Bands you keep trying to like but can't get into

iirc she's 'alternative' now

gotta say her lyrics have never struck me as anything other than an offputting combination of basic, cynical and arch, no matter how (sometimes) decent the music is

Although I picked on one of her earlier country lyrics, I think I actually like the pop lyrics less, from what I know of them. They started to get this weird narcissistic quality.

much as i love a bit of Cardiacs, I get the sensation that they skirt dangerously close to that festival-ska vibe that proliferates around the UK

...i mean, that's not their fault because their music was established way before that vibe, but there's a correlation

Some of their early stuff pretty much is straight-up ska, but later they moved away from that sound. They were never embarrassing ska lol

I don't know what festival ska is but it doesn't sound like it fits the Cardiacs!

I'm going by 'In A City Lining' (which i do love) most of all

Cardiacs were around the free festival circuit in the early 80s. They have a song with a ska section in 11/8 LOL, which sounds like a gag but it's great.

I think I heard some festival ska once when I blogged a ride to a festival from some (extremely nice) young people on Facebook.

* blagged

They have a song with a ska section in 11/8

*gulp*

A Wooden Fish On Wheels is another great pure-ska one (with unusual timings, yes)

Vocally very reminisicent of the Homosexuals.

L Voag had that great (if thoroughly wacky) stint as a Resonance FM showrunner didn't he

i live in Bristol so my sensitivity and aversion towards festival ska is acute

Tool

i think it's okay to stop trying with them. their current fanbase hypes them enough to make up for the rest of us.

The riff on “pneuma” is sick as hell

I KNOW THE PIECES FIT
I KNOW THE PIECES FIT
I KNOW THE PIECES FIT

^ me in 2001, trying to convince myself Lateralus is this century's first masterpiece.

I've since tuned out 95% of critical and/or stan discourse about Tool and have come to realize that they're a good band, no more and no less.

Aenima was quite good fun at the time. Lateralus was so dry and humourless though

new one is great (but also dry and humorless)

Tool is the dumbest band I like

i have a much deeper bench for that category lol - Tool is prob the smartest of the dumb bands that I like?

CSNY should be right up my alley yet I'm always confused when listening to them. Couple-a songs I absolutely love, Teach, Almost Cut My Hair, Helplessly Hoping but that's about it.

Tool are kind of purposefully dumb.

rizzx since I’ve seen you posting on dead threads: maybe Crosby can be your way into csn? What do you think of the PERRO tapes, or even Crosby / Crosby-Nash albums?

Tool aren’t dumb per se, they’re just nowhere near as smart as they ostensibly believe themselves to be.

I could never make out their lyrics. I love Aenima.

you know I might just be starting to get into Rush....

Euler - haven't really heard those albums yet but will give them a try!

I liked Aenima back in the day, mostly because it showed a dark sense of humour and stylistic leanings towards things like Ministry's Psalm 69. Lateralus just came across like an extremely po-faced nu-metal album with time signature switches and songs that went on for a hundred years

Tool records sound great but I never wanna listen to them

I find myself going back to Undertow quite often. The production is so damn good.

The opening riff on “pneuma” is so so awesome

(off the new one)

Here's a triad of acclaimed 2010 electronic acts who fit this:

Actress, Oneohtrix Point Never, Flying Lotus.

I like at least one thing by each, but more often than not I'm left wondering whether I'm missing something, or if that's all there is. What I've heard of each act sounds a bit random (no in a good way), collagey, free-form, but with a throughline that evades me. I quite liked Oneohtrix's forays into nu-metal as a concept, but other projects just sound like a bunch of half-ideas stitched together.

Actress has done some really hypnotic stuff like 'Bubble' from Splazsh, but otherwise I'm often left wondering whether he's managed to achieve the idea that was in his head, or if it's more some aimless experimental journey; throwing notes and beats down at random and then seeing what sticks.

Flying Lotus I admit I've only heard the first album, but just wasn't sure what to make of it either. I should go back to that one, maybe listen to some of his other stuff, but it was a hot mess as far as I could make out

I remember seeing Oneohtrix Point Never doing a set at the Union Chapel and for a straight 25 mins it sounded identical to someone flipping through the presets on an analog synth. Idk if it was some sort of improv thing or away from his usual performances but I thought I was dreaming, it was so terrible.

I saw him twice in the same year as Ford & Lopatin, and both times it was underwhelming synth washes and burbles for, as you say, under 30 minutes.

Tbh, I didn't really "get" OPN until this review of Garden of Delete from our very own DD....

https://www.talkhouse.com/drew-daniel-matmos-talks-oneohtrix-point-nevers-garden-of-delete/

Then, the more I listened, the more I was entranced.

Though I will admit to not really getting the Flying Lotus and Actress hype!

I like OPN but yeah he's exactly the sort of artist I'd expect to appear in this thread a bunch

actress is the real deal imo

Actress is one of my favorite artists of last decade, will not scroll up to read any hurtful words

I feel like I need Actress explained to me a bit; like I'm missing the point or something. The only thing I can think is that his work appeals to a kind of somnambulist mindset. 'Hubble' gives me that sleepy, lucid, hypnotic feeling where I've been up all night dancing and can't switch off the sound in my head. But sometimes his stuff just sounds like he's punching notes and beats into the DAW at random and I'm left wondering if it's clever or just flukishly amateur

Idk I just like his sound palette and the way his tracks just kind of slowly float, like a spinning cloud of space junk

Well put. Actress rules.

I think he’s pretty brave, musically, too? Like he’s not afraid to bore the pants off some people who aren’t down for the experience... that sounds awful, sorry.

I tried with Flying Lotus when I was writing a story about Thundercat, but not only did it not hold my interest at the time, I have absolutely no memory now of what it even sounded like.

DLs initial post could've been written by me. All 3 artists frustrate me cause I feel like they're capable of creating music I'd love, but they lean into their least-appealing (to me obv) tendencies over and over.

OPN has an extremely diverse catalog, so if anyone thinks they have a certain sound, whenever you thought that was maybe, but definitely not now

i'm not sure when he became widely known (if he can called that today, that is - he's not exactly cher), but it seemed like a lot of people came on board either near the beginning (juno synth soundscapes, "retro" sounding (or just "fucking awesome" sounding)) or recently (garden of delete, age of, both of which are very...interesting...i can never find my way in. but couldn't be more than different than anything from Rifts-era)