ReelSociety Forums

by **Leestu** » January 4th, 2018, 6:39 pm

My condolences to you and your family Surfer. That's awful news, hope you are doing okay.

by **Leestu** » January 4th, 2018, 10:23 pm

Hey at least you listened and gave them a shot John. I'd rather someone check it out and say it's shit than not even try. Interesting what you say about music taste when younger. I've thought before that I have a musical age of about 20. The sort of music I love now is still the sort of music I would have liked back then. Although I am no longer a musical snob and have broadened my taste. I will now listen to anything (even bad or boring music is preferable to silence) whereas before I would never have given any time to jazz, country, or classical etc.
Oh and I've listened to the New Pornographers album. You're not missing anything. It's decent enough but nothing special. It's the first album of theirs I've heard though so I can't compare it to previous efforts.

by **Geezer** » January 10th, 2018, 11:50 pm

I'm kinda in the same boat as Surfer, sadly.

by **silversurfer19** » March 6th, 2018, 9:34 am

Trying to get back on board with the forum a little, this seems like a good place to start. Its been a very good start to the year with fantastic records from Screaming Females, Ty Segall, Ezra Furman, The Breeders, Shame, Superchunk and Dream Wife to name a few, many of which will likely be pushing my end of year countdown. Will try and listen to a few of the records I hadnt checked out over the past year that you guys have already mentioned, but I will start my top 10 records of 2017 today.

Album no.10
Big Thief, Capacity

Following up a record which you have titled Masterpiece must be quite daunting, yet the care and warmth instilled within Capacity builds on such ambition from Big Thiefs debut and takes you on a moving, musical journey. Similarly to Masterpiece, its an intimate record tinged with a kind of bittersweet sadness, but Adrienne Lenker and the rest of the band seem to have really touched on something quite special with this sophmore record, and the maturity reached is embracing.

by **silversurfer19** » March 7th, 2018, 3:39 am

Album no.9
LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

Just when you think you’ve heard the last of James Murphy as LCD Soundsystem, this record came out of nowhere and not only could it match up to the earlier releases, but in some ways exceeds those lofty expectations. While Sound Of Silver feels like the band’s party record, this is its brooding older brother, tinged with sadness throughout. I heard lots of nods to both Joy Division and Talking Heads, as the band oscillate between various moods, but it all builds up to a quite stunning, if exhaustive record.

by **numbersix** » March 7th, 2018, 5:38 am

Ah, good to see you back with some music suggestions!

by **silversurfer19** » March 9th, 2018, 3:27 am

Album no.8
Cloud Nothings, Life Without Sound

Cloud Nothings have been creating record after record of brutal sonic explosions that last few years, marrying Dylan Baldis songwriting which seemed to gravitate towards catchy hooks and melody with the caustic punk aesthetic that has made them such an exhilarating act to witness. It has resulted in some truly fascinating songs such as Pattern Walks, Stay Useless and Psychic Trauma, all of which excite and exhilarate. However, while there has been an element of progression over their first three records, nothing has seen them take the leap that Life Without Sound has done. This record is a little slower, it takes moments for breath. To be honest though, when playing songs at such a tempo that the band had previously, in order to mature their sound this seems the natural next step. Removing some of the urgency of their previous records hasnt made Cloud Nothings anything less gripping, its the sound of a band who seem to have found the perfect balance between that aggression and Baldis natural pop sensibilities.

by **Leestu** » March 10th, 2018, 2:00 am

I wanted to see Cloud Nothings a couple of weeks ago but annoyingly they were playing on the same night as Car Seat Headrest.

by **silversurfer19** » March 14th, 2018, 7:15 pm

Leestu wrote:I wanted to see Cloud Nothings a couple of weeks ago but annoyingly they were playing on the same night as Car Seat Headrest.

I saw them this time last year, they were absolutely fantastic, and dare I say a better live band than Car Seat Headrest. Psychic Trauma live is an experience I will not forget.

Album No.7
Vagabon, Infinite Worlds

The debut record of Laetitia Tamko is nothing short of a startling listen. Taking the quiet/loud dynamic and weaving it into her sophisticated storytelling, Infinite Worlds is a record that brims with emotion and echoes Tamkos feelings, as a NY dwelling native of Cameroon, of both alienation and finding ones place. Its a record that spoons you, drawing you in, before crushing guitar licks and her strained vocals arrest you with its urgency. As a record that continually searches for identity as a theme, it is a challenging and thrilling listen that continues to inspire on multiple listens and hints at a very bright future for Vagabon.

by **Ron Burgundy** » March 14th, 2018, 7:38 pm

wow, didn't even know this thread existed!

by **Leestu** » December 14th, 2018, 12:09 am

Throughout the year I listened to every album selected here, including the albums from the song selections if there was one. Because I am an old music nerd with a failing memory I have been cataloguing, rating, and ranking all albums I listen to for a few years now. So before this year's best music gets under way here is my top 100 from 2017 as of today if you want to see where your favourites ended up. If they are not on there I listened to them but didn't like them enough. Sorry...there's only a 100 spots.

1 You're Not As _____ As You Think - Sorority Noise
2 Flying Microtonal Banana - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
3 Cable Ties - Cable Ties
4 More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me - The Smith Street Band
5 American Dream - LCD Soundsystem
6 Orc - Thee Oh Sees
7 The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit - Dune Rats
8 Murder Of The Universe - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
9 The Suburbs Have Ruined My Life - Great Wight
10 Alice - Meatbodies
11 Milano - Daniele Luppi & Parquet Courts
12 Polygondwanaland - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
13 Dumb Days - Tired Lion
14 Life Without Sound - Cloud Nothings
15 The Weather - Pond
16 HEAVY META - Ron Gallo
17 Outside (Briefly) - Froth
18 Love In The 4th Dimension - The Big Moon
19 Relaxer - ∆ (alt-J)
20 Losing - Bully
21 Lotta Sea Lice - Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
22 Dichotomy Desaturated - CFM
23 Go Farther In Lightness - Gang Of Youths
24 Visions Of A Life - Wolf Alice
25 You're Welcome - Wavves
26 Tales Of The Stoned - Holyweed
27 Last Place - Grandaddy
28 Brutalism - Idles
29 Sleep Well Beast - The National
30 Villains - Queens Of The Stone Age
31 Stone Garden - Kikagaku Moyo
32 Rock N Roll Consciousness - Thurston Moore
33 How Did I Find Myself Here? - The Dream Syndicate
34 Reflections Of A Floating World - Elder
35 Made Of Breath Only - sleepmakeswaves
36 Brick Body Kids Still Daydream - Open Mike Eagle
37 High Visceral {Part Two} - Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
38 A Handful Of Ash - Rag N' Bone
39 Give It To Me - Miya Folick
40 Vibe Killer - Endless Boogie
41 Swear I'm Good At This - Diet Cig
42 The Babe Rainbow - The Babe Rainbow
43 Ty Segall - Ty Segall
44 Memory Of A Cut Off Head - OCS
45 New Facts Emerge - The Fall
46 Death Song - The Black Angels
47 Plastic Cough - Great Grandpa
48 Infinite Worlds - Vagabon
49 Sketches Of Brunswick East - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard With Mild High Club
50 Try Not To Freak Out - Sløtface
51 Plunge - Fever Ray
52 Everything Is Forgotten - Methyl Ethel
53 DROOL - Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
54 Naturality - ORB
55 Gumboot Soup - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
56 New Kind Of Normal - Cayetana
57 Snow - Angus & Julia Stone
58 Lemon Memory - Menace Beach
59 Memories Are Now - Jesca Hoop
60 Yesterday's Gone - Loyle Carner
61 Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples
62 The French Press - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
63 Revival - Eminem
64 The Underside Of Power - Algiers
65 Metanoia - The Moon And The Nightspirit
66 Relatives In Descent - Protomartyr
67 Mouth Moods - Neil Cicierega
68 Holiday Destination - Nadine Shah
69 Alone - Diron Animal
70 The Ooz - King Krule
71 Everything Now - Arcade Fire
72 I'm Not Your Man - Marika Hackman
73 Pleasure - Feist
74 Ecca Vandal - Ecca Vandal
75 A Crow Looked At Me - Mount Eerie
76 Broken Machine - Nothing But Thieves
77 Old Locomotive - The Murlocs
78 QTY - QTY
79 Sincerely, Future Pollution - Timber Timbre
80 Peasant - Richard Dawson
81 Laugh About Life - Pipe-eye
82 Plum - Wand
83 Capacity - Big Thief
84 Hard Love - Strand Of Oaks
85 The Water- San Cisco
86 Changer - Fred Thomas
87 Dedicated To Bobby Jameson - Ariel Pink
88 A New State - Nerve Quakes
89 Utopia - Björk
90 Bambu (The Caribou Sessions) - Dennis Wilson
91 Glow And Fade - Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy
92 Reaching For Indigo - Circuit Des Yeux
93 Always Foreign - The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
94 Heavy Liquid (2017) - The Stooges
95 Guppy - Charly Bliss
96 From The Fires - Greta Van Fleet
97 Unpeeled - Cage The Elephant
98 Hang - Foxygen
99 Cost Of Living - Downtown Boys
100 Is This The Life We Really Want? - Roger Waters

My IMDB Profile · by **JohnErle** » December 17th, 2018, 4:42 pm

The new-ish album I spent the most time listening to this year was actually a late 2017 release, so I'll post it here for the sake of pedantry.

Sparks – Hippoptamous

I've been vaguely aware of Sparks for a few years now, but only seriously got into them this year. I always considered Big Star to be the ultimate cult band, but now I'd probably have to say it's Sparks, which is the stage name for two brothers who've been making music since around the time I was born without ever achieving more than fleeting commercial success. Their career is a testament to persistence, brotherly loyalty, and eccentricity, and they may be the only band in history who are better in their fifth decade than they were in their first.

Humour is their trademark, as evidenced in the title track which would sound right at home on a They Might Be Giants album, and answers the age old question of how many words rhyme with hippopotamus. But it's the excellent songwriting on songs like the Beatles-esque Scandinavian Design or the surprising poignancy of Unaware that elevates them from being just a comedy act, even if they are often funnier than Flight Of The Concords.

by **silversurfer19** » December 17th, 2018, 6:44 pm

Realised I never actually got around to finishing up my countdown last year, good thing I write everything down in a list!! I won't write a huge spiel on each record, but I will tag a video to each remaining record from my top ten, so if anyone wants to check them out, I urge you to do so.

Album 6. Waxahatchee, "Out In The Storm"