The Syndicate

I was going to suggest taking it to biweekly for the summer while activity is lower, but a pause works too.

Lanquidity was interesting. I don’t have much of a vocabulary for it though and the same is true for Golden’s submission. Nice stuff to put on even if it doesn’t particularly excite or move me.

I might have a hard time keeping up with this, but I'll throw a submission in and do my best to hear everybody else's starting with Sun-Ra.

Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle / 1973 / pop/rock, singer/songwriter, jazz rock / 7 tracks / Spotify and YouTube

I'll speak a few words on it now. Bruce Springsteen's music and his live concerts specifically are probably the closest thing I have to a religion. A lot of people have this image of him as blue jeans, fast cars and waving flags, but this is a decade before all that, when he's just a beach bum in New Jersey chasing a dream and making crazy songs about street romances and greaser gang intrigue. It's a great album for the summer and, despite his stardom, I find it's not a record that people tend to hear unless they do a dig of his discography. Hope you like it.

M Plus 7 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:45 am I'll submit:

M Plus 7 - Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out / 2000 / Indie Rock/Dream Pop / 13 tracks / 77:15 / Available on Youtube and Spotify

I just listened to this the other day, I really liked it, "Our Way to Fall" especially.

All caught up just before the next one goes — Royal Blood wasn't my thing, I couldn't get past the vocals, they reminded me of Thom Yorke's lesser moments in the 90s. I think I've heard Replica before but couldn't tell; either way, as a genre it's not something I take to very much. It was fine as background music but didn't rouse anything in me. Thanks for suggesting these ones!

I've fallen behind a bit the last few weeks, but I'm trying to catch up now! Operation: Mindcrime is something that I would have probably dug a lot more a decade ago, but these days, it doesn't do much for me. The concept wasn't very interesting for me and I guess I wished there were some different dynamics going on between the songs; much of it sounded the same to my ears. I'm not a big prog or metal guy so I knew it would've been a fluke if I really liked it; that said, it's better than Dream Theater. Thanks for suggesting — I'm gonna try to listen to the others that have passed soon!

I came into The Wilderness having heard The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place and a few other compositions by EiTS over the years. I've always liked their sound but I do agree with the prevailing notion in music fan circles that it's kinda ground-floor crescendo-core and the pieces never connected with me as much as other things in the genre (GY!BE, the post-rock elements of Deafheaven's Sunbather) have. That said, I liked this album — I was surprised by the electronic textures I heard (most prominently on the first two tracks and "Logic of A Dream") and I agree with the consensus that, while nothing groundbreaking, it's definitely nice to put on; I gave it a 3/5 on RYM. Thanks for the suggestion!

Fisherman's Woman had a really nice feeling to it — intimate in a way that a lot of these singer-songwriter kind of albums go. She has a really listenable voice and at first I wanted to compare it to Newsom but they're both very different, too. I especially liked the verse melodies on "Sunny Road" and all of "Heartstopper," which I added to my month's playlist. I might not check any of her other stuff out, but I'll keep hearing those two songs for sure. Thanks for suggesting!

A New Nature has a cool, sort of spooky vibe, but it felt a little too sluggish for me all around. The band constantly feels on the edge of making a big splash without getting there, or if they do it takes a little too long for me to stay captivated by it. I can totally see why other people would like it, but it's missing a lot of the stuff I get excited by in music, so it's just not for me. Thanks for suggesting it though, nutella!

I don't feel down at all! There really is no account for taste so having feelings about someone else's feelings about music is not my thing

Thanks for listening, everybody. I can't say I agree much with the running theme that the particular brand of indie here is ordinary, but I wasn't expecting people to take to it anywhere near as much as I do, so I'm glad you liked it. Onto this week's!

dunya wrote: ↑Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:37 pm I loved Los Campesinos! back when I discovered them in 2009. That's 9 years ago and my taste has changed a little bit but I can still appreciate their music. This is probably LC's most upbeat album musically speaking (I haven't listened to their 2017 release...maybe another submission for ColinIsCool). There's some twee pop in here mixed with the indie rock that is actually inoffensive and pleasing with decent synths and arrangements. I loved the lyrics, none of the cliche stuff you expect to hear and I hope everyone read along to the lyrics cos it does make a difference. Despite the more upbeat kind of music, it's still filled with sad songs about heartbreak or death or whatever like on songs What Death Leaves Behind, Avocado Baby and Cemetery Gaits.

I wouldn't call it a 5/5 album, but I'd give it a strong 3.5/5 even leaning 4/5 after repeated listens. Would have been an easy 4/5 9 years go for sure.

I would recommend Sick Scenes if you liked this one, but it's actually closer to their debut for me in terms of what it feels like. They're getting older and writing a lot about that so I think there was a bit of an idea to revisit what it was they were doing and feeling then.

The comparisons being made in this thread are super interesting to me. Modest Mouse are one of my favorite bands and I've never thought of them as being that much alike, but then again, I can see how they have a lot of attributes in common: dense lyrics and big indie rock guitar sounds are a few. I haven't heard Zwan but I love Siamese Dream so I'll have to remember to check that out in the future.

LC! are one of my favorite bands and this album ranks very high in their discography for me. I have a lot of thoughts on it but for now I'll say that it's probably their most competent and all-around solid release (but not my favorite). Obviously, the vocal style of Gareth Campesinos doesn't bother me, but I'm wondering if it does anybody here. I'm used to people not digging this group, but I'm curious to hear y'all on it

For my recommendation ...



Los Campesinos! - No Blues / 2014 / Indie rock, indie pop / 10 tracks / 41:39 / YouTube, Spotify

How much you like it (good or bad) might also be influenced by scanning over the lyrics, so here is a link to the Genius page too.

A few other people here have talked about being far from knowledgeable when it comes to classical music and I'm definitely in that camp. I don't have more than just a cursory knowledge of the most famous pieces and definitely not the vocabulary to be able to really talk about it. If I'm listening to classical, it's probably because I've stumbled onto that station while driving, and it's nice background music if nothing else.

So, all that said, I liked Petrushka enough. Having read a little bit on the action its meant to accompany, you definitely get a sense of movement and of drama with it. It seems to me that it would benefit more from being heard in performance, though, and not just because you'd see the ballet before you; being in the same room as the sounds are being created makes it a lot heavier. I don't feel much when I listen to it, as is.

The ending didn't feel like a whimper to me, but maybe more of a resignation or a rest. Around the very last minute it sounds almost tranquil, a little otherworldly.

This is cool, I can get into something like this. I won't suggest an album until I've listened to this week's selection though, to prove my buy-in.