Song of the Week

an - /
pn Baader Meinhof - Baader Meinhof

np - /

Damien Rice - "O"
pn Josh Rous - comeback (a - "1972")

... I’ve been digging through my old MP3 collection lately, just sifting through the digital dust, when it hit me—I completely "missed" these two brilliant albums from last year. Especially Damien Rice... there are a few truly gut-wrenching moments on that record that just stick with you.

song of the week: Her Space Holiday - Japanese Gum

Honestly? This isn't just the song of the week—it’s the song of the month, maybe even the year (last 😁)! Maybe it's just my current headspace, but man, this thing is pure genius:

i used to know this girl who gave her love away
to every guy she laid, with all those games they played
she never seemed to cry, she never got upset
and one by one they came, and one by one they left
i thought that i could fix her if she would let me in
but all of my advances were shut down in the end
when days turned into months i begged her to explain
and this is what she's saying :

"it's not like i'm a slut or that i really like to fuck
i just want every boy i see to walk away with part of me
until there's nothing left to hold, until there's nothing left to hate
i appreciate your help but even you can't save me from myself"

😍 😍

Anyway, I'm gonna go dive into some albums now and see if they actually hold up...

I’ve already blasted Grace Jones' *Island Life* about five times this week... 🤔
Not really looking to elaborate, though.

n/p Terry Lee Hale - Dead Is Dead

redcrane28 said:Grace Jones, Island Life. :surprised:
I have absolutely zero desire to elaborate.

Pull up to the bumper, babe!

My unexpected hit album of the week—largely because I had already resigned myself to the fact that it was permanently lost in the mail—is London Calling. Even after fifteen years since I last gave it a full listen, it sounds even better now; in fact, it sounds its absolute best!
It looks like it might just be my hit of the month, too.
Though, I’m actually a bit terrified to listen to the Vanilla tapes. Honestly, that Clash demo is strictly for masochists.

My seasonal anthem: Train in Vain
Song of the week, number two: I'm not down
Song of the week, number three (exclusively playing in my head while on the subway): Baby Lemonade
Favorite time of day: late morning.
Fashion items of the week: gloves and a hat.

Just finished listening to this one. It looks like Jim is back in top form with some seriously impressive albums. Now we just have to see if he can pull off the same magic in film.

np lifting the building

Pick of the week?

Here’s what I'm listening to:

Tragedy - Tragedies

Some light, atmospheric doom... It’s honestly so slow that I feel like my fingernails might grow faster than they play, but still, it's brilliant.

Red Harvest - Sick Transit Gloria Mundi

It's a weird mix of everything, I guess. You've got black metal and death metal blending into thrash and industrial... It's bizarre, but it works.

So, this week, the US is my number one. 😁

After spending the last few weeks diving deep into "Red Harvest - Sick Transit Gloria Mundi Cudnovata" (the double album), I’ve finally moved on to "The Very Best of The Mekons" this Sunday. It’s honestly such a great excuse to catch up on tracks from their older albums that I, admittedly, totally missed before. In my opinion, this band is easily worthy of having ten different "Best of" compilations.
The track of the week has to be "this Sporting Life."

And yeah, Rajk, until just a couple of days ago, I actually thought it was impossible to go fifteen years without listening to "London Calling." But hey, at the end of the day, it’s all about how good it sounds. 🙂

Look, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not exactly a die-hard follower of this particular genre, but I have to say, there was something about this that really hit the spot: a blend of experimental electronica featuring those gritty, crackling textures... all layered with a touch of jazz:
Re - "Alms"
Triosk - "Moment Returns"

If you listen closely to that first track, you can hear the fingerprints of someone from GYB, whereas the second one clearly shows the production hand of Jan Jelinek at work.

Eh, I honestly thought I was talking about Dungen on this thread, but apparently, I'm just rambling under a tree... anyway, you definitely need to pick up their stuff—it's this upbeat yet melancholy Swedish pop-folk psychedelia, and Skandinavac is seriously killing it this year (I mean, even that (not exactly) beloved pick put them at number 13 on the annual list). Speaking of the region, Efterklang from Denmark makes some beautiful music too—a bit of crackle, a little My bloody Valentine, and really lovely male and female vocals.

Album of the week - Grandaddy, Sumday
Yeah, it dropped back in 2003, but I just picked it up last week. Spotted it by chance at Target—I already loved their first two records, so I figured—why not take the risk on $43? Since I’m not out here blowing cash on designer shoes or skincare crap, I might as well spend my money on something worthwhile. And man, I love it. I have a massive soft spot for this kind of thin, lo-fi sound 😍 😍 😍

Song of the week - Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose. Honestly, it hits right in my wheelhouse. It's enough to make the glasses shatter at home. 🙂

Yesterday's New Quintet "a Tribute to Brother Weldon"

It’s jazz, but with that signature Madlib vibe. It might take a minute to really sink in, but once it does, you won't be able to stop hitting repeat.

chamber - ghost stories and fairy-tales

Honestly? This album is just incredibly good. 🙂

Yann Tiersen - Amélie soundtrack.
I don't usually go for soundtracks—if music is designed specifically to serve a film, it rarely hits the same way when I'm just hanging out in my living room. Plus, I have a massive allergy to anything purely instrumental or "instrumental-adjacent"—you know, those tracks with choirs or vocals that basically act as background noise—like the Lord of the Rings stuff or all those Vangelis scores. On paper, this soundtrack should have been a total miss for me, but it’s actually beautiful. It's my track of the week, mostly because the fact that I love it this much caught me completely off guard.

Young team has been creeping back into my rotation lately [again.]
This Mogwai vibe hits different during these freezing days, dark nights, and just waiting around
fakin' beautiful..

np. TRACY

The Cure - Pornography / Disintegration.
I guess there’s just something about those moments when you’ve been listening to absolute masterpieces on fuzzy, lo-fi cassette tapes for years, and then suddenly you get your hands on a high-quality CD. Suddenly, all those high frequencies pop, and the albums just start to shine like polished chrome.

Look, I’m usually the exact opposite when it comes to this stuff—once I’ve spent enough time spinning the cassette, the CD version starts sounding way too polished and sterile for my taste. Honestly? It feels kind of fake 🙂

Song of the week: Nitro Deluxe - this brutal house
I’ve been deep-diving into this book about the history of American club culture and it’s totally blowing my mind.

Album is a pass.

Honestly, the cassette version sounds way better with The Cure than the CD does. It’s got that muffled, distant vibe—lacking the highs—but it just hits right. Feels nostalgic. Out of all my tapes, I still hang onto a few from my exes. *The Cure in Orange* is a classic. 😁That bit about the summing is spot on.

As for the track of the week...
TOM WAITS - jockey full of bourbon
I think it's time I actually dive into Waits. They really should've brought in Jarmusch for this... whatever. It's good though.

damien said:I honestly feel like the cassette version fits The Cure's vibe way better than the CD. It’s got that slightly muffled, distant quality—lacking those sharp highs—but man, it just feels right. Out of all my tapes, I actually still hold onto a few from my college days... specifically *The Cure in Orange*. 😁 That lo-fi sound really hits different.

Hey, don't go calling me a liar! I was the one who recorded that for you in a super low-quality MP3 format.
Maybe you ended up dubbing it over to a tape back then? Who knows!

I used to love listening to Joy Division on cassette—side A being "Unknown Pleasures," side B having "Closer" plus "Exercise One" as a bonus track... just that soft, constant tape hiss in the background. Then there was that brief, miserable era where I had to settle for MP3s (crappy 128 kbps, honestly), but nowadays I'm back to spinning vinyl and it feels right. 🙂

The track of the week would most likely be "high School Girls" performed by that obscure Australian punk outfit The Victims.

np queen Anne's Revenge - Cathode Ray gun