Y’all haven’t heard this song till it’s been slowed and pitched down. My girlfriend asked me to process Beach Boys songs like this in Pro Tools and “I Get Around” was the best of the bunch. It’s a sludge rock masterpiece!
One of my favorite albums of all time. The first time I heard it it cut through me like the sharpest knife. I’m definitely one of the folks mentioned with a strong emotional attachment to it. Nothing else they’ve done has really lived up to it but I don’t really fault them for that, this is lightning in a bottle.
The “Like a Rolling Stone” cover was a rollercoaster. First I was skeptical it would be anything but a rehash of one of their live covers, then I got really emotional when I realized what he was trying to do by reframing the lyrics as self-flagellation, then it became gut-bustingly hilarious at the end. I’m not sure if it’s stupid or genius but it’s very entertaining.
The funniest, loosest, weirdest Titus album. I agree that the singles are the best part of the record. The rest is... really something. The Most Lamentable Tragedy is my favorite rock album of the last several years so this was never going to be a masterpiece, but I definitely appreciate it. Need to give it a few more listens.
1. Teen Dream
2. Thank Your Lucky Stars
3. Bloom
4. Devotion
5. Depression Cherry
6. B-Sides and Rarities (it's really good folks!)
7. S/T
I think I like Thank Your Lucky Stars a lot more than most. Besides Teen Dream (which to my ears is an absolute masterpiece), it's my go-to record when I want to listen to Beach House.
Devotion is definitely underappreciated though, there are days when it's my favorite just because of how raw and relatable it is. Honestly none of their records are bad, they could all be number one depending on my mood. Probably my favorite active band.
I saw Destroyer a couple weeks ago and it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” was transcendent. I’ve been digging into their back catalog since... what are y’all’s fave Destroyer tunes that aren’t from Kaputt, Rubies or Streethawk?
-“You’re already gone” in “Oh Baby”
-The chorus of “Writer in the Dark”
-The little guitar/drone thing that comes in on “If I fuck up, oohohoohohoohohooh” in “Proud”
-The solo at the end of “Quarrel” by Moses Sumney
-The synth melody after the second chorus of “In the Morning” by Destroyer
-The ending of “I’ll Still Destroy You”
-The guitar solo in “Talkin” by Ty Segall
Happy that I helped contribute to Sheer Mag sneaking in at the end there. I’ve cooled on the album since it first dropped but it struck me like white hot lightning when I first heard it. Everyone talks about how catchy and fun it is but to me it is a very dark listen than clarified a lot of how I feel about living in America in 2017. On to 2018, don’t forget your white rose...
Ugh too many to choose. Part 3 was when I was fully on board with the revival, the whole opening sequence with Naido and the body switch through the outlet was just classic Lynch. I’m also partial to Part 11, which is the one where the Mitchum brothers become friends with Dougie.
Ken is so fucking good. It’s like the cranky old man stuff from Poison Season filtered through the nightlife sleaze of Kaputt. I love how short it is too. Hasn’t gotten enough love.
Agreed. Painted Ruins didn’t crack my top 10 but it’s for sure top 20. I listened to it incessantly when it came it. The drumming especially is unreal but the whole album has such a crisp, widescreen feel that definitely feels like an update to their sound. Don’t get the accusation of “sameness.”
Late to the game but they called the correct number 1 so I’m happy. I haven’t been absolutely blown away by too many records this year, instead retreating into the comfort I felt by so many of my favorites from the past returning. That said, Melodrama is fucking amazing. Here goes:
1. Lorde - Melodrama
2. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
3. Slowdive - Slowdive
4. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
5. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
6. Destroyer - ken
7. Perfume Genius - No Shape
8. The National - Sleep Well Beast
9. Sheer Mag - Need to Feel Your Love
10. St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION
A few songs of the year to represent those who missed the cut:
1. Alex G - “Proud”
2. Sheer Mag - “Expect the Bayonet”
3. Big Thief - “Mythological Beauty”
4. Sampha - “(No One Knows Me) Like My Piano”
5. Cloud Nothings - “Enter Entirely”
Also really enjoyed the Björk, Vince Staples and Fever Ray records. In the name of my true love, ambient music, Gas and Bibio both killed it.
Okkervil River became really important to me in college and I absolutely still stand by them. Away remains criminally underrated, let alone The Silver Gymnasium.
Have to echo the immense love for this record. It's my favorite of all time. I've listened to it front to back literally hundreds of times. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" was the first Radiohead song I ever heard and it absolutely blew my mind. What special music.
Love for "Luciferian Towers" around here? It's maybe my favorite of the new era Godspeed records. I love how clean and bright it sounds. Triumph in the face of evil is a good look for this band in 2017.
The one two punch of "For Reverend Green" and "Fireworks" is easily Animal Collective's shining moment. This album soundtracked college for me and it's weirdly apropos as a party album, even if it gets heavy thematically and sonically.
I came of age to High Violet and This is Happening, so these past few weeks have been eerie. I love this record. It kind of reminds me of Hail to the Thief.
Thanks for this article. Twin Peaks: The Return may have ended on an utterly disturbing note but it has brought great joy to me. I agree with the Chromatics and Sharon being tops but I also have to disagree with your take on NIN. The Veils certainly provided an iconic moment as well.
Good to hear. I feel like an outlier as Stupid Dream is my favorite Porcupine Tree album by some distance, with In Absentia and Fear of a Blank Planet behind, so I've been cautiously looking forward to this one. I wasn't sold on the first single so I decided to avoid the rest of the released songs since the same thing happened with Hand.Cannot.Erase and I ended up really liking the singles in context. Looking forward to giving To the Bone a proper listen.
Anyone going to be checking out Steven Wilson's new record this weekend? I've been stuck on Grizzly Bear so I haven't checked it yet. I'm kinda nervous... Porcupine Tree was one of my major gateways into music and I've loved his solo career but I'm thinking it peaked around Grace for Drowning, even though I've found plenty to enjoy on the last two.
I'll throw my hat in the ring on this too. The more time goes on, the more I think Veckatimest is one of the strongest albums of the last decade or so. It's aging so well. Honestly, I think "While You Wait For the Others" alone is a better song than almost any of the other bands you listed have produced (maybe with the exception of the highlights of Modern Vampires in the City).
Yellow House and Shields are nothing to laugh at either. Grizzly Bear rules.
Alright everyone, despite what you say to the contrary I KNOW most of y'all bumped Hybrid Theory for a solid year when you were a kid so WHAT is the Stereogum's commentariat's favorite song on that record that is NOT "In the End?"
I'll start with "Points of Authority."
Impeccable album. They haven't really made a bad one. Hot Thoughts is a little bit lesser now that I've had some time with it but it's by no means a disappointment. They Want My Soul is easily one of my favorite records since 2010, it's another perfect example of the tight, gritty pop-rock they exhibit so beautifully here.
I was there! Closer to the Chance side of things but it was really amazing when that rain started and waves of people caught on to singing along with "Skinny Love." I sometimes talk smack about that song but there's no denying it reaches a lot of people in powerful ways.
Yeah, I hear you. I just feel that that narrative is overemphasized with OKC and belies the emotional complexity behind a lot of the songs. I'm also not big on Kid A, for me that's the one I appreciate a lot more than I actually like.
Just thought I'd counter this with a few thoughts about the themes of the album. As much as it pains me to say this, the recent Rolling Stone article about this record really opened it up for me again. Certainly the album is preoccupied with "the invasion of technology," but according to Thom it's really more about the transience of being on tour and barely connecting with people, which translates into the isolation we might feel in our cars as we commute or our homes that we rent.
Certainly, those two threads go hand in hand and technology contributes to that sense of isolation, but I think OKC is more about the distance between people in general. With that in mind, I find it acts as more of a salve for that anxiety rather than exacerbating it. But, if you don't dig it you don't dig it.
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