The Gowi Zone -- Currently Listening: 2022-2023

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mickilennial
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  • #1
  • Posted: 11/05/2015 22:52
  • Post subject: The Gowi Zone -- Currently Listening: 2022-2023
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Introduction

After helping organize this year's User Listening Project, I took a liking to the sort of "musical diary" approach. I was a bit sad that the ULL project didn't really take off like I thought it would, but in retrospect perhaps it was a timing issue as it seems turning the ULL into its own subforum was reacted to with such bliss and excitement. Much like Satie and others I'd like to use this as a proper avenue to work on music analysis and actually open conversation about what I'm listening to outside of a picture before leaving off to do whatever. If anyone kept up with my log they pretty much have an idea of what I'll be doing here from today onward.


Last edited by mickilennial on 02/04/2023 09:34; edited 21 times in total
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mickilennial
The Most Trusted Name in News


Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #2
  • Posted: 11/06/2015 12:34
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Art Angels by Grimes
Release Date: November 6, 2015
Genre(s): Synthpop, Art Pop
Origin: Canada

I came into this record with no expectations, blindly going forward into it with no preconceptions or ideas of what it was going to be. I hadn’t even heard a single from the record until it came out. That said, I am familiar enough with Claire Boucher’s work to see that this is a pretty obvious shift in musical ideas and expressionism. Art Angels is not consistent, taking a sort of oddball pace as it walks the line between contemporary and experimental almost in a drunken haze.

At times the music has a bit in common with the trend of synthpop in the vein of Carly Rae Jepsen, but at the other end she’s spastic as she takes conventions and warps them in a way that reminds me of Japan’s Shiina Ringo and Seiko Oomori— but ultimately is uniquely Grimes. The identity of this record is refreshing in the sea of western pop music whereas generally it’s been where you are art pop or contemporary pop with records in the past that blurred the lines been few in number and not with the same personality as this record. But yes, as stated previously it is inconsistent in the way it is paced in the sonic narrative though I do think that is intentional. There’s only three songs I think are forgettable and the rest range from good to great even though they all have their own sonic identity.

In 2015 it’s hard to not see anything built as an album but looking at it there is a sense that all of these songs would work excellent on their own so I’m considering looking at it like a collection of songs and grading it on how I feel about each of them independent of the flow of an album. I think this is a special release and I think I’d say it even if I didn’t like it as this is something refreshing in the sea of indie darlings and pop standards. If this is Grimes’ expressionism in its truest form I hope we see more of it in the near future.

Favorite Track:Kill V. Maim


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:48; edited 2 times in total
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mickilennial
The Most Trusted Name in News


Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #3
  • Posted: 11/10/2015 18:50
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Have You In My Wilderness by Julia Holter
Release Date: September 25, 2015
Genre(s): Chamber Pop, Art Pop
Origin: United States

Julia Holter doing what she does best. There’s just something magical about Holter’s lyricism and her ability to wrap atmospheric textures to create a magical soundscape. Whilst Holter may not be particularly catchy she is still very memorable and here she has created one of my favorite pieces of music of 2015. The textures are sweeping, almost taking you under the waves of the ocean like a siren’s song. For me it does seem like in the last half-decade enigmatic art pop seems to be a genre that is showing us the early masterworks of the twenty-first century. The new movement of art pop seems to be distinctly modern yet also eerily familiar— it reminds me of chamber pop musicians from the mid-twentieth century as they evoked organic yet fluttering music but revamped with the current aesthetic of the indie pop of the current century. The combination creates a perfect synthesis of music that is immaculately produced and sonically intriguing.

The above is taken from my chart notes from my year in review and it still rings pretty sound as I look back at it. I would probably say that this is my favorite of the ‘trilogy’ of Julia Holter albums with it being the most delicate of them. Perhaps that’s why it does fairly well for me, in that it feels a lot more ethereal whilst not being too complex or too experimental. This record strikes me in the same way as Charlyn Marshall, Leslie Feist, and Fiona Apple’s later works do and that’s a very nice soundscape to feel as a comparison point for my feelings. I guess that is one of many reasons why this has struck me as a #1 contender for AOTY. Holter has really outdid herself here and I would not doubt if she kept this consistency throughout her succeeding releases as I don’t think staggering from this release is too plausible and I don’t see her getting stagnant either considering the depth of differences between the three releases.

Favorite Track:Lucette Stranded on the Island


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:46; edited 1 time in total
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undefined





  • #4
  • Posted: 11/10/2015 18:52
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Ooo reminds me I still need to listen to the new Holter. Nice write-up. Gives me high hopes
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mickilennial
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Poland

  • #5
  • Posted: 11/12/2015 01:55
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Phersu by Profusion
Release Date: September 22, 2015
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Origin: Italy

Not much has changed for Profusion in the course of three or so years since their former release, Rewotower, which is fairly good since the cacophony of progressive influences they got to work so well on that release. But this isn’t about my thoughts on that record but rather on this one which does well enough as a follow-up… at times. For those familiar with the standard that is progressive metal in 2015 you pretty much know what you are going to get— bombastic riffs, Dream Theater and Fates Warning influence in excess, soaring vocals, and attempted intellectualism in lyrical form in one way or another. However, if you like the sounds of Profusion’s contemporaries (Threshold, Affector, Suspyre, Myrath, etc.) then you are at least going to get an enjoyable experience like I have here. For me, despite enjoying this plenty I don’t feel like it is as well-executed as their previous effort that I mentioned earlier in my comments here. Perhaps this is because the cacophony isn’t so plentiful here as this one seems more oriented on being a symphonic prog band with chugging Threshold-esque riffwork. It’s good, though.

Favorite Track:Snooze


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:44; edited 2 times in total
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RepoMan





  • #6
  • Posted: 11/16/2015 17:25
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Gowi wrote:

Have You In My Wilderness by Julia Holter

I guess that is one of many reasons why this has struck me as a #1 contender for AOTY.



Me too! Very Happy

Here's an early Christmas present...


Sixteen Tambourines by The Three O'Clock

My latest obsession & I bet AC Newman was a huge fan. Please spread its greatness far & wide.
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mickilennial
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Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #7
  • Posted: 11/17/2015 08:22
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Imani, Vol. 1 by Blackalicious
Release Date: September 18, 2015
Genre(s): Conscious Hip Hop
Origin: United States

I didn’t even know they were working on a new release, so the return of Blackalicious sort of came out of nowhere or at least it did for me personally. Had I known this was going to be a thing I would’ve known this was something that would make my year without even listening to it due to Gab and Xcel’s track record, a track record that seems to come full circle with this release. Gab’s flow is still quirky and punchy yet carefully paced throughout with the production behind him seems as smooth and uplifting as ever. Lyrically it is in tone with what you can expect from a Blackalicious record with their quasi-spiritual edge and heartfelt (yet non-gritty) storytelling. For some it might come off as corny, so if others approach the record note that instead of hold it too much against the expressionism here. Even with that aside, there’s really some great songs on here and I think there are few I think are forgettable or even bad, a good thing for sure. If contemporary Busdriver is abstract hip-hop’s oddball genius going one-hundred miles per hour, Gab is the genre’s parallel and this release really comes together quite proficiently — creating quite possibly by my tastes one of the finer hip-hop releases of the year.

Favorite Track:Alpha and Omega

RepoMan wrote:
Here's an early Christmas present...


I'll see if I can listen to it soonish!


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:38; edited 1 time in total
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mickilennial
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Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #8
  • Posted: 11/19/2015 06:57
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Áldás by Dalriada
Release Date: September 7, 2015
Genre(s): Folk Metal, Progressive Metal
Origin: Hungary

It’s been a long time coming for Dalriada and with nearly eighteen years of experience being an persistent voice in the Hungarian metal scene it seems about time for the band to finally hit their stride. Starting with 2009’s Arany-Album or 2011’s Ígéret (depending on who you ask) what we have here in 2015 is a cumulation of all of the effort put in place since the release of those aforementioned albums. Áldás is ambitious, progressive, and impressive in almost every form as a folk metal record that feels wholly unique to the efforts by Dalriada. I absolutely love what I’m hearing and for a record that I hadn’t heard until fairly late in the year it comes down like a behemoth of a record for my tastes. I absolutely love the Hungarian folk influences, the balance of complexity and simplicity, as well as the instrumentation. The production is crisp and feels much more polished than previous records (not that they sounded muddy, either). For the metal fan; especially a folk metal one… this is blissful and wonderful to experience and comes out on top as one of metal’s best of 2015.

Favorite Track:Világfa


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:36; edited 1 time in total
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mickilennial
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Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #9
  • Posted: 11/25/2015 06:52
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Luminiferous by High On Fire
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Genre(s): Sludge Metal
Origin: United States

Anybody listening? This is what “true” Sludge Metal sounds like. It’s dirty, fast, stupid, drunk, and loud— a fact that is evident if anybody ever listening to staple classics of the genre like Iron Monkey or Eyehategod. Now I’m not saying Atmospheric Sludge or any variations of the form are bad or unorthodox or anything, I’m just embracing my love for classic balls against the wall Sludge, a destination which is my preference and one that seems dwindling in an era of more boring uncreative nonsense that thinks half-baked sludge with post-rock soundscapes makes a good record. High On Fire is not new to the scene and are actually capable of making classics of the genre (The Art of Self Defense) but this is the best sludge I’ve heard all year and it’s High On Fire’s best in about eight years. The first half of the album is a nonstop assault that is really fun to listen to with some new tricks in the band’s bag; though I will not lie here and say this— it’s pretty formulaic for High On Fire. But damn is it a good formula.

Favorite Track:Slave the Hive


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:34; edited 2 times in total
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mickilennial
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Age: 35
Location: Detroit
Poland

  • #10
  • Posted: 11/25/2015 10:01
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Kyrr by Kontinuum
Release Date: April 20, 2015
Genre(s): Progressive Metal
Origin: Iceland

This one kind of threw my morning for a loop so much I immediately PM’d someone I think this would really appeal to. What we have here is an interesting amalgamation of styles that sounds a little odd on paper. Kontinuum writes gothic progressive metal with skittering post-rock textures with post-punk vocals thrown on top. Generally I’m not a huge fan when prog metal goes the route of adding post-rock techniques and ideas, but this is one of the exceptions (there are others for me, as well) to the book by my ears. It’s a bit of an obscure record and I can see why given the lack of word of mouth even amongst my metal-centric acquaintances, but I just have to promote this as the first listen was so utterly engrossing. The worst thing I can say about it is “I’ve heard that riff before or I’ve heard that texture before” which is fairly decent. Might not be to some folks taste, but it’s most certainly making my top 100 of the year.

Favorite Track: “Undir þunnu skinni”


Last edited by mickilennial on 08/19/2017 10:31; edited 1 time in total
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