Board 8 > Rank the Tracks 177: Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There + album voting

(+) Yeah! (+)

Rank your top 5 among these choices:
Blumchen - Jasmin
Charli XCX - Brat
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
The Megas - Get Equipped
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
Roxette - Look Sharp!
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Chris Stapleton - Traveller

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_2
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_3
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_4

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Thursday, August 15th at 8:00 AM Central Time; If you do get in a vote after the deadline but before I post the results, I will probably include it.
7. Every few weeks, a nomination period will open; there may or may not be a theme. Each user can nominate one album. The following week, everyone will be able to rank their top ~5 among the choices - this will use a bottom-up scoring approach, i.e. voting for one album will give your #1 a single point, voting for five will give your #1 five points, so it is always better to vote for the maximum number of albums. The top ~5 will then be covered.
8. Skits and tracks under 40 seconds will be excluded from the rankings unless argued otherwise

Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There track list:
1. Intro
2. Chaos Space Marine
3. Concorde
4. Bread Song
5. Good Will Hunting
6. Haldern
7. Mark's Theme
8. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
9. Snow Globes
10. Basketball Shoes

Future weeks:
8/15: Superorganism - Superorganism

Blumchen - Jasmin:
Normally I wouldn't bother trying to reuse an old nom, but this got good reception last time and only missed the ranking by 1 vote so I think there could still be support for it. This genre, Eurodance (or whatever sub-genres you want to use), hasn't really been touched in this topic series at all so it would be good for increasing variety in the rankings. It also has IMO a good mix of sounds in the album itself, such as one that's more house-styled, one with unexpectedly cool guitar, and a few less fast ones if the high energy isn't for you.

Sample song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsAISp5C8CE

Charli XCX - Brat:
Almost regretted having a themed cycle last time because I really wanted to try and tackle this one immediately. Unless we get something truly earth-shattering, this is probably going down as Album of the Year 2024. Pretty much the perfect pop album, with Charli taking all she has learned from her various eras and experimentations and merging them into a cultural breakthrough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZ1L_0QLjw

Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog:
This is probably one of my favourite albums, about the singer-songwriter coming to terms with his estranged father's terminal illness. It's kinda lazy-sounding, weird and generally quiet acoustic stuff, occasionally a lil psychedelic. It's also got a few of the most gorgeous songs I've heard.

Sample: https://youtu.be/HKCNpDuUwmk?si=FiPWgDLLFzx3DP9F

Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords:
Going to go with my favorite solo Wu-Tang release. Been seeing a lot of memes using the Shogun Assassin excerpt from the title track on Facebook this past week.

Sample Song: https://youtu.be/blA3TBKlj8Q?si=ifRQu1X0FoqeI83b

The Megas - Get Equipped:
tl;dr: Lyrical remixes of the Mega Man 2 soundtrack.

Example Song: Metal Dance/Metalman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6jcyG232dk

[NOTE: There are two versions of the album on Spotify, one with "The Message from Dr. Light" and one without. I'd prefer to nominate the one with the song... the YouTube playlist of the album includes it, so it's likely easiest to count it anyway.]

....Honestly, I was going to type up more, but I think that description and the example song illustrates exactly what the album is.

Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D:
Released a bit over a week ago, this is already one of my favorites of the year. Porter moves further away from his EDM roots and makes a much more hook-heavy, electropop album, while still being very much a Porter Robinson album. The lead single, Cheerleader, might be my song of the year so far.

Sample track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNr08IIvxs

Roxette - Look Sharp!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCC_b5WHLX0

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues:
I've really wanted to do a Nina Simone album for a while, and it's always hard to choose which to go with, because she has so many incredible hits spread across so many albums. Baltimore, I Put a Spell on You, Little Girl Blue, Nina Simone Sings the Blues are all very solid considerations, but ultimately I have to go with Pastel Blues, which features Sinnerman, which is likely in my top 5 songs of all time. But instead of featuring Sinnerman as the example here (since it's 10 minutes long and not the best way to dive into the album), I'll include Be My Husband, the chilling opening track that displays her vocal range and ability to convey emotion through her music right off the bat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn-j52pHtRQ

Chris Stapleton - Traveller:
For my nomination, I'm going way off my board. This is one from a genre that I basically never listen to, but it's also one we haven't really covered at all here, so lets rectify that! This is not an album I've listened to before, so I have no idea if I'll like it. But the song I'm highlighting below was one that I immediately loved upon hearing it a number of years ago. So, I'm going with one of the iconic voices of the last decade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAThXFOy2c

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
FoolFantastic (24)
MaxGalactica (28)
jcgamer107 (32)
Sheep007 (34)
Johnbobb (36)
PunishedJeezy (36)
Fluttershy_Pony (42)
HBJDubs (80)

General Album Comments

Sheep007: I'm really excited to cover this one. Had a lot of fun listening to the sample track and I'm a big fan of that lo-fi folk-ish sound, and I dig the rest of the tracks just as much on first listen. Not sure this'll be to everyone's tastes.

Seanchan: Yeah, this was a rough first (and very possibly last...) listen. The lo-fi aesthetic, the singer's voice, and the same-ness of the songs was a real triple threat for me.

I'm just shocked that this was the 2nd most voted nomination of the last cycle. Even taking my own nomination out of the mix, there was so many more interesting albums.

jcgamer107: First listen done while out on a nighttime walk, dreading the coming week. God what a great album. I already knew my #1 choice beforehand - I thought I knew my #2 as well, but another song has challenged for it. The rest is all pretty good - nothing bad, nothing amazing, but filled with great lyrics - will definitely need another listen or two to sort it out.

PunishedJeezy: I mentioned this when I nominated it, but this is my favorite album from my favorite band. Not every song is a classic, but I think this album has the strongest lyrics from JD. It was hard picking from the top 6 songs, all of which I cherish. (Had an easy time picking out the bottom two.)

Sheep007: Every song except the bottom one hit in some way. This is a very intimate-feeling album and the lyrics are phenomenal, as everyone else has mentioned. I think if I wasn't in the mood for it, the style may have grated a little but 'I might not like this in certain moods' is the biggest criticism I have. Great listen and glad to learn about a band I doubt I woulda stumbled into otherwise!

MaxGalactica: This is a lovely singer-songwriter album. The storytelling/lyricism is great, and the simple acoustic guitar instrumentals work really well for them. The lo-fi production does get a bit stale by the end of the album, so I feel this album is best consumed in small doses. The Mess Inside and The Best Death Metal Band in Denton are both fantastic and have stuck with me since I discovered them a couple of months ago. Great album overall.

Johnbobb: I know a lot of people here are real into The Mountain Goats but I just never really got the appeal. There are like 2 Mountain Goats songs I'm into and can actually tell apart from the rest and neither are on this album. It's fine, just kinda puts me to sleep.

HBJDubs: Yeah this was not for me, I just really dislike lo-fi, especially when it's applied to vocals.

jcgamer107: Best Ever Death Metal Band is one of the all-time classic Mountain Goats songs. Fall of the High School Running Back was the other track I knew from this album going in, and those did end up being my top 2. John Darnielle is such a genius when it comes to writing tragic characters; so many devastating lines on this album.

All Hail West Texas track ranking

14. Absolute Lithops Effect (Track #14)
Score: 33 (Average Rank: 10.88/14)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): PunishedJeezy, Johnbobb (#13)

13. Blues in Dallas (Track #12)
Score: 35 (Average Rank: 10.88/14)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Fluttershy_Pony, MaxGalactica (#14)

PunishedJeezy: Love the old school Casio loop in this song, makes me nostalgic for the really old Mountain Goats material.

12. Jenny (Track #4)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 9.5/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs, jcgamer107 (#14)

11. Distant Stations (Track #11)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 9.38/14)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#13)

10. Jeff Davis County Blues (Track #10)
Score: 48 (Average Rank: 9.13/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#14)

9. Balance (Track #6)
Score: 51 (Average Rank: 9.25/14)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): PunishedJeezy, Sheep007, MaxGalactica (#14)

8. Pink and Blue (Track #7)
Score: 65 (Average Rank: 7.25/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): MaxGalactica (#12)

PunishedJeezy: A very sweet and romantic song about a hole you'll never fill

7. Fall of the Star High School Running Back (Track #2)
Score: 65 (Average Rank: 7.13/14)
Biggest Fan(s): jcgamer107 (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#13)

PunishedJeezy: A light, kind of funny, slightly tragic song
"selling acid was a bad idea
And selling it to a cop was a worse one"

6. Riches and Wonders (Track #8)
Score: 68 (Average Rank: 7/14)
Biggest Fan(s): PunishedJeezy (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#12)

PunishedJeezy: Listened to thing song on repeat when my daughter was 9 days old. I also just really like the lines describing crows complaining about local politics and roots reaching "down to where the bad people go".

5. Source Decay (Track #13)
Score: 69 (Average Rank: 6.63/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Sheep007, MaxGalactica (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#12)

4. Fault Lines (Track #5)
Score: 71 (Average Rank: 6.13/14)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, MaxGalactica, Johnbobb (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Sheep007 (#9)

3. Color in Your Cheeks (Track #3)
Score: 86 (Average Rank: 5.25/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Fluttershy_Pony (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#11)

2. The Mess Inside (Track #9)
Score: 96 (Average Rank: 4/14)
Biggest Fan(s): MaxGalactica (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#8)

1. The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton (Track #1)
Score: 119 (Average Rank: 2.63/14)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, Sheep007, Johnbobb, jcgamer107 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#9)

PunishedJeezy: The first Mountain Goats song I ever heard, think I used to have a Hail Satan hat and a Satan's Fingers t-shirt at some point.

My choices:
Charli XCX - Brat
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
Chris Stapleton - Traveller

My votes:

Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Blumchen - Jasmin
Charli XCX - Brat
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues

Really hope we get Blumchen in, there is a severe lack of Europop in these topics.

I know BCNR are very highly thought of online, but I've not heard a ton of them. I actually got offered tickets last week to a gig (Nick Cave) that they're opening for in November, and I might take the offer depending on how I feel about this album, because they're expensive but Nick Cave is dope too.

Sheep007 posted...

I know BCNR are very highly thought of online, but I've not heard a ton of them. I actually got offered tickets last week to a gig (Nick Cave) that they're opening for in November, and I might take the offer depending on how I feel about this album, because they're expensive but Nick Cave is dope too.

It's probably worth noting that the band has shifted gears since this album. Lead singer Isaac Wood left the band a week before this album released and I believe the rest of the band has agreed to not perform songs from their time together.

Also, their first album and this one feel like completely different bands, as does the live album they put out after Isaac left. So I'd suggest looking into Live at Bush Hall if you want to set expectations for that concert (though I imagine they are working on a new album at this point as well).

My vote:

Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Charli XCX - Brat
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
Blumchen - Jasmin
Roxette - Look Sharp!

Votes:

Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Roxette - Look Sharp!
The Megas - Get Equipped
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog

Album votes:
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Charli XCX - Brat
Porter Robinson - Smile! :D
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog

Album votes:

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Charli XCX - Brat
Roxette - Look Sharp!
Chris Stapleton - Traveller

There's a sense of enormity here the title of the album aptly catches. BCNR feels like a band geek's band, crafting a melodic post-rock epic where violins and saxophones are as essential as drums and guitar. It starts with a blast of manic energy with "Chaos Space Marine" but quickly mellows out through the rest. BCNR are experts at the slow build - half the tracks here start quiet and creep into an explosive finale, and it never gets tiring. At its heart a breakup album, the lyrics scour every inch of pop culture to create a postmodernist sense of disorientation. Adding to this is its self-referential nature - "Chaos Space Marine" operates as an overture, slyly sneaking in snippets of later songs. Big finale "Basketball Shoes" similarly turns its gaze back on the previous tracks. These elements help create a sense of a whole.

The band cites Arcade Fire's Funeral and Sufjan Stevens' Illinois as direct influences and it really shows. Like those two albums, Ants From Up There is almost overwhelming on a first listen. But, especially in comparison to Illinois, repeat listening reveals a rich tapestry. Breakup songs are a dime a dozen, but BCNR taps into something raw yet complex. Knowing singer Isaac Wood left the band right before this album released, this is one of the clearest examples of an artist pushing himself to a breaking point. Thankfully, the sheer beauty of the instrumentation takes this someplace higher than his despair.

My ranking:

The Place Where He Inserted the Blade - Some of the richest lyrics ever written about the realization of an impending breakup. Probably their best slow build, somehow climbing to a "Hey Jude"-esque finale. Love the use of flute here.

Basketball Shoes - If the album is inspired by Illinois, I can't help but think this song is meant to reference the closer of Sufjan's follow-up, the 25-minute "Impossible Soul." Basketball Shoes only lands at half that length, but this is the track where Ants From Up There truly ascends above the heavens. One particular line always cuts deep - "And we're all working on ourselves and we're praying that the rest don't mind how much we've changed." Much like "Impossible Soul," there are several movements, but they all make one cohesive, epic finale.

Chaos Space Marine - The emotionally lightest and most outright fun song on the album, but still richly textured. A perfect (post-Intro) opener.

Snow Globes - I expect this to be the most divisive track here. Probably the hardest song to digest on first listen, and also a prime reason this should be heard with a good sound system. The drumming here is nuts, essentially disconnected from the rest of the track. The one song here that has actually made me cry - Isaac trying to out shout the drums only for them to grow louder really gets to me. Even if the phrase he keeps shouting has a vague meaning, the despair in his voice is palpable.

Concorde - A classic slow build, though I don't quite vibe with the opening as much as with "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade." But once it gets going, it really goes.

Good Will Hunting - Probably the most ordinary song on the album, but it's nice to see a rather intense band do something normal. I love the final chorus, the way Isaac loses his cool even as the lines remain the same.

Bread Song
Haldern
Intro
Mark's Theme

1. Charli XCX - BRAT (Straight up banger after banger from front to back. Easily my second favorite album of the year so far)
2. Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
3. Nina Simone - Pastel Blues (Sinnerman is still one of the best songs ever made)
4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller (I've been trying to get more into country lately, and Chris Stapleton has been one of my highlights so far along with Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, and Zach Bryan)
5. Roxette - Look Sharp!

6. Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
7. Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
8. The Megas - Get Equipped
9. Blmchen - Jasmin

I liked all 9 of these albums (or at least the songs I listened to from each of them). The last two are a notch below the rest, but this was a a very solid selection from everyone.

Roxette - Look Sharp!
Charli XCX - Brat
Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D

May have time to listen for once this summer!

FoolFantastic posted...

The band cites Arcade Fire's Funeral and Sufjan Stevens' Illinois as direct influences and it really shows. Like those two albums, Ants From Up There is almost overwhelming on a first listen. But, especially in comparison to Illinois, repeat listening reveals a rich tapestry. Breakup songs are a dime a dozen, but BCNR taps into something raw yet complex. Knowing singer Isaac Wood left the band right before this album released, this is one of the clearest examples of an artist pushing himself to a breaking point. Thankfully, the sheer beauty of the instrumentation takes this someplace higher than his despair.

Yes, I did feel a little overwhelmed after a first listen! Even just instrumentally, there was a lot going on; lots of different instruments and tones but it all felt generally cohesive. I'm going to have to do the 2nd listen paying more attention to the lyrics.

Yes, I did think very quickly of Illinois! Granted, I don't have the breadth of musical knowledge but based on what we've covered that album was where my mind went just based on the large, somewhat theatrical sound of the instrumentation.

Tag

up

1: Chaos Space Marine
2: Intro
3: The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
4: Good Will Hunting
5: Haldern
6: Snow Globes
7: Mark's Theme
8: Bread Song
9: Concorde
10: Basketball Shoes

Blumchen - Jasmin
Roxette - Look Sharp!
The Megas - Get Equipped
Charli XCX - Brat
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords

Fun fact, I played my first Mega Man game in 2009 after The Megas performed at a convention that I was at over the summer and I thought the music was pretty good. Seems like it would be kind of weird if we covered 2 different vocal Mega Man albums here, but I didn't do the other ranking so at least I can vote for this one without shame.

I did listen to the topic album yesterday but I need another pass before I can make a ranking.

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Charli XCX - Brat
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
Blumchen - Jasmin

Can't say there's a ton I'm hyped for in this album group beynd Nina Simone and GZA but I would be extremely hyped for them

I liked this album pretty solidly the whole way through, but goddamn does it go hard in the last ~20 minutes. I do wish that empty space at the beginning of Basketball Shoes wasn't there, because when you've already got 3 long songs back to back like that, the extra padding isn't really needed and kind of interrupts the flow

1. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
2. Snow Globes
3. Basketball Shoes
4. Chaos Space Marine
5. Concorde
6. Haldern
7. Bread Song
8. Mark's Theme
9. Good Will Hunting
10. Intro

I'll post my ranking in the morning.

1. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
2. Concorde
3. Chaos Space Marine
4. Basketball Shoes
5. Snow Globes
6. Bread Song
7. Haldern
8. Mark's Theme
9. Good Will Hunting
10. Intro

This album has grown on me quite a bit since I first listened to it a year and a half ago. I love the instrument choices throughout that go against the grain of traditional rock band instruments. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade and Concorde are still my big highlights that have stuck with me from the beginning, but I've grown to appreciate the rest more and more, especially the final two tracks. Great album with palpable emotion in its delivery.

Roxette - Look Sharp!
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
Charli XCX - Brat
The Megas - Get Equipped

I hate leaving out Blumchen here, but for what I think might be the only Eurodance rep that makes it to this RTT series, I think something in English might be easier to get everyone else into? I dunno

Basketball Shoes
Bread Song
Concorde
Snow Globes
The Place Where He Inserted The Blade
Haldern
Good Will Hunting
Chaos Space Marine
Intro
Mark's Theme

Not really into in this album except the top 3, but I do like those three quite a bit. And it gave me another song to add to my 10+ minute only song playlist!

Snow Globes
Basketball Shoes
The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
Chaos Space Marine
Bread Song
Concorde
Haldern
Good Will Hunting
Mark's Theme
Intro

1) Snow Globes - Any attempt to describe the effect certain moments have on me feels all too reductive and so naive.

2) Bread Song
3) Good Will Hunting
4) Haldern
5) Intro
6) Basketball Shoes
7) The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
8) Chaos Space Marine
9) Mark's Theme
10) Concorde

Feels like a whole, singular piece, parts inseparable, all dense and layered and, for me, inscrutable yet rewarding.

~~~

1) Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
2) Charli XCX - brat
3) Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
4) Blmchen - Jasmin
5) The Megas - Get Equipped

Hoping to start participating in this series again, at least sometimes. I've missed it, missed discovering new music as a result, missed you all -- thank you.

1. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
2. Chaos Space Marine
3. Intro
4. Concorde
5. Mark's Theme
6. Good Will Hunting
7. Basketball Shoes
8. Snow Globes
9. Haldern
10. Bread Song

In many ways, I feel the same way about this album as I did about Illinois, as I just didn't connect with it. I can respect if people say this is a great album and kind of see where they're coming from, but at the same time it just didn't do a lot for me personally.

Chaos Space Marine
The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
Concorde
Haldern
Basketball Shoes
Marks Theme
Bread Song
Snow Globes
Good Will Hunting
Intro

Album vote results

Charli XCX - Brat: 38
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues: 27
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords: 23
Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D: 22
Roxette - Look Sharp!: 22
---
Chris Stapleton - Traveller: 17
Blumchen - Jasmin: 14
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog: 9
The Megas - Get Equipped: 8