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rayword45 08-24-2014 10:40 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 41: Abbey Road by The Beatles

Man it's been a while. I didn't have any time to do this crap recently due to a two day work trip. I'm only doing this now because I'm begrudgingly starting my summer homework and need some music. I also don't feel like going through random.org right now. After two really bad albums, I'm expecting great things from this album, at least as good as the high points of The Beatles. Time to slave over precalc.

Today marks 46 days since I took that pledge. Still going strong. I was going to make an Elliott Smith reference here but that would've been absolute garbage.

45 years after release, that's still one of the coolest opening 10 seconds of any album. Damn I should've waited 33 days to review this. As cool as those opening 10 seconds are though, the song kinda drags on, though it's definitely not a bad track. The bluesy themes are prevalent here, which is definitely better for The Beatles than the honky-tonk trash of Let It Be but I've gotta say, I'm kinda disappointed with this first side. The only song that really strikes me as truly memorable is Something, and if you don't already know it, guess who writes that song? Hint hint: I've been praising his songs to an obnoxious degree in every Beatles review I've written minus that Let It Be review. Lennon clearly had some creative ideas, and some worked, like the intro to Come Together, but others fell flat like a tire in a sharps bin, like I Want You (She's So Heavy) which needs to be cut at LEAST 4 minutes, and even after that it'd probably still sound directionless. McCartney's songs are exactly what you'd expect from him, except Maxwell's Silver Hammer has dark lyrics that wish they were as witty as they think they are. Ringo still sucks.

Side Two, however, is where the blues mostly get ignored, and we instead get Here Comes The Sun, Harrison's undeservedly most famous song (still good though, just not his best), Because, a cool Lennon harpsichord dirge, and most importantly, the acid-baked free-for-all medley. There are weak spots and strong spots within the 8-track medley but to dwell on those would be a waste of time (and could subjectively be argued as wrong) because the not-so-cohesive whole is more important, and it is GLORIOUS. Her Majesty is also awesome, and probably my personal favorite Paul song.

What to rate, what to rate. The first side was kind of a bore, but it wasn't really BAD like the last two Beatles albums were. The second half however trumps the third side of The Beatles for greatest side of any Beatles album. Generally, I give bottom-heavy albums more generous ratings than top-heavy ones, because that shows the band either somewhat rewards full album listening or likes to save the best for last rather than have a disappointing climax (or they just suck at choosing their good songs and attempt to front-load it anyways). And damnit, I've been pretty rough on these guys due to blatant bias from most reviewers, but it'd be wrong to say that this was a bad album of any sort.

Best Track: The whole damn medley, or if not, Something
Rating: 9/10 (Hey, that second side is really, really good)

rayword45 08-25-2014 11:53 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 42: A Healthy Fear by Gifts From Enola (Album Choice: Shikari)

This is the first time I've began listening to an album before starting to write, because this album is now my time limit for this bullshit summer homework. This sounds like math-tinged post-metal based on the first few minutes, and hell if the uninitiated think that genre description sounds pretentious as hell. I need to do this math and history crap within the next 10 days (assuming the worst case scenario of the teachers check everything first day). Man high school sucks, I can't wait for college.

If they give me summer homework in college I will cry myself to sleep.

Well this album is almost over. I enjoy the mellower bits like the surfy intro to Clawmarks and the shimmery intro of Honne/Tatemae more than any of the heavier, screaming sections. Hell, this album has some really great intros. As a whole, this style of post-metal doesn't appeal to me as a whole, though I can appreciate the technicality of the riffs, but those mellow sections are great.

I finished half of my summer math homework. Hells yeah.

Best Track: Honne/Tatemae
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 08-27-2014 11:18 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 43: Doppelganger by Curve (Album Choice: choof)

Shoegaze-dance music. With other album titles like Pubic Fruit and Chinese Burn. And some of the ugliest, cheapest album art ever. This'll be interesting.

49 days, and yesterday on some website some sick fuck was spamming Pokemon porn, which I thankfully did not see because all warnings pointed to "DON'T SCROLL DOWNWARDS". Who creates that shit and why? Don't answer that.

So anyways, the music, right. In spite of reading all the descriptions that pointed the other way, I was expecting something like Sleigh Bells. I don't care that much about Sleigh Bells, so the fact that they don't sound like them doesn't make me care at all. All these songs pretty much sound the same. Industrial-esque electronic drumbeats, layers of guitar noise that are not abrasive at all, and pop hooks in the form of some of the sexiest vocals I've heard these past 43 days. Or really, albums. This is like that Nine Inch Nails side project, minus the suck, plus hotness and a somewhat more legit goth sound (not that NIN is goth), plus some surprisingly subtle shoegaze-y guitar.

Overall, this album? I didn't like it as much as I would hope. They've got some good pop hooks and all, but the guitar needs MORE DISTORTION. I always thought that all the songs on Loveless sounded pretty much the same (despite also thinking that the album is extremely front-loaded) but it's excusable on the account of having some of the most drop dead gorgeous walls of guitar noise out there. The guitar noise here is like, a shitty sandcastle compared to the Great Wall of Loveless, with the same problem of same-y songs, and the I don't really care of using a drum machine instead of a real drummer (it makes it more danceable, but I'm pretty sure it'd be neutral either way).

They do win on the sex appeal factor though, which is surprising, considering how
A. I had previously thought Bilinda Butcher unmatched when it came to mesmerizing female vocals in noise rock (not that there's much competition. What, Kim Gordon?)
B. This is a band that made such juvenile jokes at the expense of rambutan. Insulting such a delicious fruit is something to be ashamed of.

Best Track: Horror Head
Rating: 5.5/10

noname219 08-27-2014 11:36 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Lol at you for almost failing your 49 porn-free pledge by accident with Pokemon porn.

Keep the reviews coming.

rayword45 08-29-2014 01:41 AM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 44: Flood by Boris (Album Choice: EzExZeRo7497)

It's about half past one in the morning right now. I originally hoped to get some sleep before 3 AM for the first time in what feels like the whole summer... But screw that. I need to get this APUSH homework done within the next seven days, then the summer reading that nobody actually does. Man, procrastination is a bitch to me.

I didn't actually get this album via random.org, FYI, I got a Dev/Null album. But I saw this and thought "well drone music is probably better for annotating, right?"

And one more thing before I start listening (goddamn this procrastination) does anyone find the format of these reviews to be confusing? It's very stream-of-conscious and very unprofessional, but I don't think it's confusing. That's not what some people tell me though.

And another thing, are grilled cheese sandwiches supposed to be soggy? Had a debate with my brother about the topic, since I'm pretty sure the word soggy has a negative connotation to it and I think of grilled cheese more as having a slightly abrasive mouthfeel at first with not much bite to it, then having a gooey center.

I reviewed another album from these guys earlier, Akuma No Uta. That was a good album, and one of the better ones during that binge of Japanese music. Japanese culture isn't really my thing for the most part, except the food. Man do I love some sushi, just like most other white people.

Wait I'm not white.

But yeah, Japanese culture as I stereotypically view it with my narrow viewpoint (I almost said eyes, but then I realized I would be making a self-racist joke) isn't something that tickles my fancy. Anime isn't usually pleasing to me and I usually connect Japanese music with bad asian pop groups and sickeningly sugary eye sore videos. Weird that I do, I mean, I like these guys for sure, and Boredoms and a ton of Bemani music.

Man I really should start reading this APUSH booklet. Anyone ever read The American Pageant? That's my summer homework. This first quotation seems to put Christopher Columbus in a positive light and I think of him as a genocidal maniac who is basically used as an excuse to give us a day off from school. I like that aspect, but can we rename it, like, Taino Memorial Day instead? I guess I should start reading this booklet, I mean that's why I specifically chose this album instead of Dev/Null.

You know I'm supposed to be taking notes or more specifically an outline on each chapter of the book, but I'm on the first page and an assload of the text is faded out. Why do they give us students these crappy disgusting paper booklets? And then they go ahead and say "if you return it in good condition you get extra credit" well then nobody is gonna get that extra credit. Are you implying we should buy you a new copy because you're too cheap to spend what looks like it costs 14 cents? Well actually I looked this up on the internet and the copies they're giving us don't seem to be in print at the moment, so either these are extremely old or these are bootleg. Either way, that's incredibly cheap of them! This is the school where the headmaster is reported to spend good portions of our budget on renovating her office, and we have the money to spend the money for 50 or 100 iPads in an iPad room that nobody ever goes in. What do we need those for? We can't download apps, they don't let us. Who honestly prefers typing on a goddamn iPad over a keyboard? The least they could do is give us text that doesn't look like it comes from colonial times. And while I'm at it, they could at least BUY SUFFICIENT TOILET PAPER FOR THE BATHROOMS. Man, I'm stressed out for this last week of summer, meanwhile most other kids are either already in school doing some practice shit with band or sports or just wasting away getting drunk. I wonder how many people are gonna just copy notes on the first day of school from someone else. Not that I'm against them personally, because there isn't a single person in my school who has never either BSed or cheated while maintaining any small function of a social life. Damnit I need a drink. I'll get one after I outline at least 4 pages.

I'm about one page into this APUSH booklet and already I'm kinda sensing some white supremacist stuff going on in here. That's my Facebook status, I can't wait for someone to accidentally misinterpret that. And these first few pages are nothing about history, they're about geographical formations. I doubt we're going to be tested on that, and if we are, I'll take the L, it's drink time. Drinking while working will probably help me focus anyways. Flood isn't helping me focus that much.

I would totally brew some coffee right now if I wasn't worried about the boiling water waking my mom up. Until then I'm stuck with seltzer water. Word to the wise, seltzer and ice cream does not make for a good drink. Chances are the majority of you are thinking "Well no duh, you're a fucking moron for thinking that would be even remotely enjoyable" but hear me out. An egg cream is just soda with milk and syrup. An ice cream soda is an egg cream with a couple of scoops of ice cream. And ice cream contains milk, flavoring and high fructose corn syrup as well as liquid qualities after a short period of time in regular temperature. There was no reason for this to fail! Also important to note, avocado makes any sandwich or salad about 100 times better. Don't try to argue that point, if you don't agree with me, your opinion is wrong. Done and done. God gave us a gift when he created a savory fruit that had such buttery rich capacities, and so much versatility (you can make desserts with avocado or a main course). And yet so many ignorant people spit on the name of the avocado like the ignorant pricks they are. Same thing with onions, except in the case of onions those people usually say some stupid bullshit like "I only like onions in my chicken" or "I only like onions in my burgers" or "I only like onions up" no I don't care onions are great and you suck. You know what I don't like? Lettuce. Lettuce is a waste of space anywhere. Except salads, because I understand it's the base of a salad, but that's all I appreciate it for. It has no flavor, very little nutritional content, it's just water and air. There are times when lettuce can be good, like a nice shrimp wrap for example, but that's a rare case. Most of the time it's nothing but filler, and bland filler at that. Bland foods suck. Wheat bread is better than white bread, brown rice is better than white rice, so get out of my face. The BLT is a good sandwich made better by removing the lettuce, and adding avocado, caramelized onions and garlic aioli. Man I need a pick-me-up to get focused.

You know I know quite a few people who experiment with adderall to help them focus on school work. They all do it sparingly because it's supposedly highly addictive. If it's so highly addictive, why is it given to children with ADHD? That sounds like a recipe for disaster. As do most painkillers. It's funny how people are so adamantly against the legalization of medical marijuana, because painkillers are so much healthier. You should be able to pick, but considering tobacco is legal, why not pot? You know what that's a stupid discussion for another time because whenever that gets brought up, the tangents go on and on and on... Wait, nevermind.

This first chapter is garbage, man. It's talking about geographical changes that they're totally not gonna test us on because this is US History. Not geography, not earth science, US History. Watch me be wrong and resent myself so much, but I'm skipping to the good stuff. Or rather, the "I actually think I might get tested on this" stuff. Or better yet, the "This may actually be on the test and it being later in the book makes me think that there will be less white supremacist undertones" stuff. Man this stuff is a chore. Schedules were supposed to be posted today. It's 2:37 AM and they haven't posted them yet. The reason I can't focus is because of this damn schedule scare. Like, if I don't get into the elective classes I want, or if I get really, really shitty teachers. I had to deal with the most heinous teacher ever last year for the worst mandatory subject, LATIN. I do NOT want any shitty teachers this year, but truthfully that's kinda inevitable. I just don't want any slimy, sleazy racist self-loathing assholes who take pleasure in making his or her students squirm with bad grades and making the worst jokes possible instead of teaching. If they put the effort in, I'm happy. If they don't put in effort, but the class is easy, I'm happy. And if I get my electives, I'm happy.

Oh yeah, about 75 minutes passed. Flood was okay. It didn't help me focus at all though considering I'm on page 9 and freaking out about my school schedule now.

Best Track: It's all one big track, but Flood 3
Rating: 6/10

EzExZeRo7497 08-29-2014 02:34 AM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Cute review.

I can't say that I'm too surprised about your rating, I only thought that you'd like one or two out of the four movements at most. I knew you'd really like Flood 3, but I wasn't sure what you'd think of Flood 2. I obviously can't comment much on the "review" because history is literally the worst academic subject.

Flood is actually my first Boris album, it blew my mind on my first listen (I had it as 8/10 at the time, moved it up to 8.5 before I stopped rating altogether). I've listened to part of Akuma no Uta and all of Altar - both I didn't find anywhere as stunning as Flood. I've always seen Flood as one huge story - Flood 1 being a relentless storm represented in a very unorthodox manner, Flood 2 being the sombre aftermath with all the damage done (people killed, destruction as a whole), Flood 3 being a second and more powerful storm, Flood 4 is essentially the last moments of your life, seeing light at the end of the day. There are multiple interpretations, like the one in the last.fm album page, but the stories are generally the same. But I digress, I just think that Flood can only be fully appreciated if you listen to it attentively rather than use it to focus on something else - Flood's more drone doom/drone metal rather than ambient music. Given your situation though, I don't blame you.

I wouldn't say that it's an unfair review, but I do believe that you should give it another listen during your free time and not when you're doing homework.

(my favourite track from that is Flood 2)

On another note, I don't find your reviews that jarring to read - just a stream of consciousness which is ultimately your opinion. Unprofessional yeah, but it gets the point across. I do think that you have a pretty skewed misconception of Japanese music though, but it's fairly easy to think that way given most of the big Japanese artists at the moment, such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Perfume. Given I'm probably a little biased myself, because a good portion of my favourite albums come from Japanese musicians. Give artists like Mono, World's End Girlfriend, Midori (though I'm 80% sure this won't be your cup of tea) and Toe a listen.

rayword45 08-31-2014 12:15 AM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 45: Thereafter by Save Us From The Archon (Album Choice: Gradiant)

I have no idea what type of music this is. I have no idea what I'm getting into. I have 4.5 chapters left of APUSH homework.

On the plus side, this review will be MUCH more concise, much less tangential and probably a little bit more focused on the music than last review. I attribute that to less worries because I got my schedule for the year and it's all the good teachers I could dream of. Turn up.

No seriously, compared to last year where I dealt with tough class after tough class, including that one sleazy slimy racist homophobic republican asshole teacher, I feel like I am being rewarded for suffering so hard last year. Life is good man. Life is good.

So this is some pretty cool instrumental math metal. They throw in some cool noise elements and ambient bits to throw off what would otherwise sound like probably, I'll say, 24 minutes of pure instrumental wankery. They're clearly very skilled and can write some great melodic, catchy riffs, but I'm pretty sure minus those bits this would basically sound like an impromptu jam session. As a matter of fact it still kinda does, especially since these tracks all flow right into each other.

I like the noise and ambient aspects of the music. I like that they keep things concise, in an age where it feels like most artists cram their albums with 60 minutes of filler and 10 minutes of good stuff. I dig the drum and guitar work, at least enough to appreciate a good riff and good skills. And I liked this more than the average progressive metal release, though for me that isn't really saying much since I usually prefer my metal slow, monolithic, fuzzy and crushingly heavy. I need to repeat, they kept things concise, clocking in about a half-hour. Another one of my stupid pre-conceptions is "Oh look, progressive metal. That must mean about 140 minutes of cheesy vocals and Petrucci-esque wankery" so to defeat that with very little cheese and a short runtime impresses me a lot.

Still though, it's not 100 percent my cup of tea. But I do respect these guys enough.

Best Track: N/A
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 09-3-2014 12:43 AM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 46: The Last Caress of Light by Darkest Era (Album Choice: DoctorSatan)

First, and very important, Dopesmoker is absolutely fantastic as reading music, as well as focused listening music. Good qualities of a long song/album right there. I gotta review that new Sleep album.

Second, and not quite as important, I've found that Liquid Swords will enhance ANY video game you play, no matter what it is.

And third, it's been 55 days now, and honestly, I think the only reason this has been possible is that the summer has been rather stress-free. I expect that I'll crack sometime soon, as school starts on the 4th and I'm gonna handling 3 APs (meh) and one more year of Spanish (JESUS WHY YOU DO THIS). Let's keep counting though.

Oh yeah, 4th, I'm 17 in 11 days. And I'm having a 20 percent life crisis now. Even though the first 3 years were spent doing not much. Everyone knows I became a badass the day I turned 4.

Alright let's get this over with. For obvious reasons, expect little writing. Goddamn, this booklet is as dry as bone and white as sour cream. Like a sour cream coated bone, this booklet just SUCKS.

Seriously man, AP US History. Class hasn't even started and I already regret this decision, but oh well, it can't be worse than Latin 4. This music here is folk metal. You'd think it'd make this history book about conquerors more interesting... It really doesn't.

Yeah, for one hour, that felt like it lasted forever. And usually when it's super early in the morning and I have yet to go to bed, music always seems like it's 20 BPM faster so I definitely don't plan to listen to this while wide awake. Mind you, it wasn't atrocious, but it was bland. Considering I love folk and many types of metal, that's disappointing.

Best Track: Get out of my face
Rating: 4/10

rayword45 09-7-2014 09:35 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 47: It Takes a Thief by Thievery Corporation (Album Choice: korny)

Not even the third day of school, and we're already freaking out over precalc and APUSH tests within the next two days.

By we're I mean I'm.

A 70 minute album that I passively critique should help me study. Brief observation, a lot of people, ranging from moron deadbeats to reasonably functional members of society tell me to relish high school as my best years. Other people whom I generally respect more say that college is better. As a loud, lazy person that despises the menial work in high school and feels that 17 is old (6 days man) who do I trust?

This makes for some pretty good study music. Although it's not fair to compare that perceived quality to Flood since I'm studying math instead of history, it's working very well. That includes when the vocals come up, because they're ignorable at best. Songs like Lebanese Blonde are pretty soothing with the vocals, while songs like Amerimacka grate on you after a while. The instrumental tracks fare better for the most part, there are a few standouts here and there but for the most part it's all pleasantly passable.

That's all I have to say. I was busy preparing for my tests.

Best Track: Air Batucada
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 09-10-2014 10:44 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 48: A Winged Victory For The Sullen by A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Album Choice: Trogdor!!!)

Before I go to bed I'll get another album killed. Some ambient music should help me focus on homework.

Day 63 of the pledge: Well, I technically broke the pledge today, with some leaked pictures (not of any celebrities, for the record). However, the context in which I saw them, according to my teacher, means that I didn't really break the pledge. So I'm gonna just keep going with this.

For an ambient/orchestral album, that wasn't bad. It wasn't outstanding either. Boobs on the cover don't count as porn.

BeNo. Seriously, no.
Rating: 6/10

dAnceguy117 09-11-2014 02:45 AM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4195736)
Lebanese Blonde

Fuckin' rad track. I have really good memories of this one.

rayword45 09-14-2014 10:33 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 49: Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada (Album Choice: Casey D./csd)

This album was handpicked rather than randomly chosen, because today I listened to Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi in full as well as Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (yup, that one is still overrated). I thought originally "Let's listen to all 4 albums in a day!" but then I decided to nap instead. Then I got up and now I have to do more homework so I thought I may as well get 3 of 4. From this, you can probably deduce that I'm already quite fond of BoC and you could call that a potential bias, but hey 150 minutes of the same artist in a day is enough to burn almost any man out, so that should negate the bias.

Yesterday was my 17th birthday. I was originally scared of turning 17, then it happened and now I'm back to doing what I usually do: nothing.

When it comes to Boards my personal favorite album is Geogaddi due to both the darker sound and the abundance of short tracks. This one only has one short track (which I define as being under 2 minutes) but it nails the dark sound to a much larger scale. This works for many things. Some of the darkest songs, like Cold Earth and Reach For The Dead, are fucking phenomenal. And this may very well be the most conceptual album of theirs yet. On the other hand, sometimes the darker sound DOESN'T work, and I've gotta say the subtlety of Geogaddi makes the darkness all the more engagingly unsettling, while here things sometimes come off as a bit too theatrical. Even with the usage of dated-sounding synths and lo-fi sounds, songs like Palace Posy and White Cyclosa lack the signature warmth that was present on pretty much every Boards of Canada album prior. And, like I mentioned before, there's a lack of short songs here. This does make the album feel a bit more focused, but the lack of short breathing moments is partially the reason the dark themes feel a bit overbearing, and honestly I do think I prefer the feeling of exploration at the expense of concept.

And in spite of all of that criticism right up there, I still freaking loved this album. All the things I said apply in full, but damnit this is still some top-quality shit right here. It's not gonna overthrow Geogaddi as my favorite album of theirs any time soon but it was definitely at least better than The Campfire Headphase Besides any songs I mentioned up there as standouts, the finale trio of New Seeds, Come To Dust and Semena Mertvykh is breathtaking.

I should review that new Aphex Twin album on release day. Scratch that, I WILL.

Best Track: Cold Earth
Rating: 8.5/10

rayword45 09-18-2014 08:59 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 50: Syro by Aphex Twin

Leaked a day early. Hooray.

Richard D James is one of the most well-regarded electronic artists out there. While I definitely don't disagree with that sentiment, that's mostly due to how influential he is. He's covered a whole lot of ground, from acid techno to ambient to noise to drill and bass to modern classical to many other genres, never to be truly pigeonholed. Like any artist that covers a lot of different ground though, his work seems to be rather hit-and-miss, at least for me. I personally don't care much for Selected Ambient Works 85-92 or most of what I've heard from the Analord series, but goddamn if Richard D James Album isn't one of the finest, most timeless electronic albums out there, and I'm also partial to ...I Care Because You Do and Hangable Auto Bulb. Never listened to Drukqs.

Here's a random note. I've played Stepmania since July 2007, and now, JUST NOW, I'm realizing that Pac-Man by Power Pill is an Aphex Twin song. Wow, I'm fucking stupid. Also, that stepchart is and was total ass.

Well, I originally wanted to go in-depth here, but I'm done now and that clearly didn't happen. Before I say anything, let me take 5 minutes to see if this seeps in any more and it fully clicks with me.

Nope, that didn't happen, so here's my first listen opinion. It starts out rather weak and almost dated-sounding (maybe it's due to the vintage analog synthesizers) but track-by-track things improve and by the time we reach track 8, CIRCLONT14 (Shrymoming Mix), things finally start to REALLY pick up. I honestly can't tell if I'm suddenly starting to get it at that point or if the songs are actually better. I'm going with the latter.

So yeah, starts fairly mediocre, but gets better and better, with the last 5 tracks being the best, though nothing reaches the peak tracks of Richard D James Album. I don't have much else to say other than I'm slightly underwhelmed, especially in comparison to the comebacks (from a relatively shorter hiatus, mind you) from Daft Punk and Boards of Canada, two other electronic groups I'm really fond of... Man, I'm really not that eclectic with my electronic music.

One last thing, is he trying to be Autechre with these song names or something? Jesus Christ nothing he's done in the past has been this annoying with the titles, though Drukqs and Analord 8 and 9 got close enough.

Best Track: S950tx16wasr10 (Earth Portal Mix)
Rating: 6.5/10 (I'm tempted to deduct points for those horrible titles)

rayword45 09-24-2014 09:51 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 51: Ultramarine by Young Galaxy (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)

Man, between music shit to do, 3 AP courses, and a job with erratic hours, I never feel I have the time to listen to albums these recent days. That's also not likely to change for a while. Oh well, let's do this.

I know for a fact at one point I was listening to too much synthpop, but that was before I was obnoxiously time-limited. So I haven't listened to too much synthpop as of recent, so this is actually sounding REALLY good to my ears. It's like a mix of 80s synthpop, twee pop and house beats. Without a doubt, these guys can create a good hook and catchy melody with synths and drum machines, and the diva-esque vocals and any touches they add (Strings in, Piano in Out The Gate Backwards, etc.) fit the foundation music well. If I have any complaints, it's that there are a few tracks that are too same-y or feel like filler, and the whole of the music seems a tad bit shallow, but either way, this was a pretty satisfying listen.

Oh yeah, and not counting that time with Twitter, and a few other times with Twitter (ah, high school) today marks 77 days. Whoop whoop.

Best Track: Probably Pretty Boy but there are a few contenders.
Rating: 7/10

L.B.D.D 09-25-2014 07:09 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
have you listened to the fake syro album that was uploaded onto youtube like a month ago?

i really enjoyed this track for some reason (no idea who made it)

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

3:20 and on is just amazing

rayword45 09-28-2014 11:45 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 52: Formless by Gridlock (Album Choice: XCV)

Welp, I have a project due tomorrow that I haven't started. Time to listen to another album. This one is described as both industrial and ambient, two genres that either are good or disgusting/boring, respectively. The only industrial ambient album I can think of is Ghosts I-IV which has a few nice songs but overall sounded much more revelatory when I was 13. Now, about one-third of the songs sound like instrumental Nine Inch Nails throwaways, and another third sound like new-age bullshit. Also worth noting is that this is on Hymen Records. Still a better name than the tainted Rise Records. One more also, 81 days.

Well shit, I just let that one breeze by without comment. It was good, I guess. Helped me focus, but I can tell that I also would've liked it enough if I had payed actual attention, may as well keep one and listen to it again later. These high school projects are so goddamn tedious and trivial.

Best Track: I really feel I should have one
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 10-3-2014 11:42 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 53: Lacuna by Caravels (Album Choice: ChikaraGuy)

I had lost the cable to my good (or really, comparatively better) headphones earlier, which is why I haven't listened to much recently. Well, that's part of the reason. The other part of the reason is school, and lack of motivation. Right now I'm battling myself to listen to an album that may potentially suck (or rule) over watching some more Curb Your Enthusiasm, of which any single episode has a very low percent chance of sucking. I guess I'll listen to this and study for them SATs.

Holy crap I'm on track 4? When did track 1 end?

Why is it that every emo song, every emo album, every emo band I listen to, they all feature the same vocalist, same guitars and amps, same drummers, it all somehow sounds the same to me. Make me a mixtape of 15 songs by 15 different bands of this genre and I won't be able to separate them at all. I don't feel the need to go in depth here, it's the same complaints as usual, the vocals are grating, the drums are punchy and the guitar tone is incredibly generic (although, like most emo albums, there are fleeting moments of beauty here and there). This music doesn't make me cry about my life, if I wanna do that I'll listen to some sadsack folk or something. Not Bright Eyes. Screw Bright Eyes.

I've recently discovered a fondness for the band Brainiac and vowed that one day I'd do Pussyfootin' at a karaoke bar. But as for this band, I should've went with Curb tonight.

Best Track: Ordinary Lives only for those fleeting moments of guitar jangle drone
Rating: 4/10

noname219 10-3-2014 11:50 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4211488)
Why is it that every emo song, every emo album, every emo band I listen to, they all feature the same vocalist, same guitars and amps, same drummers, it all somehow sounds the same to me.

Try Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

rayword45 10-4-2014 10:16 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 54: Dark Horse by Nickelback (Album Choice: ghost223)

These goddamn troll requests...

Apparently this was one of the top albums of the last decade but I don't remember a single singl

So this album is 44 minutes of what I'm guessing will be a bunch of generic pos

The only songs by Nickelback I know are Photograph and How You Remind Me but I also remember how all their songs sound exa

Screw this man, there's no way to give this a good introduction paragraph, and I'm feeling really fatigued so I'm just gonna sit here, eat this tiramisu ice cream and listen. Maybe do some studying along the way.

Well, this first track is way worse than I expected, but I actually tried to go in with a half-decent outlook so I don't deserve to be disappointed. It's the same heinous vocals I expected but vocals are not that important to me. The riffage here is dumb (and riffage is a dumb word in and out of itself), the lyrics are dumb, and the song is a mix of dumb brutish metal and dumb redneck country. This just screams intelligence, man.

Seriously, while I do more often than I'd like to admit fall into pretension, I don't feel elitist in the least when I say that this music is meant to appeal to morons. Nickelback doesn't have only one song, that's wrong. They have two songs.

The first one is some horrible amalgamation of the worst parts of Pantera, Marilyn Manson and Stone Temple Pilots, topped with Chad Kroeger's idiosyncratic(ally horrible) vocals singing some gross poem he probably penned in 10 minutes about sex.

The other one is a syrupy power ballad, with instrumentation straight from the school of "How to be third-rate Journey", lyrics written with the songwriter that probably isn't Chad trying to suddenly wrangle some respect out of his heart for his woman, and the singer that is most definitely Chad trying to strain his one-octave voice further.

Let me spend an extra paragraph just saying how EFFING HORRIBLE these lyrics are. The ballads are a bit less offensive, coming off as someone's first attempt at a love letter, horribly awkward and slightly cringeworthy but not necessarily abhorrent. The other song... Jesus Christ. The bad sex metaphors are stupid enough one at a time, piling them up into a song is just... Holy crap. Go listen to S.E.X and read the lyrics and try to not feel physically ill. It might have been the ice cream, but I damn near vomited upon reading the third and fourth verses.

I sometimes agree with people when they say Nickelback is overhated, dunno if I will after this album. My previous opinion was that they made slightly-sickening subpar radio-bred cock rock, not that much worse than other pop garbage. However that opinion was based off of two songs, and now that I've listened to a full album, I stand by any claim that these guys are truly offensive to the ears. Unlike that Justin Bieber album, there's no hilarious irony here (because Chad's media life has about zero funny bits yet has one-third the gross factor), and there's no real one redeeming song. On the other hand, only one song here caused me any physical ailment. And I'll give credit to This Afternoon for breaking the two song formula and instead just sounding like the dumbest country-pop song I have ever heard. THE DUMBEST, but at the same time, slightly hilarious in how bad it is, and in the context of bad country Kroeger's voice is slightly less offensive.

I didn't get to study.

Best Track: This Afternoon for the reasons mentioned a damn sentence ago.
Rating: 1/10

rayword45 10-5-2014 08:11 PM

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
 
Day 55: Eingya by Helios (Album Choice: Contrapasso)

This album will be listened to while in the process of making a pie.

Pretty mellow, fairly pretty album. I listened to it a bit too passively to pick any favorite tracks but yeah, prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, pretty good.

Hopefully the pie will be good.

Best Track: What the hell did I just say
Rating: 7/10


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