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Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
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Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day (Day?!) 1018: by Fever Ray (Album Choice: IRL friend I'm not naming)
Exactly a month hiatus! My friend told me a couple months ago that he was staying in unless he found cheap tickets for this guy live that night. I don't remember what night it was, I just remember that I was at a different show and that I saw no cheap tickets for this show online whenever I looked in assistance. Anyways, here we go. Oh yeah, I've actually listened to several new albums over the past month... and I've forgotten how I've felt about most of them. I wish my ADHD wasn't so bad because now I'm only gonna review and score something if I re-listen to it, no matter how strong those memories are. We're starting with this one because it was the most recent, and that makes it easy. Honestly, for the most part I think this is actually pretty cool. I'm not sure it's super innovative or unique or anything, but it's fun synthy indie pop stuff with a moderately weird edge to it, and it has a cohesive enough style without feeling too repetitive. I especially like the noisier, more atonal cuts. My only complaint is that sometimes the vocals are a bit TOO theatrical, but I think this is pretty solid overall. Actually, second complaint, what the fuck is that makeup? Best Track: nah Rating: 7.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1019: O Monolith by Squid
Sadly, or not so sadly depending on your outlook, this has nothing to do with the Kyle Ward song. These guys put on a pretty fun performance when I saw them live, but I'm still not totally in love with their last album. The Talking Heads aping works a lot better on a stage than on a recording. Regardless, though, that has little to do with this album because this is a pretty MASSIVE stylistic shift. Now instead of zoomers attempting to mimic the more angular new wave and dance-punk of the 70s and 80s, we have zoomers attempting to go all krautrock but somewhat modernized. The results? Decent. Decent-to-good. The ambition is admirable either way, but just like many windmill bands, I find this to be a bundle of joy at times, a snoozer at others. There's 8 tracks here and they average over 5 minutes a piece, and ultimately I'm not sure that was a totally necessary decision. Whatever, I'd see them live again to hear just how they tackle this stuff, and ultimately, since that's the most money they'd ever get from me, isn't that what matters? Best Track: The Blades Rating: 6.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1020: We're Still Here by HIRS
With this and Jerome's Dream this whole type of -core/-violence sound seems to be surging in popularity. Did I miss a trendsetting event that explains this? This album is fun and I think the queer themes are cool, but it's definitely not gonna be on my year end list. Cool guest appearances though. Okay next. Best Track: The one with Melt-Banana Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1021: Seeking the Sources of Streams by Cicada
 What's the deal with airplane-provided free music selections? Best Track: Remains of Ancient Trees Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1022: the new dds
Darklife was better but this is pretty good. Best Track: Joseph Matriarch Rating: 7.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1023: Please Touch by Rrose (Album Choice: septuagenarian)
I'll get to a lot more requests from other people soon.... or maybe not soon but eventually.... and maybe not a lot but at least a few, I swear to god. Anyways, I picked this one because I needed something minimal for work purposes, and because seeing Rrose live in a sweaty illegal warehouse rave was a divine experience. I will fully cop to being pretty dumb when it comes to techno, which is a bit tough in NYC because people here are obsessed with being the most elitist techno snob of them all via only listening to that underground shit and turning their nose up at "business techno". At the very least, I know this ain't business techno, because business techno artists don't play LGBTQ-only techno-only DJ showcases inside unlicensed sweatboxes. The only artist that I KNOW is considered that stupid-ass term is Charlotte De Witte and over here she plays the biggest, shittiest venue in Brooklyn for more than $100 a pop. This is considerably more minimal than Hymn to Moisture but also feels a lot groovier. The descriptions of each album on Bandcamp articulate the differences pretty well, as the 2019 album definitely felt more like it was going for "natural" or "pastoral" vibes with field recordings manipulated hard enough that I couldn't tell they were field recordings. This doesn't completely eschew that sort of atmosphere, in fact I'd say it's largely got a similar approach to things, but the biggest difference upon side-by-side comparison is that this new album makes you wanna shake your ass a lot more frequently. Well, perhaps not shake your ass, but bob your head up-and-down to the tempo. Therefore, I prefer it. Seriously though, techno elitists are the fucking worst. Best Track: Feeding Time Rating: 8/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1024: Erotic Probiotic 2 by Nourished By Time.
I keep listening to this album, telling myself I'll write this review, then fail to write this review, then listen to the album again, and so on and so on with the cycle. Well, let's kill the cycle in its tracks. The score I'm going to give this is a 7. Best Track: The vocals are pretty interesting throughout Rating: 7/11 was a part-time job, but this is a 7/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1025: The Whaler by Home Is Where
The other day my concert buddy said something during a conversation between us and some randos at Elsewhere. To paraphrase, it was something along the lines of "I don't even really listen to that much emo at home, but live emo just hits different sometimes, man." I'm not as in love with live emo as he is, but I think I concur with that general sentiment. What may seem cathartic and passionate in a concert setting could end up coming across as overwrought and try-hard on a recording, or even corny sometimes. That's not ALL emo, and to be crystal clear I'm speaking about midwest emo and adjacent genres. I would never describe something like Unwound or Rites of Spring that way, and I mostly wouldn't apply that to acoustic sadsack stuff akin to (fuck you bperson) Elliott Smith as when that kinda stuff is bad it grates in a totally different way that is less laughable and more legitimately annoying. To get to the point, this is a pretty well-made album, I can recognize that. I also recognize that I would probably find this to be emotionally impactful with live guitars blasting in my face, but most of it performed in a studio just comes across as... not for me. I'm not sure how to articulate. It's not ALL like that, as some of these tracks do hit, especially the more aggressive, screamy ones, but ultimately I'm just not in tune with this stuff I don't think. Best Track: Even though I hate the stupidly edgy title, Everyday Feels Like 9/11 Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1026: The Loveliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen
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Yes that was a joke about my immense gayness. Anyways, this seems to be similar to Dedicated Side B in that it seemingly comes from largely the same writing and recording sessions as the album from the year prior. This time around, they decided to not call this a collection of B-Sides/outtakes and my guess is that the stigma made marketing difficult, so probably a good choice. Another similarity to Dedicated Side B is that this is a way better album than the A-Side collection. In regards to the 2019/2020 album, that's my personal take that's not commonly agreed with, but in this case, it seems to be the dominant opinion. The power of marketing! I wonder if the extra year was used by Carly and her producers for minor tweaks and improvements, because all around this seems like a tighter, slimmer album with production that pops out at you more, with far less filler and far less moments of boredom. My biggest qualm would be that this doesn't feel like a cohesive album at all but indeed just a collection of random session highlights, but when the songs are this good, that doesn't matter too much I don't think. I'd put this up there, or rather just below, other synthy pop albums of recent days that I adore for their uplifting qualities like Mercurial World and even Prom King minus the sentimental value I attach to the latter. Yeah, this is her best since E·MO·TION. Guess I'm a flaming homo, huh? Best Track: Kamikaze or After Last Night Rating: 8.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
check out the Geese album from June I think there’s a chance you’ll love it
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Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1027: new George Clanton
The best thing about this album is that if I see him live a fourth time he won't do the same setlist as the first three times Best Track: too hungover to answer Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
5.5 is a harsh rating, but I get it. I'm not really a fan at all of his stuff but I actually kinda liked his new record. A lot of his stuff sounds same-y to me
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Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1028: new Lauren Bousfield
I liked it better without vocals. Best Track: Deserted Olympic Villages Rating: 4.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1029: Pink Tape by Lil Uzi Vert
I wonder if anyone will be frustrated that after what feels like months of one-liner and non-sequitur joke reviews, I feel obligated to write at least a paragraph for this thing. I mean, it's so fucking long, and Uzi has been a cultural phenomenon for almost a decade now. Not to mention, those features... ah who am I kidding? Nobody gives a shit either way. Anyways, I've never listened to this dude as an albums person. He has some singles that are truly iconic, but that's about it. His past mixtapes have been inconsistent, overlong and poorly sequenced, although perhaps judging the track ordering of a mixtape isn't fair. Despite the "tape" in this title though, this is classified as an album, so it's totally fair for me to judge all those things and more! And like past Uzi releases, this suffers from all the same flaws! Why is this thing 87 minutes? I realize 10 of those minutes are bonus tracks, but that seems a bit meaningless when the bonus tracks were released same day and same edition as the other 23 tracks, and even without them this is still a fucking movie length. That being said, though, I wouldn't say I was ever bored while listening to this, and that's a plus. For better or for worse, the biggest flaws are when a track comes off as laughable, like the Chop Suey cover. Oh yeah, the samples and ripoffs of pop culture throughout the 2000s on this thing are INSANE. You got Gotye, you got Justice, you got emo 2000s music I'm not remembering the name of off top, this is a nostalgia platter for the ears with a Xanax-addicted dude spitting mid bars over it. And those aforementioned features, Bring Me The Horizon and BABYMETAL? If anything, the sheer creativity and unabashed lack of fear of being lame makes this a bit better to my ears. But those 3 flaws I mentioned REALLY stick out still. This could've been cut down by like half and lost nothing. This is honestly an admirable work for me, but I can't recommend listening to the whole thing in one sitting, or even the whole thing in general. Tough decision on what I think of this, but at the very least, this was as fun as going to a white trash carnival, so whatever. Best Track: the Chop Suey cover is both the best and worst track Rating: 6.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Geeeeeese
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Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1030: 3D Country by Geese (Album Choice: robertsona)
Alright Rob, I'll give this one to you. Probably at least a few of the next batch of posts I slowly spew out my ass will be requests from other people, from fiffer or elsewhere. And while I'll try to give priority to 2023 stuff, I'll also try to mix it up with some stuff from other years as well. When I first saw this request I was hesitant to try it, because I mixed this band up with Goose and I'm not much of one for jam bands. Thank god that I'm dumb because this is nothing close to a jam band, except for the genre-hopping and stylistic shifts that occur seemingly every track akin to a less goofy Ween. After a few listens, I can sorta break this up into three overarching song types, with variations within each category and overlap amongst the three. The country-tinged cuts: This seems to be this band's bread and butter, at least on this album. However, for the most part it's my least favorite stuff on here. The songwriting on most of the countryish songs feels insincere in some way, kinda as if they don't REALLY like country and are just having a laugh. I doubt that was anywhere near the actual intent behind the songwriter's compositional process, but maybe it's that whole indie/slacker vibe that gives me pause. The slower ones are better than the faster ones for sure. The stadium anthems: The most bombastic tracks on the album practically feel straight out of the 70s with their pomp and cheese. The same sort of indie detachment seems to permeate, but I mind it a lot less here, maybe because of my disdain for many classic rock elitists. This stuff is a lot of fun! The weirdos: And then there are songs that are genuinely weird, noisy and sometimes psychedelic. This is where the album is the absolute best. It's not super esoteric, this is still pretty firmly in the "pop" category (by that I mean they use regular song structures, not that this sounds like assembly line radio pop or something) but it's the most earnest the band ever sounds AND it's the most unique and interesting stuff. I could take a whole album of their more punky styles and their weirdo freak-outs for sure. On a somewhat related note, I've been seeing this band get compared to Black Midi a lot, but outside of both bands not seeming to take themselves overly seriously and a reliance on interlocking riffs, this reminds me a lot more of somewhere between Ween (as I mentioned before) and Modest Mouse. But comparisons are always a shitty shorthand way of describing a band's sound, and the more a band seems to be carving their own path, the less that shit will fit. So, in summary, and I only said in summary to piss off any English teachers that some day come across this, cut out a majority of the most country-ish stuff and this would be golden. I did like this a lot more with each successive listen, so I look forward to whatever the band makes next. Best Track: Mysterious Love Rating: 7.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1031: In Times New Roman... by Queens Of The Stone Age
Another childhood favorite, I saw these guys live a couple weekends ago and I probably mentioned that in another review. Fuck Forest Hills Stadium. Those who bought their tickets not-resale were apparently told via email that they were not to bring any cameras with a detachable lens, and I sure wish I got that email. There's extra relevance to that concert anecdote, because I stubbed my way down to a more expensive seat while I was there hoping for some classic Homme antics, but unfortunately no pants were dropped, no slurs were shouted at teenagers in the audience and no media people were drunkenly kicked in the face. It seems the man is fully on the wagon and on his best behavior now after a VERY contentious divorce, as any slip-ups will reflect negatively on him at custody hearings. Or something like that. It's probably fucked up that I'm disappointed I didn't get to see the man make an ass of himself, but I can't help it. At the core, if he's getting healthy and doing what's best for his children, I'm glad. According to Homme in interviews, the divorce was not a big influence on the album, but I'm pretty sure that was deflection. A lot of the lyrics and tones on this album seem to be bitter, vengeful, heartbroken, all that classic breakup emotional shit. That, however, I don't want to dwell on, because that's not why I'm convinced that the divorce factored into the songwriting. I'm convinced because this album is actually GOOD. If that's fucked up to say, whatever. We all know or SHOULD know that some of the best art comes from dark places, and I don't think this band is an exception to that. Besides Like Clockwork, all the QOTSA albums after Songs For The Deaf, which is probably their magnum opus, have been mid as hell, and felt like everyone involved was phoning things in for a paycheck. This actually feels like passion AND care was put into the songs, the production and the sequencing. It's not the best the band made, but at this stage in their career, it's remarkably solid, and I can't ask for more. Well, I can ask for a real Kyuss reunion tour. Give me that. Best Track: Carnavoyeur Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
Day 1032: the new Travis Scott
The most surprising thing about this album is that I felt no moral quandary about listening to it, EXCEPT when I heard The Weeknd as now his voice makes me sick. Other than that, mid. Best Track: crowd crush Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Recommend me some 2021 albums halp
Day 1033: Struggler by Genesis Owusu
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And I really do mean "a little bit" when I say that, because this is still a solid effort. It's bouncy, weird, joyous, jagged, insert adjective here - all the usual descriptors that I've probably used 1000 times in this thread alone. It isn't super consistent, and it sometimes feels like it lacks polish in a way that doesn't mesh with the dance-punk vibe, but nevertheless I'm quite fond of this one. Best Track: Tied Up! Rating: 6.66666666666666/10 |
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