Ah, the introduction for Bjork to go solo from the Sugar Cubes. And while I am a massive fan for her and she has some of the best albums ever, something about the debut somewhat leaves me hanging. There are songs I do enjoy. Human Behavior, Venus as a Boy, Like Someone In Love, One Day and the killer outro of Play Dead. That track in particular does hit a killer note and would have fit as a killer outro for a Bond film. And there is something quite endearing hearing odd audio techniques on There's More To Life Than This as well as more jazzy instrumentation which I could make a claim where I want to see here come back to these jazz leanings but bring them to a higher level. Even though on this album, I'm a bit miffed at some of the jazz leaning songs. Never really cared about Aero plane. I kind of feel that the jazz portion in the song kind of kills the momentum. And with the more electronic sound, it still comes to me as being quite good, great even but somewhat sounds a part of the early 90's. And I want to put a pin on that because when I get to the 41-50 range of the year, that statement will come back in a more positive light. So in the end, after revisiting this I still feel this is her worst album even though I did enjoy it.
Grade wise:80 might be more of a strong 7 but will bump it to a light 8.
(2)
Ledzep listen to Drums of Death
(3)
BEA: Top 100 of 1993
(3) Wu Tang Clan-Enter The Wu Tang(36 Chambers)
(4) Slowdive-Souvlaki (R)
(5) Pearl Jam-Vs.
8 Counting Crows-August And Everything After
(11) Liz Phair-Exit In Guyville
(12) Snoop Dogg-Doggy Style
(13) Blur-Modern Life Is Rubbish
(14) PJ Harvey-Rid Of Me
(15) The Breeders-Last Splash
(16) Depeche Mode-Songs of Faith and Devotion
No guess for this post. Will do that next time. Also will post my canon list once I get 4 more albums done and will repeat that process till all 100 are accounted.
I still can't believe, after all the albums I've listened to, that I can still sound something as unique sounding as this. O.L.D. (Old Lady Drivers) are a metal group, apparently, but here they are mostly some sort of atmospheric Post Rock/Industrial kind of band. A lot of disparate elements are brought together here. It's the kind of genre list on RYM that can frighten and excite you; however, O.L.D. brings together these different genres rather seamlessly. I saw Purplepash also listened to this one and gave it a good score, I'd like to hear what they've got to say about it, because I'm impressed after one listen. Shocked I haven't head more about this band.
Luigii, I'm the one most likely to pick Wu Tang. I'm the one with the 90s hip hop inspired name after all.
Heathered Pearls - Loyal
Il Baricentro - Sconcerto
Musette - Datum
Miharu Koshi - Parallelisme
MIchael Chion- Requiem
Violent Onsen Geisha - Excrete Music
Silvio Rodriguez-Al final de este viaje
Caroliner Rainbow Open Wound Chorale - Rise of the Common Woodpile
Summoning-Stronghold
Dark - Round The Edges
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
I still can't believe, after all the albums I've listened to, that I can still sound something as unique sounding as this. O.L.D. (Old Lady Drivers) are a metal group, apparently, but here they are mostly some sort of atmospheric Post Rock/Industrial kind of band. A lot of disparate elements are brought together here. It's the kind of genre list on RYM that can frighten and excite you; however, O.L.D. brings together these different genres rather seamlessly. I saw Purplepash also listened to this one and gave it a good score, I'd like to hear what they've got to say about it, because I'm impressed after one listen. Shocked I haven't head more about this band.
Yeah in this game if I haven't heard the album I'm giving someone then I have been choosing to listen to it myself as well. Like you say it melds a few different influences, which gives this album some nice variety from song to song (all of them good to great), but it manages to maintain it's own sound and tone overall. Definitely an industrial vibe, but it's more listenable than a lot of industrial, (that might have to do with the post rock type song structures) and the songs themselves have a hypnotic appeal that I could lose myself in, but at the same time I could concentrate on and hear lots of great stuff happening, from dashes of shoegaze, to electronic, to krautrock. I would recommend it if a consistent mixed bag sounds like your sort of thing, and would happily listen to it again.
Chief, I know you would also vouch for the hip hop pick due to your account referring to Lords of the Underground. But I am stalling. This is one that I was kind of excited for but was more nervous for since the last time I listen to anything that was Wu Tang affiliate, it was with Supreme Clientele. That is one of my more infamous thoughts on this site. So did this make me give the glowing review? Nope. Though I would say I enjoyed this slightly more than Supreme. I would say the opener actually got me more excited due how that snap on the first track cuts and is quite distinct to get me somewhat invested. As well as having the whole group of the Clan. That keeps my attention for the album for a longer period of time.
And there are some songs that I do enjoy. Cream is very good. One of the few tracks that while shares that hip hop quirk where the sample repeats after a couple of seconds doesn't bother me. In Actuality, I thought it worked really well. There were also moment through out the album musically that felt that The Clan gave a damn to make the album sound a little more dynamic. And there were moments lyrically I enjoyed. That one moment where it gets to the iconic feed you and feed you, that moment of being hanged by the d*ck over a 12 story building actually got me laughing.
So, why not the more positive reaction for this? Well, there are some glaring issues. For one I kind of want to fix my claim about the repetitive nature and bring up a different claim where while I did enjoy the music on this album, I would say my investment or more importantly getting sucked in the world this makes wasn't fully there. There were points where I started to "get it" but never had that particular a-ha moment. That and I would have to bring up the group where while they are proficient at rapping, my problem for most of them would be selling the aggression and struggle. There are lines that if I was around the group, I would be scared. But the delivery kind of fills me with indifference. Kind of start to shrug it off. There was one particular line where one of the members of the clan where he compared his delivery to heavy metal and when I heard that, I end up not feeling the heaviness nor the excitement. I mean, I would have compared to more recent albums that came out a couple years ago, but I have an odd feeling that there are albums in the 90's that might give me a more visceral sound. I want to bet on albums like Backthefuckup or The Infamous would speak to me way more.
Then there is this odd point where besides, O.D.B and this might just be a me thing but there are points where it was somewhat hard to distinct one from another. There are points where I'm like wait is that GZA or Ghostface or Method Man unless they specifically say it is them. Overall while I did like this a little more, this didn't make me a believer for the Clan. Maybe there will be some solo albums that might get to me more, but as of now I somewhat doubt it. Grade wise:70
(2)
Chief listen to Parallelisme
(3)
BEA: Top 100 of 1993
(4) Slowdive-Souvlaki (R)
(5) Pearl Jam-Vs.
8 Counting Crows-August And Everything After
(11) Liz Phair-Exit In Guyville
(12) Snoop Dogg-Doggy Style
(13) Blur-Modern Life Is Rubbish
(14) PJ Harvey-Rid Of Me
(15) The Breeders-Last Splash
(16) Depeche Mode-Songs of Faith and Devotion
(17) Mazzy Star-So Tonight That I Might See
Guess game will be Chief and Bay would vouch for Snoop, Purple is the same for P.J. Harvey and Pearl Jam and Led might give me Slowdive.
Last edited by Luigii on 11/05/2020 03:59; edited 1 time in total
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
A well named album that is heavy on the synthesiser. An interesting at times progressive electronic album from a prominent drummer in the Berlin school scene. Occasionally it was a bit too ambient for my tastes, but there where times where I got into the spacey effects. Interestingly it was the lowest rated track from this album on BEA (admittedly with not many votes), Transcendental Overdrive, that I enjoyed the most. That one, or maybe Emphasis. Not really my thing but I didn't dislike it. 6.5/10, and 38/40 for 1980.
Vs. is considered one of Pearl Jam's best albums, and I agree, but I'm more interested in hearing your thoughts where I don't quite agree with the consensus, so listen to my second favourite PJ Harvey album Rid Of Me.
Top 75 Music Albums of 1980 by Tha1ChiefRocka (only one pick left, but still about 6 I want to hear, 🙁 with one in particular calling out "pick me, pick me")
4. Killing Joke by Killing Joke
7. Gyrate by Pylon
10. Satekoso by Chakra
11. Solid Pleasure by Yello
17. Lullaby by Kevin Braheny
18. Grotesque (After The Gramme) by The Fall
20. The Commercial Album by The Residents
22. Jane From Occupied Europe by Swell Maps
23. Hypnotised by The Undertones
24. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies
"Swing Slow", an album featuring this artist and Harry Hosono, is an album I've listened to a couple times; it's an enjoyable Space Age Pop affair from the 90s, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this album. I know generally what a "Techno Kayo" album should sound like, but this one just immediately jumps out and grabs you from the first track and never lets go. Precision electronic arrangements and tonally perfect vocal delivery make for what is a relatively typical sounding "Techno Pop" record. It's like clockwork. In fact, if this album were a Japanese watch, then it would be a Seiko. While a Casio is still great, it's a more practical kind of accessory. Seiko is a little more elegant in their design. So, it's a little more than meets the eye is I guess what I was trying to say there. It's a beautiful sounding record, I guess I just could've said that. Ok, now that I've compared music to watches, it's probably time for me to stop typing. Still hard to find a Japanese album that I dislike.
Wish I could have given you more than just one pick, but I guess I'll make it Swell Maps. I imagine that the Killing Joke debut or Grotesque may have been the one that you wanted, but Swell Maps are still in that same vein.
Heathered Pearls - Loyal
Il Baricentro - Sconcerto
Musette - Datum
MIchael Chion- Requiem
Violent Onsen Geisha - Excrete Music
Silvio Rodriguez-Al final de este viaje
Caroliner Rainbow Open Wound Chorale - Rise of the Common Woodpile
Summoning-Stronghold
Dark - Round The Edges
These Trails- These Trails
Circle Of Drums by Olatunji
Couldn't find Drums of Death anywhere, so I went with the other "drums" album. Babatunde Olatunji's Circle Of Drums is not exactly "drums circlejerk", but it's not too far either. In a good way. It's an archival release from one of the most famous African drummers of all time. His resume is impressive, having worked with numerous jazz, rock and folk musicians as well as being one of the most important figures in terms of popularising African music in the US. His debut Drums of Passion from 1959 was a huge hit and you could say that the early 60s jazz obsession with African rhythms and sounds is in part due to Olatunji. He also played drums on All Africa and Tears For Johannesburg from Max Roach's We Insist! which is one of my favourite albums ever. But I digress. The album itself sounds very warm. Tribal and hypnotic drums with several tracks which incorporate ektara, hammered dulcimer, chants and/or synths. Dawn (Idaji) was much more of an atmospheric song, with droney syths in the background and groovy but minimalistic drums at the forefront. Wonderful song, and probably my favourite. Embracement was driven by ektara (a one-string instrument originating in South Asia) and was a welcome change. I wasn't on the edge of my seat for the whole one hour runtime, but that's not what the album was aiming at so I had no problems with that. However the last song, 21 minute Cosmic Rhythm Vibrations was a bit too much, even if I liked big portions of it. Overall it's an enjoyable album, and surprisingly one that can easily be put in the background while working, as well as listened to with your full attention. 7.5/10
(2)
Stronghold is one of my favourite metal albums period. Somewhere around top 50 of all time probably. I'm curious whether you'll like it.
Shiner - The Egg
KMD - Black Bastards
Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
--------------------------------------
Kasai Allstars - In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic
Boubacar Traoré - Mariama
Oidupaa Vladimir Oiun - Divine Music From A Jail
Rokia Traoré - Bowmboï
Sun City Girls - Torch Of The Mystics
Jimmy Lee Williams - Hoot Your Belly
Soungalo Coulibaly - Dengo _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
So as of now, this is my third PJ Harvey album I have listen to in full. The other two being some of her most celebrated albums with her 2000 and 2011 albums. And while I did enjoy those albums, they never hit that certain chord with me where I feel like it is essential or where even if it isn't my absolute favorite for the year, I could see myself recommend it. And at first I was thinking this was gonna be her worst. I was gonna go into a scathing review. But, after finishing this album this is my favorite PJ Harvey record to date. Hell I could make an ever bigger claim that if this was release in 2020 during the high of the pandemic, I wouldn't be shocked if this took the place that Fetch The Bolt Cutters has. I argue it is rougher, its quite daring especially Man Sized Sextet. That track is the odd ball out being a avant garde jazz piece but tonally fits like a glove since this album from PJ's vocals being more unhinged as well as being manic at time. To the sound being somewhat raw but hits like a brick. And I end up having fun and getting in with this album.
Any complaints? Well, the only thing I could realistically see myself to maybe "improve" this album is probably be where I kind of wish Harvey could have maybe get a few more people to specialized in metal to have these guitar solos soar and make the package more complete. That is probably why Man Size while still excellent is my least favorite due to how near the end it was going to kick ass. But unfortunately that track blue balled the shit out of me. I wanted to be blown away. But yeah this was excellent. Pash I don't know exactly why people prefer Let England Shake or Stories From The City more. Maybe it has to be the more refined sound and how those albums go in there sonic direction. But I am with you and prefer this way more.
Grade wise:90 and with my list, I would have this higher than Smashing Pumpkins.
(2)
Led tackle Shiner-The Egg. And weird I should check Drums of Death if that is still is around.
I think this is it:
(3)
BEA: Top 100 of 1993
(4) Slowdive-Souvlaki (R)
(5) Pearl Jam-Vs.
8 Counting Crows-August And Everything After
(11) Liz Phair-Exit In Guyville
(12) Snoop Dogg-Doggy Style
(13) Blur-Modern Life Is Rubbish
(15) The Breeders-Last Splash
(16) Depeche Mode-Songs of Faith and Devotion
(17) Mazzy Star-So Tonight That I Might See
18 Radiohead-Pablo Honey (R)
Bay and Chief are for Snoop. Purple will pick Pearl Jam though I wouldn't be surprise if he picks Liz Phair and Led will probably give Slowdive. Also where the hell is Jameth?
If you liked Rid Of Me, there's a high chance that you'll like her 90s output. Her debut Dry is an even dirtier and rawer version of Rid of Me, while To Bring You My Love is more polished and more in the art rock direction, and Is This Desire? is her most experimental 90s work with some electronic, trip hop and downtempo influences (and it's also probably my favourite).
Luigii wrote:
Led tackle Shiner-The Egg. And weird I should check Drums of Death if that is still is around.
I think this is it:
The first comment under the video says that this is not the "Drums of Death", and that the title and artwork are misleading. IDK if that's true or not though, so I just skipped it. _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
If you liked Rid Of Me, there's a high chance that you'll like her 90s output. Her debut Dry is an even dirtier and rawer version of Rid of Me, while To Bring You My Love is more polished and more in the art rock direction, and Is This Desire? is her most experimental 90s work with some electronic, trip hop and downtempo influences (and it's also probably my favourite).
Luigii wrote:
Led tackle Shiner-The Egg. And weird I should check Drums of Death if that is still is around.
I think this is it:
The first comment under the video says that this is not the "Drums of Death", and that the title and artwork are misleading. IDK if that's true or not though, so I just skipped it.
I will keep that in mind if I decide to venture into the rest of PJ Harvey discography. Also if that isn't Drums of Death, we have a problem. Mention it to Hayden to make sure that if the video is or isn't Drums of Death.
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Purplepash
LedZep
