I have like a solid three or four days straight every two years or so where I listen to The Life of Pablo on repeat and cry pretty regularly. I love that record deeply and connected with it at a pretty raw, vulnerable time as a fairly new dad / family mensch.

This one popped up yesterday:




Can't listen to this in the morning any more:



Something about this one always makes me cry:



"Wounded son" / spite songs also always hit me where I live.

This recording of my grandma (talking and then later singing) always get me:

More nice ones. I'm still trying to process the brilliance of that Swans song that MH mentioned

Eff it, this is fun.

rsmurphy wrote: Sat Dec 23, 2023 6:14 pm I unabashedly love all of the ballads Alice Cooper wrote with Dick Wagner and Bob Ezrin: How You Gonna See Me Now (Bernie Taupin penned lyrics), You and Me, I Never Cry, & Only Women Bleed. "Shoe Salesman" off of Easy Action is lilting jangle pop. But Alice's strongest is "I Never Wrote Those Songs" from Lace and Whiskey. Everything I've loved about music since I began to love music is found in those songs.

There was a hella cheesy lip sync competition tv show in the 80s called Puttin' on the Hits and I imagined performing "Steven" from Welcome to My Nightmare. Had a routine planned and everything. No shame.

Have always admired Alice's music tho his recent anti trans turn is unfortunate. I'm interested to hear that he did that type of music as I had no idea. I've only been familiar with his earlier punky stuff.

jimmy spako wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:10 am

Something about this one always makes me cry:

SY can get me choked up too at times. "Hoarfrost" comes to mind.

Back to the Old House, Girl Afraid, and several others by the Smiths.

The others I can think of right now definitely fall under the heading Guilty Pleasures (Young Turks and worse), so I'm probably some kind of sentimental idiot

Rocks more than Einsturzende IMHO

^ been rediscovering the New Blockaders. They collaborated with Merzbow on an ep. I'm fairly sure I don't get any feels from noise, at least pleasant ones, but I'm waiting for some downtime so I can sit with that release.

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2023 9:22 pm ^ been rediscovering the New Blockaders. They collaborated with Merzbow on an ep. I'm fairly sure I don't get any feels from noise, at least pleasant ones, but I'm waiting for some downtime so I can sit with that release.

Looking at your recommendations your sonic palette is a bit limited/conventional. Open your ears up more. Noise is beauty.

InMySoul77 wrote:Have always admired Alice's music tho his recent anti trans turn is unfortunate

The older generation, particularly those with besotted brains and recent turns towards Christianity, are having a devil of a time with gender and progress. Add that to conservatism and he's legitimately contributing to the erosion of civil rights in America and causing direct harm to people, both physically and psychologically.

Recently a good friend mentioned how much he loved the movie The Killer. I usually don't operate like this, but I decided to bring to light Fassbender's problematic history, and immediately felt bad about it afterwards. Dude (not Fassbender) is a solid dude beaming light out into the world and I dimmed that light for a moment.

The other day I randomly heard "Possessed (by Satan)" for the first time and was like: hooooly shit who the fuck is this. Sent me down a Gorgoroth rabbit hole which ultimately lands one to wrestle with that whole scene.

After countless discussions I still don't know where to go from those discussions. Admittedly, I can't hate Alice Cooper's "Shoe Salesman" just like I can't immediately put back the dopamine released by "Possessed (by Satan)." Both songs made me feel things ignorant and divorced from the behaviors and perspectives of their creators. I wish I had an answer other than how I personally choose to navigate these minefields and even then I'm not sure if that contributes to a greater good outside of my own comfort.

This song is special to me in a lot of ways. It's Watt reminiscing about D. Boon. I first read about Boon in Rollins's Black Flag tour diary, where Henry said that Boon used to offer half his sandwiches to anyone who was hungry.

I didn't have a lot of friends in high school but I attended Watt's performance of Contemplating the Engine Room with my buddy Tommy, who was big into bass. My mom and stepfather also attended.

The great Nels Cline plays guitar on this song. Tommy and I got to meet him before the show.

Watt and D. Boon have been huge influences in my life. When I was in high school I taught myself how to play Double Nickels on bass and played it to the stereo almost every week or so, imagining I was in the band.

Mike Watt has also been a big intellectual/political influence on me, as has FM Steve. Not just the music they make but their whole approach to life. I used to read Watt's tour diaries that he put up on his Hootpage.

I know the Minutemen are probably huge influences in y'all's lives too. A lot of stuff Watt has said sticks with me. His friendship with D. Boon and the incredible work they did together still lives on in a lot of ways.

So yeah...I'm not ashamed to admit this one gets me a bit teary eyed. By the way, this whole album is great.