MOOPY ALBUM CLUB WEEK #1 | Tove Lo - Lady Wood

Rate this album out of ten


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Derivative, irrelevant and thoroughly off-putting cover (and Nork Kunst :grim:) aside - I suppose she's trying to say "I'm exposing myself" (:boring:) but there are far more intelligent and subtle ways of going about that - I've decided that I really quite like it, having listened to it about five times. The fading-into-a-glacial-eternity reverb or echo or whatever it is on some of the vocal lines is fantastic, the frosty production is a thrill and some of the eurotastische chords remind me of Sandra in her prime (and the vein-openers on 'Ray Of Light'), which is never going to put me off. I suppose that some of it is a bit tropical, but I haven't sickened of that malarkey yet.

I think Madame thinks she's significantly edgier and more self-revealing than she actually is because, as much as I like it, it's just standard issue (hence high quality) Swedish pop. Actually, there's a fair bit here which would easily cause excitement and COME ON YOU DEAD EYED CUNT posting if it were featured in a MGP, except the fucking Danes or fucking Norwegians would choose some fucking cock with a guitar and a full house of anal warts instead.

TOP QUATRE: 'Influence', 'True Disaster' (genuinely fabulous and OH the chords at the beginning), 'Vibes' (especially the vocal treatment in the chorus) and 'Imaginary Friend', which is the absolute highlight even if it does remind me of something else. 'WTF Love Is' has also been growing on me, although obviously I tie up the children in the cellar when that one comes on :)

7/10
 
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08 Influence
07 Lady Wood
07 True Disaster
06 Cool Girl
06 Vibes
07 Don’t Talk About It
06 Imaginary Friend
07 Keep It Simple
06 Flashes
06 WTF Love Is

I've been listening to this for about a week now and it's pretty forgettable. It's not bad or offensive just not memorable. It's very samey and very little personality comes through. Background music for clubs.

6/10
 
I've now given it a couple of listens. I didn't hate it but wouldn't say I liked it enough to listen again or keep it in my music. The whole album just seemed bland and, like has been said before, samey. I felt like the singer was phoning it in, there was no real emotion in her voice most of the time and she just didn't seem invested in any songs. Not one song made me feel like dancing or even tapping my foot, I couldn't wait for some of them to finish. Oh and she needs to learn to swear convincingly and with emotion if she's going to drop the f-bomb in songs because her fucks just came out sounding like somebody had told her that they absolutely had to be there and that's the only reason she'd put them in.

So it got a bland 5 from me.
 
I've listened to this all week, both had it in the background and actively listened to it. As I mentioned earlier I was familiar with both Cool Girl and True Disaster and they had both grown on me a lot. I didn't expect the rest of the album to be just as good. It's so refreshing to hear something new without vibrato, oversinging and shouting and where the singer is not trying to sound like Adele, Rihanna or Sia. I love that it's so consistent and all songs more or less sound the same. I agree that the cursing is a bit unnecessary in some places, but from a Swedish point of view, it's how we talk. As for the title; I choose to see it from a feminist perspective, especially in this age where the President of the most powerful country thinks grabbing women by their pussies is acceptable behaviour.

08 Influence
07 Lady Wood
10 True Disaster
09 Cool Girl
1o Vibes
09 Don’t Talk About It
08 Imaginary Friend
09 Keep It Simple
08 Flashes
08 WTF Love Is

That would mean an average of 8.6.
 
I was a fan of "Habits" & "Talking Body" but not so much "Cool Girl" so I didn't know what to expect going into this.

"Influence", a decent first full track, catchy hook and Wiz Khalifa doesn't totally ruin it but you certainly hope there's better to come. "Lady Wood" appeals slightly more production and vocal wise.

"True Disaster", as others have brought up I'm not sure about the swearing but it is the best so far. "Cool Girl", the one song I was already familiar with, not bad by any means but the hook never really clicked or worked for me, I prefer them to have more 'flow'.

"Vibes", the vocals of Joe Janiak kicking in definitely made a nice change, the highlight of the song and without them it would be my least favourite so far (maybe it still is).

"Don't Talk About It", when it first started I was wondering if this was really a highlight like people claim but then the chorus comes in and I think it does have the strongest hook up until now even if the verses had me less convinced. The middle 8 part on "Imaginary Friend" is quite dreamy and got me paying more attention and then I liked her speaking at the end, sounds like one I'd want to re-visit more in future.

"Keep It Simple", another that wasn't grabbing me at all at the start but I really like the production and build-up at the end.

Don't love how the hook of "Flashes" is based around cursing. Didn't find it as off-putting on "WTF Is Love", but she managed to ruin that in the last three seconds.

Overall it is samey, not bad, nothing I dislike but nothing jumps out as potentially becoming one of my favourite songs of the year or as good as "Habits" or "Talking Body". Given it a 7/10 which works for most of the songs with a 6/10 or 8/10 here and there. I actively listened so that I could try gathering some thoughts on each track but it could very easily fade into the background.

Highlights: "Don't Talk About It" / "Imaginary Friend"
 
I gave this a 3 in the end. I only listened twice, but both times felt like a slog. There wasn't anything in there for me, and I had quite a negative reaction to it, despite it not being overly awful or offensive. The samey production really turned me off in most of the tracks, and her voice felt a bit faceless to have any emotive impact, and I couldn't really pick anything I would actively listen to again by choice. Perhaps "WTF Love Is" but even the tired reverb on that puts me off. Not a fan.
 
Let's give @Madison, @COB @Penelope, @Win_the_game and @Lucille a few more hours to indicate whether they still intend to play.

I'll draw the next person at random from everybody who contributed either tonight or tomorrow. If anybody actively doesn't want to be in the draw to pick the next album, speak now.
 
Oh I gave it a few listens, but couldn't really summon up MUCH to say about it EITHER WAY.
 
If it's me I have yet to choose one. I have a few ideas ranging from shit you'll all hate to shit you won't love. I just can't wait!!
 
If it's me I'm going to choose something new and probably by an artist I don't really know. Or I'd just pick Solange's latest which I'm currently living for.
 
I kind of thought encouraging ourselves to explore new music was the point of this TBH, but perhaps I misunderstood.
 
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I have one ready if no one wants to bite the bullet.
 
I've got a couple of options, should I get picked.

I was mainly drawn to the idea to read everyone's reactions when someone inevitably puts forward Cradle of Filth. It would be a shame to have wall-to-wall female pop. Things like this don't work as democracies though, people get too pissed off when you don't get a synth and a basic chorus. I suppose I'm indie like that.
 
I'd particularly like things which I wouldn't normally listen to

Except JAZZ
 
I kind of thought encouraging ourselves to explore new music was the point of this TBH, but perhaps I misunderstood.

That's why I'm joining in, to see whether there are things I'm missing out on. But I actively don't listen to new music otherwise so any album coming from me would be ancient and nobody would like it.
 
I kind of thought encouraging ourselves to explore new music was the point of this TBH, but perhaps I misunderstood.

Was this a reply to my post? I absolutely agree, that's what I meant by saying I'd pick an album by someone I don't really know. As for Solange, I had just recently started listening to her album.
 
Oh no, Solange would be a fine choice.

What I meant was that I understood this to be a tool to get us engaged with more current music, given that's something we really struggle with these days. That certainly informed my choice of album.

The talk of acts like Nico and Cradle of Filth just threw me a little I guess. Not that I'm against listening to non-mainstream records (I actually own a couple of Nico albums already), I just didn't think that was what this was for.
 
Feel free to set the terms, it was your idea. I took new as new to me, new genres, new lyrics, new minds, new life-changing and scary experiences in aural relationships with music, not new in general, but a couple of my options were released in 2016 anyway so I don't really mind.
 
I took new as new to me, new genres, new lyrics, new minds, new life-changing and scary experiences in aural relationships with music, not new in general

I did too but I agree that being current should be our starting point - as in at least the first quarter.
 
How about 3 out of 4 to be current and the fourth an "old" classic?
 
I thought the whole point was to discover "new new" music but no reason we can't just throw in the odd curveball...
 
Next week can we all listen to a little-known classic by a European group. It's called ABBA Gold.
 
I thought the whole point was to discover "new new" music but no reason we can't just throw in the odd curveball...
The way I see it is "music you suspect most of Moopy will have not heard" With that I'd say Susanne Sundafor is just as fair game as Ed Sheeran, Pink Floyd, Skepta, Solange or something brand new.
 
Let's not get bogged down with rules on week 1, we don't want another book club debacle.
 
Oh yes I certainly don't want to put restrictions on people - and we'd probably struggle with weekly 2016/2017 releases anyway.

I just hope this doesn't descend into a "my music taste is cooler than thou" pissing contest.
 

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