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Your LAST.FM Weekly Top Three

Started by alan nagsworth, April 02, 2008, 05:42:05 AM

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alan nagsworth

Not got around to listening to Artemis's Last.fm show yet but it's inspired me to make this thread. It's in the same vein as the 'What are you listening to' thread, as well as 'Song Du Jour' and the semi-deceased 'Album De La Semaine' threads. Let us know what your top three artists are each week, and give us some info as to why this is. Have these artists released a new record and you're playing the shit out of it? Just discovered a great new band? Or do you just adore them with a passion?

If you can't really explain why they made the top three, tell us why you like this artist in general or give us a little review or something. Or do both. Whatevah! Also, may as well tell us how many plays for each artist/band, just to make it interesting. Here's mine:

1. Gnarls Barkley (66)
Yep... can't you just tell their album came out the other week? I love Gnarls so much, I was astounded by the sheer brilliance of the new record. They've really settled into their own sound and it's great to see this; while Danger Mouse's projects are always fresh and exciting, GB is by far his best work and this sort of paves the way for more potentially dazzling material. Cee-Lo's lyrics are as deep and personal as ever, it's hard not to feel the emotional depth of each and every song.

2. Nobuo Uematsu (7)
A pitiful amount of listens, dwarfed by Gnarls. Still, I love Uematsu's work on Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX but I never get around to listening to the soundtracks these days. It's always the solo piano collections of select tracks from each game. Lovely stuff.

3. Interpol (6)
No reason, just a great band. I've always found these lot more interesting than other post-Joy Division acts like Editors, they have a much more arty flare to their music and their singer is genuinely good with those low moody tones. The first album I got from them was Antics but since hearing Turn On The Bright Lights I've never gone back. Or forward, as the case may be. The new album's quite good though.

Hank_Kingsley

The Avett Brothers (40), Sly & The Family Stone (34) and Ryan Adams (33) were my top 3 artists last week.

I've been alternating between Soul, Folk, Alternative Country and good old Rock n Roll lately. It just so happened I felt like an Avett Brothers binge and it's extremely easy to listen to a lot of Sly Stone since he's so faaackin good.

I'm also trying to get Descendents out of my top 10 as I've gone off them quite a bit. I know it's rather sad to care about my charts this much but I'm using it as a distraction from mind numbing essay writing.

Next week The Byrds will probably dwarf every other play as I've been going a bit nuts listening to them and loving them. I love them! LOVE.

There you go nagsworth. Taggers be damned.


alan nagsworth

Fuck the taggers, man. And fuck the Descendents. Also, fuck you! No wait, too far. This isn't a thread to brag about statistics, it's a thread to talk about music. If Last.fm records it, why can't we discuss it here? Like I said, fuck 'em. And the Descendents. Bunch of [generalisation]s.

buttgammon

Yeah, fuck the taggers indeed! Tags can be funny and I generally think they're a good idea, but it's lazy to just use them to anonymously slag stuff off.

Here we go then:

1. Pet Shop Boys (46)

I've been listening to an awful lot of PSB lately and they're fast becoming a favourite of mine. Great tunes, interesting lyrics and an all-round fantastic singles band. It also helps that our very own Delete Delete Delete kindly pointed me in the direction of a treasure trove of Pet Shop Boys on some site or other.

2. David Bowie (38)

Bowie is always likely to be up there somewhere as he is my favourite singer of all time and is by a long way my most played artist on last.fm. I think I always play at least two or three Bowie albums through every week.

3. Foals (22)

I got their new album last week and played it an awful lot. I was wondering if it would be any good but it turned out to be a brilliant confection of slightly skewed, Afrobeat-tinged indie.

Marvin

Ugh, Foals. I'm glad they're too big for Oxford now (no offence buttgammon - not actually heard the album, just sick of years of their arrogance around Ox).

My top three last week is four, due to some drawing, so:

1. The Fall (30) From listening to the really rather good new album mainly, plus a few tracks from The Unutterable and the Peel Sessions I think. Love The Fall even more than usual of late.

2. Lush (17) Hadn't listened to any Lush for ages, and dug out the albums and they're as good as I remembered, great stuff.

3. The Raconteurs (16)  and DeVotchKa (16) Two excellent new albums from two excellent bands.


I had one of those weeks where I listened to a lot of songs and few albums, so a lot of artists. Narrowly missing out on the top 3 were The Wrens, The Unicorns, Man Man, Half Man Half Biscuit, David Bowie, Plants and Animals and Heavenly.

Hank_Kingsley

Ah the new devotchka, I should really listen to that before I go see 'em next week.

purlieu

Brand New (132)
...because, despite a shaky start as a second-rate pop-punk/emo act, their last album is one of the most phenomenal things I've ever heard.  I rediscovered it lately and have listened to it a couple of times a day since.

Million Dead (43)
...because they're the greatest hardcore band ever.  I says so.

Thursday (38)
...because I bought the Kill The House Lights DVD last week and it rekindled my love for them.  Occasional shoddy lyric and hideous troop of emo-copycat bands aside, they've written some of the most beautiful melodic alternative/hardcore music I know. 

Marvin

Quote from: Hank_Kingsley on April 02, 2008, 04:58:26 PM
Ah the new devotchka, I should really listen to that before I go see 'em next week.

Where are you singing them? And you really should, it's possibly their best.

buttgammon

Quote from: Marvin on April 02, 2008, 04:47:57 PM
Ugh, Foals. I'm glad they're too big for Oxford now (no offence buttgammon - not actually heard the album, just sick of years of their arrogance around Ox).

No, no, no offence taken, course not. I actually do get the impression they're a bunch of cunts. I like their music but the hype has come close to putting me off numerous times.

Hank_Kingsley

Quote from: Marvin on April 02, 2008, 05:07:47 PM
Where are you singing them? And you really should, it's possibly their best.

Scala, next Wednesday. I'll have to *cough* acquire it and give it some serious attention.

PaulTMA

Quote from: buttgammon on April 02, 2008, 05:08:50 PM
No, no, no offence taken, course not. I actually do get the impression they're a bunch of cunts. I like their music but the hype has come close to putting me off numerous times.

If it's any consolation, Glasgow has at least one band consisting entirely of sneering wanks at any given moment, in any bar.  I can't even look at a picture of Foals without feeling like I'm being jeered at.

niat

1. Elbow (22)
2. Fishbone (13)
3. HBO (2)

These seem like ridiculously low numbers, but I probably didn't sync my iPod for a few days. Elbow have definitely been my number one band over the last few weeks as the new album is fantastic, as are all their others. I've probably already gone on about it in their very own thread which has sunk like a stone, so I'll shut up.

I've been listening to Fishbone as I'm hopefully going to see them next week, and haven't had a listen for a while. Their gigs are amongst the best I've been to and they've got a great lineup at the moment. I don't remember seeing them pop up on this thread before, are there any other fans of the 'bone on this board?

HBO is a weird anomaly 'cos I was watching some of The Wire podcasts that I hadn't got around to watching before I downloaded the last season.

Marvin

Quote from: Hank_Kingsley on April 02, 2008, 06:02:53 PM
Scala, next Wednesday. I'll have to *cough* acquire it and give it some serious attention.

I *might* be there. Depends. On things.

You have that right about Foals PaulTMA. I actually walked out on an interview with them, I was just the scribe but they really fucked me off, and I wanted to watch Buck 65 instead.

Also I like your album, it's better than Foals, it may well make my top 10 on last.fm this week.

PaulTMA

This is great news!  Hopefully Foals will disband immediately.

Lee Van Cleef

Nasum (24)
That's one album for Nasum.  They are the best grindcore band that ever existed.  Recently I've been getting into the habit of listening to them regularly like they deserve, fun, energetic and totally head-smashing.

The Mad Capsule Markets (14)
I've never been a big fan of them but they are enjoyable in doing what they do.  Hardcore Punk meets Dance with big chunky guitars.  They also do a blinding Killing Joke cover.

Sigur Rós (11)
It's nice background music, not something I'd put on every day though.

alan nagsworth

Don't get me wrong, "background music" is always good stuff depending on your mood, but if I were in Sigur Ros and someone called my music "background music" I'd stop making it. Just a thought.

The Argus

Why? (40)
Yes, yes, pretentious hipster backpacker shite I know many would say, but their/his new album Alopecia is probably the best new LP I've heard since Vaudeville Villain.  As much as I like their previous record Elephant Eyelash, this new one is just leaps ahead - absolutely fantastic stuff.  I've listened to it loads of times and I'm still nowhere close to being bored of it.  Rather than just abstract wordplay the new album is alot more grounded and it's a joy to work out what he's talking about in the songs.  I really think Yoni has outdone himself lyrically on this one.  If something beats this on my Best of the Year list I'll be very surprised.

The Kinks (27)
Only recently got around to properly checking them out - so far I've listened to Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur and they're both brilliant.  I had no idea how great a lyricist Ray Davies was and it's clear how they've been a great influence on alot of modern music.  Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish, which is one of my favourites of all time, is clearly indebted hugely to them (as well as XTC).

Ween (27)
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Famous Mortimer

The Replacements
Because I forgot how good they were and slapped on all their old bootlegs and live albums.

Cassetteboy
Because listening to one of their albums for 20 minutes pretty much guarantees them a spot like this.

The Kleptones
Really really good mashups. Their album "24 Hours" is a proper, genuinely good record, well laid-out and all.

Mindbear

Last weeks seems to be

1. Be Your Own Pet (33)
2. Crystal Castles (23)
3. Sebadoh (19)

I really do like that new BYOP album, despite not really being too bothered by them the first time around. Crystal Castles, I think i'm trying to make sense of it as an album, there are about two other songs that are good but generally, they're not an album band as far as I can see. Sebadoh, I just love them, and I haven't listened to that album for many years, it's weird how you can remember every single second of something even if you haven't heard it in forever.

Identity Crisis Ahoy!

Pixies (207)!!
Fuck. I quite like this band, you know? I'm in my obsessional phase. It happens. Get over it. Come on.

Meat Puppets (33)
Rubbish first album. Good second album. So what?

Sonic Youth (33)
Probably just Goo and Daydream repeated. I like to listening to them.

Marty McFly

She & Him (133)
Is Zooey Deschanel the new Jenny Lewis? based upon the evidence in this album, quite possibly, yes.

Roulettes (48)
nothing like a bit of obscure 80s keyboard-laden power pop. (here if you like the sound of that)
   
Mike Berry & The Crickets (46)
Joe Meek's protege (who did sound a hell of a lot like Buddy Holly) records an album with Holly's original backing band. produced by Chas Hodges!

Vitalstatistix

Quote from: The Argus on April 02, 2008, 08:58:37 PM
Why? (40)
Yes, yes, pretentious hipster backpacker shite I know many would say, but their/his new album Alopecia is probably the best new LP I've heard since Vaudeville Villain.  As much as I like their previous record Elephant Eyelash, this new one is just leaps ahead - absolutely fantastic stuff.  I've listened to it loads of times and I'm still nowhere close to being bored of it.  Rather than just abstract wordplay the new album is alot more grounded and it's a joy to work out what he's talking about in the songs.  I really think Yoni has outdone himself lyrically on this one.  If something beats this on my Best of the Year list I'll be very surprised.

Yes!

I've been banging on about Why's latest album since it first leaked. It's quite brilliant isn't it? He's been treading water slightly since cLOUDDEAD but he really seems to have found his sound with the live band, and this album is consistently superb, and loads of fun too.

The Argus

Quote from: Vitalstatistix on April 03, 2008, 11:10:20 PM
Yes!

I've been banging on about Why's latest album since it first leaked. It's quite brilliant isn't it? He's been treading water slightly since cLOUDDEAD but he really seems to have found his sound with the live band, and this album is consistently superb, and loads of fun too.

It really is, and despite some fairly laudatory reviews in the music press I can't help but think it's been significantly underrated.  I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best new albums I've heard this decade.  I'm actually forcing myself not to listen to it too much because I don't want to risk exhausting my enjoyment of it even though I actually want to listen to it all the time.

Hank_Kingsley

I've just been listening to that Why? album after reading your posts, I never really liked cLOUDDEAD but this is rather nice.

Is it just me though, or does it sound a bit like a slightly edgier They Might Be Giants?

There's not really any pretence of being a hip-hop album...

drberbatov

Quote from: purlieu on April 02, 2008, 05:05:10 PM
Brand New (132)
...because, despite a shaky start as a second-rate pop-punk/emo act, their last album is one of the most phenomenal things I've ever heard.  I rediscovered it lately and have listened to it a couple of times a day since.

The Devil and God... is Fantastic, have you seen them live?

Lee Van Cleef

Quote from: nagsworth on April 02, 2008, 08:56:33 PM
Don't get me wrong, "background music" is always good stuff depending on your mood, but if I were in Sigur Ros and someone called my music "background music" I'd stop making it. Just a thought.

I don't have any greater appreciation for it.  That's just the role it fills for me, if I want to be engaged by instrumental rock I'll listen to GYBE, Sigur Ros whilst they are nice, don't capture my attention.

Artemis

Nice thread, I like it. Last week, I was mostly listening to:

1. Candi Staton (30). The lovely looknorth reminded me of Candi recently, so I dug deep and found three albums, of which the best is 'Candi'. She's got a stunning voice and the album 'Candi' has a high dosage of the kind of sassy 'Miss Thang' going on I love.

2. Ann Peebles (13). Peebles retains her place as 'top artist overall' with another thirteen listens last week. I love her.

3. Freda Payne (13). I've been enjoying her 'Band of Gold' album, a wonderful slice of 1970's pop.

My numbers are low because I keep on listening to a lot on my iPod but playing a track on iTunes before I sync the iPod, and iscrobbler won't accept any iPod scrobbles if I've listened to something on the laptop more recently.

alan nagsworth

The Bronx (24)
Just got into these properly. It's been a good few years since I first saw the video for They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy), one of those things I wasn't overjoyed about at the time but it always stuck as a good tune.. their first album is great, it's energetic and very rowdy. Now I'm gonna look into their second album to see if they stayed good.

Gnarls Barkley (20)
Still loving that new album, particularly the track No Time Soon, which is helping me come to terms with the death of my cat.

Elbow (14)
Fucking great band. There's still a hope for mainstream indie music when bands like Elbow are consistently making great music, and infact they seem to get more creative and interesting as their career progresses. That's a pretty fine achievement for the course of four albums. This week I have been listening to Leaders Of The Free World, their third record. Every track is great but the title track is just superb.

buttgammon

I'll do my revised top three for this week then:

1. Benga (33)

I got his new album, Diary of an Afro Warrior last week and played it through a few times. It's really good stuff, and proves that it's not just Burial who can make a good, innovative and interesting dubstep LP.

2. A Certain Ratio (26)

One of my favourite Factory Records bands, and their album I'd Like To See You Again is one of the funkiest things I've ever heard.

3. Pet Shop Boys (23)

They're still up there because I love 'em. I pretty much explained it with last week's charts further up this page.

Looknorth

1. Sandy Denny
2. Richard and Linda Thompson
3. Fairport Convention.


I need to release my inner hate and listen to more Elbow or something.