Recommend me some 2022 albums +1000th album halp

[Trogdor!!!!]

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

That better be a strong nine

[rayword45]

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

Day 58: Bonsai Superstar by Brainiac

Damn I'm long overdue to listen to a new album, and now it's not even a request. The situation here is that I have zero connection so Spotify or anything else is out of the question, meanwhile I have this album ready to go as well as 40 minutes to burn homework. It was fairly recently that I listened to Hissing Prigs In Static Couture, which immediately struck me as one of the best noise rock albums I had ever heard, even with a few draggy songs. Okay enough introing I don't have time.

I'm on the first song, and I'm already thinking that I should have listened to this album before Hissing Prigs, because that album sounds pretty much like a natural evolution of these first couple of songs. Yeah, it takes me a very long time to type sentences on shitty Mac keyboards. Not that anything here is particularly bad, it's quite good actually. Songs like Radio Apeshot and Sexual Frustration are pretty catchy with a great deal of atonal noise to please the ears, if you like that kind of thing. As a matter of fact, I just realized that reviewing this band is kinda unnecessary. This is one of those bands like The Jesus Lizard or Primus where you should be able to say "I like" or "This effing sucks" within 20 seconds of a random song. But I'm already two-thirds through the album so lets keep going.

Yeah, this really does feel like the predecessor to Hissing Prigs in that the style is undeniably the same, but there's nothing as raucous as Pussyfootin, as broodingly catchy as This Little Piggy or as good with the riffage as Indian Poker Pt. 3. Nope, this is basically a bunch of Hot Seat Can't Sit Downs and Kiss Me U Jacked Up Jerks. This review will make absolutely no sense to anyone who hasn't listened to the latter album, so let me try to amend that and probably fail. Whereas the other album by this band is filled to the brim with songs that blow the mind in different ways, this album is stylistically similar but the songs are a little bit more formulaic. Most of the songs here are easily defined as "jagged angular noise" with relatively catchy rhythms. It's all good, but there's not that much in the way of variety here. Also the vocal performance here isn't as subversively hilarious, and the atmosphere is less "dark and brooding" and more "let's just have a laugh", which could be a good thing depending on your mood. Bonus points to Meathook Manicure, though, for sounding like the Sebadoh song from hell.

Seriously, not at all a bad album, but it simply doesn't touch the catchiness, the weirdness, the greatness of their next album. Also, a bit structurally disappointing since the album ends with a 3 minute fart. Still very much worth a listen though.

Day 93 of the pledge: The other day I accidentally ate the earwax of several people during lunchtime. That has jacksquat to do with any sort of porn pledge but look, if I'm writing something starting with "Day number of the pledge" then you can infer where I'm at.

Best Track: Radio Apeshot
Rating: 6.5/10 (for comparison purposes, I gave Hissing Prigs In Static Couture a 9/10 and may very well bump that rating)

[rayword45]

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

Day 59: Nanobots by They Might Be Giants (Album Choice: Gus V.)

21 pages of AP Biology homework, along with 2 months of makeup work. Life frowns upon procrastination, but I don't remember it ever being so relentless. (Right here is where I would try to use some onomatopoeia and fail miserably, so just imagine an extreme pained cry for help). In regards to this band, I've listened to Apollo 18 more than a few times, yet for some reason I have never had the urge to listen to any of their other albums. I've liked a few singles here and there but never felt the need to explore their discography. Maybe this will change everything.

It didn't really change much at all.

Best Track: Meh.
Rating: 5.5/10

[YoshL]

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

my group is dropping an album (should be available for free) on Halloween, if you want to give that a listen

[rayword45]

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

Day 60: Alvvays by Alvvays (Album Choice: NinjaKIWI)

I don't have time for these damn intros man. This review could be the shortest one yet.

Surfy twee pop. Sounds like it's straight from K Records in the 90s, but it's from last year. I have no nostalgia for this genre whatsoever, but this isn't a bad album. What is bad is this Bio homework and this need for sleep.

Best Track: I can't feel my face
Rating: 6/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 61: U.M.A. by Progenie Terrestre Pura (Album Choice: noname219)

Man oh man I can't wait to listen to this with my full attention and go in-depth on all the little nuances of the music an- oh wait I have homework. Oh well. Here we go.

Opens with some pretty cool electronic Fuck Buttons soundscapes before going into black metal riffing. Then that takes up pretty much the rest of the album. Upbeat black metal bits, some thrash metal riffs and a couple of Shpongle-esque psybient bits here and there. Vocal performance is pretty good. Drums are tight. Guitars are sharp and angular but still melodic. Okay good night.

Best Track: ...
Rating: 6.5/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 62: The Joy Of Motion by Animals as Leaders (Album Choice: 3lijah)

For the first time in what feels like forever, I have some time to sit down and actually indulge in the pleasures of an album with a good deal of attention. Problem is that my surroundings are limited to a crowded tiny Starbucks and a dirty bootleg food court they try to pass off as a mall. Also problematic is overcoming the urge to pass up this opportunity to listen to some Jesus Lizard and Brainiac like I always do. I don't listen to Instrumental Metal, I seldom listen to Jazz, and as I've said before most Prog Metal is cheesier than casein-free artificial spray-on cheddar-flavored product (though to be instrumental and cheesy with prog metal you'd have to be REALLY wanky) But whatever, I'd be an asshole more so than I already am if I passed up this time of opportunity. Finally, a break! I can listen to an album with the utmost attention and write about all the great little nuances or minor flaws that make or break the album.

Chugchugchugchugchugchugweedlyweedlyweedlynoodlenoodlenoodlechugchugchugchugtaptaptapchugchugskrinkskronkchugchugharmonicschugchugarpeggiochugchug for 1 hour.

Maybe I'm not as musically knowledgeable or eclectic as I'd like to think.

Best Track: Para Mexer
Rating: 5/10

[master q60]

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

I totally forgot to post some of mine here that I had a long time ago

Between the Buried and Me - The parallax II: future sequence
Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
System of a Down - Mesmerize

[YoshL]

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

http://open.spotify.com/album/6gOYhnducyiIvGFEOq5iS8

my group whee
hopefully you'll enjoy my percussion lol

[rayword45]

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

Day 63: NEW DREAMS LTD by LASERDISC VISIONS (Album Choice: Arkuski)

I've got approximately 33 minutes and this album is a half-hour. Let's go real quick. To introduce, this is a vaporwave album. What the hell is vaporwave? I don't know and don't care. Tiny Mix Tapes loves this shit so it must be hipster-y. GO GO GO.

It's kind of ironic that I'm rushing to listen to this, because this is seriously a collection of elevator songs. Short snippets of jazzy/new-agey tunes you'd expect to hear in an office lounge or something. How the hell am I supposed to review this? It makes good sudoku music I suppose.

Actually, I must be honest and say I'm enjoying this stuff more than I should. Objectively, there's not much to say about this music. It's relaxing, simple, and nostalgic in a way that that makes you want to sit in a hotel or something. The only reason I'm enjoying this as much as I am besides city nostalgia is Nintendo nostalgia. Seriously, a lot of these songs sound like Nintendo shop music, or overworld music, or something like that. And because of that I'm getting the urge to sit in a hotel and play some 3DS. Goddamn school and work killing me off.

Yeah, I enjoyed that way more than I probably should have. If that makes me a hipster or a fluffer for Pitchfork, so be it. I'll take that status and keep this album.

Best Track: Tingri
Rating: 8.5/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 64: Rev by Faux Paz (Album Choice: YoshL)

I have no idea what the hell I'm about to listen to is. What I do know is that it's obscure as fuck. Based on a quick YouTube search, this seems to be an a cappella group from University of Maryland. Spotify says Copyright 2013 A Cappella Records. Well, based on that information, my expectations are a big "...What the hell?".

This is an album made-up of covers, so obviously a large part of my enjoyment is based on my opinion of the source material. And some (or rather most) of the song choices are horrid. The first song is Neon Trees and that's enough to make me unhappy. As a matter of fact, the only band I like here that's being covered is The Smiths. The rest ranges from "Why should I care?" (Sara Bareilles, Florence + The Machine) to "Ugh..." (Kanye West (screw you /mu), OneRepublic) to "What the hell were they thinking?" (Celine Dion needs no pair. Alone she stands as an example). The majority falls in the first category thankfully, so my bias is limited.

So, the music itself... Uhh... I don't know how to judge this kind of music at all. I thought Jazz was hard, I thought instrumental metal was hard, but this, this is a whole different level. The group works well with each other, everything is synced well and the pitches are good. Does the usage of a drum machine negate this as a "true" a cappella album. If so, whatever. If not, who cares? The best part of this album is the vocal percussion, I honestly wish they dropped the drum machine and put more of an emphasis on that.

Some short notes

-I hate The Wanted and I hate Coldplay, so Glad You Came/Lovers In Japan is obviously the worst thing ever
-The rapping in Lost In The World is gross
-I thought The Lonely was going to be an Eleanor Rigby cover based on the start. Imagine my sadness when it turns out to be Christina Perri.

So overall, sometimes these guys are way more enjoyable than their source material (Gravity and some others I don't wanna relist), sometimes they... aren't (Marchin' On, and go up and you'll be able to infer at least three more examples). I am using WAY too many ellipses in this review, so let's end it before it gets worse. I totally don't regret listening to this album, in fact it makes me want to see a live a cappella show. That must mean it was good. On the other hand, some of these songs were horrible. How do I rate this thing?

Best Track: Stop Me
Rating: 6/10 (I just went with the benchmark. This was easily the most baffling album yet)

[Spenner]

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

I have a few requests if you haven't heard them:

Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid - Stars of the Lid
Harmony In Ultraviolet - Tim Hecker
MBV - My Bloody Valentine (if you haven't heard it a ton, dunno).
Rifts - OneohtrixPointNever (it's a long one, brace yourself).
Andy Stott - We Stay Together (recommend you at least hear one track if you've never heard his stuff to get an idea. Kinda like Burial if he were to just be a satanic club DJ and not Burial).

Really enjoyable reviews as always.

[YoshL]

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

just a by the way, the album i linked like 2 posts ago just came out, and is imo alot better than the previous album

also just btw, it's not a drum machine, it's actual beatboxing :P

also in the album that i linked i beatbox pretty much every single song except for one, you'll probably be able to tell the style difference right away

[rayword45]

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

also just btw, it's not a drum machine, it's actual beatboxing :P

I'll amend my review then. Just a question, is the beatboxing processed in the studio at all?

Day 65: Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Grief by Megalodoom (Album Choice: squeesfan)

Another EP for a rushjob review. Expect tongue-in-cheek Christgau-yness because screw it I have better things to do.

Note, I relistened to Flood by Boris and this time gave it actual attention. I enjoyed tracks 2 and 3 immensely, but thought track 1 could've been trimmed by like a minute or two, and track 4 could've been cut into a third and been just as effective. Either way, rating amended to 8/10.

Instrumental something-piece makes slow, ugly, fuzzy guitar rock. For all it's murk and rebellious anger, it remains surprisingly run-of-the-mill. 12 bars 12 bars run it through a cheap amp and distortion pedal..

Best Track: Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Grief
Rating: 6/10

[rayword45]

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

Day 66: Native by OneRepublic (Album Choice: Jonathan V.)

This has been a pretty bad day. Not the worst day ever, but a wholly dissatisfying, mood depleting, sanity testing day, loaded with condescending jerks, broken hardware, unnecessary work and all that jazz. I'm bushed, but wanted to take advantage of my sulky mood, so I thought let's handpick an angry sounding album.

That right there was an intro paragraph I wrote on Thursday night before deciding "fuck it, I should sleep instead". Now I'm no longer in a pissy mood but instead a completely phlegmatic one, so I'm gonna go with random.org.

I wish I was in a pissy mood again.

Well, actually I didn't have much reason to wish that, because this album reflects my mood, and my life. Boring. I wasn't exactly expecting the Devil's torture here, but my complete indifference to this music is so that I started listening and completely forgot I was listening until I was at track 6, Light It Up. And I only remembered because that song has the first electric guitar on the album, and the first guitar solo (which makes Cinnamon Girl damn near sound like the work of John Petrucci). Up till then I heard what sounded like folk-pop, electropop, wannabeindie pop, tribal drums, hip-hop beats and old people soft rock. All done as bland as possible.

Lucky that the unimpressive guitar playing knocked me back into attention mode, because Can't Stop is actually pretty good, with its heavy percussion and stronger-than-before vocals. The falsetto may grate on you a little bit but you can't deny that the vocal performance is the best thus far. Can't say the same about following tracks Au Revoir or Burning Bridges, which both just come off as cheesy and over orchestrated.

This whole album features many little touches that make me think they were going for a chant/singalong vibe (handclaps, heys, group choruses) but honestly this music is too placid and airy to evoke any sort of excitement to work like that. At best, this is completely inoffensive pop which acts as nice background noise if you like that sorta thing. At worst, this is completely inoffensive pop which you wouldn't listen to as background noise because you don't like this kinda music and/or prefer many of the other artists out there that make more interesting music.

So, in conclusion, and my ELA teachers always tell me "in conclusion" is a crappy start to a concluding paragraph, eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Best Track: Can't Stop (though I should mention final track Don't Look Down as a good runner-up)
Rating: 4/10