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Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 99: $CALxTAPExONE$ by Cal Chuchesta
I'm like 2 or 3 months of reviews behind so I decided I'll do something nice, quick and easy. For three reviews. If you've never watched TheNeedleDrop, go look him up I suppose. He's the go-to source for the latest in whatever the hell hipsters care about. And even if I think his taste is questionable at times (a 10 for The Money Store? A 7 for OG Maco) I give him credit for knowledge and verbosity. This is just 6 minutes of cheesy beats. Very obviously tongue-in-cheek (I always spell that as tounge first try) so judging quality is difficult. The Trap beat trio is effing hilarious, as is his use of christmas music (Gingle (Bells), Wintur Sang). Also impressive is that this haphazard collection of trash beats somehow sounds like one 6 minute song. Other than all that praise, it obviously and intentionally sucks. This doesn't deserve a long review. Best Trap: It's A Trap Rating: I'm feeling a mid-to-low 4 on this one. |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 100: The 20/20 Experience by Justin Timberlake (Album Choice: Fresh)
Before I go back to reviewing TheHipsterDrop, I decided I should do something special, something grand for my 100th review. So I cherrypicked an album off the list... Why did I pick this one? I almost went with Natural Snow Buildings but for some reason decided to do this one instead. Ugh. Suit and Tie annoys the shit out of me, and that's the only song I remember from this album. Not looking forward to this one. Tell me, is this a good 100th album? The first song actually wasn't so bad at first. The falsetto was kinda hilarious, and the lyrics are absolutely atrocious, but it wasn't so bad overall. Then it was. By the time we reached the 4 minute mark, I wondered "how effing long is this song?!" Then I saw I was only halfway through and in my mind I'm thinking "What is wrong with this idiot?!" because there is no reason for this song to be even half this length. And therein lies what I'm immediately going to assume is gonna be the biggest problem with this album. I assume since I'm only 3 tracks in. There are only 2 out of 10 damn tracks that are under 6 minutes. The median song length is 7:15, the average 7:01. THIS IS A POP SOUL ALBUM. These songs thus far do not justify their length at all. The second shortest song, Suit & Tie, could have easily been two and a half minutes instead of five and a half. Also, that song seems to give me nausea but it could just be the fact that I ate waffles with ice cream and fruit preserves. Don't Hold The Wall starts with an interesting enough tribal rhythm, then goes on for the next 50 years. The closest thus far a song has come to justifying its endlessness is Strawberry Bubblegum, which fades out 5 minutes in from garbage pop into a glorious Muzak-esque section. If only the first 5 minutes weren't so disgusting. And the Muzak only lasts for like a minute before the slimy lyrics come back. Oh yeah, besides the inane song lengths, another major flaw is the disgusting song lyrics. "Porny and awful" is correct, this album has the lyricism of a 14-year-old future rapist. It makes me feel sleazy listening to it. "Don't ever change your flavor 'cause I love the taste" is just one example of how perverse this album can be at times, and it's not funny perverse, or seductive perverse, it's sex offender perverse. Tunnel Vision contains a sample of what sounds like an 8-year-old child repeating "I know you like it" over and over again. Does nobody in the studio find this to be incredibly wrong? That Girl is the shortest song on the album at a smidge under 5 minutes. It could've easily been done in 3 minutes, but regardless, it's absolutely RIDICULOUS. The horns, the fake live intro, the absolutely hackneyed rhymes ("My pretty lady, you'll alway be my baby"), the corny rhythms and synths, well actually this whole album is full of that last one but it's extreme on this song, this song is hilarious! I can't take it as anything but self-parody, it's so overly sleazy it makes Midnite Vultures-era Beck sound like Elliott Smith... Okay maybe not that ridiculous but you get my drift. And yeah that song is the exception to the rule because the rest of this album is completely believable, and as a result it suffers. How could anyone think these lyrics are good? How could anyone believe this much falsetto is a good idea? How could anyone think these melodies would be good in 7+ minute song structures? Everything about this album is just "How?" and I'm not entirely sure about proper grammar after a question mark withing quotations so I'm writing this to make the sentence proper. Especially that last one, I don't understand how this is half of a two-part album when it's already double the length it should be. Even if it was half-length though, this album is just too seedy to be comfortable at all to listen to. Even the ballads are full of unwarranted libido. The closest physical feeling that compares to listening to this album I can give you is eating a stale hamburger off the ground as foreplay. I don't care if that doesn't make sense. Best Track: That Girl Rating: 2.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 101: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Album Choice: Phillip S.)
Perhaps this would've been a better 100th special choice. Meh, whatever. I'm only picking this album because of the Grammys yesterday. I know I'm not supposed to give a shit about the Grammys, but damnit I've loved Beck for years, and his comment about "respect the artistry" pissed me the hell off because, to keep mutilating the horse carcass, Beck wrote all of his own stuff on the album (admittedly Morning Phase was blah) and played 14 instruments on that album while Beyonce sang with the help of over 30 writers and producers. Say what you want about how it's still her project, I'll still tell you to eat it. This guy is immensely respected as one of the best in rap music, and based off the few singles I can remember, I don't understand why. Well I only actually remember two singles but who cares. Neither Stronger nor Gold Digger I found to be particularly impressive in terms of production, lyrical content or flow back when I was 10 years old. Everything else by him I've forgotten. I remember listening to Yeezus when it was new because it was new, and I remember thinking that it was trash. Let me go rate it on RYM now. I gave it a 1.5 based off of memory. Anyways, let's see how "OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING" this album really is. I'm not sure if this is reverse psychology or not, but I keep telling myself in my head "you're going to love this" and "you're gonna give this at least an 8". We'll see how accurate/successful that is. Thus far, I'm not fond of this first track. Nicki Minaj grates with a faux-English accent as much she does with her normal dumbass voice. The main beat is pretty good, albeit marred with that stupid sparkly sound, but the orchestral/choral bits are just plain annoying. And as for Kanye's rapping itself, whatever. It's not what I'd call bad, but it's inconsequential. I'm pretty sure most people who beat off to this guy's name (AKA most people who worship Pitchfork) agree that his rapping isn't even objectively good or impressive. Most people talk about his production as the highlight (despite the total co-producer count of 10, not that I'm gonna hold that against him). But the production of this first song isn't all that impressive. Nor is it impressive in the second song, which is also an unnecessary 6 minutes and boring the whole damn time. The third song is the first time I've enjoyed myself here. My mind isn't blown or anything, but the use of subdued guitar and fantastic usage of samples of King Crimson (another artist that Pitchfork fluffers blow, but 21st Century Schizoid Man is a pretty good song, one that isn't too wanky) make this song pretty impressive. Also, I remembered All Of The Lights once I heard it, though I remember the beat being a bit different. Regardless, I'm quite fond of the synths-and-breakbeats beat, and all the backing guest vocalists are completely passable, but these lyrics are freaking horrible (MJ gone, our ***** dead, I slapped my girl, she called the feds) and his flow is amateurish in what sounds like an attempt to be grandiose. I can ignore it for the enjoyable enough beat, but Jesus. Meanwhile, Monster doesn't even have a good beat to make up for the awful lyrics. This song is equal parts cringe-worthy and facepalm-inducing, and that right there is too much internet talk in one sentence for me. I'm not quoting the lyrics. I feel no need to. They're awful. And to make it worse, Nicki Minaj features. Eff this song. In So Appalled, the word "Voila" is pronounced "Vwa-la". I'm nitpicking at this point, but... What? There is no reason to do that ever. That's not gonna improve your flow. That's not change the rhyme scheme. That's not gonna blow people's minds. That's JUST STUPID. Otherwise this song is pretty good. My biggest problem with this song is RZA's presence. Seriously, any time he's not on a Wu-Tang song or Wu-Tang related song, his presence on a song is completely superfluous, and it's frustrating because within the context of the Wu his verses are amazing (4th Chamber comes to mind). I haven't listened to A Better Tomorrow, do I want to? And after that, everything is mostly passable. There are some standout moments, like I'm fond of the beat of Devil In A New Dress, and I'm floored that the 9-minute Runaway is at least 50 percent instrumental but doesn't sound wanky nor is it mindlessly repetitive. And then there are some bad moments, most blatant example, Chris Rock (he doesn't get bolded because he's not an artist) and his awful rant in Blame Game doesn't just come to mind but screams "I'M AWFUL". Otherwise, it's all passable. I don't get it. This is supposed to be one of the most innovative hip-hop albums of all time? What's so special about it? I've heard much better, more challenging, more experimental, more raw hip-hop many, many times. The rapping on this album, as much as it's been stated that it's not the highlight of the album, is completely and consistently mediocre, with bland lyrics neither raw nor witty and a boring, unimpressive flow. The production on the other hand is pretty good at times, but there's no wow factor here. I feel underwhelmed in the end. This wasn't a bad album, but this seemed like a pretty complacent pop rap album, absolutely not a challenging, experimental, innovative album to be revered as a classic for years to come. Screw Pitchfork and screw their legion. Acid Rap doesn't even get one-tenth the cultish worship that this album does, but damn if that album was a lot more INTERESTING. Regardless of my opinion, one question stands, why does this guy have an obsession with Beyonce? It's clearly not about the black artists losing, because if it was, he would've pointed out the ACTUAL crime that was Macklemore beating out Kendrick Lamar in 2014. Who are the stupid fucks that voted that year? Best Track: Runaway Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 102: Summer in Paradise by The Beach Boys
This album is legendary. It represents the absolute nadir of the Beach Boys, when Brian Wilson had left, Dennis had died and Mike Love had taken over the entire band. It's the sound of a band once the greatest in the world (that is an objective fact) now one of the worst in the world. Or so they say, I've never heard it. It sold less than 1000 copies at launch, was immediately maligned for having old white men attempting to rap about teen girls and for having John Stamos on it. I'm excited to hear just how bad this one is. This first song isn't so bad. I mean, it's corny as hell with those bad bass synths, horn samples and painfully fakey drum sounds, but it's inoffensive trash radio pop. The bass vocal "yeah"s are awful though. They make this song way more sleazy than it should be. Sleaze is by far the prevalent feeling in this album, and it's way worse than The 20/20 Experience was, partially because at this point in 1994 the guys were all reaching their mid 80s. Surfin sees them trying to recapture the corny throwaway classic of 1965, but they use a bootleg-Depeche Mode synth background and the vocals are made 100 times more disgusting. Summer of Love is the aforementioned rap track, and hoo boy is it HORRIBLE. Island Fever is surprisingly NOT racist as far as I can tell, but it has the distinction of making me physically ill with repugnance of seedy old men... To the sound of Carl Wilson's voice. No, that's not supposed to be possible. What is this mess? No, I refuse to push on. No, I must continue. Besides being disgusting (Strange Things Happen must be noted as a particularly sordid lowlight) and cheesy (Remember should be hilarious, but the sleaze factor is almost as high as the cheese factor), this entire album sounds corporate, like these were churned out by old men hoping to have a radio hit, which I'm 99 percent sure was the case with the other Beach Boys (it obviously was the intention of Mike Love). This is like a bad cover band made up of old men who still think they can make it big without a single original song by continuing to play in smoke-filled bars, hoping a big record label CEO will be wowed by their cover of Surfin USA and will offer them a 3-album contract. And then John Stamos comes up and sings the encore. Why did I even listen to this? Best Track: hahahahaha Rating: 1/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 103: ∆CALxTAPExTWO∆ by Cal Chuchesta
Yup, time for the second of these. I only have so much time to kill for now, but tonight I'm gonna release that Drake album that I'm assuming is horrid. This mixtape features a lot more analog-type synthesizer than the last one. It also lacks the cohesive nature of the last mixtape, isn't as funny, and isn't nearly as enjoyable. In fact, this one isn't funny at all, it's just annoying, although I shall admit that sory this is so lowd (pilow) is kinda catchy. Let's do one more review. Best Track: sory this is so lowd (pilow) Rating: I'm feeling a light 3 on this one |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 104: 266: An Incestuous Act That God Committed Upon Reality by Bull of Heaven
I'm reviewing a Bull of Heaven release! I'm listening to a Bull of Heaven release! My life is complete! Well actually, my life isn't even close to complete but hell I'm glad I'm doing this one. For those who don't know, Bull of Heaven is a legendary drone/experimental duo who release all of their music for free on their website. They're known for having songs that last hours, weeks, months, years, you name an amount of time and they make songs that long. If I could see these guys live, I would. Since I've never listened to a release by these guys I"m curious as to how the experience will be. Will it be a waste of time? Or will I enjoy it? Perhaps I'll enjoy it but then if I say I enjoyed it I'd probably come off as a pretentious prick. This is a dilemma. Why the flip do people think it's pretentious if you like music that isn't on the radio? Admittedly, very few people actually think that that I've met, but the few who claim it's pretentious piss me off. I want to explore the world of music, damnit, so screw you. I don't judge you if you listen to Young Thug or Owl City, unless you diss my music first. Exception goes for Katy Perry because she's a disgusting homophobe. Man, I still can't believe I'm listening to Bull of Heaven! This seems like it's such a waste of my lifetime. Am I making a mistake? Should I listen to it? Or should I just go now. I'm making a big investment here that's not likely to reward. Ugh... OKAY LET'S DO IT. I lost a good minute because I"m on a public Mac and the last person to use it left it on full screen mode. Admittedly, it's stupid that I don't know how to exit immediately, but I hate Macs. What kind of asshole leaves a computer on fullscreen mode? That's probably the asshole that spits in his customers food or sells oregano to small children passing it off as weed. If I find out who left it in fullscreen mode, I'ma lay the smackdown. Or really I won't, I just like making empty threats. That sucked. Best Track: There's only one song, man, that's all of their albums pretty much. Rating: 0/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 105: #CALxTAPExTHREE# by Cal Chuchesta
I dunno why, but I'm feeling pretty crappy today. It feels kinda like singles' blues but hey, I was feeling like I was on top of the world yesterday. Why not take advantage of my crappy mood and listen to some crybaby music? This blatantly isn't crybaby music. We'll get to that later. This "mixtape" contains much longer instrumentals than the previous two Cal Chuchesta releases, with one song even reaching two minutes! There's not as much cohesion as the first release, but here, there seems to be an abundance of actual, fleshed-out MELODIES. Also, he uses a Frank Zappa sample. This is easily the best of the three mixtapes based on the first half. Let's see if it drops off in quality or remains static (I doubt it'll get better). trep benger is hideous. Other than I say that, dare I say I actually enjoyed this one outside of a tongue-in-cheek context. Way better than the other two Caltapes. Best Track: mrs. sahara plamer Rating: I'm feeling a strong 5 to a light 6 on this thing, tran-SITION did you blhblahbl |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 106: If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Drake (Album Choice: Mario W., David H., some other people)
I hate the Drake. Barring any unfunny sitcom references, I still dislike Drake. I personally could care less about Degrassi, but his songs often seem way too schmaltzy, and when he tries to get boastful on us you see just how weak a rapper he really is (acapella versions of his songs really fall flat on both flow and poeticism). I've admittedly only listened to Take Care but that was so awful that I've had no desire to listen to more Drake up till this point. I mean seriously, I LOATHE THIS GUY, and I can appreciate artists like Bobby Shmurda and Lil Herb because those guys don't get actual poetic respect except from morons. They're sophomoric and utterly devoid of talent, but they KNOW they're sophomoric and utterly devoid of talent. This guy is actually respected by some respectable people and I DON'T GET WHY. This is purportedly "music for feels" so let's see how much this helps me in my state of isolated sadness on a post-Valentine's night. This first track exemplifies exactly what I dislike about Drake's more boastful side. The beat is uninteresting but the smallest offender, the flow is unimpressive, the braggadocios are awful and cliche ("If I die, I'm a legend" is probably the most boring way to say the most overused boast), and the usage of autotune on Drake's grating voice makes it more grating. And that formula is exact recipe for the first five tracks of the album. This isn't somber, emotive music, this is just garbage. There are no moving pieces of poetry, just ass. The cover art of this album is meant to represent how much effort went into this album and the quality control process combined. I have the exact picture of how making this album went in my head. 1. Drake walks into studio with smug smile. 2. Drake sits on keyboard 17 times to find 17 different samples from FL Studio (I'm typing this as I'm on track 4 so this could change). 3. Drake types out ass lyrics on Google Docs, thinking in his feeble mind that these lyrics are good. 4. Other members of YMCMB come in, telling him that "This is genius!" 5. Drake reads lyrics onto Macbook microphone. 6. Someone mixed this shit for $13.49. 7. Album released after 3 hours of production! I'm waiting for something redeeming to come up, but I'm honestly not optimistic. This isn't bias talking, there's nothing new being brought to the table, and whatever is recycled, is done in the worst way possible. Track 6, Madonna, seems to be the first sad song, but the beat is far too sinister for these shallow lyrics about an old flame. It's not jarring enough to be true lyrical dissonance, rather it's just melodic incompetence. And lyrical incompetence. And emotional incompetence. And life incompetence. Man I am really hating this album. Star67 is, by FAR, the closest thing to a likable song on this album, starting with a murky beat, with phone recording samples that don't totally suck (I forgot to mention the bits of studio chatter that popped up in a few earlier songs. They sucked, were totally unnecessary and felt tacked on. Like taking a putrid dump into a trash can of rotting fruit). Then it switches beats, into another murky, low-key beat. The lyrics are pretty stupid, but the topic of fraud with unnecessary braggadocios is at the very least a fresh change from nothing but unnecessary braggadocios. And then right after that we have Preach, which has the most ridiculous usage of autotune in the history of man. This song is BA-A-A-A-D. Except maybe it's not. Hmm? The ending of this song features a slightly psychedelic house-like ending, which is immensely enjoyable. The ending of Preach is actually the intro to Wednesday Night Interlude, which starts off abhorrent but turns out to be one of the better songs. And then everything after that just sucks. The guest artists include Lil Wayne and I need not say more about that topic. There's less braggadocios, and more corny, schmaltzy bullcrap that I don't need in my life. I'm not totally averse to more sensitive rap songs, one song that comes to mind is Kendrick Lamar's No Makeup, another is Earl Sweatshirt's Chum, but the sensitivity here becomes nonsensical self-indulgence. To sympathize with this music you need to have a lot of hidden vanity masked with false self-contempt, and those are some ridiculously pretentious requirements. There are some occasional redeemable moments, like the somewhat improved flow of 6PM In New York and the string section of You & The 6, but otherwise, the second half of the album is completely ignorable radio music that becomes offensive when made to listen in succession by overexposure to syrupy autotune and contrived love lyrics. I swear all these beats have the exact same bassline, except maybe pitch-shifted in Audacity. This second half is a gigantic waste of time. This whole album was a gigantic waste of time, even considering the slightly redeemable middle. Why did I think wasting precious minutes of life on this would be a good idea? Who's the jerkass that crapped out that horrid album cover and these awful beats? What kind of monster could ever be satisfied with a project like this? When did the general public decide that this was respectable music? Where is the quality control team that could've made this album so much more tolerable? How can anyone fathom charging $13 for this mess? Synonyms for If You're Reading This It's Too Late: detestable, hateful, loathsome, despicable, abominable, execrable, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, disgusting, distasteful, horrible, horrid, horrifying, awful, heinous, reprehensible, obnoxious, odious, nauseating, offensive, contemptible I hate myself for wasting 68 minutes and 40 seconds of my life listening to this sorry excuse for an album. This successfully cured my singles' blues but in return I feel like I've commit a deadly sin. I'm gonna go listen to some Shpongle in hopes that that will clear my mind. It's okay Nathan, we're going home. Best Track: Star67 Rating: 1/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 107: Fire by Electric Six (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)
This one is quick. Got my wisdom teeth removed, so to keep my mouth relatively painless I'm keeping this one concise. Shut up. Also I'm making it concise because of a certain asshole teacher who wants me to do homework over February break. What a monster. Vaguely Weenian, but a lot funkier, and with much heavier focus on epic bombastic riffage. This is clearly meant to be funny, but it falls flat in the comedy department because it's way too self-aware, with ridiculous songs like Gay Bar and She's White, and even worse lyrics such as in I'm The Bomb which I feel no reason to quote. Made worse by the fact that these riffs are mostly pretty decent but the tone of the album is too over-the-top, which kills any laughs and stifles enjoyment. Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor) is a great example of what these guys are capable of. In one minute, you get one of the corniest riffs ever, played to arena rawk-extremes, and lyrics which aren't so ridiculously self-aware that they lose any comedic value. If the whole album sounded like this it would be a lot funnier, and a lot catchier. As it stands, this album is just trying too hard. Best Track: Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor) Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 108: B4.DA.$$ by Joey Bada$$
Another more contemporary album, even if I'm a month late. This guy gets some good reppin by many people. Then again, those people think Drake is better than Earl Sweatshirt. Whatever, let's do this one. Everything about this album screams "I love the 90s". I love the 90s, so this is okay. Beats on this album are mostly boom bap and generally pretty good if not a bit run-of-the-mill, with songs like Paper Trail$ and Escape 120 having particularly strong ones. Flow is tight, wordplay is decent, cultural references aren't painful like Eminem's... Honestly this album has the formula to be great, but I'm not that convinced. It might be that it's just too damn long, like every other rap album. Also, ending with Curry Chicken instead of O.C.B was really baffling. Either way, okay album. Best Track: Escape 120 Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 109: Deftones by Deftones (Album Choice: 3lijah)
I've had most of these recent albums ready to go for like two months. A few exceptions here and there were requests from friends that I felt inclined to get to as soon as possible for some reason. I haven't touched random.org in a while. The name of this band conjures up an image in my head of some wannabe reggae sub-Sublime band of white junkies. For the record, I don't like Sublime. Regardless, this band isn't described as ska or reggae or whatever so my images are unwarranted. Let's get through this one. Yeah, nothing here is wannabe-stoner-actually-doper-faux-reggae in the least. Instead, what I got was a bunch of generic alt metal, of which all 11 tracks sound the same as the last bar Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event which is a dream pop track as interesting as every other track (read: none). And there were some really bad screamo moments. This is terrible music to cook rice pudding to. I've really not been in the mind to write good reviews. On another note after a month of binging I've finished 176 episodes of Seinfeld, skipping the two clip shows. The Finale wasn't that bad what are you people talking about. Best Track: N/A Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 110: Lonerism by Tame Impala
I've been meaning to listen to this one for a LONG ASS TIME after hearing a few singles but never got around to it. Now I'm forcing myself to get to this to gauge the worth of a Friday Boston Calling ticket. I'd be missing out on literally all but 3 artists, but hey I'd get to see Beck. $60 is a bit steep for one artist though so I'd like to be able to think to myself "this is a good decision". A. This music is really swirly B. This guy is trying way too hard to sound like John Lennon C. Actually, this whole thing could be summed up as "21st century synthy Magical Mystery Tour" D. Admittedly that's a pretty shallow way to put it, but the Beatles influence is high here. E. These songs mostly blend right into each other F. In spite of that fact, I find myself enjoying myself immensely G. I have some wisdom teeth painkillers that I think would pair nicely with this album H. I'm not some druggy I. My mouth hurts at the moment, but I prefer to limit my painkiller intake because I'm a good child. J. For some reason, they chose to end the album with a really long piano ballad. K. I'm not gonna have a favorite song here. L. The piano ballad turns into a delay-drenched guitar effects showcase after 3 minutes. M. I think this band would be pretty interesting live. N. I'm done here. Best Track: I told you Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 111: The Dance of the Moon and the Sun by Natural Snow Buildings (Album Choice: EzExZeRo7497)
I've been meaning to listen to this one for like a couple of years now, but never wanted to divest a full two and a half hours into the completely unfamiliar. I was proud of myself for listening to Dopesmoker and this one was a bit more daunting. But I had to get to it sometime, right? Might as well do it while it's still snowy. I originally planned to go over some SAT flashcards while listening to this album, but at the moment I'm too focused on this music. This is a goddamn MASSIVE album, and it's extremely slow and drone-filled yet it never gets boring. The second track is a bunch of mindless bass noodling, but it's mesmerizing bass noodling. Never once during the course of two and a half hours did I lose enough interest to want to type words, or study SAT words (though I did get up to get a drink). This reminds me of a more ambient Mount Eerie. Simultaneously warm and cold, distant yet inviting, self-indulgent and expansive yet never boring or pretentious. I have no real complaints for this album, it's the perfect soundtrack to a lonely winter night. Also, the secret track is great. Best Track: The Cover-Up, though Wisconsin is very nice as well. Rating: 8.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Quote:
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Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
the ring carved on your finger, you can't throw it away
nor can you give it back, until your cold heart decays your face soon forgets, you can't run away her voice from the grave, escorting back always |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 112: Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths
It's 5:30 AM. I have to finish two papers in like an hour. Perfect time to listen to more gay music. Girlfriend In A Coma and Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before are goddamn fantastic pop songs. Let's get that out of the way. I also quite like the first few songs, and the dirge-y Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me is good too. The last four songs are mostly decent, save for Death At One's Elbow which is almost as freaking horrible as Miserable Lie from their debut. Overall, this isn't as good as The Queen Is Dead but screw anyone who says this is their worst album, it's definitely better than the first two albums. Okay I'm done here. Now there's just the singles compilation. Best Track: Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 113: Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club (Album Choice: Trevor P.)
Some menial indie pop while I study SAT words. I don't actually know if this is menial or indie pop I just need background music to study and digest this omelet. I was gonna cherrypick an ambient album but hey this one was readily available let's go. This is extremely generically indie. This is so indie it makes me want to dress like a metrosexual. Synths? Yep. Horns? Check. Tribal drums? What more can you ask for? For eff's sake their next album has a ceiling album cover. And it's extremely bouncy, perhaps sickeningly sweet. Yet I'm enjoying it far more than I should. Because the upbeat nature and occasionally excess reverb makes this album ridiculously feelgood. My biggest complaint is that this album feels like a compilation because it just STOPS. There's no conclusive feeling whatsoever, the 10th and final song sounds the same as the first 9. And that's my biggest complaint. At a hair under 33 minutes, these guys were smart enough to have the quality of brevity, because these songs mostly sound the same and the joyful mood would probably soon get overbearing if the album was even 12 minutes longer. With this in mind, I wasn't bothered at all by how samey the songs are. This is a fun, simple album. Normally I feel I would make some pompous, unprofound statement about this album being not that great but truth be told I enjoyed it way more than I expected. These guys aren't disgustingly twee like Vampire Weekend but instead are just trebly and happy enough to make a mundane half hour more enjoyable. Best Track: The whole album sounds the same, in spite of that... Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 114: Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths
And this shall conclude my study of incredibly sexually ambiguous pop music, with a singles compilation. That is unless for some reason I decide to review the discographies of R.E.M or Frank Ocean or something. Hold up, I got a bout of sadness hitting me so I'm listening to Elliott Smith for the time being. Once I'm done being depressed, I'll put this on and go back to my torturous SAT studies. Okay I'm done with my self-pity, time for some catchy gay music! That was okay, not as good as the last two Smiths album by consequence of being way too long. And also it lacks This Charming Man which was easily one of their strongest singles. That's all I have to write for today, the practice SAT was tiring as hell. Best Track: Panic Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 115: Anything in Return by Toro Y Moi (Album Choice: David H.)
I know for a damn fact that I've heard of this guy before. I just don't remember where. I'd look it up on Wikipedia but I have some strange feeling that would lead to internal bias. So I'm just gonna go into this blind I suppose. Hopefully this makes a better wake up listen than Four Tet does. This music is pretty warm and relaxing, with some really great-sounding usage of samples. The vocals... Eh. This guy's voice certainly isn't bad (though I'm not sure how electronically altered it is) but I honestly think I'd prefer this album to be instrumental. On occasion, the vocals get too breathy or charged for me (even considering genre) and his subtle falsetto is way too sleazy for my liking. On another negative note, the lyrics are ridiculously boring. It's the exact same message of "quuurl we be meant 2 stay to get her" for almost an hour. For the most part, the lyrics stay absurdly simplistic, but when Bundick tries to wax poetic, it's just hilariously sad, a decent example of this being Cola. Not a particularly bad album, and surprisingly doesn't feel bloated at nearly an hour, but I'm loath to call it great, simply because the vocals got tiresome and the lyrics were trash. Make this an instrumental album and I'd like it quite a bit more. It's on equal par with Rounds for a morning album, by the way (although not equal in terms of album overall quality). Best Track: Say That Rating: 5.5/10 (If it was instrumentals it would probably be a 7/10) |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 116: Analord 04 by AFX
Guess which artist (or artist pseudonym) I'm gonna be shotgunning next? That's right! Mötley Crue! Anyways, here's the current rundown of how much I like AFX. If you don't know who this is and you know who Aphex Twin is you're a dumbass. If you don't know who Aphex Twin is go find out. Analord 10: 7/10 Analord 01: 6.5/10 Analord 02: 6/10 Analord 03: 5/10 Hangable Auto Bulb: 8.5/10 Perhaps these Analord EPs are meant as morning listens, because I'm enjoying this way more than any of the other Analord EPs. Crying In Your Face and Home Made Polysynth may be some of the catchiest acid techno songs I've ever heard, but every song on this release is incredibly danceable. Even Flutternozzle, which is mostly made up of grating synthfart noises, puts a smile on my face and a dance in my leg. In addition to all this, In The Maze Park ranks as one of the most cathartic EP closers ever. Yeah I'm surprised how much I like this. Best Track: Crying In Your Face Rating: 9/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 117: Analord 05 by AFX
Maybe I'll just do one of these per day. Maybe more maybe less. It's better than doing his Soundcloud collection I don't have the 2 years necessary for that. The use of stereo panning on Reunion 2 is so fucking horrible that I almost want to skip this track. Does anyone actually enjoy the first half of this song? That effect is so abused it makes this song nothing but grating. I can't even focus on the (boring) melodies of the song because that effect is just way too irritating. The second song is okay. As is the third. But man that first song is grating, it probably beats out Analord 158b for most annoying Aphex Twin song. Best Track: Cilonen Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 118: Analord 06 by AFX
Notice, I am upping my rating of The Dance Of The Moon And The Sun to a 9/10. A whopping half-point, but that's within less than two weeks and I'm generally a pretty obstinate guy. Maybe this will end up my first 10/10 other than Here Comes Tiny Tim. MAYBE. 38 minutes does not constitute an EP for christ's sake. Also, I have a precalculus presentation to finish, a research paper due at 6AM and the SATs on Saturday. Why am I still reviewing music? Because electronic music helps me focus, it's my Adderall. The first 3 songs are okay for the most part, nothing special nor nothing terribly annoying. The Bodmins are equally average. Anything with "Anal" within its title is a complete waste of time. Best Track: I'm Self Employed Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 119: Analord 07 by AFX
I'm tired as hell and this album nearly put me to sleep. Best Track: Pitcard Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 120: Analord 08 by AFX
Gonna try to finish these all EPs before Tuesday so I can review The Powers That B on release. Then again, I may end up choosing to watch Eraserhead instead. Who knows? Anyways, PWSteal.Ldpinch.D and W32.Deadcode.A are both great songs, especially the former with its catchy drum track. The other 3 songs (2 not counting the remix that sounds exactly the same as the original mix) kinda suck. Also, naming songs like viruses may be the most pathetic attempt at anti-piracy I've ever seen. Best Track: PWSteal.Ldpinch.D Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 121: Analord 09 by AFX
Okay this one just SUCKS. Best Track: No. Rating: 2/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
You can just sense the degeneration of these reviews over time
|
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
It's hard to keep motivation for writing, though I still enjoy listening to new, alien music.
Wait till I listen to something I can actually find words to write about. These anal lord reviews are only because I need filler to bump closer to 365. |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 122: Analord 11 by AFX
Last Analord! Now I can move onto bigger and hopefully better things! Not that this wasn't a choice. Think I'm gonna listen to To Pimp A Butterfly tonight. What started off ridiculously promising with two of the best AFX songs (under that pseudonym) ending up being yet another exercise in pointlessness. The last track is decent enough I guess. Best Track: VBS.Redlof.B Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 123: To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
All aboard the early release hype train! The Internet is busting a nut for this album, with a 96 on Metacritic and an RYM score that started at 4.41 or something but depreciated quite quickly. Now it seems to be fluctuating between 4.06 and 4.07. Let's see where it lay after I listen. My bias is that I prefer the catchy song structures of Section.80 to the overt storytelling of good kid, m.A.A.d city. Now let's listen, I need my dinner. It's pretty clear that Kendrick isn't the stay-still, pigeonholed, let's-release-the-same-bloated-rap-album artist that way too many rappers are today (Eminem and Jay Z come to mind as examples that were at least good ONCE). Whereas I felt that GKMC was rather conventional beatwise but stronger lyrically, this album is almost the polar opposite. Not saying the lyricism isn't good or great persay, but it's clearly taking second hand to the schizophrenic song structures and grooves. This album is funky as hell, and all the better for it. The flow here is incredibly energetic and passionate, compared to the often apathetic tones of both his prior albums. Listen to u, admire the overblown voice cracks and falsetto jumps, and then listen to The Art Of Peer Pressure and think about how boring that song is, and how you could just read a good book and listen to The Jesus Lizard instead. I really wish I could write more, but anyways, the hype train was right this time. The beats on this album are simply fantastic, as is the song order and the rapping. The seeming lack of a narrative replaced with overarching theme makes for a slightly less obtuse listen than Good Kid which sometimes got a bit boring, and any depth that is lost with the omission of a story is gained back by the crazy beats and much more energetic flow. The jazz and soul aesthetics also breathe life into this album, not that it really needs more. This album was 78 minutes and felt much shorter than that. It ends with 8 minutes of pointless banter and even this stupid dialogue seems shorter than it is. A damn good album, one that I wonder how my opinion will change over time. Best Track: u Rating: 9/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 124: Fantasy Empire by Lightning Bolt
Does anybody ever wish that stand-up bits from Louie would just go away? They're not necessarily bad but I much prefer the show parts. Hopefully if the show goes into syndication they'll do a better job cutting up the show than the Seinfeld people. Anyways, Lightning Bolt. I dig. Nice to know that Lightning Bolt still sounds like Lightning Bolt. I wrote that review four songs in and posted it on RYM. Now I have finished the album and can say that that sentence still utterly, totally, completely applies to this album. I guess the recording quality is a bit better. Best Track: Snow White (And The 7 Dwarves Fans) Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 125: The Powers That B by Death Grips
Meme-y meme meme /mu/ me/mu/ /mu/me /mu/meme /mu/me-y /mu/. Ever have a problem with a show where the theme song is so ridiculously gorgeous and amazing that you just keep repeating it and then you don't have time for the actual show? Yeah, it's taken 3 tries to finish the second episode of Twin Peaks for me. I've put *****s On The Moon and Jenny Death back to back so I can listen to the entire album in one piece. Let's see how this goes. As I've stated many times before, I am not a Death Grips superfreak but I can dig a few of their cuts. No Love Deep Web is my favorite of their albums though I haven't listened to Exmilitary. Here we go while I do some homework... My life sucks, I'ma listen to some sad folk songs because prom talk got me down. What sucks more than prom talk eavesdropping is the fact that I actually LIKE one song by Bright Eyes. Musical shame. Up My Sleeves certainly SOUNDS like the start to a double album, or at least an album longer than 30 minutes. Whatever I mean by that I don't know. This first disc seems pretty cohesive. Many of the songs flow into each other, and admittedly kinda blend into each other (partially due to the glitchy nature of the album). This isn't a rag on the album, just an observation. *****s On The Moon was pretty decent, I liked the more bleep-bloop sound. Jenny Death sounds like the start of a new album, or rather I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States does. And indeed, this is a much more rock disc, with guitars on several tracks. I can't honestly say which side I prefer. Jenny Death has some better cuts, but *****s On The Moon is a bit more consistent. It's actually not consistent at ALL, it just didn't feel drawn out the way Jenny does. This album ended rather anti-climatically, with 3 minutes of breakbeats. Either way, not a bad 80 minutes, but a slightly tiresome 80 minutes and certainly overhyped. Still will return in the future. /mu/mu/meme meme me/mu/ mu/me/ /mu/fantano Best Track: On GP Rating: 6/10 for both discs. |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 126: The Man-Machine by Kraftwerk
I'm now upping The Dance Of The Moon And The Sun to a 10/10. Yes, I succumb. That's a REALLY good album. Congrats to EzExZeRo7497 for recommending my first 10. I've got a song stuck in my head at all times. At this moment, that song would be the Big Black cover of The Model. Heh, "The Big Black Cover" could be an album title or something. But yeah, that right there is my sole motivation for listening to this 37-year-old electronic album. It probably sounds horribly dated and I'll be ultra judgmental with my young, modernized ears but who cares? Let's see how this sounds, via laptop speakers because I have no headphones available. Actually, now that I think about it, I do enjoy Silver Apples and I was quite fond of The United States of America's self-titled, both of these are a full decade older than Kraftwerk. Maybe it won't be so awkwardly dated. The first song on this album has aged like an opened gallon of pasteurized whole milk over the course of 20 years. Luckily, first impressions are wrong. The soundscapes of Spacelab and Metropolis still sound futuristic if slightly corny, and are warm (ironically enough... is that irony?) and gorgeously written. The second half of the album is more involved with pop song structures, and less on gorgeous environments of music. The Model is vastly inferior here to the Big Black cover, although still a catchy pop ditty. Neon Lights is great for the first 4 minutes then delves into 5 minutes drone, which would be okay if the drone wasn't so boring. Repeating the same bars for 5 minutes on what is now dumb old equipment just makes for a waste of time. Now, The Man Machine, that is a wonderful track, straying away from the pop sides of the band and going back to sonic exploration. It's the aural equivalent of walking through a vectorized world. Here's an album where the singles sound, for the most part that is, like ASS, while the non-album tracks are absolutely wonderful. The Model is cool but has better versions elsewhere, and Neon Lights suffers from a lack of editing. This album is 50% dated, and that 50% is the more famous half. The good half is good enough to warrant a good score, so good enough I guess. I'll be exploring these guys at least enough to make a playlist of songs as good as the non-singles of this album. Best Track: The Man Machine Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 127: I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside by Earl Sweatshirt
Easily my most hyped album of March 2015, one of the best months ever for music this decade thus far. My expectations for this album are high, but I'm also positively biased towards the sweatman. Pretty concise album we're looking at, might listen to another after this. Wiki? Dash? Na'Kel? Who the hell are these people? I'm not bolding them because they don't deserve to be bolded. Whoever they are, THEY SUCK. This is the exact same problem that plagued Doris. Earl is talented enough to carry his own, so why does he choose these awful, awful features? From all other standpoints this album is pretty much on par with Doris. Wonderful lyricism with a lazy flow (and cry some more people, MF Doom gets zero disrespect for his monotonous spitting because his lyrics are quality) and dark, murky beats. Like Doris, this is a very nocturnal rap album, and a 30 minute length is pretty much perfect here. Unfortunately, Earl prevents himself from greatness due to awful features, and a tendency to stick to the same tired Odd Future topics of daddy and bitches. He's not as willfully self-indulgent as Tyler and surely he's better than, say, Domo Genesis but Jesus Christ, nobody cares about your daddy issues, it was better when you rapped about your dead grandmother. I think that once Earl gets the hell out of Odd Future and takes some time to think of new subject matter, he'll have a masterpiece on his hands. He already has the lyricism, flow and his own little niche for atmosphere. Just stop being so goddamn repetitive, and get more talented friends. Best Track: DNA, in spite of that horrendous guest verse Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 128: That new GY!BE album
Just kidding, I can't review that until I review the first reunion album, order is important! Day 128: The reunion album Well, actually, can't do this yet lol. Need to listen to Yanqui X.O... I am 99 percent sure I got the title wrong but I don't feel like looking it up Day 128: The album where they had a song titled Motherfucker-Redeemer and worked briefly with Steve Albini Uh... Nope. Screw all this. Day 128: Shmurda She Wrote by Bobby Shmurda There we go. As I've probably said before, Hot ***** is my jam. It's literally the only song in English that I don't feel like a completely isolated ass dancing to. Rather, I look like I'm part of a collective of asses. Which is good. Yeah I'm giving this a fair chance with little-to-no mockery. Bite me nine times for it, I don't care. Worldwide ***** uses autotune. Who the hell thought that was a smart idea? And.. The only good songs are the singles. There are 5 songs, 3 of them are absolute crap, 2 of them are AUTOTUNED. This is a disappointment. Best Track: Guess, I've said it many times and will say it many times more in the future. Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 129: Yanqui U.X.O by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Yeah I misspelled the title. Anways, when it comes to Godspeed, Storm may be one of the most gorgeous and emotionally captivating songs I've ever heard (in terms of instrumentals I'd rank it alongside Girl/Boy Song and d|p 1.1) but I'm not huge on the rest of their discography, mainly because I rarely have time for them. My personal favorite release that I've heard from them is Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada because that's all good stuff, whereas F♯ A♯ ∞ is just too damn long. Expect concision because I have an assload of work to do. 09-15-00 is great. Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls was horrible for the first two-thirds but redeemed itself with a great crescendo. Motherfucker-Redeemer is good enough for me. The abrupt ending is cool. This album I find to be more consistent than Lift Yr Skinny Fists but the highs are not one-tenth as high. Oh well. Best Track: Both parts of 09-15-00 Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 130: 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Making my way there to the new one. This album is a lot less dynamic than the previous 3, with a lot more droning and only two tracks with any real crescendoing at all. That's okay with me, I can get behind the more hypnotic nature of this album, plus it's 20 or 30 minutes shorter than the last 3 albums, and more than a few tracks have seemed bloated in the past. The main two tracks are not quite as great as Storm but up there with the likes of F# A# Infinity, the shorter drones are decent enough. A satisfying 50 minutes. Best Track: Mladic Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 131: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
I'm doing this one because I liked her performance for A.V. Club Undercover. That and I wanna explore as much of March 2015 as possible without subjecting myself to stuff that I think will make me cry, like Rebel Heart. I'll listen to this one with spaghetti. This album is better than spaghetti, but I find pasta to generally be a mediocre dish. Great pasta is pretty rare. Anyways, this album was decent. Courtney Barnett is a pretty great lyricist who's wit never becomes groan-inducing, I like her voice, and the instruments sounded good, often reminding me of Silver Jews. Like Silver Jews my complaint with a full album is that things can get pretty samey. But whatever. Best Track: Pedestrian At Best Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 132: Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
My hipster cred is going to sink below zero once I admit that I've never listened to a Sufjan Stevens album. I've never listened to a Sufjan Stevens album. And I never really wanted to but I guess this is a convenient time to start. Maybe I'll like the guy. At first, the fingerpicking and ultra-pretty voice was enjoyable. Eventually though, it started putting bad thoughts in my head. No joke, this music makes me irrationally ANGRY. I need to stop and meditate if I'm going to finish this album holy crap. Well, I didn't meditate, but I did take some deep breaths to clear my mind. Now let's hit that play button. Starting again, I actually have no idea why this music made me angry. That may have been one of the most bizarre reactions I've ever had to music. This music isn't really offensive, it's just basic arpeggio-heavy indie folk. Really... Not that interesting, I don't get it why is this so fantastic? It's pretty and all, but nothing here makes me think I wanna come back to this. The whole mood of the album is funeral dirge, but it's too repetitive and distant to really evoke any emotions other than boredom, and apparently anger. Half of this album pissed me off, and half of it just bored me. Not impressed. Best Track: Whatever the name of the first track is, though that's because it had yet to have any collective impact on me when I listened to it. Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 133: Electronic Music by Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan
First off, I'm raising my rating of Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit to a solid 8 because Pedestrian At Best is easily one of my favorite songs this year and because I've become completely enamored with Barnett's voice. Anyways, this album is a re-release (with new title and song titles) of what is, according to RYM, the first electronic music album ever released. And that is why I decided to listen to it. It can't be any more dated than them early Beatles albums. Holy crap, this first has hands down the WORST usage of stereo panning I've ever heard, and I've listened to all the Jimi Hendrix Experience remasters. It actually makes me feel like my left ear is clogged or something half the time holy crap that's bizarre. When the left ear isn't in shock, this music mostly sounds like PBS vanity plate rejects. Wow, I'm really proud of that comparison. PBS vanity plate rejects. I originally said WGBH vanity plate rejects then I realized that's a Boston thing. And by the end of the album, the songs slowly transition from dated bleeps and bloops from a no-budget network card, to weird, atonal jazz with early synths on top. Space Age Pop my ass. There's nothing pop about this, that was hands down one of the weirdest albums I've heard in my life. It's like John Zorn meets Silver Apples meets Conlon Nancarrow meets Black Dice meets so many other things. This album is a complete mess, completely inaccessible minus a few melodies here and there, this album is primitive yet blatantly ahead of its time, this album is GLORIOUS. Also sounds like it would be a great soundtrack to psychedelics. Best Track: Sonik Re-Entry Rating: 7.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 134: Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Current condition: Standing in the stall of a musty ass public bathroom, worrying about the money I owe to too many people, trying to get loans to pay off my debts, headphones stained with salad dressing, needing water but unable to leave the bathroom, and to top it all off studying for AP Biology of which I know absolutely nothing thanks to my super useless old hunchback of a teacher. So, onto the album. This seems a lot less crescendo based than previous GY!BE albums, being more in the vein of straight up post-rock, and it's around half as long as their pre-breakup albums. I'm conflicted, because I can't say I thought the 80 minute run times were justified, but damn this album is just BORING. The first track sounds like the band is trying to skip the buildup and go straight to climax, but that just doesn't work. You may as well listen to Mogwai. I'm saying that and I don't even like Mogwai. And actually that whole first paragraph was based on the crappy first song. The next two songs aren't even songs so much as buildup as Lambs' Breath is just clipped bass and ambient whereas Asunder, Sweet is feedback and ambient. The horrendously titled Piss Crowns Are Trebled is a satisfying climax. If this album combined the last 3 tracks it would consist of one awful 10 minute song and one satisfying half hour song, if too unfocused to be truly great. Overall, this album was meh. Now I'm gonna continue freaking out about my debts. Also olive oil in the hair is a horrible feeling. Best Track: Doesn't really apply here Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 135: Seven (+1) by Entertainment For The Braindead (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)
This is shaping up to be a very boring Easter weekend, so I should burn through lots of music. This EP is cutesy soprano vocals on top of intricately fingerpicked melodies. I'm oftentimes a sucker for this stuff (even considering my reaction to Carrie & Lowell) but this music doesn't seem as warm as I would've expected. Sure it's barebones, but the music is ridiculously fairy-like, with the self-recorded harmonies, occasional touches of soft horns or bells, and lyrics so bizarrely forest-children they make Devendra Banhart sound like a businessman going through a midlife crisis. There is no variety across this release and while it never gets actually grating, it also never really gets interesting. Best Track: Then It Started Speaking To Me Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 136: Floral Shoppe by Macintosh Plus
Yeah I'm like 3 years late to the party cut me some slack. None of this review will be written while listening. I'm gonna try to keep my eyes closed and dream to this one then write afterwards. The majority of my review will be based on how visual this album is. This album is based more on generic 80s pop compared to the only other vaporwave release I've listened to which was more elevator music based. This is to the albums detriment, as Muzak is what gave New Dreams Ltd a hazy, dreamlike feel. Here there's very little room for dreaming, instead you just get Diana Ross. Fuck any comments about how the whole genre is satirical I listen to music to enjoy music and this was not very enjoyable. My previous expectations for this album where an experience similar to New Dreams Ltd where I'd think about years gone by in which I've never lived, hotel lounges, waiting rooms, shopping malls, you get the drift. Here I dreamed almost nothing, and outside of a few nice tracks I just wanted this piece of shit to end. The album art is nice, I'll give it that. Best Track: None I can remember but even if I had one the titles are all Japanese so I can't type that Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 137: The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
I've made it pretty clear that I like Brainiac a whole lot. And this is one of the few bands that people frequently recommend I listen to because I like Brainiac, the others being US Maple and Six Finger Satellite which I might get around to exploring later. This one first, though. Nope, not much Brainiac sound besides a relatively spare use of synths and a sense of weirdness. If anything, this sounds like a mixture of early Devo (you know, before they got terrible) and early Butthole Surfers (you know, before they got REALLY good then got terrible) with a fat art student singing. Less nerd, less redneck, more awkward beatnik. Also throw in a dash of Minutemen (you know, before they got mediocre then the lead singer died). Sadly, a good chunk of this 36 minute album is quite boring. Most notably, Sentimental Journey goes on for too goddamn long, and a lot of other tracks suffer from unnecessary quiet noodling bits. Not a bad album but a rather underwhelming one. Still, I desire to check out their albums as they have all the ingredients for some really great music. Heaven knows I'll probably be disappointed. Best Track: Street Waves Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 138: Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade (Album Choice: Xtreme2252)
This album is my before-bed lullaby, unless I decide I don't want it to be. Well, that was boring. I wanted to end the review there, but I felt an inclination to write more. This album features consistent anthemic songwriting, like the guys in the band were trying to write the next battle cry, but the vocals here would never work for that, ever. Instead, the vocals make this sound like them guys were trying to be the next Pitchfork darling. And Pitchfork gave them a 9.2, I just checked, so I guess they were successful there. Anyways, with anthemic songwriting, your songs need a certain exuberance to not come off as hackneyed or corny. And for the most part, this album is full of energy. And also with anthemic songwriting, you need some good hooks, or else that exuberance will seem completely superfluous. They've got catchy hooks galore though, so it's all good. Oh yeah, one last thing, you need to be able to write good songs. And they can! They did! Four of them, and they're titled Modern World, We Built Another World, Shine A Light and It's A Curse. The rest ranges from boring to garbage, the most clear example of the latter being Grounds For Divorce which sounds like some attempt at post-ironic Tiny Tim. That song title worked better for Big Business. Well, that was boring. Best Track: We Built Another World Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 139: 札幌コンテンポラリー by 情報デスクVIRTUAL*
I'm not writing that name or album title again. I already know the nature of this album, which is basically entirely unmanipulated excerpts from Muzak tracks and old smooth jazz songs. I'm gonna review this the same way I did Floral Shoppe, which is to stop typing and just try to daydream. I honestly don't know why I'm exploring vaporwave as of late, especially since it's been marked as dead like 50 times, and especially considering this release is elevators and David Sanborn for 75 minutes, but I have little better to do that I actually want to do. The only reason I namechecked David Sanborn is because I heard some jazz kid mention him I actually have almost no idea who that is. Hold up, I woke up because I had to note that heihu.org.cnMOON FOUNTAIN is actually a beautiful track and I had to copy that bullcorn from RYM. Back to dream land. Well, this was certainly better than Floral Shoppe. Through the 75 minute journey there were a lot of uneven moments, and some tracks were pretty bad, but I have to say I enjoyed the whole album and it certainly felt shorter than 75 minutes which is no easy task to do. Perhaps I'm just a nostalgia junkie and this reminds me of young vacations. Or maybe I just like really shitty elevator music. Whatever the point, even if this release was a joke, I enjoyed it quite seriously. I think I'll spend some spare time just going up an excessive elevator some time soon. If only there were a way to inject music into dreams. Best Track: heihu.org.cnMOON FOUNTAIN Rating: 8/10 (yes, seriously) |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 140: Contact by Silver Apples
I'm listening to this solely to see if this album is better than the self-titled, which I gave a 7/10, so I can answer a poll. I'm not writing a real review. Yeah, the self-titled is better solely for a lack of crappy banjo usage. Best Track: I Have Known Love Rating: 5.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
If you need more albums, here are my top 20 from 2014 if you want to check any of them out:
I suppose I should forewarn you that some of these are Prog-Rock and you said you dislike most from the genre. Though I hate putting genres on music because I feel it stops people from listening to what is otherwise good music. For example, I got Artifex Pereo's new album, 'Time In Place' (close contender to get on the above list) and it reminds me of The Mars Volta in places, yet was labelled 'emo-core' as a genre. I mean seriously, genre labels are horrible things. |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 141: Music For A French Elevator by The Books
I freaking love The Books. This dumblong reissue is the only thing by them I have yet to hear. Good backdrop for studying math, hopefully. Hopefully I'll give another Sufjan Stevens album a chance sometime soon because everybody I've told my reaction to Carrie & Lowell thinks I'm a nutcase. Perhaps eventually I'll give that album a relook. As it stands, I actually quite like the first track but then I just get angry, again. I have no idea why. I'm raising my rating of Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit to a 9/10, by the way, because that album will not leave my playlist. Also, seriously, there should be a law against having 5 exams on the same day. Anyways, the original EP, which is the first 13 tracks, is self-indulgent garbage and I'd honestly give it a 3/10. It's 5 minutes of quality followed by 10 minutes of just pure samples. Seriously, it's like a soundboard for crap you don't know or care about, and you'd have to be a pretentious ass to claim you enjoy it. However, the reissue is a whole nother story as it adds 32 tracks. I came in expecting more sample garbage, but instead, it's 65 minutes of what I assume to be throwaways which are all on par with the first two Books albums. They encapsulate everything good about this band and it makes me wonder why the two guys threw away all these effing brilliant tracks and released that hunk of garbage titled Lost and Safe. Well, actually that album was quite nice, it just didn't compare to the first two albums and this does! And it never outstays its welcome which is pretty amazing for an hour-long collection of cut tracks. I wanna listen to another album but it's probably in my best interest to sleep. This was definitely a good way to end the mundane night though. Seriously, I freaking love The Books. Best Track: Oh Jesus, I really have no idea, because almost anything from 14 to 45 is pure gold. Rating: 9/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 142: 24 Hour Revenge Therapy by Jawbreaker
I don't deserve to be emotionally devastated. But I am. I'm choosing this because it's apparently emo, and because I adore The Mountain Goats cover version of Boxcar. The fact that I bolded "The" implies improper grammar. Fuck I hate my life. Goddamnit, can all emo sound like this? When did emo sound like this? This stuff hits just the right spot when you're undergoing a mental breakdown. This could very well replace People That Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People In The World for my choice album during a breakdown, though only time will tell. Also I should listen to Christmas Island. This is some good stuff, I'd describe it as the soundtrack for when you wanna fly away to oblivion but have no paper wings. I wanna listen to another album while in my crisis but I dunno just how much time I have. Whatever, one good album is good for me. I've been listening to a lot of good shit recently. Best Track: Outpatient Rating: 8/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 143: Blank Banshee 0 by Blank Banshee (Album Choice: Arkuski)
Somewhere I read this described as vaportrap or something stupid like that. Both of those genres are guilty pleasures of mine, so let's see if I enjoy this while simultaneously feeling intellectually inferior to a hipster Forrest Gump. That is the most contrived prediction ever. After a cool opening track, this album is very meh. Best Track: That first track Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
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Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 144: Cautella by Richard Devine (Album Choice: Contrapasso)
First off, NEVER download Super Media Converter. That program is pure ass malware. Screw you eHow. Now, onto this album. If I'm correct this is my first flashcore album let's see if I like. For a genre that's meant to be abrasive that was incredibly dull. A bunch of extratone drum patterns that quickly get repetitive on top of dark ambient backgrounds which are admittedly cool, but the lack of melody up until near the end on this album drags it down due to the sheer repetition of the songs. Perhaps melody isn't the point of flashcore, but then these drum patterns don't really seem that abrasive. Seriously, they're fast but they're also somehow kinda quiet and that is definitely not working to the albums' favor. The dark ambient bits are quite nice and all, but the breaks do nothing for me. The album gets a bit better towards the end with more in the way of musical notes but only for so long before it's over. Best Track: Timach, which also should've been where the album ended. Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 144: Cherry Bomb by Tyler, The Creator
Uh, yeah, I realize I'm probably about 3 years too old and 13 shades too dark for this album, but I gotta stay hip to the Hip Hop Circle Jerk, right? Besides the rare female vocals, everything about this album is unfathomably awful. Fucking Young has some personal humor value for me, but the song itself is an abject failure on all levels possible. And that was probably the most redeeming moment. Best Track: I Wanna Be BasedGod Rating: 2/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 146: A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park (Album Choice: SkullDevil)
Lemme admit my biases right now. I'm trying to get the shitty music out of the way on this flight to Puerto Rico. That was ass. Best Track: Well, the first two weren't necessarily GOOD but they were tolerable Rating: 2/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 147: Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey (Album Choice: Curly)
Yep, just getting through the ones I'm loath to listen to now. Not gonna have these lurking on my phone when I'm cruising. Well, actually, I quite like this first song. My bias was and is based on my not huge fandom of her previous album, mainly due to the rather gross lyricism with such vivid prose as "My pussy tastes like Pepsi-Cola" and due to the fact that she can't rap. Putting my defenses up, that first problem isn't a misogynistic thing. I loathe Nickelback and The Weeknd too. The lyrics on this album are more of the same as last time. And being honest, the vocal performance is even more affected than the last album, which, no doubt about it, is still pretty damn grating. She's hitting more of the right notes this time, but what she now lacks in amateurishness (which I honestly believe can be a very charming trait, God make me project my own insecurities) she now more than fills the shitvoid with bombast and decadence. What makes this album better than the last one? Mainly the production. Whereas the last album was bland chamber pop, this album is much dreamier. Everything is lush, laden with reverb and loaded with guitar licks lifted from equal parts Latin music and desert rock. Shame I couldn't find a synonymous genre for desert rock that started with L, alliteration game too weak. Not to forget, the orchestration on this album is syrupy as hell. The overblown instrumentation has gotten this album a reputation as "theatrical", some calling it "Kubrick-esque". While it is definitely cinematic I wouldn't compare it to Stanley Kubrick. Those people just got lazy with the title. No, this album is far more akin to a made-for-TV collaboration between early David Lynch and John Waters. Smoky, noirish, but with a kitschy edge. I'm not sure if the camp factor was intentional, in fact I highly doubt it, but I don't care, it's the end result that matters, right? If I was rating solely by how seriously I can take the album, this would get a flat zero. As it stands though, it's both musically enjoyable and pretty funny. And I don't think cheesy is necessarily an insult nor is it always a detractor. Sure, sometimes, such as the case with Bright Eyes or (shoot me) early Cocteau Twins, the ridiculousness can detract from the songs, but oftentimes unintentional humor derived from silly lyrics or overblown mood, like the works makes what would be an exercise in eye roll inducement far more enjoyable, like the best works of Dio. This albums falls squarely in the latter camp. I honestly would DESPISE this album if wasn't in a jaunty mood, because although instrumentation is okay (and only such), I'd fail to see the humor value and immediately write the whole thing off as a self-indulgent pile. As it stands though, this album is actually pretty wonderful, as long as you look at it with satirical eyes. Color me somewhat impressed, and I'll admit to being somewhat wrong. I say somewhat because there's also a somewhat high chance that I'll never listen to this thing again, and I have to be somewhat cautious of what I doubt was a deliberate result. But end product rules supreme. Best Track: Toss up between Money Power Glory and The Other Woman, both are hilarious. Rating: 7.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 148: Because The Internet by Childish Gambino (Album Choice: Fresh)
My reluctance to do this one stems from the fact that Camp remains one of the worst goddamn rap albums I have ever heard. I dunno if that one is a 1/10 or a 2/10, but it's definitely not a 1.5/10 because something that unfathomably awful needed a solid number rating. That didn't make much sense... I'm going with 1/10. I do like the juvenile humor of Derrick Comedy though. Lowbrow skits that represents early YouTube strikingly well in their 240p glories. Every time this album has a good line, 6 or 7 cringeworthy lines accompany it, along with far more lines that don't affect (as most lines, so that's not a complaint moreso than a plain fact). The lyrics aren't as glaringly awful as Camp, but I'd rather listen to something I enjoy (another plain fact). Delivery does not interest me. Most of these beats are trash as well, all this instrumentation is blatantly attempting to be fresh and interesting while completely failing. Sometimes I think the beats are vaporwave songs,* but that doesn't have the camp appeal nor the dream appeal. And then you realize that the music was genuinely composed for purposes outside of hotel lounges and weather channels. I just recognized 3005. That is an awful song. Crawl, No Exit and Zealots of Stockholm are the tracks I found to be enjoyable, especially the first one. Those tracks all exert a certain agressiveness that wonderfully compliments their electronic backgrounds. Unfortunately, every other track that attempts to be menacing comes off as corny. And every track that tries to be introspective, world-weary, playful or worst of all romantic comes off as shudderingly awful. And that makes up the majority of this hour long album. Nope. Me no rikey. Best Track: Crawl Rating: 3/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 149: I Love You by The Neighbourhood (Album Choice: Trevor P.)
I keep rolling along Deep in my heart is a song Here on the ranch I belong Drifting along the Tumblr Tumbleweeds Best Track: Alleyways Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 150: Terrorhawk by Bear Vs Shark (Album Choice: Xtreme2252)
99 percent of bands labeled post-hardcore that formed in the 21st century are objectively awful. I'm not quite so sure that this is objectively awful. It probably isn't, thanks to a decent amount of Fugazi worship. That screaming is grating as hell though, and things don't stay that interesting for very long. No Best Track for you. Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 151: Harmony In Ultraviolet by Tim Hecker (Album Choice: EzExZeRo7497)
My fairly decent vacation is coming to a close very soon and I need some catharsis to top it off. I chose this because I saw it described as cathartic. Actually that's a partial lie, I rang up like 8 albums on random.org (including this one) a couple of weeks ago and this one happens to look like it's potentially cathartic. Plus I have about an hour before it's time to head to the airport. That was good. That was very good, without a single boring second. However, whoever called this cathartic needs to be shot. This music is equal parts stress and fever dream, and it is certainly not emotion purging nor a good vacation ender. But a good album nonetheless. Best Track: Whitecaps of White Noise and I'm counting both parts as one song Rating: 8.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 152: Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
Drifting along the Tumb- nah I'm not gonna abuse that non-joke in the same week. Besides this is far more Pitchfork than Tumblrcore so that doesn't even make sense. Man I suck. The peoples say I'll like this album even if Carrie and Lowell brought about equal parts anger and narcolepsy for me. Should I trust the peoples? The same peoples who said "Smashing Pumpkins are a quality band" and "if you like Neutral Milk Hotel then you'll LOVE Bright Eyes" and more crap that ended up being wrong? I dunno I'm just venting for filler. And this is certainly different. Is this supposed to be ironic? I'm not trying to be negative or anything, but this is so ridiculously overdone it seems like it's meant to be something along the lines of Frank Zappa. It's not bad so far, I'm neither angry nor bored so that's a plus. There are some moments of glistening beauty where the whispery pretty boy vocals work perfectly. There's an equal amount of moments that seem awfully smirky. For example, no indie folky singer-songwriter ever needs -High school choirs -Banjos accompanied by high school choirs -Lyrics about murdering Native Americans accompanied by high school choirs -Song titles that exceed 50 words in length -22 goddamn tracks -A 40 second track dedicated to isolating and repeating the string section from the prior song (and if it's meant to be a coda it's a sucky coda) -A 6 second track that consists of applause (actually, nobody ever to exist needs that) On the other hand, if he's not taking himself too seriously, his irony is superfluous to what are some amazingly gorgeous and/or catchy tunes, and I'm impressed with anyone who can write a song about Religious teenager sexual tension without making me want to die. I want to judge this album differently if he's being sincere or if he's just pissing out some wimpy hipster jokes, but then I don't know which one is worse. And besides, I shouldn't let the artist affect my perception of the art. Except in the case of Billy Corgan. Screw Billy Corgan. So, for what it is, this album has maybe 40 percent moments of stunning beauty and then a bunch of filler or songs that are impossible to do anything but groan at. That 40 percent is really good though. Peaks or consistency? Well, it certainly surpasses both Carrie and Lowell and that atrocious cover art. Also, I realize I'm very likely to return to this. I'll be generous. Best Track: Jacksonville Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 153: Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana by Shiina Ringo (Album Choice: Lord of Sushi)
I've always prefered coffee. Best Track: ha Rating: 2/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 154: In Absentia by Porcupine Tree (Album Choice: noname219)
I am currently sweltering in a car in the middle of a parking lot with no water. Somebody save me. My battery is running oh so low. Guess I'll listen anyways. A good chunk of this album is prog metal which sounds meh. And another good chunk sounds like a meh version of Grandaddy. IT'S TOO HOT IN HERE. Best Track: Collapse The Light Into Earth Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 155: Immunity by Jon Hopkins (Album Choice: Trogdor!!!)
Music for airplanes. Or so I hope. That was okay dance music. Maybe better with the 3rd relisten. Best Track: Immunity Rating: 6.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Have a few suggestions:
かめりあ (Camellia) - [diffraction] Metome - Phreatic Surface mouse on the keys - an anxious object Azargabra - Zebrafish t+pazolite - 異聞伝承アラカルト (Ibun densho A la carte) Arts The Beatdoctor - Lost Track of Time; Unreleased 2002-2012 (highly recommend for nighttime listening) Caravan Palace - Panic Hifana - 24H (spotify version is missing a track) |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 155: Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk
Stuck in a cramped car again with spine problems from sitting too much. I almost wrote album choice then realized this is my own choice. Soon I'm gonna listen to the Grandaddy discography minus The Sophtware Slump. This album mostly sucked. No good hooks like The Model, thus any attempts at pop songs were ass (making the whole first side redundant). Nothing really atmospheric, and things got quite repetitive. A disappointment. Best Track: Franz Schubert Rating: 4/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 156: Swag Ain't Cheap by Young Daquan
OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST MIXTAPE I'VE EVER HEARD HOLY SHIT EVERYONE NEEDS TO DOWNLOAD THIS OH MY GOD THIS IS SO AMAZING DOWNLOAD IT NOW OH MY GOD THOSE BEATS OH MY GOD THOSE LYRICS OH MY GOD THEM FEATURES OH MY GOD THAT FLOW EVERYBODY DOWNLOAD NOW YOU WON'T REGRET IT THIS IS SO GODDAMN GOOD ITS MAKING MY MIND EXPLODE AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BEST TRACK: ALL OF THEM RATING: 10/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
This is fascinating. Even more enjoyable is that I read these in the voice of Yahtzee from the Escapist: with an Australian accent and speech at 900 mph.
If you need more albums, I'll try to scrounge some up some suggestions. |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 158: Frances The Mute by The Mars Volta (Album Choice: Tokzic)
You already know this band. On that note, I've never listened to At The Drive-In. Holy crap this is a stupid album. I've read about how serious and pompous these guys are, so what the hell? This whole thing is so over-the-top I can't imagine anyone would act pretentious over this. The bombastic instruments, pretentious Morrison-the-poet lyrics, and the "experimental" moments of dead space and airy noise that take up A FULL THIRD of every song. Some parts of the last song sound like Shpongle so that's a plus. But overall, eeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh... Best Track: The first part of the last song of which I don't wanna remember the title Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 159: Beat The Champ by The Mountain Goats
I really need to do a better job of staying up to date... On another note, I'm in a bizarre state of melancholic optimism. Or bittersweet contentment. Or sanguine dejection. Whichever contradiction sounds the most pretentious/poetic. And while Pink Moon is still working as great as ever, I wanna give the new album of one of my favorite artists a chance and this is a great mood to do so. This was a food album. No just kidding, it's an album about wrestling. I don't give half a shit about wrestling, and I also don't think this is a good album for sad happiness (I'm lazy) but it's a good album nonetheless, although I still prefer the lo-fi albums. Best Track: Hair Match Rating: 7/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 160: Watermusic by William Basinski
Music. Study music. Very pretty study music. This album is one hour of very pretty study music. I am currently studying and wanted some study music, this album is one hour of very pretty study music. My AP Computer Science teacher is useless and I need to teach myself rudimentary Java by this Thursday so I am currently studying and wanted some study music, this album is one hour of very pretty study music. My AP Computer Science teacher is useless and I need to teach myself rudimentary Java by this Thursday so I am currently studying and wanted some study music, this album is one hour of very pretty study music, but also I want to catch up with the works of Basinski and this album is easy to find on YouTube and doesn't seem to feature much movement, but I don't care about movement because this is a gorgeous 60 minutes I am done talking in powers. Best Track: Man, that was a shitty review gimmick. Rating: 7/10 (I am not some ambient fanatic) |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 161: Cascade by William Basinski
What's the chance I'll be able to teach myself enough Java in 5 days to pass an AP test knowing nearly nothing? Damned useless teachers. This will hopefully make great study music. I do need to stay more up to date. It's not bad study music at all. But it honestly doesn't do much with its time. The ending after 35 minutes of repetition feels like it should be more cathartic than it is. Still, enjoyable enough. I liked it more than Nocturnes. Best Track: The last 5 minutes? Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
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Then there is Omar's solo stuff, most of which is also amazing, though if you dislike Frances The Mute I can't see you liking much of it. Maybe give the album Xenophanes a try? |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 162: Innerspeaker by Tame Impala
Dude, these painkillers are awesome. This album pales in comparison to both these painkillers and Lonerism. But it's superior to the feeling of dread I have for AP tests and the post-operation pain. So I guess I enjoyed it. Excited to see these guys live. Best Track: Jeremy's Storm Rating: 6/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
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Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 163: Michigan by Sufjan Stevens
This album is a lot less bombastic than Illinois. That's a bad thing. Though it's not as mawkish as Carrie & Lowell it still gets a bit annoying with the constant whispery atmosphere for 67 minutes. 67 goddamned minutes. And it's a downward curve of quality on this album, getting less interesting with each song after the first half, perhaps excluding the last song. I haven't heard it yet but that's the song that's coming next. Yeah that's pretty decent. Not an album saver but pretty nice closer at least. I like it better when he sounds like a folkier Zappa. If he's gonna be quiet, cut the album in half. It started super pretty but after Romulus I just wanted it to end. Best Track: The Upper Peninsula Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 164: Stands for Decibels by The dBs
And I thought Sufjan Stevens had ugly cover art. From what I can tell, the dBs were a group of aging men who decided they wanted to record some power pop one day in hopes of falling into obscurity followed by a rediscovering by future bands, but they didn't get that, because nobody in the band is as talented as Chris Bell or as volatile as Alex Chilton. It's basically 4 copies of Jody Stephens in their late 30s who are all colorblind. This is how I gauge the album artwork. Seriously, it's hideous. As for the actual music, the first song may be one of the catchiest power pop songs I've ever heard. However, the remainder of the first side is absolutely awful, like a corny 80s attempt at snarky White Album emulation. The second side starts out almost as awful but quickly turns into a much better album with 4 songs more than half as good as the first song. I would wish for a whole album of Black and Whites but no band could ever pull that off without being super boring. Still, lower points for that awful first side. Best Track: Black and White Rating: 5/10 (The best song is like a 9/10 while the rest of the first half is a 3 at best) |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 165: Philosophy Of The World by The Shaggs
If you know this band, good for you. If you don't, know that they suck. What am I doing with my life? I'm sitting here with a dying phone battery in this pungent coffee shop. The aroma of this place is overpowering, I can't imagine working here 8 hours a day. But then again, these people are leading more productive lives than me. Is my life productive? I've helped reform my entire school district, I've performed small size concerts in actual venues, I've experienced more in my life than many people twice my age, and I still feel unaccomplished. Perhaps I have some kind of complex. Or maybe I need to get out more. 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? Hey, this is the ULTIMATE soundtrack for a nervous breakdown. Don't think I'll ever sincerely listen to it again. Best Track: All of them Rating: 1/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 166: Blank Banshee 1 by Blank Banshee
I have public restroom phobia. This album is much more consistent and engaging than Blank Banshee 0. I have little doubt that it's the extra ambient influence and lessening of sugarpop sound that's to thank. Screw whoever is hired to clean public toilets. Best Track: Eco Zones Rating: 6.5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 166: ClearSkies™ by PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises
Quick summary of my opinion. Everything before Narayani Falls sounds either too jokey or too video game like. After that it's a decent tape but drags on too long. Why am I reviewing so much vaporwave? Best Track: The duo of Narayani Falls and Cascadia Rating: 5/10 |
Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year
Day 168: Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone
I never really got the chance to listen to this one, because I never felt there was a necessary or fitting setting. Now, however, I turned my phone screen black and white and I'm reading shitty Creepypastas. This shall be okay. And it was. A bit samey, overall okay. Best Track: Title Track Rating: 6/10 |
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