[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9pq2ikaKNoU/STMwyeY7S2I/AAAAAAAAACc/ARFgfTfY_-g/s320/loveoflife.jpg[/img]
[B]Swans - Love of Life[/B] 8.5/10
While it's pretty apparent from the get-go that this album just builds on the previous album, Swans do implement some more experimentation and just, in general, some new sounds on this album. To me it felt like they were holding a little something back on White Light, but whatever it was is unleashed on Love of Life and it ends up sounding much less subdued because of it. I like to think of it as something of a "White Light: Unleashed". Essentially, this album captures the consistency and atmosphere of White Light and adds some more kick to it.
Standout Tracks: Love of Life, Amnesia, Identity, No Cure For The Lonely, and the untitled "(-)" interlude tracks which add some interesting ambient/noise flair to the album.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p238/michaeldustdevil/oXXabQ.jpg[/img]
[B]Swans - The Great Annihilator[/B] 9/10
The culmination of the sound on the last two albums. Swans deliver track after track of some of their best material so far at this point in their career. While sound-wise it is pretty much the same deal as the last two albums with a few hints of what's to come, everything about this album just hits it's mark. It would have been the perfect swan song for Swans (seriously no pun intended, I just typed that without thinking about it...) if it hadn't been for what happened next.
Too many good tracks to do standout tracks for this one, there's hardly a weak song on this.
[release][h2]La Dispute: Vancouver[/h2]
[img]http://images.wikia.com/lyricwiki/images/4/45/La_Dispute_-_Vancouver.jpg[/img]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/LxjRm.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/LxjRm.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/LxjRm.png[/IMG][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/LxjRm.png[/IMG]
This was La Dispute's first full-length album, and it shows. The album has a very raw, intense sound, it's more hardcore than the later albums, and on the whole is much more frantic. Jordan Dreyer's unique vocal style (that makes him sound on the verge of tears), is much less pronounced, which may be good or bad, depending on what you think of his current vocals. The lyrics are standard hardcore affair, trying to be poetic but ultimately failing, but they are more successful at this than other hardcore bands. The actual music is very interesting, with the post-hardcore nature of the band resulting in the music being hard-hitting yet somehow cultured, if you are not a fan of feedbacking guitars, this is not an album for you as La Dispute love their feedback. Standout songs would be [b]Future Wars[/b] and [b]The Surgeon and The Scientist[/b], with the worst track being [b]To Withstand The Force of Storms[/b]
[quote][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5K9mq-ieY[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzkHSdzt2rg[/media][/quote]
[/release]
I thought Wildlives was very poetic. The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit always hits me with the good lyrics "Young bodies, warm skin; perfect symmetry." "And time can be such a funny thing, always moving to the future. Glorifying the past and amplifying the pain in frames and glass."
good shit
[QUOTE=Take_Opal;36698606]I thought Wildlives was very poetic. The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit always hits me with the good lyrics "Young bodies, warm skin; perfect symmetry." "And time can be such a funny thing, always moving to the future. Glorifying the past and amplifying the pain in frames and glass."
good shit[/QUOTE]
I agree, but I was talking about Vancouver, which is more of a hardcore album than a Post-Hardcore album.
Steven Seagal - Songs From The Crystal Cave
[img]http://turntabling.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Steven-Segal-bad-album-covers-Songs-from-the-Crystal-Cave.jpg[/img]
The songs that I like, I really really enjoy, and the songs that I dislike, I really really dislike. You either love or hate a lot of this music, because it varies so much in style and motif (Ranging from arabic to latin-american). Overall though I love his smooth vocals and groovy guitar playing, a pleasant surprise given his macho movie appearances.
8/10
[QUOTE=ThatCrazyGmanV2;36698787]I agree, but I was talking about Vancouver, which is more of a hardcore album than a Post-Hardcore album.[/QUOTE]
Nah it's post-hardcore through and through, it's just louder and more raw. If anything Wildlife is just less post-hardcore.
I party agree, but due to the rawer, louder sound and less cultured screaming I consider it more hardcore than Wildlife, which I think is more post-hardcore due to the more bluesy, somewhat progressive nature of the album.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AW8sE.jpg[/img]
One of the dumbest collection of songs I've ever heard
Half of the lyrics are someone yelling "WAKA FLOCKA FLAME"
The other half are someone yelling "BRICKSQUAAAAAAAAAAAD"
I'm also pretty sure every song uses the same beat
10/10 I loved every second
[img]http://theindiespiritualist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Eyehategod-Dopesick-467408_jpg-1246435270.jpg[/img]
immense music. Eyehategod shame so many bands who pretend to be heavy or brutal. wretched vocals and pounding post-sabbath riffing. 7/10
[img]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L3Tu2PVbMOI/hqdefault.jpg[/img]
and this is the antithesis to eyehategod! soothing and breezy twee pop, with a bit of surf or something. I love hearing Rose Melberg's voice, and the music suits the mood well. unfortunately it's a bit forgettable, for now it just sounds like really nice background music, only for twee/girl-band fans. a better Melberg project is Tiger Trap, which is much more exciting and adorable. 5/10
[IMG]http://theneedledrop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/KIDS-AND-EXPLOSIONS-SHIT-COMPUTER.jpg[/IMG]
Shit Computer by Kids & Explosions
8.5/10
A wonderfully put together sample-based album, focusing on powerful, yet light-hearted beats. Worth a listen.
[img]http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/ncnu0320/NamieAmuro04.jpg[/img]
安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro) - Concentration 20 - 1997
[B]A-[/B]
Dance pop was very prominent in the 90s, in other words.. they don't make it like they used to. That's probably because people got sick of it becoming "same-y" and not moving forward much. That's why in this day we're left with the hard job to search for these gems.
I've grown fond of JPop in the last few months, it still holds strong as a genre that derives from Dance Pop tbh.
This is one of the early ones that saw great success but never sees any light today. There's influences of synth, rock-based funk and 80s jpop seemingly. Its main strengths here are how vibrant the grooves are, even for today.
The 90s were a pivotal time from the old and the new, and there's so much that got forgotten about, I think it's time to rediscover this stuff.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/thumb/5/55/Erotica.jpg/480px-Erotica.jpg[/img]
Madonna - Erotica - 1992
[B]A[/B]
Same story with this one, it's a classic in dance pop music and due to the fact that it got buried in the past, people kind of forget to shed some light on this thing.
However, she's still one of the most popular figures in pop music so it's fair to say nothing of hers gets hidden away.
This record is a classic example of using various styles in order to push a record. There's bits of lounge, funk and other techniques. She does seem sex obsessed, which is okay and pretty necessary tbh. I thought her 80s work was a bit flim-flam and didn't really convince me that she truly cared all that much about the subject matter. Here though, I think she laid down what her strengths were.
In the 90s, she was a rock in dance music imo.
[img]http://assets2.subpop.com/assets/images/main/4516.jpg[/img]
[B]Blitzen Trapper - Furr (2008)[/B]
[i]Furr[/i] is an incredibly upbeat album from the Oregon based quintet Blitzen Trapper that seeks to blend Country and Folk with a poppy attitude and produces a solid release. The record announces itself well in the opening track, [i]Sleepytime in the Western World[/i], the songs that follow announce themselves in a similar fashion. Loud but welcoming.
The albums follows a theme of nature and contains various ''woody'' imagery littered amongst its tracklist. This theme and the imagery is emphasised by the album's aesthetics on the album cover, the band's name seemingly carved into a tree adorns the front and the face of a bear is carved onto the opposite side. The third song is where the album begins to truly take off and is named [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtlcHiSHTE"]Furr[/URL] which follows a teenager's journey into a forest and evolves into a folkish tale of transformation and love. The album maintains this poppy folk sound until it begins to slow down in its seventh track, [i]Black River Killer[/i], a tale of murder, an escape from the law and a search for redemption in the state of Oregon.
The album starts bearing the fruits of its country influence in [i]Not Your Lover[/i] onwards, the only exceptions to this blossoming of country are the ninth and tenth tracks, [i]Love U[/i] and [i]War on Machines[/i] (respectively) which revisit the folk sound that kicked off the album.
Furr is a mainly acoustic record, the tracks are fuelled by fine guitar work and find themselves occasionally intertwined with some well placed synth. The synths are a fine addition and help to add some variation and a modern twist to an album that steeps itself in influences of Folk and Country. To wrap this up, I give this album a solid 4 stars for it's stand out tracks and it use of themes and imagery, the one thing the album lacked was consistency, it feels patchy at times and some songs can take a while to grow on you. Despite it's shortcomings is is definitely one to be replayed, especially on an Autumn's dusk.
[b]Final Rating:[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ohEWC.png[/img]
[IMG]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWBOyFmycPE/TjSjq1yhGvI/AAAAAAAAAm4/cskMRlVFqME/s400/MF+Doom-+Operation+Doomsday.jpg[/IMG]
[B]MF Doom - Operation Doomsday[/B]
The rapper's persona as a supervillian really adds to the lyrical style, and makes him really stand out to other rap artists - even to other underground rappers. The use of skits that sample vintage Dr. Doom cartoons also really add to the atmosphere.
[U]Highlights:[/U]
Doomsday - The chill beat and vocals from Pebbles the invisible girl really make this the best song on the album, and so do the obscure yet clever lyrics and the one-of-a-kind rapping style.
Rhymes Like Dimes - Love the psychedelic feel to the song from the sample, and the complex, fast-paced rapping really goes in together very well.
Who You Think I Am - The aggressive, hardcore rap lyrics to the song are pretty sick, and all of the featured rappers really make the song.
Worst Song: The Mic - The drums are very obnoxious and unfitting, and practically make it sound pretty poor. The only weak song on the whole album.
[B]Rating: 9.5/10[/B]
[img]http://rjominn.is/wp-content/static/2010/11/avey-tare-down-there-cover-art.jpg[/img]
Avey Tare - Down There
I really like this album, I thought it would sound like Animal Collectives later albums, but it has a totally different feel to it. Some tracks like "Cemetaries" take you to a
swamp like feel, almost haunting. This track reminds me a lot of "Loch Raven" from Animal Collectives "Feels" album, and that is one of my favourite albums.
Avey Tare makes subtle noise into great music, that's why I really like this album. My favourite tracks are "Ghost of Books", "Cemetaries", "Oliver Twist"
and "Heather in the Hospital".
8.5/10
[img_thumb]http://f0.bcbits.com/z/40/45/4045449595-1.jpg[/img_thumb]
[B]kitty pryde - haha im sorry[/B]
It's satirical bratwave hipster-hop. All of her work is full of references to indie music and culture staples and her persona is easily the most interesting out of any rapper out there. For some, it will be quite an adjustment and if you guys hate it, then I do not blame you because it isn't for everyone (just for people who you know... enjoy fun things).
Also everyone really does only listen to her music cause they kinda wanna fuck her.
[B]10/10
[/B]Also sample:
[video=youtube;XcvSQ5m05bY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcvSQ5m05bY[/video]
I may just go make a thread about her.
[QUOTE=Steel_Bottoms;36948194][IMG]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWBOyFmycPE/TjSjq1yhGvI/AAAAAAAAAm4/cskMRlVFqME/s400/MF+Doom-+Operation+Doomsday.jpg[/IMG]
[B]MF Doom - Operation Doomsday[/B]
The rapper's persona as a supervillian really adds to the lyrical style, and makes him really stand out to other rap artists - even to other underground rappers. The use of skits that sample vintage Dr. Doom cartoons also really add to the atmosphere.
[U]Highlights:[/U]
Doomsday - The chill beat and vocals from Pebbles the invisible girl really make this the best song on the album, and so do the obscure yet clever lyrics and the one-of-a-kind rapping style.
Rhymes Like Dimes - Love the psychedelic feel to the song from the sample, and the complex, fast-paced rapping really goes in together very well.
Who You Think I Am - The aggressive, hardcore rap lyrics to the song are pretty sick, and all of the featured rappers really make the song.
Worst Song: The Mic - The drums are very obnoxious and unfitting, and practically make it sound pretty poor. The only weak song on the whole album.
[B]Rating: 9.5/10[/B][/QUOTE]
i liked Mmm... Food a lot more than this.
[img_thumb]http://www.mostlyjunkfood.com/treats/2012/07/frankocean-ChannelOrange1.jpg[/img_thumb]
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Honestly, Frank Ocean is my favorite crew member from OFWGKTA, his R&B style may not be what a lot of people are into, but I think his music is just pretty damn good he has a nice sound to his voice and interesting lyrics. The album starts out strong with a simple intro consisting of various video game samples, including the PS1 intro sound which was a nostalgia trip in and of itself. It leads into some great songs, I wondered why the hell John Mayer was on the album but I found out he just used some instrumental stuff for that track, it's honestly one of the best albums I've listened to this year from Super Rich Kids with Earl Sweatshirt to Pilot Jones, the album didn't disappoint.
Rating: 9/10
Even though I don't think arbitrary ratings really matter.
The Queenstons - Figurehead Remastered
[img_thumb]http://f0.bcbits.com/z/42/45/4245083562-1.jpg[/img_thumb]
This one is probably my favorite Lapfox album right now. Easy 9/10. The vocal processing might annoy some people but it kinda grows on you over time. The instrumentals are great and it includes some extra stuff, vocal tracks, other remasters, etc.
I'm doing the SWANS mission too. And to be quite honest [sp]I like it[/sp]. So here are small reviews of the albums I've heard thus far.
[img]http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/s/swans-filth(3).jpg[/img]
[b] SWANS - Filth[/b]
Genre: Industrial, chunky-stuff.
One of the most brutal and violent sounding albums I have ever heard. Very unnerving and almost frightening. I feel like it could be one of those albums you show people who listen to "brutal" bands like Cannibal Corpse. It's a very simple album in that it's really just violent sound after violent sound turning into a rhythm over Michael Gira's guttural vocals. It's really great.
[b]8/10[/b] - Does what it tries to achieve and I see no flaws for it.
Highlights: Stay Here (an amazing track), Freak, Weakling, Sensitive Skin
[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MLJyBY5jiek/TXHh4cYstfI/AAAAAAAAAac/SEFh0iRGgkY/s1600/swans%2Bcop.jpeg[/img]
[b]SWANS - Cop[/b]
Genre: Industrial, less chunky
After being really into Filth this was a little uninteresting. Nothing really stood out. I feel it's one I should probably go back and listen to at another time, but at first glance it didn't stick with me at all.
[b]3/10[/b] - There were some songs I liked, but I can't really remember why.
Highlights: Half-Life, Cop, Thug
[img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7mkwwvBUb1r6v6bdo1_1343066762_cover.jpg[/img]
[b]SWANS - Greed[/b]
Genre: Gothic-like, Industrial, I don't even know
I had a similar time with Greed as I did with Cop. It was good, but a lot of it was forgettable and just repetitive noise. It seems that I liked the first half of the album a lot more than I did the last portion. There's a lot more piano on this album and with the addition of a female band member, waling. It's got a spooky atmosphere I'll have to go back and listen to it.
[b]6/10[/b]
Highlights: Fool, Anything For You, Nobody
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0avCQrmx51M/ThE92M4jT2I/AAAAAAAAANY/qat45760PiU/s1600/2720183-swans-holy-money.jpg[/img]
[b]SWANS - Holy Money[/b]
Genre: Gothic-like, Industrial, I still don't even know.
This and Greed go hand in hand. Kind of Brother/Sister. Holy Money, I think is a lot better. It's got stronger atmosphere than Greed and it's a lot more memorable. There's still a lot of usage with piano and wailing. Jarboe has an entire song in which she sings and it's really ominous and desperate sounding, I like it a lot. "A Screw (Holy Money)" is a great and disturbing song about depraving yourself for money in very unflattering ways, it's also very funky. The closing song "Coward" is interesting to say the least with it's lyrics like "Stick a knife in me and walk away." and "I'm worthless" repeated over and over. Holy Money is a very loathsome album and it's one of my favorite SWANS albums so far.
[b]8/10[/b]
Highlights: A Hanging, You Need Me, A Screw (Holy Money), Coward
[img]http://expresswaytoyourskull.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/164326976_ce582bf46a.jpg[/img]
[b]SWANS - Children of God[/b]
Genre: Everything old and new
This is really a culmination of all previous SWANS stuff and their matured sound. It's as disturbing and dark as their previous albums but it's a lot cleaner and rhythmic. It's an easier listen but the song writing isn't poppy for that, it's just better. Ideas and atmosphere are conveyed a lot more. I'm starting to notice a theme of spiritual struggle with Michael Gira with this album. Children of God is their longest album so far and I think it might be their best as well, so far.
[b]8/10[/b]
Highlights: New Mind, In My Garden, Trust Me, Beautiful Child, Blind Love, Our Love Lies, Blackmail
I wanted to review Soundtracks For The Blind and Swans Are Dead soon but I've listened to them both a few times and I've still barely scratched the surface. Cool to see you're taking on their daunting discography too.
I heard good things of The Seer leak and it got me excited but I thought I should listen to their history first to really appreciate it. I did it with Boris this year too.
[img]http://img.icili.com/mule/2902605/2902605_1.jpg[/img]
Touhou instrumental funk metal (which is actually much better than it sounds)
There's really not much to say about this. It's a touhou metal album, which will put people off straight away, but it's actually pretty good funk metal (although it loses the funk influences a little in the middle)
7/10
[QUOTE=Take_Opal;36957862]I heard good things of The Seer leak and it got me excited but I thought I should listen to their history first to really appreciate it. I did it with Boris this year too.[/QUOTE]
I should really listen to Boris, I listened to like the first 10-20 minutes of Absolutego and didn't really get it but I've loved what I've heard from Flood, Feedbacker, and Pink, which admittedly hasn't been much.
[QUOTE=hugarh;36958214][img]http://img.icili.com/mule/2902605/2902605_1.jpg[/img]
Touhou instrumental funk metal (which is actually much better than it sounds)
There's really not much to say about this. It's a touhou metal album, which will put people off straight away, but it's actually pretty good funk metal (although it loses the funk influences a little in the middle)
7/10[/QUOTE]
You should've mentioned that it has a metal version of Miles Davis' So What.
I'm probably going to give this album a listen at some point.
[QUOTE=rokknroll4;36960645]I should really listen to Boris, I listened to like the first 10-20 minutes of Absolutego and didn't really get it but I've loved what I've heard from Flood, Feedbacker, and Pink, which admittedly hasn't been much.[/QUOTE]
should have got advice for how to start listening to them instead of jumping head first into a realm of slugs fucking each other :-)
[QUOTE=AK'z;36960980]should have got advice for how to start listening to them instead of jumping head first into a realm of slugs fucking each other :-)[/QUOTE]
Oh I know, my first experience with Absolutego was a random misclick on youtube or something.
[QUOTE=WeekendWarrior;36946710][img]http://assets2.subpop.com/assets/images/main/4516.jpg[/img]
[B]Blitzen Trapper - Furr (2008)[/B]
[i]Furr[/i] is an incredibly upbeat album from the Oregon based quintet Blitzen Trapper that seeks to blend Country and Folk with a poppy attitude and produces a solid release. The record announces itself well in the opening track, [i]Sleepytime in the Western World[/i], the songs that follow announce themselves in a similar fashion. Loud but welcoming.
The albums follows a theme of nature and contains various ''woody'' imagery littered amongst its tracklist. This theme and the imagery is emphasised by the album's aesthetics on the album cover, the band's name seemingly carved into a tree adorns the front and the face of a bear is carved onto the opposite side. The third song is where the album begins to truly take off and is named [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtlcHiSHTE"]Furr[/URL] which follows a teenager's journey into a forest and evolves into a folkish tale of transformation and love. The album maintains this poppy folk sound until it begins to slow down in its seventh track, [i]Black River Killer[/i], a tale of murder, an escape from the law and a search for redemption in the state of Oregon.
The album starts bearing the fruits of its country influence in [i]Not Your Lover[/i] onwards, the only exceptions to this blossoming of country are the ninth and tenth tracks, [i]Love U[/i] and [i]War on Machines[/i] (respectively) which revisit the folk sound that kicked off the album.
Furr is a mainly acoustic record, the tracks are fuelled by fine guitar work and find themselves occasionally intertwined with some well placed synth. The synths are a fine addition and help to add some variation and a modern twist to an album that steeps itself in influences of Folk and Country. To wrap this up, I give this album a solid 4 stars for it's stand out tracks and it use of themes and imagery, the one thing the album lacked was consistency, it feels patchy at times and some songs can take a while to grow on you. Despite it's shortcomings is is definitely one to be replayed, especially on an Autumn's dusk.
[b]Final Rating:[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ohEWC.png[/img][/QUOTE]
"Love U" is incredible. Great album. Also this thread seems to have improved vastl since I was here last.
[QUOTE=AK'z;36960980]should have got advice for how to start listening to them instead of jumping head first into a realm of slugs fucking each other :-)[/QUOTE]
[t]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9636/borish.jpg[/t]
This is relevant
[QUOTE=hugarh;36961422][t]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9636/borish.jpg[/t]
This is relevant[/QUOTE]
And it is relevant to my interests as well.
Haven't really given Boris a chance yet.
[QUOTE=Hakita;36961440]And it is relevant to my interests as well.
Haven't really given Boris a chance yet.[/QUOTE]
Basically, anything on the left side of that is pretty easy to get into, but the stuff on the right is harder, and the order it gives is a pretty good one
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