Month: April 2024

Posted in Album of the Month, Music chat, New Albums, New Tunes, Playlists, podcast, Spin it or Bin It, Tracks of the Month, Uncategorized

Podcast Ep. 44 | Yard Act | Where’s My Utopia

Posted on by misterstory

EP.68 | Robyn | Sexistential – This Is Not Happening – An Album Of The Month Podcast

Welcome to Episode 68 of This Is Not Happening, an Album of the Month podcast. In Part 1, we do a deep drive review of our Album of the Month. This month Guy brings a Robyn's latest release 'Sexisitential'. In Part 2, we play Spin It or Bin It, we pick a theme and all pick songs that represent that theme. This month, the theme is 'Sad Bangers'.           —— Part 1 | Album of the Month | Robyn |  Sexistential ——Robyn is a unique, iconic figure in contemporary music. She's been making and releasing music since 1995, her career spans 4 decades already and she shows no signs of slowing down. Her pop career started when she was 15, she's about to celebrate her 47th birthday, this is insane staying power!Sexistential is her 9th studio album if you count the Body Talk series as full albums? It's only 29 mins long, it doesn't mess about and no track or the album in full overstays it's welcome. There is lots to get into in the discussion, has she still got it? Is she doing new things? Is this still relevant and if so who for? How artists change and what we expect from them as they age?Have a listen, tell us what you think.Listen to the original album here.Watch some of her videos here , particularly the singles from this album.Buy this album or some merch here.  And listen to her talk about the album here.                 —————- Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | Sad Bangers —————- Robyn's biggest track is 'Dancing On My Own' is the archetype of a genre that Guy made up 'Sad Bangers'. This is our theme for Spin It or Bin It this month.  It's got to be sad, and it's got to bang. Simple (in theory).The task is pick a track that fits the theme, the objective, get more 'spins' than your friends. We each pick four tracks for a 16 track play list . We then each pick select 1 track and ask the simple question 'Spin It Or Bin It'?David chose Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron.Joey chose 'Teardrops' by Womack and Womack.Guy chose 'Lovesick' by Friendly Fires.Nolan chose 'Blue Monday' by New Order.What would you have chosen? What's missing from our playlist?We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
  1. EP.68 | Robyn | Sexistential
  2. EP.67 | Eliza | The Darkening Green
  3. EP.66 | Jill Scott | To Whom This May Concern
  4. EP. 65 | Zach Bryan | With Heaven On Top
  5. EP. 64 | Rosalia | LUX

Welcome to Episode 44 of This is Not Happening.  An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’.  This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’?

This month, in Part 1, we wrestle with the 2nd album from Yard Act titled ‘Where’s My Utopia?’.  This month we’re in the capable hands of Guy who has been a Yard Act fan for some time, choosing their debut album as his Album of the Year in 2022. 66.6% of the team agree with him but 33.3% of the team has found the album more of a struggle.

Part 1 | Yard Act | Where’s My Utopia?

Yard act are an interesting proposition, they are perhaps the most knowingly Northern band since Oasis. They seem to be everywhere and it’s tough to find someone who doesn’t like them. They are very clearly ‘Post Punk’ but their definition of what this means has changed somewhat with this album. We ask the standard question, what did you expect and what did you get plus questions about 

  • Listen to the album here.
  • Watch some videos here.
  • Buy some stuff here.
  • Buy some tickets to see them live here.
  • Read some stuff here and listen to some pods here and here.

Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | ‘Spoken Word’

Given the AOTM is Yard Act, we chose to look at our favourite Spoken Word tracks. And 3 of us actually chose a Spoken Word track … one of us chose something else but let’s leave that and let us know if you agree with me that it was not Spoken Word. Our chosen 4 tracks can be found on a play list here. In order to chose a track we each shortlist 4 tracks each, a combined 16 track playlist can be found here.

See you soon for Episode 44!

Posted in Album of the Month, Music chat, New Albums, New Tunes

AOTM – May – Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us

Posted on by nolankane706

As we’ve discussed for many years; making music is tough, consistently making fantastic music is near impossible. Vampire Weekend’s span has placed well placed albums that have all sounded great and have stood the test of time. Not bad going, nevertheless resulting in high hopes for their latest release ‘Only God Was Above Us’.

Since their debut (2008’s self titled Vampire Weekend) I’ve been a big fan of the band. It was like they were the perfect band for me. With a well balanced mixture of something old, something new, something borrowed and something Paul Simon they filled a gap that was missing. Over their previous four albums they’ve created some of the best songs to dance, sing and not know all the words to over the years. Although a pod favourite, we have only reviewed one Vampire Weekend album previously (2013’s Modern Vampire’s of the City) the love for this band has never been hidden within the ThisIsNotHappening crew.

The initial singles were great, though listening to the album as a whole for me resulted in pure joy and excitement.  There’s a well-rounded confidence on this album. The evolution from their first album has been evident through their previous albums. Only God Was Above Us exudes a confidence that they have found the sound they’ve been working towards. Brother David has already (controversially) argued that this may be their best album.

So what’s so good about the album?  Each song holds its own for me which says a lot. Classical is a great example of the band’s ever so slight evolution as it tips its’ cap to the experienced ensemble at their best. Creating a welcoming hug of a song that makes you want to dance and sing along like you’ve heard the song a million times before and it’s full of memories. For clarity my wife isn’t fully sold. It’s too screechy for her. I get it what’s she’s saying; but I sort of think it makes the song.

I’ve read a few reviews of this album, and have listened to a few internet audio reviews. They generally have been very good. One unnamed reviewer had issues with The Surfer. He said it let the album down. I disagree. It nicely breaks up the album…. And it’s SO Vampire Weekend. And there it is. This is a band that have their own distinct sound. I get that their influences are vast and obvious at times. But they’ve found a seamless way of navigating through a mish mash of things that shouldn’t work together. With each album this melting pot has been more complex. With this album they seem to have found their purple patch. Connect is a great example of this. What could be a very confusing song is just, well, sonically brilliant.

Whilst previous albums have presented a Riddler like lyric sheet from Ezra Koenig, his lyrics seems less aloof this time around. Not downplaying their content and meaning as there’s a lot to go at. Perhaps his accomplished approach has allowed confidence in more upfront lyrics to communicate his thoughts? Is there anyone that makes talking about mortality, plus his and others emotions so well whilst sounding like he’s having fun?

Each song is a joy to the ears, complimented by seamless programming. Hope is a wonderful album finisher. It’s wall of sound delight. An eight minute wave goodbye (ironically) delving into not trying too hard letting go.

With the exception of their debut album, none of their albums have clicked as quickly as Only God Above Us for me. Currently at #6 on Metacritics best albums of 2024 (at time of writing in mid April), the latest effort from Vampire Weekend has already embedding itself into the hearts of many (me included). It will struggle to stay out of my top 10 for the year. But is the familiar nostalgia enough to tick the rest of your boxes. I look forward to your thoughts.