StickmanSouffle's Recommendation Thread

Okay so I have decided to start a recommendation thread because there are albums I think you guys really need to hear.

GET READY TO HAVE YOUR FACE RULED

Okay, first album is:

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel's second (and final) release is a brilliant album that mainly focuses on dreams the lead singer (Jeff Mangum) was having about Anne Frank and the holocaust. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea jumps between fuzz-indie (King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3, Holland 1945, Ghost), folk (King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Two-Headed Boy, Two-Headed Boy Pt.2, Oh Comely) and amongst all this has brilliant brass sections.

I guess I should mention that by normal standards, Jeff Mangum is a bad singer and it annoys a lot of people. Personally, I think the large amount of emotion he sings with more than makes up for it.

There's something for everyone to enjoy on this album, whether it be the bare songs with Jeff and his guitar or the brief fuzz-indie moments of Holland 1945 and Ghost.

So yeah get it and stuff.

Tracklisting:
1. "The King of Carrot Flowers pt. One" – 2:00
2. "The King of Carrot Flowers pts. Two & Three" – 3:06
3. "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" – 3:22
4. "Two-Headed Boy" – 4:26
5. "The Fool" – 1:53
6. "Holland, 1945" – 3:12
7. "Communist Daughter" – 1:57
8. "Oh Comely" – 8:18
9. "Ghost" – 4:08
10. Untitled – 2:16
11. "Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two" – 5:13

Neutral Milk Hotel:
Jeff Mangum
Jeremy Barnes
Scott Spillane
Julian Koster







Okay Oh Comely goes for 8 minutes but srsly it rules face

I have a feeling this is going to be an awesome thread. I can't listen to your reccomendation right now because my mom is still sleeping, but I'm excited to listen after work.

Thank yeh. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea really is an amazing album, it's one of mah favourites.

Brother, Sister - mewithoutYou

What happens when you cross Christianity with an english major and post-hardcore?

A fucking awesome band. That's what.

The first time I heard mewithoutYou, I was unsure of what to think of them. I actually had a very hard time trying to put them into a genre. Post-Alterna-Core? Maybe. But what I had an ever harder time digesting was Aaron Weiss' vocals. Ever heard of talk-yelling? That's basically what Aaron does.

After listening to Brother, Sister for the first time, I was left feeling odd. I was completely unsure of what to think of the last 43 minutes of my life. So, I listened to it again. And again. And again. And then, it hit me. One day I put it on, sat back and as soon as Aaron muttered "I do not exist, we faithfully insist" I suddenly realized how much this album punched dick.

No longer did it feel like noise or Aaron just yelling into the microphone about girls and god. It now felt like a beautiful piece of music about the struggles of depression and insecurity, conveyed with some of the most amazing lyrics ever written. No longer were the other members of the band providing a rhythm and some noise for Aaron but instead... well... it's awesome, okay?

Brother, Sister is definitely a grower, but one of the most rewarding albums you will ever hear if you just let it do its thang. It's incredibly varied and hard to get bored with, jumping from loud post-hardcore songs (O, Porcupine, Wolf am I!) to alternative songs (In a Sweater Poorly Knit) and sometimes, just sometimes, will give you a break with quiet acoustic songs with no accompaniment but an accordion or harp (Yellow Spider, Orange Spider, Brownish Spider). Another thing about this album is the use of instruments that are very foreign to rock bands.

mewithoutYou are one of the best bands around right now and you'd be missing out if you didn't pick this up.

Tracklisting:
1. "Messes of Men" – 3:52
2. "The Dryness and the Rain" – 2:57
3. "Wolf Am I! (and Shadow)" – 2:36
4. "Yellow Spider" – 1:10
5. "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains" – 3:45
6. "Nice and Blue (Pt. Two)" – 3:43
7. "The Sun and the Moon" – 5:15
8. "Orange Spider" – 1:10
9. "C-Minor" – 3:21
10. "In a Market Dimly Lit" – 4:27
11. "O, Porcupine" – 4:31
12. "Brownish Spider" – 1:19
13. "In a Sweater Poorly Knit" – 5:26

mewithoutYou:
Aaron Weiss
Michael Weiss
Greg Jehanian
Richard Mazzotta





I would've added other songs but Youtube is gay and only has live versions of the other songs.

Diorama - Silverchair

You've probably heard of Silverchair before. Hell, you've probably even heard Tomorrow on the radio. Maybe you even remember way back in 1995 when they burst onto the Post-Grunge scene with Frogstomp. If you fall into none of the aforementioned categories, then you've been living under a rock. Now, what about their fourth studio album, Diorama? Not so sure?

Goddammit I hate it when this happens.

Silverchair's fourth album sees the three-piece from Newcastle, Australia completely re-inventing themselves in the best way possible. Their previous album, Neon Ballroom saw them mature greatly and Diorama sees them mature even further, straying almost completely from Grunge. The result is (in my opinion) one of the greatest Alt-Rock albums ever made.

From the rockier moments (The Greatest View, One Way Mule, The Lever) to the softer ones (Luv Your Life, My Favourite Thing) to the all-round kick ass ones (Across the Night, Tuna in the Brine, After all These Years). This album never fails to impress even if it needs to grow a little.

Daniel Johns is a brilliant songwriter, guitarist and singer and his growth as a musician is evident (he actually wrote a lot of the brass/string sections or played a big part in making them) (oh, the brass/string sections are awesome too, btw). One of my favourite albums.

Tracklisting:
1. "Across the Night" – 5:37
2. "The Greatest View" – 4:06
3. "Without You" – 5:17
4. "World Upon Your Shoulders" – 4:37
5. "One Way Mule" – 4:15
6. "Tuna in the Brine" – 5:40
7. "Too Much of Not Enough" – 4:43
8. "Luv Your Life" – 4:29
9. "The Lever" – 4:22
10. "My Favourite Thing" – 4:14
11. "After All These Years" – 9:53

Silverchair:
Daniel Johns
Ben Gillies
Chris Joannou







Okay so I could only find the singles but if you get the chance download Tuna in the Brine.

Also, I'll add Emotion Sickness from their third album (Neon Ballroom) just because it kicks so much ass.

That first Neutral Milk Hotel song sounds a lot like Sunny Day Real Estate. Mostly in the vocals. Man, I don't know why it took me so long to finally listen to them.

mewithoutYou is also good stuff.

I apparantly lived under a rock, but I don't think I was missing much with Silverchair. I didn't think it was bad, mind you - if it's on I'd listen to it - but I don't think it's anything I would actively choose to listen to.

Nice recommendations, glad to see more people making them.

Thanks, guys. Yeah, Jeff Mangum and Jeremy Enigk both have nasally voices, Aqualung. I think I'll do a Sunny Day Real Estate album in this thread, actually. How it Feels to be Something On is pretty awesome.

But seriously, Aqualung you need to listen to Diorama. Pweeeeeeeez.

Originally Posted by StickmanSouffle

But seriously, Aqualung you need to listen to Diorama. Pweeeeeeeez.

Well ,the last video you linked to was the only one that worked, but I'll check out some of their tracks on last.fm (they've got a large number of full tracks there), and report back after I've listened to more than one song.

Excellent.

Originally Posted by StickmanSouffle

Excellent.

Well, I'm on song number six, and I still haven't heard anything special... Not bad, mind you, but I might as well listen to albums I already have instead of buying a whole new artist who sounds just the same.

Oh, well that's a shame. I guess I'm one of few people who seem to feel that way about the album. Oh well. I also haven't updated this thread in a while. I should get on that...

Originally Posted by StickmanSouffle

Oh, well that's a shame. I guess I'm one of few people who seem to feel that way about the album. Oh well. I also haven't updated this thread in a while. I should get on that...

Lol don't you hate that? you have this album that you're passionate about and then nobody seems to have much of a response to it.

I appreciate the recommendation, though, even though I didn't care for the album, so please, keep them coming.

Alrighty then. I've got a really good one in mind.

Relationship of Command - At the Drive-In

Don't you just hate it when a band breaks up just after one of the greatest albums within its respective genre? Me too. And that's just what At the Drive-In did after their final album, Relationship of Command.

For me, this was my first post-hardcore album. I actually heard about At the Drive-In because of my unnatural love for The Mars Volta, seeing as the masterminds behind The Mars Volta were in At the Drive-In first. So when someone told me that At the Drive-In were just as good (if not better) than The Mars Volta, I told them to fuck off and then listened to De-Loused in the Comatorium. But I was curious, everyone seemed to love this album so much, so I decided to check it out, and what I found has since become one of my favourite albums of all time.

As soon as the album opened with Arcarsenal, the short but oh-so-sweet opener to Relation of Command, I knew what I was in for. Then there was Pattern Against User, the poppier side of the album. Then One Armed Scissor, the big hit from the album with the best opening to any song ever. The bassline in Quarantined. Cedric's talk-singing in Invalid Litter Dept....

I could go on like this.

This is a band at the top of its game in terms of creativity and experimentation, blending so many styles in order to create a release that still overshadows almost every other post-hardcore release since 2001.

Tracklisting:
1. "Arcarsenal" – 2:55
2. "Pattern Against User" – 3:17
3. "One Armed Scissor" – 4:19
4. "Sleepwalk Capsules" – 3:27
5. "Invalid Litter Dept." – 6:05
6. "Mannequin Republic" – 3:02
7. "Enfilade" – 5:01
8. "Rolodex Propaganda" – 2:55
9. "Quarantined" – 5:24
10. "Cosmonaut" – 3:23
11. "Non-Zero Possibility" – 5:36
12. "Extracurricular" – 3:59 (available on the Fearless Records re-release)
13. "Catacombs" – 4:14 (available on the Fearless Records re-release and the European and Australian edition of the album - originally appeared on a Thick Records split 7" with Burning Airlines' The Deluxe War Baby)

At the Drive-In:
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Jim Ward
Omar Rodríguez-López
Paul Hinojos
Tony Hajjar

Arcarsenal was rather noisy for my preferences right now (even though I'm in a noisier mood than usual), but I REALLY liked Invalid Litter Dept. and Unarmed Scissor. Nice, loud, noisy, but still coherent.

Awesome, Arcarsenal is probably the heaviest song on the album, though. You should really look into getting it, Aqualung.

F# A# ∞ - Godspeed You! Black Emperor

I think we can agree that everyone enjoys concept albums about the end of the world from Canadian 9+ piece post-rock bands with spoken-word samples. In my opinion, this is the best one of those albums.

Godspeed's debut is in my opinion one of the greatest post-rock albums to be released. I've never experienced an album with better imagery than this one, I've lost count of how many times I've been put into a trance with F# A# ∞. Lying in bed, letting my mind wander to somewhere else and having a generally excellent time.

The album begins with a droning note and a man talking about the end of the world, and it gives a great atmosphere and sets up the mood for the rest of the album. Even then, there are moments of optimism, like things are beginning to look up.

There's actually a really cool story with the name of the album. On the original vinyl version, side a started on F#, side b A#.And the ∞, well, when the album ended on the original vinyl version, there was a change in the vinyl copies to prevent them from ending properly, thus leaving the album to play on a constant loop of strings forever, or until you could be bothered to get up and change it. How's that for pretentious symbolism?

With the shortest song being 16 and a half minutes, I can't really post anything from Youtube. But if you enjoy Post-Rock then you owe it to yourself to get an album from one of the best bands within the genre.

Tracklisting:
1. The Dead Flag Blues - 16:28
2. East Hastings - 17:58
3. Providence - 29:02

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (current):
* Efrim Menuck – guitar, keyboards
* Thierry Amar – bass
* Mauro Pezzente – bass
* Aidan Girt – percussion
* Bruce Cawdron – percussion
* David Bryant – guitar, tapes
* Norsola Johnson – cello
* Sophie Trudeau – violin