the ineffable beauty of ronika's selectadisc

http://www.harderbloggerfaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/selectadisc_opencart-500x500.jpg

a friend sent me this record tonight saying it was extremely up my alley. only just finishing it and already feel the unmanageable need to make this thread. percussive, oscillating, sun dappled freestyle vibes all over this thing, implied pools shimmering in distance. personality for days. in the making for three years apparently, so a lot of the tracks on the album have been out there for a while and are probably variously familiar to people who pay attention.

regardless, album is my summer jam. if i cool on this suddenly then, i am sorry history of "ineffable" threads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7NPOQK2yns

http://open.spotify.com/album/7MNOJ8JNIkHxM58lyusEsS

i haven't heard this in full yet, but as you mention, upon downloading it yesterday i realised i'd heard about 7 of the tracks prior to release.

i'm looking forward to hearing the rest though and am into her nottingham madonna (from 1983) vibe

Yeah, a lot of this record has been released over the last couple years. I have to thank mike t-diva for cluing me into her way back in the days of the Outloud room.

Based on a cursory listen to the embedded youtube, I part-authorise your use of "ineffable".

Once my co-signatory on all usages (Rev) confirms, you're in the clear.

Obv this sounds great.

The songs on here I hadn't heard before are just as good as the songs I had. This album is wonderful!

I am totally on-board with a 2014 Cathy Dennis.

this is great!

Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope.

I don't think I've had any use for this kind of retro 80s synthpop move at any point in the 2010s. Adjective denied.

Rev hates fun, y'all.

If only this were!

I will overlook the sacrilegious thread title and give this a go. The description doesn't sound positive though, if only because there are so many of these things now.

http://www.selectadisc.co.uk/images/selectadisc.jpg

sorry rev, the freestyle elements of this send it over the edge for me

mods pls change the thread adjective to "intractable"

ir-reverend

I am very happy that this thread exists, and very happy that "our" Ron has finally got the album out, on her own terms - she's was very, very ill for a very long time.

Oh was she? I'd kept up with her on facebook over the past couple years and never even caught a whiff of an illness.

"1000 Nights" and "Search Siren" are my two favourites, right at the end of the record. "1000 Nights" reminds me of Taylor Dayne, with an "Into The Groove" bassline: a long-standing live favourite which I've wanted to own for the longest time - and "Search Siren" is, I think, her strongest vocal to date. (I just have to remind myself that she's not singing about a Fleshlight.) But I can't really be objective here. I know her too well.

xp: Yeah, she didn't really say anything about it in public until the recent round of press for the record.

Just listened to this for the first time. Fantastic stuff. I liked Wiyoo when it came out but haven't kept up with anything she's done since.

This album deserves way more attention than it's getting. Such a great album. Just got my vinyl copy through the post, it's signed and everything.

The vinyl is limited edition and is available here if anyone is interested.

http://www.recordshoplabel.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=40

This is a cut above most of this kind of retro-80s synthpop and it mostly comes down to the exuberance in Ronika's voice and the quality of the tunes. Usually you listen to these synthy Popjustice/shambala and you can almost see the deadness in their eyes as they go through the motions, but this has a real bounce to it, so while it's derivative as hell it rarely feels generic. Tails off about 2/3 of the way through though.

Not sure how much Popjustice have actually written about her really. Feel like they're too busy writing about The Saturdays and Lady Gaga to bother.

Was just listening to this a couple days ago after it fell out of my rotation for a few weeks. It was even better than before!

Matt, the best tracks are at the end! 1000 Nights and Search Siren are my absolute favourites.

KP, Popjustice have written about her quite a lot over the years, including recently. She also performed at one of their showcase nights this year, and she judged one round of their not-ripped-off-Freaky-Trigger-honest-guv Pop World Cup rounds.

What's lacking has been radio support. I think she falls between stools.

Glad to hear she's got some sort of support from them. I often read the forums on there and haven't much about her. It seems like the kind of album people on there should go crazy for.

Agree that 1000 Nights and Search Siren are two of the high points. I enjoy most of it really and hope it does well in the end of year poll.

This is much better than the second-tier pop that often gets featured on Popjustice.

This album is pretty wonderful. Y'all should figure out some way to get it heard by the kind of people on ilxor who don't usually pay attention to threads like this (i.e. me). Put "early madonna" in the title or something.

I've read a lot of Ronika interviews over the years - even done a couple myself - but this new one for The Quietus is more thorough and more revealing than most: http://thequietus.com/articles/15908-ronika-interview-selectadisc (full disclosure, the interviewer is a mate of mine)

can't believe motherfuckers had the nerve to use the i-word itt

like what the fuck were you even thinking

lol it only occurred to me later that "ineffable" is pretty married to the tropical aesthetic, i just enjoyed the sun-dappled elasticity of this thing which felt "ineffable" to me at the time.

sorry forever rev

I reject the notion anyone around here has sole (or joint) claim on an adjective. Even Tim F and Rev.

It's not who uses it that's the problem, but as Brad implies what kind of music it's used to refer to, and this is simply not it. Harrumph.

pretty married to the tropical aesthetic

If this is the case, I reject my rejection. The Ronika album feels steamy damp hot summer dusky time of evening to me...what's the word for that?

really enjoyed that interview, she comes across really well.
ta for the pointer.
that said, i think i am done re the whole 80s sound, which worries me re her future.
however, should i spot a cd edition of the album in my local emporium i will definitely give it a chance.

we need more effability round here tbph so i aint really mad at brad deading the term by force

that being said tho, curse the amount of times i thwartedly perk up seeing this bumped on sna [shakes fist]

The Ronika album feels steamy damp hot summer dusky time of evening to me...what's the word for that?

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 20:21 Bookmark

old-popjustice-jockstrap

Xpost: the album is vinyl and digital only; the only CDs are promos.

booooo ...

my god this is wonderful

This has weirdly ended up being my most-played album of the year by a long way. It's just so effortless and enjoyable and you can play it to anyone and they get it.

old-popjustice-jockstrap

lol 4 days

This is a cut above most of this kind of retro-80s synthpop and it mostly comes down to the exuberance in Ronika's voice and the quality of the tunes. Usually you listen to these synthy Popjustice/shambala and you can almost see the deadness in their eyes as they go through the motions, but this has a real bounce to it, so while it's derivative as hell it rarely feels generic. Tails off about 2/3 of the way through though.

― Matt DC, Friday, July 4, 2014 10:07 AM (4 months ago)

somehow it feels to me like a record by a grown-ass woman instead of whatever developmentally arrested indie childes who make the retro synthpop i usually check for

otm

weeeeeooommmmmmmmmmm

wrrrrrrriiiaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr

synthhhhhs

So it's not on CD but is this available to buy as FLAC or WAV somewhere?

Sorry, found WAV link on Recordshop site. Anyone know if the free download with the vinyl gives you choice of MP3 or WAV?

You can get it on a CD now.

Here

great stuff! shame i only just really heard it - a few more listens and it could have scraped my EOY

don't know how I missed this entirely, this is completely up my street. so damn good.

Newwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

http://www.hungertv.com/feature/premiere-ronika-step-to-the-beat/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3yyRuSd4gU

Great tune.

(Ve)Ronika must be an inspiration to (Reb)Ekkah from Birmingham. Last Chance to Dance, Small Talk, What's Up (with DâM-FunK)

https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/latest-news/ronika-lose-my-cool-principle-interview

New album in Janurary. New single today.

Great news. Selectadisc is one of my favourite albums of the decade so far.

New song Dissolve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkqrWGe9mXc

That is gorgeous.

This new album is so good. It's very Mariah Carey, especially the second song.

I am freaking out about this album right now. It's incredible.

I hope so, the Mariah Carey comparison admittedly put me off (I'm not fond of melismatic vocal masturbation). I'm more into delving into the freestyle/synth-funk with just slightly updated sonics.

I think my favourite song on the new one is a bonus track ("Better Than Ever")

I'm having a hard time getting past Dissolve as my favourite. The chorus is so beautiful it could be a KING song. Superfine and Never My Love are two of my other favourites. The whole album is a massive step-up from Selectadisc for me.

This video is so ridiculous but I can't stop watching it.

https://youtu.be/CM3WoZcfD2Y?t=2s

New single, produced and co-written by Lindstrom: https://open.spotify.com/album/50DDAjByaRqv1qigpFIrgE

Here in embedded form
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQuNZOAdW1o

Really love the new single, especially the drums.

Feel like her second album was really slept on. I still go back to it a lot.