The 2008 Music Journal Recommendations Thread!

[Josh]

Well, there are two and a half months left in 2008, and, as time begins to run out, I imagine we'll start seeing lots of year-end lists and summaries of the best albums and songs released over the past twelve months. So this is a thread in which we can make specific recommendations to other Phorumers, based on what we know of their tastes, to let them know which albums they need to make sure they hear.

Please keep this thread for specific recommendations; if you want to recommend an album to anyone and everyone who will listen, start a separate thread for it.

So, here goes:

Bloop
For bloop, I recommend Barry Adamson's album Back to the Cat, an album that I'm almost sure you'll appreciate. In terms of musical sophistication and genre-hopping eclecticism, this one is almost unparalleled this year. Dear Science is the only thing that's even on the same level.

DGP
For DGP, I recommend a two-disc jazz record called Miles from India, in which a whole mess of former Miles Davis sidemen team with some of the finest musicians in India to create a cross-continental celebration of Davis' music. The album includes covers of beloved Davis songs ranging from the 50s all the way through he 80s, and it's killer.

Murlough
I'm going to surprise even myself here and recommend Blitzen Trapper's new album, Furr. I was initially quite taken with it but ultimately grew a little more mixed in my opinion of it, but there's no denying that it's nothing if not eclectic, and it ranks high on bloop's list, so who knows? Maybe I'll be in the minority. But there's a lot going on, that's for sure.

[murlough23]

A lot of my favorites this year, I'd simply recommend to people across the board, so it's hard to come up with individual ones for people that they haven't already tried. But from what I've gathered that some of you haven't tried yet, here goes:

Josh
Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vols. I-IV
I'm sort of cheating here because the first two volumes were released last year, but taken all together, they really give a diverse picture of the stylistic morphing and experimentation that this band is capable of, as well as the religious and literary overtones that color their songwriting. Start with Vol IV: Earth since it'll probably be closest to your preferred style, then work your way backwards (Vol I: Fire is probably the least likely to appeal to you due to its harsher rock style, but it has its merits and it's the closest link to Thrice's previous work, with pretty much all of the other volumes being something entirely new for the band.) Try to picture "Digging My Own Grave" as an Over the Rhine song and then ask yourself how a "hard rock" band could possibly pull that off.

bloop
House of Heroes - The End Is Not the End
Those of us who are raving about this album aren't just genre fans. For such a simple three-piece setup, it's hard to label HoH's style as "typical modern rock" or easily stuff it into a "pop/punk" or "garage band" bin or whatever. They sort of play around with a lot of different styles and often turn on the dime in the middle of a song. This is an album that carries a lot of lyrical weight even when it's trying to deceive you with a fun melody to see if you don't notice the Cold War/terrorism/communism themes running through much of the album. And while they're more oblique and not jargon-heavy at all as Christian bands go, the final few tracks are strong examples of more explicitly "Christian" songwriting by a rock band done powerfully.

Yoav - Charmed & Strange
You seem to enjoy certain artists who tinker with electronic stuff in unexpected ways, so I think you might find his approach of manipulating the sound of the acoustic guitar in various ways to be interesting.

TheWanderer
Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
I may be risking ridicule for recommending this, but it caused a lot of other Coldplay haters to reconsider their stance. And hey, you liked Elbow. I think you're about the only one (out of those who are actively updating it, anyway) whose journal doesn't mention this album at all.

Jon Foreman - Spring & Summer
Because you've got Fall & Winter on there, and I think these are better.

(Incidentally, House of Heroes isn't in your Music Journal either. Is it just out of date or did you move it to 2009? Because I know you raved about that album.)

plvarona
Capital Lights - This Is an Outrage!
Fun pop/punk music with an occasional 80's synthpop twist than runs the gamut from simple love songs to lyrically dense tunes about the Second Coming and escaped convicts and some other stuff that I'm not even sure I understand. Not as complex as House of Heroes, but I'd recommend it to fans of HoH or Relient K.

ajyouthguy
House of Heroes - The End Is Not the End
For pretty much the same reasons I recommended it to bloop.

dgp11776 (and really anyone who has kids)
Barenaked Ladies - Snacktime!
While inconsistent, there are a lot of tracks to choose from, many of which have the potential to be amusing to children of various ages. Despite the band name, it's all good, clean fun - the guys in the band simply wrote songs about random things in life from the viewpoints of their own children. It's also the first Barenaked Ladies album where all five band members had a hand in the songwriting and everyone gets a turn at lead vocals at least once (yeah, even the drummer, who never writes songs for the band, but came up with "Allergies", which is one of the album's highlights). Despite being a true novelty record by a band already considered by many to merely be a novelty/gag band, it shows a ton of creativity as its members show us what it's like to think using the mind of a child, rather than just acting childish as they're sometimes stereotyped for doing. "Crazy ABC's" is an exception that'll probably go over most kids' heads, but then again, it might just make those same kids a little smarter.

[ajyouthguy]

ajyouthguy
House of Heroes - The End Is Not the End
For pretty much the same reasons I recommended it to bloop.

dgp11776 (and really anyone who has kids)
Barenaked Ladies - Snacktime!
While inconsistent, there are a lot of tracks to choose from, many of which have the potential to be amusing to children of various ages. Despite the band name, it's all good, clean fun - the guys in the band simply wrote songs about random things in life from the viewpoints of their own children.

House of Heroes is something i've been meaning to give a listen to.  i know some of you guys have liked all of their stuff.  i thought their first disc was ok but it didn't blow me away, and yet since then, you and a couple of others have raved about them consistently.  so i need to give them another listen.

The BNL album sounds like something my kids would like.  both of them are becoming music fanatics, especially the 2 year old.

[murlough23]

House of Heroes is something i've been meaning to give a listen to.  i know some of you guys have liked all of their stuff.  i thought their first disc was ok but it didn't blow me away, and yet since then, you and a couple of others have raved about them consistently.  so i need to give them another listen.

Their first album had its highlights but started to drag in the back half. This one is longer and as a result it's a bit denser and harder to differentiate all the songs the first few times through... but nearly all of them turn out to be highlights once you've gotten used to them, so it's a definite improvement on their first disc. House of Heroes is kind of a "grown-on" band, but once you get used to their tendency to zig-zag, they're a lot of fun.

Also, by "first disc", do you mean What You Want Is Now (which I haven't listened to yet), the self-titled album, or Say No More, which is a re-release of the self-titled with two new songs? 'Cause those two new songs make a difference.

The BNL album sounds like something my kids would like.  both of them are becoming music fanatics, especially the 2 year old.

Your 2 year old probably won't get most of the jokes/silly references, but will probably enjoy some of the simpler songs about animals and drawing and food and whatnot. I can only hope that when I have kids, I can get them hooked on music as easily as you did.

[ajyouthguy]

Also, by "first disc", do you mean What You Want Is Now (which I haven't listened to yet), the self-titled album, or Say No More, which is a re-release of the self-titled with two new songs? 'Cause those two new songs make a difference.

i had to look it up, b/c i knew it wasn't the 're-release, b/c i remember when that happened, but i couldn't remember exactly.  it was the Self-titled, from summer of 2005 according to the place i got it from. 

[bloop]

I like Snacktime! more than my kids do, which is actually ok with me.

I'm checking out those recommendations.

[Aaron]

murlough, coldplay isn't on my journal because I haven't updated my list in months.  I have it written down on a notepad at home. Just need the time here at school to transfer almost 7 pages of albums to the journal.

[murlough23]

murlough, coldplay isn't on my journal because I haven't updated my list in months.  I have it written down on a notepad at home. Just need the time here at school to transfer almost 7 pages of albums to the journal.

That's cool. The important thing is that you've already listened to it.

What about the last two Jon Foreman EPs?

[bloop]

Murlough - I listened to the HoH once at the gym, and I know it really works on the elliptical.  I just need to critically listen to it sometime.

Josh - the album is right up my alley.  Thanks for the recommendation!

[murlough23]

Murlough - I listened to the HoH once at the gym, and I know it really works on the elliptical.  I just need to critically listen to it sometime.

Sounds like your equivalent of what would be a "good car album" for me. Sometimes that's enough. Not that I don't think it'll hold up to critical listening. These guys' lyrics are pretty solid and I think they're fairly inventive with the arrangements.

NP: "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders", Sufjan Stevens

[Aaron]

That's cool. The important thing is that you've already listened to it.

What about the last two Jon Foreman EPs?

Have those as well.  I've listened to about 200-300 albums since I last updated my journal.  I hope to update the journal in the next week or so.

I like the Coldplay album.  I find it to be their best and my favorite, two things that aren't always equal in my eyes.

[murlough23]

Have those as well.  I've listened to about 200-300 albums since I last updated my journal.  I hope to update the journal in the next week or so.

I don't think I cover 300 albums in 5 years' worth of journaling, so you are a more dedicated man than I.

I like the Coldplay album.  I find it to be their best and my favorite, two things that aren't always equal in my eyes.

This has been an age-old argument between me and bloop, but if I consider something to be an artist's "best", it's most likely going to be my favorite thing of theirs by default. The problem is defining "best" objectively, which I've stopped bothering to do. I'm not the easiest person in the world to please, so I figure it takes a reasonable amount of hard work for an artist to make me truly love something. That deserves praise even if others disagree with the criteria that often determine my likes and dislikes. This occasionally means that things with less lofty artistic goals will top my list over more ambitious projects, but I've learned to make that distinction between intent and execution. Experimentation is admirable, but not every experiment succeeds. It's also not the easiest thing in the world to make an incredibly solid collection of songs that sits almost entirely within established genre conventions, so both things are an achievement in my mind. And not everyone agrees on whether an experiment "succeeds", and we probably never will, so how much I personally enjoy something is really all I've got to go on.

Regardless, I think Viva la Vida beats anything Coldplay's ever done no matter which lens we try to look at it through.

NP: "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", U2

[Ian]

I've listened to about 200-300 albums since I last updated my journal.  I hope to update the journal in the next week or so.

Damn.  Can't wait to see how long your journal looks when you update.    As for me, I stopped listening to lots of music towards the end of Spring... found that listening to mass quantities of music was getting tiresome.  So my journal for this year will probably be the longest I ever have, unless I'm really bored some year.

[Aaron]

Damn.  Can't wait to see how long your journal looks when you update.    As for me, I stopped listening to lots of music towards the end of Spring... found that listening to mass quantities of music was getting tiresome.  So my journal for this year will probably be the longest I ever have, unless I'm really bored some year.

Despite working at walmart, teaching, and working on a thesis, i have plenty of time to listen to music.  I listen to it when i'm preparing powerpoints for lectures, grading speeches and papers, whenever I'm home, driving in the car.

Some albums require many listens, but some albums are so terrible that one listen allows me to give an accurate grade. I've become obsessed with finding as much new stuff as possible this year to expand my horizons even wider than they already happen to be now.

[bloop]

I try to be as objective as possible, and I think we can all agree that successful experimentation is a good thing, but when it comes right down to it, I have to be honest with myself and admit that I'm just wired to often favor a good experimental work over a good simple genre exercise.

[Ian]

There are few bands that go through the motions of their genre that I can enjoy.  There are a few bands that connect with me for some reason without doing much in the way of experimentation (The National, Death Cab, Copeland, and a ferw others), but in general I feel like I'm wasting my time if a band can't give me something interesting to listen to.  This has caused me to miss out on a lot of classic mainstream bands, which is something I really need to go back and fix, just for the sake of knowing what I'm talking about should conversation come up about them.

[murlough23]

I try to be as objective as possible, and I think we can all agree that successful experimentation is a good thing, but when it comes right down to it, I have to be honest with myself and admit that I'm just wired to often favor a good experimental work over a good simple genre exercise.

Agreed. But I favor either one of those over a not-so-great experimental work or genre exercise.

There are a few bands that connect with me for some reason without doing much in the way of experimentation (The National, Death Cab, Copeland, and a ferw others)

Copeland doesn't experiment? Sure coulda fooled me.

[bloop]

I think I would go:

Good Experimental > Somewhat Flawed Experimental > Good Genre Exercise > Somewhat Flawed Genre Exercise > Deeply flawed either one

Maybe.  I'm not sure - I just know that's where my bias definitely lies.

[murlough23]

I think I would go:

Good Experimental > Somewhat Flawed Experimental > Good Genre Exercise > Somewhat Flawed Genre Exercise > Deeply flawed either one

Maybe.  I'm not sure - I just know that's where my bias definitely lies.

Yeah, that just doesn't make sense to me. Flawed is flawed, regardless of the intent.

[bloop]

A flawed album can still be rather good (and probably includes any given album, really).  For some, we might even put the word in quotes - a little roughness around the edges is sometimes desireable.  I'm just drawing a distinction between the albums where I would change just about nothing about them, and ones that I can think of some room for improvement, but are still quite good.

[Brenden]

Yeah, that just doesn't make sense to me. Flawed is flawed, regardless of the intent.

In my mind the difference would be that in the case of a flawed experiment, I can say that they at least tried something new and it will earn extra points in my mind. A flawed genre exercise doesn't have anything else going for it, it's just a flawed album that doesn't stand out.

I'd rather have an artist try something new and fail, than do the same thing as everyone and fail.

[murlough23]

A flawed album can still be rather good (and probably includes any given album, really).  For some, we might even put the word in quotes - a little roughness around the edges is sometimes desireable.  I'm just drawing a distinction between the albums where I would change just about nothing about them, and ones that I can think of some room for improvement, but are still quite good.

Sure, but I think it's really a matter of how flawed it is. That's where I thought the difference between us lay - in a disagreement over whether an experiment failed or not. Perhaps one might argue that refusing to experiment is a flaw in and of itself. That might reconcile it. And I do get bored with artists who fail to do something different. But I'm not sure that everything which is immediately accessible and radio-friendly is, by definition, not experimental. maybe nobody ever said that it was and I'm just misunderstanding what we mean by an "experiment".

NP: "Jerkweed Inspector", Macrosick

[murlough23]

I'd rather have an artist try something new and fail, than do the same thing as everyone and fail.

I'd rather have them succeed than do either.

[Brenden]

I'd rather have them succeed than do either.

Me too, but I was talking about failures.

Thinking in terms of games, games that try to break from the formula and don't quite succeed are 9 times out of 10 going to be far more interesting games that keep you playing despite their flaws than games that try to be just like everyone else and don't even succeed at being average.

Likewise, an album that tries to be different and doesn't work is going to be more interesting and keep me listening to what the artist puts out down the road than an artist who tries to be average and fails.

Unless you don't consider an album being a genre exercise to be the same as an album being average. I tend to find that good genre exercises usually are memorable precisely because the artist experimented with some aspect of the genre to make themselves stand out.

[murlough23]

Thinking in terms of games, games that try to break from the formula and don't quite succeed are 9 times out of 10 going to be far more interesting games that keep you playing despite their flaws than games that try to be just like everyone else and don't even succeed at being average.

Maybe. They may be really interesting conceptually, but turn out to be really frustrating to play because the rules are limiting, make the game last too long or not long enough, the game gets weighted in favor of one player too early on to make most of the competition enjoyable, etc. In that case, I'd rather play Monopoly again.

Likewise, an album that tries to be different and doesn't work is going to be more interesting and keep me listening to what the artist puts out down the road than an artist who tries to be average and fails.

I don't think anybody tries to be average. Though there are those who are definitely afraid of breaking the status quo, and I do tend to be highly critical when all I'm seeing is dogged determination to mimic what's gone before and to color entirely within the lines of what's safe and trendy. But I'm talking about someone like Anberlin, who more or less follows the same formula in terms of their musical style from album to album, perhaps with slight variations, but for the most part, not fixing what ain't broke. It's possible to do just that and to do it exceptionally well, if the songwriting and musical performances are solid. Then again, you may need to add a little something extra to the effort to accomplish this - a song like "Fin" or "Miserabile Visu" could probably be considered fairly experimental.

Unless you don't consider an album being a genre exercise to be the same as an album being average. I tend to find that good genre exercises usually are memorable precisely because the artist experimented with some aspect of the genre to make themselves stand out.

I think you're right about this. When I think of "the perfect pop album" I often think of Out of the Grey's first album, which fit pretty snugly into the parameters of what might get played on Christian radio at the time (and for 1991, that was pretty limiting), but which I think shows a lot of playing around within that formula, just in terms of how things are phrased, how the melodies are written, the individual character of each song, etc. I couldn't really place it anywhere outside of the pop/rock genre since it's all highly accessible, but pretty much every song seems to employ its own unique approach.

So I guess what I'm saying is, you can experiment even within the confines of your chosen genre. Crossing genre lines and making something difficult to classify may seem like a loftier goal, and it's certainly worth exploring outside of the confines of "instant accessibility" or "radio friendliness" or whatever - I'm never going to knock an artist for doing this, but I will knock them if I've listened several times and still can't seem to "gain access" to it. But I think it's still possible to make wholly excellent pop and rock records that don't demand highly hyphenated descriptions just to pin down what they sound like.

NP: "Untitled, Anonymous", Everyday Sunday

[Brenden]

I don't think anybody tries to be average.

I think some people do, though they might not think, "I want to be average". Look at how many artists sound like popular bands, you think they're not trying to be average, even if they won't call it that?

I'm talking about someone like Anberlin, who more or less follows the same formula in terms of their musical style from album to album, perhaps with slight variations, but for the most part, not fixing what ain't broke.

That's a good example, actually. Anberlin's music was never gonna break new ground in rock music, but they pulled it off well and showed a willingness to make music that was every bit as memorable as Stephen's lyrics. I also can't think of anyone who they sounded exactly like, so, yeah, good example of a good genre exercise.

But I think it's still possible to make wholly excellent pop and rock records that don't demand highly hyphenated descriptions just to pin down what they sound like.

I've never equated hyphenated descriptions with being experimental, anyway. To some extent, sure, but you can have pop/soul/rap/trance genre exercises just as much as you can have pop/soul/rap/trance experiments who try to do something new with their genre without adding another genre into the mix.

In my mind I see experimental albums as the ones where an artist tries something new and genre exercise albums as albums where the artist isn't really trying anything new, but is still trying to make a good album. I'd rather take a weak Jars Of Clay album over a weak Anberlin album, because I know Jars is always experimenting with new sounds and new lyrical ideas, but I know Anberlin sticks to the same kind of formula, so when they release a weak album it's more likely to bore me than Jars Of Clay would be.

Hopefully that makes sense, but I think we're kind of on the same page, anyway.

[bloop]

In my mind the difference would be that in the case of a flawed experiment, I can say that they at least tried something new and it will earn extra points in my mind.

This is a good way to put my mind on the matter.  It may just earn enough extra points to catapult it over the very competent, but ultimately still vanilla, kinds of albums.

[murlough23]

I'll probably only give minimal points for trying something new. It does interest me, but I care more about execution than intent. Actually achieving something new is what I really care about.

NP: "Drugs or Me", Jimmy Eat World

[bloop]

I've had this conversation before, pretty sure.  I want at least much of it to succeed, if that's what you're getting at.  I'm only saying a somewhat, but not critically, flawed experiment is fairly likely to score more points with me than a finely polished, competent vanilla pop-rock record.  It won't every time, but I'm speaking in generalities here.

This is all really off-topic though, isn't it?

[murlough23]

I've had this conversation before, pretty sure.  I want at least much of it to succeed, if that's what you're getting at.  I'm only saying a somewhat, but not critically, flawed experiment is fairly likely to score more points with me than a finely polished, competent vanilla pop-rock record.  It won't every time, but I'm speaking in generalities here.

That's a good summation, and I agree.

This is all really off-topic though, isn't it?

It affects how we grade things in our Music Journals. It's more relevant than our usual tangents are.

[plvarona]

plvarona
Capital Lights - This Is an Outrage!
Fun pop/punk music with an occasional 80's synthpop twist than runs the gamut from simple love songs to lyrically dense tunes about the Second Coming and escaped convicts and some other stuff that I'm not even sure I understand. Not as complex as House of Heroes, but I'd recommend it to fans of HoH or Relient K.

I've actually checked out their myspace page, and you're right about the "fun" part.  I'm especially digging the song "Outrage" (which BTW is their current Christian Rock single) right now.  Based on what I've heard from them thus far, I'll probably put this on my "Won't go out of my way to get it, but will buy it if I see it reasonably priced."

[murlough23]

I've noticed each of the following in at least one Music Journal, and/or noticed that one of you has mentioned listening to it elsewhere. For those who have, can you recommend any of them to me (or do you have a good reason to recommend staying away)? For reference, I've included my opinion of these artist's past albums.

Building 429 - Building 429
The Space in Between Us F
Rise C-
Iris to Iris F+

Cool Hand Luke - The Sleeping House
Wake Up O Sleeper C+
The Fires of Life C
The Balancing Act D

Downhere - Ending Is Beginning
Downhere B-
So Much for Substitutes B-
Wide-Eyed and Mystified B

Sarah Macintosh - The Waiters, The Watchers, The Listeners, The Keepers & Me
Chasing Furies - With Abandon A

Bebo Norman - Bebo Norman
Myself When I Am Real C+
Try C
Between the Dreaming and the Coming True C-

Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters, Volume II
Carried Along A-
Clear to Venus B
Love and Thunder B-
Behold the Lamb of God B+
The Far Country C+

Sixpence None the Richer - The Dawn of Grace
The Fatherless and the Widow B-
This Beautiful Mess C+
Sixpence None the Richer A-
Divine Discontent A
My Dear Machine EP B+

Superchic[k] - Rock What You Got
Karaoke Superstars B-
Last One Picked C
Beauty from Pain B-

[Aaron]

Wow, I never knew you rated Cool Hand Luke so low.  HERETIC!!! lol


I'm leaning towards the B range for the new Bebo cd.   Superchick has never been good in my eyes and has never done better than C+ material.  The new Downhere cd is solid.  It's one that takes a bunch of listens to really enjoy.

[murlough23]

Wow, I never knew you rated Cool Hand Luke so low.  HERETIC!!! lol

I think that their lyrics are absolutely solid, and that they have recorded some all-around amazing songs such as "Heroes Will Be Heroes", "Cinematic", and "The Balancing Act". But most of their music is a dull haze for me, so my enjoyment of their albums comes out to somewhere around average. I can see why people feel like their albums are a sublime and convicting experience, but I just haven't been able to get into it, for the most part. I'm absolutely willing to give their new one a try, and I kind of took it for granted that everyone here who had been listening to it over the last few months since it leaked recommended it pretty highly.

I only gave The Balancing Act such a low grade because their old stuff is absolute torture and doesn't fit with their new, mellower stuff at all. If it were a compilation of solely the best from Sleeper and Fires plus the new material, I'd have graded it a bit higher.

Superchick has never been good in my eyes and has never done better than C+ material.

They've never been one of my favorites either, but I enjoy 'em for the occasional fun song. I didn't have high hopes for that one. Have you actually heard it or are you just projecting?

NP: "Not So Tough Found Out", Copeland

[Aaron]

I was just projecting about Superchick.  I don't think I was going to even give it a listen at all.

[murlough23]

I was just projecting about Superchick.  I don't think I was going to even give it a listen at all.

I know someone here's heard it. I've heard gripes about it and I've heard it's not a major improvement over their other albums, so it's not high priority for me. I actually would have listened to it by now, but the band had their music removed from the listings at tehorng.com, which makes it pretty much impossible to find via peer-to-peer services, so their loss, 'cause I'm certainly not gonna buy it sight unseen.

[Aaron]

Check your PM box.

[ajyouthguy]

Cool Hand Luke - The Sleeping House
Downhere - Ending Is Beginning
Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters, Volume II

high recommendations for each of these.  CHL will be a top 2-3 album for the year for me, and the other two will be top 10.

[plvarona]

^I've also heard all three of those albums in their entirety.

Of those, Cool Hand Luke gets my highest recommendation.  Lyrics are still a strong point, as they always are, and I think this is their strongest effort musically.  On the whole, the music is more memorable than on their previous efforts, and the instrumentation is also very well-thought-out.

Downhere gets my next strongest recommendation.  As I said in the "Recent Purchases" thread, this is easily my favorite CD from them.  Musically, they've tweaked their sound a little bit, still retaining their pop/rock sound but adding a few little wrinkles that make this their most interesting CD musically.  Lyrics are also a huge improvement from Wide-Eyed and Mystified, and even though they aren't among the most eloquent lyricists, they are quite thought-provoking, especially for a band that caters exclusively to the Christian market.  So overall, this also earns a high recommendation.

As for the Andrew Peterson CD, it is enjoyable.  However, it's pretty much the same old Andrew.  There isn't much on this CD that he hasn't done before, but what he did he still did well, so the CD is still quite likable.  Overall, I still recommend the CD, but I would check out the other two first.

[Ian]

I enjoyed that CHL quite a bit.  Won't be on top of my list or anything, but it's definitely worth a few listens at least.