Eh, I'm not sure how to describe this album. I also don't know if it came out in 1988 or 1992, but it appears to be 1992 according to the bandcamp. However, it definitely sounds like this had to have been made in the late 80s. At any rate, it's genre tags are neofolk and the increasingly frustrating tag of "experimental" which I guess is right. The other tag is "spoken word' which is never fun to see. And that's where this album falters the most. It seems that the music was just secondary for whatever prattle this vocalist wanted to spew out over 17 tracks of various lengths from 36 seconds to 6 minutes. I don't really have the patience for this sort of shit. If you've got this much to say, then just write it down. It's not gonna do you any good to add some music in the background. Sometimes I'm OK with that, but I'm not feeling it on this one at all. The instrumental sections are actually OK, but the talking over it the whole time is a huge turn off. Every word was in one ear and out the other. It made me feel like I had wandered into a poorly lit coffee shop on a shitty open mic night. ๐
As far as AOR albums are concerned, Boston is one of the classics. And, uh, aren't you from Massachusetts mr. BAYSTATE. There's no way you've avoided listening to all of these songs at least individually at some point. Right?
A la Ping Pong- Extrem Musik a la Ping Pong Phase I
A Tent- Six Empty Places
Ache- De Homine Urbano
AD- Conspiracy
ADN' Ckrystall- Jazz' Mad
AGeM- Sekunda
Agencement- Agencement
Aktuala- Tappeto Volante
Alain Markusfeld- Le monde en รฉtages
Allan Bryant- Space Guitars
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
House, and it's various sub genres, are out of my comfort zone for sure. The only time I really listen to it is games and projects like this, and the occasional highly acclaimed album/artist. So take into account I don't know what I'm talking about, however I sort of liked this. It was like it had a gluggy base (now that's a descriptor I don't recall ever using for music before) with a clarity over the top of it. I read some comments on this album after listening to it complaining about the repetitiveness, and there was a lot, but to me that comes with the territory, and repetitiveness itself is not a bad thing - it depends on whether you like what is being repeated or not. Plus I reckon there was plenty of subtle variety within in each song, that kept me interested. Speaking of which I enjoyed the occasional trippy reverb effects and the like. Synkro was the highlight of the album for me. I must admit that my attention did start to wane towards the tail end of the album, but that's probably to be expected with a lot of albums of that length, 75 mins or thereabouts, especially when it maintains such a consistent style and tone for the whole thing, even when it comes to genres I more comfortable with. Anyway it was a very Luigii album. ๐ 7/10, and 42/54 for 2000.
Well I enjoyed that sample of Luigii's chart. Got some great variety and new experiences with dark jazz, microhouse, and J-pop(?), with the highlight being that great Shลso Strip album. Now it's Rocka's turn.
Top 73 Music Albums of 2000 by Tha1ChiefRocka (5 picks left)
7. Go Hawaii by Casino Versus Japan
8. Rated R by Queens Of The Stone Age
9. Figure 8 by Elliott Smith
10. The Empty Hollow Unfolds by Raison D'รชtre
13. De Stijl by The White Stripes
14. The Museum Of Imaginary Animals by Pram
15. Multila by Vladislav Delay
16. The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy
18. Supermodified by Amon Tobin
20. Disappeared by Spring Heel Jack
For kicks: (I think I kinda agree with this sorting... want to spend more time with his works)
Blues & Roots 4.5
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus 4.5
Mingus Ah Um 4
Let My Children Hear Music 4
Tijuana Moods 3.5
Pithecanthropus Erectus 3.5
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady 3.5
Controversialllll. But then again I'm a big Mingus fan so maybe not the most objective (have every album you've listed here at least at 4.5 except Pithecanthropus Erectus which is 4... yeah).
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Program Music I by ๆๅคง่ผ [Kashiwa Daisuke]
Wow this was wonderful. Like the only issue I have is that I kept thinking this combination of post rock, modern classical and glitchy electronics might sound cheesy after multiple listens. So it's not even a real issue. For now I'm all in on this sound. It's not what I thought it was gonna be, I was expecting another classic electroacoustic piece and it obviously wasn't. Who knows where I've found this one. It's easier to digest and much more accessible than the previous modern classical mashups I've heard in the game. At least for someone who's coming more from post rock background than the Western classical music background. 2 huge pieces, 36 minute "stella" and 26 minute "written once, run melos", both have multiple sections with seemless transitions between them. Good listen, I'd definitely recommend it to fans of World's End Girlfriend (gave a relisten to Hurtbreak Wonderland because of the somewhat similar styles, it's another fantastic post rock/modern classical/electronic fusion). 8 or 8.5/10
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Amon Tobin is cool, although I haven't heard that album yet
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Leftovers list + some 2021
Meridian Brothers - Desesperanza
Still Corners - The Last Exit
Lawrence - The Absence of Blight
John Talabot - Fin
The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
Flamengo - Kuลe v hodinkรกch
Sadaf - History of Heat
th1rt3en - A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism
Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony
Gazelle Twin & NYX - Deep England _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
(Progressive/Sludge metal with not enough Sludge for my tastes, but a whole lot of great moments. I quite liked this one.)
This album is pretty darn good. It is called a Sludge Metal album by several sites which are to be trusted. To be fair its Progressive Metal and Sludge Metal. So that reveal of 2 major genres attributed to this album with Progressive coming before Sludge somewhat undercuts my whole planned ramble about why I find this kind of Sludge to be not what I look for in Sludge. But whatever, I'll still say that when I think of Sludge Metal I think of a sound so disgustingly gnarly and heavy and oppressive that it is almost cruel. I like to come away from a sludge album feeling a bit dirty (maybe its just the word that makes me think of that but I digress). If you had asked me a few months ago "what subgenre of metal is most intriguing to you, little neophyte bastard, you?" I would have said Sludge. I find something so damn refreshing in albums like Streetcleaner by Godflesh, When the Kite String Pops by Acid Bath and Lysol/Houdini by Melvins. I come away from those albums feeling like I just went through something real, y'know?
But most of the most iconic bands and albums labeled Sludge aren't really like those aforementioned disgusting masses of brutal heaviness. They have elements of that same raging gnarliness, but albums by the likes of Neurosis, Isis, Neurosis, Cult of Luna and of course Neurosis tend to have also elements of - actually majority of - "Post Metal" (hate that description) atmospheric sludge and progressive metal in their sound. I respect this, its cerebral, each album is a journey with many ups and mostly downs, and there are long passages of near-ambient sonic exploration. That's cool. But they have yet to really blow me away or capture me. That may be due to my simple expectations or the general length of these albums being in the 60-75 minute range and you know how I am about most long albums. But anyway, back to this Dvne album... although labeled Sludge metal (but firstly Progressive metal, Ryan, stop lying to your imaginary audience) I mostly heard heady, winding arrangements with half clean almost anthemic vocals and half more angry vocals, with long songs that only occasionally dipped into that glorious disgust of Sludgy riffage, and mostly incorporated melodic slow builds with lots of dynamics followed by some seriously epic anthemic pay offs, and although I liked the album and this 80% of the album once I'd gotten over my disappointment, I would say a bit of disappointment still remains that I am not listening so much to Lysol but more a mix of Lateralus and Through Silver In Blood.
Okay, okay, I'm sure you get it. Now a little more on this particular album with a title I don't know how to pronounce by a band I don't know how to pronounce with a cool as fucc front cover... It's really solid. Weirdly the album gets better and better as it goes. This is weird because from my experience albums I deem "too long" I tend to lose interest as I get to the back half not gain interest. But that run of tracks from the halfway point of track 5 "Omega Severer" to the huge closer "Satuya" is pretty much a solid 40-45 minutes of greatness. I especially adore the least sludgy of all bits here, the solemn almost folk lament of "Asphodel" with that gorgeous female voice coming in and stealing my heart and the show. Any metal album that almost makes me cry and get slightly misty-eyed gets a big boost in my personal opinion of it. And "Asphodel" did just that. And as far as Progressive metal, slow build with acoustic bit, to jarring change to badass air-guitar-worthy heavy riff, to passionate anthemic bit, huge chorus, some screamed intensity, crazy tempo and drum changes, stretched over 12 minute, closing track drop the mic moments go, "Satuya" is as good as I've heard this year.
Overall, this was solid, it was recorded well (again, can't stress this enough, too clean and Proggy for my sludge tastes), it featured some badass riffs, a tear jerker song, a badass closer, enough sludge metal to make me at least slightly sated, and despite its length of 67 minutes it was engaging enough for 2 straight quite enjoyable listens by yours truly.
2.
@LedZep, this one looks interesting and is on my eventual listen list,
top 10 2021 albums that I want to hear. They are the top albums on my self-made list of albums Iโve been circling - I made this into a spreadsheet and its getting fucking out of hand, guys!
1. Cull Ficle by Asian Glow
2. Flock by Jane Weaver
3. Fishmonger by Underscores
4. L.W. by King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard
5. Made Out of Sound by Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt
6. The Cyclic Reckoning by Suffering Hour
7. Songs for the Enamel Queen by Black Sheep Wall
8. Restless Ego by City Light Mosaic
9. Haram by Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
10. Tickley Feather 1 2 3 by Tickley Feather _________________ -Ryan
And yeah I was saying something like I need to spend more time with Mingus. Black Saint is indeed revered, but I didn't fall in love after a few listens. It's ability to mix multiple genres in ways rarely ever done is incredible, but that doesn't mean I like it. Oh and it could've been 5th or 8th... no real ranking on there past groups of 4.5 to 3.5.
And I agree Mercury, it isn't a sludge metal album, but had it not had heavy sludge tendencies, I don't think I would've liked it as much.
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements by Stereolab
This felt a little bit like a 90s release from VU; the noise/rhythms/drone aspect of it. There was a certain surrealism found in the Beatles. Glad I checked this out as I wasn't a big fan of the emperor tomato ketchup album.
2. Just wrapped up this week, and curious what your take is (if you hadn't just listened to that, I'd give you L.W.): 3. Fishmonger by Underscores
3. Gowi's Top 100 (5 picks left)
7. Diana by Diana Ross
22. Nightfall In Middle-Earth by Blind Guardian
28. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood by Neko Case
30. Rainy Day Music by The Jayhawks
32. The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats
33. The Photo Album by Death Cab For Cutie
36. By The Way, I Forgive You by Brandi Carlile
40. A Sailor's Guide To Earth by Sturgill Simpson
46. Radio City by Big Star
49. Meshes Of Voice by Susanna / Jenny Hval
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
I guess it is a bit ironic with my username that I hadn't heard this all the way through before now, but I had heard multiple songs. I've also never heard a full Aerosmith album, and as Stephen Tyler is a terrible person, I have no intention of starting now. It's cool when I learn an artist I like is from Mass., but I've never put any extra emphasis in my listening on music from here.
Boston's self-titled debut is my first time hearing a full album of AOR, and it seems like a logical place to begin. It's the top-ranked album in the genre on BEA, and the second of just four bold AOR albums on RYM. It gets off to a roaring start with the megahit More Than A Feeling, which is a classic tune that deserves its accolades. The second song Peace Of Mind is almost as great, and later on I'm partial to Hitch A Ride. Other than the mediocre closer, the rest of the record is rock solid and catchy. There aren't enough highlights to make it a personal classic for me, but it's quite a nice listen, and one for which I understand the acclaim. 3.5/5.
195. AM - Arctic Monkeys
238. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos
261. Hotel California - Eagles
268. Machine Head - Deep Purple
274. Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
279. Crime Of The Century - Supertramp
328. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
336. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
342. War - U2
354. The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
One of the most influential electronic albums for music in general and music would be quite different without it in a dance sense and a future expansion for electronic to be stretched into different styles. But I'm not as interested for it. It's good. Great even. But when compared to peers like Brian Eno or Bowie that were able to meld electronics and other genres to be more engaging. And it's not like this style doesn't have to mix other genres. Like I prefer YMO more while Giorgo will be coming up soon on this list. In an album sense I enjoy the three songs that use the Europe Endless sound and aesthetic. A usual vibe I really enjoy and kept me interested. While the other songs had elements I enjoy, I tend to lose interest and want those varied embellishments or the core song to be more fascinating. So this would be a Strong 7 to a light 8. Grade:80
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Bay listen to AM
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BEA's Top 100 of 1977
(6) Steely Dan-Aja (R)
(9) Billy Joel-The Stranger (R)
(14) Talking Heads-77
(15) Electric Light Orchestra-Out Of The Blue
(16) Iggy Pop-Lust For Life
18 Ramones-Rocket To Russia
(19) Meatloaf-Bat Out Of Hell (R)
(20) Iggy Pop-The Idiot
(24) Queen-News Of The World
(25) Fela Kuti & Africa 70-Zombie
Top 100 of 1977 Ranked
Sorry for the bit of a wait. Been catching up on old cartoon shows thanks to HBO max.
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
I thought the same about my first listen with Kraftwerk. Oddly enough I don't agree with "the canon" and TEE is my least favorite of theirs. It wasn't until I heard Man Machine where I was like damn...
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Tha1ChiefRocka
Purplepash
LedZep
RoundTheBend
Mercury
baystateoftheart
