Needles & Grooves AoTM /// Vol. 7 - January 2020 /// Clarence Clarity - No Now

I ashamedly have two AOTMs to complete the collection so far - The Gloaming (I’m teetering on that bundle deal. And our Metal pic which I was absent for that month in the main and didn’t get invested in it.
Looks like I’m gonna have to fix this.
 
Very interesting pick!
Immediate stand outs after a partial listen on my commute: Alive in the Septic Tank, Buck Toothed Particle Smashers, Those who can't, cheat; Meadow Hopping, Traffic Stopping, Death Splash (this one is my favorite so far).
 
So i spent 45 mins listening on my ear pods at the gym, 3 tunes really hit home (no idea which ones until next time).

This is definitely a good first listen given i was sweating buckets at the time !!! Hard to fully concentrate on the music at the gym !
 
Great pick @gaporter! This is the first AOTM I owned already (aside from my own pick, which I actually found the reissue of when I was looking for an album to be my AOTM), so I think that's a sign from heaven to go and pick last month's pick haha.
This is an album which I don't spin very often, because I'm rarely in the mood for its noisier-chaotic moments, but every time I play it I'm like "damn, why don't I listen to this record more often?" I'm happy to revisit it this month and discuss it here with y'all.
 
Seriously this album is bonkers. Sometimes it feels like a deranged Prince. Sometimes it feels like Jeff Buckley playing video games too loud with jackhammer work happening nearby (in a good way). There’s just Sooo much going on!! But despite the chaos, the songs maintain an internally consistent “emotional message.” In other words, it’s not just noise.

Also, I love that a pop song starts “Fuck you! I put cancer in the water” college punk rock me approves

I love this album more each listen. Amazon needs to get this to me NOW!
 
i found this album when i was in high school in 2016 too wtf.
This shit is a landmark tho. An album so maximalist that you hear something new every time you listen to it, and so catchy that it never gets old. Actually timeless.

His old music is pretty dope too. Elle Milano era has some whammers


Oh wow I've never heard this. I guess it isn't surprising people managed to dig up his older projects. Artists who don't put their personal lives out there for public consumption ironically tend to be the ones the hardcore fans take the biggest magnifying glass to.

It's like how Death Grips fans dig shit like this up lol
 
Ok, this one is really challenging for me. This is good, because it exposes me to stuff I would't research on my own, but I'm not sure to like it enough to buy it.

But I'm very glad to have been led onto this path, and i'll try again on streaming. :)
As I said in my intro post and write-up, I don't at all expect this album to be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay! In my opinion, as @sorcerer said, it does reward repeated listens. Things that sound like pure noise and chaos on first listen will become much more comprehensible and you'll find you're able to pick out the melodies and hooks hidden in every corner of the production more and more. But hey, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing! Thanks for taking the time to give it a chance and I appreciate the honesty ^_^
 
As I said in my intro post and write-up, I don't at all expect this album to be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay! In my opinion, as @sorcerer said, it does reward repeated listens. Things that sound like pure noise and chaos on first listen will become much more comprehensible and you'll find you're able to pick out the melodies and hooks hidden in every corner of the production more and more. But hey, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing! Thanks for taking the time to give it a chance and I appreciate the honesty ^_^
I'm going to try out this album today. I wonder if those of us coming from a black metal/death metal/etc background will be more apt to pick out the melodies behind the blasting chaos as we're so accustomed to it?
 
I'm going to try out this album today. I wonder if those of us coming from a black metal/death metal/etc background will be more apt to pick out the melodies behind the blasting chaos as we're so accustomed to it?
It's possible! I can definitely hear some metal influence in Clarence's work at certain points, even if its somewhat subtle. I'd be very interested to hear thoughts on it from that point of view!
 
I've listened about 5 times through on Spotify now. I really like it, definitely will be buying the vinyl once I get back from Japan. I'm honestly surprised it's not more well known. Sonically, I hear some Blanck Mass similarities (I don't hear much FlyLo). His vocals actually sound like earlier Weeknd stuff in some places, especially Buck-Toothed Particle Smashers.

It was cool listening through and picking up on all the clues that @gaporter gave - I (and I think everyone) was thinking her clues were super abstract, but honestly once you know the album, they were all pretty clear!
 
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