67dB

Without question my favorite Peaches album. Generally speaking, I'm not the biggest Peaches fan. I recall sitting through her set at the Post-Gazette Amphitheater in Pittsburgh maybe 3-4 years ago confused. What am I supposed to like about this? Is she for re... yeah, she's for real. What's she doing in the region of her crotch? OK, maybe I do like this. Ehhhhh maybe not. But anyway, I have all of her other stuff, but none of those albums receive a whole lot of listens anymore. The song Operate from Fatherfucker remains a classic. It's almost as though she started from the simple electronic feel of that album and made it whole lot crisper and developed songs more. I Feel Cream sticks out to me for one main reason: the production. It's notably better in that regard than anything else she's released and an absolute joy on headphones. The synths are full of character and the bass is juicier than a pack of Gushers. Most of the songs follow some predictable formulas, which is fine, but I do find the lyrics lack at times. She could have written a few more words for some of these songs, yet, this is kind of an improvement from previous albums. All in all, and album that sounds good and impacted me instantly because of that.

These guys clicked for me on this album. Since diving into Wavering Radiant I've learned to appreciate their older stuff a little more, too. Sometimes all it takes from a band I think I like but haven't invested the right amount of time in is to release a new album with attractive artwork while I'm paying attention and I'm in. You're looking at 5, 7-minute+ tracks here, all of which are excellent in their own right. My particular favorites are Hall of the Dead and Hand of the Host - both of which are treats live. It seems it's common practice to talk about Isis and their lyrics. Do they add to the music? Would they be better without? "Man if he'd just quit his screaming..." I think the lyrics add a certain amount of atmosphere that's hard to quantify. Maybe a possible analogy is a bass guitar. Not the first thing you notice in the mix, but the first thing you notice when it's not there. It helps that there's a bit more singing this time around as well. 

Though I don't record every single listen in my life over at last.fm (but certainly most), the song Die Slow came in 4th this year. I'd be comfortable saying it's one of my favorite songs ever. I found HEALTH's previous work rather unlistenable at times. It wasn't what I would call pleasurable. This entire album is pleasure because they added some melody and song structure. Now it's important you don't take that the wrong way - there's still walls of sound all over this album. I can just follow it now. Favs: In Heat, Die Slow, Death+, Eat Flesh, In Violet.