I'm always cruising around the interweb, looking for interesting music. I'll see or hear something out there that sets me on a path.
Most of my blog visitations are prompted by a combination of: primarily the music shared & secondarily for the verbal content of the posts (really, mom, I go there for the articles, not the pictures) & the repartee of commentors. I very rarely visit blogs that just post music without content, unless I'm searching for something specific. One of the exceptions is Exystence.
Exystence has more postings than any other blog I know & they include content with every release, but the write-ups are music journal/ist reviews without much soul. They are a warehose of name-dropping (...they sound like...?...?...?...) but I barely skim the articles ( & the comments run to the "Thanks, EXY"..."Wow, man" ..."This is shit" style).
The thing about Exystence is that most everything is days-old releases or this week's reissues of Classic albums, so it can be a treasure trove of music. For me, most of the new bands I have never heard, so I have to sift through a lot of chaff to fine a kernel of goodness. So I go there once a week when I have a few free (add time increment here)s & dowload everything that seems even slightly interesting. Then over the course of the following week I start sifting (by sifting I mean listening to a wide wide range of sounds) through all the downloads. I usually come up with one or two keepers a week.
So I have compiled this compilation from music I have deemed worthy.
HIGH -
The Worst is Done - Weyes Blood
El Bueno Y el Malo - Hermanos Gutierez
Stechmück - Pole
Tourmaline - The Mars Volta
Holy Mount Zion - Congo Natty
Scrolls of Doom - Dear Nora
No Hiding Place for Me - Jeb Loy Nichols
Socrates in Thin Air - Robyn Hitchcock
Imtaxaanka Dunida - The Iftin Band
Grauer Sand - Pole
Los Amantes - Hermanos Gutierez
Monsters on the Hill - Jeb Loy Nichols
Music 4 da Soul - Congo Natty
Flowers Fading - Dear Nora
It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody
NRG -
Starry Nights - Adrian Quesada
Strip Elettrico (from Lula la Sposa Erotica - Alessandro Alessandroni
Flash Burns from Flashbacks - The Mars Volta
Speed King - Röyksopp
The Shuffle Man - Robyn Hitchcock
Hobolada Hooyibo - The Iftin Band
If You Feel It - Patrick Cowley
Feel It - Röyksopp
Casanova Sintetico (from La Parte più Appetitosa del Maschio) - Alessandro Allessandroni
Deeper than This? - The Soft Pink Truth
Blank Condolences - The Mars Volta
Turk’s Cap - Adrian Quesada
Graveyard Love - The Mars Volta
La Joie Devant la Mort - The Soft Pink Truth
A Wicked Tool - Patrick Cowley
Enjoy,
NØ
There's so much new-to-me stuff on Exy, it's hard to know what to try. The reviews don't help much because I don't know how much I can trust them. None of these artists are familiar, so I really appreciate these two 'listener's digests.' They're bound to be very useful and I imagine I'll go back and grab anything that sounds interesting. If you wanted to make a habit of posting these every few months, that'd be great. Either way, thanks for these.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rev. You're analysis of Exy is spot on, my feelings in a nutshell. I absolutely love the title Listener's Digest & I am going to do exactly as you suggest. Every few month I will post up Exy Listener's Digest. A new series, what joy. You've made my night.
ReplyDeleteSweet! Much appreciated. Will stay tuned...
ReplyDeleteThat's a big help you guys, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI too will look forward to episodes of your Listener's Digest! Nathan, I was listening to the new Mars Volta today and was going to email you to ask which are your favorite songs. I see that we agree on "Blank Condolences". I need to listen to it some more.
ReplyDeleteIf you google a specific phrase from any of the reviews on Exy, you can find out which magazine or website they were originally posted on, which sometimes helps to figure out whether you can "trust" it or not. Gone are the days of knowing individual music critics' tastes -- "Well, Dave Marsh didn't like it, but he's got a stick up his ass and the guy at Creem says it's good, so I'll give it a listen..."
One interesting thing is the parallel bar containing listener's links to music and reading material providing a wide exchange.
ReplyDeleteWorth checking.
Cheers
As a daily downloader (and occasional contributor) at Exystence since 2015, I can say without fear of contradiction that yes, it's a pain in the arse.
ReplyDeleteZillions of "new-to-me's" with nothing but an [info] link (but if it's a Bandcamp link, at least I can Listen Before Dumping).
Reissues that turn out to be pointless, poorly curated, or (ARGH) remixed by the tone-deaf.
Grateful Dead stuff.
And (gasp) Jazz.
But I go there every day, and once a month I move the dozen-or-so "keepers" to a series of redundant hard drives, thinking "yeah I'll listen to that someday..."
Thanks for the sifting N0! Exy is great for finding new releases I'm interested in hearing but definitely overwhelming to navigate without a map. I am very thankful to the musical bloggers like you who help chart the course of my musical journeys with meaningful context and guideposts
ReplyDeleteAs per a suggestion from rev.b, I'm going to do a sporadic series called S-EXY Listener's Digest & feature things I've found that for one reason or another made te cut & the save.
DeleteFYI: https://exystence.net/blog/2023/01/02/the-legendary-pink-dots-the-maria-dimension-complete-recordings-2022/
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know about this one. I haven't check in with Exy for a bit. Would have hopefully noticed this next visit, but this made it much easier. DLing it right now. Maria Dimension era LPD is about my favorite. Looking forward to giving this (3CDs!!!) a good listen.
DeleteHappy to help out! I love the stuff you share here and I really appreciate the site, and your insights. Enjoy the New Year, and keep being awesome.
ReplyDelete