Rock and Pop: Shall we exchange some music recommendations for the new year? (and a bunch of BQs)?

MQ: Have you heard Bark Psychosis: Hex?, I would recommend that if you have not heard it. If you have though, there is a lesser known album by Sioux Falls (called Rot Forever). Its a double album and seems influenced by Modest Mouse and somewhat Cap'n Jazz as well. You might like that perhaps.

BQ1: Probably to make more of an effort with older music. I think although I do listen to albums from different decades, I tend to mostly listen to more modern music. There is definitely a disparity between the amount I hear that is new and what I hear that is a lot older. I think it would be good, to make a greater effort with older albums. So I am going to try to do that more often.

BQ2: Brand New are releasing their final album this year. Their album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me is one of my favorite albums (along with Deja Entendu also). So I am looking forward to that, although I am not 100% certain that it is coming out this year. I hope it does though.

BQ3: The Life of Pablo, because the structure ties in thematically to the album. It revolves around religion, art, family, and fame. The album is basically Kanye trying navigate what path he wants to take, hence the WHICH/ ONE on the cover and how each Pablo he is referring to (Escobar, Picasso and the Apostle) represents a different aspect (fame/notoriety, art, and god respectively). The disunity of the album of the album mirrors the indecision, its a formal element with purpose. I think there are a lot of interesting things about the album.

BQ4: Can't say I have seen many music related documentaries, but I have seen Breadcrumb Trail which is a documentary about the band Slint.

Happy New Year .

Happy New Year, Euan!

I will recommend the most recent band I've discovered. The Goodnight Circus. A gypsy swing band.

Twighlight in Trakya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxjjbvgXI2s

In 2017, I'm going to strive to expand my bandcamp page and support more musical acts.

Favorite album of '16 was Wild Stab from The I Don't Cares. Any regular on this site knows how dedicated I am to Paul Westerberg's career. This album was a complete surprise to me and came at a time when I needed a distraction in my life.

I have two documentaries I'd recommend.

Swing Stories, about the swing sub-culture in Berlin.

https://vimeo.com/128070613

Joe Strummer - The Future Is Unwritten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkK__rNgeiI&t=2s

The only music related book I read last year was Trouble Boys - The True Story of the Replacements. I enjoyed this book with every fiber of my being, but I'm not sure how it might go over for those who didn't grow up listening to their music.

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2016/04/06/trouble...

I kinda suffer from musical schizophrenia, so my taste is all over the map. My main interest is instrumental rock and metal.

MQ : I'm on a kick with this instrumental band from Australia called Meniscus. They play post metal and it really trances me out. Their new album is called Refractions. Found out about them from Bandcamp.

BQ1 : To find more good post rock and post metal bands. Not all but some of these bands are really intriguing, such as Caspian and Jakob.

BQ2 : new Modest Mouse TBA

BQ3 : Refractions - Meniscus They win the prize for the amazing amount of times they hit the musical sweet spot.

BQ4 ; Dont read many books. ADD makes it too hard.

https://youtu.be/QC7btSLF1F4

Hey Sarge.

I hope you had a great Christmas/holiday break as well. Ours was very nice.

Hmmmm, have you heard Caveman? They have a pretty interesting 80s-y throwback kind of sound, but with a certain unique texture to it. From where we seem to overlap you might dig them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDRhwWMtQ4

BA1: Not really, I kind of gave up on formal resolutions about a decade ago. That said, each year I set out to do my best to keep up as best I can on newer stuff, and try to try new things. 2016 was pretty unsuccessful on the first part, but somewhat successful on the latter. Hopefully I'll raise both bars in 2017. I also like your resolution as well. Taking advantage of local talent is always really rewarding.

BA2: I'm really excited for the upcoming Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos record. Beyond that I haven't really looked into it much, but I think that one will be very good.

BA3: I guess I keep coming back to Shearwater's Jet Plane and Oxbow. I like the feel of it a lot. Kind of feels to me like a play on mid run Radiohead with a nice rolling drive to it. Great record.

BA4: Two documentaries that I really enjoyed are Dig which is the story of The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and their sort of rise. Really entertaining. Also, and even better yet is Live Forever which is about the rise of Brit Pop with bands like the Stone Roses, Blur, Oasis, and Pulp. It's a great watch.

MQ - Song: Bipolar Bear by STP (in memory of Scott - he kind of kicked off the death parade of rock stars at the end of 2015, sorry to say. And was one of the greatest frontmen of the last 30 years... when he wasn't too annihilated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-OOF-WqgUM

And this song by Mammoth Grinder. Fairly simple. But pretty heavy with a good groove and not very well known.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYy9nGpBTlE

Album: Blackstar by David Bowie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoVX1eFX4Bg

BQ1 - I want to see Tool & Primus, and resurrect Bowie.

BQ2 - Tool

BQ3 - Opeth Sorceress. Kind of reminds me of Zep III (The Seventh Sojourn in particular). And also because I already recommended Blackstar -- which I'm sure you've heard... I would hope.

BQ4 - Once Upon a Time in Norway

...Those crazy, unhinged Norsemen.

Edit - I now see my answers are pretty close to Hurricain's. Respect. He knows what's up. And everyone here knows it.

Just for BQ4: A good documentary series on PBS: http://www.pbs.org/show/soundbreaking/

It was better than I expected, and I was fascinated.

BQ1 here is to sell all my remaining guitar/stage gear, as my time is gone. Perfect Strat 'clone, vintage Fender amp, great pedals, SM58 mic & Atlas stand, spare tubes, EV speakers, etc. God, that's hard.

And back to music. As I've posted elsewhere, I want Jeff Healey's "Heal My Soul", Glenn Hughes "Resonance", and Joane Shaw Taylor's "Wild".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-MIoR4Nz0U

Aw, hell, I gotta another link...A little tune from another senior citizen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OmBNwLlQb4&nohtml...

'Damn fine to hang out with all the tribe! Makes my life better.

Hey, Euan. Happy new year to you!! First, I'd highly recommend listening to Souvlaki by Slowdive. It's a dream pop/shoegaze classic, and much of it consists of gorgeous, sleepy and highly textured music, with a lonely and sad feel to it. Souvlaki was released in 1993, and it's probably the strongest album in Slowdive's entire discography. Souvlaki also has strong influences from The Cure & Cocteau Twins, and it sounds like a wonderful mixture of both of those bands.

BQ1: I plan on listening to more electronic music. In fact, I want to listen to 10 electronic albums before the end of this week.

BQ2: I'm looking forward to I See You by The xx. The xx is this pretty cool dream pop band that I discovered from this website called Rate Your Music, and I liked xx, which was released in 2009. I wasn't impressed with their second album, which is titled "Coexist", but I'm hoping that I See You will be an improvement on Coexist.

BQ3: My favorite album of 2016 was Marked for Death by Emma Ruth Rundle. Much of that album was foggy, desolate and highly atmospheric dream pop, and it had very strong elements of shoegaze. Marked for Death had a strong vibe to it that I really liked, and I was impressed by how its guitars were noisy, but dreamy and lush.

BQ4: I'd recommend watching "Slowdive - Souvlaki". It's a documentary that was released in 2015, and it's part of a series titled "Pitchfork Classics", by Pitchfork. "Slowdive - Souvlaki" covers Slowdive while they made Just for a Day and Souvlaki, and it also talks about how Slowdive formed, their record label and the bands that influenced Slowdive.

"Miss Beverly" by The Soft White Sixties

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgc5lHWKVR8

BQ1: I do not. I stopped doing the whole New Year's Resolution thing because I never keep them.

BQ2: TBA

BQ3: "I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It" by The 1975. Great album!

BQ4: None at the moment, sorry.

MQ: screaming lord sutch- she's fallen in love with a monster man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mJWzCxQ6Z4

BQ1: that is a good resolution. i'd like to get back into recording music. its been a while.

BQ2: the magnetic fields- 50 song memoir

BQ3: at the moment it is the useless eaters- relaxing death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zRFcAYpj8M

but that is partially because it is the most recent new release that i have acquired, so it is fresher on my mind than some great releases that came out early in the year.

BQ4: nomi song, about klaus nomi

Aloha Euan! Thanks for posting a great question to kick off the first day back at work in 2017.

Knowing how you love progressive rock, I'm going to recommend Opeth's latest, "Sorceress", for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFse6GFKzg8&list=P...

BQ1: As most know, I just moved into a new home. I had the family room hard-wired for surround sound, so my music-related resolution is to put in new surround sound speakers and a quality receiver/home theater system that gives the best value for my budget. (Recommendations for brand names and/or specific speakers or receivers/systems would be welcomed in the comments!) I won't say "money is no object", but I will say I'm not planning to go cheap on this.

BQ2: New Tool. I can now say I will be surprised if they don't release a new album in 2017. It has been confirmed that they have been in the studio and working hard together on a new album, and all of the legal roadblocks have been knocked down...the lawsuit with their record company, which took 8 years to resolve, is now behind them.

BQ3: "Gore" by Deftones. Solid, consistent, wonderful album; "Phantom Bride", the collaboration with Jerry Cantrell, was the highlight for me. But I love all of the tracks, especially "Rubicon", "Hearts/Wires", and "Prayers/Triangles." I was able to catch a show in support of "Gore" in November, and it was off the hook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-3matq2r0Y

BQ4: "It Might Get Loud" (Documentary) featuring three of my guitar idols: Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White.

Happy New Year!