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Old 06-30-2013, 12:50 PM   #1
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Default Daily Music Reviews (Recommend some fucking albums)

Recommend some fucking albums

I took a bet that every day of summer vacation I would listen to and review at least one new album. I'll just quote the rest from my Facebook because this challenge started 2 days ago.

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Starting June 28th (when summer vacation starts, at least at 10:33) and ending September 3rd (last day of vacation) I will try to listen to at least one new album every day (totals to at least 68 albums). I don't really have a reason for doing this. I just think it'll be fun and I want to broaden my musical taste. Here's a hint: That was a lie. First album is Repeater + 3 Songs by Fugazi. Please recommend any album you can.

Also, these are all unedited reviews so I probably sound stupid but whatever.
So yeah, I need some more albums because there are 66 days left (without 66 albums recommended) and I believe I should find people with some pretty eclectic tastes here (since this is a rhythm game forum, you know). So please give me some albums, preferably more obscure ones because I plan to review stuff I haven't heard already. Next 2 posts I'll give you a sample of my fairly mediocre writing.

List of albums reviewed

1. Repeater + 3 Songs by Fugazi
2. Immersion by Pendulum
3. Metaphorical Music by Nujabes
4. Alien Youth by Skillet (Aborted)
5. The Strange Case Of... by Halestorm
6. Hypnotize by System of a Down
7. A Different Arrangement by Black Marble
8. Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys
9. For Segregationists Only by Johnny Rebel (Aborted)
10. Amy MacDonald - Life In A Beautiful Light (mini)
11. Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music (mini)
12. Kelis - Flesh Tone (mini)
13. Shooter Jennings - Put The "O" Back in Country (mini)
14. Soundgarden - Superunknown (mini)
15. X - See How We Are (mini)
16. Bundle of Joy by Land of the Loops
17. Mixed Melodies EP by SourceForm (mini)
18. The Director's Cut by Fantomas
19. The Grey Album by Danger Mouse
20. Rescue and Restore by August Burns Red
21. Cult of Mictlan by Oral Fistfuck (mini)
22. The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy
23. Highly Refined Pirates by Minus The Bear
24. Until The Quiet Comes by Flying Lotus
25. Surtur Rising by Amon Amarth
26. The City EP by Madeon (mini)
27. Transformalin by Diagnose: Lebensgefahr
28. This Is Our Science by Astronautalis
29. For Now I Am Winter by Olafur Arnalds
30. Halycon Digest by Deerhunter
31. Soulbleed by Soulbleed
32. Dusk to Dawn by Emancipator
33. Tempel by Colour Haze
34. Rubenesque by Caligula
35. Black Diamonds by Issues
36. Ground Dweller by Hands Like Houses (I have a strong disdain for Rise Records)
37. Born to Die by Lana Del Rey
38. Kingston Story by Vybz Kartel
39. Tango In The Night by Fleetwood Mac
40. Kollossus of Makedonia by Hurra Torpedo
41. This Couch is Long & Full of Friendship by Tiny Moving Parts (with bonus review of Pac-Man TV Show)
42. The Unforgiving by Within Temptation
43. Melancholia by William Basinski
44. Nocturnes by William Basinski (with bonus review of High School USA)
45. Cheese by Stromae
46. Burzum by Burzum
47. You Can't Tell by Tartan Rascals
48. Demur by Kandma (mini) (with bonus review of Axe Cop)
49. Tattered Youth by Attention
50. Sounds Of The Universe by Depeche Mode
51. Figure 8 by Elliott Smith
52. Greatest Hits by Dave Koz
53. It Was Written by Nas
54. Hard To Be Up by Bangs (LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM)
55. Recovery by Eminem
56. Donuts by J Dilla
57. The White Apple by of Verona
58. This Binary Universe by BT
59. The Hass Effect by Electrocado
60. Not Even Once by Approaching Nirvana
61. Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy by The Refreshments
62. Classical Mushroom by Infected Mushroom
63. Good and Evil by Tally Hall
64. Commercial Album by The Residents
65. Surfer Rosa by Pixies
66. Opus Eponymous by Ghost
67. Cure for Pain by Morphine
68. Surfing the Void by Klaxons
lol. Pop Tatari by Boredoms
70. Brother, Sister by mewithoutYou
71. Gonglot by Frog Pocket
72. Udu Wudu by Magma
73. 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields (mini)
74. The First Disintegration Loop by William Basinski (mini)
75. #1 Record by Big Star (mini)
76. Fast Forward Eats The Tape by Belvedere (not counting The Freed Weed sentence review)
77. The Glow, Pt. 2 by The Microphones (mini)
78. Oh No by OK Go
79. Up In Flames by Caribou (mini)
80. Fevers and Mirrors by Bright Eyes (mini)
81. Piramida by Efterklang
82. Wonderful Rainbow by Lightning Bolt (mini)
83. Rusty by Rodan (mini)
84. Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement (mini)
85. Lateness of the Hour by Alex Clare
86. Play Hard EP by Krewella (mini)
87. GODLOMANMACHOPANZILLA by Computer Jesus Refrigerator
88. In The Court Of The Crimson King by Crimson King
89. Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits by Strong Bad (or Various) (Should've been a mini)
90. Akron/Family by Akron/Family (mini)
91. Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost by Shpongle
92. Vicious Delicious by Infected Mushroom (mini)
93. Soft Focus by Vanilla
94. October Language by Belong (mini)
95. Thank You Happy Birthday by Cage The Elephant
96. Brontosaurus by Da Vinci's Notebook
97. Castle Talk by Screaming Females
98. La Barca by Thomas Koner
99. cLOUDDEAD by cLOUDDEAD
100. The Wall by Pink Floyd
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Old 06-30-2013, 12:51 PM   #2
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Day 1: June 28 - Repeater + 3 Songs by Fugazi with a bonus addition of Dopesmoker by Sleep (which I listened to the day before the last day of school.)

Before I listen, here's what I know about Fugazi. They're a fairly famous 80s punk/post-hardcore band who were probably more famous for their $5 live shows and anti-music industry antics than their music. But their music is still critically acclaimed so it's all good. Now to listen.

While I begin listening, let me tell you about what I listened to yesterday, Dopesmoker by Sleep. This is an album that pretty much consists of one song that's 63 minutes. My fear was that I wouldn't enjoy it because it sounds like it would get boring. It did not get boring AT ALL despite being fairly repetitive. The solos were great along with the atmosphere. I feel no more need to write about the Weedian Chronicles so I'll now write about Repeater already.

First minute and I'm already surprised. This is way less inaccessible than I thought. I was expecting something like The Jesus Lizard but this is not that far off from other punk bands, though it isn't any Good Charlotte bullcrap or something like that. The feedback at the end of the first song is awesome. Second song is a bit noisier, and flows nicely into the third song which is an instrumental. No more track-by-track please. Or at least I'll try to avoid it. New paragraph.

9 songs in (yay for no track-by-track) and the formula basically seems to come down to political/working class lyrics (akin to Minutemen) with some jagged guitar work. The original last song (or fourth to last song here) in particular features some pretty awesome shouted vocals.

There are 3 songs which weren't on the first pressing, hence the "+ 3 Songs" bit. The first sonag is pretty similar to the majority of the first 11 songs. Then we have another instrumental and a short finale song which is a bit more aggressive than the other songs (besides the 11th track).

Overall, this is a pretty good album. The guitar work is pretty great. Dopesmoker is still better though. I should've saved that for the last day, an hour-long song would make an epic last album, no? It already did for the band.
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Old 06-30-2013, 12:51 PM   #3
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Day 2: June 29 - Immersion by Pendulum Album Choice: DoctorHax

I don't know too much about these guys. They play electro-rock and had a few songs in the game Mungyodance, including a remix (correction after googling: Mash-up) of sorts of Daft Punk's most famous song, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. I also heard the song Another Planet in 2008 and liked it but never bothered looking up another song. So here we go.

It took me a while to hit play for some reason, like several hours. Orchestral, soundtrack-esque intro with chiptune. Not bad thus far, liking the next couple of tracks. 2.5 tracks in and I'm interrupted. Crap.

A little over 4 hours later and I continue where I left off, 3 minutes into track 3. Track 4 is dubstep, a genre I'm not exactly partial to (read: Skrillex makes me want to van Gogh my ears and his live shows are the most worthless crap I've ever seen 2 minutes of). The interesting vocals work though. Up to track 9 and everything seems pretty versatile. Some songs are fast DnB, some songs are electro house (The Island Part 1 reminds me a bit of Swedish House Mafia), some songs are electro-rock and some songs are godawful ear-chafing headache inducing Dubstep. The Island Part II in particular gives me a killer migraine, which sucks when Part 1 was pretty decent.

The 2 tracks after the aforementioned Part II aren't much better to be honest. These attempts at metal come off at best as a cheesy attempt at Nine Inch Nails-esque industrial. At worst, they're a step above I Set My Friends On Fire. The last few songs improve on that by a longshot (except perhaps Self Vs Self, Death Metal and DnB is an effing weird combination) and the last song ends with some nice water effects after all the DnB/Metal/Whatever else to pound in your ears.

There's a deluxe version which adds over 70 minutes of audio (along with almost 50 minutes of video). There really is no reason for that to exist especially when 12 out of 13 tracks are remixes, as this album is already a bit overlong in my opinion. If you were to cut out the less enjoyable dubstep/metal tracks, you'd trim about 20 minutes and be left with a much nicer package of great DnB/Electro House tracks. As it is, this is a 6 or 7 out of 10 solely due to the smatterings of crap between the good music.
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Old 06-30-2013, 04:16 PM   #4
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

check out olafur arnulds - for now I am winter, really wonderful neo-classical music
(I'm gonna see him live in august omg)
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Old 06-30-2013, 04:20 PM   #5
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

August Burns Red released a new album recently, Rescue & Restore. I don't know if you're into metal, but I'd still highly recommend it.
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Old 07-1-2013, 12:01 PM   #6
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Day 3: June 30 - Metaphorical Music by Nujabes (Requested by Phillip Sossou)

Nujabes was a Japanese hip-hop producer who died in 2010 in a car crash. Despite being very critically acclaimed his works weren't reissued after his death meaning his works still cost over $50 on Amazon. Also, Phillip (the guy who requested this, if you haven't read the title) always wants to smack me whenever he brings this guy up because I mispronounce his name.

I expected jazz with hip-hop, and I got exac- BY GOD THESE SONGS ARE IN ENGLISH. Even after multiple warnings, I expected some guy to be rapping in Japanese. I mean come on, my guesses weren't completely baseless, the dude lived in Japan. Thank god I was wrong.

By the time I reach track 5, there seems to be a 1-2 formula for the track listing. Smooth jazz with hip-hop drums, and then smooth jazz with hip-hop drums and some guy rapping. By track 7, he broke the chain (2 instrumentals!). Track 8, Think Different, may be the most hilariously pussyfied diss track I've ever heard. After that, there seems to be more of an emphasis on instrumentals, with some occasional spoken word or samples. The last track, Peaceland, is a particularly soothing smooth jazz piece with some glitch influence.

This album has some pretty awesome instrumentals to it, but a few tracks feel a bit too stretched out. Overall though, it's a nice mixture of rap and easy listening. I'm not a big hip-hop person but I can recommend it for the instrumental tracks alone. My main conclusion? I need new headphones because these are starting to break. Also, Nujabes was a great producer with some really good jazzy beats and a career cut short, though my favorite producer of this genre is still Danger Mouse. That gives me an idea for July 7. I think I'll do a double that day.
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Old 07-1-2013, 09:30 PM   #7
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Day 4: Alien Youth by Skillet

I remember hating on Skillet when I was a few years younger, on the basis that Christian Metal is an alien concept to me and that I found their music really bland. I'm about to switch away from my Dinosaur Jr just to listen to this and see how my opinions have changed.

The dudes voice sort of annoys me... And what are these lyrics? Jesus domination? I had to turn down the volume after 2 minutes. Kept going. More lyrical oddities. See a whole nation living without sin? I had to give up after 3 tracks. This gives me the idea of Nickelback becoming born-again Christians and then attempting heavier songs with a slightly more talented vocalist. And a better guitarist who can play more than 3 power chords. And superior drums. That's not really Nickelback at that point though so I don't know where the reminder comes from. Maybe it's the bassline? Who gives a damn cause I'm still stopping after 3 songs (which is what I would do if I were to review Nickelback). Perhaps I should've listened to people and waited for A. the softer songs or B. female vocals, but I already have had enough I think. Either it's the heat, or this album is giving me a headache. I'm gonna go listen to those jazzy Nujabes instrumentals and move onto the next album once my head clears. In the mean time, click on this link and look for Family Force 5 if you want anymore of my opinion on this.

MISSION ABORTED. TRY AGAIN.

Day 4: The Strange Case Of... by Halestorm (Album Choice: TwistedChaos95)

After listening to some Nujabes and Aphex Twin and turning on the AC, I'm ready for more Metal music. Ambient music makes a good palate cleanser and that heat was killing me. I know absolutely NOTHING about this band so wish me luck. I do know this is the shortest album yet at 40:29, and that they play alt. metal and post-grunge. That's about it.

The first 2 songs are pretty decent. The guitar can be boring at times, but when they get experimental it's a lot better. The (female) singer's growly deep voice somehow reminds me of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. I'm not keen on it being in metal, I keep thinking "why isn't this noise rock?" Hopefully that will change.

The uneasiness with the singer continued, then track 5 hits, and I'm far more enamored with the vocals then before, and that trend seems to continue onto track 6. Track 7, Break In, is a piano ballad. Totally unexpected, but it further highlights the vocal talent. In the middle of this song, I've come to the conclusion that the vocalist is best with soft songs. A touch of acoustic guitar, this is probably my choice of album highlight, if only because I'm beginning to grow a fondness for The Dresden Dolls. American Boys is another highlight with a vague bit of a Southern Rock, ZZ Top feel. Vague I must repeat.

These bonus tracks mean my point is moot. They seem to be the same. Another hard rocker/metal track, another piano ballad turned to hard rock/metal, and another one with the longest solo on the album. I don't feel like reviewing this part. Everything I've said and will say applies.

I definitely prefer this album over Skillet. The girls voice was shaky at first, but later on became the main thing separating this alt. metal band from many others. The instrumentation can get boring at times, but when they take it in a different direction it's a lot more appealing. Overall, it's an inoffensive, average alt. metal/post-grunge album brought to much higher territory with the power of a female vocalist, something sorely lacking in this genre. They could do with some more interesting guitar work though.

I'm going to take a nap now, because I still have a headache. Christ.
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Old 07-1-2013, 09:50 PM   #8
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Any of these :

Colour Haze - Tempel
Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
Iceage - You're Nothing
Kandma - Demur
Fire! Orchestra - Exit!

edit : do you consider giving a rating for each review ?

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Old 07-2-2013, 08:53 PM   #9
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edit : do you consider giving a rating for each review ?
Not really, no. I feel like ratings either seem redundant (such as with Allmusic, where everything is a 3-4 out of 5) or inaccurate to the point of being either unjust (Based on Wikipedia, Piero Scaruffi) or further useless (Mark Prindle). Perhaps in the future I will, I still have at least 63 albums after this one.

NOTE: This entire review is a rewrite because my computer crashed on me after letting it sit unposted for several minutes.

Day 5: Hypnotize by System of a Down (Album Request: CJ101)

System of a Down is an Alt. Metal band that is often compared to Tool. Both play alt. metal with a heavy dose of experimentation. Both became popular in the mid-late 90s and have at least one triple platinum album. Both are often called "overrated" or "pretentious", likely because they don't play arena rock. And most importantly, both are bands I only know from Guitar Hero/Rock Band songs. I'm out of it I know.

Also, these guys come from the same place as the Kardashians, but have an entirely different market and appeal (no breasts on these guys).

First song is almost exactly what I expected based on Rock Band songs, and that continues for the next few songs. There's a formula for the majority of the songs: Speed metal, soft section, in-between, back to speed metal. Vary as desired, rinse and repeat. Obviously, this isn't so limited as to every song sounding the same, but it does add a level of predictability. I've already given up on understanding the lyrics.

The guitar is often boring but shows some improvement when experimentation is used. The vocalist I swear is often attempting to sing for a novelty act. Songs like Kill Rock & Roll feature some bizarre singing styles, and oftentimes the lyrics appear as juvenile humor, especially in songs like Vicinity of Obscenity (Banana Terracotta Pie? What the hell is tha- OH I GET IT it's one of those "food innuendo" songs. Because we all know what a banana looks like but what the heck is a terracotta pie? Quick Google search shows me it's... a ceramic? Who eats ceramic pie? Should've said panna cotta pie except nobody really makes that either). She's Like Heroin seems to be about drug-addicted hookers and features both humorous aspects of earlier songs. And if you can't tell, I can sort of understand the lyrics now. Lonely Day MUST be tongue-in-cheek, I can't take any song that says "most loneliest" seriously.

I originally finished around 10:37 A.M. and decided to give it an extra skimover at 12:50. I gathered any further thoughts.

-Attack vaguely reminds me of Arab on Radar. That band sucks.
-The guitar is a bit better then I gave it credit for. But the occasional experimental bits still reign over the speed metal sections.
-Vocals are a mixture of manic shouts, melodic singing and occasional pure bizarrity, like in songs like She's Like Heroin

I can't conclude much about this album. It's not really my type of metal but if you like whatever this can be classified as then I'd say it's a pretty fine album in-and-out. It's not what I think of as experimental metal (I think of Mr. Bungle or Dog Fashion Disco) but I wouldn't call it nu-metal (it deserves better than the same tag as Limp Bizkit). Whatever you tag it is, give it a try and maybe you'll like it. No matter your opinion, it's still better than Kim Kardashian.

Also, as a note, if you're a fan of this band I recommend you check out Psychostick (whom EVERYONE on this damn site should know at this point). Stylistically they're quite different but I still think there's a degree of cross appeal. Compare Prozak Milkshake to Lonely Day. That's all I have for a comparison actually.
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Old 07-2-2013, 09:16 PM   #10
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Gonna create a short list, review the ones you want (if i understand this correctly)
cannonball adderley - cannonball and coltrane, amon amarth - Surtur rising, madeon - the city EP, OK Go - oh no, phaeleh - the cold in you
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Old 07-3-2013, 07:30 PM   #11
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Day 6: A Different Arrangment by Black Marble (Album Choice: David H.)

This album was described to me as "chill" and was obscure enough to the point that the only MP3 download I could find (not screwing around with FLACs) was on What.CD. David this better be worth my ratio. This album was described on there as Synthpop, darkwave, minimalist and indie. David describes it as chill, I said that before. Also of note is that these guys have less then a full hour of recorded content publicly available. If I like it, that's a shame.

This guys voice reminds me of Stephen Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, if Stephen Merritt mumbled more. The vocals are set low in the mix, allowing us to focus on the instruments. Minimally used guitar and bass compliments the synths well. Unfortunately, not all the synths stay interesting. At times the album as a whole feels a bit on the repetitive side, however the artists were smart enough the keep the album short (at 36:55) and not outwear their welcome.

Being a short, linear album, I can summarize this pretty quickly. There's a heavy 80s vibe to this album, but everybody considers the music of the 80s to suck balls. So imagine a softer Kraftwerk (70s) with The Magnetic Fields (90s) and you have a decent idea of what this album is like. It's good chillout music but could use a little variety.

And holy crap this is a short review. Ah well, I'm writing a load tomorrow to make up for that.
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Old 07-3-2013, 07:52 PM   #12
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Review this album

Diagnose Lebensgefahr - Transformalin
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Old 07-3-2013, 08:15 PM   #13
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Love the reviews so far and how you seem to write down your thoughts as you progress through the album. Fun read

Random list, mostly recent, hope something below interests you :

Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky
Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
Karkwa - Les Chemins de Verre
Danimal Cannon and Zef - Parallel Processing
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third
Terminal 11 - Self-Exorcism
Streetlight Manifesto - The Hand That Thieves
The Ocean - Pelagial
BT - This Binary Universe
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
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Old 07-4-2013, 03:17 AM   #14
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Review this album

Diagnose Lebensgefahr - Transformalin
I really hope you review this because its actually a serious request. So far everyone that has heard it has(understandably) been turned off by it enough to stop listening to it.
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Old 07-4-2013, 04:51 AM   #15
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Old 07-4-2013, 12:29 PM   #16
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"Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes" Would be an interesting one for you to do.
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Old 07-4-2013, 12:35 PM   #17
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond View Post
I really hope you review this because its actually a serious request. So far everyone that has heard it has(understandably) been turned off by it enough to stop listening to it.
Is this a deliberately bad request or do you actually like it? I've gotten plenty of deliberately bad requests on Facebook (fuck BOTDF) but this is a unique one.


Day 7: God Bless 'Murica! Multiple Reviews by Multiple Artists

It's Independence Day in the US, and for that reason I decided to do more than one review today.

The Beach Boys are often called "America's Band" so I chose them as my first review for the 4th of July. The only album anybody cares about by them is Pet Sounds, which I have yet to listen to (again, I'm out of it) and is of seriously legendary status (being in almost every top albums list). I don't feel the need to write much about these guys, though an interesting fact is that despite writing 532 songs about surfing only one actually surfed. I've also read several reviews where albums I like (OK Computer, Loveless, The Soft Bulletin) are called the "Pet Sounds of the 90s". Time to catch up.

This is very different from all the surfy Chuck Berry derivative songs the Beach Boys made early in their career, but that's to be expected. The layered sound adds texture and the different array of instruments shows the painstaking effort that went into making this record. That's what every freaking review says. I'll say that the singles still stand as some of the best baroque pop ever made, with good usage of instruments like harpsichords, glockenspiel, bells, mandolin, and dogs. Many non-single tracks like Don't Talk and the 2 instrumentals also stand as great psychedelic tracks. If I have any complaints about this album, it would be that VERY RARELY the orchestra sounds a bit dated and the lyrical content drones on and on about Brian Wilson's love/lost love, but that's alleviated with some tracks not about said lost love (or at least very cryptically about lost love) like Sloop John B and I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.

This was a fairly pointless review, as every reviewer ever known to man has already reviewed this album and given it a 10. I'm kinda scared that I'll be shot just for having any complaints at all. So my final note is, I can definitely see the comparisons to The Soft Bulletin and maybe OK Computer, but how the hell does this strike a comparison to My Bloody Valentine? Layered sound means nothing when it's this different.

Alright, next review.

For Segregationists Only by Johnny Rebel (Album Choice: Abu)

I know of Johnny Rebel mainly through an episode of The Boondocks. Ah, Uncle Ruckus never ceases to amuse me. Basically, this guy sings racist country songs. And what represents the USA better than racism and slavery?

This seems like your basic country, with a nasal singer, marching band-esque percussion and generic, walking guitar. The lyrical content is slightly amusing at how bigoted it is, but the shtick gets old far too quickly. Unadulterated racism no longer retains any shock value thanks to the media, so this is just generic C/W music with juvenile racist lyrics.

I wasn't able to listen to this whole album. Not because of the subject matter, but because it's so BLAND in terms of music. Dave Chappelle pulled this joke off better in a third of the time, and he's not white. If this music is to be taken seriously... Well, I'm not a white supremacist (or even white for that matter) so that's an impossible task. And if you were to change the lyrical matter to what every other country song sings about (ie; tractors, love, rural life, actual patriotism, cousin love) then this music would have less flavor than tofu extract. This is why I'm not vegan.

MISSION ABORTED. AND DELETED FROM MY PHONE IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE IT'S PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP THIS ON YOUR PHONE.

For the last thing I'll do to velebrate the 4th of July, I went on Wikipedia and looked up to see how many albums there were that contained a song titled "4th of July". Now I shall review them all (with number ratings!) very briefly, based on only a couple of songs each.

1. There's a band named "Fourth of July" but I couldn't find their albums anywhere except YouTube, and I'm not listening to albums on YouTube at the moment. X/10

2. Amy MacDonald - Life In A Beautiful Light: This is a Scottish folk-pop singer. This is too much on the pop side for my liking. For a folk album, there's an odd electronic feel to this album. Meh, it's inoffensive. The Fourth of July track is especially boring. 6/10

3. I skipped the Beach Boys. I just reviewed them, and I'm not rummaging through a whole box set to hear a Fourth of July song. No rating/10

4. Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music: I read about this band before, they're described as dream pop and slowcore. There are a few bands I like that are described as dream pop, like Yo La Tengo and the aforementioned MBV. This is not nearly as slow as I expected, with a mixture of spoken word and poor singing. This is much softer then every other dream pop/shoegaze band I've listened to, and I'm not fond of the singing. Still, I'm gonna give this one a bit of a recommendation. It's better than Amy Macdonald. 8/10

5. Kelis - Flesh Tone: The cover art scares me. But the music isn't scary, it's bland electro-pop music. Screw this. 3/10

6. Shooter Jennings - Put The "O" Back in Country: Guess what kind of music this is! It's considerably better then Johnny Rebel's crap (probably because there's more rock and less white supremacy), but doesn't feel special in any way at all. Busted in Baylor County (Sweet Leaf Version) is probably my choice for stand-out, but Butthole Surfers with Sweat Loaf beat this in terms of Black Sabbath derivatives. 5.5/10

7. Soundgarden - Superunknown: This is the only album on here I've listened to the entirety of. I love Soundgarden (Not Chris Cornell's solo work) but I'm one of the few who doesn't think this is their best work (Down on the Upside is better). The 4th of July track here is murky and about acid. It's a definite standout track. 9/10

8. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire: Wait, aren't these guys from Ireland? Why should I review this? I don't wanna listen to U2. Yes I realize I've already reviewed a Scottish Folk singer but I don't care. Screw You/10

9. X - See How We Are: This is a classic punk rock band that I've never listened to. At this point I'm too lazy to give this a full review or even a serious rating. If you like punk rock, 7/10. If you don't like Punk Rock, you suck.
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Old 07-4-2013, 12:47 PM   #18
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Lmfao, BOTDF
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Old 07-4-2013, 12:50 PM   #19
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

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Is this a deliberately bad request or do you actually like it? I've gotten plenty of deliberately bad requests on Facebook (fuck BOTDF) but this is a unique one.
I actually like it. ive listened to the album from beginning to end four times since i came across it and every time it brings chills down my spine. its a really intense album
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Old 07-5-2013, 10:35 PM   #20
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Default Re: Daily Music Reviews (Summer Challenge)

Day 8: Bundle of Joy by Land of the Loops (Album Choice: Lord of Sushi) WITH A BONUS REVIEW

Land of the Loops is the alias of recording artist Alan Sutherland. He makes music for commercials as well as loop-heavy indierock-influenced electronica. I know very little about this guy, I specifically chose this request because it was listed as obscure. I've been saying how often my predictions were right or wrong, so I'll say my prediction before listening: Negativland meets The Flashbulb (they listed him as breaks, I don't know many breakbeat artists so I just used an IDM example)

Turns out I was about 70% right. There is an overall similarity to Negativland, but many key differences. There's less overall sampling, more respect for musical elements (such as heavy drum usage, actual singing, actual melodies), and no social commentary whatsoever. There still is humor to be found in the samples however, with tracks like Multi-Family Garage Sale using vintage movie samples for dadaist humor. That other half of my guess though, it was WRONG. I don't see how this is classified as breaks. Nothing here reminds me much of Aphex Twin, The Flashbulb, Venetian Snares or anyone else who makes drum-heavy electronic music.

So what should it be classified as? That varies. A few tracks like I Dream Of Ghosts and Mass. Ave. And Beyond are basically downtempo with some samples on top. (Imagine Boards Of Canada's cousin that recieves welfare.)Some songs are pop/twee pop with hip-hop drums, like Cruisin' For Sentient Beings and Heidi Cakes. The rest are Negativland-esque sound collages with... You know what I'll say it because I don't have a better term, breaks (hypocrite!) and some other instruments.

At 58:58, Bundle Of Joy seems to be another electronic album that goes on longer than it needs to. Many tracks like Mathematical Park go on for more time than they need to, and at times the album seems unfocused. Considering some of my favorite artists RELY on being unfocused like Mr. Bungle and Beck I don't really have the right to complain but I don't give a damn. All these complaints are more petty then I make them seem, this is still a pretty decent album. And I'm going to end this in a very half-butted manner because I have 45 minutes left after my computer deleted my review (A SECOND TIME! IN LESS THEN A WEEK!). Also, I looked it up and turns out breakbeat is a much more versatile term then I expected. Hooray for being wrong!

Bonus review time!

Today's bonus review is another obscure one, Mixed Melodies EP by SourceForm (also known as Connconn7), requested by Sourceform/Connconn7. For further notice, if people want me to review their music, I'd like them to remember this Mark Prindle quote:

"I can't promise a POSITIVE review, but I can promise that I won't give you a grade lower than a 1."

With that quote in mind, I'm gonna give this a number rating since it's a mini-review. So here we go.

An important (but subjective) part of track order. DO NOT put a remix right after the original track. This is especially important in electronic music, where things can get repetitive quickly. Do a reprise instead, prevents possible burnout/track skip. It worked for The Beatles, it worked for Frank Zappa, it should work for you. I will say, a simple BPM change made the remix a lot more engaging.

Intro (Half) is my track of choice. Good build-up and short but not too brief overall. Unless it's actually a half track. Other then that, this is basically your average acid techno. So I don't know what number to give it. Whatever.

/10

I finished this with a half-hour to go. TAKE THAT, CRAPPY CRASHING COMPUTER!

Here's a free download to the bonus review EP: http://soundcloud.com/sourceform/set...d-melodies-ep/
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