Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 438: Songs For The Recently Sad by Soccer Mommy (Album Choice: g.o.ry)

This album better be better than the last one. Seems mildly obscure, which I don't care about except I hope that means there's a lo-fi aesthetic here.

So far, yeah this is pretty damn lo-fi, and it's soft and pretty. Shitty production values with noise creates more noise, whereas tape hiss and crackle usually makes a quiet acoustic affair seem all the more personal and intimate. Clearly, I'm a sucker for bad aesthetic.

I don't find this particular EP all that personally resonant, but goddamnit this is what I was missing from the last album, affecting songwriting! And a general sense that I'm supposed to enjoy this for what it actually is, simple fingerpicked indie folk. There's nothing here making me go "WOW!" especially, but there's absolutely nothing offensive here, it's all pure, floaty pleasantries... Is that the right definition of pleasantries? I hope not.

I can certainly see myself returning to this one on a lonely, muggy summer day. Wait, fuck, I wrote this entire review comparing it to another album that doesn't even sound similar. Ah well, a simplistic release gets a simplistic review... Except simplicity isn't the flaw here. Fuck you.

Best Track: Memories
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 439: Goths by The Mountain Goats (Album Choice: college peoples)

Y'all already know how much I love this band. This is supposedly the "no guitars" album which is worrisome, but hey I've been wrong most of my life. I've also heard a bunch of these songs live already, some of them twice, yet I promise you I won't remember shit.

Well, actually I vaguely remember this opening song being played live, albeit much sparer in arrangement. This one rocks pretty hard, but after that it seems to mostly be soft chamber pop. In fact, it feels like Darnielle spent way more time on figuring out how to make the orchestration sound like an indie 90s release than writing lyrics. I know that last sentence is objectively false, but the lyrics here pale in comparison to my favorite albums of his, and that's all I'm looking for! Maybe it's because I'm not a goth, but goddamnit I'm severely depressed and that ought to count for something.

Anyways, there's a mix of great songs and boring-to-cheesy song (what the fuck is Wear Black?) but none of it has the energy or strike of his earlier albums besides the first track. It's mostly just pretty yet inconsequential quiet stuff.

A perfectly middling album. Also, is it me or does Rage In Travers sound like a certain Tame Impala song?

Best Track: Rain In Soho
Rating: 6/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

If ur talking about songs...


"Uncommon Knowledge" by K.A.A.N
great one, I'm listening to it as I type, it makes me wanna get outta the house and backflip into a drain

dont ask pls

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

on a side note you should listen to ryuichi sakamoto + alva noto's new live album, Glass while you are still doing 2018 stuff

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Pls let me post this on Comment awards discord lmfao holy shit i was so stoned... sorry bout that

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 440: All Melody by Nils Frahm (Album Choice: Traviud)

I'm not entirely sure what minimalism exactly is, but I think I like it. A lot of the genres I like are clearly minimalistic as fuck, and I've definitely talked about how much I hate clutter before. Well, except the good clutter. This is study music.

Well, so far I'm not sure what makes this more minimalistic than any other ambient release. This definitely seems less minimalistic by definition of the word than, say, Thomas Koner's works or Earth 2: I'm Not Typing Out The Title Edition. I can count strings, plodding drum machines, choral samples, feedback, synths, pianos (of many variety), and some other instruments I don't know the name of as prominent soundmakers here within the first few tracks alone (maybe it doesn't change though?). Regardless, semantics aren't important, what's important is the music!

And anyways, reading the genre description for minimalism, I guess it makes sense it's technically less minimalistic than drone.

If there's one thing that seems to universally irk me, it's the amount of downtime between most of these tracks, which can exceed, like, 15 seconds. Yes I get the genre, but still, it's killing my flow right now and some more seamless transitions wouldn't kill this album, at least in my view. Also, the choral samples are a little much, particularly in A Place,Human Range, Kaleidescope and Momentum. I actually like the album more when it feels closer to some good old-school techno, albeit with a more emotional edge, like the title track, #2, Sunson and the second half of Momentum. Too many parts of this album feel like they're trying to go for an "epic" vibe but I simply don't buy it, and the more jazz-or-sad piano parts are pretty enough but don't grab as much as the bouncy synth-based cuts. There's also a slight tribal, jungle-esque vibe to some of these tracks, which is subtle enough to be inconsequential to the quality of the track.

On the more positive side of things, this managed to not outstay its welcome at a staggering 74 minutes, which isn't that long today but you guys know my attention span sucks and I have a low tolerance for filler (I'm incredibly loath to review Culture 2 as of right now). The down moments never seemed like they weren't trying and just adding space, just that what they did try didn't work for me this time around, which I can respect much more. Truthfully, I might cut some tracks here and there out, but I'm just as likely to give this a full listen again. And what's good is good and it makes up most of the album, I hope I articulated that well enough.

Here's to hoping for a real "instrumental" version at some point... Haha yeah there's no way that's happening.

Best Track: All Melody (I always get so uncomfortable when the first, last or title track is the best one)
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 441: Little Dark Age by MGMT (Album Choice: PixlSM)

I know I've heard something from this band before without caring about it, but I don't remember what. Also, I always mix this band up with M83. As of today I care about neither. Let's see if that changes!

Well, I can't lie, this first track is catchy as fuck, and I think they've realized the "dream-robotic" aura they're going for very well here. The stupid lyrics are PERFECT for this kinda vibe, so I can fuck with it.

Unfortunately, most of what comes after feels way too chintzy for some reason. They vary from decent (Me And Michael, the deep-vocaled When You're Small, groover Days That Got Away) to just boring (the title track, When You Die) or cheesy-feeling (One Thing Left To Try)

Yup, another one of those "killer first track and a few more decent cuts" albums, although this isn't nearly as frustrating as Stands for Decibels is for me. Yup, still don't care about either band. I don't feel like elaborating more. Go watch the melon or something.

Best Track: She Works Out Too Much
Rating: 5/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

listen to my pretentious lowercase album

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

^I shall

Day 442: Punken by Maxo Kream (Album Choice: college peoples)

5200 is not better than Magnolia and that's final.

That's all I managed to spit out while I was studying. Onto a second listen!

Well, compared to past trap releases I've reviewed, this one has comparatively very little obvious filler, so that's a heavy plus immediately. The beat selection works well, never getting too samey thanks to more-layered-than-usual production while keeping the same obvious vibe throughout. Lyrically, this is MILES ahead of... well, at least the last trap release I reviewed, not that that's hard to do (and I still unironically like Gucci Gang). Still, a commendable effort in that realm.

Okay... who the fuck cares about what I rate a trap album?

Best Track: Pop Another
Rating: 7/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Day 443: n​-​afil​:​1atem​=​x​-​vnn​-​.​x by [Ne]3s23p2 (Album Choice: choof)

...Oh for fuck's sake with this Autechre 2.0 title scheming, what the hell is this? Looks like a chemistry equation to me, and I suck at chemistry. I don't know what lowercase music is, and I don't know what EAI is. Google say it's some form of electroacoustic, which I'm not very familiar with but the little I do remember I remember enjoying. What was that frog album?... It had OzMo and Space Ghost in it.

After some more googling, it's The Hass Effect by Electrocado. That was almost 5 years ago, holy shit, but from what I remember it was easy and pleasant to listen to, if not really outstanding save for those aforementioned samples.

This sounds NOTHING like Electrocado. This album basically sounds like a collection of gusts of wind. In fact, I didn't even realize the last track was playing until 15 minutes into it, and it's 20 minutes! I have no idea how I'm supposed to judge this, but I do appreciate the atmosphere it provides (outside of the barely audible final track) enough to give it a middling rating.

Best Track: Every track besides 9999~`x (motherfucker...)
Rating: 6/10

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

the title scheming of the album name is based on a command used to convert audio files
the title scheming of the track names are based on the command using the different audio files
idk I was pretty high

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Automata I by Between the Buried and Me just came out, would like to hear your opinions on it.

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Review the “new” sakamoto/noto live album

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

the crystalline sounds on that album are amazing
seconding that rec

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Between The Buried And Me - Automata I

just dropped at midnight :o

edit: he beat me to it but yea

Re: 365 Reviews Done
 

yo narkopop fuckin sucks lmao

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

2nd best Gas album fuck u

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

also just to add to your backlog of 2018 stuff, For 2 Akis by the Shinya Fukumori Trio is good if you like percussion-focused jazz

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

easily one of the most amateurish and overrated ambient albums of last year

Re: Recommend me some 2018 albums halp
 

Do a track-by-track comparison of the two versions of Twin Fantasy