Music You Listened To in January 2014

Basically the same idea as the game thread. Mini-reviews for any songs or albums you listened to a lot in January, or anything you've listened to enough to make your mind up on (Stupid Hoe is an instant 1/10.) Then add ratings/recommendations or whatever thing of that sort if you want.

This isn't just for new releases right? Old albums I listened to for the first time as well?

Lorde's debut album was well worth the $2 I paid. It's not something that gets heavy rotation but it is good. None of the songs are stand-out good as the album is more a complete project than a singles machine. I'm not sure I can recommend it because I don't know how much of the music is studio produced. Maybe Trip or someone can say whether or not there is some artistic integrity or it's just some chick with fat pockets mooching off of actual musicians.

I tried to write a thing about Lorde but I suck at writing about music so I decided to post this instead:

Ha! I don't really pay attention to the lyrics since it's just background noise while I grind away, but that is funny. Will definitely pay more attention now though. That shit is funny.

Also, heard Rap God by emenim...eminem..eme...Marshall Mathers for the first time today. That's a great "fuck you" song. I was seriously impressed by his storytelling and flow. It's some pretty elite shit up there with GZA. I was uncomfortable with a few things he says, but he clearly states that's his point.

He's always something of a conundrum for me; I think he's exceptional, but I knew people who fucking tried to rap and dyed their hair bleach blonde. It's like the whole Barkley "I'm not a role model" thing. Yes you are, and kids are fucking stupid. I started buying flannel because of Nirvana and Soundgarden. Stupid.

TripOpt55 wrote:This isn't just for new releases right? Old albums I listened to for the first time as well?

I'd say anything you've listened to for the first time, new or old. Or even something that you heard a while back but just got into recently.

Albums:
Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts: I sort of named these guys as my favorite new artist of 2013, but I don't think I actually listened to them more than once or twice last year. At this point I'd put this in my top 5 of last year. I've seen them get compared to Pavement but I'd say they're a much more fun, punk-ish twist on that. Really short, straightforward, unpolished indie rock songs, basically. I'd suggest it to anyone who likes that sort of thing and doesn't mind some raw vocals.
9/10, some standout tracks for me are Borrowed Time, and Tears O Plenty

Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: I've listened to bits of this before, but this month I decided I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Well, it's weird, but I enjoy searching out odd things and I found this album particularly fascinating even though some songs don't work at all for me. There's also some pretty fantastic jams hidden throughout the album that are a bit more traditional. I wouldn't really suggest it to anyone unless you want to get a bit weird or you enjoy stuff like atonal music, but I'm glad I gave it a chance
8/10, standout tracks: My Human Gets Me Blues, Veteran's Day Poppy, and Hair Pie: Bake 2 (this one's actually a decent starting point)

Don't think I have any single songs I've played much this month.

I like the idea of this thread, but between being pretty shit at talking about music and not having listened to anything particularly new to me, I don't have much for this month.

I'd give Avid's Al Green mix he sent me a 10/10 though.