So, what have you been listening to lately?

[westen44]

Allman Brothers--

[Denis]

I love listening to some of the old live Zappa recordings where you can hear the rest of the band snickering or laughing and sometimes FX does it it. Amidst all that serious music, it's a treat when they clown.

[uwe]

Allman Brothers--

Very underrated album. People had lamentably stopped listening to new stuff from the Allmans by then, preferring the umpteenth extended version of Whipping Post, but this ditty got good reviews at the time and the band felt good about it. Their last studio album, but one they can be proud of.

[westen44]

I've been guilty of overplaying old Allman Brothers songs, but I definitely appreciate this album very much. 

[Dave W]

From their 2014 album Going Back Home

[uwe]

Wow, we have real Wilko pockets of resistance here!

I'm listening to the new Queens of the Stone Age as I type. Gotta stay current, man. 

[westen44]

I liked QOTSA a lot in their early period.  For various reasons, I stopped listening.  One thing is I didn't like Nick Oliveri getting fired.  Later, I found out it may have been justified.  Other things have happened, though, with the band which continued to bother me.  But maybe at some point I'll start listening again. 

[uwe]

I just bought it to see what they are currently doing. The same instigation that would lead me to buy a new Foo Fighters or Black Stone Cherry album, I'm not really emotionally invested in those bands. But I sometimes listen to music like I read the daily newspaper, more with interest than enjoyment.

I kinda liked what they did with Iggy on his last album. Quite a bit of Iggy's output is hit and miss, he shares that with Neil Young.

Just now listening to the Culture Factory remaster of Rare Earth's iconic In Concert album. Man does that sound good - even to this day, wonder how much of it was doctored, but the end justifies the means. Yeah, I'm emotionally attached to Rare Earth, especially that album.

[uwe]

Listening to the Warner Bros double CD remastered reissue of the Montrose debut. The bonus CD with the demos to that debut is a treasure trove, because those demos (while not as heavy and glossy as the Ted Templeman production) sound today actually less dated than the final record. I've mentioned before that this is the blueprint for Van Halen (except with a singer who could pitch a note).

The posthumous recent Montrose album with all the guest singers is worth having too. He was a very tasteful, even sparse hard rock guitarist.

[slinkp]

I cannot stop listening to Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, it's been my most-played album of the past year.

The once-cutting-edge Fairlight samples and drum machines sound very dated, and some songs aren't much as individual songs, but it remains an amazing work as a whole; it's a great end-to-end listen rather than just a collection of singles.  There is some very nice lyrical bass playing, by several people, especially Eberhard Weber.

When I need a break from that, I've been listening to The Dreaming, her previous album, which I somehow hadn't heard until pretty recently.  It's quite a contrast: Hounds of Love is more focused on building an emotional narrative from very simple song structures, often with very simple changes or a drone throughout a song.  The Dreaming is everything plus the kitchen sink, so full of ideas it can't sit still; it was her first commercial flop at the time, but I think it's completely brilliant.

[uwe]

There is still no decent remaster of it, right?

[slinkp]

I dunno. I ripped HoL from the CD I've had for years, I don't know if it's the original master or what.
The Dreaming I've been playing on Spotify, need to order a physical copy.

[westen44]

I just bought it to see what they are currently doing. The same instigation that would lead me to buy a new Foo Fighters or Black Stone Cherry album, I'm not really emotionally invested in those bands. But I sometimes listen to music like I read the daily newspaper, more with interest than enjoyment.

I kinda liked what they did with Iggy on his last album. Quite a bit of Iggy's output is hit and miss, he shares that with Neil Young.

Just now listening to the Culture Factory remaster of Rare Earth's iconic In Concert album. Man does that sound good - even to this day, wonder how much of it was doctored, but the end justifies the means. Yeah, I'm emotionally attached to Rare Earth, especially that album.

I don't get emotionally invested in bands, either.  I found out a long time ago that band members have human faults just as bad or worse than anyone else.  Josh Homme, though, especially lately has been displaying some questionable behavior.  Like bad-mouthing other bands and kicking a female photographer in the face.  Maybe it really was an accident like he said, but it definitely came across as disturbing.  However, it seems to be one of those incidents which quickly died down for whatever reason.  I can only surmise that they must have worked out the problem. 

http://variety.com/2017/music/news/josh-homme-kicks-female-photographer-in-the-head-at-kroq-acoustic-christmas-exclusive-1202635338/

[uwe]

I dunno. I ripped HoL from the CD I've had for years, I don't know if it's the original master or what.
The Dreaming I've been playing on Spotify, need to order a physical copy.

HoL would really deserve a lavish deluxe double or even triple CD/Bluray treatment, with studio outtakes and alternative versions, demos and all. It's one of the period-defining albums of the 80ies. I have the CD that has been available for a long time, but I believe that album would really sonically explode if you heard it in, say, 5.1, a format that doesn't work for most rock music (to my ears at least), but just seems to be made for Katie's aural landscapes.

[gearHed289]

I don't get emotionally invested in bands, either.  I found out a long time ago that band members have human faults just as bad or worse than anyone else.  Josh Homme, though, especially lately has been displaying some questionable behavior.  Like bad-mouthing other bands and kicking a female photographer in the face.  Maybe it really was an accident like he said, but it definitely came across as disturbing.  However, it seems to be one of those incidents which quickly died down for whatever reason.  I can only surmise that they must have worked out the problem. 

http://variety.com/2017/music/news/josh-homme-kicks-female-photographer-in-the-head-at-kroq-acoustic-christmas-exclusive-1202635338/

Homme has always seemed like a real douche bag, but I only know what I see in the press. I do tend to like his music, but the only thing I've been inspired enough to buy was Them Crooked Vultures. I should check out the Iggy thing.