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

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)

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.
― brimstead, maandag 28 september 2020 18:52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3GpJzMZiXY

never thought I'd kinda dig a Nickelback song but this is so absurd that I'm hypnotized by it
like I've long thought of that as one of the worst opening lines in the history of music and I'm glad someone else thought it was as weird as I did
― frogbs, maandag 28 september 2020 19:02

#onethread

and then between those two, you have stuff like Replica, which was a sound i wish he would have done so much more in. he manages to make a whole album of variable length samples that is somehow catchy and hummable but without having any relation to traditional song structures. i mean, wtf, that one album was a career accomplishment for any musician (imo), but when it came out there were still a bunch of people who were like "yeah i'm not into replica because it's just him ripping off vangelis again"

xp

OPN also wonderful because he's the kind of musician where i can just kind of wander off and let him do his current thing for a few years, knowing that although i'm not so into his current thing* he's going to keep trying new things and he may blow my socks off in a completely new way in 2033.

really??? ugh idiots. Replica is the absolute bomb. obv they didn’t actually listen????

Re:”ripping of vangelis again”

yeah exactly! i mean i know i'm strawmanning a little bit. but it comes up as often as the "interpol rips off joy division" comment, and i would still hear it even during the R+7 days!

i think there are a ton of musicians that are in the vangelis/rifts/tangerine dream epics space, but never move out of it (which is cool! i like that sound, and there's no obligation to continually evolve toward new sounds). so when OPN kind of immediately mastered the shit out of the genre and did that for several years straight, i'm sure a lot of people assumed that's what he would always do and never checked back? beats me

Good posts Karl Malone. I'll give Replica another go. I did really like the poppy retro stuff he did as Games/Daniel Lopatin. I guess with him, I've always felt like there's a concept or reference point or some neat theme which I'm supposed to understand, but don't

i've always felt like there's a concept or reference point or some neat theme which I'm supposed to understand, but don't

haha, maybe that's part of what i don't like about his newer stuff! because yeah, i don't know wtf he's talking about these days

actress good, opn and flylo don't care

I like 'Age of' quite a bit for OPN too.

I have some thoughts on his newer records, all positive, but need a minute to think about them.

ummm, I listened to Replica and while I like the idea of making music from tiny snippets of TV ads, there's still this nagging feeling (same as I have with Actress) that anyone with a computer and a bit of time on their hands could knock something like this together. I think I prefer Garden and Age Of to this

I really think you need to listen again, maybe you were distracted

Like, what do you think of the title track?

but anyway show me how to do it, dog

sorry for confrontationals

Title track is nice enough. Bit different to the rest of the album. I mean it's fine as an ambient piano piece, or at least a piano sample and some subtle sawtooth synths to help it along. But too many of the tracks sound like someone just mucking around with a loop pedal.

Also, this made me think of someone else i don't get: Tim Hecker. Why distort everything in such a horrible and uninteresting way? The album I heard sounded like someone playing big held chords but with the mic turned up way too high so that it clips in a really unpleasant way. I don't see why that's good or smart or enjoyable...

ok i'm halfway with you there.. because i love tim hecker up to and including mirages. but don't like anything after. cleaned up his sound, got into organs and shit.

I like the concept of Thundercat a lot more than I want to listen to him

Harmony in Ultraviolet is an album I absolutely love, but I don't feel strongly about any other Hecker album. It's kind of weird to me. For instance I was certain I'd love Ravedeath, 1972 given all the praise, but it never hit me. Ultimately I only idly "like" every other album by him.

His Dropped Pianos EP may well be my favourite.

What is the concept of Thundercat? It's technical disco-funk from what I've heard?

It's basically 70s George Duke with more noodly bass playing and indie sadboy lyrics.

okay cool

thats not correct, its bootsy collins but anime

Yeah, there's a lot of Bootsy in there, too, but Bootsy's about 1000 times more fun than Thundercat.

I don't really 'get' Thundercat either but his music is pretty fun

thats what i qualified it with "but anime" which is usually not fun

*why

but thundercat is fun "friends zone" is v funny

I don't hate Thundercat at all, I just love the idea of dollar bin fusion records for hipsters in theory more than in practice

I wasn't trying to say he was bad, otherwise I wouldn't try at all

I don't hate him either, obviously (wrote a cover story on him for The Wire and had a blast interviewing him), I just don't listen to his records that much now that I'm no longer on deadline.

I like Thundercat, but there's a samey-ness to a lot of his music, as well as Flying Lotus tracks where he's featured, that causes me to tune out after a little while.

Scritti Politti. On paper there's a lot to draw me to them - Marxist intellectuals who slid from post-punk to pop? What's not to like? But whenever I try to listen to them, I just... don't enjoy it at all.

yeah wish i liked them more than i do

lol, just put Cupid & Psyche in my sell pile yesterday

"Skank Bloc Bologna" still rules, though, it's on my Wanna Buy A Bridge comp LP and is probably all I need

I'm glad it's not just me. I often feel like I'm somehow deficient for not getting it, but they really don't grab me at all.

i only have Songs to Remember, and about once a year i give Cupid & Psyche a digital spin, but i also have completely failed to get into scritti politti

I love Green Gartside on that Eurythmics song! "Wrap It Up"? His voice sounds like the way velvet looks

The pop stuff is a bit saccharine. I have to be in the mood. But Skank Bloc is so great

In a similar vein (is it acceptable for me to say it?), Prince’s Sign of the Times: the sounds that he uses and that digital bass motif, they all just sound real displeasing to my ears. Also, his vocal performance fails to convince me that he truly cares about the things described in the lyrics. In fact, I’ve tried 3 times to listen to that supposedly universally loved stone cold classic but I’ve never made it all the way through. For the record, I own Parade and think it’s great, a lot of fun, his best album by far in my own unpopular opinion.

oh man I love green’s voice and lyrics so much. Total hero. Took a while for me, though.

oh man I love green’s voice and lyrics so much. Total hero. Took a while for me, though.

cupid & psyche is just a staggering achievement to me, exciting and blinding every time i listen to it, was a huge 420 unlock for me last year.