The Bear and Badger Musical Appreciation Society - The Bear and Badger

Dan

cockbeard wrote:

A year since the first track was out in the wild to test the water, the first album is here https://open.spotify.com/album/7HN9oHogYUDhIJPtnHEgPP I'll sound a hypocrite now, the amount of time I've said I've very little time for Radiohead, and that Muse just sounded like a goth/metal Radiohead. Well in many ways so do these guys. Like almost everything Steve does it's a lovely piece of production, in some past projects (Spycatcher I'm looking at you) the production has been given too much of a front seat, and whilst this sounds both expansive and expensive, it's not a self congratulatory advert for Titan Studios So yeah, people will sell it based on the previous bands of the members, and whilst that is relevant, don't expect a mosh pit. Yes there are Gallows, Sikth and Cry For Silence, but those bands were big over 15 years ago, shit guys, we done got old. This has all the tech you'd expect from metal fans, but coupled with a really ethereal feel. My favourite tracks are the more simple ones, building a big soundscape, layer by layer, and slamming the chord changes and simple lyrics down your throat at the same time, often followed by a crunch or fuzz pedal to remind you that they were metal once, along with the drop d tuning, they really want to make that point clear. Does exactly what it says on the tin, pretty much what I'd expect Uxfest 2001 to sound like if it happened tomorrow I guess I don't listen to enough of this music to know what to call it, nu-goth, indie-metal, mid-life-core, but I find myself drawn to it. Mikee performed fantastic vocal gymnastics in Sikth, Frank was a frontman and a half for Gallows, but maybe the musicianship got a little lost behind that. The catchy hooks of Spycatcher might also have made you forget that these guys can play. This album isn't prog by any means, they work great live, which sounds weird through my headphones, I guess I wouldn't have kept going if it was no good though Anyway, I'm biased and slightly invested, make of it what you will

Muse goth/metal? Lol. It's neither, certainly not goth.
It's alternative/hard rock. Electronic rock if you like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_(band)

Genres
Alternative rock progressive rock hard rock art rock space rock electronica

That's pretty accurate.

Gold Key - Hello Phantom just sounds like radiohead to me - the vocals certainly. But I don't listen to radiohead so I don't really know.

Man those are depressing sounding vocals.

Their other stuff sounds a bit muse too.

"indie-metal, mid-life-core" - decent labels I think.

Certainly sounds like middle class, white, mid life crisis depressing music. Indie electro rock.

Sorry. I think the vocals are probably really marmitey. If you dig the vocals there's probably a lot to like there.

WorKid

I fucking hate Waterloo

Dan

I find I don't really listen to much UK music.

UK's good for trip hop and progressive rock.

But for rock etc. everything seems to need to be gentle, soft, or effeminate.

So for stadium rock you've got Muse, what else?
And Muse really channel Queen and that classic British camp/electro rock vibe.

I'm not aware of anything sounding like Audioslave, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, System of a Down etc. coming out of the UK

You know, meaty music.

I guess that's old school these days.

And for metal you're much better served by bands from the continent, or the US.

Australia seems good for interesting bands.

Found these guys recently, which tick some Faith No More / System of a Down boxes:

And channelling some Tool / Rishloo / prog metal:

Need to check out Karnivool and Caligula's horse etc. as well, although from when I've heard so far, especially the former may fall into that boy band too soft vocals modern prog metal category (seems to come with the djent scene - tesseract etc.)

Lucid planet manages to escape that with the vocals for me.

Skerret

Caligula's Horse are alright.

U.K. wise Dan, Pineapple Thief and ...And So I Watch You From Afar are worth a look of you want shouty guitars.

Give new Sannhet a go too, and previous Sannhet for that matter.

Escape

State of the world at the minute, I keep playing...

Moot_Geeza

Not stadium, but gut punch rock minus screamo, which I appreciate. Wolf People, from Bedford:

and the track that hooked me years ago:

I liked The Amazing Snakeheads. Think they only put out one record, but they've got a kind of bass & drum heavy sound that qualifies as meaty even when the guitars are jangly.

Escape

Yeah, but where were they from?

Moot_Geeza

Ten thousand spoonland.

WorKid

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Ten thousand spoonland.

Facewon

My current AOTY list.....

1 Brother Ali All the Beauty in this whole life
2 Jay Z 4:44
3 Mr Jukes God First
4 Kamasi Washington harmony of Difference
5 neil Finn Out of Silence
6 Mura Masa Mura Masa
7 London Grammar Truth is a Beautiful Thing
8 Halsey Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
9 Sleaford Mods English Tapas
10 Oddessee The Iceberg
Vic Mensa The Autobiography
Kendrick Lamar DAMN.
Boyz II Men Under The StreetLight
Dan Sultan Killer
Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors
360 Modern Vintage
Gregory Porter nat and Me
Rationale Rationale
Lana Del Rey Lust For Life
manchester orchesrta A Black Mile to the Surface
The Kite String Tangle The Kite String Tangle
Planetarium Various
David Banner The God Box
Vince Staples Big Fish Theory
Talib Kweli The Seven
Living Colour Shade
iron and Wine Beast Epic
Everything Everything A Fever Dream
Jordan Rakei Wallflower
Nothing But Theives Broken machine
Pearl jam Lets Play Two
Rock Rockness AP
Wu tang The Saga Continues

Moot_Geeza

I'll probably buy Lets Play Two at some point. Can't fault the PJ live machine, even if I'll probably only listen to it once.

Moot_Geeza

Just got back from seeing the Melvins, again. I don't actually like them that much, but it's become a yearly tradition.

Dan

Cheers Skerr and Moot

Sannhet seems interesting, will check it out.

Moot that early Wolf People is very nice, lovely guitar tones.
I guess it's personal preference, but I find it funny how few bands seem to actually make nice tones.

Nice old school proggy / folky sound - perhaps with a bit of Fairpoint Convention in there.

Reminds me a bit of Colour Haze too, who dropped a new album this year - only just realised the other week.

Will definitely give it more of a listen

Facewon

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I'll probably buy Lets Play Two at some point. Can't fault the PJ live machine, even if I'll probably only listen to it once.

Yep. Just solid always.

Tbh, I'm surprised how much I rate both the boyz II men & Gregory Porter albums. Both covers albums timed for Christmas, but just great.

Dan

Happy Halloween all

Some appropriate music and recent discoveries:

Sludgy, ethereal doom metal, with beautiful female vocals

Similar to Colour Haze in that one song just melds into the other for the whole album/s

But quite different tone obviously.

Even more recent discovery:

Lighter, beautiful and ethereal

Very melancholic, made even more so by the background behind the music.

Best I probably link to a very good review:
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/74009/Trees-of-Eternity-Hour-Of-The-Nightingale/

If that's all too soft, and depressing, here's some Eths again for laughs:

WorKid

Face - you heard the Sampha album yet? Surprised that isn't on your list.

Gremill

Facewon wrote:

Trying to decide between just disappointment or out right hatred for the production on the new weezer.

I got half way through the first track and turned it off.

Listening to the new Nadine Shah album ‘Holiday Destination’ - it’s very good, very PJ Harvey-ish which isn’t a bad thing.

afgavinstan

Glad you enjoyed the ManchOrch, Face.

Bob

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

There's some smack talk going around the Soft Bulletin is the better album. It's not.

Moot_Geeza

Fuck Pitchfork with their 10.

Facewon

WorKid wrote:

Face - you heard the Sampha album yet? Surprised that isn't on your list.

Was that this year? Need to revisit.

cockbeard

Yeah evenm I ebnoiyed that Sampha album, and I'm far from an afficionado

Bob

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Fuck Pitchfork with their 10.

Is that aimed at me?

Can't see a review for it.

But everyone knows that unless it has a decimal point a pitchfork review is worthless.

Plus they review YBtPR and he doesn't rate Do You Realize? The best thing they've ever done?

tin_robot

Bob wrote:

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots There's some smack talk going around the Soft Bulletin is the better album. It's not.

I love them both. For what it's worth I'd say Yoshimi reaches greater heights, but Soft Bulletin is more consistent in its greatness. (There's a musical and thematic consistency that I think Yoshimi doesn't quite pull off. I agree Do You Realize? is a brilliant track, not least in part because Everyone Gets It, but Bulletin's slightly more oblique approach to similar sentiments carries more emotional weight for me.)

Moot_Geeza

Pitchfork originally gave Soft Bulletin a 10 Bob. Along with Endtrouducing and something else I forget. I prefer Yoshimi too but agree with tin's point about heights/consistency.

Bob

It's not in their Flaming Lips archive any more as far as I can see. Shame.

Facewon

Relistening to my AOTY list. At least stuff I haven't hammered as much as I should.

K. Dot's DAMN. is gonna struggle to stay in the 10-20 melee.

g.man

So this new Noel Gallagher single Holy Mountain. It's quite catchy...but...play this video on youtube, but increase the speed in the settings to 1.25x normal...

then listen to this classic from the 70's...

oh Noel, how could you?

g.man

Bob

It's comfortably the worst single he's released under the High Flying Birds umbrella.

Olimite

Their whole second album passed me by.

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