The Album Club

[Guybrush]

Eeeeyy!!

Can I join too?

[Trollheart]

Sure can.

[DJChameleon]

Okay I stumbled over here.


I'd like to nominate this album before I forget it but it will be for later on obviously.

Larry June & The Alchemist - The Great Escape

[Guybrush]

I'll, uhm, suggest National Health's second album Of Queues and Cures.

[SGR]

I'll, uhm, suggest National Health's second album Of Queues and Cures.

The most magazine sounding band name of all time (probably)

[Guybrush]

The most magazine sounding band name of all time (probably)

I believe they were named after a brand of sunglasses. This was back in the 70s so might be long gone.

[Trollheart]

Welcome DJ! Good to have you here!

[Rubber Soul]

GRANDADDY- THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP

I stumbled upon the gem when searching for music sometime in the early 2000's. Now, to be fair, you can't go wrong with any of Grandaddy's five albums.

But I probably prefer this second effort by Jason Lytle who, by all purposes is Grandaddy. And it is a piece of genius and is easily my favorite album of 2000. The way he weaves piano pieces in an electronic background impresses me. It is also quite melodic ,and, in some ways, he can remind you of a (dare I say it?) Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney. Indeed, this could be the Beach Boys without the harmonies.

Lyrically, it is quite superior as well starting with the opening track, He's Simple He's Dumb He's the Pilot. He continues in this vein for the next four tracks as we get into what is probably the most popular song on the LP (The Crystal Lake). Crystal Lake is certainly a nice track and it is what attracted me to this album to begin with.

But there are tracks I like better including He's Simple, Hewlett's Daughter, Jed the Humanoid among others.

It is the last two tracks that really knock me out, however with the Miner at the Dial-A View and So You'll Aim Towards the Sky. Miner comes off as spooky psychedelia and I love the off voice announcer bit.

This song segues into the piece of resistance, So You'll Aim For the Sky. Not since A Day in the Life have I heard such a profound ending to an album. It, and the album, even cuts off before it has a chance to wrap it up. Again, another piece of genius.

I'm not sure where I would rank this among my all-time albums. Perhaps I have yet to hear one post 2000 that tops this one (Sufjan Stevens' Illinois comes close). If you're into electronic music or even if you just like to hear nice melodic songs, I think you'll like this album. As for me, I absolutely love it.

10/10 (The Word has spoken)

[Rubber Soul]

And with that, my next nomination is...

[Toy Revolver]

GRANDADDY- THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP

I stumbled upon the gem when searching for music sometime in the early 2000's. Now, to be fair, you can't go wrong with any of Grandaddy's five albums.

But I probably prefer this second effort by Jason Lytle who, by all purposes is Grandaddy. And it is a piece of genius and is easily my favorite album of 2000. The way he weaves piano pieces in an electronic background impresses me. It is also quite melodic ,and, in some ways, he can remind you of a (dare I say it?) Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney. Indeed, this could be the Beach Boys without the harmonies.

Lyrically, it is quite superior as well starting with the opening track, He's Simple He's Dumb He's the Pilot. He continues in this vein for the next four tracks as we get into what is probably the most popular song on the LP (The Crystal Lake). Crystal Lake is certainly a nice track and it is what attracted me to this album to begin with.

But there are tracks I like better including He's Simple, Hewlett's Daughter, Jed the Humanoid among others.

It is the last two tracks that really knock me out, however with the Miner at the Dial-A View and So You'll Aim Towards the Sky. Miner comes off as spooky psychedelia and I love the off voice announcer bit.

This song segues into the piece of resistance, So You'll Aim For the Sky. Not since A Day in the Life have I heard such a profound ending to an album. It, and the album, even cuts off before it has a chance to wrap it up. Again, another piece of genius.

I'm not sure where I would rank this among my all-time albums. Perhaps I have yet to hear one post 2000 that tops this one (Sufjan Stevens' Illinois comes close). If you're into electronic music or even if you just like to hear nice melodic songs, I think you'll like this album. As for me, I absolutely love it.

10/10 (The Word has spoken)

i've decided i don't want to rank the album because i don't like when it's like who nominated the most popular record contest because i think the point should be more to just hear different shit

but i'm with you on this one deserving the highest accolades

Indeed, this could be the Beach Boys without the harmonies.

i get what you're saying - he's a great song writer but that's kind of like saying van halen without the guitar solos

[Trollheart]

You don't have to rate. It's not a requirement. I've hated some albums so much that I didn't want to rate them for fear of insulting the person who suggested them. Also there was one I didn't finish so I didn't rate that. Ratings are not important; it's how you felt about the album and what you thought about it that we're interested in. We could do like Dark Side of the  Moon or Sgt Peppers or Ziggy and everyone would rate them top, but that would only be half the story.

[SGR]

You don't have to rate. It's not a requirement. I've hated some albums so much that I didn't want to rate them for fear of insulting the person who suggested them. Also there was one I didn't finish so I didn't rate that. Ratings are not important; it's how you felt about the album and what you thought about it that we're interested in. We could do like Dark Side of the  Moon or Sgt Peppers or Ziggy and everyone would rate them top, but that would only be half the story.

[Lexi Darling]

Quick review as I just finished the album.

I discovered this album back in 2007 or 2008, and it quickly became a favorite indie/alt rock record of mine. Every song is memorable in its own unique way, and it's bursting with lofty artistic ambition that really does "aim toward the sky" in a way conceptually. Almost reminds me of prog rock in that way, though it's of course done with a flair of 90s cynicism. The use of electronic textures really adds a lot to further the sort of techno-dystopian aesthetic. The album is masterfully sequenced as well, it ebbs and flows just right, culminating in the wistful and beautiful final track.

This was even better than I remembered it being. I haven't listened to it in a long time and it was an absolute joy.

[DJChameleon]

GRANDADDY- THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP

I played this album early in the morning on the way to a doctor's appointment. It did nothing to help me wake up at all. Not that I should be listening to this album with the intention of it having to wake me up. I'm just saying that it was sleepy background noise to me at that point in time. I feel like I'm always going to end up grading indie albums on a downward curve. Roxy kind of got me into listening to more Indie bands back in the day but I'm still so picky about the ones that I DO listen to. It wasn't until the track Crystal Lake that it woke me up a bit and had a nice driving song to change up the feel of the prior three tracks. I feel like Crystal Lake is the standout track of the album to me and the only saving grace. I believe there was another track that I liked later on but tbh I have only listened to this album once. I will give it another go just to listen to the last few tracks because I believe there was one I really liked near the end but woof overall. I'd give this a 2.5/5 if I had to rate it.

[SGR]

GRANDADDY- THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP

I played this album early in the morning on the way to a doctor's appointment. It did nothing to help me wake up at all. Not that I should be listening to this album with the intention of it having to wake me up. I'm just saying that it was sleepy background noise to me at that point in time. I feel like I'm always going to end up grading indie albums on a downward curve. Roxy kind of got me into listening to more Indie bands back in the day but I'm still so picky about the ones that I DO listen to. It wasn't until the track Crystal Lake that it woke me up a bit and had a nice driving song to change up the feel of the prior three tracks. I feel like Crystal Lake is the standout track of the album to me and the only saving grace. I believe there was another track that I liked later on but tbh I have only listened to this album once. I will give it another go just to listen to the last few tracks because I believe there was one I really liked near the end but woof overall. I'd give this a 2.5/5 if I had to rate it.

I think you had similar feelings on this one to me. The album just kind of left me cold. I'm not sure why, but yes, Crystal Lake is easily the best tune.

Like you, indie albums for me are always a red flag in the sense that they're probably not going to live up to the hype. Too much of it is artsy fartsy pretentiousness - just give me some good songwriting and a few hooks, and I'm happy. I don't need the lyrics to be profound.

I'm curious now though - what indie albums do you like? I'm a fairly big Pavement fan myself - but their style in some ways apes my favorite band, The Fall.