[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/The_Ecstatic.jpg[/img]
[b]Mos Def - The Ecstatic[/b]
Fantastic album, 9/10
Supermagic is a personal favourite on the album.
[IMG]http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc364/kalskirata1/DieHardLE_Fronts.jpg[/IMG]
Michael Kamen- Die Hard 2 Disc Limited Edition Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (LaLaLand Records)-1988,2011
10/10
Absolutely fantastic soundtrack, sets up the tension and action beautifully.
[IMG]http://cdn.ghostly.com/images/artists/4/albums/380/GI155_1500x300_540_540.jpg[/IMG]
[URL="http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/matthew-dear-beams"]Matthew Dear - Beams[/URL]
[URL="http://soundcloud.com/ghostly/sets/matthew-dear-beams/"] Stream the bastard here. [/URL]
After 2010's dark and dance floor oriented [URL="http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/matthew-dear-black-city"]Black City[/URL], Dear ends his two years of teasing with Beams.
Now the EP's that led up to this were good for the most part.
Let me give my impressions of those first.
[quote]
[URL="http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/matthew-dear-headcage?utm_campaign=expressrex"] Headcage[/URL]
[IMG]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0023/2122/products/GI-151_1400x300_large.jpg?104759[/IMG]
The title track is the first track since Black City and it's smooth but still has that Dear quality but more polished though I think the lyrics are slightly campy.
The next three tracks "In The Middle ( I Met You There )","Street Song", and "Around A Fountain", are nice. Middle is the first collab Dear's done I believe and it's got this energy that seems to be between Dear's style in 2007 and 2010, personally I'd rather have Dear doing all of the vocals, but whatever.
Street Song is a nice song to put on the headphones, but it just doesn't stand out with everything else. If anything it sounds like a track that didn't make it to Black City
Now for me Fountain is the most forgettable of the tracks related to Beams. It's alright for Dear to get very experimental, but it doesn't work out too well here. All I can say is that he tried and it was ok.
Headcage is the only track that makes it to Beams.
Also here's the [URL=http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/matthew-dear-headcage-record-store-day?utm_campaign=expressrex]Record Store Day edition of Headcage[/url]
[img]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0023/2122/products/GI-151_1400x301_large.jpg?104759[/img]
This had a vinyl exclusive track called Flunker that I've only heard the sample of but I feel like it should have been on Beams as well.
[URL="http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/matthew-dear-her-fantasy"] Her Fantasy[/URL]
[IMG]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0023/2122/products/GI-156_1400x300_large.jpg?104759[/IMG]
On this EP you get Matthew Dear coming out of the darkness of Black City and coming into a brighter, more fuzzy and optimistic setting. Again these seem more suited for headphones.
the title track, Her Fantasy is Dear going experimental, but in a good way. The song is smooth and reminds you of better times while still being a trip.
Now the second track, Crimewaves...
[h2] GOD DAMN[/h2]
This song has to be one of Matthew Dear's best. It has, the sound, the voice, and the tone from him that I fell in love with back in 2007.
Crimewaves isn't on Beams though. Fuck me, right?
There's a remix of Her Fantasy there too but I must admit that I didn't finish it. Most people who remix Dear like to give his voice a higher pitch. I don't like it personally, Matthew Dear's voice is made of oil and sex and it should stay that way.
The final single, [URL="http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/earthforms"] Earthforms [/URL]
[IMG]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0023/2122/products/GI-163_1500x300_large.jpeg?104759[/IMG]
This song caught me off-guard, it's almost a straight-up rock song with a groovy bass line and Dear keeping his vocal style to offset such a change I suppose.
I personally love it and it's always nice to see artists branch out and not totally fuck up.
[/quote]
and now we get to the actual review my pretties.
Beams' first three tracks are all from the EP's and personally they seem kinda thrown in there to me, maybe because I played them to death already.
The next two tracks establish the feeling of the rest of the album, the looping vocals, the strange sounds, Matthew Dear goes full Talking Heads here.
but then the sixth track "Overtime" comes in and there's no guitars or keyboards. It sounds like Dear singing over something you could get on Newgrounds' audio section, it doesn't fit in and it's a little too off the deep end, I'd be find with it being on one of the EP's and then having Crimewaves replace it, but that doesn't happen. Fuck me, right? x2
The next five tracks/the rest of the album all flow into each other and you can get lost in it.
As with Black City, Beams ends on a hopeful note that just seems personal.
In the end only there's only one track in Beams that is lacking to me, the rest is good music to reflect on the deeds of summer.
9/10
[QUOTE=N-12_Aden;37325351][IMG]http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc364/kalskirata1/DieHardLE_Fronts.jpg[/IMG]
Michael Kamen- Die Hard 2 Disc Limited Edition Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (LaLaLand Records)-1988,2011
10/10
Absolutely fantastic soundtrack, sets up the tension and action beautifully.[/QUOTE]
Michael Kamen is awesome.
[b]Primal Scream - Screamadelica[/b]
[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/1q1fkp.jpg[/IMG]
So I avoided listening to this for ages in spite of it supposedly being fantastic since Movin' On Up and the hippie song titles really put me off.
Turns out the whole thing is actually pretty fucking good.
I found myself enjoying Movin' On Up considerably more in the context of the entire album albeit I'm still glad that pretty much all of the other songs sound nothing like it.
Other than that one bit of 70s Stones pastiche, the remainder of the album is a decidedly unique listen, mixing everything from classic rock and gospel music to indie pop and shoegaze to acid house and dance into a wonderfully warm and psychedelic pop record.
Summer music.
Choice cuts: Slip Inside This House, Higher Than The Sun
[b]8/10[/b]
[b]Primal Scream - Sonic Flower Groove[/b]
[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/10qxyyh.jpg[/IMG]
The band's first album and an album that the band seems to pretend doesn't exist, which is a shame because it's really not that bad at all.
Unlike Screamadelica, Sonic Flower Groove is straight-up 80s jangle pop, mellow and catchy and a bit melancholic.
The problem with the album, though, and the reason why it's merely decent, is that it's severely lacking in character, in anything that makes it stand out from the crowd.
The first track is absolutely fantastic, but everything else is just competently made and somewhat compelling, yet thoroughly disposable stuff.
I might be wrong and it might just be a grower album, but as it is I'd suggest that, other than the aforementioned first track, you're better off just listening to The Smiths some more.
Good fucking guitarist though.
Choice cut: Gentle Tuesday
[b]6/10[/b]
Imaginaerum was awesome imo, gotta bear in mind it's a soundtrack to a movie they're releasing
[QUOTE=killerteacup;37516998]Imaginaerum was awesome imo, gotta bear in mind it's a soundtrack to a movie they're releasing[/QUOTE]
It wasn't designed as a soundtrack, but they're making a movie based on the album.
Kinda like Pink Floyd The Wall.
[QUOTE=Hakita;37517929]It wasn't designed as a soundtrack, but they're making a movie based on the album.
Kinda like Pink Floyd The Wall.[/QUOTE]
It was designed with the movie in mind - according to Holopainen the movie is the ultimate goal of the work, so its more of a soundtrack that stands alone as a concept album also
Anyway it's meant to be a cross between the Wall and Moulin Rouge which sounds awesome, I can't wait
[QUOTE=killerteacup;37518308]It was designed with the movie in mind - according to Holopainen the movie is the ultimate goal of the work, so its more of a soundtrack that stands alone as a concept album also
Anyway it's meant to be a cross between the Wall and Moulin Rouge which sounds awesome, I can't wait[/QUOTE]
Well, youre most likely right, since I know jackshit about Nightwish.
Nightwish were like my 14 year old band
everyone was listening to blink, nope, not me, Nightwish
Also speaking of which the fonts are a lot easier to read now, good set of reviews there
[img]http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/n/nico/album-the-marble-index.jpg[/img]
woop
might be even better than desertshore? this one has more atmospherics. none of the songs are quite as biting and beautifully dark (i spent like 2 minutes searching for a better adjective for something between dark/cold/stabbing/bleak/germanic and just gave up) as Abschied or Janitor of Lunacy but this comes across as less urgent and climactic, but very entrancing and almost ethereal. almost. the last two songs make it.
[QUOTE=killerteacup;37520514]Nightwish were like my 14 year old band
everyone was listening to blink, nope, not me, Nightwish
Also speaking of which the fonts are a lot easier to read now, good set of reviews there[/QUOTE]
Well thank you.
When I was 14, I listened to a lot of what I listen to now :v:
Then again, my musical taste HAS changed a lot in the last 2 years...
I luckily shedded my awful bands from when I was 14 like atreyu and fallout boy and moved on to bigg and better things
[img]http://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/covers/gracewastelands.jpg[/img]
Pete Doherty - Grace Wastelands
9.2/10
Heard it several times before, but it's one of my favorite albums post 2000
[IMG]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o202/akayz_people/Toeachizown201.jpg[/IMG]
Dam-Funk - Toeachizown - 2009
[B]A[/B]
really well put together funk record, need to read more about this dude because he knows how to put together grooves that you can make you drown out in the sounds. It's a very long album, clocking in at 2 hours... but damn is it worth it to play it to just relax.
[img]http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Exivious-Exivious.jpg[/img]
[b]Exivious - Self titled[/b]
Genre: technical metal, progressive metal, jazz fusion/fusion metal/jazz metal
A very atmospheric instrumental prog metal album. It's basically Cynic's Focus without the vocals and less synths with high technicality. It doesn't wander too far into wank territory, but there is a good bit of it on here, so if that's not your thing you might not like this. Besides that, it's got great production. Some parts don't flow very well, but otherwise everything on here's great.
[b]8/10[/b]
[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/maiden1234/Metal_Church_Metal_Church-Front-www.jpg[/img]
[b]Metal Church - Self titled[/b]
Genre: heavy metal, speed metal, thrash metal
A great mix between thrash and speed metal.
[b]9/10[/b]
[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_C41TvMSa27Q/S_Fm8UjVNgI/AAAAAAAACO0/JXhKjgyBYho/s320/Coroner-MentalVortex.jpg[/img]
[b]Coroner - Mental Vortex[/b]
Genre: thrash metal, progressive thrash metal, technical thrash metal
Great thrash metal album. Full of awesome riffs.
[b]9/10[/b]
[img]http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/2098/cover_5842121322010.jpg[/img]
[B]Edge of Sanity - Crimson[/B]
Genre: Melodic death metal, progressive death metal
Just an overall great album. Has Opeth-esque vocals.
[B]9/10[/B]
[img]http://www.metal-archives.com/images/4/4/3/8/44380.jpg?5256[/img]
[b]Magnus - Scarlet Slaughterer[/b]
Genre: Thrash Metal, Death Metal
Some of the best thrash songs ever recorded. Really the only thing holding this album back is the awkward screams and the awful production.
[b]9/10[/b]
Am I the only one who posts here:V:
Haven't done this in a while
[img]http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/system/images/thumbs/www/articles_2010_09_30/Deerhunter_HalcyonDigest_300x300.jpg?1285877793[/img]
[B]Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest[/B] 5/10
Actually pretty underwhelmed by this. I heard Helicopter a while back and expected to love this album based on that song but the hazy, dreamy, melancholy sound doesn't carry over into the rest of the album. There's a few other good tracks but really the only song that ended up sticking out to me was Helicopter, which I do think is a fantastic song. Unfortunately the rest is just stripped-down indie-rock that doesn't really have much going for it. I'll definitely give this a few more spins and see if it grows but for now... Meh...
[img]http://media.metropulse.com/media/img/photos/2008/11/05/deerhunter_microcastle_t300.jpg[/img]
[B]Deerhunter - Microcastle[/B] 6.5/10
I found this more to my liking. It's not what I hoped for from Halcyon Digest but I definitely like the fuzzy psychedelic sound better for them. There isn't a single song that really blew me away like Helicopter but the overall sound on this album is just way less hollow sounding.
[release][h2]Brand New - Deja Entendu[/h2]
[img]http://blog.earbits.com/online_radio/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AlbumCover13-BrandNew-Entendu.gif[/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 album, it's sort of emo, with melodic hardcore and pop-punk influences. It's not easy for me to explain, but it's fucking good. Starting off with a short, melancholic song then going straight into a alt-rock song with a great bassline and some well-placed screaming in the chorus. The album has great lyrics, heavy and brooding, well delivered by the mix of singing, screaming, and hushed talk-singing. The instrumentation is regular alt/punk affair, good, but nothing very special, although there are some memorable basslines. This album is fairly different from the rest of Brand New's discography, considering it was their "experimental" album, departing from the pop-punk sound of their new album and heading towards the emo/melo-hardcore sound of their new albums, so it is a good first album if you're interested in this band, because of the mix between their lighter and heaver style.
I just fucking love this album, but no album's perfect, so I've rated it 4/5.
Standout songs from this album are:
[i]Tautou[/i]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTrgSER-klY[/media]
[i]Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't[/i]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwn0z_Bm8HQ[/media]
[i]guernica[/i]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGPaPBEpw0w[/media]
[/release]
[QUOTE=DesumThePanda;37978475]
Am I the only one who posts here:V:[/QUOTE]
i could would and should, but can't be arsed.
Gonna do Brand New's discography and some man overboard tomorrow
Imaginaerum - Easily the best Album i've heard. There are compilations, collections and so on that are better from across the world. But as a stand-alone album with no relation to anything outside, this is a full 10. I've never had a lot of non-sarcastic comments for Nightwish. But holy shit! Usually when anything tries to cover so much in so little space, all of it tends to fail. But everything passed with flying colours. Apart from weird chronology of the tracks, all of it is hit out of the park.
For reference. This album contains: Symphonic metal, Jazz Metal, Celtic folk Metal, Movie soundtrack sample, Theatrical music (for want of better definition), Poem readings. It's everywhere and it's never half-way there. Total presence.
[img]http://www.analogueseduction.net/user/DAFTPUNKDaft_Punk_-_Discovery.jpeg[/img]
[b]Daft Punk - Discovery[/b]
10/10
Basically, this album is flawless.
[QUOTE=Bomimo;37994208]Imaginaerum - Easily the best Album i've heard. There are compilations, collections and so on that are better from across the world. But as a stand-alone album with no relation to anything outside, this is a full 10. I've never had a lot of non-sarcastic comments for Nightwish. But holy shit! Usually when anything tries to cover so much in so little space, all of it tends to fail. But everything passed with flying colours. Apart from weird chronology of the tracks, all of it is hit out of the park.
For reference. This album contains: Symphonic metal, Jazz Metal, Celtic folk Metal, Movie soundtrack sample, Theatrical music (for want of better definition), Poem readings. It's everywhere and it's never half-way there. Total presence.[/QUOTE]
Imaginaerum was good but you're overhyping it just a teensy bit
[QUOTE=Bomimo;37994208] Jazz Metal.[/QUOTE]
care to explain?
[QUOTE=killerteacup;37994489]Imaginaerum was good but you're overhyping it just a teensy bit[/QUOTE]
Subjective. Don't be silly. No way as overhyped as much other stuff. I'm just amazed at how well the diversity was handled.
[editline]11th October 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=AK'z;37995220]care to explain?[/QUOTE]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElbyDZYeAzU[/media]
[QUOTE=Bomimo;37995371]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElbyDZYeAzU[/media][/QUOTE]
how is that jazz or metal at all.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=592S03_ZLzk[/media]
this is only thing I've heard that comes close to being "Jazz Metal".
[QUOTE=Bomimo;37994208]
For reference. This album contains: Symphonic metal, Jazz Metal, Celtic folk Metal, Movie soundtrack sample, Theatrical music (for want of better definition), Poem readings. It's everywhere and it's never half-way there. Total presence.[/QUOTE]
So basically the album contains Symphonic Metal and Jazz Metal, except it doesn't include Jazz Metal.
I'm completely fine with you loving this album, but its not some masterpiece of diversity.
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