I haven't kept up with bigger releases for the past 10-20 years. So, for example, I'm always hearing people say stuff about some Frank Ocean album that was apparently great, and I haven't heard it and don't really know who he is. But I'm gonna check it out!
Any recommendations for recent-ish albums you love by relatively popular artists? All genres welcome!
(I know this is a very broad question, that's on purpose!)
Uh oh, this isn't going well so far. This Frank Ocean album is really underwhelming me. Seems like a typical case of, "let's throw in a few musical elements that people wouldn't expect in Style A and call it experimental." Other than that, seems like a lot of nothing.
Pink + White, which appears to be the hit, is pretty cool, but there is clearly something cultural here I missed out on bc this music is not that special.
And yes, I love hip-hop, R&B, etc.
(Come on reply guys, let's go.)
Okay album 2 is giving me more faith in this experiment: I Inside the Old Year Dying by PJ Harvey. So far, the production is completely gorgeous and the first song is very moving.
If only my interface would stop switching audio profiles, I would listen to this straight through. 
Album 3, on a rec in this thread, is Courtney Barnett's "Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit."
Absolutely killer indie rock album, and with a lovely English accent, to boot. Kind of reminds me of The Duke Spirit, whose album "Cuts Across the Land" I love to death. (Speaking of which...what did they do after 2010???)
So much fun w/ amazing guitar/drums production, then it pounds you toward the end with this incredible 7-minute journey. DAMN Courtney.
@samsteiner oh I'm up on the "relatively unpopular" ones for sure 
(although there are ALWAYS more to be discovered obvs!)
@alisynthesis @kbal
They had a "buy it all" deal on Bandcamp, the BC Friday before the 2nd album was released. Everything for CAD 6.66
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@alisynthesis The bands I listen to most aren’t exactly super duper well known, but here are a couple that most folks have at least heard of:
Dandy Warhols - Rock Maker - 2025
Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves - 2015 (there are newer releases from them, but they’re not great)
Better Oblivion Community Center (a one-off joint project from Connor Oberst (Brighteyes) and Phoebe Bridgers) - 2019
The Black Keys - Dropout Boogie - 2022
Wet Leg - moisturizer - 2025
Arcade Fire - Everything Now - 2017 (not critically acclaimed, but I really liked it)
That’ll do for now
@alisynthesis @tsrono
Her breakout worldwide hit was mixed (on a 72-channel G-series SSL console) by a mix engineer who used to be in Skinny Puppy.
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/dave-ogilvie-mixing-call-me-maybe
"I was trying to get the same feel in 'Call Me Maybe' as in a Nine Inch Nails song, making sure it had a pop sensibility, but with people not even noticing how aggressive the kick drum is."
ah! this is great. i'm not a fan of the song really but it's catchy for sure.
"With the snare, we were taking the approach of not having a traditional snare, with it being made up 60 percent of handclaps, 30 percent from the 808 snare, and the real snare quite low in the mix." - this bit made me listen for the snare & yeah, it hits, nice sound.
also there's this:
@tsrono @alisynthesis
It's probably easier to take that approach with the snare when you're in a big room like that, sitting at a monster of an SSL console (with a working computer) and plenty of outboard gear.
Hearing that mashup always made me smile, because I knew about the Skinny Puppy connection.
@alisynthesis #CharliXCX's album BRAT is exceptional, a love letter to the British Rave scene of the 2000s
#KendrickLamar - DAMN has depth and replayability.
#OliviaRodrigo's GUTS and SOUR - well executed pop. #Robyn, #CarlyRaeJepsen, #ArianaGrande excellent also in this space.
#JanelleMonae - Dirty Computer (2018) got a lot of listens.
#CourtneyBarnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think... - exceptional poetic lyrics and commentary.
#DaftPunk - Random Access Memories (2013) if you at all enjoyed their earlier work or French house generally.
I enjoy Rob Mitchum's end of year album roundups, annually back to 2013, compiles 'end of the year best albums' lists from various publications into one place: https://robmitchum.github.io/aotysheets.html
cheers, luck! #music #ListenToThis
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