the first one better but the second one has more standouts. This one was just very... blah. I don't dislike it but it barely makes an impression. This is the kind of music that comes up on your Pandora station that you don't bother to reject. It's very average singer songwriter with a little bit of country production/instruments and some dreamy effects layered on top. Also, I like a love song but I think part of what I found so boring was all the love songs. "Love Is a Wild Thing" was a bit of turning point where things got a little more interesting. "Space Cowboy" had some nice, specific lyrics. I liked the conceit. I think she's held back a little by her vocal ability. I can imagine someone with powerhouse vocals doing an amazing cover of this song. "Velvet Elvis" was interesting. It wasn't quite a pop song. I liked the beat. But she still sounded tired. It was emotionally bland and vocally she didn't sound on top of it as much as dragging behind. I feel like this kind of song should go Lady Gaga (like the Joanne album) or Lana del Rey. This middle ground just feels like it's exposing vocal weaknesses. "Wonder Woman" was... fine. But I've heard so many songs at this point do the superhero thing better. Off the top of my head "Superman" by Ivory Layne and "Superwoman" by Rebecca Ferguson are so much more dynamic. "High Horse" was another attempt at more of a pop song. It had a bit of a soft disco vibe to me. I didn't like the lyrics as much as Space Cowboy. (Seriously, are all of these female singer songwriters watching Westerns? Why do they only know John Wayne? This is as weird to me as all the songs that kept referencing Mick Jagger.) I liked the groove because I like a dance song and I think the production played well on her strengths/limits of her vocals though I wouldn't want her to go in this direction permanently. "Golden Hour" was pleasant but it was an excellent example of what's wrong with her vocals and also the melody. She's singing about being in love and happy and she sounds just as tired and sad. Her world doesn't sound like it's on fire unless it's in one of those movies where everything slowly burns to the ground in an acid trippy nuclear apocalypse. "Rainbow" was a fine piano ballad. But again, it sounds way too sad to be inspirational. 

I don't know. If I want a dreamy album, I prefer Leighton Meester's. This one is less dreamy and atmospheric and more sleepy. 

tl;dr I like "Space Cowboy" but I'm hoping a better singer does a cover. "Wonder Woman" and "High Horse" were decent. Not that impressed with the rest of it.

[aradia22]

I sat down and listened to Lily Allen's new album No Shame today. It's great. It's not amazing but it's great. I just find popular music rather depressing lately and obviously I wasn't expecting anything different from a breakup album so I can't knock it for that. But she's still a great songwriter and I like her style. I think she managed to find a way to fit into the current dreary popscape without losing her effortless gift for lyrics. The lyrics are almost like diary entries. Totally honest and open. It's just that... while they're good there's only so much I can listen to these Lily Allen, Cardi B, Beyonce, etc. cheating songs. But it's like an Adele album that's all "Someone Like You" and "Hello." It wears you down. Also some of the lyrics get lost in the dreamy, breathy, mushmouthed style of delivery. But I knew what I was getting into and I don't mind one really focused album in the middle of an artist's larger body of work. I appreciated "Trigger Bang" and "Three" and "Everything to Feel Something" and "My One" for breaking up the monotony of breakup songs even if I liked the breakup songs better. Of the non-breakup songs I liked "Pushing Up Daisies" the best. "Cake" was OK too but no "Hard Out Here" or even as inspiring as a Katy Perry anthem. It was a bit too chill. Anyway, I appreciated that the non-breakup songs reflected a bigger picture (drug use, parental abandonment, etc.) beyond the specifics of their relationship. It definitely feels like there was a lot of self-examination, if not therapy that went into this album. A new Lily Allen album is always worth listening to. 

[BuyMoreAndSave]

Alice in Chains still brings it after all these years, even without Layne (btw I also saw them live in 2016 and they were fantastic). My favorite band of all time!

[SunnyBeBe]

On 5/18/2018 at 9:18 PM, aradia22 said:

I haven't had the brain space to listen to a new album until today. I put on Kacey Musgraves' new album, Golden Hour, and I have to say... I was underwhelmed. I don't know what I was expecting. I've liked but haven't loved Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material. I'd say I like the overall vibe of the first one better but the second one has more standouts. This one was just very... blah. I don't dislike it but it barely makes an impression. This is the kind of music that comes up on your Pandora station that you don't bother to reject. It's very average singer songwriter with a little bit of country production/instruments and some dreamy effects layered on top. Also, I like a love song but I think part of what I found so boring was all the love songs. "Love Is a Wild Thing" was a bit of turning point where things got a little more interesting. "Space Cowboy" had some nice, specific lyrics. I liked the conceit. I think she's held back a little by her vocal ability. I can imagine someone with powerhouse vocals doing an amazing cover of this song. "Velvet Elvis" was interesting. It wasn't quite a pop song. I liked the beat. But she still sounded tired. It was emotionally bland and vocally she didn't sound on top of it as much as dragging behind. I feel like this kind of song should go Lady Gaga (like the Joanne album) or Lana del Rey. This middle ground just feels like it's exposing vocal weaknesses. "Wonder Woman" was... fine. But I've heard so many songs at this point do the superhero thing better. Off the top of my head "Superman" by Ivory Layne and "Superwoman" by Rebecca Ferguson are so much more dynamic. "High Horse" was another attempt at more of a pop song. It had a bit of a soft disco vibe to me. I didn't like the lyrics as much as Space Cowboy. (Seriously, are all of these female singer songwriters watching Westerns? Why do they only know John Wayne? This is as weird to me as all the songs that kept referencing Mick Jagger.) I liked the groove because I like a dance song and I think the production played well on her strengths/limits of her vocals though I wouldn't want her to go in this direction permanently. "Golden Hour" was pleasant but it was an excellent example of what's wrong with her vocals and also the melody. She's singing about being in love and happy and she sounds just as tired and sad. Her world doesn't sound like it's on fire unless it's in one of those movies where everything slowly burns to the ground in an acid trippy nuclear apocalypse. "Rainbow" was a fine piano ballad. But again, it sounds way too sad to be inspirational. 

I don't know. If I want a dreamy album, I prefer Leighton Meester's. This one is less dreamy and atmospheric and more sleepy. 

tl;dr I like "Space Cowboy" but I'm hoping a better singer does a cover. "Wonder Woman" and "High Horse" were decent. Not that impressed with the rest of it.

I think you are more positive about it than I am.  The only one that I really cared for was Rainbow, but, I admit that I didn't listen to them all.  It's just not my taste, really. I'm not wild about her old stuff either. (Merry Go Round, was ok.) I think that her style and limited vocals distract me and just don't hold my interest.  I've struggled with that with Swift and Lambert, but, with more success than here. I did actually like one that she co-wrote and sang as a duet with Brian Wilson on his album!

Edited June 30, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Annber03]

"Harvest Moon"-Neil Young.

 

One of my all-time favorite songs. 

[Zola]

 

 

My dad has a lot to answer for!

 

That said, this really is a thumping track

[SunnyBeBe]

I caught this band (SHINYRIBS) forr the first time on Austin City Limits this past weekend and I was IMPRESSED!  They are so fun!  If you get the chance check out more of their music.  It's quite varied.  The one below is rather amusing.  I really don't know to describe it. 

[MargeGunderson]

The magic that is YouTube led me to The Avalanches:

Edited August 8, 2018 by MargeGunderson
Fixed the link

[aradia22]

I listened to Charlie Puth's Voicenotes. I know. But hear me out. I didn't listen to his first album but I like the song "Attention" so I gave the album a shot. It's got a Justin Bieber/Nick Jonas vibe but colder. Like those two and Shawn Mendes, it's a little problematic. I don't like Bieber but I don't know why I can hang with these guys when I hate Timberlake and Drake and I'm a little iffy on Bruno Mars. Maybe it's just because I find the ones I like to be nonthreatening fuckboys. Also, the groove works for me. But actually, more than other guys what all this music reminds me of is Taylor Swift. There's enough going on lyrically that it's not like a Jason Derulo level of lazy misogyny. It's just the level of problematic that comes out when you pour out all your dumb feelings and relationship issues into a dance pop song. The vocals are... fine. They're not bad enough to be annoying but nothing remarkable either. The production is really what makes it. The percussive elements are strong but there's also some old school stuff that bridges the gap between lite fm easy listening and modern pop. Into it. If you're thinking about checking it out, Nick Jonas is probably the closest match in terms of sound and content. But Puth definitely has no fear like a Swift or his even friend Meghan Trainor. If this album was getting more traction, people would be calling him out all over the place.

[Silver Raven]

Calum Scott's video for "You Are the Reason" (filmed in Kiev)

 

And his duet of the same song with Leona Lewis

 

 

 

I get a very strong Sam Smith vibe from him, which is not a bad thing.

[aradia22]

I finally got around to Shawn Mendes' new self-titled album. I never listened to the first one with "Stitches." Just Illuminate which I liked in spite of myself. But this one? Ew. It's not... unbearable, I guess. But who told him to sound more like Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke??? That is a terrible idea. I don't even like the Julia Michaels song. One or two of the songs might grow on me on repeat listenings but I don't foresee a 1989 situation where I come around on the whole album. This is... very mediocre. 

[JTMacc99]

Do you like funny music? Metal bands with a stupid lyrics? Have I got a band for you!  I am having way too much fun listening to Pschostick. One, it is something to laugh about with somebody I really like laughing with. Second, like all men, some of my sense of humor stopped evolving at the age of 16.

 

[stoneforest]

[Piperazzi]

Moonlight-Grace Vanderwaal

Edited August 25, 2018 by Piperazzi

[aradia22]

Florence + the Machine's new album "High as Hope"? Um... what? What is with all these sad dreary albums about nothing? I don't want to hear your diary set to music. If you're not ready to make a new album, don't make a new album. There was nothing to groove to. No intensity. No big orchestral production to sweep me away. No interesting lyrics. In short... nothing. 

[stoneforest]

[BuyMoreAndSave]

Is it even possible to give fewer fucks than Jonathan Davis gives doing vocals on this album? Korn is sort of a controversial band but I feel like either you get their type of weirdness or you don't.

Also, here's a fun fact that basically nobody knows about. Nu-metal was actually not invented by Korn. It was invented by Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osborne, and Dale Crover in the mid-80s and then they promptly forgot about it. True story. I doubt the members of Korn knew about this song but probably they took inspiration from some of the more off-the-wall Nirvana songs.

[AgentRXS]

So I've been on a soul music kick all week. Every time Sam Cooke's "Yeah, Man" comes on my playlist it reminds me how Arthur Conley lifted the beat and background singers from Sam's song but didn't even bother to give him a shout out when listing the soul greats in his version! I love both songs, but its kind of sad that Cooke's estate had to sue for Sam to get a songwriting credit when its the exact same beat.

 

[stoneforest]

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm preparing to see Sir Paul (correction)  McCartney in May of next year by checking out his new release.

Edited September 5, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[GaT]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm preparing to see Sir Robert McCartney in May of next year by checking out his new release.

Robert McCartney?

[SunnyBeBe]

24 minutes ago, GaT said:

Robert McCartney?

LOL  Yeah, I had my man Robert Plant on my mind!  Yes, the concert is with Sir Paul McCartney!  lol  I wouldn't mind seeing Robert again too! 

[stoneforest]

[CatsAndMoreCats]

I realize I may be the odd woman out here.  I don't recognize most of the names of performers listed.  My taste runs more toward the Great American Songbook.  Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Sammy Cahn...those are my peeps, along with the singers who sing their compositions.  More recently I rediscovered Neil Sedaka.  I was flipping around stations on my car radio out of boredom.  Landed on an adult oldies station that was playing "The Immigrant."  Wow.  Memories flooded back.  I was in college when "Laughter in the Rain" hit #1 on Billboard.  But I was a dumb college kid.  Had NO idea the depth of Sedaka's talent and popularity.  Ever since that afternoon and "The Immigrant" I've happily been at the bottom of a very big You Tube rabbit hole, listening to everything I could find that Sedaka ever sang or composed or both.  The fact that he has continued to reinvent himself as a composer just blows my mind.  Children's music, piano concertos... wow.  It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the same person who wrote "Calendar Girl" also wrote "Bad Blood," "Solitaire," "Going Nowhere," "The Hungry Years" (omg, this one makes me cry every single time), "You" and "Manhattan Intermezzo."  Sedaka began composing songs when he was thirteen years old.  I think about what I was doing when I was thirteen (frying my hair with hot rollers, watching The Partridge Family on Friday nights).  How amazing that Neil Sedaka has given us nearly 1,000 songs and 60 years of his talent.  Frickin' amazing.  Here's a sampler.  (Keep in mind, this was taped in the 80's.  Goofy clothes.)

Edited September 10, 2018 by CatsAndMoreCats

[Silver Raven]

I just discovered a band called St. Paul and the Broken Bones.  Their new album is "Young Sick Camellia", and I am obsessed with "GotItBad ". So funky.  It could have come out of the 70s.

[ebk57]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

I just discovered a band called St. Paul and the Broken Bones.  Their new album is "Young Sick Camellia", and I am obsessed with "GotItBad ". So funky.  It could have come out of the 70s.

 

I saw them on Austin City Limits a couple (?) of years ago.  Really enjoyed them.  I was listening to the new album last week on NPR First Listen and agree about "GotItBad".  I liked the whole album. 

[stoneforest]

[oliv88]

 

Last night watched the Step Up 2, Now this song is on repeat URGGGHHH

[stoneforest]

[magicdog]

I discovered an underrated duo from the late 60s/early 70s called P.K. Limited.  Dan Peyton and Marty Kaniger started out as songwriters at Columbia-Screen Gems and later recorded a series of singles.  Officially, an album was never released of all their material (and I can't even find anything of theirs on Itunes!)  but they had some really nice tunes!  Most were produced/arranged by David Gates.  

I find myself drawn to two songs they recorded for the soundtrack of the film "Getting Straight" (1970):  the title track and "Feelings".  The former is particularly timely (with the feeling of being crushed by life in pursuit of your dreams) while the latter feels like a gentle love song that doesn't wear out its welcome.

They also did a nice cover of The Monkees' "Shades of Gray", Mike Nesmith's, "My Share of the Sidewalk", and another awesome love song called, "Girl Like You" (which has Gates' Bread-like fingerprints all over it!).

[stoneforest]

[aradia22]

Ariana Grande's new album "Sweetener"... honestly, I'm not feeling it that much. I like "sweetener," "successful," and "breathin" but I think they pale in comparison to her earlier stuff. While not outright depressing, it's more chill that poppy and I like that her music used to be more poppy. I need something upbeat. That and the lyrics are kind of mush. They don't quite... make sense and when they do, they don't feel that thoughtful or insightful. I think a lot of it has to do with the Pharrell influence based on my feelings about his album GIRL. Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Ariana... all my smooth pop R&B female empowerment acts are letting me down lately.

"My Everything" was almost perfect. "Dangerous Woman" grew on me to be a mostly singles album. "Yours Truly" has a lot of tracks I like and is a respectable first album. But this new one feels like a lot of filler to support the singles. I'm surprised at all the critical praise. 

[GaT]

57 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

That and the lyrics are kind of mush.

So is the way she sings, I wish someone would teach that girl to enunciate.

I absolutely hate the video for "God is a woman", why are there screaming gophers, & who thought that giving Ariana the big "God voice" was a good idea?

[stoneforest]

[Popples]

On 9/9/2018 at 8:46 PM, CatsAndMoreCats said:

I realize I may be the odd woman out here.  I don't recognize most of the names of performers listed.  My taste runs more toward the Great American Songbook.  Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Sammy Cahn...those are my peeps, along with the singers who sing their compositions.

We might be best friends now.