105. Slint - Spiderland (1991)



I couldn't find my wireless headphones yesterday so I grabbed my old Fiio player and best headphones (my Samsung phone doesn't have a headphone port, the cunts).  It's got two 128gb micro SD cards full to the brim with FLAC files I painstakingly ripped from cds when I was up the rabbit's hole a few years ago.  I've eased off that particular hobby recently but I loved the lossless wanker journey, and the Fostex cans sound absolutely miles better than my Soundcore set.  Anyway, aside from revisiting things I know inside out I thought I'd listen to something new so I could add it here, and realised I'd never listened to this album all the way through.  It's my mate's favourite non Smashing Pumpkins album afaik, so I should have listened to it beforehand really.  Especially as he let me keep the CD I borrowed to get the FLAC files from.

The beauties:



I'm not sure why I avoided this album in full for so long.  Possibly because I made the mistake of thinking it'd be tache-twiddlingly inaccessible in a muso-beardo way ('isn't this wilfully obtuse album so accomplished'), which it really isn't - it's actually a great first listen, and sounds genuinely fantastic with a beefy set-up.  Will go again soon.

I've got my amp/dac combo out too so I'll post some pics of the full set up later. Glory days.

[Small font]Sounds really good on it[/small font]

Fun fact I learned yesterday: the photo used for the cover of that Slint album at the top of the page was taken by Will Oldham.

Get. Out.

They'll never top Cross but thats ok.

Wrong music thread!

That’s the good Schiiit right there.

Country Lookin’ Chain



This is a joke, but it’s quite a funny one. Beyoncé goes country and puts out a double album. Goldie Lookin’ Chain feed their greatest hits into an AI music generator and quickly put out a country doubler of their own.

The biggest surprise is how well it works. Not well enough to sound good, or anything like that. But good enough to release. Perfectly valid, if a bit wonky, background music. 

Obviously it’s way too long. But that’s the joke. So was Beyoncé’s. I listened to Country Lookin’ Chain all the way through and can confidently tell you not to bother. Try this as a shorter playlist. Enough to get the joke and move on:

1. Cwmbran Corral
2. Half Man Half Cowboy
3. Nan Jam Hoedown
4. Taxi - Covered Wagon Mix
5. Dryrobe - Poncho Mix

If nothing else it’s an amazing example of the current capabilities of AI music generators. It’s capable from start to finish, but it lacks any soul. Made by the band themselves, this would be hilarious - they’d know when to emphasise, when to pause, when to make changes for comic effect.

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
Folk Pop (2024)



The lead/title track was ear wormy (?) enough to try the album out although I wasn’t hopeful of anything spectacular. That track, along with another, the name escapes me, seems like the melody has been plagiarised from something back from the seventies. The rest of the album is fairly run-of-the-mill, with a handful of songs standing out (Cardinal, Giver/Taker and Anime Eyes) but it’s the (for me) standout track, Sway, where the comfort zone is abandoned and hopefully a sign of things to come on future releases.

111. Vic Chesnutt & Mr & Mrs. Keneipp - Merriment (2000)



I think Vic squeezes into the S-tier for 'tortured genius' in modern music, and aside from a soundtrack this is the only album of his I hadn't heard.  The music was actually pre-written for him here - VC just listened, then provided the words - but it still sounds like it could just about be a solo album really.   It's a bit lighter than most of his work, which is nice to hear for a change, but admittedly his very best stuff can be deeply depressing.  As expected this is very good and will be worth revisiting for a closer listen at some point.  If you haven't heard him I'd recommend starting elsewhere though - this is more accessible than his best work but it's not as unsettlingly rewarding as his deepest darkest moments.  If you want a Vic to latch onto in a couple of listens I'd suggest starting with Is The Actor Happy? Or just click on this video for a snapshot of full magnificence:

Pet Shop Boys - Nonetheless
Synthpop (2024)



After the conclusion of the ‘electric’ trilogy, Smash Hits’ fave duo and pop band have reunited with their former label Parlophone for the less club-influenced Nonethless. On first listen (there will be more), there’s certainly nothing that’s going to shoot them back to the upper echelons of the chart, but it feels like a familiar, flea-bitten old blanket that you keep returning to despite having a much swankier one still in the bag of the shop you bought it from a few months back.

Even though the back end of the album tails off a tad, I have a feeling this is the section I’ll revisit more as time goes by. However, for now, my favourite track is Why am I Dancing?

Must Listen:

He doesn’t come in here fortunately.

The first CD I ever bought was Actually and that was (and still is) a masterpiece.

Did you ever watch My Kind of Country on Apple TV, Moot? The Mrs and I surprised ourselves by actually enjoying it. And there were some absolute gems among the contestants. The whole point of the show was to find country artists from outside of mainstream country culture. There was a Congolese group who mixed African rhythms in, an Indian guy who brought incredible fingerpicking into it, and so on.

Yeah, Apple’s own stuff stays on there for good. Anything you access from other providers through the app can come and go (eg. BBC, Paramount, etc).