Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 552: Plastic Anniversary by Matmos

Based on the descriptors and the genres, I thought I'd enjoy this more than I did, but after listening to this three times I'm honestly quite disappointed. There are more than a few good songs here, mostly the more sinister-sounding ones and the rare more melodic ones, but the majority of this album just feels way too spare and empty, and some of the samples are annoying to the point of sounding like stock sound effects... unless those are stock sound effects. (I checked after writing the rest of this bullcrap, those are indeed real instruments being chopped up)

My disappointment is likely largely my fault for expecting something that the album definitely wasn't going for, but even other albums I've listened to that were going for a similar vibe (like the footwork albums I reviewed in 2017) weren't this... grating oftentimes. Even at a relatively short 40 minutes, this is a bit of a slog. I might just turn this into an EP for myself and that personal selection would go up a couple points. Or maybe I'd give it more points if I was, like, fucked up beyond words at a music festival. The best thing about this album is that, in spite of me not really enjoying it, I'm curious to check out the other Matmos albums because I'm assuming they'd sound completely different. Hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment again!

Best Track: The Crying Pill
Rating: 4.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 553: Abiogenesis by KK Null

I meant to listen to this like, 3 months ago but just got around to it thanks to ADD making me cram my fucking college bullshit. Anyways, I quite liked this one, although I'm not sure how this is "harsh noise". It definitely gets its atmosphere across, but I actually wish it was MORE consistently harsh, and maybe have a slight bit more... variety of sounds? That's not the right word but fuck this I'm not looking for the right word anyways I got work to do.

Didn't enjoy this as much as Music For Bondage Performance but it's still good.

Best Track: Abiogenesis Number
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Whoa I'm surprised you've checked out KK Null. You might want to try Metacompound for something more diverse (from his side project Absolut Null Punkt).

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Shlohmo - The End

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Got a few recommendations that are pretty new.

Devin Townsend - Empath
Jordan Rudess - Wired for Madness (comes out the 19th)
Sun O))) - Life Metal (comes out 26th)

Edit: Also I hope you got something special planned for your 5 year anniversary of this thread.

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Thanks for reminding me, luckily I'll be out of college for then so I'll try to do something.

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 554: ARIZONA Baby by Kevin Abstract

I like this more than Iridescence, maybe because it's concise and focused. I always HATED the pitch shifting aspect of BROCKHAMPTON's music, but it's used sparingly here and never feels too out of place. The backing tracks this time around also feel more thoughtful than most tracks off all of their albums, with a lot more morphing and shifting in every track here, even the super short intro track.

This made me slightly more excited for their next release.

Best Track: Joy Ride
Rating: 7.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 555: Seven Horses for Seven Kings by Black to Comm

This goes from chamber-y to industrial to ambient to noisy to swirly to bizarrely gorgeous for brief passages, while remaining ultimately cohesive. Maybe not super-consistent, but for an hour long it's consistent enough and the best tracks actually elicited shock and terror out of me. Er, well, maybe not quite that, more like a minor discomfort BUT IN A GOOD WAY!

It's not something I'd wanna listen to frequently, but in the right place at the right time, this really captures the vibe it's going for and is one I'm gonna keep.

did I win the slot machine

Best Track: Angel Investor
Rating: 7.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Ribbons by Bibio

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 556: Cows on Hourglass Pond by Avey Tare

This is very much the next step to Tangerine Reef, except this time there are actual songs instead of just soundscapes. And the fact that it's not under the Animal Collective banner. Avey sings with the same inflection he always does, which comes off as fittingly strained and borderline-childlike when it works, plain stupid and dopey when it doesn't.

Chilly Blue is gorgeous and is a surprising highlight despite being basically an interlude. It's not the best track, but it has a certain quality that a lot of these songs don't, which is a singular direction. That... might not be the best way to compare it to the rest of the songs, as this is certainly a lot less splatter-y than Centipede Hz or any Black Moth Super Rainbow in its approach, but a lot of tracks here tend to take their time to grow and develop. Sometimes it works, like the first two tracks, sometimes it doesn't, like the dumbass ending to K.C. Yours. The only other songs that seems to be pretty stagnant in their development are Our Little Chapter minus some overlays towards the end, which is a sucky track, and , which is better than the last song I mentioned.

Overall though, this is the best Animal Collective release in a long while. Not GREAT, but not bad at all.

Best Track: Eyes On Eyes
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

kid you're going off

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 557: Life Metal by Sunn O))) (Album Choice: Deadlyx39)

I still hate this band's name, but I enjoyed this more than the one other Sunn (bad emoticon) album I listened to, that being Black One which I found kinda cheesy. Earth is still better but this ain't half-bad, probably because they're not going for that stupid "we're SPOOKY" vibe.

Best Track: Novæ (but this feels like one song)
Rating: 7/10 (these are getting boringly repetitive and predictable)

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Egowerk by The Faint
LP5 by Apparat
To Believe by The Cinematic Orchestra
Distance Over Time by Dream Theater
Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear by HEALTH

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 558: The End by Shlohmo (Album Choice: I like it)

This one is pretty good. You can trim out a few tracks, mostly the ones that feel more trap-influenced, and be left with a better album. Also peters off a bit somewhere in the middle but the last three tracks are honestly the best.

Help I've fallen and I can't get up. I wish that actually happened to me school is insanity.

Best Track: The Best Of Me
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 559: Ribbons by Bibio (Album Choice: dashoe93)

I thought this was gonna be electronic for some reason, this is just indie pop with a lot of folk influence in it. Some tracks sound like the late-period albums of The Books and those are the crappy Books albums. Other songs just sound like Folk Impala, or maybe Samba Impala. Some of these songs are pretty enough, especially those that are more layered, a lot are either boring or just kinda annoying. Mostly I notice that I MUCH prefer the funkier tracks, and once again, this album is too goddamn long.

Now that I look at it again, why the fuck did I think this was gonna be electronic?

Best Track: Before
Rating: 5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

The Mind Bokeh Album has the electronic bits you're looking for, but ye it's mostly indie funk/folk stuff. Guess I haven't listened to enough Bibio, but this album is a bit softer than usual

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 560: GHETTOBABY by Kevin Abstract

I'm ignoring the first 3 tracks because those are the same as the last EP I reviewed. The first track covers the same ground lyrically as usual, but the beat and atmosphere are strangely chill with a nice guitar line that makes it wholly enjoyable. The other two tracks are overproduced pop-R&B crap with too much falsetto.

JOBA release a fucking solo album already.

Best Track: Corpus Christi
Rating: 4.5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 561: Green and Gray by Pile

I was hype to see these guys at Boston Calling (as well as Mitski and Denzel Curry amongst others) for the first time in over 3 years then I realized I'll be at another concert. Lame, oh well.

Anyways, I like this more than their last album, it might even top Dripping for me with some repeat listens (although it's hard to beat Magic Isn't Real). It has some issues with sequencing, like the transition from Hair to The Soft Hands Of Stephen Miller was obviously meant to be jarring, but it still kinda ruins the flow of things. But regardless, this is a real consistent batch of songs, with some of the best screamers they've ever written and some gorgeous softer tracks. Go listen to it.

Best Track: Bruxist Grin
Rating: 8/10

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 562: On Time Out Of Time by William Basinski

I saw this performed live, and the performance was definitely longer than this album. It also worked better in a church setting than on headphones while doing homework. For Basinski there's a heck of a lot of movement and change going on in this first piece especially, yet in spite of that it's one of his emptier-sounding releases somehow.

Not his best work, but I'll take it.

Best Track: The first one
Rating: 5.5/10 (funny, because the performance was pretty damn close to a 10/10, and his opener was DEFINITELY a 10/10)

Re: Recommend me some 2019 albums halp
 

Day 563: Dorkcore 101 by Kevin and the Bikes

Yes, I actually listened to the whole thing.

Jesus save my soul.

You should do the same as I did with this album then find religion.

Rating: 8/10
Best Track: Chunky Puffs or Buddy Dorky