Really digging the vibes off Beck’s new album, Hyperspace. I think this is the third track off it I’ve posted here:
Excellent idea, I must do this for electronic. Soon!
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Yet another healing track:
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Yes please! I don’t keep up with electronic releases nearly as well as I do metal ones.
As for metal albums of the decade, I’ve got a two-fer today! Leprous released Bilateral in 2011 and Coal in 2013, and honestly I can’t decide which one I like more. They’re both landmark releases in the progressive metal sphere despite being drastically different from each other. Bilateral is a wacky, off-the-wall sort of record that more closely resembles their previous release, Tall Poppy Syndrome, while Coal switches gears entirely and goes for a darker, more ethereal kind of sound. Fantastic stuff!
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Good ole Max. Definitely on my top ten list of “defining” 80s stuff.
I remember seeing the show for the first time, the timeline in my head is fuzzy but he was definitely around for a while in ads and stuff before they made a TV show out of him.
Anyway, during the intro they showed him (Matt Frewer) before he was a floating head in a TV, on a motorcycle (?), and then he crashed into something - his last thought was seeing a sign that said, “MAX HEADROOM 9ft.5in.” before wrecking into it. Then they pulled a Robocop, saved his brain and put him in a box.
His first words, and therefore his name, because it was the only thing he could remember when they switched him on? Go ahead, guess. Yep, … “Max Headroom.” Mind blown.
Whaddya want, I was eight LOL. Max was the pinnacle of future technology, to me. (As Michael Knight was the pinnacle of heroism.)
Edit: Oh, yeah, duh. Music for the music thread.
Despite this … erm … misstep*, Art of Noise was actually one of my favorite groups as a kid. Still is one of my faves. The album version of this song, without Max, is pretty cool, but damn if this didn’t blow up to the point that I hated it back in the day, even being a fan of Max:
*It charted in nine countries, so what the hell do I know LOL? 
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First up on random today, more 80s goodness:
Followed by this:
Kind of an eclectic morning.
I’m such a fan of Trent Reznor. I think I gushed on this topic before LOL. He just imparts so much style into what he does. Even if it’s a simple “mood” track like this, with very few elements, it’s still dripping with Nine Inch Nails goodness. There’s some intangible dissonance in the atmosphere and wonderful magnetism in the detuned (proper term?) notes that I love.
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Priest is still around and they’re still making amazing albums.
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I wish I could just link my whole spotify healing playlist…would make it so much easier ey ;p
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Firme cover of Suicidals pledge your allegiance
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Haven’t gotten around to starting my “top ten of the decade” yet, and I will, but this is an easy pick for my favorite album of 2019, and it’s really growing on me for a spot on the decade list.
That’d be Beck’s Hyperspace. Not a single bad track on the release. Pharrell has his hands in the writing and production of several songs, as does Paul Epworth - the guy who, among many other things, co-wrote and produced Adele’s 21, and both “Rolling in the Deep” and “Skyfall.”
And Beck delivers a genre-defying set of songs. From pseudo-vaporwave to funk, soul, folk … there’s earworms galore. This is easily his best album.
Genre-defying? Well, take this, what I consider the crowning achievement of the release, and the perfect “outro.” One part Chris Cornell-esque vocals, add a dash of folk vibes, a pinch of hip-hop beats, and a strong layer of Pink Floyd influence. On paper, it should not work. My gosh, it does, though.
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I’ve been listening to nothing but this album for the past three days, and I can confidently say that this here will very likely be the best metal album of the decade, and will go down as an absolute classic in the realm of atmospheric black metal. The sheer scope and mood-crafting ability of Griseus is sufficient to draw you into another world entirely, a feat that only a handful of other albums are capable of performing (those albums, too, are widely regarded as the best in their genres). The beautiful piano and sweeping violin sections give Griseus a wonderful neo-classical color that’s seriously hard to overstate. There is no word for this other than “masterpiece,” so if you want to listen to something that challenges your perception of what metal music could be, you simply must listen to this.
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Merry Christmas, and merry Winter Veil!
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I’d agree. Though not normally what would catch my attention, this is some beautifully crafted music. It has quite the same effect as an excellent movie score at times, during the more delicate passages, especially, and then with the ramp-up to higher-energy vibes.
Yep, nailed that description.
So, here I go. I’ve found this immensely difficult to do, I’ll just say that. I’ve tried to toe the line between subjective (“I love these, but no one ever heard of them,”) and objective (“This was the best selling, so it is of course #1,”) and I think I did OK. Without further ado:
My top ten Electronic / Dance Albums of the 2010s.
Number 10:
James Blake - Self Titled (2011)
(Dubstep / Post-Dubstep / Electronic)
Selected “Favorite” Track: “Limit To Your Love”
Back in 2011, the global perception of dubstep was largely sculpted by artists like Skrillex, Nero, Krewella, and Major Lazer who had taken a genre with heavy “dub” influence (duh?) and stripped it down favor of loud, in-your-face, screaming synths and bass drops to peg every VU meter involved.
Instead of jumping on that pop-dubstep bandwagon, London artist James Blake stuck to the minimal, dub-influenced roots of the genre on his debut release, “James Blake.” Not only did he do this, but he laid down some of the most evocative and beautiful vocals I’ve heard this decade.
You’ll also find other styles on this release, like the minimal track “The Wilhelm Scream,” where James delivers some melancholy, soulful vibes:
And experimental tracks like “I Mind”:
Words from Totem @ Salacioussound:
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Gotta take a couple days off the metal, so here’s some bluegrass for y’all.
My top ten Electronic / Dance Albums of the 2010s. Number 9.
Underworld - Barking (2010)
(Progressive House / Progressive Techno / Drum and Bass)
Selected “Favorite” Track: “Scribble”
For their sixth studio release*, Underworld gave us Barking - one of their best albums overall. No, it’s not as “banging” as their 90s releases, where the tracks could be fifteen minutes long with 140-bpm drums throughout. This is one of those albums that shows just how much artists can grow when they try to take their work to the next level, and succeed.
(* For this “version” of Underworld, anyway. Prior to that, they did pop / rock, which was excellent too, but… I digress…)
“Scribble” (above) marks their first foray into drum and bass, with dnb legend High Contrast getting a credit on production. Such an excellent feel-good track.
Funny enough, the other track that High Contrast helped produce is this one, “Moon in Water,” which is anything but dnb. Just a girl talking philosophy over a simple beat and synths:
The album ends with “Louisiana,” a beautifully quiet, piano-led track with simple, lovely vocals from Hyde:
As always, because others can say it better than I can:
From Inthemix(dot)com:
From Stephen Lussier @ The Spill Magazine:
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