★★★☆☆ = Good!
robotic g-funk techno
daft punk lost in deep space
Looking past the cheesy voice and narrative stuff is a set of great electro productions. Maintains a g-funk flavor and techno thing at times.
https://www.discogs.com/Space-Dimension-Controller-Welcome-To-Mikrosector-50/release/4343221
Spotify
Schema Info
★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine
electro semi dreamy, fun and easy
Blissed-out moonlight electro
The first half is OK, took me a few listens to warm up to but it improved with time. Things take a positive turn at shifting sands – stretches our gets a little more groovy.
Honestly it's fine record but nothing worth holding onto.
https://www.discogs.com/Mr-Beatnick-The-Synthetes-Trilogy/release/5046503
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MTnH1e5Rs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWFwyP7llKo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNuP-rLb6Uo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK2lVoimj70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_2ni6lJaI
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★☆☆ = Good!
edgy pop punk alt indie rock
Live show, small club
Like it, has an accessible popiness to it while still maintaining an precise edgey quickness (think agile backbeat and little guitar licks ). She's got an art pop thing with her singing that adds a curious dimension. Discogs tags this as experimental which I think is a stretch but it's exploratory.
https://www.discogs.com/Marnie-Stern-The-Chronicles-Of-Marnia/release/4378698
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8-pS1yXR8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P5MSa8EGKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UdHTtdmQ0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcbYGQgIqYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up713oIPRyA
Spotify
Schema Info
★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine
Pop with a very distinct nonchalance and sparse dark production.
Inner white girl
Overly hyped, this is just ok. Like her sound but the songwriting is very generic. I guess this bored kind of style is notable but probably not the right demographic for this.
https://www.discogs.com/Lorde-Pure-Heroine/release/5230312
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Ymd-OCucs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlcIKh6sBtc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pstVCGyaUBM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JuxM-snGc
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★☆☆ = Good!
New school emo
Introspective and sentimental – revisiting your old highschool
Intersections is the good one, standards is the lame one. Just gonna write both reviews for them here:
Intersections
There's a mature social introspection that separates this from the classic emo-pop I liked in my teens. Hard to deny the poppy directness of his songs, it's as if he's taken the best parts of emo songwriting and applied them as an adult songwriter.
Aside from an off-putting smugness in his delivery but I found this is a satisfying listen overall. At 32 and feeds a trip down nostalgia lane while still feeling new.
Standards
Don't like this one as much as intersections. Pretty good for the genere, mature emo singer songwriter. Lyrics and melodies don't sink in the same way.
https://www.discogs.com/Into-It-Over-It-Intersections/release/5029842
Spotify
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★★★☆☆ = Good!
Groove based 'fun’ electro
A ode to the joy of being lost in life
Hard not to dig a kalabrese release, his tracks are all bursting with love of the craft. Above all else this album maintains a constant groove with lots of interesting production flourishes and bursts of instrumentation that keep these extended cuts engaging.
Lyrically he sings like a wanderlust euro, not the most articulate but he makes up for it in his genuineness. The addition of other vocalists is a welcome dimension. It's an album with moments of greatness but also suffers from an uneven side 2 that felt scattered.
Worth a listen for sure.
https://www.discogs.com/Kalabrese-Independent-Dancer/release/4420013
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnDgS8Hkni4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af01NV3mqjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQNGYgQMEaE
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening
Sounds like?
I’ll call this adult contemporary jazz. Modern melodic playing, at times building with rock-like structures
Moods
Pensive autumn walk
Thoughts
A lot to like here: top notch songwriting that builds effectively, each piece works as a standalone single.
Playing is great. Not usually a fan of Alto-sax players but I like him here.
Aspects of this border on corny. “New life”, for instance, has this new age scatting that I found distracting.
Overall great playing and writing makes this an album I’ve enjoyed coming back to over the past few years.
More Info
https://www.discogs.com/Antonio-Sanchez-New-Life/release/4490046
Listen!
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxQyUU4B_IE
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening
What’s it sound like?
New York’s version of early Clash: dark and divey.
Thoughts
This is a great record, right up there with other punk and post-punk of the era. At times they can sound like more modern dance punk but with a refreshing straight-forwardness that I think is lost in current bands.
I mention the clash because they incorporate a world/dub sound that I think the clash does so well.
More Info
https://www.discogs.com/Bush-Tetras-Boom-In-The-Night-Original-Studio-Recordings-1980-1983/release/4786346
Listen!
Youtube
Spotify
Schema Info
★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine
What’s it sound like?
Lively 60s rock band (think dead and the band) with strings.
Thoughts
It’s OK but overall they aren’t up to their peers. I think this would’ve been a blast live but doesn’t hold up to the test of time.
More Info
https://www.discogs.com/Its-A-Beautiful-Day-Live-At-The-Fillmore-68/release/6294763
Listen!
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening
What’s it sound like?
Avant garde electro
Thoughts
OPN has highly effective moments that will always keep me curious about his work. R plus seven is a great piece of work but it gets a little tiring at times (maddening loops, lots of nothing). Fans will recognize these as signatures of his compositions which help to build toward these bigger moments.
The Sonic profile of his music serves to create the apt description of “Facebook servers making music”.
More Info
https://www.discogs.com/Oneohtrix-Point-Never-R-Plus-Seven/release/5183009
Listen!
Youtube
Spotify