An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

(shoutouts to noname, YMIA and rayword)

So I've promised myself to listen to 300 new albums this year in the beginning of the year. Turns out that I already met the 2/3 mark 4 months in. So, I wanted to try listening to 365 more albums - a total of 565 albums in one year. This also means that I'll be listening to 365 more albums in 8 months. I can't say with full confidence that I'll be able to do this, but I'll try anyway.

I have a few problems though - one of them is which I really don't have that many albums to pick from. As much as RYM is a great tool for finding new music, I can only find so much before I burn out. Not to mention I'll tend to venture in only one side of the music spectrum, so I wouldn't be able to find more genres that I enjoy.

That's where you guys come in. Recommend me albums, EPs and soundtracks, and I'll give them a listen. Any genre would do, but I do have certain distastes and preferences. You can recommend as many albums as you want, but I'll give a higher priority to the first 10 albums that you've listed. I'm not looking for specific genres, but an eclectic range of genres would be nice. Just no Bull of Heaven. Although the thread title does say "365 Album Challenge", I won't stop taking recommendations even after I reach 365 album recommendations. I'll give the albums a listen regardless, but I can't say that I'll listen to it this year unless I'm really inclined to.

This is a list of genres that I'm partial to, both negatively and positively:


> Albums Recommended

Since it has a challenge that I've been doing since the beginning of the year, I'll start my reviews today (May 2nd, 2014). I can't say that it'll have the same quality/length as a professional critic's, but I'll try to remain generally clear.

Ratings
I don't have an arbitrary list of criteria that should be met in order to get a rating. My ratings are determined by how much I liked the album. My average rating has been around 5.9/10, mainly because I generally find music that I like - so take it as you will. I rarely give 1s, 2s, 9s and 10s and I'll increase/decrease ratings accordingly if I listen to the album more.

10 - Masterpiece
9 - Fantastic
8 - Excellent
7 - Great
6 - Decent
5 - Average
4 - Mediocre
3 - Bad
2 - Awful
1 - Abysmal

Reviews (in chronological order)
I'll try to go for two albums a day, but there are times in which I will burn out and listen to only one or none at all. I'll make up for it by listening to three or more albums.

Format
- Every day, I'll usually pick an album in my backlog (basically albums that I want to listen to but haven't gotten around to yet) and an album in the recommendations list.
- If you recommended an album that was supposedly in my backlog, I won't add it in my recommendations list, but it will have higher priority.
- If you recommend an album that I've already listened to, I'll tell you that I've listened to the album already and I'll give you my thoughts. These don't count as reviews.







I think that covers everything, so shoot.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

cuz rock

1. Delain - April Rain
2. Winger - Karma
3. Boston - Boston
4. Firehouse - Firehouse
5. Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. Whitesnake - Greatest Hits
7. Kiss - Sonicboom
8. Halestorm - The Strange Case Of...
If you can find them:
9. James Durbin - Memories of a Beautiful Disaster
10. Saigon Kick - The Lizard

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

oh

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

also, google doc is lockd

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Fixed

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

man now my summer album thingy seems like pussy shit with all these year long dudes

Dopesmoker - Sleep
69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields
The Pod - Ween

Okay the obligatory is out of the way.

Hard To Be Up - Bangs
Locust Abortion Technician - Butthole Surfers
Like Flies On Sherbet - Alex Chilton
Smiley Smile and Wild Honey (with bonus tracks) - The Beach Boys (This is a compilation of two very short albums)
Meat Puppets (Deluxe Edition) - Meat Puppets (The one on Spotify is the deluxe)
Lightning Bolt (with Zone) - Lightning Bolt
Rain In England - Lil B

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Mostly diversified but I've got some french goodies in there that I'll keep on top:

Malajube - Trompe-l'oeil
La Dispute - Wildlife
Bâton Rouge - Fragments d'eux-mêmes
Alameda 3 - Późne królestwo
Colour Haze - Colour Haze
Karkwa - Le volume du vent
Built to Spill - Keep it Like a Secret
Clark - Totems Flare (or Clarence Park if you already heard it)
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen
Misteur Valaire - Friterday Night

Caribou - Andorra
Gospel - The Moon is a Dead World
Moving Mountains - Pneuma
Analog Rebellion - Ancient Electrons
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (And Around in Your Heart and on Through Your Blood)
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Alias Conrad Coldwood - OFF Original Soundtrack

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added all album recommendations to this point. I didn't include the OFF Original Soundtrack because I wanted to listen to the soundtrack for a while now, but I haven't gotten to it. I'll probably review that soundtrack within the next few days.

Just added a couple of notes regarding suggestions and reviews in general:
You could look at the music I've listened to here: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection...ffect/r0.5-5.0

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Midicronica - #501
Damu The Fudgemunk ‎– Overtime
Damu The Fudgemunk ‎– How It Should Sound Volume 2
Total Science ‎– Street Level E.P.
Akufen - My Way
Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll
Masterplan - Aeronautics

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

i'm almost certain eze has listened to this

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

only have one recommendation but it's better than everyone elses

Various Artists - Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center 1961–1973

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

um dude its fking princeton

ofc they're The ebest

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added Choof and Gamma's albums.
Nope, I haven't.

@CBR: added

Anyway:
May 2nd, 2014
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Underdrawing For Three Forms Of Unhappiness At The State Of Existence by My Dead Girlfriend

My Dead Girlfriend is a shoegaze band from Japan, and Underdrawing For Three Forms of Unhappiness at the State of Existence is their third EP. The album itself feels more like a j-pop rock album with shoegaze elements, which isn't really a bad thing. I could imagine those two to fit really well, given that there aren't too many general flaws.

Have to admit that the title really misled me, this is incredibly upbeat and the vocals are incredibly twinkly. The instrumentation is pretty good and some of the moments really shine. The latter half of Nasty Mayor Daughter and 桜花 as a whole are incredibly catchy, for example. I can't speak as highly regarding the vocals however. The vocals just feel like they're overlapping the instrumentation rather than complimenting it for the most part - the title track shows this problem the most, but it's rather prominent in most of the tracks in the album.

The tracks are pretty diverse in terms of atmosphere, but inconsistent in quality. Aki no Hachiouji which is incredibly melancholic but at the same time so hopeful - which is a really beautiful juxtaposition. On the other hand, tracks like Scyscraper Kills My Ghost in Your Memories and ヴァンデミエールの頭 are forgettable because of how little they try to stand out and faze me - they just feel like fillers overall.

I think my biggest problem with this is that it just isn't ambitious enough. They just feel rather generic, for lack of a better term. There are a couple of other albums such as Mikgazer Vol. 1 which have done better, both in instrumentation and vocals, so the EP as a whole is generally forgettable.

Decent release. They have potential for sure, but I want them to be more experimental so that they could stand out more. Perhaps a thicker sound? I could imagine the vocals complimenting the instrumentation a lot more than it does now.

Album Highlights: Aki no Hachiouji
Track Average Rating: 3.17/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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April Rain by Delain (recommended by rushyrulz)

Symphonic metal, hmm..

Symphonic metal is a subgenre that I haven't really ventured too much yet. I generally remember listening to Nightwish a lot and thinking that they were fantastic, but they haven't aged well. Albums like Wishmaster and Oceanborn feel bland, but their more ambitious/varied works like Imaginaerum still remain excellent. Because of that, I moved away from the symphonic metal genre, since I don't think there would be many symphonic metal albums that I'd enjoy.

Anyway, back to the album. Instrumentation and song-writing are good - Virtue and Vice and Go Away's instrumentations are excellent. The overall instrumentation does feel too safe and unvaried though, feels like I've already listened to this from another symphonic metal band (it even has the obligatory metal ballad). Seems to be a general problem with metal albums as a whole though, so it doesn't detract too much from my enjoyment.

But... the vocals. They're so unfitting - Charlotte's vocals specifically. You have epic (pardon the word) instrumentals and all, then you have the vocalist - the forefront of the band, not producing the same amount of energy. It doesn't translate well, weakens the overall atmosphere and detracts from my overall enjoyment. There are some moments that her vocals fit well with the general song (Start Swimming), but as a whole I think she's pulling the album down. A classically trained vocalist would be much better for an album like this. The backing vocalist is decent, nothing too special.

I'm not saying that Charlotte is a bad vocalist by any means, her tones are decent and she's generally in tune. She just doesn't fit with something as cinematic as symphonic metal. Someone like Tarja (or male vocalists in general) would make the album fantastic, but as it is I think I would be prefer an instrumental album a lot more.

Nothing spectacular, there's obviously room for improvement. I could imagine anyone who's really into symphonic metal to enjoy this though.

Album Highlights: Virtue and Vice
Track Average Rating: 2.73/5
Overall Rating: 5/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Kollegah - Bossaura
Kollegah - Kollegah
Seven Lions - Polarize EP
Skrillex - Recess
Nero - Welcome Reality
The Tuss - Rushup Edge
Wisp - HumpelndenBEATS
Last Step - 1961
The Glitch Mob - Drink the Sea
Bogdan Raczynski - Samurai Math beats

Yes I'm serious -- if you heard any of these I'll replace them asap

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

also Silversun Pickups - Swoon (just as good if not better than Carnavas imo)

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Black Earth
The Cinematic Orchestra - Every Day
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…..
Ground Zero - Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28
The Haxan Cloak - Excavation
Jon Hopkins - Immunity
Oceansize - Frames
Portishead - Dummy
Ulver - Perdition City

And more :
Amon Tobin - Permutation
Austin Wintory - Journey™: Original Soundtrack From the Video Game
Beach House - Bloom
DJ Rashad - Double Cup
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Marc Leclair - Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes
Radiohead - OK Computer (know you already rated, I want to know what you think of it)
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Silencer - Death - Pierce Me
Swans - To Be Kind (wait until it's officially released)

Btw, really happy you liked Alcest.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

i will gladly take the title of hipster when it comes to music

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Fennesz - Black Sea
Fennesz - Endless Summer
Utabi - Manchurian Candy
Rustie - Glass Swords
Clark - Turning Dragon
Clark - Iradelphic
Freddy Todd - Painting in a Silent Eternity
Migos - Y.R.N.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Government Plates - Death Grips
One - C418
LARP of Luxury - Eyeliner
Plantasia - Mort Garson
札幌コンテンポラリー - 情報デスクVIRTUAL
Galactic Melt - Com Truise
Dreams 3D - Internet Club
Scarlet EP - Scarlet
Shader - Sacred Tapestry
05 Fuck Em - Lil B

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added.

I think my rating was partially influenced by the absurdly high rating it had on RYM (4.24/5?). I just think that it's nothing overly special - just pleasant alternative rock. I couldn't get into the album at all (aside from Let Down), there's usually one factor or another that just drives me away from the songs - generally the vocals or the instrumentation. I can completely understand the appeal though, but it's just something that doesn't click with me and I don't think it would for a while.

My actual rating is probably more towards 3/10 more than 2/10, but eh.

And yeah, Alcest is pretty good. I should get to Shelter eventually...

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

nice

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

arkuski do you listen to music you actually enjoy

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

That's pretty much what it is, an accessible and pleasant alternative rock album with a high replay value that everyone could like. There's nothing groundbreaking in it. I do prefer songs from The Bends though.

Les Discrets is pretty good too, you should check it out.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

@choof, my thoughts exactly. :\

Oh, that's just because I have Carnavas in physical edition. Otherwise I'd probably have put both, but I don't suggest the same artist twice. But shush, you, the first is always better!!

Also, Eze, I like this double review format a lot.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Kid606 - PS I Love You
Kid606 - The Soccergirl EP
Cex - Role Model
Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy

i wouldnt be surprised if u heard these already eze but im just gonna throw them out there anyway

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

hi hello here's a list

Ambient/Synth:
Bersarin Quartett - Bersarin Quartett (lidar, lidar 002)
Mitch Murder - Current Events (Self-Released, no cat#)
Alaska in Winter - Space Eagle (the motion picture soundtrack) (Self-Released, no cat#)
Flashworx - Futurisma EP (Self-Released, no cat#)
V.A. - Psyvariar ''The Mix'' (EGG MUSIC, EMCA-0004)

Breaks/DnB:
V.A. - Ultrasound (Hospital Records, NHS004CD)
Missile Chewbacca - Landing Clash (Ravaq Records, RR-007)
V.A. - Sortie (Styling Records, STCL-9001)
SmileHunters - strawberry cheese cracker (Ravaq Records, RR-004)
サイケアウツ - Black List -Ultimate Classics- (ZMOR, ZMR-001)

Hardcore:
V.A. - Hardcore Underground 4 (Hardcore Underground, HUCD003)
V.A. - Worldwide Freeform (Rebuild Music, RBMCD01)
V.A. - The Audio Damage Allstars LP (Audio Damage, ADLP 001)
高速音楽隊シャープネル - アタック ザ シャープネル (Sharpnelsound, SRPC-0004A-B) (In proper quality, not the 160kbps rip that's floating around!)
The DJ Producer - Operation Obliterate - A Collection Of Industrial Love Songs (Psychik Genocide, PKGCD45)

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Which albums in particular make you think I don't enjoy the music I listen to?

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Young Galaxy - Ultramarine
DIANA - Perpetual Surrender
CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
Brazilian Girls - Talk to La Bomb
YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN - YT//ST
Rasputina - Frustration Plantation
That Handsome Devil - A City Dressed in Dynamite
Austra - Feel It Break
Jupiter - Juicy Lucy
Digitalism - Idealism
Entertainment for the Braindead - Hydrophobia
Kyoto Jazz Massive - Spirit of the Sun



woop

I tried to give you a good variety of different stuff

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Figure I'd just copy and paste my recommendations from noname's thread here.

* Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
* DJ SHARPNEL & V.A. - OTAKUSPEEDVIBE [SRPC-0030]
* GAME FREAK - Pokémon X & Pokémon Y Super Music Collection
* Igorrr - Hallelujah (because Cowboys From Hell has already been recommended)
* Tool - 10,000 Days
* Tool - Lateralus
* V.A. - Dark Side [DCRPS044]
* V.A. - Princess Ghibli - Imaginary Flying Machines
* V.A. - Princess Ghibli II - Imaginary Flying Machines
* Venetian Snares - The Chocolate Wheelchair Album

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

yo dawg, do you mind sending me over some albums that are as good as the other ~you-know~ stuff, I barely check forums anymore

t.hanks

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Your spreadsheet is missing Meat Puppets Deluxe by Meat Puppets

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Birthday request - LegitMusicProducer: Merry Chrismas (post/cloud)

I'll think of 9 more eventually, GL!

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added up to this point.
OTAKUSPEEDVIBE - Very inconsistent as a whole, Over The Fullereneshift is probably my favourite Sharpnel track ever but there's a lot of other tracks that bog down my experience. It's better than most Sharpnel releases, but it suffers from the same problem that other Sharpnel albums do. They only have one or two standout tracks, and the others just seem boring in comparison. I gave that a 6/10 I think.

Hallelujah - I'm not really a fan of Igorrr's works. I do like some tracks in Tendon (Unpleasant Sonata), but as a whole they feel rather bland despite how insane the tracks are. Hallelujah shows the problem the most, I feel. Every track feels like the same with some small variations here and there - doesn't really help that none of the tracks really held my attention either. That's what I remembered anyway, maybe I have to give it another listen in the future. 4/10 was what I gave.

Princess Ghibli - I don't know, it just feels gimmicky as a whole. I don't think Studio Ghibli's works really fit with metal either - I thought the concept of it was hiarious at first. Some of the tracks do sound pretty good though, I had Tonari no Totoro stuck in my head for a while. I just can't enjoy it entirely because of how peculiar and flashy the concept is to me - a cover band is great and all, and with the lineup it would be fantastic with anything that's... not Studio Ghibli. 6/10.

I don't really have any more recommendations, I've been trying to find more instrumental hip-hop too. Perhaps ask someone like Ji or Ohaider? They seem to listen to more music like that than I do.

I'll get to that later today, I'm in the mood to listen to more new content anyway.

May 3rd, 2014
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OFF Original Soundtrack by Alias Conrad Coldwood

It's hard to describe this soundtrack, some tracks remind me greatly of the Silent Hill 2 OST but there are some others that throw me off completely. Pepper Steak is a good example, a jazzy goofy track that's incredibly addictive. It doesn't remind me of anything remotely similar, maybe aside from some other tracks in the soundtrack like Flesh Maze Tango.

A good majority of the soundtrack is dark ambient, but they feel like they're just there the whole time. They barely create any effect on me - just there as background music. I get that the atmosphere is supposedly scary, but the textures are so thin I could barely feel it. I'm not sure if it's because of the incredibly low quality MP3s or the music itself though. There are some good ambient tracks in this though, I liked The Walls Are Listening and Empty Warehouse quite a bit - but they still don't accomplish much and are better suited as background music. That's really a big problem with ambient as a whole though, most ambient tracks can't evoke an effect well enough for the listener to be submerged into.

The non-ambient tracks are generally better as they're more prominent compared to dark ambient. Soft Breeze is very good and works very well in provoking a desolate environment. Other tracks like Window Licking and Fake Orchestra sound pretty good, but not as good as Soft Breeze.

The soundtrack does what it does, I guess. It's used as background music and to enhance the experience given by the original game. I wouldn't know how much it'd enhance the experience as I haven't played the game yet, but I can imagine it working. By itself though, I don't think it's anything too special. It's not bad, there are some pretty nice tunes here and there.

Album Highlights: Pepper Steak, Soft Breeze, Panic in Ballville (Level 1)
Track Average Rating: 2.95/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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Le volume du vent by Karkwa (recommended by Crazyjayde)
Karkwa is an indie rock band from Quebec, which gained popularity after winning three Felix awards with their second album Les Tremblements s'immobilisent. Le Volume du vent, or "Volume of the Wind", is their third album.

I really like the fact that every element of the band compliments each other very well - like one solid force. Even when the instrumentation is incredibly heavy (Le Temps Mort, for example), the vocals still fit perfectly. Though, just because the layers of instrumentation and vocals compliment each other doesn't mean that I'd like the songs in general. I felt that La Facade was a bit too poppy for me, but it's not overly bad.

Pretty diverse as a whole which does keep the album fresh. It does swing a little too frequently between upbeat and dreamy, but most of the compositions are good enough to make that problem almost non-existent. Dreamy atmospheres seem to be their specialty though, most of the songs with those kinds of environments feel incredibly ethereal and are simply fantastic.

What I don't like about the album overall is the song Dormir Le Jour in particular. It's pretty blatant that it's filler, not to mention those guitar riffs are incredibly trite - something you'd expect from hard rock from the 80s or something. Really didn't like that song, although there are some parts that sound pretty pleasant.

I wish I could talk more about this album - maybe if I was more into indie rock I would be able to. I'm pleasantly surprised, I didn't expect to like this album. Compelling listen, I could see myself listening to this more in the future. It could be better of course, but there's really not much room for improvement now.

Album Highlights: Echapper au sort, Oublie pas, Mieux respirer, Le Solstice
Track Average Rating: 3.35/5
Overall Rating: 7/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Before I make any of my own suggestions I would like to second the following:
52 - Drink The Sea
68 - Glass Swords
91 - Psyvariar


"Top Ten": (Not really, just a good spread.)
Various Artists - A Childhood Remembered
Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop
Yasuharu Takanashi - FAIRY TAIL ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK VOLUME 1
澤野弘之 - Ao no Exorcist 1
Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3
soundTeMP - Ragnarok Online Complete Soundtrack
Norihiko Hibino - Live Music by Piano and Strings: 7th Dragon Super Arrange Version
Harry Gregson-Williams - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - In the Moment
Ott - Mir
(Extra single song) Tim Halbert - Do Not Listen - Excremental Intermission (Boomshine Mix)

The Rest: (Not sorted, all awesome.)
Paul Keeley - Sunset At Midnight
Seagaia - Anodyne
Sean Hogan - Anodyne Remix Album
Sachi Ozawa - The Epic of Zektbach -Piano Collection-
Kohei Tanaka - GRAVITY DAZE
梶浦由記 - Mai-HiME Volume 1: HiME
澤野弘之 - Ao no Exorcist 2
Various Artists - Video Games Live: Volume One
Michiru Oshima - Fullmetal Alchemist Original Soundtrack 3
梶浦由記 - Tsubasa Chronicle - Future Soundscape I
Jonne Valtonen - Symphonic Fantasies (2010)
Taku Iwasaki - Witch Hunter Robin
Marasy - V.I.P (Marasy plays Vocaloid Instrumental on Piano)
Various Artists - Wild Arms: ARMed and DANGerous
SOLAR FIELDS - [ Blue Moon Station ]
Austin Wintory - Transfiguration
Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. +
Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2
Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 4
寺嶋民哉 - Tweeny Witches
A.M. - Arise
Robert Rich - Somnium
Norihiko Hibino - Live Music by Piano and Strings: Sekaiju no MeiQ I & II Super Arrange Version
Kumi Tanioka - NieR Gestalt & Replicant Piano Collections
KOKIA - Origin: Spirit of the Past
Joe Hisaishi - Spirited Away Relaxing Orgel Ghibli Collection
Tomáš Dvořák - Machinarium Bonus EP
Bruno Coulais - Coraline
Thomas Newman - Finding Nemo
ShibayanRecords - マジコカタストロフィ
Dana Immanuel - Character Assassination
Zabutom - Zeta Force
DJ Hidden - The Words Below
Dryft - Cell
Dryft - Ventricle
halc - Pixel Perfect Complete
Kutapira - Synergy
zircon - Fittest: Original Soundtrack
zircon - Identity Sequence
zircon - Mass Media Constant
zircon - Unearthed


Edit: I was going to suggest Off haha, edited out.
Edit2: Sorry, I like music a lot if no one had noticed.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Welp, that's a pleasant surprise. You pretty much nailed Karkwa on the head and I feel you made it the listen it deserved. They seem to appeal a wide audience, with good reason, since they often evoke fantasizing atmospheres. The OFF soundtrack is a peculiar piece of music which I often feel doesn't belong well to the dark ambient tag. I suppose most of the time it's trying to be unsettling more than being sinister. But it's a melting-pot that you really only can get a hold of its nature when experiencing the game. I suppose it's weaker on its own as I haven't had the chance to listen to it beforehand.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

all of them

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3
Eluveitie - Slania
Sonic Syndicate - Love and Other Disasters
Theophany - Time's End
The Unguided - Hell Frost
Volbeat - Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood

Those are the only 6 I can think of really.
If you like the Sonic Syndicate/The Unguided sound, check out Only Inhuman (SS) and Fragile Immortality (TU) as well.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Break down of sanity -mirrors

Infant Annihilator - The Palpable Leprosy of Pollution

Thy Art Is Murder - Hate

Bloodbath - eaten <-- not an album just a song i like ;)

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

All albums added. I don't think I'll need to rely on my backlog much longer at this point, because...

Goddamn. I see that you're really into anime (and film) soundtracks - and there are some in that list that I've been planning to listen to for a while but I forgot about them. The ones I've bolded are ones I've already listened to.

Fairy Tail's first original soundtrack is pretty good. Filled with energy as a whole, though some tracks are weaker than the rest. I don't remember much from that soundtrack though, it's been a long time since I've listened to it. I do remember the main theme being amazing though, easily my favourite track in the entire OST. I gave it a 7/10, but it's probably more towards 7.5/10.

Tsubasa Chronicle's first soundtrack is decent, but I feel that it's pretty expected of Yuki Kajiura. The only track that stood out to me is A Song of Storm and Fire, but the rest feels rather unmemorable. I do prefer the third soundtrack more than the rest of the soundtracks, but overall I don't think the anime's overall soundtrack is lackluster as a whole. Madoka's soundtrack is better, I feel. 6/10 is what I rated Tsubasa Chronicle's first OST.

Somnium... is an album that I can't really rate accurately. It is indeed beautiful, but it's absurdly long. As much as I don't mind long tracks (Most of Basinski's loops come to mind), 7 hours worth of ambient is just too much for me to fully enjoy. I know that it's supposed to be used for sleep, but there are many other albums that induce a far better sleep than Somnium does. Maybe if the album was split into 3 different albums, I'd give 8/10 or higher for each part. As it is, 7.5/10 sounds fine.

You can pick one of the albums in the "rest" section and I can put that in the shortlist instead.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3
Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

is good

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

8) hehe
I can see what you mean with Somnium.

I'll push Seagaia - Anodyne up into the list, because it's unique and really really cool.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

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Legit Christmas by LegitMusicProducer (recommended by omega_grunt666)
I'm not creative enough to write some post-ironic review and I think it'd too be cliche to say that it's a 10/10 review with pompous vocabulary.

Sike.

i remember this one time my mom and dad told me that i'm going to be a grate musician one day although all i sang was lincoln park - i found a drum set and did constant gravity blasts and cymbal crashes. i could see my parents cringing but at the same time giving me a thumbs up to signify that i'm doing great. so i took my recordings with my dad's mobile phone and put it up on the internet, i'd imagine that they will get a 5.00 average rating because they should know what real music is instead of hannah montana XDDDDD

...

I think that's why no one likes me anymore. This album reminds me of what I did years ago. And it's more beautiful than I ever remembered.

I cry every time.




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The Nothings of the North by Ametsub

The Nothings of the North is a glitch/IDM album from Ametsub, with some elements of jazz embedded into some of the tracks, such as Lichen with Piano.

Interesting album, very reminiscent of Kashiwa Daisuke - particularly Write Once, Run Melos from Program Music I. The main difference between Daisuke and Ametsub however, is their secondary elements. While Daisuke's melodies have very clear post-rock and modern classical elements, Ametsub takes a more minimal approach in his music. Ametsub also reminds me of a warmer Autechre and The Flashbulb at some points, especially in tracks like Snowy Lava; a track with generally minimal elements layering on top of another as it progresses.

The album is filled with generally minimal compositions and they're very relaxing. The melodies are short and they repeat themselves pretty often, but they don't seem to die down. In fact, the melodies are very lively, perhaps playful as well. Tracks do feel rather repetitive at points, but they're still okay for what they are so it's not too much of an issue. 66 is incredibly droney with its subtle yet intense feedback in the latter half, probably my favourite part of the album.

While the combination of relaxation and playfulness is nice, it does feel very aimless. It's too subtle for its own good - as much as I find it incredibly pleasant. Its light rises in energy do very little to enhance the experience, if anything at all. It does suck me into a different environment, but it's pretty similar to watching paint dry. It gets interesting for the first few minutes, and then it gets boring after some time. Subtlety is great and all, but something more mobile would be fantastic.

I really don't think this is a bad album by any means, in fact I found this album to be incredibly pretty. I'm just not enjoying it as much as I should be. I really like subtlety if used right - and there's no denying that it is used well here. I think it's because the tracks, to me anyway, feel like stationary pictures rather than animations. I could imagine someone who's into Autechre (other than Confield or Gantz Graf) or ambient techno to really enjoy this album. Unfortunately I don't fall in either of those categories, so maybe I'll revisit this in the future once I venture more into minimal electronic music. As it is, it's decent.

Album Highlights: Solitude, 66
Track Average Rating: 3.04/5
Overall Rating: 6.5/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

I was wondering why Nick recommended this. I actually agree that this is a very inconsistent album and I wouldn't have recommended it myself. It's imo one of the worst albums on Sharpnelsound. There are a lot more interesting Sharpnelsound albums that are much better than this (like CYCLICK, UG☆PSYCLONE, the early albums from 1998 to 2001 or experimental albums like cotton pantie's albums).

Though I guess you also have to take into consideration that most of the later sharpnelsound albums are compilations of songs that were already released on themed albums (like the kirby remix Green D on SRPC-0027, which was originally released on a kirby remix album and Macau Underground on SRPC-0026 which was originally released on a beauty:burst CD with an old TV show as theme). Out of context a lot of these tracks don't make sense.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

hope you haven't actually listened to any Serph albums

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Welp

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

IneartheD - Shining (super mega short album)
Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim
HOM - Супердиск

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added.

May 4th, 2014
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Rain in England by Lil B (recommended by rayword45)

I really didn't want to review this, along with 05 Fuck Em. Unfortunately the randomizer gave me this album to review so soon.

Sigh... anyway. Rain in England is a cloud rap album from the Based God, Brandon McCartney. He speaks on topics such as family, love and death over bright drones similar to a couple of new age ambient artists.

I don't think you can really call this someone rapping, but rather a self-meditation tape. I really can't find anything interesting to talk about when it comes to this album - whether it's the content or the concept. It's incredibly boring since there's no diversity at all other than his supposedly thought-provoking/surreal lyricism.

Compare it to his cooking songs which are incredibly silly but at the same time entertaining. This is just... something else. I'm too cynical to take these lyrics seriously, especially since it's littered with so many cliches. I honestly have no idea if Lil B is being completely sincere or just being ironic.

I don't hate Lil B though, it's pretty funny to see someone screw with the conventions of hip-hop every now and then. I don't know if this is an attempt to do whatever he would normally do, but this isn't working. It's relaxing at least, but this has to be a joke. Even if it is, it's not a funny one.

Album Highlights: -
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 2/10

This is also my 666th rating on RYM. All hail the based god.

...I'm also removing 05 Fuck Em from the list. Although from what I've seen it is one of Lil B's better works, 101 tracks of Lil B is something that I don't want to spend my time on. Arkuski, feel free to recommend another album instead.
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Pop by Gas

Ooo, ambient. My favourite genre, so I can type a lot more about the album and what I think of it.

Gas is an ambient techno artist hailing from Germany. He gained some popularity with Zauberberg and Konigsforst, which is predominantly ambient techno and minimal techno. Wolfgang takes a step away from his specialty to create his fourth album, Pop. Pop is an ambient album filled with field recordings from nature, with his own flare of ambient techno embedded in some of the tracks.

The first two tracks give you a very clear scene of a forest lush with plants in daylight. There's no one in this place, just you, the quiet sounds of insects and roaring sounds of waterfalls. There's something special about listening to all those intricate details. The textures don't feel artificial, they feel very real and sincere. Although the tracks are very serene, they are incredibly overwhelming. It immerses you into its world within the first minute, which is a very good characteristic for an ambient album. The first track is too short for me to take in everything at first, but the second track is long enough so that everything just soaks into me. It's a wonderful feeling.

The album would be really boring if it's just these two tracks though. As much as I find nature beautiful, there's only so much of the same sound I could take before it becomes bland. Fortunately, it does change in the third track. This track is incredibly subtle, but very startling nonetheless. Hours have passed and the sky is much darker now. The weather isn't friendly either, the sounds of harsh winds start to form in this track. The faint sounds of my pulse tightens up the atmosphere a little, which further enhances the surreal experience.

The fourth track introduces ambient techno into the mix, which isn't something that I'd want with an atmosphere like this. It's very blue in colour and the track as a whole reminds me of Submers by Loscil. It also has the problem that Submers has too; although the sound is breath-taking and rather bleak, but the kick drum is a bit too powerful and changes the atmosphere completely. Instead of fearing for what it's yet to come, it feels like you're in a trance-like state. Doesn't really fit in the album, but it's still a nice listen.

The bizarre change in environment doesn't last for long, the fifth track brings you back into your senses and you're back in nature. Not much time has passed by since your hallucinogenic trip, but the weather has changed drastically. It's pretty cold, but at the same time the atmosphere feels welcoming. It's much quieter than you remembered - the animals are sleeping and the waterfall seems to trickle rather than roar. Pleasant listen, you could almost feel Mother Nature herself hugging you as you soak in everything.

Her warmth dissipitates in the sixth and seventh tracks. The weather is worsening and the winds are becoming relentless. The winds you've experienced in the third track feels like a mellow breeze in comparison. Your anxiety further deepens, now you're shaking in fear. You have nothing to protect yourself, so you have to face whatever is ahead of you very soon. It doesn't help that the danger ahead shows no presence anywhere, so it becomes a far darker experience than you'd ever expect it to be.

Enter the seventh track. Everything you thought about what's coming for you is nothing compared to what's actually incoming. Relentless storms form and unleash their powers, and you have nothing to protect yourself. Your heart is beating fast. You try to run from these storms, sheltering yourself with trees and other natural formations, only for them to be ripped apart by strong winds. You keep repeating the process, until you realise... there's nowhere left to hide. You look at the storm head on and close your eyes. You realise that you were transported here with all its resources destroyed, so you finally accept whatever the storm will take you to; whether it'd be home, another island or a visit to the Grim Reaper.

A little thing to note is that the seventh track also has ambient techno elements, similar to the fourth track. It does fit very well given the track before it though, so it's a problem at all. In fact, the strong kick drum enhances the overwhelming feeling of dread - the main feeling I get from this track in particular.

This album became more of a track by track journal rather than a review, whoops. I think this review shows why I like ambient so much. It's incredibly immersive and it brings you to places that you'd never expect to ever visit. Ambient does the tickets and accommodation for you, you just need to grab your headphones and close your eyes.

The album does feel rather open-ended, an eighth track mirroring the serenity of the first track would make it come full circle. That's the only problem I can think of.
It takes a considerable amount of effort to create such vivid landscapes contrasting in atmosphere so clearly and wonderfully. Although some bits feel rather out of place (the fourth track particularly), they still create a coherent experience that is simply outstanding. Strong contender for a 9, but it might be because I listened to Lil B beforehand, but I doubt it. I'll give this album a few more listens before considering on giving this a higher rating, but it is superb.

Shoutouts to Trogdor!!!! for recommending me this album before I thought of the idea of asking everyone on FFR for music recommendations. I'm glad you noticed me.

Album Highlights: Pop 3, Pop 6, Pop 7
Track Average Rating: 4.14/5
Overall Rating: 8/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

lol completely understandable. I'll add Bon Iver, Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Ad·ver·sary - A Bright Cut Across Velvet Sky
Antigen Shift - The Way Of The North
Clark - Body Riddle
Serph - Vent
Serph - Heartstrings

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Goddamnit, that's the first of my recommendations that you get? I haven't even listened to that album myself. I just recommended it to be an assfuck.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Pantera - Metal Magic
Pantera - Projects In The Jungle
Pantera - I Am The Night
Pantera - Power Metal
Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill
Pantera - Reinventing The Steel
Blood On The Dance Floor - Let's Start A Riot
Blood On The Dance Floor - It's Hard To Be A Diamond In A Rhinestone World
Blood On The Dance Floor - The Anthem Of The Outcast
Blood On The Dance Floor - Evolution

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added Alex's albums.

no, listen to any one of them first then get back to me

(I want serious recommendations please, gimmicks are fine but something that isn't supposed to be enjoyed unironically is something that I can't review. BotDF is a given, but recommending the Pantera discography is silly.)

Went through a depersonalisation episode. Reviewing only one album today.

May 5th, 2014
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Kollegah by Kollegah (recommended by Coolboyrulez0)

Felix Antoine Blume, better known as Kollegah, is a German rapper. His style of rap is heavily based on gangsta rap and is quite well-known among the German hip-hop community for his speed and punchlines. Kollegah is his second album. I've listened to Kollegah before, any seasoned Stepmania player would've heard some of his songs before. Veni Vidi Vici is fantastic, but just naming one track from him would be pretty sily. His punchlines are insanely good, his speed is ridiculous but his lyrics really exemplify the stereotype of only gangsters liking and producing hip-hop.

Decent production, the beats are pretty attention-grabbing of the album. Kollegah is generally very fluent, even at his fastest - such as the latter half of Kokamuzik. I have to respect that, it's quite the challenge to execute a structure so complicated yet so fast-paced without issue. Even outside his speed though, there are some fantastic tracks. 30.3 is incredibly engaging with its beat and Kollegah's constant upbeat energy. Everything just clicked well in that track, aside from the fact that it ended abruptly anyway.

I really didn't like a couple of parts in the album, such as the autotune in Bad Boy (he's not really good at singing, autotune doesn't help) and the female vocals in Doubletime/Halftime Freestyle. That's not my biggest gripe with the album though...

My biggest problem with this album is the length and variation. 17 tracks? There's very little variation in the album, which really detracts my attention. Some of his punchlines are smart, his rhyme structures are pretty complex, but the content itself doesn't hold my attention. His lyrics are rather bland too - mainly talking about how he is the boss for the most part.

His technical ability is fantastic and he shows that he is a fantastic lyricist. I think he'd do much better if he raps more about something different other than how he's the boss or pimp. He doesn't have to do conscious hip-hop, but at least move out of the "gangsta rap" zone for a bit.

Perhaps it's better to listen to this album in smaller bits, I just can't see myself listening to this again. Some of the tracks aren't engaging at all, but there are also some that are very good. Hmm...

I think a high 5/10 is fine, but this isn't a genre that I'm experienced in. I'm rating this based on how much I liked it, I guess.

Album Highlights: 30.3, Kokamuzik, Herbst
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 5/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Here's a few more:

Loreena McKennitt - The Journey So Far
Mary Dillon - North
Paul Gilbert & Jimi Kidd - Raw Blues Power
Boris Berezovsky - Rachmaninov: Concertos pour piano 1 & 4
Galneryus - The Flag Of Punishment
Ewan Dobson - Ewan Dobson
Kylähullut - Peräaukko Sivistyksessä

That makes 10, was tryna be diverse. Have fun!

EDIT: Fuck it, I'll add a pop album.

Sia - Some People Have Real Problems

There.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 6th, 2014
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1996 by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a profilic musician, responsible for the film scores for Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Last Emperor. His music is very diverse in terms of genres, spanning from contemporary classical to ambient to glitch. He's also a member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, which is an influential innovator in the field of popular electronic music.

A lot of these pieces remind me very strongly of JRPGs and even some classic anime series. 1919, for example, is incredibly reminiscent of the Final Fantasy games (X specifically), at least for me. It's very cinematic despite the instrumentation being subtle, which is great. Although I don't personally enjoy it so much, it's still really interesting that Sakamoto was able to create such tension with so little.

The shining star here is of course, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. It is based on the original track, a mellow yet sombre piece of music which is... tear-jerking to say the least. While I don't think this arrangement has done the original justice, it is still really good.

While it is certainly magical, I just can't get into it. Its presence is not strong enough, and at its strongest, it only lasts for very brief. A Day A Gorilla Gives A Banana shows this issue the most. Although there are a few moments that are brilliant, it becomes something completely different within seconds. Variance is nice of course, but switching that often is just ridiculous.

Although the pieces are all over the emotional spectrum, none of these pieces create much of a dent for me to experience these emotions first-hand. I could see that Sakamoto is trying to convey this, I just don't feel it. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence seems to be the only exception, but I think it was mainly because the original is incredibly powerful to begin with.

Interestingly enough, I've thought 88 by Kashiwa Daisuke (another modern classical album, but more minimal) is also not strong enough at first. It grew a lot on me since then, so perhaps this one might too. I doubt it though, I think the album is a bit too unfocused, long-winded and generally too vibrant for me to really enjoy.

Album Highlights: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky Theme
Track Average Rating: 2.88/5
Overall Rating: 5.5/10
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Body Riddle by Clark (recommended by AlexDest)
First time listening to Clark, although I've heard his name being thrown around here and there. Body Riddle is an IDM album with downtempo and nu-jazz elements.

This album baffles me. As much as I'm into IDM in general, this album is really something that I can't put my finger on. In some moments the album reminds me of a far rougher Flashbulb and Boards of Canada, but it's hard to give an actual comparison. I'd say the best way of describing it would be the playfulness of Aphex Twin with some warmth from BoC occasionally, but that's still not necessarily correct. But still, they're both artists that... I'm not fond of at all.

I think the album is a little bit too ambitious. While it is filled with complex rhythms and is very colourful, I can't really see any base. The sound is incredibly dense, filled with tons of twists and turns. Exciting? Absolutely. Engaging? Not really. Tracks like Ted which are slightly less ambitious turned out to be some of my favourite parts of the album. It is a pretty good mixture of dense sound and accessibility, which makes it a fantastic tune. Can't quite say the same for the other tracks though.

The album has some tranquil tunes (Matthew Unburdened) to tracks that I could barely understand (Frau Wav). I tend to prefer the ones that are in between, they're either too hollow to really cause an emotional effect or too dense for me to appreciate otherwise. Most of the tracks seem to lean towards one side of the spectrum though, so I can't really like them to large extents.

I think I would've enjoyed this a lot more years ago, during the phase when I was mainly into breakcore and IDM. I still like those genres, but I really don't like them as much as I used to. This album, although a wonderful effort, just doesn't do it for me at all. I can't quite see it as a grower too, so I don't think I'll listen to this again. Anyway, I don't think the album is bad. Just something that I don't think I'd have any interest in listening to again. I could imagine people who are into more experimental electronic music (or at least into BoC/Aphex Twin) to enjoy this more than I did.

Album Highlights: Ted
Track Average Rating: 2.55/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/10

Also reduced Pop's rating to 8.0. As much as I find the tracks fantastic, they're really too rich for me to listen to all at once a second time. I really have to be the right mood for an album like that - otherwise I wouldn't enjoy it so much and just stop halfway through.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Never got around to thanking you for the review, thanks for putting up with it hah.

I have some "real" recommendations:

1. Infected Mushroom - Friends On Mushrooms Vol. 2
2. Massive Attack - Mezzanine
3. The Crystal Method - London
4. Jack Conte - VideoSongs Volume 2
5. Pomplamoose - Tribute to Famous People
6. Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
7. Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom
8. Priestess - Hello Master
9. Pearl Jam - Ten

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

1. Alias Conrad Coldwood - Crying Girls
2. Pyongyang Hardcore Resistance - Corea
3. toe + toki asako - HUSKING BEE TRIBUTE ALBUM
4. Shnabubula - NES Jam
5. Blitz Lunar - Triptunes
6. Various Artists - Up (the one with Mathsma Attack, not the Disney one lmao)
7. Various Artists - Equilibrium

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

also one to add to this list: Hrvatski - Remixplosion

some real hidden gems on that album

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

gj mouse

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added albums.

James I've already listened to Triptunes and Corea before, but I don't really have time to explain on my ratings. I'll tell you my ratings though:
Corea - 7/10
Triptunes - 4/10

May 7th, 2014
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Deep River by Utada Hikaru

I mean, yeah. I'm pretty sure most people know Utada Hikaru - whether it'd be from the Kingdom Hearts series or the Evangelion movies. She's arguably the most popular J-pop artist out there, with many successful albums such as Ultra Blue and Deep River. The former being quite the guilty pleasure of mine, and Deep River is her third album. Apparently she was at most 19 years old when she wrote these songs, which is quite impressive.

Compared to Ultra Blue, Deep River is more towards contemporary rhythm and blues and dance-pop. Most of these songs are quite catchy, which seems to be the main appeal of the album. Her voice is great as usual - an incredibly upbeat and mature voice, complimenting the catchy instrumentals. There is some diversity too - Deep River is a ballad which is quite pretty. I do have a soft spot for J-pop ballads though, so that might have something to do with it. 嘘みたいなI Love You is a pop rock song, and the chorus has some very striking resemblances to the last song, Hikari. Those guitars sound so fake though, but it's really catchy.

The songs here are admittedly, not very memorable. In contrast to Ultra Blue which has very memorable songs like Passion (though this is more towards childhood memories more than anything) and This Is Love, the songs in this don't do too much for me. They are catchy sure, but I forget about them by the next track for the most part. Maybe there's too much emphasis on the "pop" component and not in the sentimental component, but I don't think that's the case. I think it's just because I'm not a fan of some of the songs.

There's nothing much else to talk about, it's a pretty average album for Utada Hikaru. Most definitely not my favourite album from her, but it's alright for what it is. The songs aren't fantastic, but they're generally okay. I wouldn't mind listening to this again, but it'd probably be a bit of a struggle to finish it all. I would kill for an album with mainly ballads like Sakura Nagashi and Deep River though, her voice is PERFECT for ballads like those. Unfortunately, this album isn't the case at all.

Shiina Ringo might do the trick, maybe? I'll see.

Album Highlights: Deep River, Travelling
Track Average Rating: 3.04/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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The Chocolate Wheelchair Album by Venetian Snares (recommended by Nick Skyline)
I've actually listened to half of the album before this, but not the entire album. Most of my thoughts on particular tracks (especially Ghetto Body Buddy and Herbie) were recalled from memory more than anything else. So, every FFR/SM player should know who Venetian Snares is, so I won't elaborate on him too much.

Aaron Funk. One of the pioneers of breakcore, one of the most prolific breakcore artists and responsible for Rossz csillag alatt szuletett. An album that's well received among many music communities - also the highest rated breakcore album on RYM. He's also pretty hilarious in his interviews.

The Chocolate Wheelchair Album is a pretty typical album from Aaron Funk. When he's not sampling classical music for his tracks, he is incredibly playful and often absurd. Those absurd tracks don't do it for me at all. It feels like they're absurd because it's mainly made to sound peculiar. It doesn't faze me in any way, the structure is rather generic for breakcore. Sure, it's not always generic - Einstein-Rosen Bridge is pretty dancey for breakcore standards and Ghetto Body Buddy is raggacore that eventually goes nuts, but still. Nothing too spectacular, at least for me.

When I think of breakcore, I do want an album that would rip my face off or at least fascinate me with its incredible structures. Xanopticon, Terminal11 (Speed Modified and earlier) and DEV/NULL have accomplished that beautifully. Fortunately, Aaron did slip in a couple of tracks which are just fantastic in structure - particularly Epidermis, Hand Throw and Herbie Goes Ballistic.

Hand Throw is a raggacore track that starts off pretty hard hitting off the bat, and just goes insane with hard punches of noise halfway through. It's not overly noisy a la Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole, but it's still a great execution. These walls of noise are quite pretty.

Herbie Goes Ballistic starts off pretty loud and gets progressively louder. By the time a minute is up, you're already assaulted by relentless amen breaks and punches in the face. It just continues to become more and more experimental - a continuous barrage of noise to the point that it makes WIFAS sound like a walk in the park. Although nowhere as noisy, it definitely sounds far more coherent and intimidating.

Epidermis is just phenomenal. The samples in the beginning just set off an eerie atmosphere off the bat and just continues to build up. Even at its calmest (the moments 1:50 in and 2:30 in) it's still very dark and creates this sense of paranoia. It's really loud throughout, although nowhere as relentless as Herbie. The climax 3 and a half minutes in is just perfectly executed. Everything that built up to it just falls apart and it becomes a neverending barrage of chaos.

So a very mixed bag of tracks here, ranging from one of Aaron's best (Epidermis) to some of his most cliche (Abomination Street). I generally found it okay, but I wouldn't listen to the album again. Too many fillers, too little substance. I'll listen to Epidermis a lot more though, what a spectacular track.

Album Highlights: Epidermis, Herbie Goes Ballistic
Track Average Rating: 3.05/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

essays baby

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Oh lmao, wasn't sure if you already did but oh well heh. I'll try to find a few more albums then x)

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 8th, 2014
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Variations for Piano and Tape by William Basinski
William Basinski is one of the most popular ambient artists out there. He was greeted with overwhelming popularity with The Disintegration Loops, a series of tape loops that continue to repeat and repeat... until they finally disintegrate to nothingness. While I find them rather overrated (perhaps due to the fact that newer listeners would be more fascinated to his process in making music more than anything else), they're still very good. The fourth album is my favourite one personally, third one is easily my least favourite.

Other than his most popular albums, he has made a couple of jewels. The Garden of Brokenness, Melancholia, Vivian & Ondine... all spectacular albums. Easily blowing The Disintegration Loops out of the water, both in bleakness and detail.

Anyway, back to the album. I can imagine myself 40 years from now in my own apartment in a rocking chair listening to this.

It'd probably go something like this:
It's a day off. I boot up the computer, checking my music folder for some new music to listen to. I stumble upon a folder that I don't quite remember having.

"Oh, what is this?"

The folder said [Ambient] William Basinski - Variations for Piano & Tape. It hasn't been opened in many years.

"That name sounds familiar... Basinski..."

...

"Ah yes, William Basinski. I used to like his music back when I was a teenager. My music taste was so bad at the time - listening to drone, pretentious Japanese experimental music and just downplaying /mu/core like it was nobody's business. I remember Melancholia and The Garden of Brokenness being two of my favourite albums at the time. Unfortunately I don't have them anymore... this is the only album from him I have left. Let's see how my opinion has changed."

I drag the folder and put into my music player. I hooked up my speakers and poured a cup of coffee. I sat down on my rocking chair and just embraced the sound. The beginning baffled me at first.

"Why is this so lo-fi? I mean MP3s are pretty low quality now but this is worse than I remembered."

I'm still an idiot even after decades of education and work experience, apparently.

Minutes have passed. I was getting really sleepy because of how pleasant it was. I saw the sky change from blue to orange, so I walked to my window to look at the sunset. It's one of my favourite things to do.

When I looked at the sky, I felt more connected to the track.

"This track.. reminds me of myself. Or more specifically, memories of myself."

I looked at the window, looking at everything that this view could provide. I eventually saw a building that was very familiar. It took me a while to realise...

"It was the place I lived in when I was young. All of my memories were there. My happiness, my sadness, everything."

The sun is moving down, but I was still contemplating on my previous memories.

"Why didn't I cherish them back then? I've always found my life mundane, but it really was much better than what I have now. Puppy love, actual friends to talk to, all the time in the world to listen to music and so much more. Now I'm a 55 year old single man all alone, with no one to talk to. My life is entirely mechanical at this point - sleep, work, eat, shower, repeat. No variation, just monotony. Aside from the occasional bills, I don't have anything to care for. I want colour in my life again."

It took me a while to realise... the track is decaying. My memories are decaying. Where are they going? I want them back. Please, come back.

By the end of the track, I was screaming at the window because the beauty of old memories was fading away. 44 minutes has passed. The sun has finally set. All I could feel was tears of untangible melancholy running down my cheeks. I felt hollow. I've never felt like this empty in a long time - probably in over thirty years.

Turns out I still like Basinski. Or at least, he's still able to cause that much of an effect on me. I turn around and sit on my rocking chair, once again. I take a sip of my coffee.

"Fuck, my coffee's cold now."



Album Highlights: -
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 7/10
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Ultramarine by Young Galaxy (recommended by ninjaKIWI)
Ultramarine is a synth pop/electropop album from Canadian band Young Galaxy. Synth pop is admittedly a genre that I don't really like, but I haven't visited much to begin with. So let's give this a whirl.

Hmm... incredibly upbeat, but not quite bright. It's pretty nostalgic - pretty similar to synth pop in the 80s I suppose. Pretty Boy is quite the earworm, although it does sound rather cheesy. Quite the catchy beat and the vocals do fit in pretty nicely. Fever is almost reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine minus the distortion, which is pretty sweet. However, the album doesn't keep the same quality of enjoyment. Fall For You for example, though has a nicer beat than Pretty Boy overall, falls short as it's nowhere as attention-grabbing.

Too upbeat for me, at times it does feel pretty trite too. New Summer in particular is especially cheesy - with its lyrics and the slow cliche melody. The dream pop elements in that is a nice touch though, but most definitely not enough to salvage my enjoyment. Though most of the other tracks don't have that large of a problem, they do feel rather unmemorable. Most of them either lack the catchiness, or too poppy for me.

Tiring listen despite its length of under 40 minutes. It just doesn't work for me. From what I've heard - What We Want and New Summer are the best tracks in this album, but they're two of my least favourite tracks in the entire album. I've noticed that their dream pop moments are pretty good, I think they'd do better as mainly dream pop with synth pop elements instead of the other way around. As is, it's a respectable piece of work, just really not for me.

Album Highlights: Fever
Track Average Rating: 2.4/5
Overall Rating: 4/10
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Hard to believe that it's only been a week since I've been doing this. 350 more albums to go.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 9th, 2014
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La grand-messe by Les Cowboys Fringants
Les Cowboys Fringants (translated to The Dashing Cowboys) is a Québécois folk band with some elements from rock music. La grand-messe is their sixth album and arguably their most popular.

The opener (Intro + Les etoiles filantes) starts off rather bleak and eventually shines brighter. While it is incredibly bright, the lyrics are a different story. It is the story of an old man reflecting on his childhood memories - spending time building igloos, annoying girls, all that jazz. He continues to talk about them, finally being able to take in how beautiful those memories are. He knows that it's too late now, all he could do is move on and wonder what will remain.

That track is a good representation of what La grand-messe has in store - I can compare this juxtaposition to a band like Streetlight Manifesto, at least some of their works. Incredibly upbeat and amusing on the outside, but really not as happy as it pretends to be. Regardless, these cheerful moments are quite engaging and fun - even it does feel a little over the top for me. Most of the melodies are generally catchy too, which is nice.

It's not all happy-go-lucky though. There are some pretty sombre songs in here too. Plus Rien is a rather melancholic song of someone being the last man on earth and how consumerism has destroyed humanity. It's rather beautiful and it paints quite the desolate and revolting landscape. Hannah is a song I could somewhat relate to - which is rare for a song to do so. But hey, it works. The song is incredibly pretty too, since the song is so depressing every crescendo feels huge.

It does bring a problem though - there's not too much variation. It eventually becomes predictable in concept - they're either incredibly bleak or incredibly bright. There is very little content in between, so it does swing very violently at points. Although most of the tracks here range from decent to fantastic, there are still some that feel way too over the top for me - like Symphonie pour Caza.

Incredibly fun album when you want it to be. It could also be incredibly sentimental if you want it to be. Very accessible and just a solid album throughout - despite its flaws. I do have to get in the mood to enjoy music like this, but I could get into a lot of moods to not only respect this, but also enjoy it.

Now that I've listened to this fully, I have another album in mind to review... probably not for tomorrow though. We'll see.

Album Highlights: Intro + Les étoiles filantes, Hannah, Ma belle Sophie
Track Average Rating: 3.38/5
Overall Rating: 7/10
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Black Sea by Fennesz (recommended by lurker)
Fennesz is an artist that I have no idea what to expect from. I've seen his name being thrown around in many ambient reviews - being compared to artists like Belong and Tim Hecker. Because of this, I was pretty curious on what his music is like. Unfortunately, I've been busy so I didn't have the time to listen to his albums. Looks like it's time to listen to one of his albums.

First track - very rigid textures, rather surreal at points. The comparisons to Belong and Tim Hecker makes sense, but Belong is far more shoegazy and minimal. Tim Hecker would be the best comparison, but Tim Hecker is a bit more... aggressive. Though this sounds incredibly synthetic, it feels really warm. Not in a loving way, but how pleasant it is. I really don't understand why, the landscape is barren and is lacking in life. But I feel safe, it really boggles me. Even when rain starts to fall, I feel like I belong here.

Even when the track is over, I still can't figure out why. It's incredibly beautiful though.

Less on how I feel and more on the content itself though. This is pretty varied in atmosphere. While Black Sea is incredibly warm yet brittle, The Colour of Three is very intense feedback, but I feel that its synthetic sound doesn't quite work with the feedback. In contrast to Belong's All Equal Now, it feels very hollow in comparison. Both are intense feedback, but All Equal Now seems to create much more of a cathartic effect.

It's a really odd album, even though I've heard similar artists before. His production is incredibly artificial - which is a word that I rarely use to describe music. It's rather unsettling, but it's still... pleasant. I don't think the atmosphere of the tracks are cold by any means, but rather the production itself. Although it's very detailed, it's just very fake. Other than Saffron Revolution and Black Sea, I felt the same for every track in this album. This is something really beautiful there, but it's heavily blocked by these peculiar textures.

I really don't get it. This really has many elements that I'd be obsessed over. Incredibly chaotic but serene, drones that are unsettling yet warm, and a lot more. It's just that one thick barrier that's detracting from my enjoyment. Perhaps I'll need to give this a few more listens. I'm really uncomfortable with this album, but I could see a lot of beauty in this. I just have to get used to the textures a bit more, maybe my paranoia would dissipate and I could fully submerge in Fennesz' world. There's really no denying that this album is fantastic, but I really don't like how Fennesz is producing his sound.

Album Highlights: Black Sea, Saffron Revolution
Track Average Rating: 3.62/5
Overall Rating: 7.5/10

I have a question for anyone who has listened to Black Sea (the full album) - how did you find the atmosphere the first time you've listened to it? I don't know if I'm the only one who felt uneasy listening to this.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 10th, 2014
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Black Earth by Bohren & der Club of Gore (recommended by noname219)
Dark jazz is a fusion genre that I've never ventured before, nor have I even heard of. From what I know, it is a form of dark ambient influenced by slow jazz music. It's a combination that I wouldn't expect to work, but I've been wrong. Bohren & der Club of Gore is one of the most influential dark jazz acts, along with The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble.

Very very slow, but also very relaxing. It is very dark, but it's a type of darkness that I would be very comfortable in. To me, it feels like I'm in a post-apocalyptic city, walking around and examining every place that catches my interest. There's nothing out there that haunts me, other than loud environmental sounds from the drums. The drums do get jarring at points, especially in parts like the second half of Crimson Ways. It's relatively minor though, so it's not a big deal.

It feels far too slow at points, and the constant drum hit doesn't help. It feels repetitive, although most of the tracks sound decent. They're too subtle for their own good - they only create pictures that show nothing. The atmosphere I get is rather thin as well, maybe because I'm not very connected to the album. There are some bits which create some life (albeit in a unpleasant way), but overall not too much to talk about. They do evoke something but they are generally minor.

However, the parts that are more influenced by jazz are beautiful. At points, it feels like walking into an abandoned club (Maximum Black). At other points, it feels like you're remembering a tragedy and mourning for the losses (Destroying Angels). It's interesting that how subtle these instruments are, yet they could still create such a detailed landscape. Visions of empty roads, broken tables and the occasional street light come to mind. Wonderfully done.

This doesn't quite do it for me. While there are moments which I find pretty, there are many other moments which bog down my enjoyment. It's overall far too long as well, it'd evoke the same effect if it's shortened down by 20 minutes. 70 minutes is far too much, especially with so little to remember. It's also rather predictable as well so it gets very monotonous quickly. I understand that this album is also dark ambient, but even dark ambient has its exciting bits. Thomas Koner, Steve Roach and Black Swan have done much better. Just because it has ambience doesn't that it has to be incredibly long-winded.

I don't dislike this album though, it's generally decent - just too heavily flawed for me to like more than I already do. But hey, the cover is a fantastic interpretation of the music. Have to give credit for that.

Album Highlights: Destroying Angels
Track Average Rating: 3.17/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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Diminishing Between Worlds by Decrepit Birth
Decrepit Birth is a band I found through SM and I grew to greatly enjoy this band. Polarity used to be one of my favourite albums, but it's nowhere as amazing as it used to be. This band plays technical death metal, which is something that I do have a small soft spot for. I like music that's loud, especially ones that are incredibly overwhelming. Some of Fleshgod Apocalypse's works have done this (Abyssal is probably my favourite one) and it's a rather frightening experience. Although Decrepit Birth is nowhere as aggressive, I'm still willing to see if they'd produce a similar effect.

I know nothing about technical metal jargon and very little about technical ability in general, so I'm just basing my thoughts on how it sounds and how I feel about it. To start off, The Living Doorway is a great opener. Everything about it is just relentless. It does go very aimless at many points, but it doesn't feel like general wankery. Not going to elaborate too much on the rest, but they're very aggressive as a whole. Even the subtle bits generate some form of paranoia or fear. This is something that I'd want an album like this to evoke.

While the album does what it does, it doesn't do too much other than that. For one, it's extremely repetitive. Everything about the album is repetitive - whether it's the guitars (good but still), the drumming or the vocals. There are a lot of good riffs, but they're very short. It becomes very generic by the fourth track, as if you're listening to the same thing over and over again. There's also the problem that it's not immersive enough. Or at least, it doesn't grab my attention. They're just there the entire whole time - as background noise. It doesn't strike me as an album to admire technical ability or be immersed by, but rather just something to be played in the background. For what this album would fit in a background, I'm not sure.

Worse than Polarity overall. It suffers from the same flaws Polarity has but to a far larger extent. The intimidation effect I get is no longer there after the first two tracks. It would be much much better if this was an EP, it's rather unnecessary to have 11 tracks of practically the same thing over and over again. While there is some variation (The Enigmatic Form), they still don't do anything for me. The production overall is flat, I want them to be a little more creative in their songwriting. It's raw for sure, but just being aggressive doesn't cut it.

Not sure why they have so much backlash though, they're not unpleasant to listen to. The band could be fantastic, but songwriting is greatly holding them back. A more specific atmosphere would be nice, like post-apocalyptism or something similar. As it is, the album is just aimless, repetitive and uninspiring overall. Not really enjoying that.

Album Highlights: The Living Doorway, Reflection of Emotions
Track Average Rating: 2.5/5
Overall Rating: 4/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 11th, 2014
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Tras el horizonte by EUS
I think I'll make this quick. This is a drone album, with some elements from post-rock. Not the prettiest combination, but there are worse. The atmosphere is rather varied - Albora is a very uplifting track (although it does feel dark on the surface), while El Camino is a melodramatic intricate little piece of music. It does remind me of 36 (Hollow specifically) at quite a lot of points. The album as a whole lures me to sleep, rather than keep me just awake enough to notice all of its details. That's not an ambient album that I want, but I could see some others enjoy this.

While it is pleasant sounding, there are some aspects that I really didn't like. For one, some tracks are too long. El Camino is nine minutes long, but it could've been shortened to around four minutes to have the same effect. If not, the effect would've been much more prevalent throughout. The track takes its own sweet time, in a way. There are some tracks that are far too bright for me to enjoy as well - such as Transparencia. It's eight minutes long as well and it almost feels like staring at the Sun in daylight. Not really a pleasant experience and I have to admit, it does hurt a little. Not physically, just psychologically painful. Another problem for me is that there are some tracks that throw too many ideas for the atmosphere to really be there. Take Erosion for example - a track that's generally dark ambient at first, and then introduces a very contrasting brightness that creates this odd greyish environment. It's not really one that I could enjoy, as the ideas clash too much to create something beautiful. It's a bit too noisy, noise that's completely aimless, I mean.

Tiempo Muerto is my favourite track in this. It paints a landscape of a lively dark forest. Instead of fearing of what's inside, you feel like you become one with nature. It's a very overwhelming experience - more overwhelming than most ambient tracks I've heard. Contrary to what I said above, I felt that this was too short. Something as bleak as this could've been extended to ten minutes for a full effect. It's not as breath-taking as I would like it to be at the moment.

Not a very good ambient album as a whole. There are some moments which are good, but the bad do outweigh the good. While I do respect his attempt on diversification (it is very varied for an ambient release), there isn't too much to write about. Most of his ideas were executed much better by others - Stars of the Lid, 36 and Williamette are a couple of examples. Maybe I've listened to so much ambient that I have this high standard for music like this, but it still is a soft spot for me. Ambient is a genre that I would generally like, even if it's not quite good. Basically, it doesn't take much for me to like it, but it does take quite the effort for me to be impressed. This doesn't meet either criteria, it just feels lackluster as a whole.

Album Highlights: Tiempo Muerto
Track Average Rating: 2.64/5
Overall Rating: 5/10
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Up by Various Artists (recommended by James May)
Up is a chiptune compilation album by Ubiktune, with tracks from artists like C-jeff, Coda and our very own Virt and Blitz Lunar. I've listened to a plenty bit of chiptune before listening to this album, so I do have some experience with this genre. I personally don't think chiptune by itself works well, it really needs some elements from other genres for it to really work. There are artists like she which bring elements of electropop, while there's artists like Kkrusty which bring elements of breakcore.

Some of these tracks do prove my point. I could hear some elements of progressive rock (First Flight, Triple Point) and a couple other genres in these tracks. However, there is one track that doesn't seem to have any clear influence from any genre but stunned me anyway - Mathsma Attack. I'm personally not sure if it's because I'm already so used to listening to this and all, but I really like it. The ending feels rather unnecessary, I think it'd be better if it stopped at 3:48 or so. That's really my only gripe about the track. The rest of the track is phenomenal. A fantastic combination of intensity, progression and catchiness.

I can't quite say the same for most of the tracks. While I did listen to a lot of chiptune, I can't say that I like it as a whole. It's not really a genre that really engages me, although there are many tracks in the genre that I like. These tracks are usually hard-hitting or catchy as a whole, but there are very little of that in this album. Most of the tracks are a bit too soft for me. There are exceptions like Last Sppr, but they're rather unpleasant to listen to and feel like they're noisy for the sake of being noisy.

This album, to me, shows the more accessible side of chiptune. A chiptune enthusiast would like this. I'm not one, unfortunately. It's a bit too safe for me to really like. I want them to be louder or more experimental. However, chiptune isn't really a genre that could be well experimented with. There are some good chipbreak/chipnoise tracks out there, but they're pretty far and wide. As a whole I think chiptune is just reducing its intensity and ultimately my enjoyment. I could see a lot of potential in chiptune though, it's just that most of them aren't powerful enough to faze me. They just need a little push, then I'll really like it.

Album Highlights: Mathsma Attack, Forcystus
Track Average Rating: 2.73/5
Overall Rating: 5/10

I've probably been too harsh lately. Interesting how your perception in music changes drastically by a little change in overall mood.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

And then would be the right time to suggest Danimal Cannon & Zef - Parallel Processing. ;)

But goddamnit Ez, your reviews are surprisingly consistent. I also find interesting your use of imagery, or even narrativity in Gas - Pop (which makes me want to give it a spin). I can definitely see the effort behind these reviews.
I've become to expect somewhat similar ratings for Body Riddle and Black Sea, but I couldn't have speculated what La Grand-messe ended up being. Sweet spot for french music much?

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

just going to drop something

SASAKURE.UK - Fantastic Reality of Aesop

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Added Parallel Processing.

Thanks for the comments, really appreciate comments like these. I feel that imagery is a great way of explaining my thoughts honestly - especially for something as minimal as ambient. Helps a lot when it comes to how I feel about some tracks as well. Also I'm not sure if I do have this soft spot for French music, heh. Might be because the two albums have been clicking with me because of its original genres to begin with.

Also hi, Jayce. Added that album.

May 12th, 2014
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Solar One by The Flashbulb
Today is a beautiful day. Two new Flashbulb albums and I'm going to review them because Benn Jordan is better than lose the virginity.

Solar One is a very different album in comparison to anything Benn has made. While he has made some ambient music, it's nowhere as minimal nor unstructured as this. According to Benn himself, this is the result through trial and error, effectively making music using ASMR and theta waves. Essentially music that lulls you to sleep. Needless to say, this is pretty relaxing.

It paints a very slow-moving landscape of a beige-coloured sky. There's the occasional train in the background, but it's not very prominent. I could compare this to a slightly darker Stars of the Lid - it's incredibly pure and formless. It's also quite bright, but not too overbearing. The track does move a bit here and there, but the movement is very constant. Kinda similar to clouds moving to block the Sun and some time later the clouds move away from the Sun. It does progress very subtly 45 minutes in, it feels like it's brighter at the moment. There's really nothing much else I can talk about. I can feel myself slowly lose consciousness as I listen to this. After 20-30 minutes it's a bit of a conscious effort to keep my eyes open.

This music is absolutely perfect for the clearance of the mind. Arguably one of the best tracks for this - although I think there are some moments which are too overpowering. It's not that they're loud, but rather the atmosphere becomes a bit too bright to be completely comfortable in. I can probably sleep to this and have some of the most pleasant sleep that I've ever had - easily edging out albums like Somnium. But I can't find any other good purpose for this type for music other than sleep or mind clearance. It's not an album that you can listen to actively, but rather an album that you leave in the background. This is music that will lull you to sleep and give you some of the most comforting dreams ever. This is also music that you'll leave in the background only to be interested in something completely different. You won't feel like the music is there consciously, but you feel that it's there subconsciously.

I'm torn on this. I'm not sure what to rate it. On one hand, it's a beautiful track that easily outmatches any ambient work Benn has made. On the other hand, I can't see myself listening to this as much as Louisiana Mourning or Pale Blue Dot. It's too situational to really enjoy - when you're feeling incredibly depressed. When you're fully awake, you wouldn't want to listen to this. This will probably ruin your sleeping schedule.

Tentative rating of 8/10. I might bump this down because I don't think I'll be listening to this so much, but it's one of the prettiest things I've heard in a while. This does stand a chance at being AOTY though, but not that it matters.

Edit (May 25th, 2014): Just as I expected.

Album Highlights: -
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 8/10 7.5/10
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Nothing Is Real by The Flashbulb
I think everyone knows that I really like The Flashbulb. This is probably the release that I was most looking forward to this year, since I don't think Daisuke is making another album any time soon. Nothing Is Real is a fairly typical album from Benn - many tracks, short album length. Like most of Benn's later albums, this is a conceptual album. Nothing Is Real is based on his depersonalisation.

While the structure of the album is pretty normal for Benn, I can't seem to relate any album of his to this album. I expected this album to be strikingly similar to Opus at the End of Everything, but it doesn't seem to be the case here. I think the best comparison would be a less detailed Arboreal. I noticed that he has toned down the IDM elements, in contrast to his other albums at least. That may or may not be a good thing, but I think this does signify that Benn probably isn't going back to his older roots any time soon - other than to appeal to his older fanbase.

Very varied as a whole - there's still some IDM. Through Mud is prominently IDM and similar to A Raw Understanding from Arboreal. Personally don't like that much, but variation is always a plus. While this is supposedly an album based on depersonalisation, I don't get that disconnected/hazy atmosphere from most of these tracks. The only exception would be Room 13, which is quite hazy and blurry. It feels like floating away from yourself, but from a short distance. It's a little surreal, now that I think about it.
Nothing But Lines is a wonderful track, with its airy humming atmosphere and pleasant sounds of glitch. Its progression is also beautiful too, it grabs my attention almost all the time while still sounding fluid. And of course, there's some moments where it's more sombre - such as Troubled Plains. A track very similar to Tomorrow Untrodden from Arboreal, which is easily my favourite track from that album.

There's some tracks that I didn't like, of course. For example, Solar Motel doesn't click with me. While the IDM elements are pleasant and the female vocals are nice, they clash really badly and doesn't come off as relaxing. While I did mention that most tracks didn't capture depersonalisation well, there was one that did but was very forced. The track I'm talking about is The Fear of Vision, but it's a very forced way of doing so. The sample in the beginning creates this concrete mood and just progresses. The progression, while rather nice, feels really trite. That's probably my least favourite track.

Like most albums from The Flashbulb, it does suffer from inconsistency. It is inevitable though, especially with so many tracks and ideas in the album. Maybe if he concentrated more on a few select ideas (say, 5) and base tracks off those few ideas. It doesn't have to be 20 separate ideas, since most of the ideas won't even foster to begin with.

This is a problem with The Flashbulb's work as a whole, rather than this album in particular. Benn jumps to one idea, plays around with it for a few minutes, then skips to another. It wouldn't be too problematic, but the thing is that some ideas were great and they didn't stay for too long. I understand that Benn is trying to be eclectic, but his eclectism towards his albums does bring his work down quite a bit.

Pretty standard release for Benn. While it is an enjoyable experience, it suffers from the same problems that every cinematic release he has made. Benn really has some potential - as shown in Kirlian Selections. He's able to take one particular concept and execute it in fantastic ways. This is just a tad bit too unfocused for me to enjoy. But there are some very nice tunes in here though, as expected from Benn.

Album Highlights: I Can Feel It Humming, Nothing But Lines, Neon Wireframe Landscape, For Your Escape, Bryson City, NC
Track Average Rating: 3.48/5
Overall Rating: 7/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

May 13th, 2014
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Red Rainbows by Noveller
I've been trying to get this album for a while now. Red Rainbows is best described as guitar-based drone album. I could hear a couple of influences from this - mainly Tim Hecker and Birchville Cat Motel. Noveller does put her own flare into this album though, particularly in her noisier tracks.

The first two tracks - Rainbows and Brilliant Colors, is primarily noise. I have to admit, tracks like those are too loud for me. They're incredibly aggressive in structure, absolutely relentless in its approach. It's just so noisy - by far some of the noisiest tracks I've heard that could still be considered drone. Because it's so noisy, it's really haunting and even traumatic to me. The sounds are so massive and so overwhelming, it's frightening. There isn't a landscape to even portray - the massive sound IS the landscape. Although I do respect the fact that those tracks are able to evoke such emotions from me, I can't say that I enjoyed them. They're too aggressive - I could barely see any light that I could comfort myself in. As much as I want to be fascinated by sound, I also want to feel at peace. This especially applies to drone. October Language is noisy as well. While I do feel terror at some points in October Language, I can still relax and not get a panic attack from how overpowering it is. This is just... too much. Noise is a genre that I can barely withstand by itself. This is pretty close to just noise - I can't get into it.

After that relentless maelstrom of noise, St. Powers feels like some of the calmest music ever. It still isn't as pleasant as I'd want it to be, but it does the job. It is quite pleasant, but incredibly disheartening. I see a blur picture of the aftermath of a natural disaster. You could still hear some parts of the place you're in fall apart - which further shows the damage done. It is the sound of the city weeping in pain, begging for no more. It's not as pretty as I'd expect it to be. In fact, it's probably some of the most depressing tracks I've heard. Not sure what to think of it.

The atmosphere does become far more terrifying in Tunnels, an incredibly dark and eerie track. I could hear sounds of plates and doors just move around, just building anxiety. I don't know what's going to come next - and it becomes more and more terrifying as the track moves on. It does feel really forced however. It's basically ten minutes of foreshadowing without sounding pleasant. Noveller didn't do much other than to try to create anxiety - which doesn't work too well by itself.

Bends is a huge letdown in comparison. It just builds more and more fear as you're expecting the storm to explode at any minute now. The storm does take on many forms, but you've noticed that it doesn't get any bigger. It does pick up more force occasionally, but never reaches the point that it becomes critical. Ultimately, it never does explode, it just ends up dissipating in your very eyes. But why is this so long? It had nineteen minutes to follow up the anxiety I get from Tunnels, but it fails to do so. I was fully expecting a majestic storm of noise, but all I got was a gentle breeze in comparison to the first two tracks. Really disappointing closer.

While this album does create vivid pictures, it doesn't quite work for me. I think my biggest gripe with this is actually the track order. The first two tracks caught me too offguard, which didn't give me a good first impression at first. While the third track is fine, the fourth/fifth tracks are too weak in comparison to the first two. I know that a track order isn't really that necessary, but it does detract a lot of my potential enjoyment from this. It's horribly ordered, but even when it is properly ordered (say, 5 -> 3 -> 4 -> 1 -> 2) it wouldn't be that good to begin with. I think I'd give it a 6 at most. It's either too much or too little to really indulge in as a whole. It'd probably be better if it's less experimental.

But that cover art though.

Album Highlights: St. Powers
Track Average Rating: 2.7/5
Overall Rating: 5/10
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Dopesmoker by Sleep (recommended by rayword45)
Sleep is a stoner metal/doom metal band from San Jose, gaining considerable popularity with their second album Sleep's Holy Mountain. Dopesmoker is their fourth studio album and at this point of time, their most recent.

The first track is 63 minutes long. It's like a journey in the middle of the desert and you're fully confident of where to go. It's a very long journey, but you're ready anyway. Eventually you hear the calls of a large figure, screaming "drop out of life with bong in hand, follow the smoke toward the riff filled land". You hear where the voice is coming from and continue to walk under the hot blazing sun. Your journey continues and continues... you do get tired at some points. After a short deep breath, you continue your journey as forward as ever. This continues up to the end. There are some bursts of energy here and there (translated from guitar solos), which does change the atmosphere a bit here and there.

I couldn't get into it. This is supposed to put you into a trance-like state or at least immersed, from what I've read. I don't think they achieved that with Dopesmoker for me. The solos do almost nothing for me (other than the part 40 minutes in) and I thought the vocals were pretty trite. However, my main problem is the length. Why is this 63 minutes long? It is quite monolithic, but I think it appears to look far larger than it really is. It is rather unpredictable when it comes to the solos and all, but that doesn't mean that it should be that long. The riffs do sound rather nice though, just not interesting enough to hold my attention for nearly an hour. Maybe if it's shortened to 30 minutes it'd be nice. Flood 2 by Boris is a beautiful track that rarely moves other than the occasional guitar solos, creating a lot more beauty than that in 1/3 of the time. So I don't think Dopesmoker needed to be that long-winded.

Sonic Titan is a bit too upbeat for me to like, despite its heavy sound. It's nice that it's significantly shorter, but if it doesn't work if you couldn't hold my attention within the first few minutes to begin with. Does feel a little too cheesy too, but I think that's just me being overly analytical at that point. I can't really conjure a picture when it comes to this, unlike Dopesmoker.

I'm pretty sure I missed the entire point of Dopesmoker. I really don't get it, it's an album that doesn't faze me in any way. It is a nice listen, but it doesn't go any deeper than that. The landscape I get from Dopesmoker ultimately becomes repetitious due to its length and lack of variation. More variation would've been fantastic. As it is I just think it drags on way too much for its own good. It's a great sound for the first 20 minutes though.

Album Highlights: -
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 6/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

wtf there are new flashbulb?

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Yeah man.
http://theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/track/solar-one
http://theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-is-real

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

A. I believe you listened to the old 2003 version, since you mentioned Sonic Titan. While the changes aren't THAT noticeable and really wouldn't have made a difference in score, I still believe that you should've went with that one.

B. If you don't get it, then that's perfectly fine (I've heard condescending marks about this album being "anti-music" or "pretentious"). I think your claims of shortening the album making it better though are a bit ill-advised, since the sprawl of the album is part of the appeal, but that's just my opinion.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

I suppose the sprawl is part of the appeal, but even then I don't find the irregular developments that amazing. This is my first time listening to something this long that's not ambient though. I guess I put myself too much into an "ambient" mindset, so it does limit my preferences here and there. Maybe making it shorter wouldn't be that good of an idea, but I would still like the movements to be a bit less subtle.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

If you put yourself in an ambient mindset, did you really expect unsubtle transitions?

However, the only correct mindsets for this album I believe are

A. Sprawling
B. Stoned
C. Stoned and tired

And I can't expect you to smoke weed just to review an album, so I can't criticize your opinion much at all.

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Got me there - but in my defense, most long ambient tracks that I listen to do have movements less subtle than Dopesmoker. But it doesn't matter anyway, I didn't find it too spectacular probably because I wasn't in the right mindset like you said.

No time to write a second review, but have this.

May 14th, 2014
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More! More! More! by Capsule
Capsule is a shibuya-kei/electro house duo from Japan. More! More! More! is their most popular album, at least to my knowledge. The album is generally electro house and electropop. I've only heard one track from this before reviewing, which is Jumper. I'll get to my thoughts on it later in the review. The main appeal of genres like electro house are how addictive and catchy they are. This is music that you just shut your brain off and just dance like no tomorrow. So I can't really bring in my sentimental thoughts about the album. I could however, talk about what I think about the content itself.

I'll just give a track by track review for this instead, since I can't write paragraphs on the overall album:

More More More (3.5/10) - Very sugary track, maybe too sweet for me. It's unbridled joy, maybe a step under Perfume's Dream Fighter. I personally don't think that it's that catchy and the vocals were a little difficult to take in.

The Time Is Now (5/10) - That beat is so catchy, goddamn. Unfortunately the vocals do bog it down quite considerably. It's pretty odd to hear the female vocalist try to bust out rhymes in English, almost cringeworthy. The rest of the vocals were more tolerable than More More More's, but not much better. It still wasn't that great, at least in my opinion. Fortunately, the vocals aren't too prominent.

Jumper (10/10) - Yes. Yes. YES. YES. This is phenomenal. A continuous progression in beats which keeps the track extremely fresh but doesn't leave familiar ground with the single lyric being repeated throughout. While there's really only one phrase used in the entire track, it fits so well. Koshijima's vocal execution at different points of the track is fantastic. Not to mention it pumps you up pretty quickly too, keeps you in the mood all the way through. It's so catchy throughout, I think I had this stuck in my head for weeks the first time I listened to it. Basically, listen to this in small doses. It gets too addictive otherwise.

Phantom (6/10) - Fakebit/electro house rendition of a hard rock melody. The tune is good for the most part, it keeps you on your feet throughout. The distorted vocals turn me off quite a bit though, I think Koshijima's vocals would fit quite well here. But hey, the general beats in this are actually pretty nice. The occasional glitch here and there was neat too.

Pleasure Ground (7.5/10) - Not very in-your-face, but still pretty upbeat. I could compare the atmosphere to something like.. School Food Punishment, perhaps? It's a very pleasant listen throughout, the vocals are incredibly soothing... for the most part. The vocals at the chorus are a little jarring, but not overly unbearable. Very good combination, but not very memorable. I have to listen to this a few more times though.

The Mutations of Life (5/10) - Continuing the subtlety of Pleasure Ground, The Mutations of Life takes it one notch lower. This feels like filler more than anything, it isn't catchy enough to hold my attention. The vocals weren't as good as Pleasure Ground's by any means, so another factor that doesn't click. It's not an unpleasant listen though, just very forgettable.

E.d.i.t. (6/10) - Back to the original energy levels of the first few tracks. Catchy, but the stock vocals really don't mix well with this. The tune drowns the vocals easily, so they become whispers in comparison. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I don't see the point in doing so if it is. Doesn't help that the vocals aren't that good by themselves to begin with too. Feels long-winded too, which is odd because 6 minutes is the average length of a track in this album.

Adventure (4.5/10) - It's sugary again. This sounds more like a ballad more than an electropop track though. It's pretty sweet yes, but I could feel this sadness in Koshijima's vocals. That is, until halfway through. Her voice breaks through the sadness and just explodes in joy. Unfortunately, it's not quite something that I really like. The track isn't bad, but the combined elements of the mediocre tunes and slightly above average vocals don't mix well.

So overall, a generally unspectacular album with some highlights. This album would've gotten a significantly lower rating if it weren't for Jumper and Pleasure Ground, since the other tracks don't make a single dent on me. Some aspects are catchy for sure, but not enough to grab my attention throughout.

Album Highlights: Jumper, Pleasure Ground
Track Average Rating: 2.94/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

Got another album recommendation.

Solar Fields - Movements

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge
 

me too

Shitmat - Full English Breakfest

(thank u ji !!)