Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1034: Sundial by Noname

The controversy, for once, drove me away from this album rather than the inverse. Then I decided, fuck it, it's short and I'm missing out on the culture by not at least giving it a try.

I don't believe in "separating the art from the artist" out of principle, because the story of the artist is part of the story of the art. To fully ignore how the two are intertwined is bad media consumption, and I will argue against it all day every day. What I DO stand by is the notion that enjoying art made by objectionable people doesn't mean you support whatever it is that makes them objectionable, otherwise that means hundreds of millions of rap listeners support murder and beating women, and any time someone claims that every single XXXTentacion fan is an abuse supporter I want to commit die. You should avoid financially supporting those you find to be morally abhorrent, but otherwise, enjoy art as you please.

But anyways, the worst thing Noname has done, as far as I can tell, is platform Jay Electronica and his anti-Semitic bars, and then respond to criticism in the absolute worst way possible. I'm not here to pass judgement on either artist in question, I'm here to enjoy the music, and I can safely say that whatever controversy there is doesn't really bleed into the vast majority of this album. This isn't a super fiery, passionate diatribe against the evils of Judaism, this is just another short jazz rap album. It's solid, but not really worth a five year wait.

Best Track: Stormfront
Rating: 6.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1035: Secret Life by Fred again.. & Brian Eno

Is the titular secret about how artificially manufactured all the hype for this guy is? And hopefully, you realize I'm not talking about the godfather of ambient here.

Best Track: Swedish House Mafia
Rating: 4/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Nice 7.5 we killed it

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1036: Enola Gay by Asia Menor

It's dece.

Best Track: whatever
Rating: 6.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1037: When We Were That What Wept for the Sea by Colin Stetson

I decided to listen to this in honor of the 4-episode Uzumaki anime finally getting a release date after spending approximately 37 years in production. Those guys slaved really hard over those 90 minutes of animation. I also chose this as music to listen to while working.

This sounds exactly like the music from all the previews of that anime, exactly like the music in that one Ari Aster movie, and exactly like everything else I've heard from this dude. If you've heard his style before, you know what I'm saying. I've got no clue what his full albums outside of this sound like, as I've only heard a few songs and most were recordings of live performances, but this was pretty okay for me. I appreciate how unsettling it manages to be through minimalism and light touches of atonality, but it does get a bit tiring after 75 minutes of it. That, or I just felt tired of it because of the context I'm listening to it under. Either way, well made, but not something I'm gonna return to often.

Best Track: Choosing a best track from this album is really pointless and in fact probably actively goes against how the artist intended this to be consumed
Rating: 6/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 1038: Knower Forever by KNOWER

Perhaps it's a bit weird to compare the dude's solo efforts to his main band, but hey, at least I'm not comparing to Clown Core, right? I only wanted to make that comparison to say that this album is basically completely devoid of those issues. It's a tight 45 minutes, and there's plenty of variety in tempo, mood and level of chaos here. And unlike Time where a lot of those slower songs bored me, every single track on this album is good. Every single one. Even the one-minute throwaway simply titled Bonus Track.

This really does feel like both artists listened to criticisms of their past albums, as miniscule as they were, and used that to inform a lot of the creative decisions here. The sequencing is on point, Genevieve Artadi's vocals are better than ever, there's a perfect balance of soft crooners, dancers and more abrasive cuts, I really can't think of any complaints. The closest thing to one that I have is that either the first word of the album title should've been capitalized or they should stop yelling their band name.

inb4 choof says something about gentrified jazz fusion

Best Track: It's All Nothing Until It's Everything
Rating: 9/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

ok this made me lol hard

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1039: GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo

Clearing skies and drying eyes
Now I see your smile
Darkness goes and softness shows
A changing style

Just in time, words that rhyme
Will bless your soul
Now I'll fill your hands
With kisses and a Tootsie Roll

Oh, reality, it's not for me
And it makes me laugh
Oh, fantasy world and Disney girls
I'm coming back

Best Track: Bad Idea Right?
Rating: 4/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1040: HELLMODE by Jeff Rosenstock

I thought I had reviewed this guy before, but apparently I instead listened to his 2020 album, told myself I would review it, listened again, then decided to just throw down a score within my Nicolás Jaar review instead. I still remember my general feelings pretty clearly, though, which is that I understand this dude's appeal both for, to quoth myself, "MySpace-nostalgic 30 y/o boomer burnouts [and] le wrong generation kids who WISH they were MySpace-nostalgic 30 y/o boomer burnouts" but it's ultimately a little grating to my ears.

Tonally, this album is pretty much the same as NO DREAM. Songwriting-wise, things are a little sharper and more refined here. And as for myself, this STILL isn't the vibe for me! But it's not bad, and I don't find myself annoyed like I did back then. It's one of those things where I can appreciate the craftsmanship on display as well as feeling the pure racuous fun that the whole band seems to be having here, yet still not find myself really "feeling" the album. A commendable effort, and if you're a pop punk slut you may love this stuff. Me, I'm moving onto the next album.

Best Track: ligma
Rating: 6/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1041: Everything Is Alive by Slowdive

I saw these guys last night because I got extremely lucky and snagged a free ticket off reddit when the resale market was full of scammers and the legit sellers were asking absurd prices. I'm talking like well over $100 for a second-hand when the original price was $40, $57.73 after AXS fees. And seriously, the only time I've seen so many scammers out in full force have been for festivals or other pop EDM shows that attract dumbass ABGs and frat bros that buy all their tickets, airfare, lodging and bunk-ass MDMA using daddy's credit card. I guess there's equal opportunity for scamming between Asians that have fried their brains via weekly research chemical usage and technologically illiterate Gen Xers.

The show had visuals, which was actually really surprising, but they were extremely minimalistic to the point of "who gives a shit?" and the show was largely a standstill stage presence for a standstill audience. Both Slowdive and the opener Drab Majesty cranked the everliving fuck outta the fog machine, which really added to the impression that it was about the sound and not the sights. Speaking of the opener, the frontman had a fashion sense that was equal parts William Basinski and Milo Yiannopoulos, down to the bleached hair, sunglasses and tailored suit, but thankfully sounded like neither (no diss to Billy). Shit was extremely 80s, and that aforementioned fog was so thick that I literally thought it was a solo act until the very last song, when I noticed a second dude in the back who also had bleached hair, sunglasses and a tailored suit. For the record, this was indoors and it was dark as fuck.

But back to the band I'm reviewing, I'm glad that the show was a lot less loud than my recollection of seeing Ride in January, which I'm glad for, and I'm SUPER glad that the audience was largely populated by older millennials and Gen Xers because the past handful of shows prior to last night averaged so young that I felt my hairline receding. And in the case of The Breeders, that age breakdown was both surprising and resulted in a much more inappropriately rowdy and impolite crowd than I expected. I also felt old at Ashnikko a couple days after that, but that crowd was populated by people with basic manners.

Anyways, Slowdive's set was pretty well balanced between classics and new stuff, and VERY well-balanced between "softer" moments of sweet melodies and walls of noise. It was fairly amusing that the crowd largely only cheered for Souvlaki songs but I can't act haughty over that, because that's also the stuff I came for. That being said, their 2017-and-beyond songs definitely popped a lot more live than on record... Wait this isn't a concert review thread, fuck.

This album was okay, I'd put it on par or slightly below their 2017 effort. The handful of songs they played live, only 4 out of 8 for the record, are a lot less mesmerizing when relegated to a static recording, though the opener and closer at least get close. The other songs are also decent but not as magical as their 90s output. That's not really a fair benchmark to have, but it is what it is.

Okay that's enough about the actual album. Now I only have to somehow catch My Bloody Valentine and I've seen all of the big three shoegaze bands in concert!

Best Track: The Slab
Rating: 6/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1042: Isn​’​t It Now? by Animal Collective

I'm gonna piss off some friends of mine with this one.

Mid.

Best Track: no
Rating: 4.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1043: Softscars by yeule (Album Choice: Anon E. Mouse)

Friend told me to listen to this in order to hype me up for her upcoming concert for which I do not yet have tickets. I'll probably go, but I'm banking on some of her terminally online stans giving away their tickets for free on Reddit like I've taken advantage of for other musicians with fanbases that consist largely of zoomer shut-ins with poor social skills and an allergy to sunlight.

This is a lot noisier and more abrasive than her album from last year, which I liked but didn't love. Outside of that, I'd say it's highly unlikely that this would change anyone's opinion of the artist if they're coming from a place of having listened to said prior albums. It's pretty solid, a few duds here and there and rough around the edges but I like it. Bonus points for the Aphex Twin reference in the closer title.

I want to write more but I'm busy. Now back to to the rat race.

Best Track: joe mama
Rating: 7.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1043: Javelin by Sufjan Stevens

there were actually several other albums i intended to review first that i have listened to but i just wanted to jot this one down so i can pre-emptively get it out of the way

yes aperson, i am mayo

Best Track: joe mama
Rating: 9/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1044: Softscars by yeule

Just haikus for now
Getting this over with fast
Dece but overhyped

Sad I missed her live
But PFT signed my book
So worthy trade-off

Best Track: Softscars
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1045: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski

Also pretty good
But also overrated
I preferred the synths

Best Track: idk whatever the TikTok kids say, they're making her concerts cost a million dollars
Rating: 6.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1046: Again by Oneohtrix Point Never

Now THIS is awesome
Up there with his oldest best
Not a second bored

Best Track: Ubiquity Road
Rating: 9/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

I've been a little conflicted on this one. I can observe the mastery on display within the album but it simultaneously feels like a feature-length jamming session. I will agree that it seems like Daniel is channeling his early 2010s self, which I vastly prefer over his recent efforts (I haven't been on board for much after R Plus Seven, although his score for Uncut Gems fucked me right up). Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Maybe I'll listen to it again (heh) until I brute force myself into thinking it's a masterwork.

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1047: Voir Dire by Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist

Let's try something different.

I've listened to this album 3 times now, no word on whether or not I'll listen more times. Anyways, I'm not going to give any sort of opinion here. Instead, I want you to guess which song was my favorite and what rating I'd give this. Let's see how predictable I am!

Best Track: *************
Rating: X/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1048: Echoes by Fire! Orchestra

On the other hand, I'll try to actually write some stuff for this one, although it's not gonna be very in-depth. I've already made it clear over the years that these guys (along with the non-orchestral trio Fire!, who I may like more but not sure really) scratch a certain itch for me that most jazz I listen to doesn't. Why? I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a hipster, or maybe it's because I dig their use of abrasive, noisy passages that eschew melody in favor of chaos.

This is by far their most ambitious album yet, clocking in at nearly two hours across two CDs and running nearly twice as long as their next longest album. In some ways, that works in their favor as the sprawl of it all really allows you to enmesh yourself in the atmosphere they're trying to paint. In other ways, it feels a bit overkill, and I found myself losing a bit of attention towards the end when it felt like it was getting a bit repetitious. The technical and compositional side of things remains as impressive as ever, although I found most of the vocal additions to be superfluous albeit not enough to detract from anything really, and I found myself enjoying the interludes as much as the long ambitious pieces.

I dunno, I liked listening to the album, I think it's very well done, but I can't see myself returning to it that often, certainly not as much as something like She Sleeps! She Sleeps!. I'm gonna give this a good rating because I feel like it matches what I felt on my first go-around, but maybe this will change down the line. That is, if I ever decide to dedicated a full two hours to this behemoth again.

Best Track: Echoes: Cala boca menino probably?
Rating: 7.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 

Day 1049: Paths by G Jones

Pretty solid wonky stuff, and probably the perfect length because I feel like if this was any longer it'd get annoying but as it is it's all killer no filler. Also makes me excited at the prospect of seeing him live again.

Welp, onto the next one.

Best Track: Maybe
Rating: 8/10