Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp

[dAnceguy117]

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

Lebanese Blonde

Fuckin' rad track. I have really good memories of this one.

[rayword45]

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

Day 49: Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada (Album Choice: Casey D./csd)

This album was handpicked rather than randomly chosen, because today I listened to Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi in full as well as Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (yup, that one is still overrated). I thought originally "Let's listen to all 4 albums in a day!" but then I decided to nap instead. Then I got up and now I have to do more homework so I thought I may as well get 3 of 4. From this, you can probably deduce that I'm already quite fond of BoC and you could call that a potential bias, but hey 150 minutes of the same artist in a day is enough to burn almost any man out, so that should negate the bias.

Yesterday was my 17th birthday. I was originally scared of turning 17, then it happened and now I'm back to doing what I usually do: nothing.

When it comes to Boards my personal favorite album is Geogaddi due to both the darker sound and the abundance of short tracks. This one only has one short track (which I define as being under 2 minutes) but it nails the dark sound to a much larger scale. This works for many things. Some of the darkest songs, like Cold Earth and Reach For The Dead, are fucking phenomenal. And this may very well be the most conceptual album of theirs yet. On the other hand, sometimes the darker sound DOESN'T work, and I've gotta say the subtlety of Geogaddi makes the darkness all the more engagingly unsettling, while here things sometimes come off as a bit too theatrical. Even with the usage of dated-sounding synths and lo-fi sounds, songs like Palace Posy and White Cyclosa lack the signature warmth that was present on pretty much every Boards of Canada album prior. And, like I mentioned before, there's a lack of short songs here. This does make the album feel a bit more focused, but the lack of short breathing moments is partially the reason the dark themes feel a bit overbearing, and honestly I do think I prefer the feeling of exploration at the expense of concept.

And in spite of all of that criticism right up there, I still freaking loved this album. All the things I said apply in full, but damnit this is still some top-quality shit right here. It's not gonna overthrow Geogaddi as my favorite album of theirs any time soon but it was definitely at least better than The Campfire Headphase Besides any songs I mentioned up there as standouts, the finale trio of New Seeds, Come To Dust and Semena Mertvykh is breathtaking.

I should review that new Aphex Twin album on release day. Scratch that, I WILL.

Best Track: Cold Earth
Rating: 8.5/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 50: Syro by Aphex Twin

Leaked a day early. Hooray.

Richard D James is one of the most well-regarded electronic artists out there. While I definitely don't disagree with that sentiment, that's mostly due to how influential he is. He's covered a whole lot of ground, from acid techno to ambient to noise to drill and bass to modern classical to many other genres, never to be truly pigeonholed. Like any artist that covers a lot of different ground though, his work seems to be rather hit-and-miss, at least for me. I personally don't care much for Selected Ambient Works 85-92 or most of what I've heard from the Analord series, but goddamn if Richard D James Album isn't one of the finest, most timeless electronic albums out there, and I'm also partial to ...I Care Because You Do and Hangable Auto Bulb. Never listened to Drukqs.

Here's a random note. I've played Stepmania since July 2007, and now, JUST NOW, I'm realizing that Pac-Man by Power Pill is an Aphex Twin song. Wow, I'm fucking stupid. Also, that stepchart is and was total ass.

Well, I originally wanted to go in-depth here, but I'm done now and that clearly didn't happen. Before I say anything, let me take 5 minutes to see if this seeps in any more and it fully clicks with me.

Nope, that didn't happen, so here's my first listen opinion. It starts out rather weak and almost dated-sounding (maybe it's due to the vintage analog synthesizers) but track-by-track things improve and by the time we reach track 8, CIRCLONT14 (Shrymoming Mix), things finally start to REALLY pick up. I honestly can't tell if I'm suddenly starting to get it at that point or if the songs are actually better. I'm going with the latter.

So yeah, starts fairly mediocre, but gets better and better, with the last 5 tracks being the best, though nothing reaches the peak tracks of Richard D James Album. I don't have much else to say other than I'm slightly underwhelmed, especially in comparison to the comebacks (from a relatively shorter hiatus, mind you) from Daft Punk and Boards of Canada, two other electronic groups I'm really fond of... Man, I'm really not that eclectic with my electronic music.

One last thing, is he trying to be Autechre with these song names or something? Jesus Christ nothing he's done in the past has been this annoying with the titles, though Drukqs and Analord 8 and 9 got close enough.

Best Track: S950tx16wasr10 (Earth Portal Mix)
Rating: 6.5/10 (I'm tempted to deduct points for those horrible titles)

[rayword45]

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

Day 51: Ultramarine by Young Galaxy (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)

Man, between music shit to do, 3 AP courses, and a job with erratic hours, I never feel I have the time to listen to albums these recent days. That's also not likely to change for a while. Oh well, let's do this.

I know for a fact at one point I was listening to too much synthpop, but that was before I was obnoxiously time-limited. So I haven't listened to too much synthpop as of recent, so this is actually sounding REALLY good to my ears. It's like a mix of 80s synthpop, twee pop and house beats. Without a doubt, these guys can create a good hook and catchy melody with synths and drum machines, and the diva-esque vocals and any touches they add (Strings in, Piano in Out The Gate Backwards, etc.) fit the foundation music well. If I have any complaints, it's that there are a few tracks that are too same-y or feel like filler, and the whole of the music seems a tad bit shallow, but either way, this was a pretty satisfying listen.

Oh yeah, and not counting that time with Twitter, and a few other times with Twitter (ah, high school) today marks 77 days. Whoop whoop.

Best Track: Probably Pretty Boy but there are a few contenders.
Rating: 7/10

[L.B.D.D]

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

have you listened to the fake syro album that was uploaded onto youtube like a month ago?

i really enjoyed this track for some reason (no idea who made it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urcwFYAyiGM

3:20 and on is just amazing

[rayword45]

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

Day 52: Formless by Gridlock (Album Choice: XCV)

Welp, I have a project due tomorrow that I haven't started. Time to listen to another album. This one is described as both industrial and ambient, two genres that either are good or disgusting/boring, respectively. The only industrial ambient album I can think of is Ghosts I-IV which has a few nice songs but overall sounded much more revelatory when I was 13. Now, about one-third of the songs sound like instrumental Nine Inch Nails throwaways, and another third sound like new-age bullshit. Also worth noting is that this is on Hymen Records. Still a better name than the tainted Rise Records. One more also, 81 days.

Well shit, I just let that one breeze by without comment. It was good, I guess. Helped me focus, but I can tell that I also would've liked it enough if I had payed actual attention, may as well keep one and listen to it again later. These high school projects are so goddamn tedious and trivial.

Best Track: I really feel I should have one
Rating: 7/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 53: Lacuna by Caravels (Album Choice: ChikaraGuy)

I had lost the cable to my good (or really, comparatively better) headphones earlier, which is why I haven't listened to much recently. Well, that's part of the reason. The other part of the reason is school, and lack of motivation. Right now I'm battling myself to listen to an album that may potentially suck (or rule) over watching some more Curb Your Enthusiasm, of which any single episode has a very low percent chance of sucking. I guess I'll listen to this and study for them SATs.

Holy crap I'm on track 4? When did track 1 end?

Why is it that every emo song, every emo album, every emo band I listen to, they all feature the same vocalist, same guitars and amps, same drummers, it all somehow sounds the same to me. Make me a mixtape of 15 songs by 15 different bands of this genre and I won't be able to separate them at all. I don't feel the need to go in depth here, it's the same complaints as usual, the vocals are grating, the drums are punchy and the guitar tone is incredibly generic (although, like most emo albums, there are fleeting moments of beauty here and there). This music doesn't make me cry about my life, if I wanna do that I'll listen to some sadsack folk or something. Not Bright Eyes. Screw Bright Eyes.

I've recently discovered a fondness for the band Brainiac and vowed that one day I'd do Pussyfootin' at a karaoke bar. But as for this band, I should've went with Curb tonight.

Best Track: Ordinary Lives only for those fleeting moments of guitar jangle drone
Rating: 4/10

[noname219]

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

Why is it that every emo song, every emo album, every emo band I listen to, they all feature the same vocalist, same guitars and amps, same drummers, it all somehow sounds the same to me.

Try Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

[rayword45]

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

Day 54: Dark Horse by Nickelback (Album Choice: ghost223)

These goddamn troll requests...

Apparently this was one of the top albums of the last decade but I don't remember a single singl

So this album is 44 minutes of what I'm guessing will be a bunch of generic pos

The only songs by Nickelback I know are Photograph and How You Remind Me but I also remember how all their songs sound exa

Screw this man, there's no way to give this a good introduction paragraph, and I'm feeling really fatigued so I'm just gonna sit here, eat this tiramisu ice cream and listen. Maybe do some studying along the way.

Well, this first track is way worse than I expected, but I actually tried to go in with a half-decent outlook so I don't deserve to be disappointed. It's the same heinous vocals I expected but vocals are not that important to me. The riffage here is dumb (and riffage is a dumb word in and out of itself), the lyrics are dumb, and the song is a mix of dumb brutish metal and dumb redneck country. This just screams intelligence, man.

Seriously, while I do more often than I'd like to admit fall into pretension, I don't feel elitist in the least when I say that this music is meant to appeal to morons. Nickelback doesn't have only one song, that's wrong. They have two songs.

The first one is some horrible amalgamation of the worst parts of Pantera, Marilyn Manson and Stone Temple Pilots, topped with Chad Kroeger's idiosyncratic(ally horrible) vocals singing some gross poem he probably penned in 10 minutes about sex.

The other one is a syrupy power ballad, with instrumentation straight from the school of "How to be third-rate Journey", lyrics written with the songwriter that probably isn't Chad trying to suddenly wrangle some respect out of his heart for his woman, and the singer that is most definitely Chad trying to strain his one-octave voice further.

Let me spend an extra paragraph just saying how EFFING HORRIBLE these lyrics are. The ballads are a bit less offensive, coming off as someone's first attempt at a love letter, horribly awkward and slightly cringeworthy but not necessarily abhorrent. The other song... Jesus Christ. The bad sex metaphors are stupid enough one at a time, piling them up into a song is just... Holy crap. Go listen to S.E.X and read the lyrics and try to not feel physically ill. It might have been the ice cream, but I damn near vomited upon reading the third and fourth verses.

I sometimes agree with people when they say Nickelback is overhated, dunno if I will after this album. My previous opinion was that they made slightly-sickening subpar radio-bred cock rock, not that much worse than other pop garbage. However that opinion was based off of two songs, and now that I've listened to a full album, I stand by any claim that these guys are truly offensive to the ears. Unlike that Justin Bieber album, there's no hilarious irony here (because Chad's media life has about zero funny bits yet has one-third the gross factor), and there's no real one redeeming song. On the other hand, only one song here caused me any physical ailment. And I'll give credit to This Afternoon for breaking the two song formula and instead just sounding like the dumbest country-pop song I have ever heard. THE DUMBEST, but at the same time, slightly hilarious in how bad it is, and in the context of bad country Kroeger's voice is slightly less offensive.

I didn't get to study.

Best Track: This Afternoon for the reasons mentioned a damn sentence ago.
Rating: 1/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 55: Eingya by Helios (Album Choice: Contrapasso)

This album will be listened to while in the process of making a pie.

Pretty mellow, fairly pretty album. I listened to it a bit too passively to pick any favorite tracks but yeah, prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, pretty good.

Hopefully the pie will be good.

Best Track: What the hell did I just say
Rating: 7/10

[MarioNintendo]

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

Rofl, I challenge you to review this album http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...62#post4212462

[rayword45]

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

I'll put it on the spreadsheet, but considering 69 Love Songs was rough for me to sit through, the chances I'll sit down and listen to this are pretty fucking slim

[MarioNintendo]

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

Hahahahahahaha, I sent this as a semi-joke, but, if you could passively listen to these (you could even skip some, if you feel like it), that would satisfy me plenty.

[rayword45]

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

Day 56: Drukqs by Aphex Twin

Well, I have homework to burn, and I said before that I had never listened to this album so let's do this. As usual, this will probably be way too concise for such a massive album but whatever. My expectations for this are high because this is supposed to be relatively close to Richard D James Album. The only song I've heard from this album ISN'T Avril 14th but rather afx237 v7 because I watched Rubber Johnny. That would've been a much more convincing film if Johnny, who was supposed to be a locked up disabled child, DIDN'T HAVE A CLEAN SHAVEN BEARD. As for the song, it was okay. Didn't blow my mind like Girl/Boy Song though. In fact, unlike any of the songs on that album, it felt VERY SLIGHTLY dated since I've heard a fair amount of IDM in that style and since it didn't strike out as beautiful, it struck out as somewhat generic. Whatever, time to listen.

4 songs in, my god this is an ugly album. I don't mean that in a fully pejorative sense, mind you, but compared to the gorgeous electronic tones and spastic beats of Richard D James Album (Man I feel stupid repeating titles so much) or perhaps the dance-y feel and slightly less spastic beats of Windowlicker or ...I Care Because You Do, this album is mostly ugly, dark "melodies" and VERY spastic beats. Omgyjya-Switch7, as one example, sounds almost like a precursor to Boards Of Canada's Gyroscope with some old sounding synths and demented sounding vocal samples, except there's no sense of nostalgic terror-beauty here, just crackaddled drum machines. I'd go so far as to say this reminds me more of Venetian Snares far more than other works of Aphex Twin due mostly to the dark, apocalyptic feel.

The piano pieces, on the other hand, are okay. Nothing special really. Okay time to go back to math homework.

Bbydhyonchord is gorgeous. As is Btoum-Roumada. I'm pretty sure I could write loads about this album, but I mean I have homework to do and plenty has been written on it already so whatever. I'll say this. The second half of the album is a lot more fragmented than the first half, with more short snippet songs and more long songs. That definitely works to the benefit of an album this long, because longer songs like Meltphace 6 andZiggomatic 17, regardless of how good they actually are, at least get to explore their sound and flesh themselves out while the micro tracks often give great experimental concepts a shot, and if they don't work, oh well it was only a minute anyways. Also worth noting, Nanou2 has nothing on B-Side Nannou.

To summarize real quick, that was not very good at all. There were some great tracks here and there, but 100 minutes was WAY too long and everything felt drawn out here. I have little complaints about the piano pieces or the ambient techno tracks (which were usually amongst my favorites) but it seems within a short amount of time Richard D James forgot what made Richard D James Album so good. Behind all the crazy drum programming there, songs like 4, Milkman and most of all Girl/Boy Song had AMAZING melodies behind them. Here, melody is eschewed for atmospheric darkness, which really just leaves things feeling insipid and uninspired. Things somewhat picked up in the second half with the more freeform song lengths and track ordering, but it never reached greatness and still dragged on more than desirable. Disappointing, though I still prefer it to Selected Ambient Works 85-92.

Best Track: Bbydhyonchord
Rating: 5.5/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 57: Pop by Gas (Album Choice: Trogdor!!!)

I used random.org and didn't like the album it gave me. I've already forgotten what album that was. I saw this and chose it without knowing anything about it. That's random enough for me. I looked it up and it's some ambient minimalist type album. Good, I have work to do.

Upon second checking, the album I didn't choose was a Monstercat release, and those things are like 2 hours long.

Happy "Kill people and steal their houses because we're white and they're brown" day, by the way. Or by the time I post this, happy belated.

Because there are no track titles on this album, and I'm doing work, I think I'll attempt another Christgau-style review.

Tape loops whisper across a painted background of nature recordings and oscillating synths. And occasionally a bass drum pulses quietly. Watery textures prevail all over these seven tracks with nary a title to each of them, with very little in the way of melodic development or basic structure. But who wanders for structure in the face of ambience? Instead you receive pleasure from the gorgeous ethereal drones and (less so) the rare subtle alterations in sound that pop-up every so often. Transcendent, tranquil, and it probably took but a few hours to compose.

Best Track: [untitled]
Rating: 9/10