The Great Revisitation Project: 2023-24 Edition - Music Diaries

Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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Feels Like You by Whirr

December 25, 2023

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This album is just so sexy. Maybe the still from Eyes Wide Shut for the album cover forces the listener to view this album through a lustful lens, but my god it is a sexy album. The breathy vocals and nocturnal feel really emphasizes the romantic and lustful tone atmosphere. Feels Like You is crushingly heavy as well, which I will always take in a shoegaze record. The bad news is that this revisit made me realize how a reasonable portion of the album is forgettable. The highs on here are serious highs. This includes "Mellow," "Younger Than You," "Rose Cold," and "Rental." But the other tracks, while I legitimately enjoy the listens, just don't stick in my mind. I also think some of the more upbeat tracks, like "Wavelength," feel somewhat out of place. The pace of this album should've been kept slow and steady. But overall, this does merit a favorable rating.

Rating: 79/100
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Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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Bigtyme Recordz Vol II: All Screwed Up by DJ Screw

January 1, 2024

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Guess I hit the ground running with some positive reviews. Starting off the new year with my 2nd perfect rating.

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All he did was slow down the music and add a skipping effect. It's such a simple thought, yet DJ Screw is so god damn brilliant for making headway into this sound. Bigtyme Vol II: All Screwed Up is the most well known of his mixes, and for good reason. Perfect track selection of songs that don't seem like the biggest songs of their respective artists, but he brings each of these tracks into a new light. Seriously, slowing it down alone totally changes the meaning of these songs. The intro songs feel so damn sinister when slowed. And the three track run starting from "Tell Me Something Good," to "Inside Looking Out," to "My Mind Went Blank" is a real stunner. And when "My Mind Went Blank" does come on... holy god… just unreal. Just compare this version to the original. Slowing it down alone just adds more layers of emotion and makes it much more atmospheric. This release is such a druggy, psychedelic masterpiece. And let's not neglect DJ Screw's ability to seamlessly transition the tracks as well. This is truly a DJ mix. Honestly, it makes me wish the standard for rap releases in general is to have all tracks flow together like this. Gives it more of a stream of conscious feel. I don't know what else to say other than this tape is just perfect.

Rating: 100/100 Applause

That's enough for now so I don't trigger any spam warnings. Still catching up what has been posted on RYM.
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dihansse

Gender: Male
Age: 60

I really get your comment at the beginning of this thread: why not listening more to the older albums you already discovered instead of trying all the time to discover new ones: because you think there might be some real gem out there that you will forever regret if you don't discover it (of course you can't regret not knowing something you don't know Twisted Evil

).
This only happens once in a while but the ones that do come make it all worthwhile. Btw that 'you' stands for 'me'.

I liked your shoegaze comments: Lush should indeed receive more credit.

Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

dihansse wrote:

I really get your comment at the beginning of this thread: why not listening more to the older albums you already discovered instead of trying all the time to discover new ones: because you think there might be some real gem out there that you will forever regret if you don't discover it (of course you can't regret not knowing something you don't know Twisted Evil

).
This only happens once in a while but the ones that do come make it all worthwhile. Btw that 'you' stands for 'me'.

I liked your shoegaze comments: Lush should indeed receive more credit.

Thank you for the kind words! That's exactly right regarding regretting possible missed discoveries. Sorry for the late reponse!
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Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

Floating Into The Night by Julee Cruise

January 6, 2024

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I forgot to document this album. I listened to it on January 6. I am really bad about keeping pace for this project. In my free time, I just haven't been in the music-binging groove. I either hang out with my girlfriend, play video games with friends, or do some work. This project will likely take much longer than I anticipated. Anyways, here the review for another perfect album:

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The definitive ambient pop album. It's gentle, ethereal, atmospheric, and angelic. I love the soft jazz instrumentals and I'm impressed with how enveloping it feels despite being fairly minimal in its ensemble. Julee Cruise's vocal style is simply perfect for this genre. I also think the sequencing on this album is perfect. "Floating" is a perfect intro and "Falling" is a perfect follow up. "The World Spins" is a stunner of a finale. The one-two punch of "Mysteries of Love" and "Into the Night" is breathtaking. If I'm driving at night, there's no album I think of to listen to other than this masterpiece. It's so effective for nocturnal listenings, that I have really a hard time choosing a different album. I think this merits a perfect album rating.

Rating: 100/100 Applause

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Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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Microgravity by Biosphere

January 14, 2024

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I try not to get so caught up in average ratings because I don't get super swayed by other people's opinions (sure, when a ton of people are praising an album I will likely check it out, but beyond that I don't really care about the overall ratings for albums), but this average rating as of January 14, 2024 kind of baffles me. It's 1991 and Microgravity sounds fairly ahead of its time to my ears. Why does this album not even crack the top 20 ambient techno albums ever? It's quite effective on delivering its intended sound: you get atmospheric, spacey ambient techno that invokes satellite imagery in your mind. It's very clean and refreshing to listen to. My biggest critique is that I wish it was ear-wormy, along with a couple lackluster moments. But I don't think there's anything on this album that prevents higher acclaim from others. The only reason I can think of that prevents this album from climbing the charts is people compare it to Biosphere's masterpiece, Substrata, but still it shouldn't affect it that much. Who knows. I can space out to music like this for days...

Rating: 85/100
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Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: ...Sweatshirt

January 14, 2024

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I listened to the shit out of this album when I was in college. Admittedly, I haven't revisited it much since maybe my junior(?) year of college. This was a needed revisit because my opinion of it was starting to slip. Incredibly fine abstract hip hop with impressively atmospheric beats that give a "tape music" vibe. I love how depressive the instrumentals are and how spiteful Earl's flow is. Certainly the battles he's fought are his own and likely very different from mine, but I certainly have periods in my life where I had that bitterness and I can't help but have that sympathy when I listen. It's such a deep pit to fall in when you have that mix of depression and anger/frustration.

I think the real show-stealing song on this album is "Grief." It's so impressive on multiple fronts: you have the beautiful instrumental which borderlines ambient music; Earl's ability to rap over said ambient beat; the powerful penmenship by Earl. A perfect song. When people talk about Earl, I think about this album first before even his most acclaimed album, Some Rap Songs. It still captures that young wisdom Earl can partially credit his initial rise to fame to, yet it is depressive that represents by the most acclaimed aspects of his career. It's one of those underground hip hop albums that will be timeless and acclaimed without unnecessary haters because it's not isolated on the top of the ranks.

Rating: 93/100
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...and for dessert!

Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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Im Wald by Paysage d'Hiver

January 17, 2024

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Like I said with Schattengang, winter storm? Single digit temperatures? Blizzard? Throw on the Paysage d'Hiver. I was lucky with the luxury of time this evening and the weather is perfect, so I wanted to take advantage of his longest release: Im Wald.

Impressive on multiple fronts. First, let's talk about the obvious: the duration. Two fucking hours of relentless atmospheric black metal. And to make every track feel needed or, at the very least, enjoyable? My god, what an impressive feat. Second, the legitamate intensity of the record. Paysage d'Hiver is no stranger to aggressive black metal, but damn does he sound mad as hell on some of these tracks. I love his vocal performance, sounds just enough human, yet distant enough for the atmospheric facade. Third, the production quality. The low fidelity is perfect. While it's a bit better in quality than his demos (and this, according to his release notes, is his first "studio album"), it's still very much a lofi black metal record. The slight higher fidelity allows for me to make out the riffs better. Lastly, the setting. Of all black metal themes out there, including, but not limited to, satanic, anti-religious, war, violence, spiritual, werewolves, vampires, depressive, etc., I think nature-themed black metal is my favorite. Winter-themed, specifically, is the bull's eye. I think it encapsulates the spirit of the genre perfectly: cold, atmospheric, relentless, aggressive. Im Wald seems to also encapsulate Paysage d'Hiver's career. It's got nearly all features of his career, from wintry ambient, to relentless black metal, to nature records. Only thing missing is the death doom moments of his earliest releases.

What prevents me from giving this a perfect score may surprise you. I wish it was longer! "But Blairski, it's already 2 hours long! How could you want it to be longer?" Two reasons: One, it's just that good. Two, I want even more ambient! This dude made some killer ambient tracks, such as "Atmosphäre" from Schattengang. Throw in 40 extra minutes of ambient. Make the album fill two entire CDs, I don't give a fuck. Make two more ambient tracks, each a monolithic 20 minutes long; challenging Burzum's 25 minute piece from Filosofem, but make it better. I don't think it's unreasonable to recommend Im Wald as a starting point for Paysage d'Hiver since it's such a monumental project that covers a lot of ground. Not only that, but it's definitely one of my favorite black metal releases ever.

Rating: 96/100

And now we are all caught up! Anything past this entry is up to date with the RYM list!
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...and for dessert!

Anti
I Dream of Drone

Age: 28
Location: Somewhere in Ohio

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Paysage d'Hiver by Paysage d'Hiver

January 20, 2024

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I am just taking advantage of this winter storm because the rest of winter has been 40 degrees Farenheit and I want to savor legitamate winter weather by having Paysage d'Hiver be the soundtrack. I have to agree with the famous ElectricLizard on here. This album, while a lot of the appeal comes from how cold it feels, is so angry. Even after getting done with Im Wald, this one still carries a level of hate that elevates itself to another love. The storm hits you almost immediately with intense, lofi blasts of fierce atmospheric black metal. Wintherr's screams are practically screeches-- he sounds so sinister. I have no idea what he's saying and the lyrics aren't available like for Im Wald, but this album seems like a statement of who the main figure of the Paysage d'Hiver saga is. Maybe like an origin story? I don't know, but the mystery behind is makes this record so appealing.

The low fidelity also makes this record feel even more icy vs. a snow-filled experience. I think the synth work is phenomenal. I love synths in an atmospheric black metal record. It can elevate the record and make it feels something transcendental. It certainly works for this album, especially on the final track "Der Weg." Another near-perfect black metal release. I do prefer the sound of Im Wald and its commanding duration for escapism, but this slice of ice self-titled album is on the same tier of wintry brilliance.

Rating: 95/100
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CharlieBarley

Gender: Male
Age: 48
Location: Mount Olympus

Great thread Bro.
Will have to check out Danny Brown. I like Herbie Hancock. I agree that Souvlaki and the Julee Cruise albums are great. Mellow.