What artist or band changed your music taste forever? Pick your favorite song of theirs..
I had known of them for a year or more before I ever heard them.. The record store in the student union at Mankato State had an import selection kept in a locked case. Cocteau Twins CDs always seemed to be featured. I liked their name, wondered if there was anything to do with Jean Cocteau, and found their cover art mysterious, but they cost enough more than domestic releases that I didn't feel like I could afford to gamble and lose.
Then, one day watching MTV in my third year, circa 1988 or 1989, I saw and heard "Carolyn's Fingers" -- and I recognized the band name from the import discs. And then I knew.
In the intervening years I think I have every album represented in my collection, though I may not have every EP.
So, yeah, I was already listening to Depeche Mode and Frankie, and The Cure and New Order, so perhaps it was inevitable. But if you ask me, Finding Cocteau Twins kicked open some other sub-genres for me which fundamentally affect what I choose to listen to, today.
No one other band I'm aware of sounds like them, but I've been surprised by how many artists mention them.
I won't try to describe or define their sound. I have always found language completely inadequate and I find myself wanting to make musical noises instead. It's easy enough instead to find them on YouTube or Spotify or Apple Music. Or your library if you're into the legacy media thing.
There is a YouTube documentary called Before Loveless: How Shoegaze Became Shoegaze, which centers around a different group and sound, but it holds Cocteau Twins in a place of honor and gives you an idea of a place and a time.
If you hang around me, you may get sick of me recommending Cocteau Twins. But I expect I always will.
Echodrone is definitely one of my favorite bands. I have been listening to them since I rediscovered bands were still making Shoegaze in the 2000s. They just released Music for 6 Musicians I think on the 27th, and today I noticed Apple Music recommended the new album to me. I bought it 4 tracks in, and basically listened to it twice straight through. The version of the album I bought has a 40+ minute Director's Cut at the end which is effectively the full album as a single track. Loved it both times. Movement II, which I have linked to for the purposes of this post, is exemplary.
I’m at the point in my Animal Crossing New Horizon’s play where I take everything to Cyrus to see what’s possible. I haven’t thought of everything, yet.
I found out about this song reading a Wikipedia entry about another possibly infamous performance art track that stole or borrowed heavily from it. I wish I had known about Sleeper in Metropolis sooner. This is very much a product of its era, released in 1983, and now I have another artist's entire career to explore.
At any rate, the parallels musically between Sleeper in Metropolis and Tales of Taboo are inescapable and unmistakable. For that reason, the second track falls a little in my esteem, even if the production is amazing and it would have been an excellent 2AM track in an early 90s underground dance club. I won't link to Tales of Taboo for a dozen reasons. Read about it first. Read about Karen Finley's work.
But Anne Clark, I didn't know you before now. You have helped me make some musical connections that didn't exist before. (See also: Nicole Blackman)
TIL that Apple Wallet/Apple Pay can inject information into your order that you did not expect. I created a problem and it has consequences. SO just be certain that your billing and shipping address in the Apple Wallet app are what you expect with respect to the order you are placing and for whom.
That moment you decide to bookmark a page after searching for the chat for the link. Then you realize there is already a shortcut clearly visible at the top of the browser window.
The feeling you get, as you rush to head out the door in the morning, when you pour hot water out of the coffee pot—instead of the coffee that you thought you brewed.
I went to the store before it opened in order to get the thing. There were enough for everybody who was there. Now I can’t use the thing until I get home from work, but I’m excited.
I personally feel that Crystal Method’s music has a kind of rock and roll swagger in its electronica, EDM, or which ever label you choose to apply.
This track uses audio of Iggy Pop talking about an aversion to classification, describing what he does not want in favor of just being.
This reminds me of a Buddhist practice of have heard of in which you state internally “I am not x” in response to an adjective or role that may occur to you in order to get to the non-self.
This track won’t take you to that place.
It does have a mean groove. It’s deconstructed and has a good amount of reverb, which I dig.
I listened to it on the way to work this morning and let it play out in the parking lot before heading to my desk.
Having built a few manual collections in Plex, and seeing how many collections Plex will create for you automatically, I think it would be nice to offer the ability to automatically build collections around characters, directors, actors, or studios. Plex already has the metadata.
Interesting day for Teams rooms where I work. Five of them were down hard. I think four cases out of five required a hard shutdown of the Teams PC. All of these were basic rooms with a TAP or table-top touch panel and a single display. A few had ancillary mics.
Tonight I used Nookmart for the first time. If there is stuff you want for your island that you haven’t managed to find via normal means, or there is no overlap in your social circle of folks who are also playing Animal Crossing New Horizons, well the selection is swell and delivery was fast.
