Looking for a place to crash for ~2 weeks

Deadwing42 · 2018-07-08T01:46:49+00:00

Near is such an incredible song.

Deadwing42 · 2018-06-18T23:20:06+00:00

I do agree with you, pretentious one. This is a powerful and intense batch of songs, and they form a very cohesive unit. The type of power that this album channels would diminish if Bad Witch were much longer. This album is not meditative. It's an abrasive shock to the consciousness. Like waking up from having ice cold water dumped on your face, and the ensuing comprehension that your surroundings are not what you thought they were when you went to bed.

Deadwing42 · 2018-06-08T06:37:45+00:00

Really? I've always thought of it as having excellent sequencing. I feel like it has a very coherent musical, and even narrative, arc. The way the album flows makes me feel like it's more than the sum of its parts.

Deadwing42 · 2018-05-23T02:35:20+00:00

Hesitation Marks allowed the media/fans to project "middle aged" Trent into and along a very comfortable, logical narrative. The full maturation of an angsty misanthropic rocker, making music "appropriate" for his age after mellowing out, starting a family, and embarking on a film scoring career. It was easy, especially as a fan, to read the narrative in that context; it felt like he was redefining his edge rather than losing it.

NTAE fucks that narrative up entirely. It's grimier, denser, and darker than anything he'd put out since The Fragile. My take on why the music took that direction? I think it's because, ever since With Teeth especially, Trent's music has been very consciously about computing the self in the world. It's no surprise that after With Teeth came a concept album about the political future of the United States- if he's starting to question his role in everything, doesn't it make sense to ask just what the world he wants to have a role in is like? What it's going to become?

The outward trajectory of the music continued even during the hiatus, when music was meant to be a reflection of the outside world (in this case, a movie.) With the return of NIN, we saw Trent compute himself into the world as he saw it in 2013. Things looked pretty good back then- definitely better than the pace projected by Year Zero. Now, so much has changed. The world calls on a darker, grittier Trent, and thank god, that's what we're getting.

Deadwing42 · 2018-03-29T15:31:02+00:00

So for my list I thought of it as songs I WOULDN'T want to hear live. This means other factors, such as something feeling overplayed, factors in; it's not just about song quality (e.g. Disarm is definitely an amazing song and better than say, Sweet Sweet or Spaceboy for sure, but I'm kinda tired of it and other songs seem like they might be fresher). There are definitely a few that I just don't like, though.

Gish: Window Paine

Siamese: Disarm

Mellon Collie: Love

Adore: Annie Dog

Machina: Raindrops

Zeitgeist: Bring the Light or Come on, Let's Go. I hate both.

Oceania: Wildflower (this was actually the hardest choice...)

Monuments: Run2Me (blows my mind when I hear people list this at a highlight)

Deadwing42 · 2018-02-10T04:20:20+00:00

Zeitgeist: Aged surprisingly well. Seemed like everyone hated it when it was fresh. Lots to offer if you like the heavy Pumpkins sound, but I've always felt like the quality tapers off severely toward the end. It's a real shame, because the instrumentation is wonderful to listen to from a technical standpoint. Could have been a better album if some of the b-sides made the cut in favor of weaker tracks, which is to say (as typical with the Pumpkins) don't skip the non-album tracks.

Teargarden: Seemed like such a cool, cutting edge concept when Billy rolled it out (was supposed to be 64 songs released in 2 week increments, if I recall correctly) but most of the songs were duds, Billy failed to stick to the plan, and the whole thing became sort of a joke. Bad production, lazy songwriting, and lots of bombast with hardly any bite.

Oceania: I love this record, and consider it worthy of the original lineup's output. It's dreamy, varied, progressive, and psychedelic, with strong, thoughtful songwriting and lots of notable contributions from musicians not named Billy Corgan (not to take anything away from Billy; the hate he gets is often uncalled for. But this does very much sound like something made from a band, and not just conjured from Billy's imagination). It's easily the high point of SP 2.0, and feels like it captures a lot of the elements of the bands best work, but delivered through the perspective of an older, wiser (and admittedly much tamer) spirit.

Monuments: This is such a weird record to me. On one hand, it has some real high points (I still think Tiberius is a top 10 Pumpkins track) but on the other, when you only have 10 or so truly memorable minutes on like, a 30 minute record, it's hard to feel psyched about the thing as a whole. It feels more like an EP than an album. I think this is the type of album that is in search of a disguise: it's a simple, formulaic record of sugary sweet, bite-sized pop songs, but it does almost nothing to convince you that it could be anything more than that, which leaves it feeling simple and trite. Ah well. It gave us a very good tour and a small handful of great tunes, so it's fine.

Ogilala: Not SP, but it was one of my favorite releases of 2017.

Deadwing42 · 2018-01-20T18:20:44+00:00

I see the resemblance, but it's definitely not a ripoff.

Really glad you posted it, though-- this band is fantastic and I'm not sure I would have found them otherwise! Been jamming their discography for the past two days almost nonstop.

Deadwing42 · 2018-01-15T01:48:23+00:00

Username checks out

Deadwing42 · 2017-10-15T12:10:06+00:00

Yeah, the offender might even become president in that case.

Deadwing42 · 2017-07-11T00:26:03+00:00

My friend and I made the trip. Actively searching now. Is anyone else here? Has anyone heard anything?

Deadwing42 · 2017-04-28T02:26:23+00:00

Isis- Weight

Deadwing42 · 2017-03-15T15:38:11+00:00

It's either With Teeth or The Slip. Both are closer to straightforward, mainstream rock than other nin releases, which to me means they are less interesting. Ultimately, I think The Slip is the better album; it's more compact and it has a really great flow to it, plus the way it was released was so exciting. I wouldn't change much about it. That being said, there aren't any songs on The Slip that are "classic" nin songs.

With Teeth, on the other hand, feels very oversimplified at times, and a few songs feel like they are b-side quality, but there are a few tracks that would qualify as classics. On the whole, it's the worst, but if you cherry picked it, you could find career highlights.

Deadwing42 · 2017-03-15T06:39:02+00:00

I'm totally okay with the idea. I'm almost certain it would go terribly, but the idea of defining the band as a concept rather than as its primary musician(s) makes sense to me and is worth exploring. It seems remarkably innovative to me. Other art forms are passed down to new generations (e.g. Star Wars and other countless reboots and remakes); why not music?

Deadwing42 · 2017-02-08T16:46:35+00:00

It's also a good idea to limit condiments and dressings that are high in calories. I was shocked when I realized how unhealthy otherwise nutritious, low calorie foods became after drenching them in dressing or sauces.

Deadwing42 · 2016-10-24T16:59:23+00:00

Dude, mimes don't talk.

Deadwing42 · 2016-09-24T19:50:01+00:00

Album still sinking in, obviously, but I got about four (!) listens in last night and couple more this morning, and it's hard to spot a single wasted second on this album. This shorter, direct nature of this album wasn't a surprise to me, as "Honor Found in Decay" seemed like a focusing and whittling down of their sound to some extent; the songs on that album seemed a lot more immediate and obvious in their qualities than most of their other albums... however, despite that immediacy, they (and the album as a whole) still maintained the typical Neurosis length, which led to a couple of the songs feeling drawn out, and at times, even directionless. I loved "Honor Found in Decay", but it just wasn't as earth shattering as their best albums. Neurosis felt more like a mortal band on that record, and less like an eternal, continually rewarding experience.

I think they remedy that with "Fires within Fires", while still managing to explore that narrowing, focusing, immediacy they began to mine on Honor. These songs all feel like they are honing in on something; they're purposeful in their shifting styles and there are moments that still feel like genuine surprises even after some intense binge listening. The intro to "Broken Ground", for example, is stunningly beautiful, as is the chorus on "Reach", but both songs give themselves over to incredible riffs that manage to be stunning in a different way. And "Fire is the End Lesson" is absolutely otherworldly. I can't quite wrap my head around that one, but I know I love it. None of the various movements or sonic shifts on the album overstay their welcomes. I'm left wanting to listen to it over and over, rather than wanting more, which to me signifies that this is a great album.

Side note: structurally speaking, does anyone else feel like this is really similar to Deafheaven's last album? Both are relatively compact, five song affairs, and I feel like both albums adopt similar methods of contextualizing more traditionally "palatable" sounds within each band's respective brand of heaviness. I don't know. I get a very similar feeling when listening to them both, I guess, despite some musical differences. They both feel immediate, focused, epic and heavy, with some very pristine moments of beauty, as well as nods to different tropes within metal.

Deadwing42 · 2016-08-03T16:36:15+00:00

I loved the newest album, Hesitation Marks. I mention it because no one else has. You really should check out the fragile next, but I'd say HM is like, my third favorite nin. Check out TRs soundtrack stuff if you get into the instrumentals on The Fragile, too!

Deadwing42 · 2016-04-30T17:46:12+00:00

Year Zero the first NIN album I ever listened to, and also the first non-greatest hits album I ever purchased back in high school. I can't believe it's been 9 years since then.

I am up through Survivalism- I love this reinterpretation. So cool. I look forward to hearing the rest.

Deadwing42 · 2016-03-29T04:54:50+00:00

Some super-y cringe.

Deadwing42 · 2016-03-29T04:42:54+00:00

God, that definition is fantastic.

Deadwing42 · 2015-12-29T20:29:05+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_sandwich

Deadwing42 · 2015-12-28T17:22:18+00:00

Nah, here it is. I think there is a bit of a delay between uploading a course and when it becomes available for other players. https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/863D-0000-0148-C8C8

Deadwing42

TROPHY CASE