★★★☆☆ = Good!
spacey shimmery electro with a pleasant beat
Cerebral
Upbeat with a downtempo dubby reverb. Has a nice flow. Tracks are short with new ideas ebbing into one another, like this approach compared with other producers who sometimes let an idea play on for too long.
Solid record.
https://www.discogs.com/Anthony-Naples-Take-Me-With-You/release/13076529
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Fp2r4eCXY
Spotify
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★★★☆☆ = Good!
jazz with an electro hip hop vibe
Hip future jazz for sad night owls
Nocturnal record overall. There's a certain sadness in Brown's guitar playing. On the title track it can be haunting, letting notes ring out into forever; kind of like a technically proficient version of the XX. Other tracks, 'God willing' and 'me up', pick up quicker with an 808 like rhythm. The sound is defined by the bass players prominence in the mix, gives the album a funky urban thump.
It's a great style but as an LP it gets monotonous. I think with some songwriting focus and additional instrumentation this could go from good to great.
https://www.discogs.com/Mansur-Brown-Shiroi/release/12800537
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsHIrqYdacI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOB6Wk22zG8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KNlanLKXWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kxvVtHEe-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tvvCtys708
Spotify
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★★★☆☆ = Good!
depressing rock with a focus on atmosphere
A mediocre album for Radiohead fans only
If this weren't a Radiohead record I don't know how I'd feel. I like it overall but I've also given it more listens because I'm a fan of theirs.
There's interesting things happening, the band has become very good at creating an overall vibe, but the songs themselves feel a bit rough. Maybe that's the point: a lot of this is wonderful live and can be fleshed out further into some really engaging live sets. The incorporation of strings reminds me of a smoother version of Beck's string heavy stuff and super furry animals catalog from the 2000's; it's as if Radiohead returns to that period of alt-rock instead of pressing ahead with their own explorations. Maybe they're just getting old, Yorke is pretty lyrical here and I think got divorced right after this came out (might explain the gloom).
Songwriting improves as the album progresses (skip the first three tracks entirely) but this remains a mediocre spot in their catalog.
https://www.discogs.com/Radiohead-A-Moon-Shaped-Pool/release/8581632
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2oS2hoL0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTAU7lLDZYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti6qhk3tX2s
Spotify
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★★★★★ = Classic, essential listening
Post bop
A dense, urban post bop masterpiece
Great album,has an energy that's very west village jazz: dense, subterranean, and fighting restraint. The constant crash symbol use adds this de-constructing vibe. Heavy swirling and dissonant solos provide a madness. These guys are on point and each bring this intensity here.
Typically I reserve a 5-star for music that is essential in the catalog of sound. Could the world live without this record? Absolutely but I think it's such a remarkable illustration of the genre that it's essential.
https://www.discogs.com/Billy-Harper-Black-Saint/release/12148892
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJOVUCEcsLg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edV6QIkWxr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvTNnswzjhc
Spotify
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★★★☆☆ = Good!
jazzy rock with heavy electronics and a slight psych vibe
a positively bumping affair
A true hybrid that shows the capability of genre bending. It's a big and rocking record, with this heavy hum underpinning the songs, showing the 'maximum' sound of dubstep and heavy rock. The sax adds a nice contrast to this heavy sound, cutting through sharply as a welcome texture. With his blistering free-jazz squawk it makes it feel like the whole thing could boil over at any point.
I like the overall style, jazzy without too much exploration. To be fair this is a studio album, a lot of these songs are prime jumping points solos; I'd be VERY interested to see this band live.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Comet-Is-Coming-Channel-The-Spirits/release/13379392
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXH5nv1aQpw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bih6JQzbFY0
Spotify
Schema Info
★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine
cerebral left field artsy experimental electro with a boom
Earthworms eating
There's this skittering sound he uses that gives it this insect like feel. The blurry line between organic and mechanical nature of bugs,he plays into this with a creepiness.
I enjoyed this the first time through with it's detailed and rich production, lots of little earworms to get lost in. These are songs and it's a testament to his ability as a songwriter (lots of electronic musicians focus only on the sound and develop little in the way of composition).
However after multiple listens I feel it's missing something. I moved past the immediacy of the beauty and found myself bored and thinking about what's next. I can appreciate these songs as singles but as an album it felt too much.
https://www.discogs.com/Objekt-Cocoon-Crush/release/12777177
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlW2naIokwA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QwceWXWi-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqZF0wTEwF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj-kgypzFnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zUAoHc4eZc
Spotify
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★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine
70's rock with a rhythmic Latin element, soulful, long prog rock structures
Light up or leave me alone
I've saved a few tracks to playlists but this isn't the type of thing I plan on revisiting much in the future. The title track is well regarded by critics. It's good, especially through its composition and phases, but a long one at almost 12 minutes.
Something always feels a little square with Traffic records, can't put my hands on it. Might be the flute. Still hard to deny their ability and this has that 'classic' sound that only this era can produce.
https://www.discogs.com/Traffic-The-Low-Spark-Of-High-Heeled-Boys/release/5503643
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Yb2bEekkE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY-_Y_7p55M
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★☆☆ = Good!
ethereal ambient with bits of melody
Drifting through sentimental English countryside
At the end of the brainfeeder x compilation was a curious 'classical' soundtrack by a guy named locust toybox. Clicking through to his spotify profile he has an artist playlist called melodic aphex twin tracks; before even hearing a note it seemed like we shared similar tastes.
I was right, this album has some great ambient with tracks that maintain the wide open freeform of ambient while still incorporating melody and structure. These melodic moments give this an overall pleasantness. 'Saptiro' towards the middle changes things directly into left field electro territory, adding some hand drum rhythm. 'Unborn' is an album highlight, with a rousing choral sample and deep bass thump. Probably the most intense moment.
Overall the album is far too long, dragging toward the end. Still worth hearing as there are some gems.
https://www.discogs.com/Locust-Toybox-Drownscapes/release/11181166
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if6B3brW67M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTDIcOAkrqg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_8zdxYsEy0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWQFk6DpUv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdWXRX6Me_4
Spotify
Schema Info
★★★☆☆ = Good!
ambient keyboard music
Soundtrack for a regretful protagonist in a 2D RPG talking to NPCs in a new town, trying to find his way home
While an ambient record the keys playing gives it this subtle rhythm with little floating sentimental melodies. Could be an RPG video game soundtrack, feeling like a stranger in a new town just trying to find his way home through a life of regret.
Things take a more menacing tone in the second half where tracks have a brooding machine like intensity, as if these are electro b-sides born from Floyd's 'welcome to the machine'
https://www.discogs.com/Isorinne-Stumhetens-toner/release/12922932
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6eHdaKX-_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxswoTpwTrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOnEHQIX16k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5V9Tfu0rA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqJbt6J7U0
Spotify
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★★★☆☆ = Good!
basic mod rock and roll with a slight whiff of psychedelia
Underrated mod rock weirdos
There's a refreshing simplicity to their sound that's aged well: melodic and just the right layer of keys. Capturing the rock and roll sound of a number of bands of that era (see early Beatles, Stones) but with a genuineness that's a little weird, they feel like unaccepted outsiders. Lots of highlights here, and some familiar covers, which true to the albums title does feel like the perfect place to begin with The Zombies.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Zombies-Begin-Here/release/1483789
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g49ckFpRheo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE
Spotify
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