Soot and Sharp's Interactive 2014 Music Library

[Soot and Stars]

Soot and Sharp's

Interactive Music Library


Hey everyone, it's getting to be that time where everyone's going to be doing their countdowns and either talking about their great finds, ranking them for you, complaining about what a bad year it was or wishing they had heard more during the year. Usually in forums we do countdowns or recap/countdowns for others to see and talk about our favorites. This year your newest mod Sharp Dressed Man and I are going to do something different for you and hope that you'll want to chime in and get involved. We'll be doing a comprehensive month to month library of music that came out in 2014 in an effort to spotlight the bright spots of the year as well as maybe uncover that for others. In an effort to not just appeal to us we'll have blurbs about albums that might appeal to your taste as well. This will essentially be the new music thread of the forum for an audience with older taste. It will be participated in by an audience that if anything hopes for something new that hooks them even if it's just that one new band! Peace! ​

 

[Riff Raff]

I like these threads. As you can tell since I followed last years one.

 

[Soot and Stars]

I like these threads. As you can tell since I followed last years one.

Well now you get to be part of the team for this one!

 

[Sunny]

Sounds good to me

 

[Soot and Stars]

January

Genre
Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Art Rock, Dream Pop

Appeals To:

"Anyone who desires girl group dynamics and harmonies mixed through brooding rock, tribal beats and beautiful ambience and production"

Recommended Read or Listen To: @LOU/REALM, @Mistral Wind

Album

Warpaint


I'll start out firing a big shot with a group that already has their share of fans in this actually forum and for good reason. Warpaint is a quartet of talented female vocalist and musicians that has the structure and harmonic qualities of a talented girl vocal group but with the chops of an actual band of musicians. Think perhaps Bananarama in a marriage with The Smiths. With a mixture of traditional guitar, bass and drums as well as an ambiance heavy use of keyboards this is a modern electronic band that rock fans can enjoy. The mood of the music is dark, enchanting and brooding at times. Still with a love of the modern stylings of hip-hop and pop harmonies it holds a balance of rhythms, beautiful crisp production and ethereal pleasantness that keeps it buoyant. The album is one that is engaging and keeps you locked into a very real and raw experience. It's no wonder that this band has attained as much buzz as it has and they deserve every bit more that they garner over time.

Standout Tracks

Disco//Very-Keep It Healthy, Love Is To Die & Feeling Alright

​

 

[Soot and Stars]

January

Genre
Alternative Rock

Appeals To:

"Those who like to still hear well aged early Indie/Alternative acts still create angsty melodic anthems with a mix of Punk, Surf Rock and psychedelia"

Album

Indie Cindy

The Pixies don't need much of an introduction. With a mix of Punk and Surf Rock the band started among acts like Pavement, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. creating what would be considered the early stages of the Indie and Alternative Rock stage. Today, after many changes, breakups, reformations and member changes the Pixies are still creating music with three original members and maintaining the same quality of music with a couple tweaks. Most noticeable would be once again the loss of Kim Deal who once again left the band. There is a bright side though as they included another really talented female musician in Paz Lenchantin on Bass. The album is a collection of EPs with the same rough and tumble mix of Surf Rock, Psychedelia and Punk with perhaps more radio friendly hooks than usual. Also different is the amount of videos and visual accompaniment almost every song has released. The rebels may have aged and softened their stance but the music still has the same bite as before which is what really counts.

Standout Tracks

Bagboy, Indie Cindy & Ring The Bell

​

 

[Mistral Wind]

Great thread, guys! I'll follow it with deep interest.
Thanks for the mention! As I told you, Soot, they're my current obsession...
and I've never been so much in love with a band since that distant day when I listened to Sigur Ros...
This said, the thing that makes me appreciate them so much, it's the ethereal and rock mood which pervades their music.
Plus, I love their basslines. And last but not least, I think they're good musicians.
So, great choice to start your thread!

From "Warpaint" (the album), I'd choose also Keep it Healthy, Son and Biggy.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Great thread, guys! I'll follow it with deep interest.
Thanks for the mention! As I told you, Soot, they're my current obsession...
and I've never been so much in love with a band since that distant day when I listened to Sigur Ros...
This said, the thing that makes me appreciate them so much, it's the ethereal and rock mood which pervades their music.
Plus, I love their basslines. And last but not least, I think they're good musicians.
So, great choice to start your thread!

Thank you Mistral! Sorry for the double dose but at least the CRF version has more of a visual and this is really where I want the interaction anyway as it's good for the forum. I'll be posting on my facebook for my non-CRF friends as well but this is where the real music fans are. i'm glad that you are cool with the tags. I'll try to only use them for what I think may be a sure thing for members based on their taste but if any members prefer not to be tagged they can definitely let me know. I love Sigur Ros too by the way. They had a great album last year as well. I can see why one would love both groups!

 

[Soot and Stars]

January




Genre
Hip Hop, Alternative Hip Hop, Funk

Appeals To:

"Fans of old school Hip-Hop with modern crossover appeal, humor and raw mixtape quality flows and lyricism"

Album

Iller Than Most


For music fans who don't like Hip-Hop and particularly ones who don't like non-homogenized unfiltered Hip-Hop this album won't change their mind. In fact, this is a raw set of tracks that only pure Hip-Hop fans would like. Del is a special breed who has an old school style that mixes the older tongue and cheek humor of early Hip-Hop, a little crazy ODB like insanity/personality with one of the most distinctive commanding vocals in Hip-Hop. His style and mind fuses very well with various genres and he has a huge crossover appeal. This has landed him with popular gigs in Alternative Rock fused Hip-Hop groups like The Gorillaz and Deltron 3030. Both are projects that have both broadened his appeal and dragged fans who aren't hugely into Hip-Hop to acquire at least a small taste for it. This mixtape may not have the same crossover appeal but it's definitely got an element of raw vintage retro style, a loose relaxed element of unpolished fun and plenty of steady head bobbing beats. This mixtape is better than a lot of modern studio Hip-Hop has any chance of being.

Full Mixtape

​

 

[LOU/REALM]

Good to see WARPAINT get a mention. Musically they have been a breath of fresh air in the music scene.I was so inspired by their music I started a CRF thread for them and I have a feeling this band are going to get better and better.....