Album Rating: 4.0

Dunno about planetarium but you are right about the Ascension, lots of bad takes here about that album

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Another morning and another listen to this and it’s just settled into being his second best for me, love the flow of it, just enough variety.



As Boney said - the man is the master of the coda, love how a lot of these songs resolve

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Also surprised no one has talked much here about the collab album before this one, ‘Beginners Mind’ - that didn’t quite work for me but showed some green shoots of inspiration too



Homework for me is to listen to that and ‘The Ascension’ again.



Gyro - have you put the last song, ‘Mercury’, on ‘Planetarium’ on the compilation? That one is a real grower and one of the best vocals from him recently

Album Rating: 4.0

Mercury is sublime.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Thinking about where Suffy sits in the folk performers of the last 25 years, I’ve always had him at a second tier level but might have to revise that.



So these are all ranges of good to excellent:

Tier 1: Mark Kozelek, Jason Molina, Mark Linkous, Will Oldham, Bill Callahan, Elliott Smith, Gavin Clark

Tier 2: Mark ‘E’ Everett, Joanna Newsom, Mark Eitzel, Cass McCombs, Adrienne Lenker/Big Thief

Tier 3: Justin Vernon, Matt Elliott, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, Damien Jurado, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, etc

Tier 4: Andrew Bird, Will Johnson, Weyes Blood, Neil Halstead, Tallest Man on Earth, etc

Tier 5: stuff like M. Ward (there’s lots of it)



I feel Sufjan is somewhere between tier 1 and 2 for me now

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

If you put a gun to my head and said ‘who was the most talented folk performer of the last 25 years’, despite the extracurricular, it’s Kozelek



If you asked ‘the folk performer whose work had meant the most to me the last 25 years?’ I’d say Kozelek or Elliott Smith



Best lyrics would be Will Oldham with nods to Molina and Callahan

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

So 'A Beginner's Mind' I underrated a small amount, somewhere between a 3 and 3.5 rating but definitely 4 or 5 decent songs on there (the more Angelo centred tracks are generally weaker).



'The Ascension' I'm still struggling with, very low energy, seems like a (admittedly glossy sounding) crawl low on engaging melodies. Again a few good songs and I currently have it as a low 3 I guess.

Album Rating: 3.5

ngl the placement of that bot comment is sublime, this thread is now Doof's blog

LOL
i can feel every sweater in my wardrobe physically wilting in response to this thread in real time

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

'ngl the placement of that bot comment is sublime, this thread is now Doof's blog'



it broke the chain of posts so I was really grateful for that bot



I think I've doubled my sput posts for the year on this thread

Album Rating: 4.0

joanna newsom is definitely tier 1, sorry doof

Album Rating: 4.5

Okay phew it’s a grower yay

the glass ceiling of sexism is ruthlessly strong here

Album Rating: 3.5

also pro Marxism...



oh, I mean Markism

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Newsom hasn't released enough I'd say, and 'Ys' I like a fair whack more than any of the rest.



She needs a new album...when did the last one come out? Feels like ten years.



If she'd released five 'Ys' quality albums she'd be up there for sure.



'the glass ceiling of sexism is ruthlessly strong here'



I mean Joni Mitchell would make the all time Tier 1 of folk so it can be broken. Adrienne Lenker shouldn't be discounted either, wouldn't take a lot for her to rank above Newsom pretty soon.



I guess instrumental virtuosity Newsom would possibly be top 2 with Kozelek over the last 25 years of folk. Happier?

Album Rating: 4.5

Adrienne >>>



Also is There’s A World a play off Death With Dignity? I think it’s a different key, but the melody and finger picking pattern feels very similar. May just be my brain doing a silly.

I hear it in that guitar in the beginning for sure, it’s actually a Neil Young cover. though. sounds nothing like the original though

the guitar on Running Start is so odd

Adrianne Lenker is one of the most hit or miss songwriters of the last ten years lol. When she's on, she's got something really special, but jfc has she churned out a lot of faff (mainly with Big Thief, which opens the convenient option of just blaming the bois)

yeah Big Thief is pretty consistently mid with some good highlights here and there