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pika2482 · 4 months

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AOTD 1/21/2024 - Teens of Denial (Car Seat Headrest)

[All albums are rated subjectively based off my own enjoyment] 8.5/10

Car Seat Headrest is a blend between the Alt-Rock you'll find in The Killers, and some of the Brit-Punk sounding vocals as found in Lovejoy. If you like either of those artists, you are sure to enjoy their first fully fledged studio album Teens Of Denial, a 13 track experience made up of the best of all of the above genres. From Will's sometimes uncontemporary approach to vocal (non-)melodies, to the subtle-yet-song making countermelodies in the guitars, to an almost grungy but clear sound in the rest of the instrumentals, you are sure to not miss a single moment of the Hour it takes you to listen through this album.

This is one of those albums that you don't realize you're smiling until the your grin starts to fade. Like the last day of a fun vacation, or the credits roll of a really good game. Not necessarily Cathartic, but it leaves that really good feeling in the bottom of your stomach, one that I'll be coming back to experience again.

Of course, Wills vocals may not be for everyone, sporting a white boy whiny-shouty style for parts of most of the track list. For me this was far from a deal breaker, in fact they were often the more memorable parts of the song, as they strayed away from the constraints of rhythm to help squeeze those few extra words, making for a fun sing-a-long moment like Wilbur often does in Lovejoy. However if whiny white boys are not for you, you probably shouldn't be listening to much Mid-West Emo or Indie anyways.

The highlights for this album are Vincent, sporting a brisk driven beat and an addictive Call/Response Vocal style Chorus, 1937 State Park with it's head banging chorus straight out of Sams Town (The Killers) with a Xylophone Solo for extra measure, The Ballad of the Costa Concordia as an 11 minute Two Parter with a flawless buildup sending you into it's blazing second half, and Connect the Dots as a defacto indie-punk headbanger, sending off the album with such fantastic colors. Picking a favorite here is hard, as they all just hit the spot so fucking perfectly, but just for the feat of holding my attention for 11 and a half minutes straight, the Best of this album has to go to The Ballad of the Costa Concordia.

Honestly it's even harder to choose a least favorite. All of these songs were Great, each and every one of them carrying it's full merit and run time for the most part. Being picky, Drugs With Friends unfortunately slides into this spot. Even with it's interesting production, it ends up on the slower side of the album for me with lyrics I can't quite get into as much as the rest of the album, talking about doing drugs with friends, I guess. I was a bitch pussy of a teenager after seeing my oldest sister get involved with just the wrong crowd and my other sister being another rebellious child, so I missed out on the peer pressure needed to best enjoy this song. It still scored a 7.5 though, so it's nothing to scoff at.

Overall, I genuinely loved my time with this album. I'm gonna be looking forward to my listen of Twin Fantasy by the same artist, and I'll definitely be recommending this album to a bunch of my friends. Sawyer, you may have just made yourself a new fan.

Favorite Songs: Fill In The Blank, Vincent, 1937 State Park, The Ballad of the Costa Concordia, Connect The Dots Least Favorite Songs: Drugs With Friends, Not What I Needed

Fill In The Blank - 8.5/10 Vincent - 9/10 Destroyed By Hippie Powers - 8/10 Drugs With Friends - 7.5/10 Not What I Needed - 7.5/10 Drunk Drivers/Killer Wales - 8/10 1937 State Park - 8.5/10 Unforgiving Girl - 7.5/10 Cosmic Hero - 8/10 The Ballad of the Costa Concordia - 9/10 Connect The Dots - 9/10 Joe Goes To School - 8/10

#album review #song review #album of the day #car seat headrest #teens of denial

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benkybot · 2 years

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I love albums where everytime I listen to it I fixate on a different lyric, like I was listening to Teens of Denial by Car Seat Headrest and I keep fixating on different lyrics and today it was that one bit in Not What I Needed

Hello my friend, we've been waiting for you for a long time

We have reason to believe that your soul is just like ours

Did you ever get the feeling you were just a little different?

Well, here's our web page, you've finally found a home

Like idk why but it feels like a change from the lyrics before it while also fitting the overall themes of the album and I lLOVEEE IT so much. Earlier I was fixated on the entirety of the Ballad of Costa Concordia because that song gets me y'know?

#teens of denial #not what i needed #the ballad of the costa Concordia

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youforgotitinpeople · 3 years

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I really appreciate how inviting your blog is! I wanted to ask what really draws you to Car Seat Headrest; what are your feelings about their discography? Any parts that you particularly resonate with? Also, super looking forward to seeing the lyric collages when you get around to them (I'm begging you to do the gun song eventually)

thank you so much!!! I really want to just share the love of music so I try to make things as inviting as possible, I’m really happy to hear it’s working <33

I’d say Teens of Denial is one of my favourite albums of all time and therefore the part of their discography that resonates with me the most, mostly since I discovered it when I was going through some Emotional Teenager Times so I hyperfixated on it lmao (especially the Ballad of the Costa Concordia and Cosmic Hero - I honestly think CH will always be my favourite CSH song mostly for sentimental reasons) and from there I kept listening. I also really like Twin Fantasy and How To Leave Town, but haven’t properly sat down and listened to the rest of the albums enough to form a good opinion I think ;;

ive got one small lyrics collage done here for Her Sinking Sun by coma cinema!! and I did a little art thing for Songs: Ohia but it doesn’t really count as a proper project since I used a pre-existing collage by the wonderful artist terry winters. I’m currently working on a bigger hozier collage for Angel of Small Death & The Codeine Scene, but will get onto The Gun Song As soon as I can!!!

thank you for the ask! <33

#ask #mirror2mirror #lyrics collage #car seat headrest #music

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ephemeralityonline · 3 years

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Beach Funeral (6/28/21; A review of Car Seat Headrest's EP "MADLO: Influences")

While I don’t think that the EP is as bad as people are making it out to be, what stings is that this is coming from Car Seat Headrest. Even though it’s not meant to be taken as anything more than a fun homage for MADLO’s one-year anniversary, I can't shake this feeling that this can't be Car Seat Headrest. While MADLO itself had some really exciting songs that pointed in a new direction for the band and I overall liked the album, it also left a bad taste in my mouth that they were losing the edge as well as the personality that made them special. There are definitely times on this EP where their magic shines through (Will singing "angels" on Golden Years, Substitute's slightly more lo-fi production, and Running Up That Hill's outro), but overall, this feels like the first non-live project from CSH to just feel like it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. Even exclusively comparing this to their previous covers of Frank Ocean's Ivy and The Cars' Just What I Needed which both feel like they could only be performed by CSH, this feels like it could come from any indie generic band. It's easy to just point and say "Once Will got a band his music started to get worse," but these are the exact same people who made Destroyed By Hippie Powers and Ballad of Costa Concordia. It feels like all of the yelling, distortion, overly personal lyrics (this point isn't applicable for this project but was for MADLO), and extra-long runtimes of the best CSH projects are being paved over to sound more like a standard indie band. In my opinion, Will's output from 2011 to 2014 was the best run in rock music excluding The Beatles so he really has nothing to prove for me. However, it is still a bit of a bummer that the band's new direction loses a lot of what made me fall in love with them in the first place. Still optimistic for their next full-length project though.

Originally posted on my RYM account.

#car seat headrest #music

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voidcat · 4 years

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HQ!! boys as Car Seat Headrest fans p1

Miya Atsumu: Furry. He’s a furry and proud. He was suggested CSH by some of his online furry friends and likes the vibes of the band but the old songs/10+ min songs? They’re too sad for him, he can’t fuck w that. He vibes w the song Bodys a lot though

Miya Osamu: not a fan, never will be. Thanks to Tsumtsum, all CSH fans are furries in his eyes and nothing can change that.

Suna Rintarou: not a fan but doesn’t have anything against the band. He likes the Minecraft parody cover of Beach Life In Death. He got curious to check the og lyrics once and Nope, Not his cup of tea. He somehow gets all the CSH memes and attacks Atsumu w them

Hinata Shoyo: poor baby has no idea. “Why are we talking about cars?” He likes the melodies but the songs are too sad for him to listen. He hopes the writer (Will Toledo) is okay now.

Listen,, at some point during their MSBY years Atsumu took him to a furrycon. (Pls find better flirting techniques tsumtsum, being a furry ain’t it) Whatever happened there has both of them shocked to the core but they refuse to tell, ever since Hinata and Kageyama have gotten into a dynamic weirder than before. Some days they’ll just stare at one another in completely unsettling silence.

Tsukishima Kei: no one knows this but he definitely enjoys the 10+ min songs. Ballad of Costa Concordia??? Volume up! I Want You To Know...??? Volume all the way up!! He appreciates the genius lyrics wrapped in lofi tunes. If you see him showing the slightest bit of emotion while he listens to music, it’s because Will Toledo is, yet again, yelling about a human emotion(s). Twin Fantasy FTF and Teens of Denial are his favorite albums. (gay yearning, that’s all i am saying)

Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryosunuke: They aren’t into the band much but they def enjoy the memes and jokes. Esp the furry jokes (ie: “WILL TOLEDO MADE ME A FURRY”) this scares Asahi a lot.

Asahi Azumane: like Osamu, he associates CSH w furries. He doesn’t know what they are, he doesn’t want to know. The things he heard from Noya and Tanaka are enough to scare him off

Kageyama Tobio: Not a Fan but he ran into Hinata (and atsumu) at a furrycon. No he doesn’t want to talk about it. Yes his fursona is a cow.

Yamaguchi Tadashi: he accidentally heard a part of a song from Tsukki’s earphones once and asked him about it, Tsukki left so fast and avoided him for a day. (The song was Beach Life in Death......) ever since that day he doesn’t like the band.

Ennoshita Chikara and Daichi Sawamura: not a fan of the band nor the fans. They hope the fanbase will get some help soon. Praying for you 🙏🏽

Shimizu Kiyoko: she’s not a virgin. She’s in control of her emotions and she got her shit together. She has long passed the phase to listen to CSH. Not a fan but appreciates the lyrics.

Semi Eita: def likes the band, avoids the fanbase. He has monthly crying sessions to his favorite songs.

Ushijima Wakatoshi: he holds furry potential. “What is... ‘shabba de bop bop be shibby day’?” Semi had a heart attack that day, Tendou tried explaining the lyrics and the metaphors, Ushi found them dumb and unnecessary. He thinks Will Toledo(and the fan base) is weak and he doesn’t like it.

Oikawa Tooru: if you ask him, he will refuse but he connects with the band so badly and deeply I can’t make this shit up. How To Leave Town? That album was made for Him! Twin Fantasy? Half of it was made for Him and him only. He avoids the fanbase like the Black Plague, he can’t damage his reputation as a potential furry

Matsukawa Issei & Hanamaki Takahiro: not a fan but they tease Oikawa. They esp make memes of “the gay dogs” (the album cover of Twin Fantasy)

Iwaizumi Hajime: he walked in on Oikawa crying to The Ending of Dramamine once and he isn’t sure if Oikawa saw him but they both pretend it never happened. Anything that can make shittykawa cry is powerful and evil. Def not a fan

Terushima Yuuji: furry? Yes. CSH fan? No. I won’t elaborate.

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garbagequeer · 5 years

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what are your favorite cshr songs?

i change my mind a lot and can’t make decisions so im just gonna go album by album picking my favorites because there’s A LOT of great songs (also these are in no particular order cause i really am a gemini who can’t make a simple choice). when im done with this i’ll bold the ones i guess are my overall favorites but i have too much room in my heart and brain and i love all of them and i can’t not mention all the great songs that i love. Also my overall favorites change all the time hence the full long ass list. again i AM a gemini

teens of denial:

drunk drivers obviously (and drunk drives single version with the modified verse from plane crash blues like. if you cant find your friends you can leave without them !! so much)

destroyed by hippie powers (which holds a special place in my heart cause i remember listening to it 24/7 and going to the bar with my friends during second term finals my first year of college instead of studying and then the year after that going to see csh also during second term finals and them playing it like. full circle baby)

not what i needed. i feel so empty trying to explain this!

1937 state park

unforgiving girl (also holds a special place in my heart cause im pretty sure it’s the song that got me into them after being like hey i should check out that car seat headrest band since like 2013 but never getting around to it)

the ballad of the costa concordia like. i love to die thank you

drugs with friends (also it feels 5 times more special to me since i saw them play it)

fill in the blank

literally i feel bad for not just putting every song from this album like i love them all they punch me in the face every time but. gotta move along.

how to leave town:

BEAST MONSTER THING (LOVE ISN’T LOVE ENOUGH) LIKE. WHAT? WHAT?? !!!!

i want you to know that im awake / i hope that you’re asleep. you know that quote from like. an article about greta gerwig and lady bird that’s like (wait i googled it):Every situation is pretext for a confrontation: underdone eggs, a pile of rumpled clothes, a hand reaching too quickly for the radio. The question on the surface might be ‘What did you do?’ but the feeling underneath is ‘Who are you and why don’t you know how to love me?’that’s this song

is this dust really from the titanic? mainly cause i think it’s underrated and very endearing like. car seat headrest: more guitar shit

hey space cadet. obviously like

wasn’t going to put more songs cause i think i need to relax but. the ending of dramamine deserves to be listed i mean i can’t hear a thing now i guess i belong to me now but when night fell on montana i found a rest stop completely deserted but i still felt the eyes upon me so i drove away. it BE like that

you know what? fuck it. america and kimochi warui are also favorites. they’re all so good im sorry i CANT do this

nervous young man:

first of all: i wanna sweat. it’s like. you CAN have the euphoric emotion of bodys outside of the fantasy. effervescent amazing uplifting etc etc

burning man. i will go crazy istg like he’s like im defined by the fact that you’re there and we’re different people… i wanna burn your picture! i mean…… yeah

plane crash blues i mean shut up with all these bad vibes all this yelling just shut up shut up shut up! like. to himself.. we get it. and if your luggage is lost you can leave without it and if you run out of drugs you can sleep without them and if you wanna go home you can call a taxi and if you don’t wanna talk you can sit in the backseat. much to think about

death at the movies. sometimes you’re a little depressed and you just. watch movies and it’s weird

boxing day. hand will toledo a womanhood card right now for this like yeah! i feel so haunted and no one seems to notice and no one seems to care!!!! and it doesn’t really matter I’ll just ajlhfsdg!!!. ALSO literally i did something bad im not allowed to go outside anymore i can only be awake at night for the next year of my life. been there done that and all. ALSO i have worms in mouse traps baby cracks me up every time

the gun song. there’s a lot going on there

afterglow and jerks cause i love to have fun too

monomania:

misheard lyrics and i don’t think it gets enough love

times to die and also the teens of style version

overexposed (enjoy). again i love fun

los borrachos (fun fact: i saw the painting it’s named after irl and i was like. sick csh reference museo del prado)

SOULS. !!!!

maud gone both versions. sweetheart please love me too long

sleeping with strangers. i love to have fun

anchorite (love you very much). i get my feelings hurt by someone i love i listen to this song like. YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!! call it catharsis

and that’s literally the whole album except for one song. im sorry

twin fantasy (which is two albums but. it’s really just one which is very meta of it/them imo. also unless i specify im talking about both versions):

B O D Y S

famous prophets. both versions make me feel breathless

beach life-in-death OBVIOUSLY

twin fantasy (those boys) and i think both versions really mean so so much together which is true of all of twin fantasy but. particularly here it hits me like. from he has only lyrics now to these are only lyrics now. it’s a lot

my boy (more the 2018 version)

nervous young inhumans (the 2011 version. for the monologue like. he defined twin fantasy. also the fact that galvanistic isn’t a real word he just fucked up and that’s the chorus)

high to death (more the 2018 version but both are great)

honestly sober to death for the don’t worry you and me wont be alone no more which is. so much. ALSO when they play sober to death/powderfinger and ethan does great vocals

cute thing (2018)

my back is killing me baby

no passion. he wants a man who would hate him and who would leave him if he were open and he’d do the same to him. he dreams he watches porn but he cant see it. he understands some ugly ass feelings

father, flesh in rags. it bangs

strangers but the teens of style version

happy news for sadness cause once again he says the ugliest shit (i liked you better when you hated yourself every time i think about love i think about me thinking about you) and it makes me think of that shit about how people will disclose they think they’re bad and they have bad thoughts when they’re going to ask to be loved. also you can never tell the truth but you can tell something that sounds like it

the drum. did i say i love to have fun? i love to have fun (both versions but i think i like the original more at least rn)

stoop kid

something soon (both versions)

starving while living:

it’s only sex

reuse the cells

devil moon

i hate living

literally all other csh shit cause i don’t listen to many songs from the first records :/ and stuff:

i can talk with my eyes shut

the ghost of bob saget. the lyrics to this song are hilarious and relatable somehow

i have to mention i am afraid of literally everything / i scream social / this one time I went to a coffee house because some guy I knew was playing and I just sat there for an hour and didn’t talk to anyone and then I came home and wrote this song / you have to go to college / it’s you you’re the asshole that made this but literally only cause i felt like laughing when i was 18 and finally got around to checking out csh and he was like. i wrote these songs about when i went to college and i was afraid of everything and shit was hard. cause like. same. and i just have a fond memory of going through csh’s entire discography from newest to oldest and ending up awake till almost 7am losing my mind. i feel like this about lots of songs from the first 5 albums but i don’t really listen to them much tho. someday i’ll get around to giving them a chance again

that thing someone made where they put together pain star (if heaven is full of people…) and …then it will be exactly the same as earth

does it feel good (to say goodbye?)

and their cover of hey ya even though it’s not a csh song. im mad no one has posted a proper recording of it because i do love to have fun. also their cover of this must be the place too. and the cover of waves of fear also. they’re all really fun

#answered #csh #car seat headrest #im terrible at picking things as you can see #anonymous

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bbbetty · 7 years

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tagged by @peachhurricane, thanks for the tag!!!

1. Favorite song at the moment?

the ballad of the costa concordia by car seat headrest for sure, god it’s so good. i know it’s long but please give it a listen if you’re reading this, it’s on spotify and the lyrics on azlyrics are 100% accurate to the best of my knowledge

2. What is something you’re looking forward to today?

well it’s 10:03 at night so not much Today, but tomorrow i’m gonna play some overwatch lol i’m excited for the halloween event!! gonna get those sym and zen skins

3. Have you been to any concerts?

yes, in chronological order: maroon 5, paul mccartney, green day, twenty one pilots, paul mccartney again lmao. i would go to more but i don’t have any friends to go with and i got sick of going with my damn parents lmao

4. Name your favorite animal(s)

uhhh i like lots of animals but dogs are really good, i like cats but i’m super allergic, rodents and small mammals are good, i don’t get to spend much time with lizards or birds but they seem good too

5. Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names?

i had a dog named rosco but he passed a little over a year ago. rn my brother (who doesn’t live with me) has 2 dogs, bailey and kahlua, and i consider them like my dogs since i don’t have one at home anymore

6. What is something that you always carry with you?

my phone tbh, that’s about it

7. How do you usually start your day?

lament that i didn’t die peacefully in the night? nah jk umm i try to sleep in as long as possible, when i finally get up i shower and dress?

8. How do you like to spend your spare time?

lay in bed, do internet stuff, maybe watch a movie or tv

9. What are your favorite shows?

uhhh i don’t watch a ton of tv so this ones a little hard, but parks and rec was so good (i’ve only seen about 5 seasons tho), i like bojack horseman, always sunny, probably some others i’m forgetting

10. Favorite movies?

so many. god so many. most of jake gyllenhaal’s movies are gr9, frank, star wars (force awakens is my fave), the babadook

11. Where are you from?

delaware. pbbbbbbttt

i think i’m supposed to make new questions and tag people? so here’s those:

1) favorite artist/album/song right now? (pick whichever you want to answer) 2) describe your aesthetic in one word or phrase 3) if you were an animal, what would you be? 4) what’s your favorite item that’s in your room right now? 5) do you have any stuffed animals? what are they and what are their names? 6) name 4 things you’re proud of/like about yourself 7) one movie you’ve always wanted to see in theaters but never got the chance, 8) favorite “so bad it’s good” media (it can be an artist, song, tv show, movie, anything) 9) if you could meet, hang out with, play with, etc, any animal that exists, what would it be? (assume there is no risk of violence or injury, and no cruelty involved. it’s a magical universe where there’s a way to pet a tiger that’s humane and safe. the animal wants to be around you!!) 10) favorite thing you’ve ever made yourself— it can be a song you wrote, art you made, fanfiction, anything goes 11) favorite smells!!

i tag: @alexandradell @fail-writer @fql @nefariouspudd @peachhurricane @viva-la-nordics can’t think of anyone else so i’m sorry if i missed you :(, just do this if you feel like it tbh!!

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brokennbones-blog1 · 7 years

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The Significance of CSH to Me

CW: depression, angst, general sad stuff Car seat headrest was a welcome entity of validation in my life a little over a year ago. A little bit of change in a world that had become so full of monotony and routine for me. Nothing in the fragmented reality I'd built from the jagged angst of my past felt genuine because I was trying to escape something that would always be an extension of me: depression. During the Summer of 2016 I'd clean viciously throughout the day, busying myself, making up responsibilities that didn't truly exist after the first time they were completed; then I'd go out and eat with a group of people that were friends with me for the same reason I was friends with them: it was a transitional period and we didn't have anywhere permanent to go. This was the first time I had more than one or two friends (and for reasons untold here I had lost the only one I'd had for years), and this was the first time I felt I had to blend in and be "normal" (whatever I thought that was). Nothing we talked about was real. We were all so "happy" together, in the least happy sense. It was all jokes and smiles. We were only entertainment for each other. Only when we retired at night would we slump into our beds, head in hands, questioning the overlapping theme or lesson that came with all of this latency (AP language and composition could never prepare us for this). My depression only existed when I was isolated. Theirs only existed when they were alone. We were all on the same page to a fault. It was pure avoidance, a buildup, a calm silence before the shattering breaking point. At this period in the beginning of the summer, I was searching for experience in any way I could find it. I wanted to do something different, chase the feeling of accomplishment; the kind you felt after a breathtaking adventure. I hung out with a friend of mine down in Milwaukee, and it was my first time driving there. It was truly a blast despite my constant thrumming nervousness; I'll admit I was free the entire time, and channeling the excitement of the city felt electrifying, like a steady buzz beneath my skin. Afterwards, we shared our music. She gave me a playlist that I promptly bathed myself in as I got home. I remember feeling nothing, laying in bed, stretched like a lazy cat, staring at the stark, blank ceiling, and listening with a dull, emotionless outlook. The beginning of "Cosmic Hero" meant nothing to me at first; it came and went like a chapter in a textbook. Then, a sudden transition into clear, melodic guitar, and the crooning voice of Will Toledo caught my ear. Over and over he sang "it'll be alright, it'll be alright, it'll be alright, it'll be alright..." and as melodramatic and cliche-emotional as this sounds, as soon as I heard this repetitive, raw, beautiful, reassurance a sudden overwhelming swell of all the emotions I'd been repressing so well exploded within me. Like a pressure bomb I burst into tears and cried openly for the first time in what seemed like ages. I let the tears roll down my cheeks freely, and listened to the song again, and again, and again, each time finding new sections which brought forth emotions I wasn't sure I remembered how to feel just minutes before. The song was the perfect validation for my feelings of anger and hopelessness. I listened only to that song for about a week: over, and over, and over. I bought Spotify premium just so I could listen only to that song. I longed to feel so bad. Then, in a lull in which I forgot to start the song over, "The Ballad of the Costa Concordia" came on at some point. This time, the beginning immediately caught my acute attention, ears perked and ready. The entire time I listened to the lyrics intently, and once again, felt the emotions pouring back in, as if rain into a gulley after a long drought. For the next week, I listened to the two back to back on repeat. Looking back, I realize that's a bit strange. Wouldn't listening to the same songs on repeat only contribute to the monotony? But when you've got depression, sometimes you have to take what you can get. If music was going to free me from the nearly year-long rut of repression I'd been in, then so be it. I don't know at which point I finally started listening to the other albums of Car Seat Headrest, but it was a slow and engaging process. I invested my entire soul into listening to these compositions and absorbing all the meaning I could from them like a leech. Once my senior year started, every day before school's "0-hour", 6 AM gym class I'd listen to a Twin Fantasy song or two, crying the whole way like a complete reckless pussy (it was 5:30 AM, give me a break). Then I'd jog for up to 20 minutes, depending on what the teacher said, forgetting myself in the music, not even feeling within the realm of physical exertion (no, for real, to this day I no idea how I jogged for as long and hard as I did). Then I'd drive back and forth from the park with the best Pokémon (RIP Lake Park Pokémon go) and my house, over-analyzing the beautiful harmonies and melodies within Teens of Style. It was obsessive, and weird, but it got me through whatever the fuck I was in. Since then I've expanded my music library back to a substantial size, but I always go back to car seat headrest (and more than just three albums now), and as I've grown Will's voice has always stuck with me. Through every up and down there's a song I can relate to, and I can't help but feel deeply grateful and connected to the band even though they've seen me maybe once in the crowd at Summerfest. Seeing them live and playing right in front of me felt akin to some sort of home. It opened up even more feelings in me, that I instinctively want to chase, but can't. It simply doesn't work out that way. I can't always be in the presence of my favorite band, that's really creepy. So I continue to expand, and find things that make me happy or validate my sadness, and I try to release myself from the dark entity of depression that has ridden on my back for years. I know it'll always be there, but so will music, and so will car seat headrest, and for now, I'll count it as a win.

#car seat headrest #cshr #cosmic hero #teens of denial #teens of style #twin fantasy #will toledo #sorry

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tweetermixtapeclub · 7 years

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“My “Best of 2016” Mix

Hey guys! ThingsFallAfart here (aka Kathleen).

For my first mixtape post, I’m cheating a little and sharing with you something I made back in February: my favorite songs of 2016. The notable exception here is anything from Lemonade, since that’s not available on Spotify. That might be a blessing, though, because I don’t think I could pick one song off that album anyway!

I also want to note that these are NOT in order of how much I like them, but rather I tried to make them flow into each other well.

1. “Identikit” by Radiohead. There’s a lot of baggage that comes along with being a Radiohead fan. I hate talking about them, because people tend to either think that they’re the new Beatles or that they’re overrated, both of which are boring opinions to me. I’m much more interested in how music makes me feel, physically, than in what Pitchfork thinks. And so, what I actually want to say: the layered voices in this song are so beautiful. And I love the echo-y effects. And I love how full and rich it sounds. I want to turn this up so loud and let it resonate in me. Do you know the feeling when a concert starts and you can feel the soundwaves in your chest? That’s the closest thing I have to religion, and this song does it for me.

2. “Jesus Alone” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. I don’t know if this is common knowledge for this particular audience, but Nick Cave’s teenaged son fell off a cliff and died in 2015 when they were recording this album. It’s such an unimaginable tragedy, and a lot of fans thought he would just be done with everything after that. But then they released this album, and it’s so haunting and tragic and grief-stricken, and it affected me almost as much as Blackstar did (which was a lot). I’m extremely attached to Nick Cave, and the droning guitars incite an almost meditative state in me.

3. “Father’s Child” by Michael Kiwanuka. This guy deserves to be huge. When the backup vocals and strings fill in the background of this song, my chest fills up. I love the dancey-soul beat and the way that he sings and the guitar work and the piano and the strings and the gospel-y backup singers. Talking about music is so hard! I’m trying to be more specific than “it sounds good”, but that’s, like, what music is, man.

4. “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)” by David Bowie. Were you affected by Bowie’s death? I was. I saw the news as soon as I woke up that day and collapsed into a sobbing heap. I’m one of the millions (billions?) of people who consider David Bowie to be one of the key elements of my identity. He changed the world. I couldn’t listen to this album for the first couple days he was gone, and then I listened to it every spare second for months, crying every time. Then I stopped crying, and I still kept listening. This album would’ve been one of the best albums I’ve heard even without the tragic circumstances. But it’s still inextricably bound to his death, and it will always make me sad, and I’m glad that we have this to remember him by. Why did I pick this track? I don’t know. They’re all perfect. This one got stuck in my head a lot. I love the driving beat and the minor key and the intensity behind “I kissed your face / I touched your face / Sue, goodbye”. Let’s move on to something less depressing!

5. “On the Level” by Leonard Cohen. Oh my god, come on. I’m sorry. 2016 sucked, you guys. So, here’s my Leonard Cohen journey: I have almost exclusively listened to his releases as an elderly man. I’m not very familiar with his actual hits. I’m very attached to the style he settled on as an old man, where he gravels his poetry with women singing gospel-type vocals behind him. His younger performances have those aspects, but he really leans into it the older he gets. If you like this track, I highly recommend his Live in London album from 2009. I like this particular song a lot. When I listen to it, I feel like he’s conspiratorially confessing to me at the beginning, and, when it takes off with the backing vocals, he’s practically joyful about his triumph over temptation. Leonard Cohen was an enormously important figure to me. His philosophy and spirituality and poetry have been my compass for many years.

6. “666 ʇ” by Bon Iver. Okay! Bon Iver! My husband hates him! He hates his high-pitched voice and the droning instrumentation! My husband is WRONG. I have loved every single Bon Iver release. This album is so weird and unexpected. Bon Iver has always had such a cool and unique sound, and with this album it got even cooler. The thing that binds together my musical taste is creativity, or, to be more specific, I like artists that get bored easily. I like artists who need to constantly change their sound. That willingness to experiment is, to me, a prime indication of talent. And also, related, I also get bored easily, so when I hear an album that surprises me, I fall in love. And I fell in love with 22, A Million.

7. “Sweet As Sweet Comes” by Robbie Fulks. Americana is a genre that I have trouble talking about. I love the country sound, with the focus on vocals and guitar and straightforward songwriting. I love the sound of Robbie Fulks’ voice. I want to see him live in a very small venue. This song makes me calm and happy.

8. “About to Find Out” by Margo Price. Okay, as much as Bowie and Cohen are part of my identity, classic country women like Loretta, Dolly, and Tammy are also integral to my life. I grew up on a farm in an extremely conservative county, and so, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve always been totally enamored by charming women using catchy songs and humor and incredible singing talent to lead a feminist revolt from inside the rural conservative culture. I genuinely believe that “The Pill” by Loretta Lynn is one of the most influential feminist works in American history. So I was thrilled to hear this album by Margo Price, who brings the same humor and talent and attitude to her music in what is clearly a direct homage to these incredible women (especially “Fist City”, which is one of the greatest songs of all time).

9. “Sun Don’t Shine” by Drive-By Truckers. I just saw these guys in concert, which I’ve been dying to do since Decoration Day in 2003, and they did not disappoint. This band splits the songwriting and lead vocals between Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, and I love them both, but Patterson (who sings this song) is my personal favorite. He has such an evocative voice, and his songwriting tends to speak to me in a personal way. These lyrics are more obscure than a lot of their songs, and this song is a simple expression of an emotion. If you listen to the entire album, which I highly recommend, this song serves as an intermission for an album full of angry protest songs about Tr*mp, gun violence, and police brutality. Every song on this album is incredible, but I chose this one because it... feels good to me.

10. “Call to Arms” by Sturgill Simpson. Oh man. Sturgill. I said earlier how much I like classic country, right? Metamodern Sounds is one of my very favorite albums, and the reason is a combo of incredible songs and the fact that he sounds like the son of Waylon and Merle. And THIS album? He took those incredible songs and that classic country sound and added in HORNS and DANCE BEATS and it is SO FUN! When he released his cover of “In Bloom” (which you should go listen to), I didn’t think it could get better. I listened to it over and over and over. And then this album came out, and oh my god, I went nuts. This song is so frantic and is like the epitome of what I want in a rock n’ roll song.

11. “The Three of Me” by William Bell. This is a really wonderful classic soul-sounding song. I’m so glad that the music industry is back into this sound again. Soul has never really gone away, but in recent years there’s definitely been a resurgence, which allows old-timers like William Bell to put out new stuff. I love the horns, I love the lyrics, I love the beat.

12. “The Ballad of the Costa Concordia” by Car Seat Headrest. I’m sure you all know how great this album is. This song is mildly operatic and super long and super rewarding. I can’t believe they used the ridiculous cruise chip crash as a metaphor for life. I can’t believe it. It should be so dumb, but instead it’s so so good. I love that this song has acts, like The Decemberists wrote something important and modern (I love The Decemberists, but I also like making gentle fun of them). I love when the song gets confused and angry and loud in the second half before launching into a driving rock beat. There’s a lot to be written about this song, and I can’t do it justice. There’s so much. It’s overwhelmingly dense and rich and incredible.

13. “Never Be Mine” by Angel Olsen. Haha, jgleduc already used this song on his mix! I like everything he said about this song: “[it] reminds me of a contemporary take on the songs the Beatles started to do on their own but still heavily under the influence of girl group, the staccato guitar chords, guitar effects, and drum rolls especially.” I love the retro sound of this song, and the whole album is really really amazing.

14. “Once More to See You” by Mitski. Another sort of retro-sounding song, like if Phil Spector produced Lykke Li. Did you know that you wanted that combination? Well, here it is. It sounds like it belongs in the Twin Peaks reboot, which is a guaranteed way for me to love a song.

15. “Close to You” by Frank Ocean. Everyone loves Frank Ocean! I spent months exclusively listening to Channel Orange when it came out, and I was one of those people complaining about how long he was taking to release the follow-up. Thank goodness Blond is AMAZING. I had trouble choosing what song to pick, but this one always stuck out to me a lot. I like that he hides behind the synths, and I like that it doesn’t resolve. It’s just this little fragment of a song that feels like a shard of his personality.

16. “Gods” by Maxwell. Oh man, I love Maxwell. His voice is absolutely beautiful, and this song has a beat that really gets me. I’m really picky about R&B, and this whole album is perfect to me.

17. “Unfamiliar” by Common. Maybe I talk to the wrong people, but I don’t think this album got enough attention. Common has had a couple duds in his career, but I think this album is as good as his classics, like Be. Like the Drive-By Truckers track above, this song is a brief respite on an album of intense protest songs. Maybe I indulge too much in escapism? Whatever, this is a great song.

18. “Mad” by Solange. There were so many Important Albums released in 2016. I think Solange’s was the most surprising, though. She’s always been really good, but this album is a genuine masterpiece. It’s personal and intelligent and creative and insightful and fun and an integral part of the conversation. Also, thank you, Solange, for giving us a really great Lil Wayne verse. Those are hard to come by. (Side note: I’m seeing Solange in concert in two days and I’m so frickin’ hyped.)

19. “Solid Wall of Sound” by A Tribe Called Quest. Okay, A of all, Q-Tip is one of my all-time favorite producers. B of all, this song features Busta, who is one of my all-time favorite rappers. C of all, Elton John recorded a new verse for them, and it brings me unending happiness when hip-hop artists get dad rock guys to contribute to their songs. This album is required listening, and I honestly feel privileged that I get to experience it.

20. “Thieves! (Screamed the Ghost)” by Run the Jewels. Killer Mike & El-P are such important figures in the world right now. I don’t know your political beliefs, reader, but I think that these two consistently release work that is intelligent and striking and crucial.

(via https://open.spotify.com/user/thingsfallafart/playlist/2jDBx6YGpy0GQsFCHMfhHb)

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jakepaule · 7 years

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Music 2016

Top 10 Albums

1. Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial

Turn your radio all the way up for this one. This album is saturated with high quality musicianship and lyrical creativity. I was impressed right from the start and it just keeps getting better and better. Will Toledo masterfully blends humor, depression, anxiety, and emotional self-understanding with crafty songwriting. He anecdotes his experience with escaping the wreckage of his teenage years and entering into adulthood. Toledo puts his heart and soul into this one. The album is reflective, introspective, and spirited. Just buy the album, please.

Hot Tracks: “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, “The Ballad of Costa Concordia”

2. Frank Ocean – Blonde

Frank Ocean achieved huge commercial success with Channel Orange, his debut album influenced heavily by R&B and Soul. In Blonde, Ocean leans away from R&B and more towards experimental hip-hop. The whole album is rich with other themes of nostalgia, mortality, and sexuality. He opens up on his inner thoughts and ties them to some significant allusions like Elliott Smith lyrics (“This is not my life/It’s just a fond farewell to a friend”). I can’t get enough of this album. I admire how much work he put into it and how flexible his music really is. He reaches into the melting pot of music and hired help from Jonny Greenwood and the London Contemporary Orchestra, Alex G, André 3000, Justin Vernon, and many more.

Hot Tracks: “Nights”, “Seigfried”

3. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Back in May, Radiohead blacked themselves out on social media. They released a short stop-motion animated clip of a ceremonial witch burning. Then, their single “Burn the Witch” came out on Spotify, the musical platform Thom Yorke had previously spurned. I was immediately attracted and hyped for a new album to redeem themselves after their mediocre album The King of Limbs. And this one did live up to my expectations. Radiohead and Nigel Godrich always have some tricks up their sleeves to creatively revolutionize the way they produce music from album to album. For this one, they decided to use magnetic tape and I think it really worked for them.

Hot Tracks: “Glass Eyes”, “True Love Waits”

4. Pinegrove – Cardinal

I first heard of Pinegrove while listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast during a car ride this past summer. The first song I heard was “Old Friends” and I was immediately hooked. Lead singer Evan Stephens Hall has an incredibly distinct and memorable voice fueled by powerful, heavy lyrics. Hall sorts through his feelings on life’s most critical personal connections and weaves them intricately throughout his music. There was never a dull moment in this album; it is colorful and vibrant all the way through. Give this one your full attention, because I really think Hall develops an instantaneous bond with his listeners and cultivates that bond throughout the album.

Hot Tracks: “Waveform”, “Old Friends”

5. A Tribe Called Quest – We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service

Tribe really lit up the place with this one. It’s been a long time since they released anything. The last I remembered from any of them was “Dear Dilla,” a special single performed by the late great Phife Dawg. The album has a lot of interesting collaborative work with Jack White and André 3000 and a track that include a sampling of Elton John. This one might be a little more politically charged than their other albums, but not in-your-face annoyingly political. It challenges us and calls us to mobilize and stand up for our rights. I’ve been jamming to this one since it came out. Give this one a good listen.

Hot Tracks: “Dis Generation”, “We The People…”

6. Bon Iver – 22, A Million

Bon Iver fans everywhere had been yearning for something new, but most people (including myself) probably didn’t expect anything like this. The sounds are very unfamiliar and somewhat unsettling, but they mix well with cryptic lyrics to foster a brand new soundscape. Just look at the track listing and you’ll get what I mean by cryptic and unfamiliar. 22, A Million will be regarded as his most bold, inventive LP to date. I strongly recommend purchasing a physical copy, because this album was built up to be a multi-media experience.

Hot Tracks: “29 #Strafford APTS”, “8 (circle)”

7. Whitney – Light Upon the Lake

I believe the first time I heard of Whitney was over the summer while listening to NPR’s podcast All Songs Considered (along with Pinegrove). Later, I heard in a trip out west with some friends. Many thanks to Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, and Andrew for opening me up to these awesome musicians. This album really stuck with me after I first purchased it later in the summer. Impressive musicianship, graceful flow, and beautiful imagery are some of the main qualities of this album. The best way to describe this album is perhaps trying chocolate for the first time. The album has some distinctly vintage characteristics, but comes off as an easy and immensely satisfying listen. Buy it.

Hot Tracks: “No Woman”, “Golden Days”

8. Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam – I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

The opening track, “A 1000 Times,” has a tendency to get stuck in my head every time I listen to it, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Hamilton of The Walkmen and Rostam of Vampire Weekend combined their superpowers to masterfully create what I consider to be the most elegant album of the year. The album is exactly what I would expect to hear if The Walkmen and Vampire weekend merged (go figure). Hamilton’s vocal prowess and Rostam’s musical genius (and supporting vocals) formed an incredibly powerful album. Give it a listen, sing along, and get steamrolled by Hamilton’s energetic voice. A 1000 thumbs up.

Hot Tracks: “A 1000 Times”, “1959”

9. Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book

Chance is the man. I absolutely love his brand of gospel inspired hip hop. To me, Coloring Book is really what it claims to be, a coloring book. He painted a beautiful portrait of his faith on the canvas of modern hip hop music. “Blessings” really stood out to me as a perfect example of gospel/hip hop fusion. Gotta love Chance’s versatility and skill. Stream this one A$AP.

Hot Tracks: “Summer Friends”, “Blessings”

10. Parquet Courts – Human Performance

This spot on my top 10 list was difficult to narrow down as 2016 was an amazing year for music. Parquet Courts’ new album Human Performance is actually the first full-length album I personally listened to by them. The gnarly guitar licks and catchy rhythms really grabbed me on this one. Some of the vocals could be off-putting to some. Andrew Savage’s vocals sound to me like a punk-ish mix between Elvis Costello and David Byrne (maybe?). Definitely an interesting and fun listen.

Hot Tracks: “Berlin Got Blurry”, “Human Performance”

Honorable Mention

Jim James – Eternally Even

Kevin Morby – Singing Saw

James Blake – The Colour in Anything

Kendrick Lamar – untitled, unmastered

Wilco – Schmilco

David Bowie – Blackstar

Hamburger Helper Mixtape

Disappointing Albums of 2016

The Avett Brothers – True Sadness

Truly disappointing. The album really is True Sadness. It was actually challenging for me to sit down and listen to this one (not unlike my experience with Magpie and the Dandelion and The Carpenter). The Avett Brothers have taken a significant departure from “roots revival” since A Carolina Jubilee and seem to be trying to make some profound musical statements with this one. It appears that they are trying so hard to make some extraordinary changes in their sonic arsenal by introducing electronics and mixing it in the pot with their typical folk sound. I don’t know if this is a product of an attempt at redefining a genre or if sitting near the top of Billboard’s 200 has led them to spoon feed listeners with their very own electronic folk fusion because it’s the latest, coolest trend.

Wild Nothing – Life of Pause

When the single “To Know You” came out in February, I got immediately hyped for Wild Nothing’s next album. But definitely a little bit too hyped. Virginia Tech alumnus Jack Tatum’s slick debut album Gemini and sophomore release Nocturne opened me up to the indie pop genre. Tatum’s world of fantasy has molded into something quite different with this one. Life of Pause contains some high points with “To Know You” and “TV Queen”, but the album felt a little less imaginative and cohesive to me. Tatum still has a talent for creating some interesting soundscapes and we can clearly see that with some of his interesting xylophone and synth work, but I feel this one is lagging behind his previous full-length albums.

Notable Singles

Cloud Nothings – “Modern Act”

Maggie Rogers – “Alaska”

Father John Misty – “Real Love Baby”

Sunflower Bean – “Easier Said”

Blood Orange – “Best to You”

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willjnwhitehead · 5 years

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why Teens of Denial is the best album of all time

listen i love car seat headrest and will probably continue to do so for a long old time. however, it is impossible to me that they can improve on 2016′s teens of denial, which is the most Me album ever made.

teens of denial is first and foremost an album about narcissism. specifically, it is about intense and obsessive introspection which transforms into narcissism. it unflinchingly explores the idea of being self-obsessed to the point of mental illness, and while it critiques that notion, it does so in a way that is ultimately unsatisfactory. the critique is implicit rather than outright, because to explicitly condemn the behaviour enters the songs’ speaker back into the cycle of introspection which led to narcissism in the first place. i was gonna go track by track to explain this but i just spent half an hour just on fill in the blank and there are like 12 tracks or whatever so i’m gonna condense.

We start the album with the speaker (let’s call him Joe) in a state of self-righteous depression, expressing the urge to beat himself up and calling out those who suggest his depression is a result of not trying hard enough. in doing so, he justifies to himself and to everyone hearing the album (the eponymous teens, which i’ll come to) that the way he is acting is appropriate. he is Depressed and this is what being Depressed entails. However, the lyrics in the verses of Fill in the Blank betray an incredible disdain for others in favour of introspection. he doesn’t know what he wants out of people but he knows he’s not getting it. friends and family are simply utilities that he has no use for. i would argue that the reason he can’t get anything out of them is that his entire outlook is towards himself. no one else can possibly fill a similar emotional spot to this all-encompassing self-loathing. it’s too powerful. Fill in the Blank ends with Joe succumbing entirely to his depression, further consolidating its grip over him and exacerbating his self-absorbed wallowing in sadness. i say none of this as a negative by the way. i love this honesty. it’s exactly how i feel.

moving on, we see Joe’s inability to exist in society demonstrated in writing music (Vincent), parties (Hippie Powers, Drugs with Friends), and trying to maintain relationships (Not What I Needed). In Vincent, we see Joe claim that it’s harder to speak when someone else is listening. this is further evidence for the fact that he is fundamentally unable to relate to anyone other than himself. the idea of finding it difficult to speak to someone who’s listening appears anachronistic - isn’t the point of speaking to communicate with someone else? - but this contributes to the splitting of the self first brought up in Fill in the blank (if i was split in two i would just take my fists). Joe sees introspection as a conversation only for himself, the only person who understands how much he hates himself and how bad he feels. no one else could possibly understand. we see this furthered in Not What I Needed when he brushes off the advice given to him by friends (get a job, eat an apple etc) as meaningless - “they’re just people, too”. however, that last word sparks something of a change in Joe, and the song proper ends with him saying “Will I find out I am just people too?”. His gaze turns briefly away from himself here, and he realises that despite his self-obsession, he is not actually anything special. The interview on the outro of this track could bring us into a whole essay on metanarratives, which i don’t want to go into. god, i’m missing so much out.

okay. drunk drivers is the halfway point of the album, and the point at which Joe is starting to unravel his obsession, or at least come to terms with it. we see him suggest that “you share the same fate as the people you hate”, which is mature and the least solipsistic statement put forth on the album so far. grappling with the notion of death as he contemplates drunk driving, Joe understands that mortality is the great leveller, and that as different as he feels from everyone around him, he cannot avoid their mortal identicality (not a word). at the end of this song, Joe thinks about the voice in his head (splitting of self once more) and decides that he is not his own enemy, but a friend. he decides not to drunk drive. This appears positive but in fact doubles down on his narcissism. the self-loathing, which characterised his self-obsession up until this point, has vanished and been replaced by a sense of superiority. if drunk driving was the reminder that he is not dissimilar from every person on earth, getting out of the car and walking is Joe’s attempt to transcend that. here, he is almost trying to cheat death. this is where we are at halfway. Joe begins self-obsessed and self-loathing, and all that is changed is that he no longer hates himself.

1937 state park finds Joe attempting to grapple with his newfound self-confidence, which falls flat. he mocks his death-obsessed generation before talking about death in the very same song, he makes fun of a high school teen dream in the hospital. this doesn’t paint a good portrait of Joe, who appears cruel and vain in his superiority. In the choruses, Joe makes it clear that he is unable to free himself from solipsism by refusing to allow others to feel his emotion. it’s clear he hasn’t learned anything at this point except a smug sense of superiority.

to dip briefly into metanarrative, it almost feels like Unforgiving Girl is a song written by Joe at this time in his life. it’s uninspired and smug, a love song with no purpose other than to show off about feelings.

cosmic hero and the ballad of the costa concordia both feel incredibly important to the narcissism narrative. In each, Joe wrestles with his newfound superiority and breaks back down into self-loathing. Cosmic hero has rises and falls of hatred. in the verses we see Joe questioning himself, realising that he’s been acting like a bastard these past few songs - “if you really wanna know how kind you are, just ask yourself why you’re lying in bed alone”. The whole thing has been a sham. However, he still has this steadfast belief that he is better than everyone else. The most ugly line (that i LOVE) - “you won’t go to heaven, I will go to heaven, I won’t see you there”. who the fuck does he think he is!

in costa concordia, we start with self-hatred. a feeling of weakness, and impotence. Joe can’t sustain his anger, he can’t feel anything. he is at a total existential loss. he hated himself, then he loved himself, now what is he? after the short interpolation of dido’s white flag, Joe blames everyone else for his mistakes. “how was i to know?”. he refuses responsibility, as he has done implicitly the entire album. following this outpouring, he gives up. he realises all he has been doing up until this point has been useless. he calls himself a man “clinging to the cliff of revelation, so scared of what he would find”. His so-called introspection has not been leading to anything because he’s been too scared of finding what that is. he’s just been stuck in self-obsession with no specific endpoint. so, he gives up on it. “though he made fun of us, he has now become one of us”. he surrenders his narcissism and accepts his normality.

the final full track, Connect the Dots, retroactively looks at the album and Joe’s life and suggests that all of it was the product of childhood, or teenagehood (not a word). “little boy says i’m in love with my fists” hearkens back to fill in the blank, there’s a line about driving which may be a stretch but is drunk drivers-ish. the song is upbeat and happy, and seems to be at total peace with imperfection - “you won’t see who you wanna see there, no one will want to be in your band”. acceptance. the song ends with the declaration “FUCK OFF TEENS!”. The teens, to my mind, are those of the album’s title, denying their own narcissism, denying that they are partially at fault for their own isolation, denying autonomy. i love this line so much.

Joe Goes to School is a bit of a post-credits scene, i think. the motif running through the album is that Joe finds it impossible to empathise with anyone who isn’t himself, and this kind of exemplifies that once more. maybe he isn’t totally cured, maybe he can’t be. he has no idea what the horse is feeling, but he projects potential sadness onto it, which may be a reflection of himself. however, he does not dwell on this, and splits the scene. it doesn’t matter that he can’t empathise, he has other shit to do.

anyway that’s basically why the album rules. it’s exactly what i’ve been going through in the past 5 years of my life, and i have never seen it written so eloquently and sensitively as Will wrote it here. i think it’s phenomenal, and it will always be one of my favourite records.

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thesoundbulletin · 7 years

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Top 5 Overlooked Indie Releases of 2016

The Glowing Man - Swans Ending their trilogy of albums in the band's latest iteration (followed by 2012's The Seer and 2014's To Be Kind), Michael Gira and company made sure to go out with a bang. Explosive, visceral, and magnificent, The Glowing Man is a 2-hour long art-rock/experimental-rock journey with grandiose buildups such as in “Cloud of Unknowing” as well as liberating climaxes in the title track, “The Glowing Man.” Like all Swans albums, The Glowing Man is no easy listen. It screams with brutality, but also harmony. At times, listening to the album is like getting your face punched in while the very next moment you find yourself drifting in euphoric bliss. With its layered instrumentation and orchestrated grandeur, The Glowing Man is an experience like no other. Stage Four - Touché Amoré Another album of extreme intensity and audible anguish, Touché Amoré left no emotion unsung on their latest album. Penned in light of the death of lead singer Jeremy Bolm's mother, the album speaks of Bolm's emotional response to her passing, conveying a forlorn sentiment, regretful of the distance between him and his mother, packed with its sharp delivery of melodic yet abrasive post-hardcore heaviness. Unlike most artists of their genre, Touché Amoré not only makes the audience hear the sorrow but also makes them feel it.Often playing in the background are two guitars, one loud and upfront, often enunciating grandiose power chords, while the other harmonizes with delicate arpeggios in the distance, all while beating drums ram underneath. Combined with heartfelt lyrics such as “I couldn't worship the god that let her fall apart,” on Stage Four we hear the band at their most emotionally torn. Next Thing - Frankie Cosmos Relaxing, short, and sweet, Frankie Cosmos' Next Thing is an accessible and easygoing listen that captivates listeners with its calming vibe. In its jumpy twee pop fashion, the album pulses with energy yet it remains laid-back. With its witty lyrics, cleverly crafted with personality and charm, Next Thing is at times humorous, occasionally intimate, somewhat introspective, and always fun. Moreover, not a single song spans over three-minutes long, which for Cosmos is in no way problematic. With her concise songwriting, she packages songs in brief and effective snippets perfect for playing in the background or for getting stuck in one's head. My Woman - Angel Olsen On My Woman Angel Olsen crafts a beautiful sound that lives up to her name. Delicate and dreamlike, Olsen's voice graces a myriad of different instrumental soundscapes from the distant backdrops on “Heart Shaped Face” and “Sister,” the crunchy chords on “Shut Up Kiss Me,” and the humming synths on “Intern.” This diversity makes each track stand out from each other, yet they are all united under one theme of romantic longing. Olsen envelops listeners in an airy atmosphere topped with satisfying guitar solos, frequently distorted with a chorus effect causing it to waver up and down in pitch, akin to her quivering voice on the record's more mellow moments. All in all, My Woman directly communicates the whole spectrum of emotions one experiences during the longing for love. Teens of Denial - Car Seat Headrest For years, Will Toledo, the genius behind all of Car Seat Headrest's music, has independently released album after album of all the songs he could muster. Sitting on a backlog larger than most artists accumulate over decades of performing, Toledo has already accrued more than a dozen albums by the age of 24. Through these projects, his songwriting has been honed to a point where on Teens of Denial—his debut of newly recorded material after having been signed to a major label—every song is crafted to the point of perfection. A brilliant odyssey of teenage angst combined with a confessional narrative of Toledo's transition to adult life, the lyrics struggle with drugs, social pressures, depression, and anxiety, cohesively wrapping up all these feelings from start to finish. Toledo writes both punchy indie rock tunes such as “Destroyed By Hippie Powers” and “1937 State Park” as well as epic ballads, literally, on “The Ballad of Costa Concordia” and “Cosmic Hero.” Simply put, Teens of Denial is one of the band's best works to date, and that says something.

#music #indie #indieheads

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