Ha, yes, I don't disagree, there are many people that feel as you about reviewers and what they feel should be conveyed. I don't have any problem with this type, I like reading the prose if the author seems to be genuinely affected by the album, makes me want to listen and maybe get that feeling too. Doesn't happen often, but I still enjoy reading the reviews. There's a link in my signature to a thread here on the previous album with a lot of information, and more sound descriptions, on and off topic discussions, etc, and there's a smaller thread just for the new one that I think is linked at the end.
I know what you mean about reviews that seem to wax poetically about themes without really giving the reader much of an impression of the music. Often, they seem to write more for already existing fans of the music rather than for those who may be new to it. In the case of this album, it really is hard to describe, in that no one else sounds quite like them. The closest comparison might be mid-to-late period Dead Can Dance--but while DCD sometimes evoke sacred music traditions, this group (and this new album in particular) feel much more deeply influenced by sacred music, particularly that from Orthodox traditions (such as what you hear from Georgian men's and Bulgarian women's choirs). There is a lot of quiet and space in their music, with instrumental and vocal drones (mainly from non-rock instruments), as well as some touching melodies. It's mostly delicate and subtle, but there are some contrastingly intense passages as well. It's not really rock or pop, yet it isn't exactly pure world or sacred music either--kind of a post-rock, art-pop, sacred, and world music hybrid. I imagine the late Mark Hollis would have liked this album a lot. It's the kind of music to be listened to with your undivided attention late at night, by candlelight, when you're ready to be taken into another world.
2000: Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump 2001: Bob Dylan - Love & Theft 2002: David Bowie - Heathen 2003: Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People 2004: Guided By Voices - Half Smiles of the Decomposed 2005: Deerhoof - The Runners Four 2006: Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 2007: Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full 2008: Women - Women 2009: Wilco - Wilco (The Album) 2010: Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me 2011: Tom Waits - Bad As Me 2012: Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill 2013: David Bowie - The Next Day 2014: FKA Twigs - LP1 2015: Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart 2016: David Bowie - Blackstar 2017: King Krule - The Ooze 2018: Paul McCartney - Egypt Station 2019: Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains 2020: Stephen Malkmus - Traditional Techniques
2000: Radiohead - Kid A 2001: R.E.M. - Reveal 2002: The Libertines - Up The Bracket 2003: Blur - Think Tank 2004: The Libertines - The Libertines 2005: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm 2006: Bob Dylan - Modern Times 2007: The National - Boxer 2008: Bloc Party - Intimacy 2009: The Horrors - Primary Colours 2010: The National - High Violet 2011: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 2012: Saint Etienne - Words And Music By Saint Etienne 2013: Deafheaven - Sunbather 2014: Marissa Nadler - July 2015: Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool 2016: Suede - Night Thoughts 2017: Slowdive - Slowdive 2018: The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Merrie Land 2019: Tindersticks - No Treasure But Hope 2020: Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot Choosing between Night Thoughts and Blackstar was painful.
2000 --- Eliott Smith "Figure 8" 2001 --- White Stripes "White Blood Cells" 2002 --- Elvis Costello "When I Was Cruel" --- Despite it's insane Loudness! 2003 --- Fountains of Wayne "Welcome Interstate Managers" 2004 --- Rilo Kiley "More Adventurous" --- Best album of these two Decades (for me)! 2005 --- Sufjan Stevens "Illinois" 2006 --- Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" 2007 --- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" --- Despite it's insane Loudness! 2008 --- Fleet Foxes "Fleet Foxes 2009 --- Wilco - "Wilco (The Album)" 2010 --- The Black Keys "Brothers" 2011 --- Adele "21" 2012 --- Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Psychedelic Pill" 2013 --- Dan Hicks "Live at Davies" 2014 --- Suzanne Vega "Tales from the Queen of Pentacles" 2015 --- Courtney Barnett "Sometimes I Think" 2016 --- Wilco "Schmilco" 2017 --- Aimee Mann "Mental Illness" 2018 --- Mark Knofpler "Down the Road Wherever" 2019 --- Claypool- Lennon Delirium "South of Reality"
2000: Coldplay - Parachutes 2001: Zero 7 - Simple Things 2002: Beck - Sea Change 2003: Simply Red - Home 2004: Tears For Fears - Everybody Loves A Happy Ending 2005: Dream Theater - Octavarium 2006: David Gilmour - On An Island 2007: Bruce Springsteen - Magic 2008: Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul 2009: The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die 2010: Tame Impala - Innerspeaker 2011: Noel Gallagher - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 2012: Tame Impala - Lonerism 2013: Queens Of The Stone Age - …Like Clockwork 2014: Ryan Adams - 1989 2015: New Order - Music Complete 2016: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool 2017: Roger Waters - Is This The life We Really Want? 2018: IDLES - Joy As An Act Of Resistance 2019: Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars 2020: Working Men's Club - Working Men's Club
2000: Radiohead: Kid A 2001: Daft Punk: Discovery 2002: Beck: Sea Change 2003: Lightning Bolt: Wonderful rainbow 2004: CocoRosie: La maison de Mon Reve 2005: Sunn0))): Black One 2006: Kode 9 + Spaceape: Memories of the future 2007: Burial: Untrue 2008: F**k Buttons: Street Horrrsing 2009: Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion 2010: Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma 2011: Thee oh sees: Carrior Crawler/the Dream 2012: Tame Impala: Lonerism 2013: My bloody Valentine: MBV 2014: Aphex Twin: Syro 2015: Panda Bear: meets the grim reaper 2016: David Bowie: Blackstar 2017: Slowdive: Slowdive 2018: Idles: Joy as an act of resistence 2019: Tim Presley’s White Fence: I have to feed Larry’s Hawk 2020: Sarah Davachi: Cantus, descant
One quick change to my post #156 (a couple above) 2016 --- Lucinda Williams "The Ghosts of Highway 20"
2000 - GYBE - Lift Your... 2001 - The Shins - Oh, Inverted World 2002 - Agalloch - The Mantle 2003 - The Microphones - Mount Eerie 2004 - Arcade Fire - Funeral 2005 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 2006 - Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther 2007 - Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago 2008 - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes 2009 - Animal Collective - Merriweather... 2010 - Beach House - Teen Dream 2011 - Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica 2012 - Susanne Sundfor - The Silicon Veil 2013 - My Bloody Valentine - M B V 2014 - Grouper - Ruins 2015 - Kamasi Washington - The Epic 2016 - Wolf People - Ruins 2017 - Der Weg einer Freiheit - Finisterre 2018 - Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains 2019 - Mariee Sioux - Grief in Exile 2020 - Chouk Bwa & The Angstromers - Vodou Ale
Puts to rest the notion that there isn't a lot of great new music out there. Is it 1963 - 1975 level, no... but it sure stomps on the 80's.
2000: Ween - White Pepper 2001: Röyksopp - Melody A.M. 2002: Cornershop - Handcream For A Generation 2003: Ween - Quebec 2004: Teddybears STHLM - Fresh 2005: Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens 2006: Baby Dayliner - Critics Pass Away 2007: Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala 2008: Black Kids - Partie Traumatic 2009: Morrissey - Years Of Refusal 2010: Electric Six - Zodiac 2011: They Might Be Giants - Join Us 2012: Jens Lekman - I Know What Love Isn't 2013: Hellogoodbye - Everything Is Debatable 2014: Freeman - Freeman 2015: Prince - Hit n Run Phase One 2016: Empire Of The Sun - Two Vines 2017: Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now 2018: Ssion - O 2019: Benny Sings - City Pop 2020: Donny Benet - Mr. Experience
2000: Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams. 2001: Songs In A Minor - Alicia Keys. 2002: After Everything Now This - The Church. 2003: Forget Yourself - The Church. 2004: Isidore - Isidore (Jeffrey Cain & Martin Kennedy). 2005: Cold Roses - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals. 2006: The Trials Of Van Occupanther - Midlake. 2007: Pocket Symphony - Air. 2008: Painkiller - Steve Kilbey. 2009: Love 2 - Air. 2010: Queen Of Denmark - John Grant. 2011: C'mon - Low. 2012: Fear Fun - Father John Misty. 2013: You Are Everything - Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy. 2014: El Pintor - Interpol. 2015: Strange Trails - Lord Huron. 2016: Jet Plane And Oxbow - Shearwater. 2017: Man Woman Life Death Infinity - The Church. 2018: Vide Noir - Lord Huron. 2019: Simpatico - Golden Daze.
2000 Doves - Lost Souls 2001 Spoon - Girls Can Tell 2002 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2003 Califone - Quicksand/Cradlesnakes 2004 Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South 2005 John Prine - Fair and Square 2006 Band of Horses - Everything All the Time 2007 Iron and Wine - The Shepard's Dog 2008 Blitzen Trapper - Furr 2009 Lucero -1372 Overton Park 2010 J Roddy Walston and the Business - s/t 2011 White Denim - D 2012 Allah Las - s/t 2013 Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic 2014 King Gizzard - I'm In Your Find Fuzz 2015 Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You 2016 Durand Jones and the Indications - s/t 2017 Colter Wall - s/t 2018 Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio - Close But No Cigar 2019 Black Pumas - s/t
2000: Acetone ~ York Blvd. 2001: Rival Schools ~ United By Fate 2002: Midnight Oil ~ Capricornia 2003: The Jayhawks ~ Rainy Day Music 2004: Over The Rhine ~ Ohio 2005: The Barracudas ~ S/T 2006: Radio Birdman ~ Zeno Beach 2007: Crowded House ~ Time on Earth 2008: The Fleshtones ~ Take A Good Look! 2009: Desire ~ II 2010: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals ~ III/IV 2011: King Mob ~ Force 9 2012: Dr. John ~ Locked Down 2013: The Growl ~ What Would Christ Do? 2014: Curtis Harding ~ Soul Power 2015: Duke Garwood ~ Heavy Love 2016: Ben Watt ~ Fever Dream 2017: Benjamin Booker ~ Witness 2018: Michael Rault ~ It’s A New Day Tonight 2019: Lee Fields & The Expressions - It Rains Love 2020: Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes ~ What Kinda Music
Updated list: 2000: Radiohead - Kid A 2001: Tool - Lateralus 2002: Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood to The Head 2003: The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium 2004: Norah Jones - Feels Like Home 2005: Oceansize - Everything Into Position 2006: The (Dixie) Chicks - Taking The Long Way 2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows 2008: Mastodon - Crack The Skye 2009: Maxwell - BLACKsummers’night 2010: James Taylor - Before This World 2011: Elder - Dead Roots Stirring 2012: Soundgarden - King Animal 2013: Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here 2014: D’Angelo - Black Messiah 2015: Björk - Vulnicura 2016: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool 2017: Robert Plant - Carry Fire 2018: Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth 2019: Coldplay - Everyday Life
Mine’s changed a fair bit too: 2000: Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven 2001: Daft Punk - Discovery 2002: Agalloch - The Mantle 2003: The Mars Volta - De-Loused In the Comatorium 2004: Arcade Fire - Funeral 2005: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 2006: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 2007: LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver 2008: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes 2009: Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs 2010: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2011: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues 2012: Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City 2013: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories 2014: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - I’m In Your Mind Fuzz 2015: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly 2016: David Bowie - Blackstar 2017: Father John Misty - Pure Comedy 2018: Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love 2019: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats’ Nest 2020: Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure
2000 Not the Tremblin’ Kind - Laura Cantrell 2001 Life, Love and Leaving - the Detroit Cobras 2002 Travelogue - Joni Mitchell 2003 World Without Tears - Lucinda Williams 2004 Drill a Hole in that Substrate and Tell Me What You See - Jim White 2005 Illinois - Sufjan Stevens 2006 The Greatest - Cat Power 2007 West - Lucinda Williams 2008 She & Him Volume 1 2009 Who’s Hurting Now? - Candi Staton 2010 Leave Your Sleep - Natalie Merchant 2011 Last - the Unthanks 2012 World Music - Goat 2013 Won’t be Long Now - Linda Thompson 2014 I Got More Soul -Bobby Patterson 2015 Before the World was Big - Girlpool 2016 You Want it Darker - Leonard Cohen 2017 Americana - Ray Davies 2018 Personne d’autre - Francoise Hardy 2019 Sistahs - Big Joanie 2020 Rough and Rowdy Ways - Bob Dylan
It's an album by a fellow named John Deacon (Not the Queen Bassist) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n9n7rnzFwv8Je9ifJZhQu9g-MipjofR7I I wish I could give you more info about it but that's all that I can find on him.
2000-- Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams 2001--Take Off Your Pants And Jacket by blink-182 2002- O by Damien Rice 2003--tie: Hail to The Thief by Radiohead vs untitled by blink-182 2004--Catch For Us The Foxes by mewithoutYou 2005--Alligator by The National 2006--Brother, Sister by mewithoutYou 2007--Boxer by The National 2008--Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes 2009--Tie: It's All Crazy...by mewithoutYou vs The Great Misdirect by Between the Buried and Me 2010--High Violet by The National 2011: tie: Bon Iver by Bon Iver vs Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes vs Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine 2012--Restoration by Amiensus 2013--Trouble Will Find Me by The National 2014--Those Days Are Gone by Free Throw (one of the few albums from that year that I've listened to. 2014 had loads of great songs tho) 2015--Sprained Ankle by Julien Baker 2016--Trans Day Of Revenge by G.L.O.S.S 2017--Via Artis Via Mortis by A Hill To Die Upon 2018--[Untitled] by mewithoutYou 2019--Cosmic Thrill Seekers by Prince Daddy and the Hyena 2020--Brain Pain by Four Year Strong Tally: 5 pop-punk albums 6 indie rock albums 5 indie folk albums (6 if you count Julien B) 3 metal albums 3 post-hardcore albums 1 hardcore "album"
2000 – Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven – Godspeed You Black Emperor 2001 – B.R.M.C. - Black Rebel Motorcyle Club 2002 – Sea Change - Beck 2003 – Comfort Woman – Meshell Ndegeocello 2004 – Kasabian - Kasabian 2005 – Illinois – Sufjan Stevens 2006 – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood – Neko Case 2007 – Oracular Spectacular - MGMT 2008 – Real Animal – Alejandro Escovedo 2009 – What Will We Be – Devendra Banhart 2010 – The Foundling – Mary Gauthier 2011 – Let England Shake – PJ Harvey 2012 – Clockwork Angels - Rush 2013 – Southeastern – Jason Isbell 2014 – Hozier - Hozier 2015 – How Big How Blue How Beautiful – Florence and the Machine 2016 – Night Thoughts – Suede 2017 – Heartworms – The Shins 2018 – Dirty Computer – Janelle Monae 2019 – Remind Me Tomorrow – Sharon Van Etten 2020 – Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple
2000: Radiohead - Kid A 2001: Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World 2002: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battle the Pink Robots 2003: Radiohead - Hail to the Thief 2004: Arcade Fire - Funeral 2005: Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations 2006: The Killers - Sam’s Town 2007: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago 2008: Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid 2009: Florence + the Machine - Lungs 2010: The National - High Violet 2011: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 2012: Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky’s Edge 2013: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away 2014: The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream 2015: Blur - The Magic Whip 2016: David Bowie - Blackstar 2017: Aimee Mann - Mental Illness 2018: Paul Weller - True Meanings 2019: Lana Del Rey - Norman F***ing Rockwell! 2020: Baxter Dury - The Night Chancers
