Best Ever Albums

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

KitchenSink — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 17:28:48 GMT

Author: KitchenSink

Posted: 02/10/2021 22:28

Jimmy Dread wrote:

I’m mad into free jazz

am I imagining things or was Jimmy fairly jazz-apathetic not all that long ago? guess being away from plug for so long means I miss out on developments in the NoWax musical world (should probably remedy that soon). either way glad to hear the free jazz gospel has worked it's magic yet again

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Jimmy Dread — Sun, 7 Feb 2021 04:46:07 GMT

Author: Jimmy Dread

Posted: 02/07/2021 09:46

Hayden wrote:

Gave it a spin. Decent stuff. Got some mad Sigur Ros vibes on a few tracks out of all things.

Interesting - Track 2 (the standout, personally) sounded like Kent to me (not the county). Can understand Chameleons reference as guitar tone is eerily similar to Script Of The Bridge in places. “Nyt” sounds like the Sundays. Not a bad thing.

Not for me sadly, and can’t see me coming back to it. Then again, I’m mad into free jazz and Jungle right now.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

musicoed — Sat, 6 Feb 2021 22:33:36 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 02/07/2021 03:33

.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

pjohnsongolf — Thu, 4 Feb 2021 00:18:30 GMT

Author: pjohnsongolf

Posted: 02/04/2021 05:18

I can't say I know much about shoegaze but I thought this album was a good listen.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

RoundTheBend — Thu, 4 Feb 2021 00:17:51 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 02/04/2021 05:17

Hayden wrote:

Gave it a spin. Decent stuff. Got some mad Sigur Ros vibes on a few tracks out of all things.

I can see this.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Hayden — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 23:48:46 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 02/04/2021 04:48

Gave it a spin. Decent stuff. Got some mad Sigur Ros vibes on a few tracks out of all things.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

kokkinos — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 12:36:12 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 02/03/2021 17:36

I can't picture myself listening to this outside the context of this listening club, so in that sense this already counts as a successful pick in my book. Starting with the vocals, the truth is I couldn't stand them during the first couple of listens. I suspect this may have to do with the fact that -as I explained above- I was out of my comfort zone and struggling to figure out what's going on, so to add one extra layer I had to keep track of was a bit too much and had a distracting effect. After a while though, they started growing on me. Even though I have no idea what they were talking about - and to be honest it doesn't matter that much, if any, in this kind of album- I have to admit they were aesthetically pleasing and contributed significantly to the overall sound. I understand why most of you would mention the post-punk aspects, but they felt secondary to me, it's not what kept my interest. Actually, if I was asked to classify this in a single genre I would go with the order of shoegaze>pop>post-punk. The usual problem I have with shoegaze is that most of such albums I have listened to contain some moments of magic where everything clicks, but it's almost impossible to maintain it through a whole album. Unfortunately, this was the case here as well. I liked the first half of the album much more than the second. The first four tracks flowed naturally into each other creating the trademark hazy atmosphere of shoegaze - with the fourth one being the climax of this build up and the highlight of the album for me -, but then came the fifth track - I don't call the tracks by their name, but by number, because those titles don't mean anything to me, so there's not much point in calling them by name. While it was certainly enjoyable on its own, it felt as the odd one out in comparison to what preceeded it, somewhat out of place, it got me out of the mood. The same happened with the seventh track, too, but I guess by that point it was too late anyway, the spark was gone. I liked the closer, though, the album deserved to end in a high note.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

EyeKanFly — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 14:27:53 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 02/02/2021 19:27

LedZep wrote:

In fact it reminded me the most of the louder cuts from Wolf Alice, another band that gets slander because it's apparently unoriginal. Although this is obviously noisier and, well, Finnish.

This is an apt comparison. I was trying to figure out what this sounded like and I think you hit the nail on the head.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

mickilennial — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 13:56:48 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 02/02/2021 18:56

KitchenSink wrote:

was originally gonna say "arena-oriented" but of course some loser music journalist decided to call some other entire genre that. maybe iunno turgid would've been more accurate. but also

But the congestion and muddiness is the appeal of this type of music.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

LedZep — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 09:56:43 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 02/02/2021 14:56

Thought this was some hot garbage since a lot of people here didn't like it. Turns out it's a perfectly fine shoegaze, rock, indie and noise pop album. I'm not in love with it, but it's punchy, very enjoyable while on. Not too original take on that brand of alternative, but even though you all managed to find a dozen different clear influences, I never thought this sounded anything like any of them. Sure, it has elements of jangly Chameleons post-punk, the U2 comparisons are far fetched imo (it's true that some of the guitar tones are reminiscent of the Edge's, but that's about it), Ride influences are clear but again, this doesn't sound anything like any Ride album. In fact it reminded me the most of the louder cuts from Wolf Alice, another band that gets slander because it's apparently unoriginal. Although this is obviously noisier and, well, Finnish. IDK maybe I just like this sound. As for the songwriting, it wasn't spectacular. Not bad either. Just fine. Might put it on again sometime. The middle section of Kadoksiin was excellent and is a much needed highlight, the rest is consistently enjoyable but not great. 7/10

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

KitchenSink — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 04:56:37 GMT

Author: KitchenSink

Posted: 02/02/2021 09:56

Skinny wrote:

'anthemic' is not synonymous with any particular feeling or emotion - you can have anthems for all types of situations.

was originally gonna say "arena-oriented" but of course some loser music journalist decided to call some other entire genre that. maybe iunno turgid would've been more accurate. but also

Quote:

The guitar work just seemed a little too reminiscent of The Edge's for my taste

was getting at this too (in terms of both playing and effects)

Gowi wrote:

Väkivaltaa and Vapaa stood out as the key tracks on this record and I think those songs have a lot to do with it ranking 4/5 instead of 3.5/5 for me.

2 of the better tracks for sure

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Repo — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 03:57:10 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 02/02/2021 08:57

... it could have been worse, guys...

Link

🤣

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Skinny — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 03:44:23 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 02/02/2021 08:44

RoundTheBend wrote:

Wasn't there a recent comment about how people hate how positive or anthemic U2 is and then someone said that person was full of shit? And then we have it right here? Anyway, just noticing - nothing more, nothing less.

I also thought of U2 at times, but honestly more their post-punk work than their 90s work.

There was an argument made that people dislike U2 because they're so hopeful (although maybe the user making the argument would've fared better with 'earnest'). I thought that was laughable. Anyway, 'anthemic' is not synonymous with any particular feeling or emotion - you can have anthems for all types of situations. Although, in order to be 'anthemic', something has to be at least somewhat universal, which can lead to the death of specificity (and with it, for me, relatability).

Anyway, I too got heavy U2 vibes from this, but more How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb era. The guitar work just seemed a little too reminiscent of The Edge's for my taste. I also got Britpop vibes, whoever said that. Wasn't my thing.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Repo — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 03:33:17 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 02/02/2021 08:33

Applerill wrote:

Yeah, in all seriousness, Gabe’s post almost exactly reflected my thoughts. This is simultaneously too poppy and muddy in a way that reminds me of Everclear as much as anything else (even if they don’t ACTUALLY sound anything like Everclear)

Exactly! But, that's a good thing imo. And what makes this album enjoyable. For people like me. Whereas Everclear nailed AOR grunge, this band nails that 1987/1988 post-punk/(mildly) goth college rock sound and achieve that really well.

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Sparkle And Fade by Everclear

... is a brilliant album! Nails radio rock like few others from that time period.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

mickilennial — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 01:35:26 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 02/02/2021 06:35

Väkivaltaa and Vapaa stood out as the key tracks on this record and I think those songs have a lot to do with it ranking 4/5 instead of 3.5/5 for me.

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

KitchenSink — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 01:07:49 GMT

Author: KitchenSink

Posted: 02/02/2021 06:07

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

For all these talks about muddiness I certainly don't think it's really badly mixed (though mastering is a different story, sounds like some awkward almost Izotope spectral gating) it's just very compressed in the same way almost all recent shoegaze bands are. With the same pedalboard everyone's got right now (almost certain I can hear an earthquaker transmisser/afterneath)

probably should've started with a disclaimer that I know fuck all about any shoegaze of the last 10 years (other than, hilariously enough, Nothing)

RoundTheBend wrote:

won't clog this thread with the details but I can assure you their tendency towards bombast is not the only nor even close to the primary reason I tend to dislike U2, just happened to be one of the reasons that felt relevant to this album

RoundTheBend wrote:

I also thought of U2 at times, but honestly more their post-punk work than their 90s work.

bit of both imo, though the more it leaned towards the latter the more I felt like it came together more to my taste

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

RoundTheBend — Mon, 1 Feb 2021 23:54:42 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 02/02/2021 04:54

KitchenSink wrote:

more often by the worst excesses of early 90s U2-adjacent alt-rock, making far too much of the album just feel unnecessarily anthemic for my tastes. in a weird way this sonically doesn't feel too far off form Alcest, but without the gothic meloncholy to balance out the more sparkly smooth melodrama I just couldn't connect

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

RoundTheBend — Mon, 1 Feb 2021 23:52:32 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 02/02/2021 04:52

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

You feel like the bass and drums match their mix?

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 1 Feb 2021 23:40:06 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 02/02/2021 04:40

For all these talks about muddiness I certainly don't think it's really badly mixed (though mastering is a different story, sounds like some awkward almost Izotope spectral gating) it's just very compressed in the same way almost all recent shoegaze bands are. With the same pedalboard everyone's got right now (almost certain I can hear an earthquaker transmisser/afterneath)

Re: ALC #1: Takaisin

Applerill — Mon, 1 Feb 2021 23:12:10 GMT

Author: Applerill

Posted: 02/02/2021 04:12

Yeah, in all seriousness, Gabe’s post almost exactly reflected my thoughts. This is simultaneously too poppy and muddy in a way that reminds me of Everclear as much as anything else (even if they don’t ACTUALLY sound anything like Everclear)