Have been vaguely aware of these guys but never paid much attention and then over the weekend a friend was playing some and I liked it, but I have no idea what's good or bad from their catalog. Anyone wanna throw in their two cents?

In order:

Beaches and Canyons (just an outright classic)
Lost Valley EP
Miles of Smiles EP
Load Blown
Cold Hands EP
Manoman EP
Smiling Off EP
Creature Comforts
Repo
Broken Ear Record

There are a ton of splits, 3", and cassette releases out there also, but that covers all of the major releases I believe. They've never reached what they did on Beaches and Canyons, but I still love this band. Have never been disappointed in a live show by these guys either.

Kind of surprised you haven't listened to them much before.

Beaches and Canyons, Creature Comforts and Broken Ear Record are all good with Creature Comforts being my favorite. That was also my entry point record, so there may be some bias.

I've never understood the appeal of this band...

Then don't listen to them.

well, perhaps you could give me some insight, dick.

It was all downhill after Beaches and Canyons, but that album is great. The Cone Toaster EP that followed that is also really good, with a remix on it by eYe of Boredoms.

Creature Comforts is decent and worth checking out. The Miles of Smiles EP that coincided with that is also pretty good, as is the Smiling Off EP that followed it. If you really, really like those then proceed on to Broken Ear Record, but the following two albums are real duds IMO.

Their early, pre B+C releases are just sort of "deconstructed" hardcore or something like that. Pretty much noise records. I never listen to them, but I probably prefer them to their more recent farting-around stuff. I'll take k's word for it that Cold Hands is good. I need to revisit it.

Why should I? You've apparently listened and formed your opinion, which I couldn't care less about. And since when is some intellectual argument suddenly gonna make music sound better asshole?

Hey Chait, I'll give it a shot as it applies to me: Black Dice fandom was a phase I went through in early/mid Aughts. I saw them live a few times in NYC and then checked out their recorded stuff. This was in between the release of Beaches & Canyons and Creature Comforts, which looking back was obviously their creative peak and when they were collaborating and hanging out a lot with Animal Collective. I just thought it was accessible electronic noise music and it fulfilled my need to hear something "different" during that point in my musical education.

There ya go. You like them now, right Sex, Drugs, and Dave?

Black Dice definitely don't have universal appeal. He may find a few things he likes about them, but they're not anything I ever listened to on a regular basis.

new one, Mr Impossible, streaming here: http://soundcloud.com/ribbonmusic/sets/ ... mpossible/

I like the new one more than any of their other recent stuff. I just feel like the stuff since Beaches & Canyons is just bleepy/farty crap but the new one actually adds some beats to it, which makes it more listenable and engaging. I like their early stuff too but haven't listened to it in forever.

According to this thread:
the Black Dice brew ambivalence.
Even their "fans" aren't sure they really like them.

Initially I was curious about this thread,
but now,
..Back to my jelqing session.

Just listen to Beaches & Canyons.

It's really good. I recommend it without reservation.

What I've heard of the new one sounds like a big improvement over their last couple, FWIW.

misquoting k with my own adjusted ranking:



Never heard Lost Valley or Manoman EPs and still need to revisit Cold Hands and Smiling Off EPs.

'gree