From the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota: Rocky's Log

[RockyRaccoon]

May 18th, 2016

I've been neglecting this a bit too long

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Ears by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

A very rich, thick instrumental album that has a whole lot going on. What's probably most impressive is that a lot of what Smith works with are acoustic instruments. There's a lot of saxaphones, flutes, clarinets, etc, and when she puts them all together, especially on album-closer "Existence In The Unfurling", they almost sound like electronic instruments. If you're not listening closely, you might actually mistake them for synths, but they're not. The electronic instruments she does use sound so natural, the fill out the album and if you weren't paying attention, you might not even know they're there. This is an album that's both fairly easy to listen to, but also rewarding to pay close attention to, it's a really well-composed album.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

May 19th, 2016

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Sleep Cycle by Deakin

This could possibly be the best album released by an Animal Collective member outside of the group. Deakin doesn't waste a single moment on this album, there's no self-indulgent experimentation or anything. This is a relatively calm, captivating album. It starts off with the reassuring and beautiful "Golden Chorus" and just keeps on going strong from there. Perhaps the most upbeat it gets is "Footy", an almost math-rock like tune. As a whole, this album is wonderful, the sum is greater than its parts, but the parts are pretty awesome too. It's an album that will keep you engaged and interested the whole way through.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Nat Love by Kweku Collins

If you just looked at the lyrics of this album, you'd probably think it's a musically dreary, sad album. Kweku Collins spends much of this album discovering himself, attempting to define who he is. It's a very intimate, personal album, and the music is reflective of that, but it's far from a sad, melancholic album. The beats are relatively minimal, and you can tell that Collins produced it all himself (save for one track) because it all fits with his lyrics so well. It's an incredibly personal, honest album, and that's perhaps the greatest thing about it, because it feels like you're getting a look into Collins' personality that you wouldn't otherwise, and it makes for a cool album.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

May 31st, 2016

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Script For A Jester's Tear by Marillion

I don't know why, but I was really feeling some prog this morning. Marillion has to be one of the best prog bands no one pays attention to, probably because they were most active in the 80s/90s when everyone had kind of gotten sick of progressive rock, but Marillion is fantastic all the same. The guitar playing is excellent, so emotive and simultaneously technically impressive. Is it kind of corny lyrically? Sure, but that's prog rock, and it's not distractingly bad, it's fine, but musically this album is fantastic. Between this and Misplaced Childhood (and even Brave), Marillion have made some of the best prog rock albums out there.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Side Pony by Lake Street Dive

Just posting exactly what I said in the ALC thread

I thought this was alright, relatively standard kind of southern soul/rock music, could've easily been a Grace Potter & The Nocturnals album and I don't think it'd sound any different. The vocals are great, lyrics leave a little bit to be desired (is there really a song dedicated to her ponytail?), but it's a fine album. Didn't blow me away, but there are a few songs that are catchy and enjoyable enough ("Mistakes" for example) that it was fairly interesting.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Ez Minzoku by FOODMAN

This is definitely interesting if nothing else. I kind of like the weirdness though, it doesn't come off as too weird, just strange enough to be interesting. I like the kind of bright MIDI keyboard sound too, I dunno, there's just something about it that's really cool. It's strange and different, but not so much that it's impossible to listen to
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Still sadly neglecting this......

June 17th, 2016

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The Ship by Brian Eno

Brian Eno is just incredible. The man has been making music for the better part of 40 years, essentially pioneering and entire genre of music, and is still creating great things. The Ship is a beautiful work, Eno has this incredible ability to make the swells just as important as the lulls, he puts care into each, emptiness is just as important as fullness. The whole album has this melancholic, despondent tone to it, it's an album that's supposed to be a musical analogy for terrible effects of consumerism, which makes the tone make sense. Overall, The Ship is yet another addition to the incredible catalog of music Brian Eno has amassed all these years.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Hold/Still by Suuns

This is what psychedelic music is supposed to be. I think psychedelic music has kind of turned into pop music that sounds like 60s psychedelic music. It's a little out there, but not too much that it isn't easily accessible to a festival crowd. I'm not knocking the genre, I like it, it has its place, but when I think of psychedelic music, this is what I think of. Experimental music that toys around with different sounds and genres and constantly throws you off balance. Suuns experiment with some krautrock and a little industrial and create a fascinating album here. The vocals rarely get loud, the music is constantly surprising you at each turn, it's a really interesting, engaging listen.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Each Other by Aidan Knight

This album is quick, Each Other only clocks in at about 33 minutes, but I don't really think it needs to be any longer. Aidan Knight's style is fairly simple, singer/songwriter folk-ish music. I say "ish" because there's more to this album than just a voice and an acoustic guitar, but folk is at the heart of this album. Knight's songwriting is pretty solid, and I think the best example of that is "What Light (Never Goes Dim", it's lyrically complex and musically warm, both complementing each other well. It's a well done album, it's not perfect, but it's definitely worth listening to.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

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Wode by Wode

This is how you do black metal. This album is six straight tracks of pure, ethereal, dark black metal power. It reminds me of Immortal or Sacramentum, in that when I heard it, I felt a similar reaction. I was like "oh damn, this is powerful, this is heavy". They're not trying to imitate the black metal greats, they tap into it, but they make their own way with this debut. On occasion, some of the songs go a little long, but in general, this is an awesome album and one of the better black metal albums I've heard this year.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart