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-   -   Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=137263)

rayword45 05-6-2022 12:58 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 964: Ramona Park Broke My Heart by Vince Staples

This is way better than that last piece of trash, but I think he peaked with Big Fish Theory. I really hope he didn't.

I wonder what it's like to have your worst album be your self-titled, if you perceive it as such.

Best Track: When Sparks Fly
Rating: 6/10

flat chest choof 05-6-2022 05:17 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
hmmm bad spiritualized take

rushyrulz 05-6-2022 11:12 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Ghostlight by Poets of the Fall

rayword45 05-10-2022 08:22 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 965: Caprisongs by FKA Twigz

I bumped Magdalene from a 6/10 to an 8/10 a while ago.

This isn't as good as that one, but it's pleasant enough. Could be a bit tighter, but the features were mostly good. Maybe with repeat listens this one will bump up too.

Is my 1000th review going to be anticlimactic? I really hope not.

Best Track: Careless
Rating: 6.66666666666/10

flat chest choof 05-12-2022 12:27 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
https://lilienrosarian.bandcamp.com/...r-in-my-garden

ambient glitchy tape music
incredibly pretty, I don't run into much music that overwhelms me in the way this one did lol

AAAorQUIT 05-12-2022 12:41 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
https://fiend.bandcamp.com/album/fever-dream

one of my favorites

rayword45 05-15-2022 09:43 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 966: the new future

its mid

Best Track: nah
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 05-16-2022 05:11 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 967: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by you-know-already

I wanted to get this out before the stupid bald melon but I also wanted to give this a review more in-depth than half a sentence. I listened to this 3 times and went and listened to each of his LPs at least once again (besides Overly Dedicated) and I have to say that this is probably smack in the middle in terms of how much I like his albums.

With that in mind, knowing that my order of preference for his albums is usually the complete opposite of other people's, you'll probably find this to be mid for him too. It's not incredibly focused, yet it somehow feels like his most personal album since Good Kid. I think there's a great 50ish minute album in here, but some songs are truly, truly cringy and if someone like Hopsin released Auntie Diaries or We Cry Together people would rightfully be calling him a cornball.

Still, it hits more than it misses for me. Although having a feature from Kodak Black is probably a bad look.

Best Track: Father Time
Rating: 7.5/10

3lijah 05-17-2022 09:26 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Bruh at this point you could be the Anthony Fantano of VSRGs

rayword45 05-18-2022 06:41 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 968: Maladaptive Dreaming by sonhos tomam conta (Album Choice: gravity and Alice... kinda?)

Wait, so you guys wanted me to fuck to the album these guy(s?) released before this one? Is this new one drastically different or something? Because I have some SERIOUSLY worse/weirder/sadder choices on my sex music list than whatever this is.

This oddly made me nostalgic for 2013, this gave me flashbacks to October Language despite this being WAY more song-oriented. Do I like it? I mean, uh, somewhat. What exactly is metal or blackgaze about this? Who cares about genres but I mean, nothing about this made me think "metal". It's more just dreamy soundscapes with faint vocals, like a ton of other shoegaze/noise pop stuff. It's definitely not that pop structured but it's more that than any sort of ambient.

The good is that it's lush and pretty. The bad is that it gets repetitive fast, although there are some standouts. If this was even LESS traditionally structured, maybe the repetitive feeling wouldn't bother me as much.

The unknown is if this or Hypnagogia will make for good sex music.

I hope by the time I get to 1000 Donda 2 or something equally notable is out.

Best Track: Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Anymore
Rating: 6.25/10

riktoi 05-19-2022 08:37 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
sex music

Gravity Kitten 05-19-2022 09:32 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
you were supposed to have sex to the album as a first impression jack ass

Gravity Kitten 05-19-2022 09:32 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
also idk how april got dragged into this but ty for the review LOL

Wiosna 05-19-2022 11:00 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
it's because i'm brazilian and so is the musician

rayword45 05-23-2022 06:42 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 969: Glitch Princess by yeule

I listened to it 5 times.

It was fine.

Best Track: rubma
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 05-26-2022 09:04 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 970: You Belong There by Daniel Rossen

I remember when I was like 15 or something I tried listening to Grizzly Bear and I didn't like it very much. I didn't hate it, it just felt like pure nothing to me.

This is the first solo album of one of the guys from that band and it reminds me a lot of my reaction to listening to that music when I was 15. It's fine, but it doesn't leave any real emotional impact on me. It's composed well, the melodies are fine, but it just goes in one ear and out the other, I really want to like this more than I do, but thems the breaks.

Best Track: footjob
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 06-4-2022 03:18 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day N/A: DS4EVER by Gunna

it sucks ass

Best Track: ligma
Rating: 1.5/10

EDIT: I ALREADY REVIEWED THIS MOTHERFUCKER THIS DOESN'T COUNT

my rating went down 1 point lol

Trogdor!!!! 06-9-2022 03:07 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
I'm gonna need some explanation on your current opinion of the new Beach House record.

rayword45 06-15-2022 09:29 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 971: mekanoworld​.​xyz by Team Mekano

I don't know how to describe this album whatsoever. When it's danceable shit akin to hardcore breaks or throwback rave genres, it's great. Breakcore shit, it's great. Mashcore type stuff, meh. Stuff that leans more towards hyperpop, well, I don't HATE it but I don't love it.

What drags this down is whenever it gets annoying, which is some of the hyperpop-esque stuff and ALL of the nightcore influences.

Also, I still don't know what HexD is.

Best Track: the last two tracks
Rating: 6.5/10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trogdor!!!! (Post 4779118)
I'm gonna need some explanation on your current opinion of the new Beach House record.

it sucks and is boring

rayword45 06-16-2022 08:58 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 972: Love of Plastic by Shinichi Atobe

A friend of mine recommended to me the EP this guy made in 2001 many years ago but many years after 2001. The one he made before disappearing for over a decade. I haven't listened to anything he's made since his return.

I think New York City has given me conflicting emotions about minimal techno/house type stuff, where I spend so much time around it because that city has a hard-on for music with absolutely no changes to rhythm or melody for 20 minutes or longer (that and dubstep). In certain contexts, I can vibe, but I wish there was more old-school rave stuff, or more Drum and Bass, or more breakcore, or more trance (I know of one small club but it's only good on weekdays), or really anything more than just the genres I listed.

None of these songs are over 10 minutes and most DO have some changes in them, I would say I enjoyed about 70% of this album, and that's going to be my rating (oh whoops spoiler alert). Only 2 or 3 tracks were REALLY good though, and an equal amount were boring. I went back and listened to that 2001 EP again to compare and that was WAY better.

Best Track: Beyond the Pale
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 06-20-2022 01:29 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day suck my balls: this Schnozz album

At first, I was like "wow goddamn this might be the worst album I've heard all year".

Then, around the middle where there was a song with virgin in the title, I started thinking "actually, this is kinda fun".

Then, a few minutes later, I went back to thinking "wow goddamn this might be the worst album I've heard all year".

This album REALLY had to sample all the worst of not-quite top pop hits from last decade like Tik Tok and Bonfire? Were people asking for a mashcore-esque remix of the worst era of one of the worst rappers today? Or Ke$ha? I say the latter without thinking of the real world atrocities she went through, just how bad her 2010 music was.

This album makes me wonder when generation Delta or Gamma or whatever will start saying "okay zoomer" the way I say "okay boomer" to people in their 40s today.

This album made me wonder if being on a cramped ass international flight was making me more cynical, and I mean, it probably is, but I think if I was at home in my bed I wouldn't even finish this shit.

This album made me contemplate the fact that what gets me pumped the fuck up in live music settings often sounds TERRIBLE when I'm listening alone and motionless.

This album really made me confront the fact that in under 3 months I can only half-assedly claim to be in my "early 20s".

This album made me wonder if the flight attendants were watering down my drinks because after 3 I enjoyed Licorice Pizza a lot more than sober but between 3 and 5 this album remained booty crust.

This album is asscheeks.

Best Track: pick a song from the latter half and it has a 50% chance of not being asscheeks, pretending the bonus tracks don't exist. Why does this 2022 album already have bonus tracks? Whose listening to the standard version?
Rating: 2.5/10

rayword45 06-20-2022 01:59 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 974: Prey//IV by Alice Glass

100 Gecs for Millennials

Best Track: Animosity
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 06-20-2022 02:00 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Okay I REALLY wanted to leave that as a 1 sentence review for the meme but I feel like considering the lyrical content of this album in conjunction with the controversy over her Crystal Castles contributions that would be borderline distasteful, or even disrespectful of the trauma she went through, regardless of the fact that 4 people tops will ever read this.

That being said, I genuinely don't want to talk about that controversy very much because I think that Glass deserves to be reviewed on her own merits here, because there's very little to say about that whole shitshow and because she's 100% her own artist with or without Ethan Kath, but obviously preferably without. So, instead, I'll just say this, as an abuse victim myself, I find people claiming they find the lyrical content of this album to be "triggering" to be completely valid, yes, but at the same time I think that this was 100% a cathartic release for the artist that she deserves to have and I feel as if just as many people will find content in here easy to empathize with (from a non-first person perspective to be fair) as others find it legitimately harmful to their own psyche. Maybe this should've been released with a disclaimer, but I certainly think it deserves to have been released.

So anyways, on to my own opinion! ...okay 100 Gecs for Millennials was legitimately only inaccurate as far as I'd rather call this Dorian Electra for Millennials, but as far as recorded music goes I prefer this to both. This is still very hit-or-miss, but (bias admittance alert) more personal relatibility to the lyrical content + a much less apparent desire to come off as "quirky" with the voice modulaters means I tolerate this a whole lot more. Now, don't get me wrong, for something so short relatively this has too much fucking filler and oddly enough feels borderline "safe" to me, but the majority of the tracks here I would describe as "moderately enjoyable", the rest split unevenly between "horrendously obnoxious" and "fantastic".

Genuinely though, where most people were complaining about the lyrical content, I think it actually made me more receptive to the completely unnecessary pitch shifting and recording-myself-using-Audacity-on-a-17-year-old-MacBook level clipping on display here. I wouldn't call this a masterpiece, I hope this isn't amongst my top 25 albums of the year considering how much of the album I genuinely disliked, but I think the emotional honesty of the lyrics really elevated this for me because solace in empathy and all that, right? It elicited something in me that made me feel like I've always been missing something with Crystal Castles but the truth is I still find this upon relistens to be way stronger than anything she dropped with Kath as a partner rather than a public enemy.

So, yeah, 6.5/10, thats my explanation, shove it up your butt.

rayword45 06-25-2022 04:56 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
I'm bumping that last one to a 7.5 because of how much I've been repeat listening to it and how much the lyrics keep hitting me, even if I don't love all of it.

Day 975: the newest Guerilla Toss album

I'll forever be glad I got to see them live on their Eraser Stargazer tour, the final album where they were weird, wild and noisy and not doing this far more accessible space age Devo/Talking Heads jam they've been doing ever since then.

That description of late period GToss, if I have to say anything, fits the least ever on this newest album, and I think taking a 4 year break from dropping a new full album was a good move on their part. This is the most polished thing they've ever released and the most tuneful, and the production is noticeably higher quality and more big-budget than anything they've done before. And if you're making psychedelic POP music, that's likely to be a benefit, especially a band that relies on electronic sounds as much as this one.

Something that I suppose caused me to sour over time on the last two albums from this band were the fact that they still seemed to be posturing as weird and daring when their music could be summed up as "sounding like The B-52s" (not my description hence the quotation marks). For the record, I love Love Shack and Rock Lobster but if I want that sound I have that band for that. This album is a full embrace of the fact that this is now, effectively, a pop band, and I think it's the strongest thing they've done in years as a result.

I still am not in love with this, probably a third of this album annoys me or otherwise leaves no real impression, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that they're never going to make Gay Disco 2.

Best Track: sug
Rating: 6.73771324/10

rayword45 06-27-2022 04:23 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 976: MORE D4TA by Moderat

This was better when there weren't vocals. Also what's with the inconsistent leetspeak?

Best Track: All the non-vocal ones
Rating: 5.73/10

rayword45 06-28-2022 01:59 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums halp
 
Day 977: You Can’t Kill Me by 070 Shake

This was slightly better in some parts than her last album, slightly worse in some parts, I think that makes them about equal.

Best Track: Cocoon
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 06-28-2022 02:01 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
also taking recs on what i should do for review 1000, i'll try to put actual depth into it, might make it 10 in one or something as a throwback to my 2013 july of 4th review

....holy shit i'm getting close to a DECADE of doing this shit

rayword45 06-28-2022 09:01 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 978: Big Time by Angel Olsen

She should've stuck to the synths.

Best Track: All Mirrors
Rating: 6.212887/10

rayword45 06-29-2022 05:56 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 979: Remember Rainbow Bridge by Croatian Amor

I almost never get to review trance music it seems like. This is probably more ambient than trance but whatever, DDR boomer represent! Well, actually, this isn't all that Bemani-like at all, but I've met more than enough snobs that hate every genre that isn't minimal-ass techno, minimal-ass deep house or anything that's nothing more than a 4/4 drum beat and, occasionally, the faintest synth line so anything with some semblance of variety is good in my book (although these people tend to make an exception for dubstep, but tell them you like breakcore or gabber and up those noses go, and I ain't talking bout white girl). This city needs more variety than minimalist genres and the occasional D&B.

"Objectively speaking" hahahaha fuck you there is no "objectively good" music and if that's what you believe you deserve chemical castration followed by physical castration.

When this leads more to the danceable side of things, I enjoyed it more. The more abstract pieces are nice, but don't do nearly as much for me. I wanna see this guy live now, prayers he ever decides to come to NYC.

Best Track: Paper Birds
Rating: 7.7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777/10

rayword45 06-29-2022 11:59 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
i suck at this

rayword45 07-7-2022 02:57 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 980: Sometimes, Forever by Soccer Mommy

When I've revisited her last 2 albums, I found them to be blander than I initially perceived. Yet whenever I go back to her lo-fi debut EP, I still love the aesthetic there.

This album, however, I can tell, or at least I HOPE, I won't grow to find more mediocre over time, because this is her lushest, dreamiest album yet, with a fuller sound than ever before but in a way that feels inspired, rather than just "generic singer-songwriter indie rock". I don't want to give too much credit to Oneohtrix Point Never here because I don't know how much he truly contributed but man the production here is truly on point. There were highs and lows because there are always highs and lows but consistent engagement is something I was definitely not expecting from a Soccer Mommy album and that's what I got. Genuinely very impressed by this.

I still want to hear more stories about how she's purportedly an asshole though simply because I've heard rumors about that shit so many times but NEVER with stories to back them up.

Best Track: Shotgun
Rating: 8.5/10

rayword45 07-7-2022 05:35 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 981: Forget Your Own Face by Black Dresses

Music like this really makes me want to embrace the "Millennial" generational tag because I KNOW I would fuck with this live heavy but recorded it's just grating.

I think this is their shortest album yet, and somehow it's still way too fucking samey.

Best Track: doomspiral, partly for being a tonal respite and partly because it feels more traditionally danceable
Rating: 4.5/10

rayword45 07-7-2022 07:10 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 982: Visiting Narcissa by Patricia Taxxon

None of these tracks had to be as long as they were. Neither the 4-5 minutes one nor the 30 minute ones.

Okay, that's exaggeration on multiple different levels but goddamnit I feel like this could've been a great album if it was cut down at least 35 minutes, maybe even more. At movie length this was a goddamn chore, even with a few bright spots and a TON of good ideas.

We have perms for this artist? Do we have songs in game? This doesn't seem like good arrow smash music.

Best Track: Her Garage
Rating: 5.42956285628562/10

rayword45 07-13-2022 12:45 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 983: Raw Data Feel by Everything Everything

I have yet to see the movie

Best Track: Meh
Rating: 5/10

robertsona 07-18-2022 12:37 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
faves so far: guerilla toss, thig beef, maybe Renata zeiguer (so subtle and quiet tho, and 2018 album>), Daniel rossen for sure, maybe Rosalia just for “saoko”, maybe kendrick

rayword45 07-21-2022 05:52 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 984: the new black midi

I don't need to say much about this album, but I'll say I enjoyed the first half of this album more than anything else I've heard from this band, it still felt a little too "art school" for me but it had the best guitar work they've ever done.

Then the second half was some weird free jazz bullshit. Oh well.

Best Track: Eat Men Eat
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 07-26-2022 07:57 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 985: Palaces by Flume

This guy's live show I saw in 2016 remains a top 10 concert of mine.

This album was mid af. I hope he's still good live he eats ass he's cool

Best Track: joe mama
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 09-13-2022 06:07 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 986: Miracle in Transit by Naked Flames

Oh ho ho it's been a while hasn't it? Wanna know why I've been on hiatus for so long? The answer may shock you...

Depression laziness. Okay I guess that wasn't shocking after all. But I'll be sure to make my return as anti-climactic as is appropriate. It's my birthday. This album fucking bangs, I need to experience this live.

Best Track: Taking the Stairs
Rating: 9/10

rayword45 09-15-2022 11:24 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 987: Honestly, Nevermind by Drake

Honestly, I hate this less than I hate all other music I've heard from this pedophile. Most of this is just incredibly bland, lifeless rave music with his usual shitty lyrics on top, but it's at least better than his usual shitty backdrops with his usual shitty lyrics on top.

He is still a pedophile though.

Best Track: the ones where he talks about sleeping with adult women
Rating: 2.5/10

ToonE156 09-16-2022 09:05 AM

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

Originally Posted by rayword45 (Post 4782039)
Day 987: Honestly, Nevermind by Drake

Honestly, I hate this less than I hate all other music I've heard from this pedophile. Most of this is just incredibly bland, lifeless rave music with his usual shitty lyrics on top, but it's at least better than his usual shitty backdrops with his usual shitty lyrics on top.

He is still a pedophile though.

Best Track: the ones where he talks about sleeping with adult women
Rating: 2.5/10



drake sucks

_choof 09-17-2022 01:39 PM

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

https://lilienrosarian.bandcamp.com/...r-in-my-garden

_choof 09-21-2022 09:07 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
apparently I've already rec'd that so
this instead https://currentvalue1.bandcamp.com/a...atinum-scatter

rayword45 09-29-2022 08:20 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 988: Null by Ken Mode

Loved has steadily shot up amongst my internal ranking of albums from last decade over the course of the pandemic. The mood, the riffs and the subtle sense of humor make for an absolutely killer album that fits both my darkest emotional turmoils and my energetic upbeat days. Along with that, their 2015 show I saw might still be the best metal show I've ever seen, although Boris recently gave them a run for their money. I'm super hyped to be seeing both them and Palm later this fall, both being bands I found out about because they were on the same concert lineup during my senior year of high school as my hometown favorite Pile where they managed to steal the title of "best setlist of the night".

While I have enjoyed what I've heard of their earlier albums, they don't really scratch the same itch that Loved does, and I wouldn't say this album does either. Instead for me it scratches an entirely different itch, this harkens back to Success not in atmosphere or songwriting, but in how experimental and frequently non-metal it feels. At least a third of this album by runtime feels more like industrial or no wave than sludge metal, and Not My Fault might be the closest thing to a crowdpleasing riff rocker I've ever heard these guys do.

Whereas previous albums would be easiest to compare to something like Unsane, the band that comes to mind to compare here is Daughters. I never, ever understood Daughters and to this day I still think You Won't Get What You Want is one of the most overrated albums of the past 10 years amongst music nerds, fuckin melon. And this is without considering the Lingua Ignota shit! Anyways, while there is a lingering similarity between that album and this one, where this album succeeds for me is how much less theatrical it feels like it's attempting to be, instead feeling like the aggression on display is a true release of internal darkness (but not without some much needed self-awareness). And also the vocal performances are way more engaging here. And also the songwriting is more interesting across the board. And also the vocalist isn't a rapist.

Overall, I don't think this album is quite as strong as Loved but it's damn close, and where this album wins is on sheer variety and experimentation. After a 4 year break, these guys are still on a hot streak.

Best Track: A Love Letter
Rating: 9/10

aperson 10-3-2022 03:02 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Frank Bretschneider & Giorgio Li Calzi - Zero Mambo

rayword45 10-13-2022 07:54 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 989: Darklife by death's dynamic shroud

This is really good. Like, really fucking good. These guys release like 30 albums a year, there's no way they're all this good. I must've gotten lucky.

Best Track: sugandese
Rating: 9/10

T-Force 10-14-2022 09:25 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
If you think you'd like the idea of deathgaze (death metal meets showgaze), give Kardashev's The Almanac a go.

If that sounds terrible to you, shame, and don't worry about it.

rayword45 10-17-2022 10:55 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 990: Nicks and Grazes by Palm

Their 2015 concert was great. Their 2015 album was great. Their 2018 album was mediocre. This album is the best thing they've ever done. Go listen to it. Album of the year.

Best Track: the first two but they're all great
Rating: 9/10

rayword45 10-19-2022 08:40 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 991: Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam by The Comet Is Coming

I enjoyed this, but it's not as emotionally engaging, as catchy or as explosive in climaxes as Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery. In parts it's super inspired, in other parts it's kinda just going through the motions. Still a good album, but I had higher expectations.

Now how do these guys exactly tie into all that windmill scene stuff? Because this sounds nothing like Black Country, Mid Road or Black Mid-i or Squid (I'm avoiding the obvious rhyme here)

Best Track: Technicolour
Rating: 7/10

rayword45 10-26-2022 11:54 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 992: Blue Rev by Alvvays

Once again, I'm unsure if I made this album seem better to myself by having such low expectations or if this album is legitimately quite good after a couple of listens through. I've never disliked this band and always thought they played to their image and audience quite well, but they were never anything super unique and the very same-y mood and tone they had across what seemed like all of their cuts meant I never wanted to listen to more than a few tracks of them within a playlist tops.

This album still has that same general twee mood, but there's a slight bit more variance of tone here, perhaps the smallest bit less reliance on surfy reverb, and what's more? These are actually mostly very catchy, well-written pop tunes. The immediate comparison I would make for another release this year was the mid Beach House album, that was oppressively repetitive and the songwriting felt like an afterthought to the atmosphere, which might work for some things but for indie pop definitely just makes things drag. This album is admittedly less than half as long, but almost every song packs a punch and it never feels like these guys are trying to eschew WRITING SONGS in favor of atmosphere or dreaminess or indie white girl cred or whatever.

Is this amazing? No. Is this the biggest shocker of the year? No, that still has to go to Soccer Mommy for me. Is this a solid album? Yes, very yes.

Best Track: Charles Mingus' nutsack
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 10-27-2022 08:08 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 993: the new Carly Rae Jepsen

It seems like she's been
Jamming stuff that's Mag Bay-esque
The results are mid

Best track:
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 11-1-2022 10:15 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 994: Cave World by Viagra Boys

I can see this being a lot of fun live, listening to this made me regret not seeing them live because it seems like it'd be a blast of just dancing all night long.

Recorded though, this is somehow both too inconsistent yet too repetitive for my liking. They really only have two vibes, dance-y/groovy and tight or dance-y/groovy and shambolic. I greatly prefer the latter. Maybe their older albums are more my forte.

Best Track: Ain't No Thief
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 11-1-2022 10:57 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 995: God's Country by Chat Pile

I'm beginning to think I don't understand zoomer taste in noise rock. This is not that great.

Best Track: Tropical Beaches, Inc
Rating: 5.5/10

aperson 11-27-2022 11:20 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Lotus Eater - Plasma

rayword45 12-1-2022 09:42 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 996: The Family by BROCKHAMPTON

So close to 1000, and so long between every review. In case you're wondering however, I haven't stopped listening to new music, I've just been loath to write reviews due to generally being busier with life than I was when I started this thread over 8 years ago, and due to the fact that I want my 1000th album review to be something significant. So before I write my typically concise bullshit about this album, allow me to just update you with some estimated scores I'd give other albums I've listened to within the past several months that I was too much of a lazy sack of shit to review.

Woeful Studies - Ka: 8/10
Languish Arts - Ka: 7/10
Ugly Season - Perfume Genius: 5.5/10
A Light For Attracting Attention - The Smile: 6.5/10
MOTOMAMI - Rosalía: 6/10
Renaissance - Beyoncé: 5/10
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava - King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard: 4.5/10 (fuck you I'm not listening to everything this band dropped this year)
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow - Weyes Blood: 7/10
Spiderr - Bladee: 5/10
Horseshit on Route 66 - The Garden: 7.5/10
WE - Arcade Fire: 4/10 (that score has nothing to do with the controversy this band has been going through, towards which I have no real opinion or knowledge of details about)
Gemini Rights - Steve Lacy: 5/10
God Save the Animals - Alex G: 5.5/10
Glow On - Turnstile: 5/10
ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH - Spirit Of The Beehive: 8.5/10
Hold The Girl - Rina Sawayama: 6.5/10
chingitychangitychong 2022 - Otoboke Beaver: 5/10
LABYRINTHITIS - Destroyer: 6/10
Come Home the Kids Miss You - Jack Harlow: 2.5/10 (still better than Gunna)
The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta: 4/10
Dariacore 3... At Least I Think That's What It's Called? by leroy: 4/10
The newest Sharon Von Etten: 7/10
The newest Toro Y Moi: 5.5/10
The newest Lizzo: 5/10
Fragments - Bonobo: 6/10
Versions of Modern Performance - Horsegirl: 5/10
Viva Las Vengeance - Panic! at the Disco: 1/10 (this is one of very few albums I actually do wish I wrote something for)
Arrangements - the band formerly known as Viet Long: 6/10
Bleed Out - The Mountain Goats: 6.5/10
Octopod Metropolis - Bluetech: 7.5/10
God Did - DJ Khaled: 3/10
Donda 2 - He Who Shall Not Be Named: 2/10
The album that got Fantano's divorce leaked: 3.5/10

Since these scores are all off memory, take them with an even bigger grain of salt than usual. You may be asking "Hey r-word, why don't you listen to those albums again and jot down your thoughts so you can have a better justification for your score? I realize that these numbers are already usually completely arbitrary, but now they seem even more pointless!" And to that I'll say, "eat a dick".

But anyways, onto the BROCKHAMPTON album. Man it's crazy how long it's been since I found out about this group in 2016, how long it's been since the SATURATION trilogy broke the internet, how long it's been since my friends saw the infamous first show without Ameer Vann while I was at my cousin's wedding, just how long it's been in general. These guys were the soundtrack to my first college summer, the early days of young adulthood, and I have so many memories attached to this group that I'll forever cherish. Even though their output never reached the heights of their hype-ass early days, the last album was surprisingly great after some much weaker efforts in 2018 and 2019, no doubt thanks to their willingness to actually have features from acclaimed musicians like Danny Brown and Charlie Wilson.

And with that, I guess they ultimately went down the OPPOSITE route for their "big finale" (although I would bet money on some reunion shows within the next decade). This album is basically a Kevin solo album, either due to necessity or as an artistic choice but I would assume the former. I've always paired Kevin with JOBA in that they have the strongest songwriting and production chops of the group but aren't the most enticing rappers. Unfortunately, only the latter half seems to hold up with this album, as this album just doesn't have the soul, the energy, the FEEL that their earliest works or even any album prior to this besides Ginger had. It feels like it was a contractual obligation and it's honestly just sad and limp to listen to. It's not terrible, but BROCKHAMPTON has always been about the chemistry of a massive group of friends. This simply cannot capture that magic, and making it even worse is how unfinished the whole thing sounds.

I have high hopes for hypothetical upcoming works from several members of the band, including Kevin and especially JOBA. I'm just going to assume this is a rough, transitory work and not indicative of what the future holds, as it stands alone this is a really underwhelming swan song.

And I'm calling this the swan song and not TM because I listened to both together, and the latter doesn't even deserve a review. That's a 2/10 album.

Best Track: Gold Teeth
Rating: 5/10

_Stepdude_ 12-4-2022 03:41 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Being a huge Infected Mushroom nerd I definitely enjoyed their latest album that got released in September called "IM25".

rayword45 12-15-2022 11:22 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 997: NO STYLIST by Destroy Lonely

So I originally told y'all that this was a 3.5 out of 10 if you could decipher the extremely easy and extremely googleable language. And on RYM itself I gave it a 0.5 out of 5 but that was an OVERLY emotional reaction to how I initially listened to the album, because I admit that recent events made me rate it on a scale based on "how much does this album exceed the hurt of random internet weirdos leaking your divorce to the public" when I gave it such a negative rating. At the start, it truly deserved at least 2 stars without bias, as it's definitely NOT incompetent like some albums I've heard, but emotions got the best of me.

But anyways, to review this while trying to ignore personal bias as much as possible, including recent, deeply emotional experiences, I think this album is inherently very flawed. When the albums is at peak litness, it can only be matched VERY rarely, and this translates well to a live setting. I've been to hundreds of concerts, so please don't take it lightly when I say that hearing NOSTYLIST live was one of the most insane experiences of my life.

But, I can say this and still tell you with a straight face, this album is not consistent enough to be called "good". Destroy Lonely is a massive talent when it comes to making your most in-your-face, mosh-around energy level bangers, but outside of the most intense moments, he ranges from not memorable to genuinely bad. This album cannot receive more than a 6/10, it's just FAR too inconsistent.

Best Track: Go see him live and decide for yourself or agree to suck my dick
Rating: 6/10 (I told you, NO MORE than this allowed)

rayword45 12-21-2022 12:51 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 998: SOS by SZA

It's that time of year again! The time of year where I binge a bunch of albums and dump reviews en masse in hopes of finding new replacements for my upcoming end of year list!

Except don't expect that this time around. I know what you're thinking, which is that I'm being a lazy fuck, but truthfully that's only 60% of the reasoning for not doing reviews this time around. I am still listening to a bunch of new albums daily and will still make a list on RateYourMusic of my 2022 faves, but I'm only going to write this review and one more for the remainder of the year, why? Because I want 1000 to be somewhat special in some way, I haven't thought of how yet, but I'll find some way to make it special for y'all 3 people who still open this thread. Expect the unexpected.

Anyways, this album. I still enjoy CTRL a lot, and this album is a good argument for curation as there are MORE good songs than her previous album, but far more middling or bad songs too, and the ratio of good songs from old album:new album is worse than that for not so good songs. If you trimmed this down by about... 25-30 minutes, it could be a contender for my best of list. Unfortunately, with stuff like the horribly cringy Disney Channel homage F2F and pointless, borderline unfinished tracks like Conceited, this album stands as "good but flawed".

We'll see how 999 and 1000 look.

Best Track: IDK, listen for yourself and you pick, if there's one advantage to making a fucking 75 minute album of short songs, it's that you can make your own superior truncated version
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 02-1-2023 08:41 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 999: The Predator Nominate EP by Brainiac

Sup pretty face bitches.

It's been over a month since I wrote my last review and we are now in a new year. I've been dealing with a slew of personal drama, workload and other shit that all serves as an excuse as to why I've been so lazy with updating this thread, but the reality is what you all know: I'm fairly intimidated by the prospect of finally hitting 1000 reviews after nearly 9 years of this thread existing and I don't want to make that a disappointment, even if only 3 people reading it would be an improvement.

I was going to use this review to practice, but I think that would spoil things. So all I'll add here is I will allow people to use the period between now and review 1000 as an AMA, if anyone is remotely interested in that. It might be a while before 1000 happens, it's a daunting task even if the challenge and judgment is all self-inflicted.

Anyways, this EP is interesting. I'm sure you know these guys are one of my all-time favorite bands and have been a crucial part of my youth and my musical journey. These are the last recordings the band did before the frontman tragically passed away in a car crash at 28, and... you can tell these aren't really full songs for the most part. The first half is rudimentary songs, some good stuff in there, but the back half is basically all just experiments with electronics. I'm gonna give this a far higher rating on RYM than what I'm giving it here, because my emotional enjoyment of this was far higher than it should have been.

Also, RIP RADIOHEAD LONG LIVE KING KENDRICK

Best Track: analbeads
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 03-3-2023 11:44 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1000: Let's Start Here. by Lil Yachty

It's been a long fucking while coming, hasn't it? Nearly 9 years (closer to 10 if we include the original 2013 thread), tons of long hiatuses, many life changes and even more music explored later, we've reached this point.

Originally, I was planning to do 05 Fuck Em as this review as an appropriately epic milestone with some historical relevance to it… Yeah I gave up on that idea pretty quick. Ultimately, I've decided that the spirit of the thread would be best matched with an appropriately random-yet-relevant album to go along with such a milestone, as flippancy has been part of this ongoing saga for as long as I can remember AND this particular artist does still have some relevancy to both past reviews I've done as well as the theme I have planned for this entry.

So anyways, onto what I have planned (and why this is taking as long as it is) - Going back and reading through all my past 999 reviews from this thread, and leaving comments wherever one pops into my head. I'm also including the 2013 challenge posts, because why not? This was what I originally had planned for review 500 as well as the 5 year anniversary, but laziness and ADHD got the best of me. Now come along as I look back at the previous 60% of my life, cringe and reminisce about days gone by, and marvel at how much shit has changed. In true spirit of this thread, I expect this to be a complete mess, and I expect that somewhere before the halfway point, my efforts will dwindle considerably and the quality of this effort will degrade like a Basinski album or something. I also expect that this will take multiple posts up, so I'll be sharing the whole thing in a public Google Doc as well.

2013 entry 1: Jeez, it's so weird to think this was right when I finished my first year of high school, and now I'm a white collar worker but STILL doing this crap on this same ancient website. I should archive this stuff in case this website ever goes down. It's funny to think that this all started on some bet with a friend of mine, and look where I am now. I was an underachiever, a troublemaker in class, had only recently even had my first kiss, never got drunk or tried anything harder than weed, and was a few days shy of starting my first ever paid job! If you were to ask me where I think I'd be in just shy of 10 years, I honestly have no idea what I'd tell you. I know for a fact at this time I had no intentions of majoring in statistics, wouldn't have suspected I'd have a Master's degree by now, would be unsure of where I'd be living - honestly I don't think I'd have suspected I even would go through whatever happened over the rest of my high school years.

Also, starting this challenge without scores was a fairly strange decision in hindsight, as I've assigned a number rating to pretty much all of these at this point on RYM.

2013 entry 2: How the fuck did I forget about all the Pendulum stuff I had heard as a result of StepMania, in particular furry edition? Glaring failure right there, also I stand by this album being mid and their weakest effort by far.

2013 entry 4: lol Skillet

2013 entry 6: Damn David, your taste hasn't changed a bit since these days, has it? Nobody who reads this is going to understand that in-joke.

2013 entry 8: This bonus entry is actually really interesting because of the fact that I don't believe this music is publicly available anywhere anymore, and in fact, there's a non-zero chance that it doesn't exist at all. What a weird thought - this project may be the only archive that proves the existence of a small amount of music.

2013 entries 12, 14 and 15: These entries are interesting to me because of my feelings on all of this stuff nowadays - I still listen to The Sophtware Slump every now and then, and I've seen both Flying Lotus and Amon Amarth live now. Jesus fucking Christ, it just occurred to me that when I started this review project, I had seen literally two live concerts in my entire life, both with family. What a MASSIVE change that's been, and it's even more depressing to think about the fact that when I did a mini-review of Soundgarden Chris Cornell was still alive. Rest in peace, you really changed my love of music for the better from a young age.

2013 entry 21: Similar to the above point, I can't believe that I'm going to the second ever Colour Haze show later this year, more than a decade after first listening to their music. Man, these little commentaries are turning out a little on the dull and repetitive side, huh? I'm going to be a lot sparser until I have something more interesting to say in regards to anything whatsoever, whether or not it feels like it's off-topic. Is there even an "on-topic" for this?

I just remembered that this is the first album I did a full review for that later ended up on my list of music I've had sex to, although Superunknown precedes it if I include mini-reviews.

2013 entry 23: Yeah, a lot of my opinions have changed over the past decade and I wouldn't stand by many off-hand comments I've made, but my take on this type of music is the exact same as it was then, and at that time it had been the same for years. FFR, why is there so much Rise Records bullshit in the game? Who was actually a fan of this angsty bullshit?

2013 entry 28: lol @ the person that requested this album, for reasons I cannot repeat involving someone I don't like and her. I wonder if her musical taste has changed at all in the ensuing years, at the very least, I know her taste in men has improved

2013 entry 30: Man, the first time I ever listened to Basinski was when I was on a camping trip, and I still remember listening to this for the first time like it was yesterday, as we had to go grocery shopping while I was bumping this and I had VERY few chances to charge my phone.

2013 entry 37: PAIN. Just… nothing else to say for this one except PAIN. Maybe "too many cringe memories" as an addendum. Ugh.

2013 entry 47: God, Infected Mushroom, what a history I have with this band. I've now seen them live three times and was supposed to see them a fourth time right before COVID lockdowns canceled that for me, and also canceled what was supposed to be my first ever orgy. That sure is an unfortunate association to have with a musical act that I like.

2013 entry 52: This on the other hand is an interesting association because of a friend I made in college whose parents were actually family friends with Mark Sandman. Crazy the places life will take you within just a few short years.

I also vividly remember the context in which I reviewed these slightly delayed reviews, as I had no internet access because I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean getting turnt with kids I'd never see again once I returned. Funny to think at that time I felt the need to both justify a delayed posting, and that I was so dedicated to this that I took time out of vacationing / partying to listen to this stuff.

2013 entry 59: Man, seeing the name OK Go reminds me of the days where I was obsessively playing my 3DS. Good times, good times… Actually that isn't true my life was significantly more miserable when I was an early teenager, grass is always greener eh?

2013 entry 63: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

The end of 2013:
Quote:

And here ends my writing journey across the summer. It was fun. Now let's look back in a year or two and see how cringe-worthy I find my own writing.

My original plan was to rank all the albums I listened.
Jesus Christ what the fuck was I thinking? I'm glad as hell I decided against that.

Big thread entry 1: Man, June 2014. Even between the start of this thread and the start of the previous one, I can immediately think of just how much my life had changed in such a short period of time. A consistent, emotionally fulfilling job, a much stronger understanding of local politics, more insane social drama than I ever could've imagine, the list could go on for quite some time, but let's cut this one short. Also:

Quote:

It's not very professional to go off on tangents
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Big thread entry 5: Ew… I remember exactly why I was being an angsty bitch when writing this review, and I'm too ashamed to admit what it was, other than it was me being a stupid, hormonal teen. Now I look back at what a loser I was being and cringe HARD. Both because at the time, what I was going through wasn't a big deal at all, and because even if it WAS a big deal that shit pales in comparison to some of the traumas I've been through since. I didn't know what pain WAS back then!

Big thread entry 13: "Kind of Blue can suck my dick" never gets old!

Big thread entry 16: I wonder what Arkuski is up to these days.

Big thread entry 23: More camping adventures! This review is one I very much remember originally commenting on when I was planning to do a 5 year anniversary celebration, namely because of this juicy quote:

Quote:

It may prove even better once I get in the right atmosphere. I need to experience this in some outdoor festival or gathering or something, preferably surrounded by MDMA (which I would NOT take).
Ha, I REALLY couldn't have predicted how much my life would change literally under a year later, not to mention how crazy different things are NOW. God, lost innocence is a trip and a half to think about, more than any psychedelic has ever done for me.

Big thread entry 36: Damn, I forgot that Marty Walsh declared some random day to be Godsmack day that year. What the fuck was that lmao

Big thread entry 44: Now THIS is an entry I'm glad still exists somewhere, not because of any music commentary I made, but because of everything else I wrote down. It's crazy to me that at this time, I had yet to receive a formal ADHD diagnosis even though this writing alone made it apparently obvious. What a massive difference having documentation made later in my life. Also, it's crazy to think about just how much I struggled with education back during these years, compared to how much better I did in college. Making kids start their day at 7:30 in the morning is still incredibly stupid, and I will NEVER change my opinion on that.

Big thread entry 59: lol this fucking album, I still would consider myself a casual enjoyer of They Might Be Giants, the music isn't really why this warrants a laugh… Well it kind of is, you can guess why, I won't tell you if you guess right or wrong because it's easy to figure out for yourself.

Big thread entry 71: I BELIEVE that this is the first album I reviewed that I later ended up bumping to a personal 10/10 on RYM. Funny that the first one was fiffer music consisting of a bunch of bleep-bloops, unless I'm wrong.

Big thread entry 78: Man, now THIS one is a trip to think about, as it shows just how much lazier I had gotten from the previous cruise-associated review hiatus to this one. Man, what a fond memory that week still is for me, even though I made out with the moon from Majora's Mask and she gave me the flu, and even though I missed the opportunity to lose my virginity. Strangeways, here we come, wait why the fuck did I just make a Smiths reference I fucking hate Morrissey's racist ass ugh

Big thread entry 80: Oh, turns out I commented on a handful of the crazy experiences I had on that aforementioned new years cruise in this review. Huh. Well, I don't regret logging this down, I consider this to be a major turning point in exploring my sexuality, even though at this time I was still a massive turbovirgin.

Big thread entry 93: Jeez, yet another entry where I reviewed an artist several years before their untimely death, what a morbid curiosity some of these entries are fulfilling for me. Honestly, if anything is sticking out to me while reading through these all, it's how much more of a pretentious hipster-type I was back during high school. Now I fucking LOVE tons of pop and mainstream hip-hop stuff, and I fucking HATE elitist idiots who act like the obscurity of their music taste and/or the limited breadth of musical artists or genres they'll listen to makes them some kind of superior to those they deem as plebians. Even back then, though, I know I subscribed to the same mantra of every genre having good and bad music, I was just a lot lamer in my application of it. I wonder how much of this difference in outlook I can attribute to social jadedness and how much I can attribute to past sexual frustration.

Big thread entry 95: God, Blue Oyster Cult, to this day I still have not listened to a large amount of their music but I have an incredibly weird association with this band that I cannot share for fear of getting someone doxxed. Man, she was crazy, but also pretty hot… I sure am making a whole lot of references doing this celebratory write-up that will make absolutely no sense to anybody who reads this other than myself, a statement that would still hold true if there were 3000 people that read it all instead of maybe 3.

Big thread entry 100: LMFAO I CAN'T BELIEVE MY 100TH REVIEW IN THIS THREAD WAS MOTHERFUCKING JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE HOLY SHIT THAT'S FUCKING FUNNY

Regarding what I said about my increased ability to enjoy pop music, that still comes with some limitations, and I still hate JT. I stand with Janet to this day!

Big thread entry 101: This is a different type of weird reminisce, as at this time I was still pretty contrarian when it came to Kanye and I don't stand by most of the negative things I would say about his music then. Within just a few years, his music would be THE defining soundtrack to my summer 2018, and then a few years after that, well, we all know what's happening with him now.

I do stand by this album being highly overrated though.

Big thread entry 106: Hey, look, another example where I still stand by my hater-ass opinion that I had close to a decade ago. I hated Drake long before this album came out, and to this day, I still hate his ass, and this opinion would be the same even if there weren't all those grooming rumors.
Big thread entry 116: Ah, this isn't the first review where I specifically remember listening to a good chunk of this while skipping class, that would be Laserdisc Visions, but it's the first one where that actually popped into my head. What's funny to me is that the more I skipped the mornings during high school, the better my GPA got, counter-intuitively. I accredit that practice to why college was so much easier for me.

Big thread entry 123: RIP RADIOHEAD FOREVER AND EVER. Jeez, I'm only twenty percent of the way finished with this shit, when's the last time I've spent this much effort on writing for non-academic reasons?

Big thread entry 156: LMAO I reviewed an album that I had a big part in the creation of, and this album remains one of the most pivotal memories I have of my entire high school experience, a sentiment shared by probably almost everybody I graduated with.

Big thread entry 165:
Quote:

Man, what is wrong with me? I have no real friends. Fuck all these fake people that use me for whatever crazy shit they need done, or these detached people whom will have a lunch but I can't call them more than an acquaintance. Where is my life going? I have no people. I hate everyone, the people that wanna be my friend I despise, I want more out of my life.

What is the future? Will I ever get a real job? Will I make a solid living? Will I have a family? Will my dreams die with the years? Will I die old or young? Where is life taking me?
Well, close to 8 years later, I have a real job making a survivable living. I'm not sure how much better my social circle is compared to them. I'm also not sure if my dreams ended up dying or not. Sad.

Big thread entry 174: I actually sat through this entire fucking RHCP album? I can't believe I did that. WHY DID I DO THAT?!

Big thread entry 193: Damn, RIP to Terry Hall. Even more than Chris Cornell that might be the musician death that hit me the hardest thanks to memories of playing Little Bitch at the arcade when DDR Extreme machines were still abundant.

Big thread entry 195: And here's an example where my review was totally wrong because the download I had of this album replaced a lot of the original recordings with re-recordings that were done like 25 years after this album was initially released. This album is NOT better than Entertainment but those re-recordings sure are.

Big thread entry 204: Ironically, despite my plea for people to have sex to this album, I myself have never had sex to this album.

Big thread entry 217: It's really funny to me that years after I reviewed this album, the lead singer for this band ended up leaving music to instead work in politics and later ended up as National Labor Organizer for Bernie Sanders in 2020. I still remember both times I saw this band live quite vividly too, shortly before they decided to call it quits. I credit this band and Pile for getting me more into discovering local music and finding punk basements, which in turn is the root of a ton of my socialization from around this time all the way until I finished college.

Big thread entry 229: Holy shit, I forgot I reviewed the last Family Farce album. That's a fucking trip, reviewing an album by these guys nearly a decade after I first discovered their music, and that itself being something I did over 7 years ago.

Big thread entry 247: Hey, yet another album that I later bumped to a 10/10 on my RYM profile, again for largely sentimental reasons. There were some others between this and Lazer Thrash but these two are easily the most notable I can think of before this decade, because of nostalgic associations I have with the whole thing and because of the fact that I saw this guy live right before this album came out, and live just this past summer for the second time. Man, where the FUCK is the sequel to this album? I've been waiting so damn long.

Big thread entry 265: My thoughts on this entry are basically identical to my thoughts on entry 156. What a time this was, two of the few high school memories I have that are basically entirely positive.

Big thread entry 292: Oh boy, yet another angsty vent from my younger days, but unlike many of the previous ones, I don't regret this one one single bit. The kid that this was about ended up getting me falsely accused of felonies by my school (whom already had it out for me for various reasons, some valid and some not) and ended up getting less of a punishment than I did despite HIM being the one who showed up to school on drugs. Pretty annoying stuff, but there's a fond silver lining to this in that I also associate this saga with taking my school's leadership to fake court (at the Boston Public Schools district headquarters) and forcing them to clear my record due to various violations of disciplinary procedures they commit.

I wonder how the kid this review is about is doing now. Last time I heard updates about him, he was suspended from his college after getting caught with a backpack full of benzos, then some time later, he had gone to rehab unsuccessfully multiple times. I wouldn't be as vitriolic now as I was back then, I honestly just hope he manages to fix himself before dying an untimely death. I also hope he's done with the weird classism and racism he had.

Big thread entry 307: Man, it's also weird seeing how this review ties into the previous one. I was depressingly wide-eyed about how the world worked at this time, and I wasn't exactly a big beacon of sunshine already.

Big thread entry 331: Wow, this might be the biggest case of me thinking my opinion was bafflingly wrong in the current day, there is NO way that this album is better than Since I Left You and I still think that this album gets too much flack online. What was I high on?

Big thread entry 365: God, that was a much more epic choice for a milestone review than this ended up being.

Big thread entry 369: Dang, yet another album that I later bumped to a 10/10 some time after reviewing it for the first time, even though I wouldn't say it's flawless as I still hate Waterbaby. I'm actually shocked that this was something I reviewed as recently as 2017, I would've expected this to come quite some time before that. This was basically exactly one year before I lost my virginity to this album, and I'm not sure if that's the main reason or not I bumped this to a 10/10 because losing my virginity was actually an awful experience, although I've had much better sex to this since then.

Big thread entry 399: And here began the 2017 summer of BROCKHAMPTON, although I first heard songs by this group a year before this blew up. God, what a memorable summer that ended up being. I don't have any negative associations with this music, even if many people now turned their backs on these guys and claim their stuff is all cringe shit for white male teenagers.

Big thread entry 444: LOL I can't believe this was a few months before the untimely death of this guy. Man, to this day I still despise the discourse that happens whenever you bring this guy up. I still think most of his music is utter trash, but that's not relevant to why I hate the discourse.

Big thread entry 465: God, even though I never talked about it in these reviews, the date that this review occurred on is still fresh in my mind due to some weird stuff that happened around this time not long after some rather unpleasant drama. It's funny how I look back at that time and felt good about what went down, whereas now if I think about it, that was fucking cringe as all hell. Also fun to remember the shitty photo job I had at this time.

Big thread entry 473: As I said somewhat recently, I have a hypothesis that over fifty percent of the basic white girls in this country between the ages of 16 and 30 have a love affair with Starbucks, Chipotle and Beach House. At least if you restrict to urban areas.

Big thread entry 474: Man, it is impossible to think about this band without remembering that they broke up then reformed because of an opportunity to perform their music on a TV show, and then that show got canceled because the creator turned out to be a Nazi and they had to disavow that appearance. I don't hold it against them, I just think it's hilarious.

Big thread entry 486: OH. BOY. It's fucking Daughters. I still think this album is hella overrated but I genuinely cannot believe the career trajectory these guys ended up having. I also can't believe that just recently I discovered the drummer is my friend's cousin, and he had no idea just how canceled these guys are now. Man, there's a whole lot of wincing I'm doing as I complete this long, uh, journal? Is that what you'd call this?

Big thread entry 522: This is actually about the post I made right after this review. Man, I can't believe that I was banned from RateYourMusic community boards for two years, and then I returned. I also still laugh whenever I think about the staff telling me I held the record for most infractions of any user on that website, largely because most of my offenses were relatively benign.

Big thread entry 561: This review is notable to me because it's the first Pile album I reviewed after discovering my weird social connection to them. What a weird saga that ended up being over the next few years. I can't wait to see these guys for the fifth time later this week!

Big thread entry 569: Oh man, now HERE'S an album that my opinion has changed due to trauma I went through just a couple short years later. Major yikes. Major pain. Sigh…

Big thread entry 596: Top meme

Big thread entry 606: Hey, there's the guy I'm listening to right now!

Big thread entry 638: Of all the joke reviews I've done, I think this is the one I'm still the proudest of.

Big thread entry 647: Man this band is still the bane of my existence, not because it's the worst thing I've ever listened to (although I still am nowhere close to a fan) but because whenever I claim that I don't understand these guys dozens of children immediately call me boomer.

Big thread entry 663: I stand by the comments I made about basic-ass Asians here, even though I'm now a lot more fond of Porter and somewhat more fond of Excision in a live setting.

Big thread entry 701: I'm surprised that I didn't mentioned the obvious Venture Bros reference here. I wonder if that was deliberate or pure coincidence.

Big thread entry 721: Hey now, the first review I ever did after Coronavirus killed everything! Yet another crazy thing to think about, just how much my life ended up changing as a result of the pandemic, and how much my life at this point differed from when I started writing these reviews. Caribou was certainly a choice to kick off this era of my life.

Big thread entry 764: Oh my GOD more than anything else I've commented on, this is super painful to read because of what it marks the beginning of. This marks the start of what ended up resulting in a PTSD diagnosis for me. So many traumatic, painful images that still linger on my mind, mixed in with some of the most emotionally confusing reminiscing possible. Truly, this may actually be the most pivotal review in this entire project, which is impressive over 7 years after I started doing this crap for an audience of like 4 readers.
Big thread entry 817: A+ for the buttplug joke

Big thread entry 849: And here lies the most recent album to come out that I later ended up bumping to a 10/10, and probably the album I've listened to the most times in full over the past few years. Man, this album is still so fucking good in my opinion, but damn is it painful to listen to now due to aforementioned associations with trauma I have now, particularly because of how utterly nostalgic the theme and sound design is. "Traumacore" is actually a great description for this album for me now. Conflicting emotions tied to painful memories sure are a fucky thing to deal with.

Big thread entry 864: Wow, exactly 100 reviews lapsed between the start and end of the most painful era of my life. What a funny coincidence. A much less funny coincidence is how this artist, who ended up being one of the very first I got to see live, ended up gaining her biggest moment of fame, which unfortunately is similar to what I went through. Again, major fucking yikes here.

Big thread entry 897: And here marks the first review I did after leaving the state I grew up in, just over 24 years into my life. Wow, yet another funny coincidence that this is SO close to 1000 albums written about in total. We're getting close to the end, guys! Props to you if you actually read all of this crap despite the inside references nobody will get and general lack of organization of thoughts here.

Big thread entry 916: For all the drama associated with Sewerslvt in the current day, and for my continued mixed feelings on this album, I think this may be the best title of anything I've ever reviewed. Truly a relatable set of words.

Big thread entry 942: I still laugh whenever I think about the various times that people have called Mitski "femcel music" over the years.

Big thread entry 946: I can't believe I didn't comment on the lyrics from the final track on this album about the protagonist having a wet dream where they stuck their face in Charli XCX's tits. That alone is reason to have bumped this 2 points from my initial assessment.

Big thread entry 968: I'll have sex to these guys eventually Grav

Big thread entry 999: And here lies the final review before I reached this benchmark now. What a journey the last decade has been. There isn't much to say besides the fact that my life hasn't changed all that much over the past month, but comparing the very first review I ever did to this now, it's funny how little my prose seems to have changed despite the MASSIVE differences in my actual life since then. Also crazy that more than 10 years since I first listened to these guys, even predating this whole review challenge, they're still one of my all-time favorite bands. Some things truly never change.

Wow, what an adventure this whole thing has been. If you read all of this, I apologize in advance. Anyways, in the spirit of the thread, here comes the low effort review of the album I mentioned in the first line of this all.

______________________________________________________________________________

So, I've heard a lot about this album all over, from online to group chats I'm in to IRL friend groups to even the workplace. It's been getting a lot of attention due to the massive stylistic departure this apparently is compared to past albums, with people frequently comparing it to Tame Impala and other basic indie-psych shit like that. People have also said this marks a sort of "redemption" for Yachty after a ton of mediocre albums with a lack of stylistic variation and low effort bullshit outnumbering the actual good songs, making most of his full-length releases a drag. Even the title somewhat implies that this is the REAL start of his music career, as if everything before was a test run and this is the real first effort, or a soft reboot of sorts. Who doesn't love a good redemption arc?

In the spirit of what this thread has become, I'm keeping this succinct. Is this his best album yet? Absolutely, but that isn't saying much. Did I enjoy this album? Without a doubt, although I'm a little hard-pressed to say that this would be getting AS much love from another artist where this wasn't such a massive stylistic shift. It definitely suffers from some of the same problems of his earlier albums like inconsistency and being somewhat overlong, albeit to a much lesser degree, but it benefits a lot from less repetition and much lusher production.

Comparisons to stuff like Tame Impala are apt, but honestly this genuinely shits on everything Kevin Parker has made since Lonerism. Again, not saying that much at the end of the day, although I am a bit shocked that he's NOT one of the several indie darlings that had a hand in this project. This is undeniably a Lil Boat album through and through though, as the vocals, lyrics and generally sunny mood are undeniably in line with his past work. I don't have much else to say at this point, I liked the album. I can't say I loved it, but it's the first time since partying to One Night back in my teenage years that I'm genuinely excited to see where this man's career goes from here, and that counts for a lot.

I just hope he quits this dumb style of titling his songs like a MySpace girl in love with her shift key.

______________________________________________________________________________

Anyways, thanks for reading, whether it's for reading this entire diatribe, reading all my ramblings over the years or even just having read a single word at all within this thread. It's been quite a journey and as cringe and embarrassing as a lot of stuff I'm jotted down in this thread has been, including a large portion of this post, I'm glad it all still exists and I don't regret doing this project one bit. Who knows what's next? Maybe I'll write 1000 more bad reviews, or maybe this is my swansong. Maybe this will go on for another 10 years, or maybe it won't go another 10 minutes. Maybe I'll find love, maybe my career and income will skyrocket, maybe I'll be homeless, maybe I'll be dead. Maybe I'll even quit this website (god forbid). The real moral takeaway I've gotten from writing this is "predicting the future is a fool's errand" so why bother doing that? I'm just gonna continue taking things one step at a time, as corny and cliche as that is, it's all I really can promise to do.

Here's to whatever the rest of my days entail!

Best Track: REACH THE SUNSHINE.
Rating: 7.5/10

The writing across this thread: 1/10
The personal value I attach to this thread: 11/10

rayword45 03-3-2023 11:44 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
holy shit I didn't actually expect that to fit in one post

never mind the bit about sharing a Google Doc

rayword45 03-15-2023 10:59 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1001: All Fiction by Pile

You didn't really think I was gonna give up on this thread, did you? I've been doing it to zero fanfare for years now already, why would I stop just because I reached a milestone nobody cares about?

This would've also been a pretty fitting 1000th review, due to my discovery of this band occurring fairly early into the thread's existence, my first review of them coming not too long later and my continued fandom of them nearly a decade later. I saw these guys live for the fifth time just a couple of weeks ago, at the second of two sold-out or nearly sold-out shows in NYC. It's so weird to see how much more successful they are after leaving Boston.

I mention this because this was the first time I heard any songs off this album, where they played about half of it mixed in with other older cuts (mostly off A Hairshirt of Purpose) and I STILL haven't heard them play Prom Song much to my chagrin. I must admit that the songs I heard worked better in a live setting than here. I also must admit I prefer this band when they're a four-piece, as the trio set up just didn't sound as full and bold. I know why, however, they reduced down so I get it. So weird to be in the know about things the general public doesn't.

Overall, this album is neither their strongest nor weakest effort. There are a lot of well-written songs but I don't think they're as consistently hard-hitting as those on Green and Gray nor do the peaks reach Magic Isn't Real's best heights. It's also not mixed and produced in a way that I think is complimentary to the album, but that's been an issue since around 2017 when they seemed to go more hi-fi. But these are mostly nitpicky because overall, this is still solid stuff, and I'd be excited to see them a sixth time.

I really need to bump more stuff from this year, sooner rather than later. I have a lot of catch-up to do.

Best Track: Nude with a Suitcase
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 03-16-2023 02:39 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1002: Dogsbody by Model/Actriz

I have the same opinion on this as I do what currently seems like every time a new noise rock release gets massive hype by terminally online music nerds with autism. I can see this being fun live, but otherwise, I don't get the hype and outside of a few tracks, this is boring.

Melon ruined noise rock because everyone just wants more stuff that sounds like You Won't Get What You Want whereas I want my last millennium-styled stuff. There was plenty of stuff in the 80s and 90s that was dark like the aforementioned mega-cancelled album baldy undeservedly gave a 10/10, but even when that stuff was dark, like say, The Jesus Lizard or Shellac, it was still FUN. Not this self-serious moody crap.

Best Track: Amaranth
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 03-20-2023 12:53 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1003: 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs



My opinion of this band's debut has not changed at all since initially reviewing it, no matter how many other zoomers tell me that I'm a boomer because I don't "get it" or whatever.

It's not a fully anti-hyperpop thing either, as I think that many other acts in that scene or adjacent to them have composed some great songs even if I have yet to be wowed by a full project. SOPHIE (RIP), Dorian Electra, Alice Gas, dltzk, all of these have produced songs in a similar style and vibe to cuts off that debut album that seemingly took the world by storm, but all of those are artists where I'd say they made actual good songs. And I've also been to several raves and parties where people played hyperpop including cuts from that album, and in that context I was having fun, but whenever I go back, sit down and listen to Stupid Horse or Money Machine I just think to myself "What a wonderful world!" ...Uh wait, sorry, what I meant to say is but whenever I go back, sit down and listen to Stupid Horse or Money Machine I just think to myself "is this supposed to be an irony thing? Am I really getting too old now?"

Well the answer to that second question is yes regardless of any musical opinions, but I have to admit, I came into this album expecting more meme-tier bullshit that would continue to bewilder me, but honestly this was a lot better than I could've possibly anticipated! People have made claims that they "ditched" hyperpop but this still has a lot of that vocal filtering and post-internet vibe to it, it's just less overt, and very slightly less at that. This is still more discernibly hyperpop in its sound than anything I've heard from SOPHIE or Charli XCX. Where it differs from the debut is that it seems less like "nightcore for people who hate anime" and it seems less desperate to deliberately annoy listeners with jarring pitched-up vocals, fuzzy low-fidelity instrumentals and generally bizarre production choices, and instead feels like a hyperpop-styled tribute to shitty mid-00s scene music, which is fairly fitting considering the fanbase this stuff tends to attract being is terminally online Gen Z LGBTQIA+ who wish they could've lived through the MySpace era but, unlike myself, weren't privy by their elementary school years to all the grooming, gross fetishization of mental illness, lame music and obnoxious capitalization gimmicks that were rampant in those years. Thanks fiffer!

I still can't call myself a fan of these guys, but I'm so impressed by how much I don't hate this that it makes it even funnier to me that there seems to be some backlash against this album for "selling out" according to some purists. Although it's still pretty annoying in it's terminally online abrasive production, a few of these songs are an actual blast of fun. This is certainly no masterpiece, as you can only go so far when you're aping music that already sucked 15-20 years ago and almost all of their best ideas are used up within the first half of this very short album, but it's not that bad! Sometimes, that's enough for me.

Best Track: Doritos & Fritos
Rating: 6/10 (yup, better than that Model/Actriz album)

rayword45 03-24-2023 05:49 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1004: whatever the new Rebecca Black was called

Is this better than Friday? Yes!

Is this as good as people online claim? No!

Is it at least decent? Yes!

Best Track: deez nuts
Rating: 6/10

Trogdor!!!! 03-25-2023 12:20 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
I hated the first 100000000000000000000 gecs album so much that I'm not even going to bother listening to the new one

rayword45 03-31-2023 11:39 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1005: Scaring The Hoes by JPEGMafia and Danny Brown

Perhaps the greatest album title of all-time? Not sure.

Before I listened to this album, my friend was raving about it and I said "I bet Danny just raps circles around Peggy". Boy howdy I was wrong! Despite the crossing of fanbases and somewhat similar aggressive appeal between these two artists, Danny REALLY isn't mean for this type of production, and he gets drowned out behind the beats a lot.

That's my only complaint. It's a significant one, but I like just about every one of these tracks otherwise. Hmmm...

Not better than Atrocity Exhibition or Veteran to my ears. Probably not better than LP! either.

Best Track: Fentanyl Tester
Rating: 7.5/10

pccapso 04-2-2023 04:23 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
I'm interested in your thoughts on Mildred by Grim Salvo

rayword45 04-4-2023 12:59 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1006: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek

The other day, someone asked me why I'm so fond of eating ass. They also called it my "gimmick". Now I personally believe that those vehemently against the intimate act of analingus are boomers and prudes, but the first part was a question worth asking as I proved myself to be unable to articulate my thoughts in the heat of the moment. It's one of those questions like "why do you enjoy eating this dish other than that it tastes good?" or "why didn't you leave your ex earlier than you did?" that truly has many little facets which colorfully illustrate the passion associated with your response, but when asked on the spot, you're more likely to flub up your words than not.

So if I try to put this into writing, will it work any better? Well, let's go over some facets of this whole thing that stack together:

1. The intimacy - As I mentioned, I consider analingus to be one of the most intimate of the sexual acts. In the show Brockmire, a character once said "only a degenerate and a fool would eat a stranger's ass" and whether or not I agree with the sentiment, I cannot say that claim is without merit. Beyond the perceived chance for diseases unique to assplay, which I'd be the first to tell you are grossly overstated, there's a level of trust and communication that must be mutually achieved by both parties for the anal licking to be pleasurable for both parties. One must trust that their partner has good hygiene, is not ashamed of the act, trusts the other person highly, actually gets the enjoyment they state they do out of the act, the list goes on!

Millions of people around my age have had casual sex with someone they never talked to again after the fact, and sometimes the finer details can be truly revolting, yet I think casual ass-eating is an incredibly rare occurrence, as it should be! A relationship with regular analingus containing mutual enjoyment is one with some desirably close connection. Bonus points if both parties are both giving and receiving.

2. The taboo - The taboo isn't really much of a thing these days. A woman on a first date once asked me to say something kinky I do and when I replied with this topic, she immediately shot back with "dude, everyone eats ass these days". I'm getting left in the dust, aren't I?

But regardless of changing social norms around oral sex, there is still definitely SOME level of taboo associated with the act itself. How often is analingus mentioned in media, be it TV, movies, music or whatever, in comparison to fellatio and cunnilingus? How much is a man shamed for not eating pussy? How much is a man shamed for not eating ass? The taboo may only be existent as a relic of perception, but as long as we THINK that it's a deviant act, then there's some deviance attached. Or at least some level of not giving a fuck.

3. The physical sensation - I can't articulate this one. You just need to see what it feels like to have a wet tongue scrape your ring, what the sensation of thousands of taste buds bumping subtly up and down between your cheeks truly is like, or what it's like to see your partner's face hidden by your gluten when both of you are nude and vulnerable. Words just can't do it justice.

There's definitely more than just these 3 factors, but this is what I was able to come up with in the nick of time. Will this short diatribe convince anyone of the virtues of having their ass orally pleasured? Maybe, but probably not. Either way, I'm glad I have this written down somewhere. It's a good thing to have to refer back to down the line when this topic inevitably comes up again, in whatever context it does.

Anyways, this album was pretty good!

Best Track: The drum and bass ones
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 04-5-2023 02:20 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1007: Lil Pump 2 by Lil Pump

It's a strange feeling when you have little-to-no expectations for something, those expectations are met if not exceeded, and yet you still have a lingering sense of disappointment over the whole thing. I'm not sure the last time this has happened as I know it has happened before, but this album is a phenomenal example of such an occurrence for myself.

Unlike a lot of people, I've never had super strong opinions one way or the other on Pump. His albums and mixtapes have always been wildly inconsistent, his lyrics are a joke and his repetitive delivery is equal parts monotonous and generic, BUT Gucci Gang is a great party track, one that has no pretentiousness to it. It bangs you over the head with its intent and drills its vibe into the newly formed crack into your skull, to the point where I cannot imagine anyone falling in-between loving its infectiousness and loathing the whole stupidity of it all. From my own viewpoint, he has a handful of songs with the same quality of dumb fun, and then a whole bunch of bullshit.

So nobody's really cared about him for the past several years or so, and now he's come back newly sober. His whole persona was Xanax, MDMA and lean so I imagine a bunch of white teen fans ripped up their Harverd Dropout posters in a rage, but I'm glad that he's moving onto healthier lifestyles and I've never subscribed to the idea that you need drugs to reach peak creativity. Taking into account the fact that this dude is nearly 3 years younger than me, and almost a year younger than queen Ice Spice, his newfound cleanliness from substance abuse should be celebrated, not mocked or mourned. Ah well, so goes the culture.

My first exposure to anything from this album was two different friends, on two separate days, showing me the absolutely GLORIOUS Pump Rock x Heavy Metal. When I say this is going to be the song topping everyone's year end charts, I mean that. You HAVE to listen to this song yourself to really understand the magic behind it. This form of gold is achieved once in an artist's lifetime, and the mine has been struck, demolished and paved over for new gentrified developments.

Even with that though, I was fully expecting this album to be in line with past efforts. And you know what? I was 100% correct, this is no better and no worse than the vast majority of his prior output. It's just as mindless, just as monotonous, just as unabashedly idiotic. Claims that this album is uniquely bad amongst his output are even more ridiculous than claims that it's uniquely strong, what the fuck is the differentiator?

Ultimately, this is everything I was expecting, but part of me was really hoping for a whole album of "metal" songs. I knew it wouldn't happen, but a boy can dream, can't she? At the very least, the album is solid proof you don't need drugs to make music, because if you asked a group of people to pick which of his albums were made while sober, I don't think you'd get a lot of correct guesses. There's really nothing about this album that differentiates it from his output made while fried off a cocktail of illicit drugs, which is... Good? Bad? Whatever it is, it's extremely consistent I guess.

Seriously though, he's younger than Ice Spice?

Best Track: you know it
Rating: 3.5/10

rayword45 04-10-2023 10:27 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1008: No Highs by Tim Hecker (Album Choice: choof but not really)

Y'all know I love this guy. Y'all also know that my least favorite album of his is what's usually considered the best, which is Incels. I mean Virgins.

Anyways, of all his prior albums I think this new one is closest to Virgins indeed, but I like this more. It's neither my favorite nor least favorite of all the Hecker releases I've heard. In fact, it's smack dab in the middle. Good? Yes. Mind-blowing? Nah, not really.

Best Track: Anxiety
Rating: 7.5/10

rayword45 04-10-2023 10:33 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1009: Nature Morte by Big Brave

On the other hand, here's something else I listened to a couple times through on my bus from Boston back home to NYC. If y'all remember how much I love KEN Mode then, assuming you listen to at least 5 seconds of their music, it should be no surprise that when you mix sludge metal, my favorite type of metal, and noise rock, the music that shaped my childhood and teen years, I will jizz all over the place and onto your mom's face.

With a band name like that, I thought this would be something similar to Big Black but it's actually damn near the opposite, where Albini's band that I wonder if these guys named themselves after is fast-paced, treble-y to the point of seeming to have intended discomforting effects and concise, this is a slow, atmospheric combination of drone-infused, Panopticon-esque post-metal and the noise rock I'm so sexually attracted to.

I'm not sure this qualifies as "sludge metal" but who gives a shit about labels? You know what this qualifies as? GOOD FUCKING MUSIC. At first the clean yet harsh (almost shrill) female vocalist raised my brow, but I came to really appreciate what she brought to the heady, doom vibe of the whole thing. All the songs are brooding and take their time to develop, but never ever boring to this pair of ears.

This is the best album I've heard to come out this year yet. I'm sure I'll hear many more albums that are just as good or better, but I won't be surprised if this ends up in my top 10, maybe even top 5.

Best Track: A Parable of the Trusting
Rating: 9/10

rayword45 04-11-2023 08:34 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1010: Ignore Grief by Xiu Xiu

I'm seeing this guy perform in 8 days! This album was enjoyable! Not exactly a melodic one, so fans of that Twin Peaks referencing album may be disappointed, but it fully achieves the creepy ambience it intends to develop and the stereo design is some of the best I've ever heard in terms of making the whole thing sound three-dimensional.

I like this more than the Lingua Ignota album baldy gave a 10.

Best Track: your father
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 04-19-2023 05:09 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1011: 12 by Ryuichi Sakamoto

I've listened like 10 times now and I'm still not sure how much I truly like it.

Best Track: nah
Rating: 6.5/10

rayword45 04-20-2023 10:40 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1012: Berdlycore Chapter 3 by xaev

I remember last year I really, really hate chapter 2 of whatever the fuck this series is. Now with an artist name change, here we have more of the same but slightly better. It's still some of the most slapdash, hit-or-miss stuff I've ever heard, and it can be VERY annoying when it misses, but there were some enjoyable cuts with some genuinely dope melodic passages.

My god this dude only turned 18 last July? I'm fucking old goddamnit.

Best Track: do you actually care?
Rating: 5/10

rayword45 04-24-2023 11:57 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1013: Nemesta by ТДК

Man, finally some good fucking noise rock from this year. I wish black midi sounded like this, THIS is what I expect when I hear "Brutal Prog" as a descriptor.

Best Track: Avtomontyora
Rating: 8/10

rayword45 04-25-2023 10:16 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1014: Congratulations by EYES

We're on a hot streak here! I saw this as one of the higher-ranked noise rock albums for the year, but it also having the subgenres "screamo" and "metalcore" turned me off from it before I listened to a second of it. That was a fat ass mistake, as this fucking SLAPS. This is way more sludgy than those aforementioned descriptors would make me think, it is indeed angsty and angry as you'd expect but it doesn't make me cringe like some Rise Records bullshit.

This stuff can get pretty same-y, not just this band but pretty much all bands with a similar sound, but it works here because they keep things brief and tight (the whole album clocks in under a half-hour) and the whole thing never relents with the in-your-face aggression. Compared to the much more popular Chat Pile, the vocals here work better for me as do the riffs. Compared to the much more cancelled Daughters, this seems way more interested in just being face-shredding rather than "dark" and "spooky" and all that crap, which fits the sardonic album art.

I'm gonna have to listen to this a bunch times more to see if it's a new favorite like KEN Mode's Loved or if it loses its luster with repeat listens. With the first few go arounds though, this may very well be the best thing I've heard all year thus far.

Best Track: Bbbbbbbliss
Rating: 9/10

rayword45 05-1-2023 02:29 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1015: Rat Saw God by Wednesday

Yesterday was a very special day for me, in that it marked exactly 900 unique musical acts that I've seen live, and Pinback gave a fantastic performance which was a nice coincidence since it's really hard to control that due to counting opening acts. Any act I've seen more than once only counts once, and a lot of local acts I saw during high school and college are excluded because they have no RateYourMusic page. Crazy to think that when I started this review crap, I was 2 years away from seeing a concert on my own dime. How time flies!

Anyways, this album has been getting quite a bit of hype. I find it hit-or-miss. I like the fuzzy, shoegaze-esque guitar tones but the country vibes are less my thing. Ah well, onto the next one!

Best Track: not sure and don't feel like checking
Rating: 6/10

rayword45 05-3-2023 11:17 AM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1016: Quest for Fire by Skrillex

I'm a tad bit late. Many have heralded this as a "comeback" of sorts for good ol Sonny Moore. Or actually, more like an "artistic redemption".

I understand those arguments completely. I do not agree with them. This is definitely less cheesy than classic Skrillex but nothing bangs as hard as Bangarang, pun intended, and it's very inconsistent stuff. Really, I just think people like it more because it's not 2010s style dubstep and they're haters.

Best Track: XENA
Rating: 5.5/10

rayword45 05-16-2023 04:48 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
Day 1017: Live at Bush Hall by Black Country, New Road

I have to admit I was a bit too mean to the ant album and have mildly come around to it. I still think it's more overrated than Pete Davidson's looks but I think it's a middling album, 5.5-6/10 stuff. The debut is still wack.

My biggest complaint about this band was always the singer, but now that he's gone, what do we get?

About one half cringe tracks, one half okay tracks and one half good jams, although at least now the vocals are better across the board. Still prefer the awfully named Jockstrap.

Best Track: lichendies
Rating: 6/10

robertsona 05-23-2023 03:20 PM

Re: Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp
 
check out water from your eyes' album when it comes out friday


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