Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 104: 266: An Incestuous Act That God Committed Upon Reality by Bull of Heaven

I'm reviewing a Bull of Heaven release! I'm listening to a Bull of Heaven release! My life is complete!

Well actually, my life isn't even close to complete but hell I'm glad I'm doing this one. For those who don't know, Bull of Heaven is a legendary drone/experimental duo who release all of their music for free on their website. They're known for having songs that last hours, weeks, months, years, you name an amount of time and they make songs that long. If I could see these guys live, I would.

Since I've never listened to a release by these guys I"m curious as to how the experience will be. Will it be a waste of time? Or will I enjoy it? Perhaps I'll enjoy it but then if I say I enjoyed it I'd probably come off as a pretentious prick. This is a dilemma. Why the flip do people think it's pretentious if you like music that isn't on the radio? Admittedly, very few people actually think that that I've met, but the few who claim it's pretentious piss me off. I want to explore the world of music, damnit, so screw you. I don't judge you if you listen to Young Thug or Owl City, unless you diss my music first. Exception goes for Katy Perry because she's a disgusting homophobe.

Man, I still can't believe I'm listening to Bull of Heaven! This seems like it's such a waste of my lifetime. Am I making a mistake? Should I listen to it? Or should I just go now. I'm making a big investment here that's not likely to reward. Ugh... OKAY LET'S DO IT.

I lost a good minute because I"m on a public Mac and the last person to use it left it on full screen mode. Admittedly, it's stupid that I don't know how to exit immediately, but I hate Macs. What kind of asshole leaves a computer on fullscreen mode? That's probably the asshole that spits in his customers food or sells oregano to small children passing it off as weed. If I find out who left it in fullscreen mode, I'ma lay the smackdown. Or really I won't, I just like making empty threats.

That sucked.

Best Track: There's only one song, man, that's all of their albums pretty much.
Rating: 0/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 105: #CALxTAPExTHREE# by Cal Chuchesta

I dunno why, but I'm feeling pretty crappy today. It feels kinda like singles' blues but hey, I was feeling like I was on top of the world yesterday. Why not take advantage of my crappy mood and listen to some crybaby music?

This blatantly isn't crybaby music. We'll get to that later.

This "mixtape" contains much longer instrumentals than the previous two Cal Chuchesta releases, with one song even reaching two minutes! There's not as much cohesion as the first release, but here, there seems to be an abundance of actual, fleshed-out MELODIES. Also, he uses a Frank Zappa sample. This is easily the best of the three mixtapes based on the first half. Let's see if it drops off in quality or remains static (I doubt it'll get better).

trep benger is hideous. Other than I say that, dare I say I actually enjoyed this one outside of a tongue-in-cheek context. Way better than the other two Caltapes.

Best Track: mrs. sahara plamer
Rating: I'm feeling a strong 5 to a light 6 on this thing, tran-SITION did you blhblahbl

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 106: If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Drake (Album Choice: Mario W., David H., some other people)

I hate the Drake.

Barring any unfunny sitcom references, I still dislike Drake. I personally could care less about Degrassi, but his songs often seem way too schmaltzy, and when he tries to get boastful on us you see just how weak a rapper he really is (acapella versions of his songs really fall flat on both flow and poeticism). I've admittedly only listened to Take Care but that was so awful that I've had no desire to listen to more Drake up till this point. I mean seriously, I LOATHE THIS GUY, and I can appreciate artists like Bobby Shmurda and Lil Herb because those guys don't get actual poetic respect except from morons. They're sophomoric and utterly devoid of talent, but they KNOW they're sophomoric and utterly devoid of talent. This guy is actually respected by some respectable people and I DON'T GET WHY. This is purportedly "music for feels" so let's see how much this helps me in my state of isolated sadness on a post-Valentine's night.

This first track exemplifies exactly what I dislike about Drake's more boastful side. The beat is uninteresting but the smallest offender, the flow is unimpressive, the braggadocios are awful and cliche ("If I die, I'm a legend" is probably the most boring way to say the most overused boast), and the usage of autotune on Drake's grating voice makes it more grating.

And that formula is exact recipe for the first five tracks of the album. This isn't somber, emotive music, this is just garbage. There are no moving pieces of poetry, just ass. The cover art of this album is meant to represent how much effort went into this album and the quality control process combined. I have the exact picture of how making this album went in my head.

1. Drake walks into studio with smug smile.
2. Drake sits on keyboard 17 times to find 17 different samples from FL Studio (I'm typing this as I'm on track 4 so this could change).
3. Drake types out ass lyrics on Google Docs, thinking in his feeble mind that these lyrics are good.
4. Other members of YMCMB come in, telling him that "This is genius!"
5. Drake reads lyrics onto Macbook microphone.
6. Someone mixed this shit for $13.49.
7. Album released after 3 hours of production!

I'm waiting for something redeeming to come up, but I'm honestly not optimistic. This isn't bias talking, there's nothing new being brought to the table, and whatever is recycled, is done in the worst way possible.

Track 6, Madonna, seems to be the first sad song, but the beat is far too sinister for these shallow lyrics about an old flame. It's not jarring enough to be true lyrical dissonance, rather it's just melodic incompetence. And lyrical incompetence. And emotional incompetence. And life incompetence. Man I am really hating this album.

Star67 is, by FAR, the closest thing to a likable song on this album, starting with a murky beat, with phone recording samples that don't totally suck (I forgot to mention the bits of studio chatter that popped up in a few earlier songs. They sucked, were totally unnecessary and felt tacked on. Like taking a putrid dump into a trash can of rotting fruit). Then it switches beats, into another murky, low-key beat. The lyrics are pretty stupid, but the topic of fraud with unnecessary braggadocios is at the very least a fresh change from nothing but unnecessary braggadocios.

And then right after that we have Preach, which has the most ridiculous usage of autotune in the history of man. This song is BA-A-A-A-D. Except maybe it's not. Hmm? The ending of this song features a slightly psychedelic house-like ending, which is immensely enjoyable.

The ending of Preach is actually the intro to Wednesday Night Interlude, which starts off abhorrent but turns out to be one of the better songs.

And then everything after that just sucks. The guest artists include Lil Wayne and I need not say more about that topic. There's less braggadocios, and more corny, schmaltzy bullcrap that I don't need in my life. I'm not totally averse to more sensitive rap songs, one song that comes to mind is Kendrick Lamar's No Makeup, another is Earl Sweatshirt's Chum, but the sensitivity here becomes nonsensical self-indulgence. To sympathize with this music you need to have a lot of hidden vanity masked with false self-contempt, and those are some ridiculously pretentious requirements. There are some occasional redeemable moments, like the somewhat improved flow of 6PM In New York and the string section of You & The 6, but otherwise, the second half of the album is completely ignorable radio music that becomes offensive when made to listen in succession by overexposure to syrupy autotune and contrived love lyrics. I swear all these beats have the exact same bassline, except maybe pitch-shifted in Audacity.

This second half is a gigantic waste of time.

This whole album was a gigantic waste of time, even considering the slightly redeemable middle.

Why did I think wasting precious minutes of life on this would be a good idea? Who's the jerkass that crapped out that horrid album cover and these awful beats? What kind of monster could ever be satisfied with a project like this? When did the general public decide that this was respectable music? Where is the quality control team that could've made this album so much more tolerable? How can anyone fathom charging $13 for this mess?

Synonyms for If You're Reading This It's Too Late: detestable, hateful, loathsome, despicable, abominable, execrable, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, disgusting, distasteful, horrible, horrid, horrifying, awful, heinous, reprehensible, obnoxious, odious, nauseating, offensive, contemptible

I hate myself for wasting 68 minutes and 40 seconds of my life listening to this sorry excuse for an album. This successfully cured my singles' blues but in return I feel like I've commit a deadly sin. I'm gonna go listen to some Shpongle in hopes that that will clear my mind.

It's okay Nathan, we're going home.

Best Track: Star67
Rating: 1/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 107: Fire by Electric Six (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)

This one is quick. Got my wisdom teeth removed, so to keep my mouth relatively painless I'm keeping this one concise. Shut up.

Also I'm making it concise because of a certain asshole teacher who wants me to do homework over February break. What a monster.

Vaguely Weenian, but a lot funkier, and with much heavier focus on epic bombastic riffage. This is clearly meant to be funny, but it falls flat in the comedy department because it's way too self-aware, with ridiculous songs like Gay Bar and She's White, and even worse lyrics such as in I'm The Bomb which I feel no reason to quote. Made worse by the fact that these riffs are mostly pretty decent but the tone of the album is too over-the-top, which kills any laughs and stifles enjoyment.

Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor) is a great example of what these guys are capable of. In one minute, you get one of the corniest riffs ever, played to arena rawk-extremes, and lyrics which aren't so ridiculously self-aware that they lose any comedic value. If the whole album sounded like this it would be a lot funnier, and a lot catchier.

As it stands, this album is just trying too hard.

Best Track: Nuclear War (On The Dance Floor)
Rating: 5/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 108: B4.DA.$$ by Joey Bada$$

Another more contemporary album, even if I'm a month late. This guy gets some good reppin by many people.

Then again, those people think Drake is better than Earl Sweatshirt. Whatever, let's do this one.

Everything about this album screams "I love the 90s". I love the 90s, so this is okay. Beats on this album are mostly boom bap and generally pretty good if not a bit run-of-the-mill, with songs like Paper Trail$ and Escape 120 having particularly strong ones. Flow is tight, wordplay is decent, cultural references aren't painful like Eminem's... Honestly this album has the formula to be great, but I'm not that convinced. It might be that it's just too damn long, like every other rap album.

Also, ending with Curry Chicken instead of O.C.B was really baffling.

Either way, okay album.

Best Track: Escape 120
Rating: 5.5/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 109: Deftones by Deftones (Album Choice: 3lijah)

I've had most of these recent albums ready to go for like two months. A few exceptions here and there were requests from friends that I felt inclined to get to as soon as possible for some reason. I haven't touched random.org in a while.

The name of this band conjures up an image in my head of some wannabe reggae sub-Sublime band of white junkies. For the record, I don't like Sublime. Regardless, this band isn't described as ska or reggae or whatever so my images are unwarranted. Let's get through this one.

Yeah, nothing here is wannabe-stoner-actually-doper-faux-reggae in the least. Instead, what I got was a bunch of generic alt metal, of which all 11 tracks sound the same as the last bar Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event which is a dream pop track as interesting as every other track (read: none). And there were some really bad screamo moments. This is terrible music to cook rice pudding to.

I've really not been in the mind to write good reviews. On another note after a month of binging I've finished 176 episodes of Seinfeld, skipping the two clip shows. The Finale wasn't that bad what are you people talking about.

Best Track: N/A
Rating: 4/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 110: Lonerism by Tame Impala

I've been meaning to listen to this one for a LONG ASS TIME after hearing a few singles but never got around to it. Now I'm forcing myself to get to this to gauge the worth of a Friday Boston Calling ticket. I'd be missing out on literally all but 3 artists, but hey I'd get to see Beck. $60 is a bit steep for one artist though so I'd like to be able to think to myself "this is a good decision".

A. This music is really swirly
B. This guy is trying way too hard to sound like John Lennon
C. Actually, this whole thing could be summed up as "21st century synthy Magical Mystery Tour"
D. Admittedly that's a pretty shallow way to put it, but the Beatles influence is high here.
E. These songs mostly blend right into each other
F. In spite of that fact, I find myself enjoying myself immensely
G. I have some wisdom teeth painkillers that I think would pair nicely with this album
H. I'm not some druggy
I. My mouth hurts at the moment, but I prefer to limit my painkiller intake because I'm a good child.
J. For some reason, they chose to end the album with a really long piano ballad.
K. I'm not gonna have a favorite song here.
L. The piano ballad turns into a delay-drenched guitar effects showcase after 3 minutes.
M. I think this band would be pretty interesting live.
N. I'm done here.

Best Track: I told you
Rating: 7/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 111: The Dance of the Moon and the Sun by Natural Snow Buildings (Album Choice: EzExZeRo7497)

I've been meaning to listen to this one for like a couple of years now, but never wanted to divest a full two and a half hours into the completely unfamiliar. I was proud of myself for listening to Dopesmoker and this one was a bit more daunting. But I had to get to it sometime, right? Might as well do it while it's still snowy.

I originally planned to go over some SAT flashcards while listening to this album, but at the moment I'm too focused on this music. This is a goddamn MASSIVE album, and it's extremely slow and drone-filled yet it never gets boring. The second track is a bunch of mindless bass noodling, but it's mesmerizing bass noodling.

Never once during the course of two and a half hours did I lose enough interest to want to type words, or study SAT words (though I did get up to get a drink). This reminds me of a more ambient Mount Eerie. Simultaneously warm and cold, distant yet inviting, self-indulgent and expansive yet never boring or pretentious. I have no real complaints for this album, it's the perfect soundtrack to a lonely winter night.

Also, the secret track is great.

Best Track: The Cover-Up, though Wisconsin is very nice as well.
Rating: 8.5/10

[Trogdor!!!!]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 111: The Dance of the Moon and the Sun by Natural Snow Buildings (Album Choice: EzExZeRo7497)

I've been meaning to listen to this one for like a couple of years now, but never wanted to divest a full two and a half hours into the completely unfamiliar. I was proud of myself for listening to Dopesmoker and this one was a bit more daunting. But I had to get to it sometime, right? Might as well do it while it's still snowy.

I originally planned to go over some SAT flashcards while listening to this album, but at the moment I'm too focused on this music. This is a goddamn MASSIVE album, and it's extremely slow and drone-filled yet it never gets boring. The second track is a bunch of mindless bass noodling, but it's mesmerizing bass noodling.

Never once during the course of two and a half hours did I lose enough interest to want to type words, or study SAT words (though I did get up to get a drink). This reminds me of a more ambient Mount Eerie. Simultaneously warm and cold, distant yet inviting, self-indulgent and expansive yet never boring or pretentious. I have no real complaints for this album, it's the perfect soundtrack to a lonely winter night.

Also, the secret track is great.

Best Track: The Cover-Up, though Wisconsin is very nice as well.
Rating: 8.5/10

I am quite fond of this review, thanks. Also nice best track picks.

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

the ring carved on your finger, you can't throw it away
nor can you give it back, until your cold heart decays
your face soon forgets, you can't run away
her voice from the grave, escorting back always

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 112: Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths

It's 5:30 AM. I have to finish two papers in like an hour. Perfect time to listen to more gay music.

Girlfriend In A Coma and Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before are goddamn fantastic pop songs. Let's get that out of the way.

I also quite like the first few songs, and the dirge-y Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me is good too. The last four songs are mostly decent, save for Death At One's Elbow which is almost as freaking horrible as Miserable Lie from their debut. Overall, this isn't as good as The Queen Is Dead but screw anyone who says this is their worst album, it's definitely better than the first two albums.

Okay I'm done here. Now there's just the singles compilation.

Best Track: Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Rating: 6/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 113: Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club (Album Choice: Trevor P.)

Some menial indie pop while I study SAT words. I don't actually know if this is menial or indie pop I just need background music to study and digest this omelet. I was gonna cherrypick an ambient album but hey this one was readily available let's go.

This is extremely generically indie. This is so indie it makes me want to dress like a metrosexual. Synths? Yep. Horns? Check. Tribal drums? What more can you ask for? For eff's sake their next album has a ceiling album cover. And it's extremely bouncy, perhaps sickeningly sweet. Yet I'm enjoying it far more than I should. Because the upbeat nature and occasionally excess reverb makes this album ridiculously feelgood.

My biggest complaint is that this album feels like a compilation because it just STOPS. There's no conclusive feeling whatsoever, the 10th and final song sounds the same as the first 9. And that's my biggest complaint. At a hair under 33 minutes, these guys were smart enough to have the quality of brevity, because these songs mostly sound the same and the joyful mood would probably soon get overbearing if the album was even 12 minutes longer. With this in mind, I wasn't bothered at all by how samey the songs are. This is a fun, simple album. Normally I feel I would make some pompous, unprofound statement about this album being not that great but truth be told I enjoyed it way more than I expected. These guys aren't disgustingly twee like Vampire Weekend but instead are just trebly and happy enough to make a mundane half hour more enjoyable.

Best Track: The whole album sounds the same, in spite of that...
Rating: 7/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 114: Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths

And this shall conclude my study of incredibly sexually ambiguous pop music, with a singles compilation. That is unless for some reason I decide to review the discographies of R.E.M or Frank Ocean or something. Hold up, I got a bout of sadness hitting me so I'm listening to Elliott Smith for the time being. Once I'm done being depressed, I'll put this on and go back to my torturous SAT studies.

Okay I'm done with my self-pity, time for some catchy gay music!

That was okay, not as good as the last two Smiths album by consequence of being way too long. And also it lacks This Charming Man which was easily one of their strongest singles. That's all I have to write for today, the practice SAT was tiring as hell.

Best Track: Panic
Rating: 6/10

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 115: Anything in Return by Toro Y Moi (Album Choice: David H.)

I know for a damn fact that I've heard of this guy before. I just don't remember where. I'd look it up on Wikipedia but I have some strange feeling that would lead to internal bias. So I'm just gonna go into this blind I suppose. Hopefully this makes a better wake up listen than Four Tet does.

This music is pretty warm and relaxing, with some really great-sounding usage of samples. The vocals... Eh. This guy's voice certainly isn't bad (though I'm not sure how electronically altered it is) but I honestly think I'd prefer this album to be instrumental. On occasion, the vocals get too breathy or charged for me (even considering genre) and his subtle falsetto is way too sleazy for my liking. On another negative note, the lyrics are ridiculously boring. It's the exact same message of "quuurl we be meant 2 stay to get her" for almost an hour. For the most part, the lyrics stay absurdly simplistic, but when Bundick tries to wax poetic, it's just hilariously sad, a decent example of this being Cola.

Not a particularly bad album, and surprisingly doesn't feel bloated at nearly an hour, but I'm loath to call it great, simply because the vocals got tiresome and the lyrics were trash. Make this an instrumental album and I'd like it quite a bit more. It's on equal par with Rounds for a morning album, by the way (although not equal in terms of album overall quality).

Best Track: Say That
Rating: 5.5/10 (If it was instrumentals it would probably be a 7/10)

[rayword45]

Re: Meh, let's do it again, this time for a year

Day 116: Analord 04 by AFX

Guess which artist (or artist pseudonym) I'm gonna be shotgunning next?

That's right! Mötley Crue!

Anyways, here's the current rundown of how much I like AFX. If you don't know who this is and you know who Aphex Twin is you're a dumbass. If you don't know who Aphex Twin is go find out.

Analord 10: 7/10
Analord 01: 6.5/10
Analord 02: 6/10
Analord 03: 5/10
Hangable Auto Bulb: 8.5/10

Perhaps these Analord EPs are meant as morning listens, because I'm enjoying this way more than any of the other Analord EPs. Crying In Your Face and Home Made Polysynth may be some of the catchiest acid techno songs I've ever heard, but every song on this release is incredibly danceable. Even Flutternozzle, which is mostly made up of grating synthfart noises, puts a smile on my face and a dance in my leg. In addition to all this, In The Maze Park ranks as one of the most cathartic EP closers ever.

Yeah I'm surprised how much I like this.

Best Track: Crying In Your Face
Rating: 9/10