What are you listening to 2012

[Azraphael]

Been listening to the new (old) Volbeat album Beyond Hell/Above Heaven, and while I think it's a great album, I just don't think it's as good Guitar Gangster (and Cadillac Blood). There sound has not really changed that much so in essence it's like Guitar Gangsters 2.0. Still a good listen though.


Then, Nonpoint - basically just been trawling Youtube vids of these guys as I'm still quite undecided on them. Tracks like What you've got for me and Electricity are pretty wicked, and they do a decent enough cover of Phil Collins' In the Air, but I'm just not completely sold on them yet.


and then, just because I can....


Been stuck in my head. All. Week. Long.

[Toxxyc]

\o/ Nightwish fan over here.
That coupled with Within Temptation makes for some awesome listening.

LOL. Listening to Stand My Ground as we speak...

[Rah_Skill]

LOL. Listening to Stand My Ground as we speak...

Please tell me you guys know of Xandria's album, Neverworld's End, then?

[Grimnebulin]

O. Children. Really awesome dark-pop/synth-pop/new-wave whatever you want to call it.

[Azraphael]

So I got the new Infected Mushroom, Army of Mushrooms, and all I can say is, "ya'll gone got dub-step in mah psy-trance." I am not amused, and apparently neither are a lot of their fans if you go onto their web pages' forums. While I understand that artists change their sound and experiment with different things, I cannot but feel like this is a cheap cash in. Production value just doesn't seem up to Infected's usual standards, and in my opinion there is only so much blender on toaster raping that one can take.

As a fan of theirs right from the early days, all I can say is that I am massively disappointed with this effort. If you are a fan of classical Mushroom, stay away, you have been warned.

As an example, this is probably the best track on the album, a cover of Foo Fighters' Pretender...



Those of you into dub-step will probably enjoy it though.

[GeometriX]

They played quite a bit of dub-step influenced stuff when they played here at Ramfest. I don't have any issue with the genre so I was quite happy to hear the combination, I suppose being caught up in the live performance helped too.

Having said that, I did enjoy Classical Mushroom, a lot. So your warning has me a little worried. I guess I'm hopeful that they can blend together sounds like they did there, rather than simply change their sound.

[Azraphael]

I've seen everyone of their live performances in Cape Town, except the Ramfest one, so I was taken completely unawares. As I said, I'm all for artists experimenting, but to make such a drastic genre leap, in my opinion, has not worked for them. When I was on the forum yesterday, most of their fans seemed quite ****ed off (weirdly those who enjoyed it seemed to struggle to put a coherent sentence together. Read into that what you will ;) ). I would have had no problem with the album had it been done under a different name, but to go by the Infected brand, it just seems like capitalizing on the Infected name to catch attention for this album. There are maybe one or two tracks max that still have a semblance of melody to them. For me Infected has always been about leaving the CD in my car/on my PC for days listening to their albums over and over. With this, after the first play through, my head began to hurt.

Again, I need to re-iterate - if you're into dub-step, chances are very high you will think this is the greatest album ever. If you're expecting classic Mushroom, avoid and pretend the album doesn't exist. I know a lot of the die hard fans were never too happy with Legend of the Black Shawarma, but even that album is infinitely more Mushie like than the new one.

[Grimnebulin]

I Will Never Be The Same. Unmistakable NIN vibe and influence, probably a little formulaic, but definitely worth a listen.

[Lysis]

So thanks to a certain Cracked article, I've just discovered that Radiohead may have created a hidden double album and released it over a ten year period. Now the Cracked article says that Ok Computer and In Rainbows are the albums which make up the whole, but after some light googling I've seen people suggest Kid A and In Rainbows.

Since I'm late to this whole party can somebody give me the details of the most widely accepted theory? Also, a ten second cross fade has been suggested when creating the double album playlist; does anybody know how to make Windows Media Player do this?

[Drone]

Muse - The 2nd law album trailer.

[Grimnebulin]

Cue the 'who put dubstep in Muse' outrage. Heaven forbid we actually get to hear a full song first.

[CrashHelmut]

I don't mind the dubstep, but that little bit up there just didn't sound like good dubstep (personal opinion disclaimer, etc. etc.).

[Azraphael]

Since I'm late to this whole party can somebody give me the details of the most widely accepted theory? Also, a ten second cross fade has been suggested when creating the double album playlist; does anybody know how to make Windows Media Player do this?

Use Winamp, open EQ and click cross-fade, then set the timer next to it. A lot easier than media player. Also, if you use 2 different media players, there are some hidden Tool tracks on their albums when playing two songs together.

[Lysis]

Thanks Azraphael, I finally found the cross-fade in WMP anyway; it's pretty well hidden though. I know of the 10000 Days hidden track and it's pretty cool; it finally makes sense to listen to Viginti Tres. Which other tracks are there?

[T_Kill3r]

Seems that today I can't get enough of Nightwish. Both The Kinslayer and Deep Silent Complete from their Wishmaster ablum is tickling my fancy now.

Are there more Nightwish fans out there...?

\o/ Nightwish fan over here.
That coupled with Within Temptation makes for some awesome listening.

You two should check out Unsun, specifically their songs Mockers and The Lost Way.

[Wesley]

I have discovered the delights of Funkadelic! I will now contemplate life while listening to Maggot Brain.



Start at about 1:20 and turn up the volume. Sit back and wait for the goosebumps. Its not the original recording, but does sound very close.

[CrashHelmut]

Something a bit different: "Wugazi's" 13 Chambers. This album is a mix of Wu Tang Clan and Fugazi (an apparently iconic post-hardcore band formed in the '80s, I'm a heathen in this regard so I've never heard of them) and it's really, really good. Listen to the first track and download the entire album (for free*) here.

*Seems to be legit.

I only spotted this post recently as I was browsing through this thread. I was a bit sceptical at first, not quite sure how well the two different music styles would blend. Some tracks sound a bit forced, but others like this track works particularly well.

As for Fugazi, fronted by the legendary Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Evens and some others), here is a '88 recording at one of their performances. The quality is pretty lo-fi, but I just love the energy in the room. That bassline...

[CrashHelmut]

Also, what the **** happened to the Offspring?

(Is this serious, or are they trolling?)

[Yuri]

Oh it's serious. Thier new album is bieng released 26 June.



Here is another song from the album.
I'll repeat what CrashHelmut said. What the **** happened to The Offspring?

[Grimnebulin]

Seems like a natural progression to me...

(ducks)