Album of the week

Sweet. We've got J. J. Cale, Velvete, Myrkur, Killing Joka, and Autechre loaded up in the van along with a bunch of others... What a killer way to wrap up the year! 👍

I mean, four albums this year alone. Plus, three women and one queen! I'm pretty stoked about it. 😍

Lisa Davis46 said:(...) I’d love to ask our esteemed colleague Arthur Brown6 to take a crack at one of my albums... say, the last one suggested over in the general chat, which he gave his seal of approval. That could be pretty interesting! You down? 🙂

Sure thing. I'll give it a listen and start a thread for Perfume Genius - set my Heart on Fire Immediately ( 2020—mostly because (why?) I haven't heard a single note of Perfume Genius before.

Awesome! It’s going to be great... just because.
If you have the time, you should definitely check out the full 'too bright' album too.
🙂

I’m a little confused about how we ended up with eight albums of the week—I mean, only three of them actually hit the six-vote mark, while the others all have five votes or fewer. Did everyone who reached the 50% threshold just get tossed into that group, or was there some other specific criteria used for the selection? 🤔

PS I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for this somewhere, but I couldn't find anything in the older posts, so I figured I'd just ask.

Everyone's at 50% or higher. It wasn't even mentioned before. 😉

Since it’s Christmas, and we all know how things go when two or more albums end up tied in a vote, Amanda Robinson4 and I decided we should actually include more winning albums this time—just like she mentioned in her previous post before we started taking suggestions.

We originally agreed on having four winners, but because of those ties, we've ended up with eight. 🙂

We’re going to take a little break from the polls for New Year's Eve, so let's keep the suggestions and voting rolling through the week after. Until then, we have eight new albums ready to go!

Of course, this is a total one-time special exception...

Steven Newman50 said:Well, it’s certainly an exception in this particular case.

It’s an exception for the second time now. ☕

Nah, I'm pretty sure there were ten albums back then 😁

God, it’s obvious the damn buffet, those pastries, and a steady stream of beer were all just a distraction to keep me from voting, but whatever.

It won't happen again.👍

Lisa Davis46 said:everyone is at 50% or higher—it wasn't even mentioned before. 😉

Well, I guess I was at least on the right track 😁

Steven Newman50 said:No, there were ten albums then 😁

🤣

I was under the impression that we were sticking strictly to albums that had already been floated in previous polls, but it looks like some brand-new titles managed to sneak onto the list after all.
It’s a bit baffling to me, honestly. Most of those older suggestions didn't really grab anyone's attention anyway, so I don't quite see the logic in bringing them back around now...

Besides, we have such a massive catalog of music to choose from that there should never even be a reason to recycle the same old stuff.

So, the original plan was to suggest all those albums that didn't make the cut in the polls, but I guess not everyone caught my drift. Since we didn't have a ton of people stepping up with suggestions anyway, and I didn't want to kill the vibe, we just went ahead and released...

And it’s not like there isn't interest! We all know some of those albums lost by literally just one single vote. There are so many out there that totally deserve a group review session 🙂

But hey, starting next year, we're going back to the old way. Wouldn't want to confuse anyone more than necessary or act like some official government task force 😬

Man, I’m such a huge fan of P. Genius too. This is my first time sitting down with this album and I’m loving it—though it’s always funny how one track just hits you right in the feels and makes you go, "Yeah, that's the one." This time, I think it might be Jason 🙂. Still, there are a few others that felt just okay at first, but they really grow on you by the second or third listen—like on The floor, Your Body...

Honestly, put Your Back n 2 IT is still my absolute favorite. There’s something about those simple, minimalist tracks that just hits different—so much beauty (especially that piano!) where you can actually feel the emptiness and isolation in the sound—no Tear, dark Parts... Hood with that video 😁
i Fool is honestly one of *those* songs for me... just pure magic. Last summer, I spent so much time looping it in my headphones while lounging in a hammock out in the middle of nowhere—just me and his voice drifting up into the sky...

I’m really curious to see what the guys over here will think of it 🙂

I’m still getting to know sa Phoeba, but I'm really liking her vibe so far. I need to dive deeper into the lyrics and I'm looking forward to seeing the discussion thread...

I’ve mostly just been spinning stuff from the genius lately, mainly because I kept seeing them popping up on all the best album lists of the year. I don't have a super deep, articulated opinion quite yet, but I totally get where Arthur Brown6 is coming from. If an album just doesn't click for you, dragging yourself through to the final track is a massive chore, and honestly, it really kills any motivation to sit down and write a review.

Ashley Grant66 said:Ugh, I’m such a huge fan of P. Genius too. This is my first time sitting down with this album and I'm digging it, though it's always like that for me—one track just hits and I think, 'okay, this is it.' Chills. This time, I think it might be Jason.
(...)
I'm really curious to see how our guys will take 🙂

Honestly, I'm mostly focused on that specific topic now (and how the crew is going to drag us into 'punisher').
I get what Gerald Jackson48 is saying, but I bet Arthur Brown6 will find some gems on this record too...

Ashley Grant66 said:i Fool is one of those 'definitive' tracks for me... just magical. Over the summer, I spent so much time looping it in my headphones while lying in a hammock, totally alone, just letting his voice drift through the sky...

Exactly, 'fool' is just so infectious (I had it on repeat forever when I first started discovering him). Maybe 'too bright' is actually the best entry point for Hadreas? (I mean, you've got hits like 'queen' and 'grid' too...) And then there's this latest album, which definitely requires more listens, even if it's easily his best (alongside the previous one, 'no shape'). But this... 🙏 man, this song is probably in my top ten from the last decade, and the video is gorgeous too. 😍

Lisa Davis46 said:I'm also really getting sucked into this whole topic—especially how Dennis Hall41 is gonna drag us straight into 'Punisher'.

Later tonight or maybe tomorrow morning at the latest. It's tough to write about this because I'm feeling way more than I can actually think when it comes to this album—and honestly, putting those feelings into words is the hardest part.

Lisa Davis46 said:I'm also pretty focused on this topic right now (especially how fass is going to drag us into 'punisher').
I get where ww is coming from, but I bet Arthur Brown will find some solid moments on that record too...

Just to be clear, when I said it’s "tough to listen to," I meant if the vibe doesn't click for you personally. I wasn't saying it's specifically hard for Genius to listen to—don't get me wrong. 😁

The groundwork is being laid... I decided to dive back through their previous two albums and catch up on some video content, just to get a better handle on the artist behind these tracks.

How’s everyone doing? Happy New Year to all!

We’re getting back into the swing of things next week with the usual routine—new topics and fresh suggestions coming your way...

And if you were wondering which Album of the Week pulled the most listens last year,
here are a few surprises broken down by category: