I can certainly understand why some people see this as an earth-shaking classic. I simply don't enjoy it enough to agree, at least on first listen. This is the third Injury Reserve project I've heard after Floss and s/t, both of which I like but don't love, establishing a trend that continues here. Completed and released the aftermath of Groggs' death, By The Time I Get To Phoenix is much darker and more experimental than its predecessors. It's definitely a very interesting and well-made album, but I don't find any of the songs to be amazing. De-centering the rapping and leaning into chaotic production is a tradeoff, and while I appreciate what their music has gained, I think I prefer what it has lost. While this doesn't click for me as a masterpiece, I'm glad I listened to it, and I prefer By The Time I Get To Phoenix to every record I've heard from experimental hip-hop contemporaries clipping. and Death Grips. 3.5/5.
Baystate, rest assured that you did not scare me away a few months ago; I had actually listened to that album once before. I enjoy the music on the record. The sonic palette is lush and haunting, and she has a great voice. Holy Land is a solid way to close the album. But, even though I say that they don't matter most of the time, some of the lyrical turns of phrase and spoken word sections break up the overall consistency of the album. I understand the feminist point of view that the album comes from, and that's cool, but it also sounds like some college open mic night stuff every once in awhile. I don't know, it just takes me out of the moment when it's the focal point of the composition. That being said, it doesn't happen that often, so my overall feelings about the album, especially after listening to it again, would be quite positive.
I've been listening to a lot of ECM Jazz lately. This one's pretty cool.
Londinium by Archive
I've stumbled upon Archive's Controlling Crowds album recently when making a list for the canon game, so this is an interesting timing to listen to another one of their efforts. Some decent trip hop with emphasis on hop, it's more like Blue Lines era of Massive Attack than Portishead. While I didn't love that many cuts here, there's some serious potential and it also helps that I'm a sucker for trip hop sound in general, even if it's rarely done right. Londinium is definitely trip hop done right, both the instrumentals and rapping. 7.5/10
You've probably heard this one Chief, but I can't really think of anything better right now
Head Hunters is absolutely essential listening for everyone on planet Earth, but I forget that nearly everything else by Herbie Hancock is too. That opening to "Rain Dance" is a total mind blower. Somebody on the RYM page for this album said it was like and Autechre song, and I think that they're right. The other two tracks on here are great as well, and although they seem loose in structure, each of them flow seamlessly and mix jazz, funk, and whatever weirdness was going on at the time into some tight grooves. All of these cats were playing out of their minds on this thing. "Hornets" is one of those tracks that makes me feel like anything I've ever done with an instrument is worthless. Massively underrating this album it seems; it had been awhile since I'd heard anything from it. Good pick.
This is an interesting album. It is simultaneously one of the most electric guitar-heavy and classical-heavy jazz albums I've heard. Definitely not what I expect from the genre, and largely because of that it feels a bit... off. However, it does feature good playing and quality compositions, so it's overall a very enjoyable listen. A bit like mixing three delicious flavors that don't *quite* complement each other. 3.5/5.
Had to listen to Frengers in the canon game a few months ago and didn't really like it, but now after a revisit I'm much more positive. Still think it's mostly ok-ish with a few really good songs which I'll bump now and then, but at least I don't dislike it. The big thing is that the vocals aren't irritating anymore, so things like "vocals by Jonas Bjerre certainly didn't help, instead of sounding mysterious and hazy (I think that was the intention), vocally everything just sounds very weak" from my original review don't apply anymore. And all of that positive attitude continues with Mew and the Glass Handed Kites. It helps that it's also easily better and the prog rock/pop tendencies are stronger, which I like more than the dreamy style of its predecessor. The vocals are still bearable, the music's better and more consistent, there's even several songs which I loved. This just shows how fragile and arbitrary my rating "system" are and why I'm seriously thinking about not rating anything in the future. On the other hand, think I'm starting to dig Mew (at least this album) which is cool. 7.5/10
Bay listen to what is possibly my favourite Bauhaus album (it certainly has my all time fave Bauhaus song She's in Parties)
She's In Parties is indeed a great song, and sets the bar high as the opener. Nothing else on the album matches up, but the rest is almost entirely quite good. The highlights are pretty much exclusively instrumental, with the songwriting and vocals being solid but unspectacular. This is my second Bauhaus album, and I'd place it slightly behind their debut. Well worth a listen if you like post-punk and gothic rock, but squarely in the second tier by my estimation. Also, I listened to much of this while walking through a nearby cemetery on a cloudy day, so close to ideal listening conditions. 3.5/5.
It's library music; something that I always enjoy. I know that I have to have heard some of this before as the Italian name of Stefano Torossi seems familiar to me. I'm also sure that this has to have been sampled heavily, and that may be why some of it is sounding familiar. Good stuff.
Purplepash, since Ulcerate was what I recommended in the other game, let's go for something a little more chill. An hour of Dub/Ambient/Techno
Back To The World by Curtis Mayfield
Third Curtis album and I expected it to be good as I love his 2 classics. Never did a deep dive into his discog, which is a shame, but I'm glad Bay gave me Back to the World to listen to. It's a consistently enjoyable album with a consistently enjoyable sound. During the second song, Future Shock, it dawned on me that my love for maximalist (often symphonic) stuff might be traced back to me loving symphonic prog in the high school. And honestly, there's a lot of similarities between the more symphonic parts of Genesis and Yes music and Curtis. It's probably more groovy and less complex, but now that I've thought of this comparison, no one will be able to persuade me that Yes and Curtis Mayfield didn't influence each other 😁 There was barely any issues on this whole thing, but during the second part of Right On For the Darkness I thought that the jam was a bit too long and getting out of hand and then boom - the shift to that beautiful string section in the last minute or so. So yeah, the only real "issue" is that there isn't any real highlights imo, but then again the album's so consistently groovy and fun that it would almost be a shame to break that with something different. 8.5/10
The time has come to torture people with my metal choices. But this is a seriously great album.
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baystateoftheart
Tha1ChiefRocka
LedZep
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