Topic: The Music Thread

@johncalmc On Spotify, when you are viewing an album, you click the three dots and then scroll down to Share and click Copy Album Link ,you should get a message saying Link copied to Clipboard, then you can paste it into your post on here by clicking paste inside the box you write messages in to post on here.

To everyone: I have been enjoying this album recently, great stuff.

Every few years or so I feel down and then I remember this exists:

I remember limewiring this (or something very similar) when I was in secondary school and I still love it.

Looks like people have done a lot more of them and there's a whole playlist!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPMa2jQunsDgNCSLWEpexVhT1o...

Everything else I've heard by Mingus, pales in comparison to this, based on what I've heard so far.

Best 2023 Punk and Alternative Rock Albums by JamieOretro

I've not shared a list like this on Push Square's Forums in years, so below are 20 new albums I've enjoyed in alphabetical order, which released in 2023 (alternative, Americana, emo, pop-punk, punk, hardcore and ska-punk).

• Big Laugh 'Consume Me' (Revelation Records, 10th Feb. 2023). Fast, aggressive punk from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• blink-182 'One More Time…' (Columbia, 20th Oct. 2023). Welcome home to skate-punk, Tom!
• Clowns 'Endless' (Fat Wreck Chords, 20th Oct. 2023). Fun Fat Aussie punk.
• Drain 'Living Proof' (Epitaph Records, 5th May 2023). Chugging, driven hardcore.
• Fall Out Boy 'So Much (For) Stardust' (Fueled by Ramen Records, 24th Mar. 2023). Return to form for FOB.
• Foo Fighters 'But Here We Are' (Roswell and RCA, 2nd June 2023). Alternative seeped in tragedy.
• Heart Attack Man 'Freak Of Nature' (Evil Doer Records, 26th May 2023). Catchy pop-punk from Cleveland, Ohio.
• Knuckle Puck 'Losing What We Love' (Pure Noise Records, 20th Oct. 2023). Pure Noise is great for modern New Found Glory and All Time Low sounding bands.
• Mustard Plug 'Where Did All My Friends Go?' (Bad Time Records, 8th Sept. 2023). Energetic ska-punk legends.
• Paint It Black 'Famine' (Revelation Records, 2nd Nov. 2023). My favourite hardcore band's back!
• Rancid 'Tomorrow Never Comes' (Epitaph Records, 2nd June 2023). Dons of street-punk.
• Samiam 'Stowaway' (Pure Noise Records, 31st Mar. 2023). Real deal California punk greats.
• Spanish Love Songs 'No Joy' (Pure Noise Records, 25th Aug. 2023). Reminds me of We Are Augustines, and Augustines was Americana-mazing!
• Taking Back Sunday '152' (Fantasy Records, 27th Oct. 2023). Insert smiley emo-ji here.
• The Brokedowns 'Maximum Khaki' (Red Scare Records, 20th Jan. 2023). One of my favourite 2023 albums from one of my favourite labels.
• The Gaslight Anthem 'History Books' (Rich Mahogany Records and Thirty Tigers, 27th Oct. 2023). Americana band singing with the soul of Springsteen.
• The Menzingers 'Some Of It Was True' (Epitaph Records, 13th Oct. 2023). A band from Scranton, Pennsylvania like in the US The Office, which transitioned from Bob and the Sagets ska-punk to punk, and then to Americana.
• Yo La Tengo 'This Stupid World' (Matador Records, 10th Feb. 2023). Alternative band releasing albums since 1986!
• You Me At Six 'Truth Decay' (Underdog Records, 10th Feb. 2023). Poppiest of pop-punk. God bless the 90s kids, indeed.
• Youth Fountain 'Together in Lonesome' (Pure Noise Records, 3rd Nov. 2023). Again, Pure Noise is great for modern bands in the spirit of New Found Glory.

Note. I edited this post on Tuesday 2nd January, 2024 to update it as 20 albums, because I forgot to mention The Menzingers' 'Some Of It Was True', and Heart Attack Man's 'Freak Of Nature'.

Happy New Year to all of Push Square's music fans.
Goodnight and God bless, Shane MacGowan.

@JamieO doing the lord's work again.

The Spanish Love Songs album is one of my favourites from this year too. Did you get to see them live with Hot Mulligan this year? (I assume you know HM anyway??) Incredible show in Bristol! And they're doing a headline tour with Heart Attack Man soon too I believe (but I can't justify the four hour round trip to see them again).

Love the Blink album too. Knuckle Puck I was a little indifferent to but still a good record. Rancid album was also fine but I appreciated the short run time for tracks and the album itself. The Menzingers album is a weird one as the first half is great but the second a bit forgettable. I'm seeing them later in the year (again) too.

I'm not such a fan of the hardcore stuff, mostly because of vocals; I can cope with them if there's some singing alongside it (e.g. someone like Alexisonfire) but not when that's it.

But some other albums you may have missed;

Sh*t Present - What Still Gets Me

Mature, melodic punk on the first album for this band who have been around for over a decade.

The Dirty Nil - Free Reins to Passion

Laura Jane Grace recommended them on a show she did for 6music and I love this band now. Good, fun rock/punk rock with some great riffs and fantastic vocals.

Koyo - Would You Miss It

Somewhere between emo and hardcore. Solid album.

Origami Angel - The Brightest Days

They call it a mixtape as it's not quite an EP and not quite and album, plus it covers multiple genres in each track. A wonderful record.

And some slightly different stuff;

Korine - Tear

Dark, electro pop with some really catchy tracks.

Barry Can't Swim - When Will We Land?

I've not listened to too much electronic music this year but this album is wonderfully upbeat and brilliantly mixed/produced.

And a top 20 spotify playlist if that's your sort of thing;

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3jHpZbLaxwdYPC9Ophrz67?go=1...

@Thrillho Excellent stuff, I remember over a year ago you recommended Tree River's 'Time Being' to me, which ended up being one of my favourite albums of 2022, so I was chuffed to see your detailed response here.

I've checked out all six of the videos that you've posted in your reply, so as a starting point I'm going to focus on The Dirty Nil's 'Free Rein To Passions', and Koyo's 'Would You Miss It?'.

I hadn't actually heard of Hot Mulligan before either, so I'll listen to the 2023 album 'Why Would I Watch', too. I'm already intrigued by the song title, Gans Media Retro Games!

I guess it's not too late to say "Happy New Year" either, and I hope you have a cracking 2024, including a great time at The Menzingers show later in the year, mate.

Below are a couple of 2023 EP suggestions (Real Friends and Tired Radio), noting that Tired Radio in particular was a cool recommendation from a good friend of mine last year.

• Real Friends 'There's Nothing Worse Than Too Late' (EP on Pure Noise Records, 24th Feb. 2023).
• Tired Radio 'Lousy, thanks' (EP on Sinking Ship Records, 10th March 2023).

@JamieO A belated happy new year to you too!

Definitely check out Hot Mulligan if you don't know them. As I say, they were incredible live and I think the last time they were in the UK they were supporting Knuckle Puck. Their new album is good but their previous one is even better. Their acoustic EPs are also fantastic.

I'll have to check out the EPs you mention too.

Best jazz album of 2023 and possibly one of the GOAT. This really genuinely is amazing work.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Finally got round to giving your album a full listen! My favourite is the Puff Daddy one. I appreciate how dynamic it is. I thought the way you played off of the track was creative and really quite well done. Thanks for sharing!

@Jimmer-jammer Thanks man, really appreciate those words and thank you for taking the time to listen to it, that was the second take of that one because I was dissatisfied with how the first take turned out, glad I gave it another go!

Amazing experimental jazz-funk.

The new record by The Smile is rather excellent, it blows their debut effort out of the water. I’m giddy with excitement what might be in store for radiohead if Jonny and Thom are in this kind of form.

Amazing hip hop record. A personal favourite. The connoisseur's choice.

@Jimmer-jammer Hey man, been a little while now, hope you and the family are well. It's TheBrandedSwordsman by the way, changed my name, haha. Anyway I just wanted to know your top 10 albums of all time? I think I started a thread for that years ago before you were on the site so I wanted to include you. Mine are (not in any order of preference)

1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Jay Z - The Blueprint
3. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
4. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
5. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, mA.A.d city,
6. Wayne Shorter - The All Seeing Eye
7. Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun
8. Miles Davis - Bitches' Brew
9. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady
10. Peter Dunmall - Yes Tomorrow

(Thought I'd do five jazz, five hip hop, haha)

@Black_Swordsman Hey! We’re doing well, thanks. Had a good Family Day long weekend. Interesting list there! So, I found this really hard to do. Some of my favourite bands/artists have albums that I don’t enjoy from start to finish. I ended up relying on two main criteria. First, albums that work for me as an entire album start to finish, second, albums that I can put on anytime, anywhere and still get sucked in to the whole thing. Ended up with a surprisingly modern and kind of bizarre list 😂

In no particular order:

1. The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish

2. August Burns Red - Found in Far Away Places

3. Billy Talent - Dead Silence

4. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

5. Emery - Rub Some Dirt On It

6. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

7. Funeral For a Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon

8. Anberlin - Vital

9. Underoath - Define the Great Line

10. The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality

@Jimmer-jammer Glad to hear it. Great list, all very much in the rock Wheelhouse ,of course, haha, but that's ok ,different strokes for different folks. I have personal reasons for not going back to that sort of music based on lifestyle choices I made whilst listening to that type of music. The type of music you listen to definitely affects your attitude to life, well, in my case at least, but I recognise that it's all subjective, of course. I appreciate you listening to my jazz recommendations.

Been listening to a lot of Paul Dunmall & J. Cole music recently, here are what I think the best albums by both artists are so far. (Paul Dunmall is jazz & J. Cole is hip hop.)

Underrated classic.

Just dropped today. Currently the world's best jazz guitarist.