Top Albums List 2006: Part Two
Dec. 30th, 2006 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aekastarFinally I'm back home and have finished this list. it took longer due to deciding to elaborate on all 10 instead of just the top 5. it's longer than I anticipated.. I figured I'd just type up a few sentences each, but I'm not good at being concise even with writer's block, sorry.
10.
Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the U.K. [EMI]
Genre: pop / indie
Elaboration: Yes, I know. it's a slightly contemporary album.. but it makes me content! it's almost like a musical with a dash of a good winter holiday rolled into one. I never really did pay attention to Badly Drawn Boy in the past either.. I downloaded this album by chance after all the praising comments in one leaked albums thread. after listening to it for a couple weeks, I found it in the mall's music store in Ohio and bought it. there was a special passport packaged one at Borders I saw later, but for $40 there was no way I was going to find out what else I was getting beyond packaging. my favourite track remains 'Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind' which reminds me of a simplified early Belle and Sebastian (I wasn't feeling their album from this year; they haven't been good since 'Fold Your Hands Child..' in my opinion) to a degree. whenever I hear it now, I picture a couple dancing then towards the end, the girl turns her head away and runs. the other songs that emit a strong emotion are 'Promises' with its wintry bells at the beginning and the countryesque down a dusty road stylings of 'The Way Things Used To Be'. I'm glad all my favourites just happen to be side by side!
Sample: Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind + video [youtube link], The Way Things Used To Be
09.
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country [Merge]
Genre: pop / indie
Elaboration: For quite awhile, I put this off 'cause I had heard they were like Belle and Sebastian and was tired of them; I was tired of twee music in general. I circled the store for quite awhile before finally giving in to it. later, a few tracks in and I was hooked. it does have the similarity in tone to B&S when it comes to the female vocals, but maybe that's 'cause they're both Glaswegian bands? what really got me was the orchestration which reminded me a bit of Tindersticks on tracks like 'Tears For Affairs', 'Come Back Margaret', 'Country Mile' and 'Razzle Dazzle Rose' which made it less twee and more of an accomplished piece. can you tell I like Tindersticks? hopefully what I hear is true and a new album is coming out next year!
Sample: Tears For Affairs, Country Mile + myspace
08.
John Vanderslice - Suddenly All Went Dark [barsuk]
Genre: indie rock / pop
Elaboration: I'm partially cheating here since the songs are just the acoustic sessions of songs off Pixel Revolt (2005)! I didn't really get into that album till a few months ago. I mean, I listened to a song or two, but not from start to finish over and over. when I saw this album on someone's top albums list for this year, I perked up thinking there was something new I hadn't heard, but even when I found out it wasn't, I was excited 'cause I had heard an acoustic session of 'Dear Sarah Shu' from a blog and beyond one particular channelling issue in the midst of it, it was great and I had hoped for more sessions since I felt the album was maybe too overdone / polished when I first heard it. the version of 'Dear Sarah Shu' isn't as impassioned on this album, but overall, it's pretty good. there are what sound like dogs barking or something on some of the tracks, but it was recorded in a chicken coop, so perhaps the animal noises are meant to be endearing. it was done live to 2-track. very lo-fi, but that's how I like it. it's also fun to compare/contrast from the polished original to acoustic. I think 'Dead Slate Pacific' is the one least needed considering it already was pretty simple on Pixel Revolt though I still love that song and I have no idea why 'Continuation' (the detective / mystery song!) wasn't added, but they all compliment each other regardless.
Sample: Trance Manual, Angela, Plymouth Rock
07.
Xela - The Dead Sea [Type]
Genre: electronic / soundscapes / field recordings / folk / horror
Elaboration: This album is brilliant. it's a story told in instrumentals the likes of a film soundtrack. the plot is pretty simple... zombies attack those on a sea voyage. there's even a six part story in the booklet; usually the instrumental albums I get never have much in the booklets considering the lack of lyrics, but this was a nice touch. the packaging in general is lovely... great artwork of drowning people. the music itself is haunting and beautiful.
Sample: Linseed, Briefly Seen + myspace
06.
Lilys - Everything Wrong Is Imaginary [Manifesto]
Genre: shoegaze / psychedelic / pop
Elaboration: I haven't heard their past albums really beyond one track on a mix (it was more shoegaze a la my bloody valentine unlike this album which has more of a pop vibe overall with shoegaze undertones), so perhaps this isn't their best work. I just know I enjoyed it after a few listens.. even enough to share the whole album awhile back. here's a review [popmatters] that I agree with for the most part though the one thing that wasn't noted is that on 'Still In All The Glitter', the piano sounds a bit like Wilco's style. yes.
Sample: The Night Sun Over San Juan, Still In All The Glitter (I'm sure you can figure out how to find the other tracks)
05.
Birdmonster - No Midnight [unsigned]
Genre: indie rock
Elaboration: This album is a beast, I say! I always have to turn up the volume once it starts. It was brought to my attention that they sound like Modest Mouse, but... a better more rocking type of Modest Mouse... maybe. I don't rightly know since I only have one Modest Mouse album and it was too blah. that's not all there is though.. there's the story-esque Bruce Springsteen quality on 'Balcony' which makes me want to jump around once it starts in with "FROM THE BALCONY SHE SAID, SHE SAID I'M NOT YOURS MY FRIEND, I'M NOT YOURS, BUT I'M EVERYTHING!" and stop when it starts in with the banjo, "How are you darlin'? Are you feelin' alright?" -- it has it all and is the best song on the whole album forever and ever! then there's the 80s tones on 'Cause You Can' which has a Cure-esque bleating, eeee's and oooh-ooh-oooh's in the midst of it.. not my favourite track, but it's lively. it seems since bloggers have been pimping this album too much that it's overhyped enough that people don't like it anymore.. I read the pitchfork review (no, not linking) and it was cringeworthy yet it did give it a 5.6 which doesn't make sense with how vile the review itself was.. it made it seem like it should be a 1.1 or something.. geez. anyway, it doesn't damper my listening pleasure, so pitchfork can go screw themselves (they got a favourite album wrong last year, too). listen and decide for yourself.
Sample: Balcony, What's With Your Brain? (the most like Modest Mouse) + myspace
04.
Hot Chip - The Warning [DFA/Astralwerks]
Genre: indie / electro-pop / disco/dance / funk
Elaboration: Which was the band I bought the most singles by? yep, I have 4 versions of 'And I Was A Boy From School', one 'Over and Over', and one 'Colours'. I listened more to those, but the actual album is pretty solid even if it's more polished / serious than the last one. there's still some humour like the title track ("Hot Chip will break your legs / snap off your head / Hot Chip will put you down / under the ground") or the infectious 'Over and Over' ("like a monkey with a miniature cymbal") which I once "remixed" accidently and called it the crack mix; I forget what I did.. some editing trick that made it sound rickety. it happened when I tried to record from the myspace page and wanted to edit it so it would sound clearer.. bad or.. good idea? I ended up just being patient for the actual album leak after that (hah). the serious moments are nothing to snuff at though like the pretty 'Look After Me' which I think I listened to seven times in a row when I first heard it and 'No Fit State' which is also a high contender and treads the line between serious and amusing (-the whole chorus must be documented, sorry- "I'm in no fit state / to fall in love with you / to make a record of my life / to lose anymore than I need / to watch my fingers bleed / to bust my body up / to drink out of your cup / to act a fool in love / acting hard's been tough"). my only regret is that I didn't get to see them live this year (they were playing in Cleveland in November, but no one wanted to give me a ride who were around at the time).. maybe they would've been higher up in that case.
Sample: myspace, Boy From School [youtube], Colours [youtube], Over and Over [youtube] (I once shared the whole album, so I'm sure you all already have it)
03.
Max Richter - Songs From Before [FatCat]
Genre: classical / ambient / experimental
Elaboration: Parts of this album have made me cry.. I think it's the somber tone of the violins on certain tracks. before even reading anything about this album, I knew it had a familiar feel to it and after checking FatCat, it is said, "The title refers to the fact that, as well as this being a kind of specimen case of music written over a long period, the album also carries other music inside it - with the sources ranging from music between 5 and 300 years old - either used as starting points for Max’s own writing, or submerged deep within." (source) which is pretty interesting. something else that made me smile is that in the booklet I found out that he quotes from different Haruki Murakami novels. how perfect is that?
Sample: Sunlight, Autumn Music 2 + Song [youtube]
02.
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Memories of the Future [Hyperdub]
Genre: dubstep
Elaboration: This is my absolute favourite dub album (well, it almost made #1 overall anyway as chance has it) even if the Jamaican accent took awhile to get used to.. the actual hooks in the songs and the beat took over my brain and I had to keep playing it over and over again. I actually began listening to dub when I heard a Skream mix earlier in the year (I still have yet to hear his full length.. sorry). anyway, back to this album -- the vocals have a poetic vibe about them that hypnotise you into listening to every word. there's a sense of doom amongst the best atmospheric beats.. each beat could stand out by itself I'm sure, but spaceape adds the backbone to what makes this a repeater. "maybe just maybe we can kill you" 'Curious' has the best breakdown at the beginning after the echoings of Ms. Haptic come in faintly where you aren't sure what you're in for till it's there; it's what made me check this out so I thank it for being a sample.. I must nod intensely to this one, yes. 'Quantum' has the best beat overall; it almost sounds like a submarine as it worms its way into your brain. maybe part of why I like this album is due to my hip hop roots (um ahah.. well, rap phase.. sorry, I was seeming too pretentious there) and a love of extra bass. a review that basically says all the rest of what I would've said if my brain weren't dead about now is here. I do agree that this is not one to sit on; get on it and let it envelope your whole world for awhile.
Sample: Curious [myspace], 9 samurai and backward [myspace], 9 Samurai video [youtube], Quantum
01.
Howling Bells - s/t [Bella Union]
Genre: indie / "Australian Neko Case"
Elaboration: This wasn't a surprise to me. I've always known this was my greatest new discovery of the year and nothing would top it. I even bought three singles.. yes, buying enough singles apparently means a band is worthy of my time. this album is a mixed bag in terms of style... Juanita's vocals stand out in all its incarnations. perhaps the best way to describe it is victorian glossed over with a tinge of gothy melancholy if that even makes sense. here's what I had to say when I first heard it and I guess I don't have to worry about it not sticking since I've listened to at least one Howling Bells song a week since I heard this. the Neko Case comparison didn't come to mind till it was brought to my attention later when sharing a song with someone. I'd say the best tracks are 'Low Happening' which is the most rocking of the bunch "You listen to trash, but it's not rock 'n' roll" (I thought they'd be another one of those dance-y rock bands when I stumbled upon it.. while browsing reviews, it was said she sounded like Karen O and yeah, I s'pose the jangly guitar in the background could open up another 'Maps'), 'Broken Bones' which is the one where she sounds most like Neko Case; very gothic country, 'Wishing Stone' with its handclaps and Cure-esque echoing oooooh at the end (I seem to be on an imitating 80s kick?), the bluesy 'A Ballad For The Bleeding Hearts' "We buried our hearts in our hands", the halfway ecstatic 'The Night Is Young' "I got a pocket full of wisdom up my sleeve" and the creepy tinged duet of Juanita and Joel on 'In The Woods' "And I / I Can't run away / From myself / Like Yesterday". take a ride through their shadowed streets of gloom.
Sample: it seems the whole thing can be streamed on their website + The Night Is Young and In The Woods
Back in Brazil
Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - Boulevard de l'Independance
Soul Jazz Records Presents Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen Live
The album version made my top 2005 list at #21 (click). this year, it may have risen higher.. after viewing the dvd, I saw how much bigger it was.. the visual display and the way it connected piano and electronics together so they didn't seem so far apart in their own stations made it even more magnificent.
Before seeing that boomkat had already listed stills, I took a few of my own from the extras section (I'm sorry, but the one of ryuichi at the piano, just focusing on his face and nothing else made me laugh a bit.. in a good way. it was just amusing to see the intense expressions and hear the sound of the piano without seeing him actually hitting the keys).
Honestly, I just wanted to experiment with using the dvd screenshot shortcut. they made it difficult, but here's the website I found the info on in case you have a mac and ever desire screencaps.
So, that's it!
Perhaps this list'll provide you with some ideas for what to spend your holiday cash on or at least provided you with some entertainment for the day.
p.s. my connection is being an ass today, so I'm unsure if the songs I uploaded play all the way through, if it's bandwidth or what, but some stop streaming before the end. who knows. let me know if it's an overall problem beyond my connection
10.
Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the U.K. [EMI]Genre: pop / indie
Elaboration: Yes, I know. it's a slightly contemporary album.. but it makes me content! it's almost like a musical with a dash of a good winter holiday rolled into one. I never really did pay attention to Badly Drawn Boy in the past either.. I downloaded this album by chance after all the praising comments in one leaked albums thread. after listening to it for a couple weeks, I found it in the mall's music store in Ohio and bought it. there was a special passport packaged one at Borders I saw later, but for $40 there was no way I was going to find out what else I was getting beyond packaging. my favourite track remains 'Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind' which reminds me of a simplified early Belle and Sebastian (I wasn't feeling their album from this year; they haven't been good since 'Fold Your Hands Child..' in my opinion) to a degree. whenever I hear it now, I picture a couple dancing then towards the end, the girl turns her head away and runs. the other songs that emit a strong emotion are 'Promises' with its wintry bells at the beginning and the countryesque down a dusty road stylings of 'The Way Things Used To Be'. I'm glad all my favourites just happen to be side by side!
Sample: Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind + video [youtube link], The Way Things Used To Be
09.
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country [Merge]Genre: pop / indie
Elaboration: For quite awhile, I put this off 'cause I had heard they were like Belle and Sebastian and was tired of them; I was tired of twee music in general. I circled the store for quite awhile before finally giving in to it. later, a few tracks in and I was hooked. it does have the similarity in tone to B&S when it comes to the female vocals, but maybe that's 'cause they're both Glaswegian bands? what really got me was the orchestration which reminded me a bit of Tindersticks on tracks like 'Tears For Affairs', 'Come Back Margaret', 'Country Mile' and 'Razzle Dazzle Rose' which made it less twee and more of an accomplished piece. can you tell I like Tindersticks? hopefully what I hear is true and a new album is coming out next year!
Sample: Tears For Affairs, Country Mile + myspace
08.
John Vanderslice - Suddenly All Went Dark [barsuk]Genre: indie rock / pop
Elaboration: I'm partially cheating here since the songs are just the acoustic sessions of songs off Pixel Revolt (2005)! I didn't really get into that album till a few months ago. I mean, I listened to a song or two, but not from start to finish over and over. when I saw this album on someone's top albums list for this year, I perked up thinking there was something new I hadn't heard, but even when I found out it wasn't, I was excited 'cause I had heard an acoustic session of 'Dear Sarah Shu' from a blog and beyond one particular channelling issue in the midst of it, it was great and I had hoped for more sessions since I felt the album was maybe too overdone / polished when I first heard it. the version of 'Dear Sarah Shu' isn't as impassioned on this album, but overall, it's pretty good. there are what sound like dogs barking or something on some of the tracks, but it was recorded in a chicken coop, so perhaps the animal noises are meant to be endearing. it was done live to 2-track. very lo-fi, but that's how I like it. it's also fun to compare/contrast from the polished original to acoustic. I think 'Dead Slate Pacific' is the one least needed considering it already was pretty simple on Pixel Revolt though I still love that song and I have no idea why 'Continuation' (the detective / mystery song!) wasn't added, but they all compliment each other regardless.
Sample: Trance Manual, Angela, Plymouth Rock
07.
Xela - The Dead Sea [Type]Genre: electronic / soundscapes / field recordings / folk / horror
Elaboration: This album is brilliant. it's a story told in instrumentals the likes of a film soundtrack. the plot is pretty simple... zombies attack those on a sea voyage. there's even a six part story in the booklet; usually the instrumental albums I get never have much in the booklets considering the lack of lyrics, but this was a nice touch. the packaging in general is lovely... great artwork of drowning people. the music itself is haunting and beautiful.
Sample: Linseed, Briefly Seen + myspace
06.
Lilys - Everything Wrong Is Imaginary [Manifesto]Genre: shoegaze / psychedelic / pop
Elaboration: I haven't heard their past albums really beyond one track on a mix (it was more shoegaze a la my bloody valentine unlike this album which has more of a pop vibe overall with shoegaze undertones), so perhaps this isn't their best work. I just know I enjoyed it after a few listens.. even enough to share the whole album awhile back. here's a review [popmatters] that I agree with for the most part though the one thing that wasn't noted is that on 'Still In All The Glitter', the piano sounds a bit like Wilco's style. yes.
Sample: The Night Sun Over San Juan, Still In All The Glitter (I'm sure you can figure out how to find the other tracks)
05.
Birdmonster - No Midnight [unsigned]Genre: indie rock
Elaboration: This album is a beast, I say! I always have to turn up the volume once it starts. It was brought to my attention that they sound like Modest Mouse, but... a better more rocking type of Modest Mouse... maybe. I don't rightly know since I only have one Modest Mouse album and it was too blah. that's not all there is though.. there's the story-esque Bruce Springsteen quality on 'Balcony' which makes me want to jump around once it starts in with "FROM THE BALCONY SHE SAID, SHE SAID I'M NOT YOURS MY FRIEND, I'M NOT YOURS, BUT I'M EVERYTHING!" and stop when it starts in with the banjo, "How are you darlin'? Are you feelin' alright?" -- it has it all and is the best song on the whole album forever and ever! then there's the 80s tones on 'Cause You Can' which has a Cure-esque bleating, eeee's and oooh-ooh-oooh's in the midst of it.. not my favourite track, but it's lively. it seems since bloggers have been pimping this album too much that it's overhyped enough that people don't like it anymore.. I read the pitchfork review (no, not linking) and it was cringeworthy yet it did give it a 5.6 which doesn't make sense with how vile the review itself was.. it made it seem like it should be a 1.1 or something.. geez. anyway, it doesn't damper my listening pleasure, so pitchfork can go screw themselves (they got a favourite album wrong last year, too). listen and decide for yourself.
Sample: Balcony, What's With Your Brain? (the most like Modest Mouse) + myspace
04.
Hot Chip - The Warning [DFA/Astralwerks]Genre: indie / electro-pop / disco/dance / funk
Elaboration: Which was the band I bought the most singles by? yep, I have 4 versions of 'And I Was A Boy From School', one 'Over and Over', and one 'Colours'. I listened more to those, but the actual album is pretty solid even if it's more polished / serious than the last one. there's still some humour like the title track ("Hot Chip will break your legs / snap off your head / Hot Chip will put you down / under the ground") or the infectious 'Over and Over' ("like a monkey with a miniature cymbal") which I once "remixed" accidently and called it the crack mix; I forget what I did.. some editing trick that made it sound rickety. it happened when I tried to record from the myspace page and wanted to edit it so it would sound clearer.. bad or.. good idea? I ended up just being patient for the actual album leak after that (hah). the serious moments are nothing to snuff at though like the pretty 'Look After Me' which I think I listened to seven times in a row when I first heard it and 'No Fit State' which is also a high contender and treads the line between serious and amusing (-the whole chorus must be documented, sorry- "I'm in no fit state / to fall in love with you / to make a record of my life / to lose anymore than I need / to watch my fingers bleed / to bust my body up / to drink out of your cup / to act a fool in love / acting hard's been tough"). my only regret is that I didn't get to see them live this year (they were playing in Cleveland in November, but no one wanted to give me a ride who were around at the time).. maybe they would've been higher up in that case.
Sample: myspace, Boy From School [youtube], Colours [youtube], Over and Over [youtube] (I once shared the whole album, so I'm sure you all already have it)
03.
Max Richter - Songs From Before [FatCat]Genre: classical / ambient / experimental
Elaboration: Parts of this album have made me cry.. I think it's the somber tone of the violins on certain tracks. before even reading anything about this album, I knew it had a familiar feel to it and after checking FatCat, it is said, "The title refers to the fact that, as well as this being a kind of specimen case of music written over a long period, the album also carries other music inside it - with the sources ranging from music between 5 and 300 years old - either used as starting points for Max’s own writing, or submerged deep within." (source) which is pretty interesting. something else that made me smile is that in the booklet I found out that he quotes from different Haruki Murakami novels. how perfect is that?
Sample: Sunlight, Autumn Music 2 + Song [youtube]
02.
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Memories of the Future [Hyperdub]Genre: dubstep
Elaboration: This is my absolute favourite dub album (well, it almost made #1 overall anyway as chance has it) even if the Jamaican accent took awhile to get used to.. the actual hooks in the songs and the beat took over my brain and I had to keep playing it over and over again. I actually began listening to dub when I heard a Skream mix earlier in the year (I still have yet to hear his full length.. sorry). anyway, back to this album -- the vocals have a poetic vibe about them that hypnotise you into listening to every word. there's a sense of doom amongst the best atmospheric beats.. each beat could stand out by itself I'm sure, but spaceape adds the backbone to what makes this a repeater. "maybe just maybe we can kill you" 'Curious' has the best breakdown at the beginning after the echoings of Ms. Haptic come in faintly where you aren't sure what you're in for till it's there; it's what made me check this out so I thank it for being a sample.. I must nod intensely to this one, yes. 'Quantum' has the best beat overall; it almost sounds like a submarine as it worms its way into your brain. maybe part of why I like this album is due to my hip hop roots (um ahah.. well, rap phase.. sorry, I was seeming too pretentious there) and a love of extra bass. a review that basically says all the rest of what I would've said if my brain weren't dead about now is here. I do agree that this is not one to sit on; get on it and let it envelope your whole world for awhile.
Sample: Curious [myspace], 9 samurai and backward [myspace], 9 Samurai video [youtube], Quantum
01.
Howling Bells - s/t [Bella Union]Genre: indie / "Australian Neko Case"
Elaboration: This wasn't a surprise to me. I've always known this was my greatest new discovery of the year and nothing would top it. I even bought three singles.. yes, buying enough singles apparently means a band is worthy of my time. this album is a mixed bag in terms of style... Juanita's vocals stand out in all its incarnations. perhaps the best way to describe it is victorian glossed over with a tinge of gothy melancholy if that even makes sense. here's what I had to say when I first heard it and I guess I don't have to worry about it not sticking since I've listened to at least one Howling Bells song a week since I heard this. the Neko Case comparison didn't come to mind till it was brought to my attention later when sharing a song with someone. I'd say the best tracks are 'Low Happening' which is the most rocking of the bunch "You listen to trash, but it's not rock 'n' roll" (I thought they'd be another one of those dance-y rock bands when I stumbled upon it.. while browsing reviews, it was said she sounded like Karen O and yeah, I s'pose the jangly guitar in the background could open up another 'Maps'), 'Broken Bones' which is the one where she sounds most like Neko Case; very gothic country, 'Wishing Stone' with its handclaps and Cure-esque echoing oooooh at the end (I seem to be on an imitating 80s kick?), the bluesy 'A Ballad For The Bleeding Hearts' "We buried our hearts in our hands", the halfway ecstatic 'The Night Is Young' "I got a pocket full of wisdom up my sleeve" and the creepy tinged duet of Juanita and Joel on 'In The Woods' "And I / I Can't run away / From myself / Like Yesterday". take a ride through their shadowed streets of gloom.
Sample: it seems the whole thing can be streamed on their website + The Night Is Young and In The Woods
Back in Brazil
Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - Boulevard de l'Independance
Soul Jazz Records Presents Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen Live
The album version made my top 2005 list at #21 (click). this year, it may have risen higher.. after viewing the dvd, I saw how much bigger it was.. the visual display and the way it connected piano and electronics together so they didn't seem so far apart in their own stations made it even more magnificent.
Before seeing that boomkat had already listed stills, I took a few of my own from the extras section (I'm sorry, but the one of ryuichi at the piano, just focusing on his face and nothing else made me laugh a bit.. in a good way. it was just amusing to see the intense expressions and hear the sound of the piano without seeing him actually hitting the keys).
Honestly, I just wanted to experiment with using the dvd screenshot shortcut. they made it difficult, but here's the website I found the info on in case you have a mac and ever desire screencaps.
So, that's it!
Perhaps this list'll provide you with some ideas for what to spend your holiday cash on or at least provided you with some entertainment for the day.
p.s. my connection is being an ass today, so I'm unsure if the songs I uploaded play all the way through, if it's bandwidth or what, but some stop streaming before the end. who knows. let me know if it's an overall problem beyond my connection
