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rayword45 06-1-2017 08:09 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 388: The Black Black by Solace (Album Choice: cultjake)

This shit was damn near impossible to find. Better be fuckin good.

Man I haven't smoked weed in nearly two weeks now. Thank god for oral swab drug tests. It really is too bad, though, because I feel I'd appreciate this a lot more after a toke. Except the vocalist, even if I was high my opinion of him would remain the same. When he does quieter low-end melodic singing, it fits the music well, reminiscent of Acid Bath. Unfortunately, that vocal style comes out almost never. Most of the time he uses a glammy high-pitched tone which both feels off against the instrumentation and personally annoys me. Hey, I've shit on Bon Jovi many times here so you should be able to guess why (not that this singer is anywhere near as grating as Jon Bon Jovi). The last style used is traditional screams and squeals, which does fit well so I have little else to say about that.

Outside of the singer, this is pretty average stoner metal. Locking riffs, slow drums and fuzzy bass, everything you expected. I honestly find some of the more rhythmic, groovy attempts to be annoying, particularly the first track. Plus, three out of four songs here exceed 7 minutes and only The Devil's Clock justifies its mega long running time with its wonderful ending solo. The first two cuts could have could've easily been 4 or so minutes and all the better for it. Thankfully, the last track runs a normal duration, and thus leaves everything on a more positive note.

Yeah, not the best stoner stuff I've listened to. It was obnoxious trying to find this, so I may be being extra judgemental. Whatever.

Best Track: The Devil's Cock (yeah I made a typo and I'm leaving it in because I have the humor of a 5 year old)
Rating: 5/10 (the cock song is a strong 8)

rayword45 06-16-2017 06:09 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 389: Death Peak by Clark (Album Choice: Wayward Vagabond and some other peoples)

Gonna kill some albums waiting for this delayed-ass plane. This I enjoy a lot more than Totems Flare. They're obviously nearly identical in terms of style but the songs here seem a lot more epic, for lack of a better term. Maybe theatrical? Or more emotionally resonant? Either way, this is good stuff with nary a boring moment, though the vocal samples in Catastrophe Anthem come off as a bit corny.

Fun fact, I listened to half of this album awaiting jury duty. Wait, that wasn't fun. Jury duty fucking sucks.

Best Track: Toss-up between Butterfly Prowler and Peak Magnetic (I keep typing Death Magnetic in random places and I think Lars is a Nazi)
Rating: 8.5/10

rayword45 06-17-2017 12:35 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 390: Remote Control by Beat Therapy

This is the soundtrack to the obscure DSiWare game Pop+ Solo. I used to get lost into that game, back when I was 12. All you did was pop bubbles, but it was really immersive and actually fun for scoring. Nobody has bought this soundtrack, which is a travesty because it's damn fine chillout music and it fit the water theme of the game.

Best Track: Splash Screen
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 06-17-2017 12:36 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 391: Harry Styles by Harry Styles (Album Choice: szafira)

I love to rash on One Direction because they suck, they're blandly sugary and they're corporately soulless. However, I've heard a stupid amount about how surprisingly good and "mature" this album is.

I don't know what these people meant by "mature" but I hope they weren't talking about the lyrics. Garbage all across the board, horrible horrible horrible. The variance in arrangements here is nice though, as the grab-bag approach made for a few enjoyable tracks here and there, scattered throughout a bunch of bullshit. The "pretty" ballads mostly suck out of how bland they are, especially lyrically, whereas the more arena-esque songs seem to be taking on a glammy, sexual approach and mostly make you cringe, especially the deplorable Woman.

Not to harp only on the bad, I thoroughly enjoyed Carolina and Only Angel as dumb fun, and both Ever Since New York and the last track are actually enjoyable as pussyboy tracks. They're not fantastic, but they're definitely listenable. I also don't wanna deny that the man can sing and sing well. However, regarding songwriting, the rest of this album can go fuck itself. Better than One Direction, but that's like saying a yeast infection is better than late-stage syphilis. Great fucking job.

Best Track: Ever Since New York
Rating: 4/10

rayword45 06-23-2017 07:20 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 392: A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie

I recently revised my RYM to bump The Glow Pt. 2 down from a 5, because I practically never listen to it nowadays. It's still a 4.5, but I never cared for most of what this dude put out as Mount Eerie. And if you don't know the backstory to this album, go google it.

How the fuck am I supposed to review this album? Sheesh, this is an incredibly tough listen, in the... best way possible I suppose? What the hell is this? What are emotions? I'm a numb motherfucker man, and I just feel extra socially retarded trying to talk about this album. It's sad, which is obviously what Elverum was going for... What the hell how are you supposed to critique a release like this? Am I suppose to praise it because I enjoy his pain? Can I criticize the lack of rhymes or does that make me a callous asshole? I don't actually care about the lack of rhymes at times since it doesn't detract from the point of the music, I'm just trying to make a point. This is blatantly the most artist-personal contemporary release I've reviewed, and talking about this album just feels incredibly uncomfortable. I mean, the dude put this out for the masses to consume, clearly he wanted people to interpret it their own way.

...Fuck this I can't talk about this one at all. Based on that, you know it's good! Know that this is a good album, an incredibly painful one and a very sincere sounding one. And it's easily the best thing this guy has released since the aforementioned The Glow Pt. 2. Nobody should go through what this man has, but people will, and this is a good result of that... Wow that makes me sound like an asshole. I'm 3 fuckin months late.

...What am I doing with my life?

Best Track: My Chasm, maybe? Crow, maybe? Why the fuck does my personal favorite matter?
Rating: 8.5/10 (I'm assigning a rating to this? How can I do that? Why is this review almost completely questions?)

rayword45 06-26-2017 12:17 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 393: The Word From Pluto by Ho-Ag (Album Choice: _pipes)

I've bumped Tempel, Becoming X and Prom King all to 10s due to the sheer number of times I've played them, so congrats to noname219 and MixMasterLar.

Ever fall in love with an album within 30 seconds? This is definitely a case of that. As a Brainiac megafan, this is the exact kinda shit I like to hear. They're not quite as unhinged or creative as Tim Taylor was, but they do what they do, acidic noise rock, very very well. It can get samey, but in this case hearing more of the same is only a very good thing and it's a pretty short album anyways.

Highly, highly recommended. I haven't smoked weed in 32 days now.

Best Track: Stay Home Tonight
Rating: 9/10

rayword45 06-28-2017 03:28 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 394: Neanderthals Were Master Butchers by Neoandertals (Album Choice: MiseryBusiness)

I saw Big Business live yesterday and they fucking rocked. That's a good example of how to do metal as a drums-and-bass duo.

This is not. This is just repetitive and sorely lacking in melody.

Best Track: THESE ALL SOUND THE FUCKING SAME
Rating: 1.5/10

rayword45 06-28-2017 04:16 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 395: Pregnant Babies Pregnant With Pregnant Babies by Fat Worm of Error

These guys are from my college town, yet I doubt more than 50 people in my college know who they are and that's being generous.

I like a lot of experimental, free improvisation stuff like... uhh... okay I'm actually not that well-versed in this genre. But regardless, I enjoy some weird stuff and that means I'm more likely to enjoy this than the vast majority of the world population. Also, I'm sober right now. The first band to compare to this in my head is not Captain Beefheart like most of the internet says but instead Five Starcle Men, maybe because nobody else knows who those dudes are. However, Gomba Reject Ward Japan is now an all-time favorite of mine and this is far less enjoyable, maybe because at least FSM had some sense of rhythm and even occasionally melody to their songs. Also, their voices were nowhere near as annoying as this guy's.

For sure, a few tracks here have enjoyable, rhythmic bits or hilarious bits, but most of the time is simply too unstructured for my tastes. Oh well, I'll probably come back to it while high.

Best Track: 20' X 20' and Hand Of God
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 07-3-2017 03:17 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 396: GT ULTRA by Guerilla Toss

Kassie Carlson is SINGING. What is this? And there's no dissonance to speak of. What is this?

It's a pretty good record I'd say is what it is.

Best Track: Crystal Run
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 07-10-2017 02:14 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 397: Slowdive by Slowdive (Album Choice: NinjaSM)

This is another one of those bands that is supposedly right up my alley but I've never bothered listening to. Perhaps I should start with their more acclaimed early albums instead? Eh, fuck it.

This is a pretty album, but it's too samey for the most part, and I'm not fond of the dude's vocals (even Isn't Anything-era Kevin Shields sounded more pleasurable). They're too deep to be dreamy, especially on the unnecessarily drawn out closer Falling Ashes. The riffs and guitar tone are on point for the most part, though. All in all, a pretty middling album.

Best Track: Everyone Knows
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 07-14-2017 02:35 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 398: Velocity : Design : Comfort by Sweet Trip (Album Choice: HitlerWasRight)

Your choice of username is fucking awful edgelord bullshit not because it's offensive (it's not) but because it's stupidly predictable and tired, that has no bearing on my expectations for this album though. Onto the music.

First track vaguely reminds me of M83 but a lot more aggressive and danceable. Both of those are good things. Oh wait, here's vocals. Yeah, these guys sound like shoegaze singers alright. Pretty obvious dynamic, but this is infinitely less sexy and more dancey than any shoegaze I've ever listened to, the former a negative, the latter a positive. What? I'm an ETard I suppose.

Actually, if Velocity is anything to go by, this has a strange similarity to that Beat Therapy album I listened to pretty recently, albeit a lot more chaotic and with an obvious band feel. I should add that album to RYM it's pretty good. The textures on this album are great, going beyond both most shoegaze albums and many IDM albums to give off a sense of real diversity.

Yeah this is a fire album not much else to say besides some tracks like International are straight up boring filler. Your username is still ass.

Best Track: Chocolate Matter
Rating: 8/10

choof 07-14-2017 11:11 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4564231)
Day 392: A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie

I really wanted to listen to this in it's entirety, I really did. but I had dealt with two deaths close to me and the intimacy of the album just fucking ruins me

I would like to recommend Divine Punishment by Diamanda Galas. fucking insane

rayword45 07-19-2017 08:32 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 399: SATURATION by Brockhampton (Album Choice: Raghav S.)

I wrote this review minus this paragraph about 5 days ago and have been postponing it because I wanted to choose a standout rapper. Unfortunately for you, I'm lazy, so I didn't pick one.

I've been postponing this one for a long time now despite falling in love with STAR (or more accurately, Perf which isn't even on this album) because I wanted to be high for it and I had just started my T-break.

Those 50 days are now over.

The first 3 songs fuckin SMACK. No pun intended I swear. After that, there's a bit of a lull up until Fake which is fantastic, but the lull isn't TOO deep because the amount of variety here is at least respectable. On the other hand, the amount of pitch shifting is not (damn, Fake is still good but could've been so much better). The lo-fi atmosphere reminds me of Odd Future a bit, but it's not nearly as ass as Odd Future minus Earl and Frank. I still haven't listened to Flower Boy so being fair and stating that forthright, Tyler-Stans please piss off. The beats on these tracks are incredibly creative, plus points because I'm not very sure what the heck else I should say. The hooks are catchy, lyrically they're not all that great but that doesn't seem the point and they can at least rap decently. I'm here for the beats, dude, and they deliver. Surprisingly good consistently or maybe I'm just dumb rn. The all caps title scheme is also dumb.

Meh, I'm gonna return, that's all else I feel like saying.

NO WAIT, ask me about this years down the line (it took me three tries to correctly spell "line") and see if I still like these guys. Or this album because I have hopes SATURATION II will be better (hey man, PERF was better than any of these tracks, and it was just a 1-minute snippet!). For first album, very commendable but I feel it has a target audience age. So yeah.

Best Track: Cash
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 08-9-2017 08:25 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 400: Flower Boy by Tyler, The Creator (Album Choice: Hazel H.)

Wow this is the big 400! That's... a rather boring milestone but whatever, I think this is a good album for a benchmark number.

I got rashed on Facebook today by randos bc I trashed Goblin. Sorry that I'm not 14 enough to enjoy lo-fi edgelord nonsense. But anyways, yeah, I reviewed Cherry Bomb a while ago and it basically exaggerated every quality of Tyler I don't like. You can imagine how surprised I was when everyone came out saying the new album was actually GOOD.

And... I mean, they were right. Despite sounding distinctively like Tyler this also flips over every trademark of his, which probably explains why this is so good. This isn't a juvenile, crass, bloated, lo-fi piece of dogshit, it's a gorgeously orchestrated, concise album about young gay love (Who Dat Boy sticks out like a thumb that requires amputation). The most offensive line is about the Boston bombings and my Bostonian friends make shitty jokes about that so I don't care, otherwise this is free of unnecessary button pushing. And yes, the featured are great and his flow has improved but that's absolutely not the important part. The three worst weaknesses of Tyler, production, restraint and lyrical content, are now his strengths! Well, not really restraint but at least this isn't a fuckin hour of him calling his dad a ******.

I believe I've mentioned another one of my qualms with this dude is that every album has 1-4 good songs but then he fills the rest of the album with filler horseshit. Does that fall under restraint? Whatever. Good album, I didn't say anything not said 1000 times already. I need to listen to The Internet.

Best Track: See You Again (talk about a pretty chorus)
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 08-9-2017 11:22 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 401: Psychopomp by Japanese Breakfast (Album Choice: MyNameIsNothing)

Studying for a test to this. Is there supposed to be something particularly special about this music? I feel like I've heard this brand of dream pop like a thousand times before. The vocals, which are often the key ingredient to good dream pop, are adequate but they aren't pretty enough to make this outstanding. The instrumentals are everything you'd expect. I can't pick a favorite because this went in one ear and out the other.

I feel like this shouldn't count as a review, but it does. This was a short-ass album, I'm glad it didn't overstay its samey welcome.

Best Track: I don't got one
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 08-17-2017 12:12 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 402: Music For Bondage Performance by Merzbow (Album Choice: velocifish)

I once fell asleep to Pulse Demon and I once played it during a trip. That's the brunt of my experience with the harsh noise master, a genre I should like and explore more than I actually do. I'm only listening to this one because I'm hoping real life follows suit.

Seishi Seppuku Kei almost made me think of The Illest Villains at first, but that changed rather quickly. This must have been a rather... moody porno. I'm trying to visuali- wait what the fuck no I'm heading to work.

This is basically what I wanted Coil to sound like. Dark, cold and creepy yet somehow beautiful in its soundscapes and atmospheres. Some parts linger on a bit too long (like the first few minutes of Ropes In Tears), but otherwise the airy spaces are captivating enough as it is, the extra noise and experimentation is mostly just a plus. Yeah, not much else to say, this could be a third shorter and better for it (cut the last track by a lot) but it's still GOOD.

Best Track: Seishi Seppuku Kei
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 08-24-2017 12:11 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 403: META PHONIC DIAL by PZA

I seem to have downloaded this album onto my phone while blacked out. Seriously, I have no recollection of even researching this one. Apparently, it's vaportrap and 2017 so that's good, more recent music.

This is so horribly mediocre and lifeless, and most of these songs don't even end properly. Only the last 4 tracks are worth your time. Not atmospheric enough for vaporwave, too boring for my preferences in trap. Bad pre-work music.

Best Track: EYES WIDE SHUT
Rating: 4.5/10

rayword45 08-29-2017 10:25 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 404: SATURATION II by Brockhampton (Album Choice: Raghav S.)

These dudes are just great at writing hooks and making beats, and their chemistry together is phenomenal, they really feel like more than the sum of their parts. Compared to SATURATION I'm not sure the peaks are as high but they're far more cohesive in influences this time while still managing to make every track spund different. I dunno what else to say.

Fuck it, make it short so I can listen to something else.

Best Track: GUMMY but really almost this whole tape is catchy as fuck
Rsting: 9/10

L.B.D.D 08-29-2017 01:10 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
damn you're still going with this
proud of you

rayword45 08-31-2017 09:12 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 406: Playboi Carti by Playboi Carti

The hook to Flex injects some much needed melody in this somewhat tedious album. Very repetitive and a bit too low-key for my tastes. Magnolia is still a banger though.

Best Track: Flex objectively but Magnolia in any social situation be it a party, wedding, funeral, baby shower or anything else
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 09-19-2017 11:43 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 407: Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown

Uh... So I actually listened to this like a year ago but forgot to ever review it and then reviewed something else.

Then the Ain't It Funny video came out and I listened to it again and forgot to write a review again.

So anyways, here's that long-overdue review since I recently revisited it... What the fuck? This album is old now. I don't need to write anything you can read another fuckin review, nothing I could possibly say on an album this well-covered would be unique, and yeah that applies to a lot of albums I review but fuck you I'm lazy.

Best Track: Really Doe or Ain't It Funny or Dance In The Water
Rating: 8.5/10

rayword45 10-5-2017 05:54 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 408: Big Fish Theory by Vince Staples

So... Is 2017 the year of Odd Future members working past their cringy edgelord mannerisms and improving all around? If that's the case, I can't WAIT for the new Earl Sweatshirt release. As for this, well I heard it was good. I don't think ANYBODY ever cared about Vince before this one dropped, so let's see what the hype is about.

Lyrically, this is really thin. Like, really thin. I cannot remember a single worthwhile line and I was reading through Genius, the closest thing being Party People. Maybe I'm just not the target audience for his prose. The flow and delivery is also done in such a way to not evoke interest, really lazy and mumbled delivery that gets pretty repetitive. Whenever a guest hook appears it's a much-needed breath of fresh air.

But to spoil things early, this isn't gonna be a negative review. While the "rap" aspect of this album is subpar, the beats are phenomenal. I'm a raver so I like deep bass, danceability and garage-y sounds, and this has all 3! And it doesn't get too samey in this realm, thank GOD. Love Can Be... and Crabs In A Bucket feel like they belong on Warp Records with their groovy, almost acidic beats, whereas tracks like Yeah Right and Homage play out like bangers at a party where the bass boost is cranked.

I wish Staples' delivery was more engaging and his lyrical content doesn't justify his monotonic flow the way it does people like Earl, but the beats are probably what matters, because as the kids say, nobody gives a fuck about lyrics, right?

No, wrong, but whatever. Good album. A grower probably. Who's next from the OFWGKTA clan to escape suckitude? I place my bets on Taco.

Best Track: Love Can Be...
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 10-12-2017 12:17 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 409: Ego Death by The Internet (Album Choice: BonafideSupastar and)

For a long time, I've said I only care about Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean out of the whole Odd Future clique. This year, some artists from the group have made some great creative strides, but this album wasn't made this year. It was made in 2015, and it's fantastic. I'm an idiot. Slow, sexy, psychedelic jams and Syd has the voice of a 10/10 seductress. Very easy listen, passes by ridiculously fast, and keeps its thematic cool while still being varied enough.

I don't have anything to say in any of these reviews. Besides the listed best track, I have to highly recommend the opener, Special Affair, Curse and Something's Missing.

Best Track: Girl
Rating: 8.5/10

choof 10-17-2017 04:25 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
take a break from hip-hop and rnb and listen to diamanda galas - the divine punishment

rayword45 10-18-2017 05:52 AM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 410: Luv Is Rage 2 by Lil Uzi Vert (Album Choice: I actually forget specifically who, most people told me this was ass)

Aight choof I swear I'll do yours next. But this one has been waiting far too damn long. I like XO Tour Llife because the lyrics speak to me on a base emotional level. I don't really care about this guy outside of that, but he has at least a few catchy (if overplayed) tracks like Ps and Qs. Fun enough on the dance floor I say, as long as the dance floor isn't full of boring white people. Can't see how this is gonna translate to an hour long album, though...

Dude, I'm writing this at 6AM after pulling an all-nighter writing an essay I failed to write during the majority of the day. Or the majority of the week. WHY CAN'T I FOCUS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY BRAIN? I'm glad I'm surviving college with a decent GPA (One whole point higher than high school! Fuck you BLS) but my body is screaming at me and I've been getting cluster headaches now and ahhh fuck.

This is rather sing-songy, which I expected. I generally prefer my trap a little more on the aggressive side, the kinda shit you can watch some jackass slam his face into a minibar to, but I'm not gonna dock for that, especially considering how many trap rappers out there completely ignore the potential virtues of melodic vocals. For Real is the first noticeable banger, and it's still kinda tame TBH. I'm not really sure I should look to this guy for hard-hitters anyways, and that's getting clearer and clearer as Neon Guts and Feelings Mutual were both significantly better songs anyways. Also I'm not reading the lyrics as the little I can decipher severely disappoints me after the literary genius of that push me to the edge song. (Did you know his dead friends is referring to the fact that all the presidents are dead, and his only friend is his money?!)

And it's after this point that I got incredibly bored by this album. Seriously, this guy is so fucking samey, there's really no need for a goddamn hour long album. I had the same problem with Lil Boat, but that had much better peaks than this shit (minus the last track, which, yes, shits all over everything on that mixtape I'm that edgy). Worse yet, minus one point for including the cheese sleaze of The Weeknd on here. I know I mentioned the potential benefits of melodic vocals, and yeah that dude can sing, but HOLY FUCKING SHIT I cannot listen to him without feeling like I'm being sexually harassed by some sweaty, moderately overweight dude in a white T-shirt that smells like smegma buildup.

It's now nearly 7AM, and I'm still not finished with this essay, 3 hours to go but I have to take a shower, brush my teeth, head to one 8AM class (I can write in there) then print this out before 10AM. I'm sure I can do all that, but damn I hate having even small responsibilities, and I'm more well-adjusted to this scenario than a fuckton of these suburban-ass pussies out here. That's not bragging, that's me crying for help. Somebody please get a bunch of city kids in here I'm dying surrounded by the whiteness. This is why I wanna improve public school districts, to help inner-city youth (yeah that term totally isn't subtly racist, but hey I'm including any city kids) and make these schools significantly more lit (okay, that was totally based in stereotype but fuck you it's true) because I'm sick of white frats throwing gross cramped parties with no dancing that end at 130AM because the cops got called by someone with a bitten ear. I wanna dance not fight.

I am never actively listening to this album in full again. 3 or 4 good songs on a fucking hour long piece of garbage, totally not worth my time.

Best Track: The one I mentioned earlier man. The last track.
Rating: 3/10

rayword45 10-25-2017 03:16 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 410: The Divine Punishment by Diamanda Galas (Album Choice: choof)

...choof I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to say about this album. I like the atmosphere it gives off, the second track is better than the first... Uh yeah.

I can't say shit about this, just, listen and make your own judgement. This gets a good rating because it compelled me enough to listen to it three times. And I recommend this to ANYONE.

Best Track: The second one
Rating: 7/10

Deadlyx39 10-25-2017 08:28 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Still going on these? I applaud you on the effort.

rayword45 10-25-2017 09:15 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
i log any new album i listen to here so it probably will never stop lol

rayword45 11-2-2017 12:19 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 411: Melodrama by Lorde

I listened to Pure Heroine how long ago now? That wasn't a very good album, TBH. Sorry David. I'm fond of minimalistic, spare backings but the whole album was just a snoozefest. This album seems to be more of the same, but this time around Lorde half-knows what she's doing. There's far better usage of doubletracking and harmonizing this time around, as well as a whole new energy to the recordings. It's still very minimalistic and synth-based, but the whole thing feels much fuller and Lorde's vocal performances seem a lot more confident. I still don't like Green Light but, oddly enough, the rest of the album keeps the same kinda tone and vibe while still being pretty engaging. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this album at all, but I did. Not a top 10 of 2017 or anything, but a very solid release.

Best Track: Homemade Dynamite or Perfect Places
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 11-12-2017 12:01 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 412: Neo Wax Bloom by Iglooghost

This 50% makes me wanna play ITG, 50% makes me wanna hit up a rave, and 50% makes me wanna check out way more music in this genre. If it fucks up my math AND grammar that bad, it's gotta be good. With how "drop-heavy" this shit is I would've expected to get bored by the repetition, but things stay JUST fresh enough throughout the whole thing to avoid tiring you out. Wholly accessible with an in-your-face jubilant atmosphere throughout yet still incredibly rewarding, and I'm saying that because obviously more "challenging" music is more rewarding because I'm a hipster.

Definitely gotta check this shit out live. Also MORE 2017 RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED HELP

Best Track: White Gum or Zen Champ
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 11-14-2017 01:32 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 413: Everywhere At The End Of Everything, Part 3 by The Caretaker

So this is apparently some of the best ambient of the year. I'm doing this three-part series of albums in scattered backwards order because

1. This one has the best ratings
2. Part one is from 2016
3. Fuck you

This was rather different from what I was expecting, based on my preconceptions of what constitutes "ambient" and "turntablism". This consists mostly of piano playing chopped up, swirled around and run through filters to make it sound wax cylinder lo-fi. Not the atmosphere I tend to go for when searching for either of those genres, but it's not bad!

Apparently, this is supposed to sound like dementia. I definitely read that some time ago on RYM but I had forgotten it until I was about halfway through the album. With that context in mind... the hell? If anything that just makes it seem more kitsch with all the 1910s ballroom atmosphere. This predated Bojack Horseman season 4 but that felt like a better, more tasteful portrayal of dementia than this. And you guys should KNOW I'm a sucker for context (A Crow Looked At Me is a case where the depressing backstory worked except this one isn't nearly as "What the Jesus fuck..." tragic).

As one long piece this is rather enjoyable, yet oddly enough the tracks are mostly very same-y. Different chords and everything yeah but the mood and minimalism here is oppressive, though not necessarily in a bad way. It's also now dawning on me why I should listen to this in order... Nah fuck you.

Anyways, solid enough although the horn-y (hurrhurrhurrhurr) mood gets old after a while and it's hard to pick a best track. I'll listen to the others parts eventually, maybe. This gimmick is still trash, though.

Best Track: Gradiation of Arms Length or Mournful Cameraderie
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 11-14-2017 08:10 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 414: Thin Black Duke by Oxbow

I've never listened to this band before yet I know I've heard their name several times somewhere. Probably that Steve Albini site. I don't know if this is a good one for them but it mostly just sounds like warm, somewhat Shellac-y indie/post-punk with an artsy Eddie Vedder mumbling even harder, not that this isn't significantly better than Pearl Jam. Only a couple songs deviate from their riff formula which I don't feel like outlining. I wanted more noise and atonal riffs, this doesn't stimulate me enough. Fuck midterms.

Best Track: A Gentleman's Gentleman
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 11-26-2017 09:16 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 415: New Energy by Four Tet

I've admittedly listened to this guy less than I probably should have, considering how much I've enjoyed all the shit I've checked out. Rounds is the best album, obviously, but goddamn if my favorite isn't No More Mosquitos, slow jam to end all slow jams with a groovy effing bass line and some phenomenal psychedelic acoustic in there, THAT'S some good folktronica. Besides those two albums, not much else. The most recent thing (chronologically) I've listened to is Ringer which was some pretty dope dance music but not nearly as revelatory.

While this feels more in line with that last one, at least mood-wise, it's got a little bit of all his styles I've heard minus trip hop, and probably many others I haven't checked out. The more folk-influenced tracks are the winners tonight. They're mildly hit-or-miss and don't reach the earlier peaks of stuff like Slow Jam, mainly because they feel a lot safer, but they're pretty, Lush and especially You Are Loved in particular. Most of the rest is a sort of IDM house vibe, whatever the hell that means or whatever Microhouse actually is. It's... also hit-or-miss, not quite danceable for my style and some of the tracks go on too long. I feel like I'm shitting on this album too much, bevause I really do enjoy it, but it's nowhere near his older stuff and feels a bit unchallenging. To be a bit positive, some of the more dance-esque tracks do a good job of combining build-up with beats you can move to, which makes seeing this guy live sound all the more appealing.

Either way, a very relaxing, pleasant listen, but not the most necessary of Kieran's drops. Still, I know I'm gonna be bumping this for a little while, so a high score it gets.

Best Track: You Are Loved
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 12-3-2017 02:20 PM

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 
Day 316: Who Told You to Think​?​?​!​!​?​!​?​!​?​! by Milo

Steve crying in Malden? Courage The Cowardly Dog? Eaglebones Falconhawk? Virtue signalling? Jesus Christ, this guy is one of the biggest nerds I've ever listened to! And unlike traditional "nerdcore" rappers this feels one hundred percent genuine, like he's really, truly interested in all this goofy shit.

I don't feel like writing a real review. I'm sorry. I'm hungover and this weekend was too fucking boring. I like the lyrics, I like this dude's delivery although I can see why others wouldn't (his monotone style fits the hazy beats, like it does with Earl cept this is nowhere as good/depressing) and I enjoy the hazy beats and cloudy production. It's also nice and short, by rap album standards at least.

Truthfully, I listened to this like 5 times and couldn't write anything. Clearly, I still can't.

Best Track: Landscaping
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 12-9-2017 11:59 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 417: Ritual Spirit by Massive Attack (Album Choice: bruisedknees)

Mood based album choice and review. The rap in Dead Editors does not keep my attention and the ending is too dissonant blah. Same for all the songs. I want sexier trip hop somehow. The heavy piano shit is great. 50% good. Byebye.

Best Track: Ritual Spirit
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 12-13-2017 09:59 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 418: Where Are We Going by Octo Octa (Album Choice: BonafideSupastar)

This is some groovy shit. Only a hint of melody in pretty much every track in favor of robotic synthlines, slow breaks and slight samples. Would go perfectly at a rave afterparty in my humble opinion. Don't have much else to say, nobody reads these. Very easy to listen to both studying and repeatedly.

Best Track: Fleeting Moments Of Freedom (Wooo)
Rating: 8/10

blindreper1179 12-13-2017 11:48 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Icon for Hire-You can't kill us

rayword45 12-14-2017 12:40 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 419: Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1 by Lil Peep (Album Choice: Hazel H.)

Mood album of sorts (based on what others tell me), as well as continuing my hunt for more 2017 music. RIP Lil Peep, I never had much respect for your music in the past but I think it deserves another shot considering the circumstances and new context and whatnot. Fuck fentanyl man. Fuck Xanax culture. It's awful. Especially in college.

Well, giving this another shot... This is still way too samey, and not in a good way. It literally sounds like I'm listening to the same song multiple times. And the lyrics aren't hitting as emotionally hard as I was expecting.. What was I expecting? I confuse myself. I was expecting more darkness about the perils of addiction, but this is mostly just... generic emo wangst lyics. Damn.

The hooks are catchy, I'lll give him points for being terse and he knows what atmosphere he's going for. Only thing is that playing this shit at a party would be megawack. And once more, fuck Fent. I hope Peep's posthumous releases show emotional improvement.

Best Track: Awful Things
Rating: 4/10

rushyrulz 12-14-2017 02:51 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Pentakill - Grasp of the Undying

Arcsynth 12-15-2017 11:35 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Kara-Lis Coverdale - Grafts

doooooo et

rayword45 12-15-2017 02:00 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 420: SATURATION III by BROCKHAMPTON (Album Choice: Jeremy C.)

This album proves it, JOBA is this band's secret weapon. He basically makes HOTTIE, ALASKA and BOOGIE with his versatility. Not enough Merlyn though.

Stylistically, this is much closer to the second album in that it feels cohesive mood-wise rather than somewhat unfocused. This one feels much more modern with a heavier electronic side as opposed to the jazz of the second album or R&B of the first. The voice modulator is still here and still sucks most of the time, with the exception of the phenomenal BLEACH.

You guys should realize by now I'm a total Stan for these guys... gross I referenced that terrible rapper. Anyways, better than the first, worse than the second. Just like the Rick & Morty seasons! ...kill me.

Best Track: BOOGIE or BLEACH (an album consisting of 50 minutes of these would be damn close to a 10)
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 12-17-2017 02:46 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 421: Contact by Pharmakon (Album Choice: JessiEye)

I almost saw this... act live last year but got drunk in my dorm instead. Ah well. Let's see how this works for the study because finals are killing me holy god it's 3AM why do I always do this

This is mostly what I expected. Clipped shrieks, atmospheric, abrasive synths and booming drum patterns forming to create something out of a horror movie with only a few exceptions on here, and those are mostly uninteresting (like what is Sentient even supposed to be? A THX sound?). Not terrible for the study, if a bit agitating at times. The first and last track are easily the best here, but the others in the same style are enjoyable too. Not an everyday listener either, but good for 3AM self-hate and well-crafted. Not gonna make my top 10 for the year but I have no regrets.

Side note: Something about Sleepwalking Form sounds VERY much like a psychedelic trip.

Extra side note: I am unnecessarily glad that SATURATION III was the 420 album.

Best Track: No Natural Order
Rating: 7/10

MarioNintendo 12-17-2017 11:30 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Has someone recommended Sleep at the Edge of the Earth by Wilderun already?
Also, what is "piano shit" in your google docs sheet? I don't remember recommending that :P

Crazyjayde 12-17-2017 12:51 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcsynth (Post 4601742)
Kara-Lis Coverdale - Grafts

Her show was great, glad to know she made something this year!

And it's funny how this thread has slowly become the one thing I like to check up on on my occasionnal visits. Grats on the log, I've picked on some good stuff through it.

Have some recs boo :

Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen (in preparation for next year's release!)
James Holden - The Animal Spirits
Magnolia Electric Co. - S/T (also known to be released under Songs: Ohia)
Richard Dawson - Peasant
Steve Roden - Stars of Ice
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Supersilent - 6
Zimpel/Ziolek - S/T

Arcsynth 12-17-2017 10:45 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazyjayde (Post 4602228)
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen (in preparation for next year's release!)
James Holden - The Animal Spirits
Magnolia Electric Co. - S/T (also known to be released under Songs: Ohia)
Richard Dawson - Peasant
Steve Roden - Stars of Ice
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Supersilent - 6
Zimpel/Ziolek - S/T

thank you for these recs! i've heard and really like Insen, Animal Spirits and 6 (maybe magnolia electric co too?), so if that means anything the rest should be up my alley

couple more from 2017:

Sarah Davachi - All My Circles Run
Andrea Belfi - Ore

rayword45 12-19-2017 08:08 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 422: Meeting Of The Forest by Animal Collective

My history with Animal Collective is as follows.

1. Discover Sung Tongs in 9th grade, hate it and dismiss them (I should've stopped here?)
2. Keep trying for some reason, and I don't know what
3. I'm a fan as of mid-10th grade, Strawberry Jam is a 5-star album right now. Keep in mind this was after Centipede Hz had been released.
4. Burn out from listening to them way too damn much, and also realizing that a good fuckin chunk of their songs have next-to-zero replay value
5. Painting With comes out and why should I care about these guys? Their love songs are still jams though (especially Bluish and The Purple Bottle) and they have a few decent things here and there.

Hence why I'm listening to this so damn late. This is the first release they've done without Panda Bear who I've now long thought of as the most talented member of the group by a wide margin, let's see how they hang without him or Deakin but really... who cares about Deakin? Who still cares about this band? (hehheh I'm in college hehheh)

Damn this took forever to get started. Reminds me kinda of Mount Eerie in that folk album-y way, only that was a much better album thus far, and that pales in comparison to A Crow Looked At Me. The first real song, a meandering acoustic affair, was pretty after a long ambient intro, but eventually turned really boring, like the shitty drone parts of Sung Tongs or the waste of time that is Campfire Songs. The second track incorporates some electronics at first, and then turns into the exact same thing. This was voted best release of theirs in 8 years over Centipede Hz (which at least had a few catchy pop tunes)? What the fuck? Is it because of how it was recorded?

Best Track: Anaconda Opportunity
Rating: 5/10

PixlSM 12-20-2017 12:06 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4602485)
anco stuff

Really? Panda bear most talented over Avey? Have you listened to Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished yet? Its pretty much entirely Avey there (panda technically did the drumming but avey just told panda what to do for it)

rayword45 12-20-2017 01:12 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
^I have, and I've listened to most other AnCo stuff for the record (binged HARD back in 2013/2014). I only like tracks 2-5 on Spirit, and even those suffer from having THE WORST PRODUCTION I'VE EVER HEARD ON AN ALBUM.

PixlSM 12-20-2017 02:25 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4602572)
THE WORST PRODUCTION I'VE EVER HEARD ON AN ALBUM.

I see a lot of people say this but I actually kinda like the production on the album honestly. The really quiet vocals are a disappointment but other than that I like it. Also how can you not like Alvin Row? It’s probably be best thing they’ve ever written

rayword45 12-21-2017 11:27 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 423: All My Circles Run by Sarah Davachi (Album Choice: Arcsynth)

When I first put this album on I assumed I was in for a real boring snoozefest consisting of textural amelodic nothings for 40 minutes. Luckily, I was right about the textural nothings but nothing else, as the first track is an outlier in its near total lack of melody. The other tracks are nowhere near as repetitious (though make no mistake, this album is way more about atmosphere than movement). It's a very spare album, but one that sounds pretty and natural, and I need more ambient that loops real instruments instead of synths.

Best ambient release I've heard from this year, but then again I forget what came out this year besides the new Basinski and Gas. My sister might have seen Gas live by pure chance... I wonder.

Best Track: Chanter
Rating: 8/10

Crazyjayde 12-21-2017 03:29 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Hey no worries Arcsynth, it was actually meant as suggestions for the thread but I'm glad to take yours home too.

Arcsynth 12-22-2017 11:39 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
ahh fair enough! yeah i'm taking a lot of the recs in this thread myself; pretty happy with the variety offered here so far

rayword45 12-23-2017 02:09 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 424: SATURATION DRAFTS by BROCKHAMPTON

I'm using whatever bullshit titles I found on Genius, many of which have now been removed. The demo tracks for songs on the albums proper are mostly only interesting for archival and comparison purposes, not to mention they seem woefully underproduced (as they should). Let's just ignore talking about those and pretend they aren't on this album.

This is, by default pretty much, the most eclectic of all the BH releases, and it's also the most flawed. As I said earlier, mixing is as terrible as you'd expect. In addition to that, a load of songs just go on way too long, like SMOKE and LAMB, and some just plain suck, like the wholly unnecessary 4-26-17 Guitar Loop (no caps?) or the boring failed single FOLLOW. This is far more inconsistent than all of their albums barring All-American Trash and kinda evidences exactly why their recording process worked out so well. Am I supposed to be judging this like a regular album? No? Well fuck you!

Onto the good. GEMINI is fucking beautiful. LUCA is better than at least half the tracks on the first album in the trilogy even if the ending drags a bit. FEEL (track 8) is fucking phenomenal and makes me even more pumped for a potential solo release from JOBA. And as expected, there's a fair amount of bangers here, like DRINK and Don't Worry About Me (tracks 13 and 18, definitely fake titles).

I don't know how to properly articulate thoughts. If you've checked these guys out you know whether or not this interests you.

Best Track: FEEL
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 12-23-2017 04:48 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 425: Zimpel/Ziołek by Zimpel/Ziołek (Album Choice: Crazyjayde)

I have no idea what I'm getting into with this album, Google Play Music didn't even find album art. Based on song titles and lengths alone I'm expecting some jammy folk and jazz shit.

And I was right. I remember last year I reviewed that Goat album which was a major disappointment... Did that sound similar to this? I forget what that album sounded like, I think I just blocked it from my memory because it didn't have David Yow anywhere to be found in it. Compared to how I liked that one though, this one is much more enjoyable. A pretty spacey vibe a lot of the time, a more folksy vibe at others, and consistently engaging throughout. I especially like the breathier jazz parts of Memory Dome and Fourth Molar as well as the electronics in the latter. I also like how none of the tracks seem unjustified in their length, likely aided by the short length of the album. The only immediate change I'd personally make is removing any sung lyrics.

Maybe, just maybe, my top 10 for the year won't just be hip-hop and electronic shit. Maybe.

Best Track: Memory Dome
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 12-24-2017 11:59 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 426: Dust by Laurel Halo

Koinos is the first song I'm not actively disliking. The first two were just annoying as fuck, the instrumentals were nice but the vocal delivery just shot me out of it. She sounds like she belongs in a punk band more than whatever she's doing here. This third one isn't perfect but I'm at least loving the really freeflowingness (not a word) of it compared to the others so far.

Actually it seems so far that the whole rest of this album is unlike those first two tracks. This is a weird, spare atmospheric space ambient album with bits of spoken word and atonal free jazz shit sprinkled throughout. Reminds me a lot of that Tom Dissevelt album. I really dig this style of shit!

But goddamn were those first two tracks terrible. Really scared the shit out of me. Starting with Syzygy she seems to be attempting to go back to the "poppier" style of the first couple songs again, but not quite as overtly and it's not quite as annoying this time around. Do U Ever Happen ALMOST sounds nice. Almost. Why the fuck is it 40 years long?

Very pretty ending, in fact probably my favorite track on the album. Well, that was a bit of a mixed bag. When it was good it was entrancing, and when it was bad it was agitating. I'm gonna delete half of this album.

Best Track: Buh-bye
Rating: 5.5/10

PixlSM 12-24-2017 04:29 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
You still want some 2017 albums right?
Here’s some stuff I didn’t see on your rym:
Ride - Weather Diaries (pretend shoegaze)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - async (ambient)
Oliver Houston - Whatever Works (math rock)
The Necks - Unfold (jazz)

rayword45 12-25-2017 07:19 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 427: Lil Pump by Lil Pump (Album Choice: Fuck Y.)

This is my Christmas gift to you people. Do you like it? DO YOU, MOTHERFUCKER? I'm putting my blood, sweat and ears in this shit, seriously. On Christmas Day, nevertheless. Because I couldn't be bothered to talk to people and the only other thing I have planned for today is beginning my rewatch of The Wire. I'll let y'all know how that goes, it's been like 5 or 6 years.

Y'know, this stuff actually doesn't start that offensive. Gucci Gang, the second track and the one you all know, is a talentless song for sure, but cultural context makes it fun and danceable, and also a bit hilarious. The first song sounds pretty much the exact same, but without the context it just goes in one ear and out the other.

Then we have the third track, Smoke My Dope. My fucking GOD, what is this production? Is this guy trying to be a meme? Did the lean and xan give him tinnitus or something? The clipping here is fucking atrocious, and the synthline is just... weird and grating. People unironically enjoy this? That's not me trying to be snarky, that's me legitimately wondering "what the fuck is this bullshit" in the most monotone voice possible.

Oh... my god... Track 4 is like the last one. Can we go back to the earlier style, please? Please? Who the hell wants to listen to a mixtape full of this cheapo GarageBand nonsense? There HAVE to be more tracks that don't use this awful style on the tape.

And there are, but they're interspersed between the ones that aren't terribly clipped. They still sound cheap as shit, mind you, but they aren't painful. Unfortunately, they still suck as songs, even if a couple are enjoyable dumb fun (At The Door got me laughing again after grimacing for too long). Also, what's with this dude and crappy freesound.org gun sound effects? Any song with a feature, you're guaranteed they're gonna leave no mark on you other than the fact that they all destroy the shit outta Pump who sounds like a mumblecore parody rapper on GHB. The repetitive nature of this album would be a lot less unfortunate if this guy could write a good song, which he can't, and if his producer stopped smoking the crack. As it is, this 36 minutes feels like 80, and eventually you stop laughing at the fact that he's proving nothing when he's bragging about brands loads of broke motherfuckers cop to flex.

But hey, maybe it doesn't matter when you're just a walking Xanax meme.

Best Track: Gucci Gang, no contest
Rating: 1.5/10 (The only reason it's not lower is because it's intermittently listenable. Not enjoyable, just not painful enough to be unlistenable.)

rayword45 12-25-2017 08:11 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 428: Vicious by Skepta (Album Choice: Jeremy C.)

Okay, so if nobody gives a fuck about lyrics, I should give this a very high rating. But people make so many jokes about British rappers, maybe that's clouding my view... Nah who am I kidding I don't give a fuck about that, although I will be fair and say some of the slang is really odd to me. Regardless, the rapping in this album felt mostly inconsequential, occasionally veering into the actually bad, but these beats (besides the aptly-titled Worst) are pretty fucking great. I do hate how the features (including motherfucking Lil B) feel mostly wasted.

Eh, I enjoyed this more than I disliked it, and those beats really do rock.

Best Track: No Security
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 12-25-2017 09:35 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 429: A Love Letter To You by Trippie Redd (Album Choice: David H.)

This guy looks a lot like a dude I knew in high school, except this guy has dreads and a career. But y'know, I hate to be biased, but sometimes you can just read the description Google Play Music gives you and look at the cover and y'know...

At least I'm trying, right? Oh god, this shit is... David what the fuck happened to the Depeche Mode ripoffs what is this pathetic I-wannabe-a-whiteboi shit? This emo trap movement is fucking terrible and I don't know why it's a thing. This is actually far, far less offensive than most of the other shit I've heard in the same genre, probably because it's nowhere near as overt in terms of the emo side, but it still hits all the same notes of suck. This guy's vocal delivery is bootleg straining Uzi-style singing pretty much all the way through, and it's a good thing he uses copious amounts of autotune because you can almost hear the garbage frothing underneath. Why the hell am I doing this to myself on Christmas?

I exaggerated the amount of emo prevalent in this album, as well as how bad it is although most of my gripes still stand to some degree. It really just sounds like bootleg Uzi, seriously. This one is 36 minutes and feels no longer than 45. I guess that makes it better than Lil Pump. Not returning to it though.

Best Track: Blade Of Woe
Rating: 4.5/10

MyNameIsNothing 12-25-2017 11:20 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
these were my top 20 of the year in order, you've already reviewed a few of them but wotever, you should definitely check out the blanck mass album tho
Sorority Noise - You’re Not as ____ as You Think
Blanck Mass - World Eater
Brockhampton - Saturation II
Everything Everything - A Fever Dream
Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet
Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy
Kesha - Rainbow
Remo Drive - Greatest Hits
Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives
Sampha - Process
Alvvays - Antisocialites
Lorde - Melodrama
Young Jesus - S/T
Florist - If Blue Could Be Happiness
SZA - Ctrl
The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Kendrick Lamar - Damn
Destroyer - Ken
Passion Pit - Tremendous Sea of Love
Iglooghost - Neo Wax Bloom

rayword45 12-26-2017 01:24 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 430: CTRL by SZA (Album Choice: MyNameIsNothing)

Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to... I'm not funny.

The opening 4-song stretch on this album is fucking fantastic. The only gripe I have at all is that the lyrics to Doves In The Wind aren't to my taste, and I'm not entirely wowed by the Kendrick verse which is a great disappointment. Meanwhile, the other 3 are without flaws. Prom is the first real mistake, with a comparatively boring, overly sugary beat held against its lush predecessors.

A little bit later and based on how this is going, I'm not sure if I can judge this one as more than the sum of its parts. I know it doesn't seem like I do that often, but I really do try to judge things on the experience of listening to it all. However, I worry I'm being too nitpicky with the bad tracks, yet they nonetheless come off as noticeably lower in enjoyability (is that a word?). And they're totally scattered it seems. Right after the last song I was talking about (can you guys tell just how much I hate bolding things?) is The Weekend which is a thing of wonder in its spare beauty even if the title makes me cry into my vomit almost as much as it would've if it was entitled Gambino. Then right after that, Go Gina just seems... unnecessary. Not bad, just unnecessary. And a little annoying.

Y'know, after that I'm just gonna list the songs I DID like. Garden (Say It Like Dat), Broken Clocks, Wavy (Interlude), Pretty Little Birds, 20 Something. That last one is a contender for best song on the album.

Well, the good was very good, and the bad varied between boring and annoying. I'm gonna use rough private numbers to make it look like I'm not using an average... wait I'm stupid. This'll probably be a grower.

Best Track: Drew Barrymore or 20 Something
Rating: 7/10 (not bad for a shitty algorithm!)

rayword45 12-27-2017 01:23 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 431: Black Origami by Jlin

The origami elephant was a fitting artwork choice, as this is easily one of the most tribal-sounding IDM releases I've ever heard. What the fuck is jungle anyways?

Wait, Holy Child was co-composed by fucking William Basinski? Hot damn I would never have guess. That was pretty easily the most melodic track I've heard thus far. This whole thing is mostly fast drum loops and warped vocal samples. Compared to most other (mostly-)amelodic IDM I've heard, this one doesn't seem to wanna impress you by showing how they can make the drums go fast. Instead, there's an intense pressure on you to feel those slight changes, which works really well for tracks like Carbon 7 (161) and 1% (goddamn that's a fucking banger). Never Created, Never Destroyed is another highlight, but it's a bit of an outlier. Yet it's so samey. This album is basically half-boring, half-bangers. Yet it's all so samey, what a conundrum. Well, consistency and flow are important to an album, aren't they? I judge thusly.

Also I forgot to mention just how weird those first few seconds are. They're weird as fuck. I don't like them.

Best Track: 1%
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 12-28-2017 04:35 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 432: Whatever Works by Oliver Houston (Album Choice: PixlSM)

When he says "mostly the same" in Bernie it resonates hard.

Best Track: Tom Quad
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 12-29-2017 10:12 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 433: A Thousand Skies by Clap! Clap! (Album Choice: MyNameIsNothing)

Went into this one blindly and fucking glad I did. This one is loaded to the brim with bangers, although I wish they were a little longer. What's that? Me wanting something to be longer? That's a good sign.

There are a few missteps, like the bizarrely agitating Witch Interlude or the goofy ender Ascension Psalm but most of this is fun, freeflowing, energetic dance music with a similar vibe to that Jlin album I reviewed, but more subtle in its global influences and much more melodic. Admittedly they're apples and oranges, but I do think I prefer this one in most situations. Plus it's more consistent for me.

I'm out of words.

Best Track: Ar-Raqis
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 01-17-2018 08:17 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
Day 434: Insen by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto (Album Choice: Crazyjayde)

I listened to this album like 6 times before starting this and I'm still struggling for words because... something. Not a bad or unfitting choice to loop while walking around the snowy city at least, very soothing sounds, warm yet icy cold. Terse titles don't always accurately represent the frigid sounds within, but who am I to judge?

I got lazy and felt like turning this into a Christgau-style review because I could.

Best Track: Logic Moon
Rating: 7/10

g.o.ry 01-17-2018 09:37 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2017 albums halp
 
https://youtu.be/oSUb5MIcp2I
https://youtu.be/IgfjRnuhT-Q
https://youtu.be/Fuf1zrpjQxk
https://youtu.be/rEYa8tWkPFM
https://youtu.be/0XYXexLWOKc
https://youtu.be/ctbqe9MKMww
https://youtu.be/usJHvVAki7w
https://youtu.be/vuxRVJP5Pfw
https://youtu.be/8VCCkymXplE
I don't think any of these are from 2017 but still...
Do you have a last.fm account?

rayword45 01-17-2018 10:14 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
thanks for reminding me to change the title and no but i have an rym

Travis_Flesher 01-17-2018 11:06 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Rayword45 is absolutely beyond all umbrance of doubt the most critical author to have graced this hideous planet.
I've read Michener, Asimov, Jordan, Lumley, Ludlum, Poe, Rice, Rowling, King, Lovecraft, Steinbeck, Shakespeare, Kipling, Twain, Carroll, Baum, Tolkien, the Bible +many more 'classics' but damn it, and I despise profanity, I'm 8 pages in to this 63 page thread after 2 hours and I'm speechless. It's boosting my reading levels to great heights. The music review genre is not really my party, and ray's cynical ambivalence, uncanny beyond-his-years knowledge, and unfortunately victimized ahead-of-his-time life is like opening up a can of tinnitus, but I shall read this entire thesis.

I am absolutely certain that rayword is, simply put, a lit match in a maze of dynamite critics and has finally changed the rules of the ancient ballgame. What's your next move?

Ray check your credit log I sent you a little something, it's not much but hey.

rayword45 01-17-2018 11:10 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Continue putting little-to-no effort in these reviews while being a drunk sadsack.

Your post is makin me wonder how many times you have sweared on this site

EDIT: The rowling inclusion is really funny to me for some reaon

rayword45 01-17-2018 11:13 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Also the victimized ahead of my time thing makes me cringe i was an overly emotional tenth grader and now im just an emotionally numb college sophomore who would kick that dudes ass

g.o.ry 01-18-2018 01:18 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
If you haven't heard 'a soundtrack to death' by mura masa and also 'someday somewhere' by the same artist
I searched the thread and nobody mentioned either of those

Travis_Flesher 01-18-2018 09:47 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Ray this blog is solid gold.
I may be wrong but I assume you're a hidden gem author.
A lot of naysayers will hate on the defamation but I think this has enough snowball to avalanche the other guys.
You need a Jerry Maguire bro.. Have you considered publishing?

rayword45 01-23-2018 01:04 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Day 435: Good Morning Spider by Sparklehorse (Album Choice: vaguelyhumanoid)

I'm so lazy as to not wanna listen to the majority of the canon, but here we go. I'm interrupting my 50th consecutive loop of Midnight In A Perfect World for this, so guesstimate my mood.

That first song made my expectations way too high. I came into this expecting a bunch of sadsack shit, but then got greeted with a wonderful, pop-punky lo-fi treat... and then it went right into a bunch of sadsack shit. I don't mean that disparagingly, I just wanted way more like the first song, and it really doesn't even get close, a little bit of fuzz doesn't match that energy and maybe like 3 or 4 of these songs even have that fuzz, the rest is acoustic and orchestrated like an indie band would. Many of these songs are pretty, for sure (here comes the obligatory list: the slow folk-popper Sunshine, muffled chamber dirge Come On In, orchestrated lullaby Hundreds of Sparrows, and beautifully spare closer Junebug are some of only a few highlight) but I expected more variance.

Damn, this is like that Sweet Trip album where one song stands over all the others so obviously. Wait, I didn't make that clear in my review of that album? Well, now I am, and guess which one it is, because it's obvious. Anyways, back to this, yeah, I needed more aggressive fuzz because actually, revisiting, these other fuzzy songs kinda suck... Especially Sick Of Goodbyes which is throwaway pop to me. Happy Man is aight I suppose. And the little interludes also do nothing for me. That leaves the mopey songs I was ragging on earlier, but honestly, the good ones make for a pretty decent album. Reviewing canon shit usually sucks out the ass, this time it sucked a LITTLE bit less I think.

I like to harp on one thing over and over again.

Best Track: Pig
Rating: 7/10

PixlSM 01-24-2018 05:56 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4606423)
I'm interrupting my 50th consecutive loop of Midnight In A Perfect World for this, so guesstimate my mood.

I mean it is the best song on Endtroducing... although I imagine "Insight! Foresight! Moresight! The clock on the wall reads a quarter past midnight..." would get old after 50 listens lmao

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4606423)
that Sweet Trip album where one song stands over all the others so obviously

I hope you aren't referring to Halica Bliss Out or Velocity : Design : Comfort

rayword45 02-19-2018 06:38 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
Day 436: Tryshasla by Secede (Album Choice: korny)

Somehow I came into this expecting a trip-hop album... I really don't know why. I've listened to this album like 5 times now and it's still really hard to put into words. It has boring parts (the intro is far too long, some of these long songs could poise to have their ends chopped off) but it also has some pretty parts (Leraine, Friday Fall, We No Longer Need Ourselves. the first half of The Realms Of Sanda). Yeah, nothing else to say except it also was pretty damn dope intoxicated.

Best Track: Leraine
Rating: 7/10

PixlSM 02-20-2018 02:02 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
when are you doing lda

rayword45 02-20-2018 09:53 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 
I'll try to get to it soon

Day 437: Need To Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag (Album Choice: marsbars)

I tried to listen to the 2017 release from MACHINE GIRL that I'm too lazy to spell the title out to, but a few tracks after a banging first track and I just got half-bored, half-annoyed, all-I-don't-want-to-finish-this. So let's try this instead. I'm still checking out 2017 albums? No, not really but eh, whatever.

...Who the fuck is this guy... lady... okay yeah I checked it's a woman. Anyways, who the fuck is this lady tryna sound like? Joan Jett? Ozzy? Because it's not nearly as listenable as either, and the riffs here don't make up for the fact so far. This just sounds like a mix between bland indie pop and shitty twangy truckdrivin music from too many decades ago. Every time something seems like it has potential, I'm immediately disappointed. Oh, what's this pretty jangling progression entitled? Expect The Bayonet oh okay highli- ah wait nevermind, this is just more generic cowpower pop. Cow pop. Cower pop. Power cow.

Holy fuck, why did they make this thing 43 minutes? It's not like there's significant variation or anything of the sort to be found here. Okay, I'm one-quarter of the way through. I already bitched out of one album, let's not make it two... Oh but this one is so much worse so far. Oh well, I ain't gonna be a little bitch again.

I can just sense that these guys are trying to go for mild variation like, well, most every other band, but it's hard to tell. Is Until You Find The One supposed to be a soft song? Why the hell is she screaming then? I'm starting to contemplate whether or not this is meant to be enjoyed "ironically" (like, it sounds so fucking outdated) but I can still enjoy other "ironic" genres like vaporwave.

The guitar tones remind me of Radio City, but the songwriting is so unremarkable and the performance is so grating that I think I'd rather listen to Like Flies On Sherbert. Or that MACHINE GIRL album I quit. The 2017 list remains untouched.

Best Track: The first few seconds of Expect The Bayonet
Rating: 2.5/10


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