An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

EzExZeRo7497 · 06-5-2014, 10:42 AM

I did reach that grey area of contemplation, but I didn't quite recognise it as a deviation of catharsis. I personally don't feel too attached to Insen, but I see where you're coming from. How you explained your love for the album is really neat too. My perceptions are usually a bit more animated and natural - so it's hard to elaborate on Insen. Your perceptions seem to be more mechanical and artificial. Not saying that it's bad, but it's really really neat.

Speaking of experimentation...

June 5th, 2014
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Confield by Autechre
Autechre is hailed as one of the masters of minimal electronic music. With albums like Tri Repetae and LP5 under their belt, it's hard to disagree. Their subtle sound has been quite interesting to some, cathartic to others. I don't quite have the same reactions, but some of them work. Tankakern (from Quarastice), Gantz Graf, C/Pach, Rae are all great tracks from them. Confield is one of their more experimental albums.

VI Score Poise is the only track here that is similar to their older works. It's quite minimal, but doesn't quite appeal to me. The glitches are alright, but nothing engaging to me. It feels like a bunch of incoherent sounds, altogether. It feels very mechanical in its approach, which is Ae's signature atmosphere. Most of their work are considered cold and clinical, and I don't disagree.

Cfern's hard kickdrum is almost disorienting. It starts off somewhat predictable at first, but it becomes harder to focus later on. When you think you found a particular rhythm, it does something different to throw you off. I almost feel like I'm getting a headache from this, actually. Not a good thing, but wow. I didn't expect any track to make me feel dizzy. I could just fall off my chair at any moment... this is nuts. It doesn't quite cause any claustrophobia or anything to me - but I could see it. I just think that the disorientation effect is far more prominent here. Quite frankly, I can't listen to this without getting a headache...

Pen Expers is like an explosion in comparison to the first two tracks. Though not as noisy as Gantz Graf, it is relentless in its approach. The track is aggressive, but at the same time a little subtle. The sounds are soft, but it's just... intimidating. At the same time though, it almost feels like Rae with thicker skin. It's more callous, but the core is still there. You can see that it's still emotional inside. It just doesn't want to show its weak side, it's too enjoyable being chaotic after all. Doesn't quite hit me on an emotional level, but the sound is pretty, albeit a little rough at points.

Sim Gishel is just looming terror in its most minimal form. The ambience is actually terrifying and uncomfortable. The other intricate sounds just serve as a chant for the danger to appear. I have no idea what's coming... but it doesn't look good at all. I could almost hear distorted growling halfway through. I'm starting to feel a little paranoid... I'm running out of space to hide. What... what even is going on.. I ca-q͏̨̧̛e̴̷҉f͏̢͟q̸̧̕͜͝ę̸̢̕͘u̶f̸̨͢q̷̀e̸͏̶̡ì͏̨͠f̶̶h҉̵̀ęq͞͏͟f̡̡̢͝͡ŗ̶͘͢͟ȩ̷̧̕͠j̷̡̀o̡͡r̴̵q̷̡͜
j̸̡̡͟͟ǫ̀͝ŕk̀̕ȩ̢̕͢y̷͡҉u̢̡͠͠i̵̡͘͢͜ ̷́͘͘q̶̴ứ̴͟͢e̵̛̛̕͢q̡̕͜͢͠ ̡͜͏͜͠q͢͏̴̸̨e̴͢͜q͝͏͏ ̡̛҉̶̕9̶̸̕8͟͠3͏͞0̵̛҉͠2҉́̕1̷͘͜͞ ̵́̕҉͟8̵̵̶͠2҉̧̢̨͢0́̕é͞é̵͜u̸̷̡͞j̵͠d̷̵̸̀̕ò̵̡į͢͟͝w̷͠͠ ̨͠҉̡d̡̡ę̸́̕͢q̴̴̛i̛͘h̷̡͝j̴͘e̶̕ǫ̷̢͜͝q͘͘h͞҉̀ ̶̀͘e̷q͘͘͡ ̷́̕͝è̵̛͝͝3͡q̷͏͠u̡̧ì4͏g̴̷e͏̴̧͟͝i̸̡ư͟ ̡̕̕͜h̶͝é́͘q̨̧̢̕͡ẃ͠h͡ ͡͏̸͢e̶͏͏͡q̕͏̶w̨̡͜ǫ̛͢͢͡e͟͝

Confield, to me, is one of Autechre's more cathartic albums. LP5 fits this criteria for me. Tri Repetae doesn't quite do that, it's just a nice collection of sounds. I know there are some people who feel dread, confusion and hatred through Autechre, though. I just can't quite reach that level of understanding just yet. But, I do feel some emotion here. As I said before, Sim Gishel is very terrifying. In fact, the entire album is just a schizophrenic, claustrophobic and anxious journey. Some tracks are significantly weaker both in quality and atmosphere, like Parhelic Triangle, but a couple of them work. It's a little interesting how two significantly different tracks evoke the same feeling though. Bine evokes the same emotion that Sim Gishel did. However, Bine is far more structured and aggressive. It's quite soft, but it's so fast you can barely comprehend what's going on. The sounds of machines moving at breakneck speeds... definitely something to write back home.

I don't really have anything overly negative to say about this album. While I do respect this album as a piece of art, I don't like it that much. They're a tad too minimal for me to embrace. Even some of the louder tracks don't do it for me. Pen Expers is indeed loud, but not memorable. A good majority of the album doesn't quite inflict enough trauma to be remembered. With tracks this minimal, you do need something large to capture my attention. Confield doesn't quite do it for me. I wouldn't say that this album is clinical, but rather too subtle. I especially can't call this inhuman because of one particular track, Lentic Cathachresis. I'm really not sure how to explain it. It just feels the most humane out of all of the other tracks. While it gets incredibly chaotic towards the end, I can feel a sense of human confusion. It's very complex, but at the same time there's this huge level of familiarity. I can't quite pinpoint what... but it's one of the most engaging works Autechre has done in a while.

I still have that headache from Cfern, by the way. Autechre is not really an artist I can fully appreciate, because of this. I haven't really gotten used to their sound, even after six albums. While I understand that Autechre changes quite considerably after each album - they tend to barely miss the mark. Confield is not an exception, unfortunately. It doesn't quite click with me, or at least as much as I'd like it to. I just want something more emotionally engaging, more warm. I don't think I'm necessarily asking the right artist, because Ae doesn't do that at all. I could be wrong though, I've heard Amber was quite a warm experience. I should check that out some other time. Oversteps and Amber are the last two Autechre albums that I'm interested in.

I'd rank this as the third best album I've heard from them. Tri Repetae and LP5 are better. This album is better than Exai, Quarastice and Draft 7.30 for me. Gantz Graf is on another level though.

Album Highlights: Bine, Lentic Catachresis
Track Average Rating: 3.11/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

Confield exhausted me out, but I'll do an EP anyway.
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You Made Me Realise by My Bloody Valentine
My Bloody Valentine is one of the biggest shoegaze acts ever. They're especially known for albums like Isn't Anything and Loveless - particularly the latter. They are known as THE seminal shoegaze band. Loveless has been praised as one of the best, if not the best shoegaze album. I personally disagree, though. I'm not really a big fan of Loveless, and the band in general. I'll explain why at the end. You Make Me Realise is a very short EP from MBV, only 15 minutes long.

You Made Me Realise starts off with decent distorted instrumentation, albeit a little trite. Bonus points for the overwhelming instrumentation occasionally. The vocals do ruin it slightly for me, but it's not that bad. It's just the delivery/the tone that bothers me more. It just reminds me of post-punk, which really isn't my thing. It's really the only reason why I don't like MBV as much as I should. I didn't like Loveless as much as I should because of the same reason. The instrumentation gets a little too corny for me at points, too.

Slow is what you expect, slow. Vocals are a little more tolerable, but the instrumentation isn't as engaging. Nowhere as catchy, but it's a heavy sound. You can't go too wrong with heavy sound, but it's just a bit too aimless here. Lovesliescrushing does it better than My Bloody Valentine in the dense department, in my opinion. The track's alright, just nothing too much to talk about.

Cigarette in Your Bed is a lot better. The female dreamy vocals work far better than male vocals here. The instrumentation is good, but again, nothing too special. It's very catchy, too. My favourite track from the EP, it has the elements of a shoegaze track that appeals to me. It's dreamy, it's hazy, it's shoegazer. I think MBV does well when they try to create ethereal atmospheres - this track does show it. Drive It All Over Me is alright, but nothing much to talk about. The second half is much better than the first. I really don't like Thorn.

I think I have a problem with MBV's general sound more than anything else. I understand that My Bloody Valentine is one of the innovators of shoegaze, but that's it. I don't quite like Loveless as much as many others do - it's too tame and not hazy enough. There are some tracks in Loveless that are quite ethereal, but it's a rarity for me. There's something about the album that I just don't like about. I think it's just the overall atmosphere. Tracks like What You Want and When You Sleep just doesn't appeal to me at all. It just feels corny, for the lack of a better word. I would like people to tell me the appeal of MBV, and Loveless in general. I just don't get the album and the band as a whole. I feel that there are many other shoegaze bands that are better as well. You Make Me Realise is pretty different from Loveless, but it still doesn't click with me. Just doesn't work, I guess. Very unpopular opinion, but...

Album Highlights: Cigarette in Your Bed
Track Average Rating: 2.4/5
Overall Rating: 4/10

06-5-2014, 10:42 AM	#11
EzExZeRo7497 ⠀ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Singapore, SG Age: 28 Posts: 6,858	Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away \| 365 Album Challenge I did reach that grey area of contemplation, but I didn't quite recognise it as a deviation of catharsis. I personally don't feel too attached to Insen, but I see where you're coming from. How you explained your love for the album is really neat too. My perceptions are usually a bit more animated and natural - so it's hard to elaborate on Insen. Your perceptions seem to be more mechanical and artificial. Not saying that it's bad, but it's really really neat. Speaking of experimentation... June 5th, 2014 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Confield by Autechre Autechre is hailed as one of the masters of minimal electronic music. With albums like Tri Repetae and LP5 under their belt, it's hard to disagree. Their subtle sound has been quite interesting to some, cathartic to others. I don't quite have the same reactions, but some of them work. Tankakern (from Quarastice), Gantz Graf, C/Pach, Rae are all great tracks from them. Confield is one of their more experimental albums. VI Score Poise is the only track here that is similar to their older works. It's quite minimal, but doesn't quite appeal to me. The glitches are alright, but nothing engaging to me. It feels like a bunch of incoherent sounds, altogether. It feels very mechanical in its approach, which is Ae's signature atmosphere. Most of their work are considered cold and clinical, and I don't disagree. Cfern's hard kickdrum is almost disorienting. It starts off somewhat predictable at first, but it becomes harder to focus later on. When you think you found a particular rhythm, it does something different to throw you off. I almost feel like I'm getting a headache from this, actually. Not a good thing, but wow. I didn't expect any track to make me feel dizzy. I could just fall off my chair at any moment... this is nuts. It doesn't quite cause any claustrophobia or anything to me - but I could see it. I just think that the disorientation effect is far more prominent here. Quite frankly, I can't listen to this without getting a headache... Pen Expers is like an explosion in comparison to the first two tracks. Though not as noisy as Gantz Graf, it is relentless in its approach. The track is aggressive, but at the same time a little subtle. The sounds are soft, but it's just... intimidating. At the same time though, it almost feels like Rae with thicker skin. It's more callous, but the core is still there. You can see that it's still emotional inside. It just doesn't want to show its weak side, it's too enjoyable being chaotic after all. Doesn't quite hit me on an emotional level, but the sound is pretty, albeit a little rough at points. Sim Gishel is just looming terror in its most minimal form. The ambience is actually terrifying and uncomfortable. The other intricate sounds just serve as a chant for the danger to appear. I have no idea what's coming... but it doesn't look good at all. I could almost hear distorted growling halfway through. I'm starting to feel a little paranoid... I'm running out of space to hide. What... what even is going on.. I ca-q͏̨̧̛e̴̷҉f͏̢͟q̸̧̕͜͝ę̸̢̕͘u̶f̸̨͢q̷̀e̸͏̶̡ì͏̨͠f̶̶h҉̵̀ęq͞͏͟f̡̡̢͝͡ŗ̶͘͢͟ȩ̷̧̕͠j̷̡̀o̡͡r̴̵q̷̡͜ j̸̡̡͟͟ǫ̀͝ŕk̀̕ȩ̢̕͢y̷͡҉u̢̡͠͠i̵̡͘͢͜ ̷́͘͘q̶̴ứ̴͟͢e̵̛̛̕͢q̡̕͜͢͠ ̡͜͏͜͠q͢͏̴̸̨e̴͢͜q͝͏͏ ̡̛҉̶̕9̶̸̕8͟͠3͏͞0̵̛҉͠2҉́̕1̷͘͜͞ ̵́̕҉͟8̵̵̶͠2҉̧̢̨͢0́̕é͞é̵͜u̸̷̡͞j̵͠d̷̵̸̀̕ò̵̡į͢͟͝w̷͠͠ ̨͠҉̡d̡̡ę̸́̕͢q̴̴̛i̛͘h̷̡͝j̴͘e̶̕ǫ̷̢͜͝q͘͘h͞҉̀ ̶̀͘e̷q͘͘͡ ̷́̕͝è̵̛͝͝3͡q̷͏͠u̡̧ì4͏g̴̷e͏̴̧͟͝i̸̡ư͟ ̡̕̕͜h̶͝é́͘q̨̧̢̕͡ẃ͠h͡ ͡͏̸͢e̶͏͏͡q̕͏̶w̨̡͜ǫ̛͢͢͡e͟͝ Confield, to me, is one of Autechre's more cathartic albums. LP5 fits this criteria for me. Tri Repetae doesn't quite do that, it's just a nice collection of sounds. I know there are some people who feel dread, confusion and hatred through Autechre, though. I just can't quite reach that level of understanding just yet. But, I do feel some emotion here. As I said before, Sim Gishel is very terrifying. In fact, the entire album is just a schizophrenic, claustrophobic and anxious journey. Some tracks are significantly weaker both in quality and atmosphere, like Parhelic Triangle, but a couple of them work. It's a little interesting how two significantly different tracks evoke the same feeling though. Bine evokes the same emotion that Sim Gishel did. However, Bine is far more structured and aggressive. It's quite soft, but it's so fast you can barely comprehend what's going on. The sounds of machines moving at breakneck speeds... definitely something to write back home. I don't really have anything overly negative to say about this album. While I do respect this album as a piece of art, I don't like it that much. They're a tad too minimal for me to embrace. Even some of the louder tracks don't do it for me. Pen Expers is indeed loud, but not memorable. A good majority of the album doesn't quite inflict enough trauma to be remembered. With tracks this minimal, you do need something large to capture my attention. Confield doesn't quite do it for me. I wouldn't say that this album is clinical, but rather too subtle. I especially can't call this inhuman because of one particular track, Lentic Cathachresis. I'm really not sure how to explain it. It just feels the most humane out of all of the other tracks. While it gets incredibly chaotic towards the end, I can feel a sense of human confusion. It's very complex, but at the same time there's this huge level of familiarity. I can't quite pinpoint what... but it's one of the most engaging works Autechre has done in a while. I still have that headache from Cfern, by the way. Autechre is not really an artist I can fully appreciate, because of this. I haven't really gotten used to their sound, even after six albums. While I understand that Autechre changes quite considerably after each album - they tend to barely miss the mark. Confield is not an exception, unfortunately. It doesn't quite click with me, or at least as much as I'd like it to. I just want something more emotionally engaging, more warm. I don't think I'm necessarily asking the right artist, because Ae doesn't do that at all. I could be wrong though, I've heard Amber was quite a warm experience. I should check that out some other time. Oversteps and Amber are the last two Autechre albums that I'm interested in. I'd rank this as the third best album I've heard from them. Tri Repetae and LP5 are better. This album is better than Exai, Quarastice and Draft 7.30 for me. Gantz Graf is on another level though. Album Highlights: Bine, Lentic Catachresis Track Average Rating: 3.11/5 Overall Rating: 6/10 Confield exhausted me out, but I'll do an EP anyway. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ You Made Me Realise by My Bloody Valentine My Bloody Valentine is one of the biggest shoegaze acts ever. They're especially known for albums like Isn't Anything and Loveless - particularly the latter. They are known as THE seminal shoegaze band. Loveless has been praised as one of the best, if not the best shoegaze album. I personally disagree, though. I'm not really a big fan of Loveless, and the band in general. I'll explain why at the end. You Make Me Realise is a very short EP from MBV, only 15 minutes long. You Made Me Realise starts off with decent distorted instrumentation, albeit a little trite. Bonus points for the overwhelming instrumentation occasionally. The vocals do ruin it slightly for me, but it's not that bad. It's just the delivery/the tone that bothers me more. It just reminds me of post-punk, which really isn't my thing. It's really the only reason why I don't like MBV as much as I should. I didn't like Loveless as much as I should because of the same reason. The instrumentation gets a little too corny for me at points, too. Slow is what you expect, slow. Vocals are a little more tolerable, but the instrumentation isn't as engaging. Nowhere as catchy, but it's a heavy sound. You can't go too wrong with heavy sound, but it's just a bit too aimless here. Lovesliescrushing does it better than My Bloody Valentine in the dense department, in my opinion. The track's alright, just nothing too much to talk about. Cigarette in Your Bed is a lot better. The female dreamy vocals work far better than male vocals here. The instrumentation is good, but again, nothing too special. It's very catchy, too. My favourite track from the EP, it has the elements of a shoegaze track that appeals to me. It's dreamy, it's hazy, it's shoegazer. I think MBV does well when they try to create ethereal atmospheres - this track does show it. Drive It All Over Me is alright, but nothing much to talk about. The second half is much better than the first. I really don't like Thorn. I think I have a problem with MBV's general sound more than anything else. I understand that My Bloody Valentine is one of the innovators of shoegaze, but that's it. I don't quite like Loveless as much as many others do - it's too tame and not hazy enough. There are some tracks in Loveless that are quite ethereal, but it's a rarity for me. There's something about the album that I just don't like about. I think it's just the overall atmosphere. Tracks like What You Want and When You Sleep just doesn't appeal to me at all. It just feels corny, for the lack of a better word. I would like people to tell me the appeal of MBV, and Loveless in general. I just don't get the album and the band as a whole. I feel that there are many other shoegaze bands that are better as well. You Make Me Realise is pretty different from Loveless, but it still doesn't click with me. Just doesn't work, I guess. Very unpopular opinion, but... Album Highlights: Cigarette in Your Bed Track Average Rating: 2.4/5 Overall Rating: 4/10 Last edited by EzExZeRo7497; 06-5-2014 at 10:45 AM..

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