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My TOP 30 albums. No further explainations needed. Comments in German.

gedankenhaufen's top albums (overall)
1.
Aphex Twin - Drukqs (111)

Seit ein paar Monaten höre ich Aphex Twin nicht mehr, was eigentlich eher nichtssagende Gründe hat: Ich kenne jedes seiner Lieder auswendig etc.
2.
The Conet Project - The Conet Project (106)

Nummernsender und Shortwave Oddities auf vier CDs. Keine Musik, aber auch kein Krach. Eher seltsame Klänge, die man findet und die man liebt.
3.
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album (66)

4.
Aphex Twin - I Care Because You Do (44)

5.
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works II (31)

Das ist immer noch das Meisterwerk des Ambient. 1994 als Doppel-CD mit 24 unbenannten Liedern veröffentlicht, hat es mir nachts schon so viele Alpträume bereitet, dass ich es nie mehr missen will. Schade, dass die besten Tracks des Albums (Stone in Focus und Hankie) nur auf Vinyl veröffentlicht wurden.
6.
Broadcast and The Focus Group - Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age (29)

Großartige Collage aus Avantgarde-Rock, Elektro und zig milliarden Samples. Und darüber eine schwebende Stimme, die über seltsame Dinge singt. Toll.
7.
Set Fire to Flames - Sings Reign Rebuilder (28)

Set Fire To Flames, haben in ihrer Geschichte zwei Alben veröffentlicht. Dieses Debütalbum, 2001, hat es in sich. Straßenklänge, vorbeifahrende Krankenwagen, Drones und Krach und dazwischen herzerweichender Post-Rock. Himmlisch, seltsam, manchmal unheimlich. Auf jeden Fall nicht greifbar.
8.
Die Goldenen Zitronen - Die Entstehung Der Nacht (28)

Wer sagt, dass deutsche Musik schlecht sein soll? Die Zitronen aus Hamburg liefern seit ca. 1992 großartige Musik mit feinen, politisch-abstrakten Texten und Beobachtungen. Kann man nur lieben eigentlich.
9.
Einstürzende Neubauten - Ende Neu (25)

Auch deutsch, auch großartig. Die Neubauten haben's 1996 mal wieder voll drauf ankommen lassen. Mit krachendem, lautem Gebrüll ("Was ist ist") und leisen, wunderschönen Liedern ("Stella Maris", "The Garden"). Bilinguale Platten können funktionieren.
10.
PeterLicht - Lieder vom Ende des Kapitalismus (24)

Na, dann werden wa eben siegen! PeterLicht singt vom getöteten Kapitalismus, von Wettkämpfen im Entspannen und sonstigen Seltsamheiten. Wer sich schneller entspannt, ist besser als jemand, der sich nicht so schnell entspannt, welcher aber immer noch besser ist, als jemand, der überhaupt nicht entspannt ist und -verdientermaßen, verdientermaßen- unentspannt ist.
11.
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (24)

Nachts im Radio bei 1live Fiehe gehört, und zwar einen Tag, bevor es ins Ferienlager in Italien ging. Dabei immer dieses Album rauf und runter. Alternative Folk geht sehr gut mit Sommer, Sonne und Strand zusammen. Eid ma clak shaw.
12.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! (22)

Die Offenbarung. Die Liebe meines Lebens. Nur nicht auf Platz 1, weil das Album nur aus vier Titeln besteht, welche aber allesamt länger als 20 Minuten sind. Samples, Drones und Klänge, und durchgängig der beste Post-Rock, der je geschrieben wurde und wohl je geschrieben wird. Es kommt keine Band an Godspeed ran. Keine.
13.
The Books - Lost and Safe (20)

Super Band, super Album. Leider lässt sich ihre Musik kaum beschreiben. Folktronica? Sampled Music? Aleatoric? Keine Ahnung.
14.
Broadcast - Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (19)

15.
A Silver Mt. Zion - Horses in the Sky (19)

Sideproject von Gy!BE, mindestens genauso schön und zeigt, dass Efrim Menuck auch singen kann. Zynische, politische Lieder. Zum Weinen schöne Kanons. Glockenspiel, oh, Glockenspiel, how I missed thee.
16.
Terre Thaemlitz - Soil (18)

1996 war es, als Terre Thaemlitz, Gender-Aktivist und Glitch-Hedonist, mit diesem Album den politischen Ambient erschuf. Unheimliche Klangstrukturen wölben sich ins Gedächtnis, mit subtil verwobenen Aufnahmen über häusliche Gewalt, Globalisierung und Medialisierung des eigentlich Banalen. Große Kunst, große Freude. Thaemlitz verlegte später auf Mille Plateux, dem "Lieblingslabel aller damaligen, strukturalistischen, Glitch-Hedonisten" (spex).
17.
Fennesz - Hotel Paral.lel (18)

So viel Krach, so viel Wiederholung, so viel obskure Schönheit. Wenn das Computer-Geknarze anfängt, setze ich mich mit Popcorn vor den Bildschirm und beobachte die Winamp-Visualisierungen, die angesichts dieser Klänge verständlicherweise kapitulieren müssen. Auch, wenn Lieder wie "aus" wunderschön sind.
18.
PeterLicht - Vierzehn Lieder (18)

Die Schwerkraft ist überbewertet, man braucht sie doch gar nicht, wie man ja wohl im Weltraum sieht. Und die Sonne kocht auch nur mit Wasser. Die soll sich nicht so aufspielen, die gelbe Sau! Und der Himalaya, der alte Arsch, da kann ich mich auch drüber aufregen. Oder der Kölner Dom, da kann ich mich auch drüber aufregen. So'n Hals habe ich über den! So'n Hals!
19.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down In The Light (17)

Ein gruselig aussehender Mann schnappt sich seine Gitarre, sein Notizbuch und macht ein wunderschönes Folk-Album mit wenig Abwechslung. Die würde der Musik aber auch nicht gut tun.
20.
Aphex Twin - On Ep (16)

21.
Mouse on Mars - Idiology (16)

Orchester, Krach, Elektronisches. Mouse On Mars verbindet Klassik-Elektro und Experimentelles zu einer seltsamen Melange. Informatikbefehle und Erdbeereis.
22.
Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase (16)

Anschalten, träumen, fürchten, Ehrfurcht. BoC bleiben die Altmeister. Das ist ok so.
23.
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Vrioon (15)

Skizzen für skelettiertes Klavier. Mit heißer Nadel zersetzt Alva Noto die wunderschönen Piano-Sequenzen, fügt und klittet sie neu zusammen. Alles klingt neutral, sachlich, leer und wunderschön künstlich. Ein Album für die Nacht.
24.
Mouse on Mars - Niun Niggung (14)

25.
Daniel Johnston - Hi, How Are You (13)

1983 schnappt sich der bei McDonalds arbeitende Daniel Johnston ein schlechtes Aufnahmegerät, seine verstimmte Gitarre und macht in seiner Kellerwohnung unglaublich authentische Lieder, die ohne jedes Mastering vom 4-Band-Rekorder auf Tape gebrannt werden. Johnston verbreitet sie, indem er die Tapes in die Mc-Donalds-Bestellungen hinzutut. 1992 trägt Kurt Cobain ein Daniel-Johnston-T-Shirt mit dem Hi,how are you-Cover bei den VMA's und Johnston, welcher psychisch labil und manisch-depressiv ist, wird weltberühmt. Johnston lebt immer noch bei seinen Eltern und wird bei jedem seiner seltenen Konzerte von seinem Bruder dazu motiviert, wirklich auf die Bühne zu gehen. Kurze, intime Lieder voller rauer Schönheit, aufgenommen mit einem kaputten Kassettenrekorder.
26.
Die Goldenen Zitronen - Lenin (13)

27.
The Books - Thought for Food (12)

28.
Aphex Twin - Classics (12)

29.
A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms... (47:06) (12)

Wer bei "13 Angels standing Guard 'round your bed" nicht fast weinen muss, hat kein Herz. Kammermusik für Post-Rocker. Tribut-Album für Efrim Menuck's Hund Wanda, der 2000 bei einer Gy!BE-Tour an Krebs starb.
30.
Set Fire to Flames - Telegraphs In Negative/Mouths Trapped In Static [cd1] (12)

Hmm. This is a particulary difficult one, but here I am at my desk with a full packet of Marlboro, cup of Earl Grey tea + Godspeed You! Black Emperor's F#A#∞, so I may as well.

For a start, The Beatles have produced consistentally incredible, musically innovating albums post Rubber Soul, and have traversed through many more types of sound than Bob Dylan. Dylan however, in my personal opinion - and with the exceptions of Blood on the Tracks & Time Out of Mind - has not produced an exceptional album since '67 with John Wesley Harding.

However, I think music should be judged on it's emotive qualites - i.e the strength and intracacy of the emotion invoked on listening - and taking the two best albums from the two artists, personally being Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan comes out on top.

Although Sgt Peppers is an absolutly mind blowing listen that devlopes and changes, combining Mccartney's pop song writing genius and Lennon's psychadelic insanity, and clearly has had a far greater influence upon modern music, a listen to Freewheelin' will clear my head completly, i'll find a new lyrical meaning with each listen, will make me feel immensly happy (Don't Think Twice, It's Alright) and deeply intraverted (A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall) and all together spans most of the spectrum of human emotion - not with an orchestra or a four piece band, but with an acoustic guitar, harmonic and a single whiny voice.

As i mentioned before, when taking into account the influence on contempary music of the two bands, The Beatles immediatly come out on top. But, it is probably worth taking into account that Bob Dylan both influenced The Beatles, clearly evident on Rubber Soul, but introduced all four members to Maijurana - and if you are a faithful believer in it's incredible ability to assist creative process - was responsible for the psychadelica found in the latter Beatles albums.

The Beatles are clearly the more appreciated, technically able and prolific band. But for me, the emotional quality of Bob Dylan's earlier music will always put him above Lennon, Mccartney, Harrison + Starr

Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01a: 200 to 181
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.01b: 180 to 161
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.02a: 160 to 141
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.02b: 140 to 121
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.03a: 120 to 101
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.03b: 100 to 81
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.04a: 80 to 61
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.04b: 60 to 41
Previously: My top 200 tracks 1990-99 Pt.05a: 40 to 21

20
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The Dead Flag Blues
F# A# (Infinity)
1996

The sound of a world slowly decaying and descending into the apocalypse, this was like some kind of future prophecy recorded to tape, as the three-part, sixteen minute epic took in bleak spoken word, cinematic soundscapes, quasi-orchestral movements, and the sound of the world rushing past in slow motion. This wasn't post-rock, it was post-apocalypse rock. It needs a description of it's own as, simply, no-one else sounds like this.

19
Massive Attack
Inertia Creeps
Mezzanine
1998

This Massive Attack album was more than a bit of a change from the mellow electronics of the previous albums - a suffocating darkness took hold of the whole album, of paranoia and fear, of which one of the few deviations from that was this - a track of after-dark, sultry tones that was clearly about sweat-drenched sex. I'm not sure I want to know how many, er, liasons this has soundtracked over the years, but I bet it's a lot.

18
Rico
Smokescreen
Sanctuary Medicines
1999

As the air-raid siren heralds the slow, trudging beats, and the track hauls itself into life as Rico details another song of fear and loathing, all the memories of the time around it that I went through come flooding back. This first album was one of those that became seriously personal to me, and the intense claustrophobic feel of this track more than any other.

17
Whale
Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe
We Care
1995

Formed by a couple of TV presenters, as I recall, and I'm not exactly sure how serious they were, but whatever happened, this track blew up in a big way, although we in the UK were later to the party than everyone else (this was being played wall-to-wall on MTV Europe a long time before it was a hit in the UK). What they were on about, none of us ever had any idea, really, but the track ruled. Female-fronted, psuedo-rap rock with a massive, massive chaotic chorus - and a fun video - was always going to be a hit in the days when music channels actually realised that alternative music was popular. Incredibly, footage exists on Youtube of the performance of this on TOTP, although what the comedy outfits are for, I have no idea.

16
VAST
Here
Visual Audio Sensory Theater
1998

A song so radically different to anything that came before it that it still, eleven years hence, sounds unique, it serves as a reminder that small artists can still break through to wider success, even for a short while, with actual talent. This track, the opening track to the striking debut album by Jon Crosby (for he is VAST), introduced itself on the back of string sample that continued to weave it's magic for longer than you'd perhaps expect, before the track proper kicked in - pounding, skyscraping rock that should really have been sung back by stadium crowds, such was it's magnificence. That it never quite worked out like that is a testament to how short-sighted that the music industry can be.

15
Emperor
Ye Entrancemperium
Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
1997

For me Emperor's finest single track, this is a technically astonishing whirlwind of sound that is somehow surprisingly accessible at the same time (and is also reasonably melodic, too, something you don't always expect from Black Metal). It's still satisfyingly extreme, though, don't worry about that...

14
Machine Head
Davidian
Burn My Eyes
1994

Has metal, really, ever got much better than this? It may be endlessly overplayed nowadays, but there is a good reason for that - it's awesome. From the lengthy tease of the riffing opening, the bellowed chorus, the solos, and that breakdown to close...this is all but metal perfection.

13
Girls Against Boys
Bulletproof Cupid
Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby
1993

Unconnected to the Placebo track of the same name (other than that the Placebo one could be suggested to be a nod to this band), one of the greatest (and unheralded) alt.rock tracks of the early nineties. But then, GVSB never did adhere to fashions, instead preferring to go for a melodic, hardcore-esque sound with Scott McCloud's distinctive, smoky vocals and of course the twin-bass sounds. This track is from their revered Venus Luxure No.1 Baby album, a long-time live favourite and probably featuring Alexis Fleisig's best-ever drumming, too...

12
Front 242
Happiness
Re.Boot. Live
1998

The only live track I even considered for entry into this listing, this was the track that, when released on Re:boot, reminded us that 242 were indeed still very, very vital and very much alive. Much changed from the slightly-dull album version, the way this builds is a textbook lesson in how to do so and raise the tension of the crowd. Perhaps this is why a studio version of this track never materialised in this form: let's be honest, it works best in the live arena, even if this has become a rare live track that DJs are willing to use!

11
White Zombie
Super-Charger Heaven
Astro-Creep: 2000
1995

My girlfriend and I reckon a graph showing number of "Yeeeaaah"s uttered by Rob Zombie in each song compared to how popular/great they are would show a pretty strong correlation. And here's proof. The skull-crushing, rampaging second track on the last White Zombie album, they never got better than this. You know the song by now, right? Surely I need say no more...

10
The Breeders
Cannonball
Last Splash
1993

Who could have predicted that it would be Kim Deal that got the big success post-Pixies? It took a few years, and the albums never were that consistent, but when her new band got it right, the results were astonishing. And exhibit A? This immortal track, that starts slowly, before blossoming into a garage-surf-punk-sixties revival track that still brings a smile to my face every time I hear it...

9
Spiritualized
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
1997

The beautiful, aching lullaby that opens Jason Pierce's tour de force of drug-infused/related space rock, this is music that really had a soul. And soul, as it turned out. A lament to lost love, or drug addiction, it's difficult to separate them in this context, let's be honest, but either way this is gorgeous. The "proper" version, including the Elvis Presley lyrics so cruelly removed the first time around, has been played live this year at least (and was even better than the original at the RFH gigs), and is finally released properly on the new release of the album next week.

8
Swans
Failure
White Light From the Mouth of Infinity
1991

Probably the bleakest song about human nature that I will ever include in any list, ever, I'm not sure what this says about me that it's in my top ten songs of the 90s. When Michael Gira reined in the extremities of the sound of Swans as the 90s dawned, he didn't rein in the lyrical themes of darkness, despair and hate one bit. Here's proof - this track is little more than Gira and a guitar, but emotionally is heavier and more draining than just about anything else he did, an extraordinary musing on the titular subject. Just recently, too, the astonishing power of the track has been harnessed by My Dying Bride, whose cover is equally brilliant.

7
Misery Loves Co.
Kiss Your Boots
Misery Loves Co.
1995

The first Misery Loves Co. album was, to put it mildly, somewhat unsubtle. For the most part, it was rampaging industrial metal, with more of an emotional core than the machine-orientated themes of the like-minded Fear Factory, but it didn't come up short on heaviness, either. Kiss Your Boots was a perfect example, made to sound all the heavier by the whispered intro before the chorus bursts into contention. Oh, and that breakdown in the middle was immense, too...

6
Garbage
Vow
Garbage
1995

The song that started Garbage on the way to being big, big stars, and it remains their peak (and that's not to say that the first two albums, at least, weren't brilliant). Channeling elements from various sources (not least Curve, whose earlier style they purloined somewhat), this was a thrilling, chilling track with Shirley Manson delivering a devastating vocal performance that suggested it was, to say the least, best to stay on her good side. And that phased guitar intro still gives me the shivers.

5
Machines of Loving Grace
Butterfly Wings
Concentration
1993

A band that only ever gained real recognition thanks to their musical inclusion in The Crow, their material otherwise really did merit further listening - one of the many bands experimenting with industrial rock during the decade, their dark, seedy take on the genre resulted in some really interesting and unusual songs, and in particular this one - a track that I first heard thanks to the wonders of 120 Minutes on MTV Europe (oh for the days when MTV still covered real alternative music). A strange, dark but poppy(ish) track with lyrics referencing chaos theory, and something of a contempt for humanity, this was as about as commercial as the band ever got...

4
Alice in Chains
Would?
Dirt
1992

The final track on Dirt, and by some considerable distance the greatest song of the grunge era, I'm not really sure what else to say about this. For one, it always struck me lyrically as Layne Staley exorcising his demons in song, a plea for those criticising his lifestyle to look at things from his perspective for once. Musically, it's chorus is chillingly moving, but it's the sudden key shift at the end, as the track changes tack entirely, that always leaves a lump in my throat.

3
Dark Star
Vertigo
Twenty Twenty Sound
1998

An album that has been far, far, too precious to me for over ten years now, there was something about Dark Star's spaced-out and taut alt.rock that got me from the off - it may well, frankly, have "Bic" Haye's confessional lyrics that really got their claws in. The slightly messy, confused state-of-mind that the lyrics hinted out certainly resonated with my head at the time, but in particularly the scratchy, muscular beats of Vertigo dug their claws in that little bit deeper than the rest - a track about dusting yourself down, and moving on. The final refrain, of course, became my website domain (and my username here, too).

2
Underworld
Cowgirl
Dubnobasswithmyheadman
1994

The single greatest electronic track ever from probably the greatest of all of the electronic acts, this is eight of the most thrilling minutes to listen to. It doesn't initially sound like a lot - the whirling vortex of the electronics start things off, before Karl Hyde's stream of conciousness helps the track to get going, and then the beats kick in and we're off on a ride to the stratosphere. Even more astonishing is the live version of this - I saw them close with it late into Sunday evening at V98 and it remains one of the greatest live "moments" of my life.

1
Brainiac
I Am a Cracked Machine
Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
1996

The sheer oddness of this band really cannot be overstated. So far ahead of their time they were in space before most of their so-called peers were rubbing sticks to make fire, their ascent to the top of the pile was cut short by Tim Taylor's death - and it's tempting to wonder exactly how much further they could have pushed the envelope. While the last EP was a curious, electronic beast, this mighty track was the robotic snarl that closed their last full-length album, with a sound somewhere in the realms of Nine Inch Nails, if they had instead been armed with a Moog and a sonic template closer to new-wave - and where Tim Taylor admits he is flawed, but frankly couldn't give a fuck, as he was a rock star in waiting. A shame that latter bit was never realised.

Coming Soon: My top 100 albums 1990-99

Hi, you non-existent readers!


I have some new - or not so new - music to share with you today on my fifth volume of Discoveries, or should I call it pseudo-re-discoveries this time. Anyway.

1. The Fallen Host by Blueneck.

This album caught my eye when they used the magic word post-rock in their self-definition album review, sort of. Overall, the album has a very artistic feel, Blueneck are trying to step beyond the boundaries of general rock and experimental music, and succeeds thoroughly - especially with their absolutely stunning track Low, which soon became "the best song I've found this week". It's breathtaking, the simplicity of the song is overthrown by pure emotion. You have got to hear that :-) The other songs are also really good, the album itself follows same melody line/scheme, which is ear-pleasing.

2. oh, the artists Do Make Say Think and their The Other Truths.

You know you're hearing some really artistic people colliding their musical thoughts and ideas together with that sweet semi-acoustic sound. Yes, I loved You, You're A History In Rust, talk about The Universe!, jesus, but I find this album a bit better, just because they lost the summer-folk-singing parts, what's left is emotional collision of artistic measures.

3. Foreword.

Oh, the grace of this mystical band, which released the really beautiful Pneuma with epic tracks like 8105, with the mix of somewhat angsty emo singing and post-rockish song writing. Well now, in this EP, band steps up, and lets themselves more the post-rock approach (longer songs, various breakdowns, etc) and the only song with normal fully sung lyrics is Lights & Shapes (which is really moving). Four blissful songs.

4. the supertalented Oceansize with Home & Minor EP.

Since I am a fan of everything this band released, I was really looking forward to hearing this EP, and it really did pay off - this EP shines with beauty like we once consumed Music for a Nurse with such grace and creativity. The only con of this album, in my opinion, is the second track, which after first two-three listens seemed just too confusing, too arythmic. But overall, this is a superb listen.

5. The under-appreciated Siegfried: An Original Score.

Those self-contained repetitive chords and motives with a closed interpretation of the movie (which I honestly dislike, I thought there were a lot of better silent movies to write this kind of soundtrack) forms up a two-cd story-like album. I really love how sometimes this album seems a little out of place, deconstructed, not fully connected together, but this disconnection creates an unexpected variety of musical expressions. You have got to love these - even though quite simple - yet beautiful soundscapes.

6. The Ascent of Everest.

Yes, I know many fans of Godspeed You! Black Emperor are throwing garbage at this band, as if this band tried to rip off the essence of GY!BE. But after some five listens of their album How Lonely Sits the City I think otherwise - yes, maybe this band is heavily influenced and does not hide the affect of those influences, but really - this is some really creative and beautiful stuff. To me this seems like second coming of Yndi Halda (okay, maybe not as creative or fully charged), but less chaotic like ASMZ and GY!BE. Major standout - If I Could Move Mountains (I) Majesty and Awe (II) Collapse into Understanding (III) Gathered Hearts Rise and Sing at the First Breath of Dawn (okay, the title IS a bit of a rip off.. you know, moving mountains with dawns and gathered sattleti.. uh, oh, hearts).

7. The Twilight Sad

Boy oh boy, such energy, such vitality in a band. Somewhat "usual" song structures yet again unexpected sound and creative measures. It took me some time to get acquainted with the singers accent, but then again after some time the accent seemed not only fitting, but essential to the music, like a variety of vocals in this music overall. Then again, the guitars and drums creates a beautiful wall of somewhat noisy yet melodic rock - the only definition I find is shoegaze, but of course, modern, updated, accommodated. Please try and find Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters, you will not be disappointed.

8. This Is Your Captain Speaking.

The album of this band was laid to rest for about a year in my collection, until one day I gave it hope, because I did somewhat knew the album held great essence. Well, the updated listen gave me pleasurable experience, therefore I thought it would be a honorable mention in these journals.

9. Rediscoveries:

Rediscovery of Yndi Halda. I love their sound, creativity, art forms. I am anxious about their new album which should be coming out.. next year? Really excited.

Rediscovery of Hammock. Yes, I do usually listen to some of their songs, but some time gave me a different perspective towards their more ambient songs/sounds (before I usually listened to songs like Losing You to You (which is, we all know, incredibly nice, I am looking for more tracks with this fresh-winter-christmas-sound)). I guess with time you appreciate the goodness differently.

Rediscovery of my nu-metal era (Deftones, Glassjaw, Far) band, Major Label. Even though in my opinion the band went shitty with their first album, what I love about these guys is their demo tapes. I had incredible chills when listening to Always (k)new which I last did listen about three years ago. Incredible emotion, resembling to the infinite goodness of Main.In.Vine.


So much this time..
p.s. I'm not sure if you know, my non-existent readers. ASMZ are having their next album february 2010. How awesome is that?

Pia 20 XI – Cieślak i Księżniczki

Będzie krótko. Do Żaka wpadłem parę minut po 21, była to moja pierwsza wizyta w tym miejscu (no co? mieszkam w Trójmieście od baaardzo niedawna :P), z czego wynikły potem różne śmieszne sytuacje, o których jednak pisać nie będę. Zaraz po wejściu zauważyłem jedną rzecz, hm, chyba mój ubiór jest lekko niestosowny. Troszeczkę nieswojo się z tym poczułem, ale nie głupio, bo (nie) myślących podobnie do mnie, też się trochę zebrało. No cóż, pieprzyć konwenanse, a na przyszłość będę pamiętał. :) Zająłem miejsce w sali, chwilę później zawołano gaduły z korytarza, że zaczyna się koncert. No i się zaczęło.

Na scenę wszedł Cieślak i jego trzy przeurocze Księżniczki. Bez zbędnych, przydługich wstępów zaczęli grać. Muszę przyznać że zrobili na mnie niemałe wrażenie. Nie spodziewałem się, że zestaw gitara + skrzypce + dwie wiolonczele, może wywołać tak różne klimaty. Aha, zapomniałem o wokalu. Cieślak chyba był w całkiem niezłej formie, fałszów nie zarejestrowano. W sumie to nie wiem, założyciela legendarnej Ściankai widziałem na scenie pierwszy raz. Fakt, faktem, w kwestii wokalnej koncert prezentował się świetnie, no może poza jedną wpadką, której nie przytoczę z szacunku dla muzyka. Powiem tylko, że wyszedł z niej bardzo profesjonalnie. :) Wracając do klimatu - zespół oferował płynne przejścia z piosenkowego folku wspomagającego się sekcją smyczkową, do (zabijcie mnie za to porównanie) klimatów przypominających nieco Godspeed You! Black Emperor, w których to pierwsze skrzypce brały właśnie skrzypce. No i wiolonczele.

W pewnym momencie stało się coś niespodziewanego, Cieślak zwinął od skrzypaczki jej instrument i jak podejrzewałem, zaczął rzępolić ;) Sama skrzypaczka wzięła, niezidentyfikowany przeze mnie instrument i zaczęła nim świszczeć, huczeć i co tam się jeszcze dało. Zrobiło się mocno eksperymentalnie, poczułem się jak o północy, albo nawet i o trzeciej w nocy w starym, gęstym lesie. Odleciałem. :)

Niedługo potem Cieślak zapowiedział że to już ostatni utwór, co przyznać muszę niemile mnie zaskoczyło. Koncert trwał przecież maksymalnie 45 minut! I jak powiedział tak zrobił, spakowali się i poszli. Tak samo jak i niemądra część publiczności, bo udało się zespół wyciągnąć na jeszcze jednego bisa. Czy udało się z drugim bisem, tego nie wiem, bo musiałem zmykać na tramwaj. Łącznie około godzinki. Niedługo. Ale można im w sumie wybaczyć, nie podejrzewam zespołu o to, żeby miał specjalnie dużo materiału do zagrania. Ogólnie, było świetnie.

A konkretniej to było tak. Prawa do nagrań należą do delighted__:





BTW: Cieślak zapowiedział, że płyta pt. Tunes of Early Spring ma zostać wydana na wiosnę 2010.

BTW2: To moja pierwsza relacja koncertowa, proszę więc o wyrozumiałość. Bo pisze się to jednak troszkę inaczej niż recenzje płyty.

BTW3: Jednak nie wyszło tak krótko jak myślałem, że wyjdzie :)

it makes me sad that it doesn't know my first track though ):
according to my last.fm it was So Contagious by Acceptance.

1 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2 Ryan Adams -Heartbreaker
3 Beck - Sea Change
4 Low - The Great Destroyer
5 Sonic Youth - Murry Street
6 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
7 Jim O'Rourke - Eureka
8 Radiohead - Kid A
9 M.I.A. - Kala
10 Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
11 At The Drive In - Relationship of Command
12 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
13 Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
14 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
15 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
16 M.I.A. - Arular
17 Mastodon - Leviathan
18 Gillian Welch - Time (the Revelator)
19 M. Ward - Post-War
20 Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood


WilcoRyan AdamsBeckLowSonic YouthGodspeed You! Black EmperorJim O'RourkeRadioheadM.I.A.At The Drive InBon IverBright EyesSufjan StevensThe Flaming LipsMastodonGillian WelchM. WardNeko Case

The List
1. Kid A - Radiohead
2. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
3. The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place - Explosions in the Sky
4. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
5. Songs For The Deaf - Queens of the Stone Age
6. Funeral - Arcade Fire
7. Mr. Beast - Mogwai
8. Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats
9. Relationship Of Command - At the Drive-In
10. Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady

Honorable Mentions:
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Mean Everything To Nothing - Manchester Orchestra
Year Zero - Nine Inch Nails
White Pony - Deftones
Murray Street - Sonic Youth