Forced Listening - Alt & Indie Style
 

Well, I see that Superpeer has started a new version of Forced Listening in R&M, so I figured that we may as well have ours as well.

Admittedly I'm not sure how well exactly this will work, as I know this forum is a fairly small and quiet one, but we shall just have to see.

The original thread from The Pit can be found here - [url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92332[/url]

The R&M version here - [url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211168[/url]

The concept of this, for anyone that hasn't come across it before, is that someone will suggest a few songs, the next person will take a dibs on one of them, download it and then review it, not forgetting to suggest a few more songs at the end. If this does work here I think it could be really good, as I know most people here are very open-minded and like listening to new things.

The idea isn't to necessarily suggest your favourite song, but to recommend songs that you don't think other people will have heard, ie it's probably not a good idea to suggest Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah or any Radiohead, as most people on here are very familiar with that.

The reviews don't need to be hugely long, but it's often quite interesting to write them as you're listening to the song, and a rating at the end is usually quite good.

Make sure you give your own suggestions, and sometimes it can be helpful to indicate what to expect next to them. Don't suggest anything you know is impossible to download in a reasonable period of time, and don't give someone a 20 minute epic either.

In the other threads they've had time limits, but I'm not sure how important that will be here, suffice it to say that once you've dibsed something try and get the review done as quickly as possible, if you leave it for more than a couple of hours then it'll be revoked and someone else can take your song.

Right, I think that's everything, I just hope this works as I think that if it does it could be quite a nice thing to have going.

In order to kick this thing off, my suggestions are:

Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising (dramatic violins, but otherwise quite a calm track)
Massive Attack - Teardrop (chillout, dance-orientated)
Butthole Surfers - Pepper (amazing alternative track, if you've never heard this I urge you to check it out)

Hopefully not everyone will have heard all of these songs, that's the idea anyway.

[QUOTE=theashtraygirl]Butthole Surfers - Pepper (amazing alternative track, if you've never heard this I urge you to check it out)[/QUOTE]

dibs

This is great, I heard this song on the radio years ago. I enjoyed it very much, but I never knew the name of it, so I could never figure out who wrote it. If I would have know the surfers wrote it, I would have checked them out years ago. That is one example of why you should name a song after one of the lyrics in it.

Anyways, the song starts out with some distorted sound. Then the drums come in with a type of hip-hop beat. The chorus features a distorted guitar, with the lyrics "You never know just how you look through other people's eyes." Then after the chorus a neat guitar solo plays. After the second chours, some weird breakdown takes place, a rahter short one. Then quickly back to the hip-hop drum beat. The singer on this track sings quite powerfully. After the third chorus, a much longer guitar solo is played, not the most technical put it works nicely. Two guitars play in the track I beleive. After the solo, the song ends. Great song. 5/5

Mine:
Eels - It's a Motherf[i]u[/i]cker (short track with just a piano)
Opeth - Leaper Affinity (long track at 9:00, but completely worth it. It isn't just growling, it has some great CLEAN vocals also)
Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising (dramatic violins, but otherwise quite a calm track)

I'll take the Eels track, but somebody take the Mercury Rev one seeing as it's now been suggested by two people.

You can't do that..One person does one song. And it should be out of a scale of 10..will help determine better

Right, we have pianos and some nice stringed instruments, like it already.

:lol: he's swearing in an emotional voice, hee hee. Ahem, right, maturity. I'm liking the lyrics so far actually, and his voice suits them. Very understated and nice. 'I won't ever be the same...'

Ok, back for another verse now, feel like I want to relisten to the first bit already.

Now stringed interlude - absolutely love the sound they have going.

Oh, it's over, wasn't expecting that.

Yeah, really liked that, shame it's so short but I liked the mood they had going, and Eels just rock anyway.

4/5

Right, I'm gonna put Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising forward again
Snow Patrol - Spitting Games (happy indie pop kinda song, British people will already know it but any Americans or whatever might want to have a listen)
Bruce Springsteen - Empty Sky (from his last album The Rising, which was all about 9/11, this is a bit rockier but a really good song)

Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising

It starts with a really arranged intro...almost as bombastic as "Epitaph" by King Crimson. It also has a bit of Flaming Lips-esque style...especially their later music. After the arranged intro, with the string section....a quite piano sequence comes...the vocals start. Very high pitch, clean vocals...after awhile a cellow plays during the verse....and then the arranged part comes back in. The song is mixture of quiet piano based music and bombastic arranged progressive rock. I like the music alot...but the vocals are something I dislike. 8/10

My picks:


Damien Rice - The Professor
Young Gods - Rue De Tempetes

I'll do the damien rice one.

Damien Rice - The Professor

Gently strummed intro with almost spoken vocals.
It has a sort of chilled out quality, just sitting doing nothing feel.
Speeding up. Has got a lot better and more emotional.
Slowed down again, chilled out.
I like the vocals and the lyrics. Its not as good as some of his other stuff but has an uplifting chorus. 2:45, I really like this section. Louder and more emotional.
I like the way it switches between almost spoken and then the chorus, almost shouting vocals. Now he is singing in a different language. That was unexpected.
I prefer the parts where the guitar is louder but if you didn't have the chilled out parts then it wouldnt be quite as uplifting.
Overall 8/10

My picks
Vaka - Sigur Ros
Heroin - The Velvet Underground

I love Sigur Rós and I haven't heard your recommendation yet (shame on me)...I'll do that right...now!

do i have to wait till they post the review of the Sigur Ros song they called dibs on, or can i still do the Velvet Underground one

^You have to wait for Orb to post his review and do the songs he reccomends.

k. just wondering. thanks

[QUOTE=moderaterock222]^You have to wait for Orb to post his review and do the songs he reccomends.[/QUOTE]

I don't see why. I never understood that rule...if someone has downloaded the song faster than me...I don't see why that person can review the song too. My downloading is going terribly slow right now...I will not hold any grudge if anyone wants to review the song as well. Why should a terribly slow download server stop someone else from wanting to review a song?

I'm not downloading because I want to review...the primary reason is to hear the music :D

Edit: by the way...judging from the display of the mp3's on my soulseek browser...does Vaka happen to be the same song as Untitled #1 off "()"? If so, I'll undib, because I've heard the song already.

Never mind..."Vaka" is indeed "Untitled #1"...you're okay to go Sonic_Reducer...sorry for the inconvenience.

I was just going by the rules set in the original forced listening thread thats all. I guess its just a way so everyone who reviews can get their recoomendations reviewd too.

Yeah, I know...I wasn't critisizing you modrock...I just don't get the rule...although I do understand that people want the opportunity to have their recommendations heard. I guess that makes sense.

Still, I'm not obligating anyone to listen to my recommendations :P

Some one needs to review something cause this thread is slowly slowly dieing and it's a cool one so let's not let that happen :)

Vaka, by Sigur Ros

From start to finish 'Vaka' doesn't really change pace, which is kinda nice. As the song is rather relaxing and mellow. The piano is the main instrument w/ a bass quitly being plucked behind the piano and vocals, rarely will you actually here the bass, but it adds a nice touch. The vocals are amazing on 'Vaka', the singer has a comforting voice with a lull feeling to it. 'Vaka' is a calming song and and is like a lullaby.

I can only speak good words about this song, 10/10.

My Picks:

Beautiful, by Belle and Sebastian
Day Of The Lords, by Joy Division

[b]Joy Division - Day Of The Lords[/b]

Judging by the title of this song, I was expecting a slow paced song with a dark undertone. And that's actually pretty close to what it is. Starts out with a strong bass line and guitar picking. Then the Joy Division guy starts singing with that patented Joy Division guy sound. It pretty much sets the mood for the whole song, as it really doesn't leave this tone.

The chorus is a bit faster, and comes with a high-pitched organ/keyboard thing. Near the end of the song, it picks up a bit and the guy starts to yell a bit more, and it almost sound like there are other people singing with him.

All in all I found it boring, but it's not bad by any measure.

[b]Rating: 7/10[/b]

Recomendations:
Les Savy Fav -- We'll Make a Lover of You
Beat Happening -- Secret Picnic Spot
Ratatat -- Seventeen Years

[B]Ratatat - Seventeen Years[/B]

I chose this song cause i likes the bandname.. it's sorta cool.. and i've never heard of them so i thought it would be intresting.. it was very hard to find though but then eventually i found it on their official website..

Back to reviewing the song
This is a very .. i have to say.. weird song... The instruments are high pitched and it's all very intense.. there are no vocals in here... there is not much that i can say.. but it's really weird and experimental.. then suddenly after about 3 minutes the song changes for some time.. it gets mellower and easier to listen to.. i like :) This goes on for the rest of the song really..
I must say i didn't really like the beginning but the end was really cool.. i'd give it a 7/10

Elliott Smith - Say Yes (great song, cool accoustic guitar)
Jamie Cullum - Frontin' (very intresting jay-z cover on piano)
Jeff Buckley - Strange Fruit (A cover of a Billy Holiday song, strong lyrics)
The Sheer - It Only Gets Better (A really cool, really intresting [B][I][U]DUTCH[/U][/I][/B] band :)

Say Yes, by Elliot Smith

Say Yes is a very catchy tune that catches my ear, I will admit I have a soft spot for acoustic songs and maybe be biased. At certian times in the song, there are mutilple vocals one on top of the other that adds an echo like effect. The guitar is soft in the begining, but picks up volume in no time with soft strumming and stop start sorta effect. Im really digging the vocals and it is the strongest part of 'Say Yes', the lyrics are very quotable and can easily get stuck in your head.

8/10

My Picks:

Beautiful, by Belle and Sebastian
Art Is Hard, by Cursive

Good call. What about bands that could fall into multiple categories? Are they OK too?

dibs on eno

[B]Brian Eno - St. Elmo's Fire[/B] 3:02

ah, didn't realize this was on Another Green World, but I will review it anyways. In relation to the rest of the album this is when things start to get going, it's not my favorite on the album by a highlight nevertheless. The song starts on a nice synth and piano line and the nice vocals of Brian Eno, the back up vocals add a nice touch too. One day I'll have to examine the lyrics because I can never pay attention to them because there are so many other things going that distract.At 1:21 There is a distorted guitar solo folowed accompianed by a flute like synth line that I don't really care for. The Song ends a thirty second fade out.

8/10 Good

Gang of Four - I Found That Essence Rare
Fugazi -Target
The Fall - No Bulbs 3

I got dibs on The Replacements - I Will Dare

Can I dibs Jawbox - [I][B]Savory[/B][/I] even though immune rocker dibs one from Nacho's list?

Ok, it took a while to DL the song. But here we go. I've been meaning to check out The Replacements for some time.

Starts off nice and easy. Guitar and Hi Hat intro, picks up with guitar and drums. In come vocals. Good rythem and beat. Sounds like pop alternative from the early to mid 90's, I'll check later to see when it came out. Pretty catchy tune. I'll give it a 8.5/10. I will definently check out more of their stuff. Very basic, guitar bass and drums. Picks up the pace twords the end with the chorus. Small outro and the song is over.

Come to find out it was from 1984. They were definently pioneers of a genre. I will have to check out more from this band.

Ok, now for my picks:

The Thermals - How We Know
The Helio Sequence - Everyone Knows Everyone
The Justin Riner Project - Stand Aside Shad
heres a link to that song - [url]http://www.popbandalice.com/jrproject/fstracks.htm[/url]

Tangy no.

And I'll take dibs on this

[U][B]The Justin Riner Project - Stand Aside Shad[/B][/U]

Starts off with acoustic strumming. Sounds decent not great though. The vocals aren't too sharp. He doesn't sound that good in my opinion. We are trickling through the verse, some better than average lyrics but nothing amazing. The chorus has a girl come in on back up vocals and some kind of string insturment in the back. Sounds decent but not amazing like the rest of the song so far. Back to the verse. The outro really shows how bad his vocals are. It was a decent song though.

[B]6.6/10[/B]


[B]My Songs:[/B]
The Mars Volta - Eriatarka w/ Saul Williams (IM me or MSN me for this song. Pixiesfanyo/Pixiesfanyo@hotmail.com) (Alternative Spoken Word)
Tabula Rasa - The Eating Contest (Post-Punk Insturmental) [URL=http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=2504057&Mytoken=20040730043635]Find here[/URL]
Trophy Scars - Sleep Little Nemo (Post - Hardcore) ([url]http://www.purevolume.com/trophyscars[/url])