Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

[Choofers]

top lel

[Crazyjayde]

Originally Posted by rayword45

People should recommend more albums. Seriously.

More intricate/obscure music I know you might want to get around:

Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen (which is fucking incredible and has opened a lot of doors deeper into experimental/minimalistic music I couldn't reach in before)
Botch - We Are The Romans (aggressive and noisy album that spawned forth incredible mathcore releases, along the likes of Converge and Coalesce. Extremely cohesive album)
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun (rich textured psychedelia experience that'll most definitely brighten your day)

Three definite keepers I should have added earlier:

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein (must-have abstract hip-hop album)
Clark - Totem's Flare (i'm literally obsessed with this album, particular atmosphere that is incredibly delusional)
Malajube - Trompe-L'oeil (goes along with Karkwa's "Les Chemins de Verre" as my most acclaimed contemporary french albums)


*Loved review #16, I believe it's one of the most dynamic review out of the bunch whereas #14 was nothing near substantial. You have a nice format but I believe it needs more thought progression or some kind of dissection of individual tracks. Sometimes I'm just not sure if those reviews centers around the artist rather than the album.
Anyway, love the impressions you share in your reviews, really spontaneous and vivid. Nothing seems calculated (reinforces your style of writing, so that's a plus).

[EzExZeRo7497]

Really liked some of the reviews here, haha.

Mmkay, I'll suggest some albums:
William Basinski - Nocturnes (Recently released, very melancholic, probably darker than Melancholia if you listened to Basinski before)
Belong - October Language (Very good noise/shoegazy drone tracks overall, definitely one of my favourite albums for casual listening)
Benn Jordan - Louisiana Mourning (Progressive folk/bluegrass, really vivid in textures though imo)
Thomas Koner - Kaamos (Cold and barren but also rather moving, absolutely mindblowing)

All of these are considered ambient, they're very different from each other though.

Oh, might as well throw some leftfield music in your way lmao
UndaCova - Intrusion
Datach'i - Black Trees
Autechre - EP7

[Crazyjayde]

Omg William Basinski

[rayword45]

Day 20: Soulbleed by Soulbleed (Album Request: Sonicman68)

Soulbleed is a death/thrash metal band from Los Angeles. Looking at their Facebook, it seems they've done Soundgarden and Faith No More covers. That's either awesome or a bad sign. Their cover photo (presumably of the band) consists of 3 overweight men and one average-figured female. Let's see how this turns out.

This first track has a nice bassy intro. Then it turns to plain old thrash metal. The vocals are considerably more understandable then the average death metal band, there's a plus. Unlike the last few death metal bands I listened to, this guy doesn't have a particularly bad singing voice (although it doesn't to be 100% accurate at all times) based off the song Burning Slow. The guitar is decent (Slow Decay contains some decent solo work), but I've heard superior. Bed of Nails with its changing time signatures may be the most technically impressive song on the album. Or is it BPM changes? And a mini drum break! Either I haven't been paying attention or this song is vastly superior to the rest of the album.

So I've come to the conclusion that I haven't been paying attention. We have some pretty awesome drumming, fairly technical guitar work and a bass. My main problem? There's a pretty clear lack of creativity here. Every song on the album follows a pretty similar structure, and it could use some variety. Yes I realize I praised Amon Amarth despite the lack of creativity, bite me. A little variety would make this stand out. As it stands, it's pretty average thrash metal, though it's clear the instrumentalists have at least some semblance of talent.

[rayword45]

Originally Posted by Crazyjayde

Loved review #16, I believe it's one of the most dynamic review out of the bunch whereas #14 was nothing near substantial. You have a nice format but I believe it needs more thought progression or some kind of dissection of individual tracks. Sometimes I'm just not sure if those reviews centers around the artist rather than the album.
Anyway, love the impressions you share in your reviews, really spontaneous and vivid. Nothing seems calculated (reinforces your style of writing, so that's a plus).

Yeah, Day 14 is one of those reviews where I had very little time, though many albums I review turn out to be very linear and thus hard to say much on.

I actually try to avoid dissection of individual tracks, as I feel track-by-track reviews can be a very tedious read. It's like reading a book in script format almost.

[Choofers]

if you do end up looking up william basinski, listen to melancholia first

if you enjoy that, you'll enjoy most of his discography, except maybe disintegration loops (because those basically demand attention)

[EzExZeRo7497]

What Choof said; Melancholia is fucking great, I don't like The Disintegration Loops that much rofl.

[rayword45]

Dear Google Chrome, SCREW YOU FOR CRASHING ON ME YOU LUMP OF CRAP. Time to rewrite!

Today, because I'm getting a day off from work when I normally wouldn't, I decided to write two reviews. Kill off two albums, why not?

Day 21: Dusk to Dawn by Emancipator (Album Choice: Ohaider)

Emancipator is a trip-hop/downtempo producer. There's not that much info on this guy on the internet. He plays the violin and has released 3 studio albums, this being the third. I like downtempo and some trip-hop, hopefully this will be good. According to his website, this album "promises listeners a nostalgic return to the soulful integration of organic hip hop and symphonic layers that first captivated his audience". Nostalgia of an album that was released, what, 7 years ago? I'm not quite sure what they mean here by nostalgia (maybe this will sound like Boards of Canada) but it doesn't sound bad at all.

My immediate comparison would be those Nujabes instrumentals, with drum loops similar in structure, some sample usage and an overall hip-hop/jazz fusion sound. I have no idea why, but Merlion reminds me of Nannou by Aphex Twin. Maybe the glockenspiel (or is that a xylophone? Can't tell, they only credit it as "percussion") reminds me of the toybox in that song. If I recall correctly, that song was on Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Goddamn that is one of the most overrated electronic albums ever. The string arrangements in Dusk to Dawn are nice, and Natural Cause features some nice piano. And holy crap I really didn't have much to say did I? Good thing I chose today to do a double.

So, I didn't have much to say, but I still say this is a fine album. As a new listener, this didn't invoke any feelings of nostalgia, but the album as whole did give off vague nature imagery. The mix of warm electronic music and natural instrumentation is balanced perfectly, and the wide array of such instruments (like the violin, cello, and whatever percussion instruments they used and were too lazy to name) gives a nice sense of variety to the music. This is a nice, easy listening album, great as both background music and in focus (which I did bot, my mind wanders a lot). I must say though, I wonder how this album would sound lo-fi. Let me try.

So I converted tracks one and two to 8kbps, and track one again to 32kbps. The result? Disappointing! I expected a warm crappy cassette sound, I just got crappy dynamics and a tape dipped in water. Anyways, regardless of bitrate or music medium, I give this album a thumbs up.

Day 21: Tempel by Colour Haze (Album Choice: noname219)

Colour Haze is a psychedelic/stoner rock from Germany. They started out as similar to Black Sabbath but evolved into a more jam-based band. If there is one thing I've learned from music, it's that stoners make great music. From rock to metal to indie to folk, it seems that most genres benefit from a healthy amount of THC. Don't take this as drug advocacy (whether or not you think marijuana is a drug), I'm just stating my observations. Anyways, these guys are apparently "the new Kyuss", but they aren't described as metal. Regardless of that, I have high expectations for this album. I was planning to wait for the right setting for this music, but I say Novocaine, painkillers and hot weather qualify as enough. Also, fun fact, dental filling tastes like ass.

Well, I wouldn't really compare this to Kyuss. It's not nearly as heavy (though the guitars are fuzzy), the vocals are more melodic and often buried, and the drums are a bit more downplayed. I can see why many websites avoided the metal tag. This may be less metal, but it's still awesome. For a person who isn't into progressive rock/metal, I must say that the longer tracks are the superior here. The guitar speaks a lot more in songs like Aquamaria and Tempel, where the longer length gives it breathing space. It still speaks a lot in shorter songs though, with some great use of feedback. Unlike many other stoner rock groups like Sleep, the Melvins or the aformentioned Kyuss, this band opts for psychedelic guitar beauty rather than sludgy riffs, and a much softer vocal performance. I actually get more of a sense of nostalgia from this album than Dusk to Dawn, this album definitely has a 60s rock sound in there.

The last track ends somewhat anti-climatically, but other then that this collection of songs flows beautifully from start to finish, and I think I may have a contender for favorite album of the challenge after The Director's Cut, I'll have to listen to this a few more times to decide for sure. Every instrument compliments each other well, but the guitar shines through tremendously. If you like classic rock, listen to this. If you like slower, sludgy metal, listen to this. If you hate rock music, don't listen to this, but you are sorely missing out (on many artists, not just this album). Even without having heard their debut, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no Black Sabbath rip-off can beat this.

[rayword45]

Day 22: Rubenesque by Caligula (Album Choice: Mobias)

Caligula is an erotic biographical drama film, released in 1979. It was financed by Penthouse magazi- Wait...

Caligula was an Australian techno-grunge band, who apparently had one song that recieved national airplay. How come I've never heard of them then? I never see them mentioned alongside bad grunge bands with large amounts of success like Stone Temple Pilots, nor do I see them mentioned with lesser-known (but still not that obscure) grunge bands like the Melvins or Screaming Trees. I'd expect a band that got national airplay to be mentioned a bit more, and I've read more on grunge then I'd like to admit (one of my many shames is once liking Stone Temple Pilots). Anyways, I've become weary of anything with "-grunge" in the band genre, as bands with that in the genre list typically are complete ass-suckery (like Stone Temple Pilots. And Nickelback). Thus, due to my bias against hyphenated grunge, I must admit that my expectations are quite low. Actually a bit fearsome.

This is grunge? How the hell is this grunge? Just because it features guitars and was released in the 90s does not make it grunge. There's none of the three power-chord laziness of the most popular grunge songs, barely any of the dirty, distorted guitars, and none of the angry, heroin-addicted vocal performances. This is about as grunge as Ween. The techno part is also rather shady. There's some electronic-sounding instruments in here. That doesn't make it techno. I never hear anyone call Radiohead or Devo techno, and they've both had albums far more electronic-sounding than this album. Maybe "electroclash" or "synthrock" would be a better genre to describe this album? Speaking of Radiohead, that's actually my best comparison. Think of Hail To The Thief/In Rainbows era Radiohead with a bit more punk ethos and an overall more dated sound. That last bit is understandable considering this album predates both of those by around a decade. Actually, now that I think about it, that's a pretty horrible comparison in my opinion, but it's the best I got.

I reached the end of the album with not a stand-out track to be found. Seriously, not one standout good or bad. I'm amazed! For a genre as unique as "techno-grunge" there wasn't much uniquity to this music, but it doesn't even sound derivative. It's not bad in the least. It's just... Meh. The vocals, the guitar, the drums, the lyrics and the beats? All perfectly adequate! But just that. The album itself doesn't feel like it drags on despite not grabbing my attention, and it's over 50 minutes! This has been the most passive album for my auditory canals and I've listened to some ambient music. At the end of the 68 days, this album is a serious contender for "most average album" reward.

BONUS REVIEW

Today's bonus EP is Black Diamonds by Issues. This band is described on Wikipedia as the following three genres: Metalcore, Experimental, Post-Hardcore. That middle one doesn't really fit. Another album I'm not exactly keen on. A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. That's when post-hardcore was good music with abrasive guitar noise assaults like The Jesus Lizard or guitar noise beauty like Slint. Nowadays, post-hardcore basically means the wimpiest metal subgenre of them all, emo. There are a lot of emo bands that aren't post-hardcore, but nowadays it seems there are very few post-hardcore bands that aren't emo. Oh yeah, by "a long, long time ago" I mean when the music was recorded, not when I heard it. I'm 15, I never got to see any good post-hardcore music live. Well, let's give this a shot.

...What the fu- This is a shocker. Dubstep? What in the hell? I was expec- Oh it seems like that was only an intro. Here's the metal music. And GOOGLE CHROME CRASHED AGAIN! WHYYYY!! WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME!? While Lou Barlow screams I'm going to have to stop. This music isn't helping out my anger at Google Chrome right now.

Final note: I stopped after 3.5 tracks out of sheer frustration. I need a better computer.

[rayword45]

Yeah I kinda called you guys out here. :P

Day 23: Ground Dweller by Hands Like Houses (Album Choice: .:A-MAN:., FireMatt12)

Two people recommended the same album. I feel like I'm obligated to sit through it. Another post-hardcore album, but this one has influences of soul and alternative rock. And it's on Rise Records! (Special note towards one site I'm posting my reviews on, why the hell would you WANT permission to use all the bands on this record label? Why?) Oh boy, this is gonna be fun, isn't it? But hey, even if I don't like it, it's only 40 minutes. So yes, as you can tell, the record label makes my expectations low.

I've learned a new fact today, I've become immune to the Rise Records sound. But on that note, what is reminiscent of hardcore punk here? These first 2 songs are basically the Rise Records sound without the awful "breakdown" section. That's about 66 percent more tolerable that way! (Which is strange, I listen to a lot of bands with vocals like that. Just not post-hardcore) I give it an auto thumbs-up, but only a thumbs-up against the rest of Rise Records, which is typically a thumb into the eye. Halfway through, I think all these tracks are interchangable and it'll stay that way.

And... It's over now. And it stood that way, so I see (or saw?) no reason to write a more intricate review. Where is the soul and alternative rock? I heard none of that. I heard the same type of rock/2-step mixture, just without the obnoxious throaty breakdown section (that's a fantastic thing). I still have no changed opinions over the Rise Records sound, nor modern post-hardcore. Too bad, the name of the album reminded me of Mouth Breather by The Jesus Lizard, but it sounded nothing like that. Ah well, if you like every other modern post-hardcore band but not the breakdowns this will tickle your fancy. Me, I'll stick to the post-hardcore from days when it meant noisy guitar music that actually sounded vaguely like hardcore punk.

[rayword45]

Day 24: Born To Die by Lana Del Rey (Album Choice: Trevor P.)

After reviewing several rock/metal albums with a dash of electronica and hip-hop here and there, I think I'm long overdue for a pop album. The only truly pop album I've reviewed thus far is Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, but

A. Some still consider that rock
B. I kinda half-assed that one.

So now we enter Lana Del Rey. This is a white girl that calls herself a "Lolita in the hood"... Okay, red flag right there. Her album charted at 2 on the Billboard 100 but I haven't heard a single song from this album, because her singles TANKED on the charts. The critical reception? Incredibly mixed! Ranging
from bottom-of-the-barrel scores (like a 0/100 on one review according to Metacritic, and it wasn't Pitchfork!) to accolades like "2nd best album of 2012". On the plus side, her sound is likened to indie pop. I like indie pop, I for one can't get enough of Neutral Milk Hotel or New Pornographers. It's also likened to alternative hip-hop, and I'm not sure how that'll mesh. Note: When you're called a "Lolita in the hood" that's not deserving of a prediction.

Also, this charted on US Billboard Rock Albums. So maybe this isn't purely pop. Who cares?

I can vaguely see why this didn't get too much radio play. This girl lacks the autotuned bubblegummy high pitched squawking of most radio stars (except Adele). This is a low voice, and yes that is rare (or I'm ignorant to radio more than I thought.) At first, I thought she just had a nasal voice, then I realized "that's not her normal range", just like Ian Curtis. Her normal range is basically a soprano! Well, actually I don't know which voice is her normal range. But both I can nitpick.

Low = Nasal finish
High = Squeaks

This is nitpicking though. And when you consider how utterly untalented most singers with lots of top 40 hits are (Katy Perry, Ke$ha and T-Pain when those last 2 were relevant) I can't even criticize her voice that much. Truthfully, it's not bad in the least compared to most trashy pop songs. I can criticize the songwriting though. Like many, many pop albums before it, these first few songs seem to be made up of the same lyrical content of "I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU Oh here are some lunchmetaphors because I'm witty" with a dash of lamenting her (former) alcohol problems. There's also a bit of the so-called "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" which consists of her apparently sucky life of sex, cash, jewelry and drugs. Both are utterly dull, tired subjects, and the way the subjects are portrayed in the lyrics are almost Victorian in how outdated they sound, if Victorian means "before women's rights" (which is strange, considering most radio pop songs are a step away). National Anthem is a bit different, those fireworks remind me of Celebration Rock but this isn't anything close to Japandroids and holy crap this girl should not rap. Revised list.

Low = Nasal finish
Middle = A bit on the dull side at times
High = Doesn't squeak nearly as much as I thought. Better than I thought!
Rapping = What is this $@%&#!?

Luckily, the rapping seems to be limited to a couple of tracks at most. Other then that the hip-hop bit is limited to drumbeats. The Indie pop bit on the other hand is either nowhere or everywhere. It reminds me of absolutely no indie pop albums I've heard, but that's not many at all and pop is as vague a term as "rock". Or "electronic". Or nowadays "post-hardcore". Plus, all the Indie pop bands I listen to are quite different from each other. If indie pop can be anything pop, this is the purest pop album I've listened to thus far. I don't understand how this qualified as a rock album, there is no rock sensibility to be found. Did I mention the production? A lot of people seem to find fault in the "melodramatic production" but I thought it fit the album just fine, it didn't sound cluttered or tinny or anything. My main gripe is IT TOOK 8 PEOPLE TO PRODUCE THIS ALBUM!? Those guys must be a bunch of untalented f__ks to have it sound like this with 8 people in the recording room (and I don't care if it was singular sessions. When you have that many producers your album better sound near flawless production-wise).

So overall, this was not nearly as offensive as some reviews said. It's superior to most of the pop that got heavy radio play in 2012, and that's as much of an accomplishment as getting a score higher then a 3% on a multiple-choice test. But there is no way you can say this is the second best of 2012. Celebration Rock, I Bet On Sky, Transcendental Youth and that's 3 superior 2012 albums, 2 off the top of my head (hey, John Darnielle records pretty prolifically). I'd give this a below average rating solely for the caucasian hood bits, but truthfully her voice is actually quite good, I said I was nitpicking for a reason. Her lyrics are extremely outdated/sophomoric though, to the point where you'd think this album was remastered from wax cylinder. So give that a rating of "average pop album". I think I'm going to listen to Mass Romantic now, to see if I find the indie pop sound in this album.

[rayword45]

Day 25: Kingston Story by Vybz Kartel (Album Choice: Max TM)

Interesting note: The guy who recommended me this offered a lot of albums, but almost all were Rise Records albums, so I went with the most interesting. My first reggae/dancehall album, not for this challenge, for life. I don't like reggae. It doesn't offend me like crunkcore does, but I'd never go out of my way to listen to it (at least I don't think I would). This guy, however, has a very interesting biography. First there was a major scandal for his apparent skin bleaching (which is pretty prominent. This guy looks like Obama if he were a Faces of Meth candidate. I'm rude I know). And then he was charged with murdering 2 people. Wow, this is just like Norwegian Black Metal, except not Norwegian and not Black Metal! Also none of the satanism stuff, the only sins committed in the lyrics are sodomy (and apparently murder). Prediction of the day, Charles Manson has a long conversation with Bob Marley.

And oh how wrong I was. Autotune to the extreme, electro music as the backdrop. While I won't directly say I'm disappointed (can't remember the last time I listened to Bob Marley) this is a bit of a shock. Half on a Baby may have the most juvenile sex-based lyrics I've heard in a while. It's hilarious only because they don't come off as self-aware at all. Also, about lyrics, this guys accent plus heinous amounts of autotune? To an Americanized person, THIS IS NOT COMPREHENSIBLE. Most of the time. Even the lyric sites are basically unreadable for god's sake. Nearing the end, and as I predicted (but did not say earlier) I'm not getting migraines from this, but I'm not impressed in the least. This entire thing is incredibly campy, the awful sex lyrics, the autotune abuse, the complete lack of self-awareness, the inadvertently (I assume) hilarious bravado, all of it. This comes off as a novelty record to me, and then he shot 2 people.
Ghetto Youth, the final track, almost seems like a last-ditch effort to make a song to take seriously. I've been on the brink of laughter for nearly an hour now, this is a buzzkill.

So yeah, this did nothing to change my opinion on reggae music, or dancehall if I bothered to check what dancehall is. I don't know whether I liked this album or not, because the music wasn't to my taste, but the whole thing came off as so corny it made for a good comedy record. And as for the whole murder aspect, as long as I can listen to Let It Be it doesn't affect the quality of the music (which is still questionable). Because I have no way of concluding this, here is a sample of the incredibly lame oversexed lyrics to Half on a Baby, taken from an incredibly racist lyrics page.

"See di cocky and di come wine up
Turn round and come wine up
Mi nah diss you memba yuh up
Mi give you all my cocky and all my love
I wah buss ya memba nuh
I wah trust ya memba nuh
Me nah diss yuh memba nuh
Mi give ya all my cocky and all my love"

[rayword45]

Day 26: Tango In The Night by Fleetwood Mac (Album Choice: Daniel C.)

Before I review this, I want to tell you all, the Mountain Goats album All Hail West Texas was re-released today in remastered form (from crappy cassette tapes?). It comes with 7 bonus tracks, and the sound is actually cleaned up a lot! I say go listen to it. In the meantime, here's Fleetwood Mac.

I don't think this band needs much of an introduction, let's make it snappy. This is a British-American band who have sold over 100 million albums and have been active for over 45 years. Their album Rumours is in the top 7 all-time best selling albums. Which means it's a bit of a shock that I've heard no full albums, just singles. Never really felt like it, but now I have a reason to. This was released in the 80s, during their apparent "new wave" phase. And Fleetwood Mac doesn't need a goddamned prediction.

Also I will not be focusing while writing this review, I'll be trying to write other stuff. Thank you for understanding.

So, I guess New Wave is a vague term then, because this sounds more like spacy soft rock than any of the arty post-punk music or power pop structures I think of. This is soft vocals, light guitar and instead of synthesizers, string arrangements. Actually scratch that, there are synthesizers, but they are never abrasive nor highly prominent like most New Wave bands. There are several tracks where we do see more prominent synthesizers like Family Man, and some tracks with louder, punkier guitars as in Isn't It Midnight, but these all revert back to soft rock. But these guys ARE soft rock first and foremost I guess. That was their biggest success. When the synthesizers don't take the show, we have some nice string arrangements and good percussion (castanets for one). And I don't feel the need to write anymore, the album is over.

I'm tired, I have work tomorrow, so let me make this short. Everybody knows who Fleetwood Mac is. I only chose this album because everyone does and I could spare the intro. Which I didn't. Most people already have an opinion on this band, mine? I don't like soft rock. I've never heard their bluesy stuff but something tells me I'd like that more. Good night.

[rayword45]

Day 27: Kollossus of Makedonia by Hurra Torpedo (Album Choice: ToasterCubed)

Another band I know almost nothing about. These guys are from Norway, and they were in US Ford commercials that I don't remember. They play alternative rock. With a catch, alongside the usual bass/drums/guitar power trio instruments, (my mistake, guitar and bass/drums/drums trio) they use kitchen appliances in their music. That can either be incredibly awesome, horribly gimmicky, or flat out unnoticeable. I'm less concerned about understand the lyrics, but because the Norwegian word for Toxic is "giftig" I think I may be fine. A completely useless prediction that's already pretty much confirmed wrong: Incredibly speedy black metal with said kitchen utensils used as weapons.

It's worth noting, if you can't tell yet, bolded words means it's a song title, album title, or band name. And if you haven't deciphered that by now you suck so hard.

Well, we have a nice little experimental rock track with some pretty gutteral vocals. And then...Oh why, why didn't I predict this? I'm going to assume all the English titled songs are covers. Scratch that. But seriously, a Britney Spears cover? What the hell? And the sad thing is this guy is a worse singer than Britney Spears. It's still better, mind you, due to the complete lack of over-production, the heavier, rawer sound, and the fact I haven't heard this version 10000 times a decade ago. But seriously, he has the same amount of vocal talent as Ian Curtis. You know, that guy from Joy Division? I usually get a lot of flack for saying that guy was a crappy singer despite the fact that he could only hit 3% of the right notes pretending to be a baritone and sounded like that drunk dude doing karaoke wherever there is karaoke. I digress too much.

Anyways, back to the music. Ah yes, the utensils. There are times when the sound of utensils work, such as in the heavier Spencer, but for many other tracks (particularly softer tracks) you can only take so much of that tinny rattle before it gets on your nerves. To break it down, the punkier/heavier tracks like Handfast and Body use the kitchen appliances very well, making the songs seem heavier with the rattle of the spoons, the banging of the pots and pans, and I can't recognize anything else. The experimental tracks also work well, showing off their noisy talents best. For the soft songs, however, it just becomes annoying. Except for the covers. I only recognized 2 (there are 3) and they were both pretty entertaining. Stand-out track? Kald is one HELL of a closer! The racket caused by those spoons and pans with the ending screams, increase the guitar by a few dB and it'll blow up heads everywhere. After 9:02 of silence you get a bonus track. It sucks ass. But it makes for an entertaining novelty piece I guess.

I'm gonna take back what I said, this guy isn't nearly as off-key as Ian Curtis (except in Toxic and maybe 0yne), and I'm going to assume that's because he's singing in his normal range. I just wish the soft original songs didn't plague this album, they don't work too well with the unique percussion. I don't know how to recommend this album. Goddamn my throat is sore. I'll say stay for the louder tunes and covers (yes, even Toxic), and lower the volume for the quieter non-cover tunes. Because seriously, everything is overpowered when you turn the volume up real high on the utensils. That didn't even make any sense. You don't amplify spoons and pans, that might explain why the album sounds raw.

Time to make some tea.

[rayword45]

Day 28: This Couch is Long & Full of Friendship by Tiny Moving Parts (Album Choice: Zannat Z.)

This is the debut album of a band I know almost nothing about. Reportedly, they play emo, one of my most-maligned genres (talking about modern emo here). I chose this album because it was nice and short (10 tracks, a full 7 under 3 minutes) and I'm really running out of time. No matter how much I like or dislike this album, I can stick through 26 minutes. Really, I don't have much of a choice at this hour.

The ringing guitar at the beginning is nice, those vocals though. Remember that Minus The Bear band I reviewed a week ago or so? The guitar in this first song reminds me of them, very tappy, but the vocals are a lot angrier. I think they were going for a contrast effect, but it falls a bit flat. It continues onto the second song, and the third. Math rock-esque guitar and screamed, angsty lyrics. I like the former a lot, not so much the latter. Clouds Above My Head has some great guitar work behind nice rhythmic drumming, but the vocals still mar the song. I and II use a (sampled?) speech/spoken word bit, and they feature very hypnotic reversed guitar in the background. Big disappointment, why didn't they show off the guitar here? Now it just feels like 2.5 minutes of filler.

I couldn't find information about how long this album was on the internet (except some estimates) so I calculated it myself. Total runtime: 26:28. Subtract 2:24 for I and II which are solely "atmospheric tracks" AKA filler experimentalism on a non-concept album. 24:04. That's shorter than many EPs, and I feel like I'm sort of cheating. Meh, it's marked as an album so whatever. But anyways, the guitar work here is great, especially, as I said, Clouds Above My Head. My problem? The songs are mostly interchangable, and there's no real singing to be found. It's just a guy screaming, and then speaking, and then screaming again. If you like mathy guitar, this isn't bad at all, but this is another album that could do with some melodic si-

On second thought, I'm remembering many other emo/post-hardcore bands right now. No singing should ever touch this.

BONUS REVIEW:

David, the dude that sent me that Black Marble request has told me to watch an episode of the new Disney XD show, Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures. I'll be watching 5 minutes. And reviewing it IN REAL TIME.

0:00 This planet looks polluted as New York
0:42 Believe in ghosts? Are they talking about Santa Claus
0:47 Pac-Man is eating his pellets. You can't take drugs in school.
0:55 Overgrown lemon? And what the hell are you you uglyass deformed blue blob?
1:34 This theme song isn't so ba-
1:36 Oh come on.
2:43 They're called "Power Bombberries" and you ate them anyways?
2:51 Yes, they're awful. Good job not deciphering that from the name dipshit.
3:32 Maze? Thank you!
3:33 Realization: That's not a good concept for a cartoon
3:55 Urine jokes? Oh boy.
4:07 Yeah, enter the maze with Pac-Man. Great idea if you have a death wish involving a yellow blob on ecstacy eating you.
4:54 It's another dimension!
5:00 And stop. With images of actual ghosts on the screen.

The animation isn't that bad, and there actually seems to be some Pac-Man reference in here. The theme song is excruciating though, and Pac-Man's voice I'm used to thinking of as an adult. A drug-addicted adult. Seeing him as a kid eating said drugs as candy? Doesn't work for me.

[rayword45]

Day 29: The Unforgiving by Within Temptation (Album Choice: Sapphire XIII)

Within Temptation is a gothic/symphonic metal band on Roadrunner Records. This is a concept album and I don't have time to steal from Wikipedia/Allmusic for a description*today. Roadrunner Records is a hit-or-miss label for me, meaning I can't judge this band like I did for Rise Records. Symphonic Metal is another genre I'm not entirely familiar with. I predict something, I don't know, like a low-budget, far more symphonic Dream Theater? These guys aren't progressive metal but whatever. Please note that this review is being done mostly in a train station/food court on my smartphone. So if my writing sucks more than usual, blame public transportation.

This intro is symphonic (HOLY MOTHER OF GOD). And it's another female singer! If you can't tell I did absolutely no research on this album whatsoever. Apparently in order to understand this concept, I need to watch 3 short films and read a comic book. Fuck that. Quick Google search: A lot of comparisons to Evanescence. While I won't say that I disagree, there are some differences. This is a concept album, whereas Evanescence doesn't have the ability to write a concept album if the concept isn't "Amy Lee's 17th breakup". That and these guys are more symphonic (duh). That's all I got, I don't like Evanescence. I also learned in that quick Google search that this vocalist is untrained. In that aspect, this girl is not bad at all! At times her voice (along with everything else) comes off as a bit over-the-top, but still, for no training her singing is fairly impressive. And therein lies my main problem with this album. Everything seems painfully self-unaware. If things were a little less overblown on this album it would do much good for the music.

It's the end of the album. Another day, another day with a total lack of time. I like this girl's voice, I like the symphonic aspect to an extent, I think the rock instrumentation is decent. My main problem? Everything is overdone. The song structures, the emotion in the singing, the... Whatever. Name it and add "with a later of cheese". I don't doubt most of the people in this band have talent. I doubt that they know limitations. And according to that quick Google search, this is the LEAST over-the-top album... What the fu

[Coolboyrulez0]

Please Review Classical Mushroom by Infected Mushroom. Probably THE psytrance album. Would love your opinion on it.

[Wayward Vagabond]

these reviews are great

[rayword45]

Day 30: Melancholia by William Basinski (Album Choice: Choofers/ExExZero7497)

I'm splitting these 2 albums by the same artist into 2 different days. I barely have any haven't fucking connection or battery in the center of a New Hampshire state park. So let's describe now. William Basinski is an ambient music producer who focused mostly on tape manipulation. His best known work is The Disintegration Loops, a four-part ambient work. I was told to NOT listen to those because that actually requires a ton of focus. The two albums I'm going to review (in brief) are Melancholia and Nocturnes, in that order based on requests. This first one, Melancholia, is 14 tracks with no real names, just Melancholia (Rome numeral track number). I'm guessing each track is meant as a movement and this is one longass composition. It also has the lamest cover artwork I've ever seen, if that constitutes as artwork.

Wow, my mind was in a different world or something because I failed to write word for the first track. Better start. II and III are very similar and flow right into each other. VII is my choice of highlight, the simple repeating piano melody is quite haunting. VIII is also seemingly empty, with the sinister, windy noise and lo-fi tape crackle. Actually, most track are ambient windy noise and light piano. Scratch what I said about any particular highlight, that was bullshit. There isn't much to write track-by-track. Each track stands as an individual soundscape, with very minimalistic piano or cello. This entire paragraph was as useless as Paris Hilton's career.

So, how to describe this album? I don't listen to ambient of this style much. When I think of far more accessible ambient like Boards of Canada, I think of dying VCRs, early computers, and the pornographic films they sample. When I think of [b]Aphex Twin[b]'s ambient work, I think of vastly overrated garbage (not his later work though!). This album features a very icy, barren sound, akin to melting glaciers or snowy winter woodlands. The title is definitely fitting, this is a melancholy work. It also may come off as repetitive, though I found even the longer tracks didn't become tiresome. Longer being relative since the next album I'm going to listen could technically constitute as a single. I'll wait for tomorrow to decide my conclusive opinion on this album. By all means though, this is one chilling, airy listen, with great tape manipulation. It's extremely melancholy though, I need to listen to some upbeat music now.