Let’s discuss any and all music here. Got a new artist who’s rocking your boat that you want to talk about? Post a video! Found out about that unearthed Coltrane album that has the jazz freak in you losing your mind? Lay it out for us! Have a theory about what your favorite band might do for their next album? Let’s hear it! Anything and everything music-related goes here.
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ANNOUNCEMENT: The thread for The Pits: Best in Music 2020 is still active! The deadline for nominations is December 20; for anyone still interested in participating the thread can be found here!
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This week’s discussion prompt: What is the best “new-to-you” music that you discovered in 2020 that was NOT released in 2020?
As usual I discovered a number of songs and artists from years past that I hadn’t heard before, but this year the clear standout is Truly. Featuring founding members of Soundgarden and Screaming Trees, the band formed in 1990 and was active through most of the decade, yet in spite of being very much into music at the time I had never even heard of them until reading Testicles of Doom’s excellent Artist Spotlight on the band posted at this very site. I won’t go into too much detail as you really ought to read the article if you haven’t already, but by the time their debut album Fast Stories….From Kid Coma came out in 1995, the music scene had changed drastically, and in spite of receiving strong critical acclaim, the album flopped.
While Capitol Records had been very supportive of the band when Truly had signed with the label in 1993, two years later they were no longer interested in attempting to promote a “grunge” album. The thing is, as noted in ToD’s Spotlight, the album “is not like anything else under the sun. Yes, it’s rock, yes, it’s grunge adjacent. The elements put together make something else entirely. The bass is severely heavy, the guitars are loud and fuzzy, but the songs have pop hooks… that is the songs that don’t have long dirges or prog keyboards.” It is a fantastic album, essential listening for anyone who likes music categorized as “grunge” and is curious as to how it may have evolved had toothless Hootie rock and nu metal not taken over. It’s grunge/prog. It’s stoner rock/psychedelic pop. It’s a masterpiece. And while it’s been out of print for decades, a remastered version is now available via Bandcamp.
As always, any and all music-related topics are welcome. Have fun, and rock out with yr guac out!