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The Album Subscription Project

edited October 2012 in Forum Game
For some time I've had the creeping feeling that I'm stuck with a couple of bands I love, and very little new bands find their way into my horizon. To remedy this I've come up with a small project for myself. I'm going to obtain one album of an artist I have only passing or no familiarity with each week, and this artist and the album will be determined by you guys.

Now you are going to say "why not just go to last.fm or buy a bunch of samplers and listen to whatever" and there are two reasons for that. One is that sites like last.fm (at least as far as I can tell) only cater to your established musical taste, but the goal here is to cover breadth and maybe wander into genres I am not very well versed in. The second is that I am big fan of albums in themselves, as they are supposed to be one coherent unit, rather than just a collection of songs. Though some bands have trended much more to the later, certain albums like for example "David Comes To Life" by Fucked Up only make complete sense as a unit and I would like to have that experience as well.


So what are the rules?
Each and every week you can nominate an album by a band or second a nomination by someone else. You may also switch your nomination in that week if you want to support another nomination. At the end of the week, I will tally up and post the collected nominations, then get that album which got the most votes (or choose one if multiple albums are tied). The nominations of the people whose album was not picked will carry over to the next week, and the people whose album was chosen can nominate something new or support an already established nomination.

I would prefer if all nominations are either available for free on the artists website, or available on the Amazon mp3 store in my region (germany/austria), since I want to keep this mostly legit. Language of the songs is also not really a problem, so bring on your J-Rock, Ska-P and what have you. I myself will retain some limited veto power so I can filter out some joke nominations since I'm not eager to spend money on something that was a joke. I will also tell you guys if I already own an album, which is not a valid nomination. Albums of bands which were already picked in this project are also invalid, unless the album in question was released after I listened to the previously nominated album. Two people nominating different albums by the same band in the same week is fine though.

After I listened to the album a couple of times I will try to let you guys know what I thought of it. If you want to join in in the project, feel free to do so.

I know, eventually this thing will peter out at some point, but I will try to keep this up for at least 50 weeks, so let's have a fun time.

Comments

  • Of the bat I'd would say go with Bear Vs Sharks album Catamaran. Its a wonderful album by a great band that deserved more credit then what they got.
  • The Mini-Album of Luv by Logan Whitehurst & The Junior Science Club
    image

    One of the last things put out by my favorite artist before he was taken too early by brain cancer. Though, that statement is not at all representative of his work, which is fun, light, and very silly. His family put up all but his last two albums for free after he passed. I put in the link to the whole archive, but the specific album I'm recommending is at the bottom of the list.
  • edited October 2012
    Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now
    Not free, but you can listen on Spotify.
    Really awesome band, their front-man-dolinist just won a MacArthur Fellowship for being a mandolin genius. Amazing harmonies and musical talent that defies the stereotype of bluegrass instruments. Great stage presence as well, touring the UK & N. Europe this coming month.
    They just released this song (it's not on that album, so it's not cheating to listen, is it?). (and i just switched the video with one of him soloing, because it's ridiculous)
    Post edited by no fun girl on
  • Not free, but I'll toss "American Beauty" by the Grateful Dead into the ring. I can't see why it wouldn't be available in Germany, but if not, I apologize. It's my favorite Dead album, particularly because of Box of Rain.
  • The antlers' Hospice, a concept album that greatly blends Ambient, Folk, and Indie elements to produce a sound that's greatly their own, with layers of meaning and lush instrumentation to boot. This is probably one of the few new album that I've obtained recently that have completely blown me away.

  • Okay, for this week I picked
    "Who's Feeling Young Now" by Punch Brothers as suggested by no fun girl


    Other suggestions which carry over to next week are:
    "The Mini-Album of Luv" by Logan Whitehurst & The Junior Science Club (P_TOG)
    "Catamaran" by Bear Vs Shark (Ampersand)
    "American Beauty" by The Gratefule Dead (Hitman Hart)
    "Hospice" by The Antlers (La Petit Mort)

    However, I could not find the Whitehirst or the Bear vs. Shark album at my usual mp3 retailer, but other albums by the same people. Maybe these could be changed. Not sure.
  • What's your usual MP3 retailer?
  • I have found Songza for iOS incredibly useful in expanding my musical selection. Yes, you still have to press a button for a genre that is outside your comfort zone, but they make it so easy. It asks you two simple questions like "What are you doing right now: cooking, working out, relaxing? What kind of music would you like: energetic, soft, etc." and then presents you with 3 playlists to choose from.
  • I have thoroughly enjoyed "The Mini-Album of Luv" and I also tried out The Antlers. After listening to a load of videos on YouTube I picked an album called Burst Apart. It's good, and growing on me.
  • Okay, for this week I picked
    "Who's Feeling Young Now" by Punch Brothers as suggested by no fun girl
    w00t!
  • What's your usual MP3 retailer?
    bandcamp

  • edited November 2012
    I'll pick a new one tomorrow. Last call for new entries.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • I have thoroughly enjoyed "The Mini-Album of Luv" and I also tried out The Antlers. After listening to a load of videos on YouTube I picked an album called Burst Apart. It's good, and growing on me.
    Burst Apart is a great album due to their individual tracks, the reason I chose Hospice was because as a whole, it stands stronger, due to the musical and conceptual relation the tracks have, glad to hear you're enjoying them. :3
  • I'll pick a new one tomorrow. Last call for new entries.
    The Everafter by Witness.
  • You know, a little on why you picked those albums could help with the rest of us that are following this. Thanks. :)
  • edited November 2012
    Misunderstood something. Ignore this post.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • And the winner is:
    "Hospice" by The Antlers (La Petit Mort)

    Remaining in the pool:
    "The Mini-Album of Luv" by Logan Whitehurst & The Junior Science Club (P_TOG)
    "Catamaran" by Bear Vs Shark (Ampersand)
    "American Beauty" by The Grateful Dead (Hitman Hart)
    "The Days of Grays" by Sonata Arctica (Bronzdragon)
    "The Everafter" by Witness (Locutus of Nine)
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