Might as well

[Space-Dementia]

November 7, 2019
leaving meaning. by Swans
After spending the last two weeks listening to this, I still can’t believe how good it is. This is the Swans album I’ve been waiting for. Of their pre-comeback stuff I’m only familiar with Soundtracks For the Blind and White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, and I like both of them a lot. But their newer stuff has resonated with me more because it seems more polished, both in terms of consistent songwriting and a more modern production. I’ve also appreciated how difficult their albums are to get through, either because of their length or because of the loud, dissonant content. All that being said, I can see why some people might classify this album as “Swans-lite” or something like that, especially after “Its Coming, It’s Real” was released as the lead single, with its soft, melodic, and dreamy sound. But just because leaving meaning is more accessible and less abrasive than most of the rest of Swans’ music, doesn’t mean it’s any worse. Actually, I don’t want to say it because it just came out, but this might be my favorite Swans album. In any case, it’s the one that I’ve gotten the most comfortable with so soon after first checking it out.
As far as openings go, “Analine” is phenomenal. The tingling, ambient strings of “Hums” lead into a soft chamber piece that sounds like seeing the world for the first time. It’s patient and cautious, but free and wide-eyed. Finally, after about 7 minutes of wonder, we move into “The Hanging Man,” which hypnotizes you with its krautrockesque repeated drum beat and simple guitar line, while Gira sings strange abstract ideas, notably that he’s “not what I just thought”. “Amnesia” reminds me of White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, with its gothic, orchestral chorus section and soft, dark verses. “Leaving Meaning” is another hypnotizing song, with a bell line that melts beautifully into the wall of sound. And as soon as you’re afraid the whole thing is just going be this soft, ambient rock type of thing, “Sunfucker” brings back the action of “The Hanging Man”. That’s what’s cool about this album: as soon as you start to get used to the atmosphere that a song puts you in, the next song has a completely different sound.
The only complaint I have about leaving meaning, besides a neutrality towards the first two songs of side 2, is confusion about the last song, “My Phantom Limb”. It’s another of the heavier songs, with Gira making assertions like “I’m the avatar of your semen,” and it’s not a bad song, but I see no reason for it’s placement as the last song on the album, especially after “What is This?” seems to close things off beautifully, conclusively but still pensively, sounding like a slower, softer version of “Schizophrenia” by Sonic Youth. I think if the song had come earlier in the album then I would have less of an issue with it, but as it is, I think the album is a lot better just cutting it out, closing with “What is This?”.
leaving meaning is a beautiful, hour-and-a-half long meditation, full of cozy layers of soft psychedelia.

Felt Mountain by Goldfrapp
This thing really lies in a world of its own. It's like a trip-hop circus. The opener, "Lovely Head", is definitely the highlight, with a beautiful (what sounds like a) theremin line that repeats throughout the song paving the way for a weird, quirky chord progression that catches you off guard and sounds a bit like Portishead. The next song is a very lush, very pretty string-heavy track, and "Human" is where things start getting a little too "cabaret" for me. The string line is cool, and it's immediately noticeable, at least for me, as the line that Kanye sampled for some song off The Life of Pablo, so that gives it another cool edge, but the song is too weird for me. It reminds me a bit of Bjork's first two albums. But "Pilots" is another cool, lush song with a great theremin-sounding synthline; this one lives up to its name because it just sounds like floating. "Deer Stop" has a great melody that Muse would be jealous of, and then the title track is another pretty song, before "Oompah Radar", which goes back into weird circus territory. By that time you're almost done with the album but, basically, this thing is really weird. Sometimes it makes something beautiful out of the weirdness, other times it's too weird for its own good, but most of the time the weirdness is just there as an extra layer that you can look past if you want, in favor of the beautiful melodies that this group is capable of writing. Even if you don't like some of the songs, each song has at least one really interesting synthline or whistled part or whatever else. I'm not really sure entirely what "lounge" means as a genre, but this is what I imagine when I think of the word. It's like reclining on a futon in the International Space Station.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

November 9, 2019
Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Wow, this is just as good as Cosmo's Factory, and that one's amazing. I love that these guys weren't about the whole psychedelic counterculture of the late 60s, but that they still played Woodstock and stuff. And that they were able to make so many amazing songs while sticking with their "swamp rock" sound. I have nothing else to say. This is a phenomenal selection of songs.

Black Monk Time by The Monks
These guys' story is so cool. It's a bunch of American military guys stationed in Germany in the mid 60s who took their rock and roll band that they had formed to entertain everyone else at the camp and turned it into an avant-garde proto punk band, made one album on a German label, and broke up. I don't know why it took so long for the public to figure out that these guys were two years ahead of the Velvet Underground, but I'm glad they were rediscovered, because this is really great. The lead singer's energy and voice is untouchable, and "Monk Time" is a perfect opener, exemplifying their sound, his voice, and their political edge. The bass is fuzzy, everything is staccato, there is so much energy in this record and I love it.

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears by The Mamas & The Papas
The harmonies, production, and arrangements on this album let me look past the fact that most of these are covers. This is such a mid-60s San Francisco album that just makes me imagine what life would have been like back then. They really nailed their sound, and, although some songs, especially the last three, are forgettable, an album that has songs as catchy as "Straight Shooter" and as beautiful as "California Dreamin" (one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded), needs to be heard.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

November 16, 2019
Berlin by Lou Reed
The first half of this album is sort of a trainwreck. The extravagant horns and guitar solos make it sound like a shitty Queen or Billy Joel record. "Lady Day" is nice, but by "How Do You Think it Feels," I'm waiting for the album to end. Then "Caroline Says II" and "The Kids" really bring up the quality of the music. The whole thing is apparently a rock opera about a couple whose situation just keeps getting worse until the woman resorts to speed and gets her kids taken away and then kills herself and in general I think rock operas are shit, so I guess that already makes the odds of me liking this very slim. But those two songs are able to tell the most emotional part of the story while not going too over-the-top. "The Bed" is pretty good too, and then "Sad Song" has that pretty "Satellite of Love"-esque outro, but the whole "I'm gonna stop wasting my time" thing is just too cheesy. Overall, there's really only three songs on here that I would return to, and I wouldn't want to listen to the whole thing because that means I'd have to sit through the first half. It sucks that Lou went from basically the origins of punk rock to this melodramatic rock opera. At least on Transformer he still had some great melodies and a consistent album, but this is just too in your face. Still, though, it has its moments.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

December 3, 2019
First Utterance by Comus
Lying musically somewhere between King Crimson and Animal Collective but atmospherically between Slint and Joanna Newsom, Comus' First Utterance is a phenomenal piece of music that pulls you into its creepy, badass world for an hour. The songs take unexpected turns, regular switching between straightforward bluesy riffs and medieval-sounding folk sections. It's a completely unique and timeless experience with endless reward.

Curtis by Curtis Mayfield
It's a pretty straightforward early funk/R&B album that mixes groovy basslines, cinematic string and harp arrangements, driving bongos, and Mayfield's preachings against discrimination. The first two songs and "Move On Up" are the best songs, but luckily it's a short and consistent album that never really drops its quality. Three of the six songs are over six minutes long, but each of them does something completely different with its long runtime. Opener "If There is a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" just adds more and more verses over the same bassline until Curtis has said what he wants to say. "We the People Who Are Darker than Blue" transforms entirely about a third of the way through from a beautiful, slow, passionate ballad into a driving bridge section for another couple of minutes before finally coming back dramatically to the relaxing rhythm of the first section. And "Move on Up" knows how great its three-chord, trumpet-and-bongo driven groove is, so after four minutes of singing over it, Curtis lets the band play their hearts out for five minutes. This is a fantastic album, not just for a debut solo record, but in general.

Around the Fur by Deftones
I really wasn't expecting this to be as great as it is. I really thought they'd be a one-hit wonder with White Pony and "Be Quiet and Drive" would be an anomaly but this is White Pony level of good. From the filthy riff that takes you through opener "My Own Summer" to the shoegaze of "Be Quiet and Drive," from Chino's violent screaming to his beautiful singing, this is such a great release. The music is sleazy, and you get an extra gift when they just decide to completely change up a song three quarters of the way through, like they do on "Mascara" which Muse definitely were trying to rip off on their first two albums. The only moment that doesn't really live up to the ethereal beauty of the rest of the album is the verses of "Lotion," but even then the chorus kinda makes up for that. Another great thing about this album is that they placed the single at the halfway point. It's the most melodic song on the album, so it's nice to get a break from the heaviness for five minutes and then get right back into it. All in all, this album kinda does no wrong. It's consistent, it's well paced. Sometimes the vocals are a little weird and unexpected, but that's alright because there's so much energy in this album that by the time you take a breath you're at the end of "MX" (not counting the 30 minutes of silence and bonus track of course). I will say it's not as memorable as White Pony and it's more homogenous, but this both provides excellent background to one of the coolest albums of the 2000s and stands on its own as a great alternative metal album from the late 90s.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

December 11, 2019
Before and After Science by Brian Eno
This one seems funkier than his earlier albums, but it still has the weird chord progressions and quirky melodies. But although some of those melodies are great and he still sounds very much like himself, it does kinda sound like he's trying to go for more of a synthpop sound on the first half and a new age / easy listening type of thing on the second half, which isn't great compared to the art rock he was doing earlier. The chorus to "King's Lead Hat" sounds like it could have been by some quirky Top 40 pop band in the 80s. Which is great that he's a little ahead of his time on this record, but the synthpop thing just doesn't really suit him that well. And even on softer songs like "Here He Comes," it just sounds a little too "pretty." I don't really know how to explain it but there's just no edge to that song. It's similar to the closing track on Here Come the Warm Jets, but it's like a much simpler version of that. "Julie With" isn't very good either. It's a shame cause he always rode the line between cheesy and badass but now he dipped too far onto the cheesy side. Where are those jackhammer guitars from Warm Jets? How about the entire atmospheres he created on Another Green World? I think he might have lost his touch on this one, but at least I've still got his first three solo albums.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[grogg]

Don't have anything constructive to add, but I just wanted to let you know that you write incredibly well.

[Repo]