Posts by Lisa Davis46

This one’s good too, thanks! I'll check out the rest later...
🙂

Alright, so King Krule it is. I'll set up the thread tonight.

I’ve been wanting to suggest Patti Smith’s 'Horses' for a while now. Also, maybe Portishead's 'Third',
(because Beth Gibbons is just incredible ♡) her voice is honestly one of a kind... and that whole album is a masterpiece.
Though, I don't know, it always feels a bit too dark for me, especially during these sweltering summer days.

My bad. 😁 But I ended up voting for the candidate who felt more aligned with my views last week.

Even if the song titles on that Dolly Parton album were pretty wild and imaginative!

Great vocals, now I’m actually curious about Sade. I don't think I've ever listened to her before.
Someone should probably add another vocalist to the mix so we can pit her against Archy. 🙂

Like I mentioned before, there just aren't enough female artists on these weekly albums. I have no idea why. Out of the 15 albums we've done so far, there's only one—PJ. And then maybe a couple of suggestions here and there...

Amanda Robinson4, we’re going to have to start doing themed weeks. 🙂

So, you're saying the vocals aren't working for you? 🙂

Amanda Robinson4, I've got something for you...

I'm asking because I felt like I needed to let '6 feet beneath the moon' sink in first. It’s way smoother and more accessible—more ambient, you know? Like this... everything here feels more stripped down with clearer genre lines, but you can already hear those heavy hints of that authentic alien sound he nailed on the second album. 'The OOZ' is tied together by these invisible threads, this connective tissue where he somehow managed to blend all sorts of crazy genres into something experimental yet uniquely his.

The new third one is great—it actually sounds happy!

Jason Mendoza, you always come through with the unexpected stuff. I just finished listening to this whole Dax Riggs catalog, and man, it is seriously good! I’d never even heard of him before; what a total find. I would’ve voted for him too, but I totally messed up today's poll... I noticed Matt Sweeney produced that first album, and I’ve always been a huge fan of his guitar style (to stick with the blood and love theme), especially considering that polished album with Oldham: 'superwolf'

Next up, I'm diving into some serious mental cleansing and stretching to Steve Reich... 😁 and then I'll tackle the leftovers.

Did you listen to the first album too?

Ashley Grant66, thanks, I just realized you can't go back and vote now, sorry! I guess I didn't catch that the poll let you pick multiple options, and I got distracted by something else in the meantime... we'll see if there's even any point in letting people pick two or more albums next time.

Just a heads-up, I'm not sure if it's showing up on your end: I set this poll to allow multiple votes so we don't end up with another tie at the last second... so it would be great if someone could test it out (and see how it actually works). How many times can we vote, and can we change them later? Let's see how this round plays out.

Also, start sketching out the thread's landing page. A colleague and I put together a little visual overview of all the albums released so far, just to make it easy to see what we missed and maybe inspire some re-listening...

I'm running behind on commenting on the last three albums, but I'll catch up starting tomorrow. 🙂

edit: Tested it. Try to vote for a maximum of two suggested albums.

The new poll is even worse. 🙂

'The OOZ' (2017)





morning everyone...

I've been spinning this one a lot lately... so for next week, I’m putting forward masterpiece from when Archy Marshall—better known as King Krule—was just 22. He’s an interesting guy, has that wild red hair, and shows this weird maturity and massive creative drive. It’s an album that pulls from all over the place—trip hop, hip hop, electronica, darkwave, punk jazz, rock—and blends them into this signature sound with a killer atmosphere. His voice is pretty unique too; some people say it's way too dark, but I don't really see it as being that one-dimensional. It works for basically any mood, any season, or any time of day:

thanks. 🙂 I’m a huge fan of Herzog and Tarr, though I only recently started getting into Angelopoulos
(it all started during this year's lockdown, when his work hit me harder than almost any movie in a long time).

NP, Scott again:

farmer in the city

I think this is really beautiful and actually makes sense. I'm honestly glad Ashley Grant66 managed to pull that out of you. 🙂

It’s still pretty fresh in my mind, and I didn't really watch the movie through the lens of historical accuracy or anything. But regarding the whole abortion theme, I’ve read some stuff about Sophie. Some articles argue that back then, a handmaid in that position would have been forced to carry the baby—basically, it would've been just as expected of her as an arranged marriage was for Heloise. On the other hand, I found it interesting how Marianne couldn't bring herself to watch the actual procedure, but ended up recreating it later by painting it. I guess nobody actually knows, or could ever truly know, their real numbers throughout history.

Arthur Brown6 said:I guess I would’ve preferred if the movie actually focused on the art itself—you know, the inspiration and the creative crisis. Instead, all that stuff feels like it's just a secondary theme. Maybe it just missed the mark.
(...)
I guess there just isn't enough music in this movie. That’s why I think the ending works so well, even if that vocal theme isn't half bad. Toward the end, I kept thinking about how much better this would be if a brilliant but totally unapologetic Diamanda Galás handled the score. Based on her interviews, her takes on how homosexuality is portrayed in art are hilarious because they're so vulgar, yet they're also completely spot on. Not to mention, her work is just brutal—but incredibly virtuosic, in its own way.

I mentioned before that the most valuable part of this movie is really the artistic process itself—specifically how a portrait comes to life and how much perspective matters when you're dealing with objectification versus subjectivity. I mean, that first portrait was a total disaster for both people involved. But that second one? That felt like a genuine win through actual collaboration. As the relationship between those two portraits evolves, so does their connection. I guess the whole backbone of the film is just that process. Portrait 1 + Portrait 2

I guess this would’ve been a pretty wild experiment if they’d brought in Diamanda Galás. It’s a completely different direction, though I don't know if those two vibes could even work together. As for the lack of music, I honestly didn't even notice it was missing. Maybe that was the whole point—to make that musical sequence at the beginning hit harder and really drive home its importance by the end of the film.

This kind of thing reminds me of that one Haneke idea—you know, about how filmmakers sometimes just throw music into a scene to paper over script issues or fill in plot holes. I can't quite put my finger on where he said it, though. Maybe I'm misremembering. This is it. i This is it.There’s practically zero music in his movies. On the other hand, I really feel that lack of sound and all that silence—it feels like it’s actually part of the message. Especially in something like The Piano Teacher, where every single composition is carefully measured, but it also serves as a core part of the plot.

I’m thinking back to a specific scene in *The Piano Teacher*. It’s got this incredibly dense soundtrack—lots of Baroque, Classical, and 20th-century pieces—but you don't get that comforting, melodic resolution most people look for in a score like that. The part I’m talking about is when the lead character catches two of her teenage students looking through porn mags. When they just sit there and won't say a word, she snaps that “the silence is deafening.” I guess she’s pointing out how Haneke uses silence, or just total quiet, as this heavy, intentional tool to make everything feel more intense.

Arthur Brown6 said:I think this is gorgeous. That real subtlety comes from walking that fine line. Still, it’s not bad, aesthetically speaking.

If I can ask, do you have an example of what you mean by subtle or edgy in that way? (Maybe a few Claire Denis films came to mind, but my definition of subtlety is probably different...)

Honestly, I don't think her English is that great either, if you've actually watched any of her interviews...
I've spun the album a few times today and there's quite a bit of German (both singing and spoken),
but I'm not entirely sure if Adele is the one saying it:

niemand

In that previous track, I think it's just French.
The lyrics are listed in the description of the video that Arthur Brown6 posted...

edit: I got everything wrong, turns out the German part is hers too.

Ashley Grant66 said:I wasn't a fan of how 'modern' their making out in bed looked; they seemed like two contemporary hipsters in a Brooklyn apartment.

To be honest, even yesterday this didn't feel problematic to me. Or maybe I just experienced too many high-quality, moving parts to be able to look at everything objectively today. For instance, I remember how annoyed I was immediately after leaving the theater when we're talking about that movie about Adele.
To me, that felt like a middle-aged man's movie—a story about love between two women, filmed almost like pornography... specifically for a male audience.

In Jeune Fille en Feu, I don't notice that lack of subtlety we're discussing; I really feel like that film was made by a woman.

Arthur Brown6 said:And there's also a cool music video, very Mandic-esque, but without being provocative. Like a slogan: "we didn't choose German, German chose us." Clever. If only Adele could actually speak German properly—it's her father's language, after all... But whatever...

Still, in ...jeune fille..., that's the best part of the movie. (...) Honestly, though, the camera work and atmosphere are incredible, almost Herzog-like. And then there's that German thing again... hmm...

I agree. As for Herzog, I don't know enough German to really weigh in on that part. I think the weight of that scene you mentioned comes from those intense harpsichord scenes. 🙏That moment where Marianne tries to capture the life and energy of the third movement of Vivaldi's Summer—the storm clouds breaking! It’s fantastic, masterfully done... both cinematically and musically.

Regarding the transitions, I loved those beautiful sequences with the still lifes on the table ( + + ) and the handheld camera work in the field ( + + ) when they’re searching for medicinal herbs... Visually, the film is stunning, but maybe that isn't even its biggest strength. To me, the real value is in how the tension builds through the art and paintings. It’s brilliantly conceived and written because every portrait tells a story from a different angle, depending on how deeply the artist knows the subject, Heloise (aka Adele), from their own perspective.

The music video is good too.

Ashley Grant66 said:God, I love Adele... One recommendation for a summer vibe: it's a cute coming-of-age film with so many gorgeous pool shots. It’s not a masterpiece, but it's a solid watch. Everywhere I've seen her, she's been great, even back when she was 12 in her first movie, The Devils (but man, that one is tough).

The song is great too!*

*Sad I just remembered 'j'ai un âme solitaire' if you've seen Twin Peaks... Never forget Harold, what a tragic figure.

I've seen it, but thanks. It's been a while and I could probably go for a rewatch these days. I thought it was a lovely film back then, and she...
is still really young there (and involved with the director, if I remember right). I haven't seen the other early one, let me check.

Man, Harold... such a character... and that whole diary bit from 'Fire Walk with Me'!

If you’ve got this last bit, plus maybe a few extras,
the mental vision almost feels tangible... 🙂

My playlist today is just some stuff the algorithm spat out,
probably because of the lead actress's vocals from some movie I just binged on Netflix...
or maybe it's just existential dread:

de mon âme à ton âme
+

It’s a three-way tie. If things don't change,
we're looking at our first overtime, scheduled for tomorrow at 1:15 PM. 🙂

Alright, here are some new polls. We're voting until this same time tomorrow.

Arthur Brown6, I was actually thinking just this morning about how we don't get nearly enough female voices in these Album of the Week threads, so your suggestion of Meredith Monk is actually perfect. You always come up with great picks, but I guess we tend to overlook them sometimes, I don't know why... it sounds wonderful, like that specific moment when you first discover an album. And please, make sure your voice is heard this time. 🙂

"beauty is naked."

Before I really started digging into all the layers of Talk Talk, I was pretty sure this song
was a Rowland S. Howard track. In a way, maybe it is, just a very, very different version of his style:

life's what you make it
♡

brightwolf48 said:Can I throw out two new suggestions? (...) My first pick is what I’d call a guitar rock masterpiece—it actually fits that "signature sound" theme pretty well—which is Rowland S. Howard - teenage Snuff film. The second one is just straight-up pop, and it’s actually hitting its 20th anniversary right about now (...) David Gray - White Ladder.

I think you should probably stick to just one suggestion for now (maybe save the other for a couple of weeks from now),
but hey, maybe my buddy puky will correct me if I'm wrong tomorrow morning. Hopefully, you'll get involved...

Personally, right this second, I'm voting for rowland. 😍 Seriously, such an incredible album (and not just because of the guitars)! 🙏

This is actually pretty solid—the music and the scenery are both spot on.

I noticed the water by the falls is sitting at about fifty degrees, though... 🕺