Oxygene and other JMJ albums used to be background music to our DNDing back in the 90s. I haven't really listened to it since then, so that's a huge nostalgia trip waiting to happen.

Also, Limmy's Falconhoof sketches feel weirdly familiar to me.



Happiness is a warm manatee

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Jan 28, 2023, 02:11 AMOxygene is really a timeless, transcendent classic. This video of Jarre walking through all the synths he used on the album is a treat for us synthsters.



Very cool! I love seeing musicians geeking out like that. It reminds me of this video of Herbie Hancock explaining his gear to Quincy Jones (including a touchscreen in 1984!):


This is what you want. This is what you get.

Quote from: Guybrush on Jan 28, 2023, 07:58 AMOxygene and other JMJ albums used to be background music to our DNDing back in the 90s. I haven't really listened to it since then, so that's a huge nostalgia trip waiting to happen.

Also, Limmy's Falconhoof sketches feel weirdly familiar to me.


What did I just watch?  :laughing: Were dial-in adventure games ever actually a thing?

This is what you want. This is what you get.

#18 Jan 30, 2023, 03:32 AM Last Edit: Mar 13, 2023, 12:32 AM by Janszoon
Another recent delivery:




Magma—Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh (1973)
I've heard other stuff by Magma, but believe it or not, this was my first time listening to this album. I always want to like prog, there's a lot about it that appeals to me in theory, but I often find the execution is a little dull. That is absolutely not the case with this album. It's just so wild and crazy and alien, I love it. I wish I knew more prog like this.




Lupe Fiasco—Drogas Wave (2018)
I wrote this guy off years ago after being disappointed by his first two albums. Little did I know how wrong I was. This triple disc is fantastic! The music is gorgeous, the rapping is is flawless, and the lyrics are great. Packaging design is pretty great too.




Mammal Hands—Animalia (2014)
Some solid modern jazz here. I'm not sure if I like it as much a their album Floa yet, but I'll definitely be putting this into the rotation.




El Michels Affair—Yeti Season (2021)
Ultra quirky jazz/funk/soul music from NYC. The vibe is Budos Band but much more weird and eclectic. Piya Malik's guest vocals on four of the tracks really add a lot as well.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

#19 Feb 04, 2023, 07:45 AM Last Edit: Feb 04, 2023, 02:44 PM by Janszoon


Marvin Gaye—What's Going On (1971)
I have to admit, when I was younger I thought Marvin Gaye was pretty lame. I attribute that to the fact "Sexual Healing" was mainly what I knew from him and I'm still not a fan of that song. This whole album, though, is amazing. It's warm and sad, angry and soft-spoken. I fell in love with this many years ago and the record sounds wonderful.




Herbie Hancock—Crossings (1972)
I've been trying to expand my Herbie Hancock collection and just gave this record a first listen. My takeaway so far is that it sounds like Sextant, but more so. This album is so groovy and so trippy that it's like I can smell the clouds of weed rolling off of it. This is bleep bop bleep jazz from the surface of the Moon. This is some serious stoner shit.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

Here's hoping these image links work!




Sloath—Sloath (2010)
A couple weeks ago, on a whim, I ordered a whole bunch of metal records by artists I wasn't familiar with. I had never heard or even heard of this UK band before, but I'm enjoying this album. It's heavy, it's fuzzy, it's slow, mostly instrumental doom along the lines of Slomatics or Sleep. If you like that kind of stuff, you'd like this. In looking this up on The Metal Archives, I also discovered that that my record is one of only 500 produced, so that's kind of cool.




Inter Arma—Paradise Gallows (2016)
Out of this group of recently ordered metal records, I think this is the only band I had even heard of before. I had a vague sense of them being post metal-ish, which turned out to be accurate. Their sound is somewhere between Neurosis and Panopticon. It's post metal with a lot of sludge and a bit of black metal thrown in for good measure. It's long (2 LPs) and cinematic and sometimes even beautiful.




Chaos Echœs—A Voiceless Ritual (2016)
This was a totally unknown album from an unknown band, apparently from France and also apparently now defunct. It's also a live album. I wasn't as blown away by this as the two albums above, but it's still some solid drone metal. For a small time band, it's a pretty high quality live recording too. I definitely felt like I was in the room with them.




Nox Formulae—Drakon Darshan Satan (2020)
Some terrific wall of noise style black metal here from Greece. The liner notes are hard to parse, but it sounds like this album is either connected to an upcoming book by one of the band members or part of some ongoing mythology within the band or both. Either way, everything about this album esoteric and dark and I think it adds to the overall mood.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

#21 Feb 04, 2023, 06:32 PM Last Edit: Feb 04, 2023, 06:34 PM by ribbons
Quote from: Janszoon on Feb 04, 2023, 07:45 AM

Marvin Gaye—What's Going On (1971)
I have to admit, when I was younger I thought Marvin Gaye was pretty lame. I attribute that to the fact "Sexual Healing" was mainly what I knew from him and I'm still not a fan of that song. This whole album, though, is amazing. It's warm and sad, angry and soft-spoken. I fell in love with this many years ago and the record sounds wonderful.

Wonderful collection of vinyls here, Jans.  I'm a huge Marvin Gaye fan and he may be my favorite vocalist ever (which is saying a lot).  What's Going On is of course a classic, in which the strings help Marvin's harsh medicines go down.  My favorite track is actually "Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)".  Think I'll spin that right now.  :)


Quote from: ribbons on Feb 04, 2023, 06:32 PMWonderful collection of vinyls here, Jans.  I'm a huge Marvin Gaye fan and he may be my favorite vocalist ever (which is saying a lot).  What's Going On is of course a classic, in which the strings help Marvin's harsh medicines go down.  My favorite track is actually "Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)".  Think I'll spin that right now.  :)
Thanks! For him being such a well known artist, I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know his discography well at all. Do you have any recommendations of other albums I might like by him?

This is what you want. This is what you get.

Unfortunately with Marvin I favor particular songs over whole albums.  I actually love the Trouble Man soundtrack, which although largely instrumental was composed almost entirely by Gaye and features some stellar drumming (partly by Marvin himself).  The title track "Trouble Man" is probably my favorite of anything he's ever recorded.  Also would recommend parts of Let's Get It On, parts of Here My Dear (his weird divorce album), and parts of I Want You (another title track I love) - but don't feel I can recommend those albums wholeheartedly.

Still, it's a privilege to hear one of history's greatest singers sing anything.  Happy listening, Jans!

Case in point:  even while singing horizontally, still better than 99% of singers singing vertically.   :)




Thanks! I'm going to check those out. Trouble Man sounds really interesting.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

#25 Feb 04, 2023, 08:47 PM Last Edit: Feb 04, 2023, 08:50 PM by Rubber Soul
I can recommend one. Here My Dear from 1978 was an album Gaye had to record for a divorce settlement. You'd think he'd record something along the lines of Metal Machine Music but it is actually one of his best works. It's even a double album. I would definitely give that a listen.


EDIT: Missed Ribbons' mention but I liked the whole album. Otherwise you have to scour some of his hits, particularly from the sixties.

The Word has spoken :D

I'll definitely check it out. Thanks RS!

This is what you want. This is what you get.

Continuing with my delivery of unknown metal.



Sutekh Hexen—Behind the Throne (2012)
Coming from some part of Oakland, California when the sun apparently doesn't shine, this one is black metal taken to the furthest "wall of noise" extreme. It's noisy and abrasive but also atmospheric. It sounds like the soundtrack to ritual human sacrifice and the cover art seems confirm that this was the intent. If you like Gnaw Their Tongues or Black Witchery or early Sunn0))), you might like this.




Sutekh Hexen—Empyräisch (2012)
I didn't intend to order two album by a band I didn't know, but somehow I did. This one is apparently a compilation of older material and like that Sloath record, it's a limited run of 500. This is rawer and less full-sounding than Behind the Throne, with some strong basement recording vibes. I like it, but  not as much as the other album.




Dead in the Manger—Transience (2014)
Another US band in this block. The Metal Archives lists them as blackened grindcore, but to me they lean heavily in the metalcore direction as well. Regardless, this EP is pretty good. Out of all the records from this shipment this is the least noisy and least experimental, but that's not a bad thing and their playing is tight




Caïna—Setter of Unseen Snares (2015)
Another limited run record. Mine actually looks nothing like the image above, but I can't find an image of it online anywhere. Anyway, this one is black metal from Manchester, UK. It's apparently a one man band, which is always cool, and it has some noticeable post punk influences, which is also nice. I'm not in love with this one, but I could see it growing on me.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Jan 28, 2023, 02:11 AMOxygene is really a timeless, transcendent classic.



i love it, too

i've listened to it countless times


If there's one thing Oxygene taught me, it's that under everything, the Earth is giant skull.

This is what you want. This is what you get.