Since nobody was interested in my original idea, I'm just going to go ahead and review these myself.
(https://media.tenor.com/yqz42Wsiw10AAAAM/south-park.gif)
(https://y.yarn.co/7d4b675f-4022-43b2-8465-882844036703_text.gif)
Next up:
(https://media.tenor.com/d_MjD4WnrRgAAAAM/problemastecnicos-los-simpsons.gif)
I got once measly like for my gorgeously presented five-track shuffle, I'm not going to give anyone else the validation of engagement.
Yes I really like the artistic way you presented it Steph: shows a lot of care went into it.
I just, you know, didn't bother saying it. Soz.
:shycouch:
Fine. I'll do it myself. I'll grab each playlist posted in the other thread and review it here. And then I'll make my own thread. With blackjack. And hookers. In fact, forget the thread...
First up, first in the thread. Comes from this guy--->(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_19_1674048379.png)
And here it is.
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V
Wifisfuneral - Every Fucking Pill In The World (ft. Unotheactivist)
Ceschi - Heaven At Your Finger Tips (ft. Anonymous Inc)
Agonoize - Paranoid Destruction (SITD RMX)
K Death - Spokes
I was told that this rapper used to be on Music Banter.
Stuey Rock & Future - Bitch Waitin' At Home
Darby O'Trill - Body in a Void (ft. Insane Poetry)
Big Hoodoo - Boom Boom Piggy (ft. Trick Trick)
2Pac - Life Of An Outlaw (ft. The Outlawz)
¡Mayday! - 12 Hands On The Wheel
Drake & 21 Savage - Pussy & Millions (ft. Travis Scott)
Just have to make sure they're all on the Y, as I don't do the S. Once I've confirmed, I'll begin assaulting my ears and let you know what I thought.
Note before I start: you guys know that while I try to go into these things with an open mind, the chances are I'll hate your music. However I hope you also know that I will do my best to be fair, not discount anything just because I don't know/know of/like that artist/genre, and my adventures in reviewing albums on Wiki's list has shown me that there is a lot of decent music out there which I would otherwise never have even thought of listening to, so you never know.
But I'll probably hate the majority of it.
PLEASE don't take offence if so, and don't try to, like a certain person who used to be on MB and had a propensity for not smiling much, explain to me why I'm wrong, or advise me to listen to half a dozen albums/mixtapes/whatever you're having yourself in order to truly understand and get into the artist. That's not my goal here. I don't even know if I have a goal here, other than to sit in judgement on the music taste of others I mean give an unbiased opinion of the music in your playlists. Don't expect miracles, and if I hate it let me hate it, accept that and move on. I'm sure you hate my music too. And yes, I will also be reviewing my own playlists, Ouroboros-like. Sure why not? What else have I got to do?
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/45/0c/b9450caaaa2e22397a6ff4ef8d2e1876.gif)
Hey, if nothing else, as ever, it will be a larf as you giggle at my failure to "get" your music, how little I know, how old I am, and possibly ruminate upon how much better the world would be without me in it.
Quote from: Trollheart on Sep 24, 2024, 07:36 PMYes I really like the artistic way you presented it Steph: shows a lot of care went into it.
I just, you know, didn't bother saying it. Soz.
:shycouch:
I don't mean to degrade your engagement as measly. It's just like, please sir, may I have some more?
(https://i.discogs.com/6fo9TDFtoBZimvMvEKs0hTOitRD8xi2f_nfjg8rQjCs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEzMjQ0/MDIxLTE1NTA2MDcz/MDctMzM3MC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Wifisfuneral - Every Fucking Pill In The World (ft. Unotheactivist)
(Note: as usual I'm taking my genre tags from Wiki, also perhaps Discogs and RYM. If they're not right, suck it.)
Genre: Hip-hop/Trap
Source: 4th album Ethernet
Year: 2018
Nationality: American
Comments: Just be aware, hip-hop fans, that I often find it hard to make out the rap, so don't and usually won't be paying too much attention to them. I like the sort of laid back, almost spooky theme of this. It's nowhere near as in my face as I had expected, and though see above I must say the "flow" (ah, bless! He thinks he knows the jargon. He'll sleep tonight) seems very good, well controlled and well delivered. If only I knew what I was talking about. Oh well. I don't hate this, in fact I quite like it. Good start, Mister Ferre!
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/453fc1153123a06ad077decea42eb442/9457191/ceschi-this-guitar-was-stolen-along-with-years-of-our-lives-Cover-Art.jpg)
Ceschi - Heaven At Your Finger Tips (ft. Anonymous Inc)
Genre: Folk Punk
Source: 14th album This Guitar Was Stolen, Along With Years of Our Lives
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: Making tiny inroads into punk rock, mostly via Celtic Punk, though I understand I don't have, to use the vernacular of the genre, a fucking clue, certainly not yet. Still, I can say that I now don't hate it as a genre, or dismiss it, as I used to. Let's see what this is like. I love the opening, and I would say (shut up Trollheart, pretending you know anything. God I hate you) the singer sounds a bit like Billy Bragg. A short song, one second short of two minutes, but very pleasant, and honestly personally I don't see the punk here, but then, as ever, what do I know? Like this a lot. Going well so far.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/636c8d05fb2decfb13deba51a0cb8ef7/2331892/agonoize-assimilation-chapter-one-Cover-Art.jpg)
Agonoize - Paranoid Destruction (SITD RMX)
Genre: Aggrotech (?)
Source: Debut album Assimilation: Chapter One
Year: 2004
Nationality: German
Comments: Okay I have no idea what aggrotech is, but with that and a band called Agonoize I think I can safely assume this is going to be LOUD, aggressive and ear-bleeding, and that I'm unlikely to enjoy it. Wait a minute! What is that? Harps? Ah, no. Just wishful thinking I guess. Oh but I didn't expect keyboards? And a sort of I don't know, darkwave sound? Christ TH can you ever get it right? Oh come on now: given the information I had to work with, anyone not into this would have come to the same conclusion. The vocal is sort of borrowed from black metal, so a kind of meshing of that and industrial/new-wave/synthpop/darkwave? Again I'm surprised because this is pretty damned good, and not at all what I had expected. I could see this being played at clubs, which I'm reliably informed are places people go to dance and consume fermented vegetable juices in order to reach an advanced state of inebriation. Yeah, strike three for me: this is really good.
Rating: :4stars:
K Death - Spokes
I was told that this rapper used to be on Music Banter.
Genre: No idea but I'll take Lucem's word it's rap (no information on any of my usual friendly sites)
Source: See above
Year: Duh
Nationality: No clue
Comments: Don't know about him being on the old Banterus Musicalium, never personally heard of him though I don't move in those circles. Nothing on the Y so unless you have a copy I can listen to, nothing I can do so moving on.
Rating:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/34800d279bcc4e27892c68075774e655/3827968/stuey-rock-and-future-fdu-and-free-bandz-Cover-Art.jpg)
Stuey Rock & Future - Bitch Waitin' At Home
Genre: Pop rap/Southern hip-hop/Trap
Source: Second album FDU and Free Bandz
Year: 2011
Nationality: American
Comments: The only thing I know about this is that I've heard Future (no, not seen the future, different thing) and didn't particularly like him if I remember. I don't think I hated him, but I certainly didn't love him. So his presence here might skew me towards the less appreciative side of my ratings, we'll see. Well not bad really. Could do without the autotune (my nemesis) but other than that a nice kind of laid back ballad, pretty good.
Rating: :4stars:
Darby O'Trill - Body in a Void (ft. Insane Poetry)
Genre: Horrorcore/Rap (?)
Source: Dunno: I've checked every album and EP, and the mixtape has no track listing
Year: D'oh!
Nationality: I presume American
Comments: On my interesting jaunt through the albums I noticed a lot of references to juggalos and ICP. Is this something to do with them? Who knows, but some of the titles are hilarious and some are stomach-churning. I assume none of this is meant to be taken seriously, lyric-wise. Well I can't review it as the Y shakes its mighty head. Laters!
Rating:
(https://i.discogs.com/ZfMIu9MHuq-Yf4fXuQSceLDaUNbZrGTpDBcq1i7W1wQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwNDQw/OTkyLTE0OTc0OTcy/MjctMTcyOC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Big Hoodoo - Boom Boom Piggy (ft. Trick Trick)
Genre: Horrorcore/Hip-hop
Source: 2nd album Asylum
Year: 2016
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh here's another one! Let's see if I can get this one. Yeah I can. Hell this is good. I really like this. Not too sure about the old horrorcore tag, but it's powerful stuff. The sort of movie-style music as a backing, kind of like an old Clint Eastwood film or something, underlines the stand against the cops, as if the title didn't. Don't think this will be blasting out of any black-and-whites! Cool stuff, like it.
Rating: :4stars:
2Pac - Life Of An Outlaw (ft. The Outlawz)
Genre: Hip-hop
Source: No idea
Year: No idea (1996?)
Nationality: American
Comments: Hey, even this thick white Irish boy heard of 2pac. What's that? Heard his music? Oh my stars, no. First time for everything I guess. Yeah, another fine track with a lot of anger in it. Guess 2pac did it first, or something. Respect.
Rating: :4stars:
¡Mayday! - 12 Hands On The Wheel
Genre: Shrug
Source: Look, I don't know. There are four or five bands called Mayday, and the Spanish upside-down exclamation mark don't register with searches, so sue me.
Year: Dunno
Nationality: Maybe Spanish or Mexican, but who knows?
Comments: Why twelve hands on the wheel? Six people can't fit into the driver's seat of even a Hummer, I'd imagine. Yeah, good idea: I'll shut up and get on with listening to the music, if I can find it. Nope. I can't. So on to the last one.
Rating:
(https://i.discogs.com/ENtubCYg0D7vbNOaHDAyYaRBp4wnpAegxlsSx8w2k-Y/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1MDUz/ODgwLTE2Njc1ODk0/ODYtNDc5NC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Drake & 21 Savage - Pussy & Millions (ft. Travis Scott)
Genre: Hip-hop
Source: 15th album Her Loss
Year: 2022
Nationality: American
Comments: I've heard of Drake, but never heard anything by him. I have no idea who or what 21 Savage is, and I have listened to one album by Travis Scott. I did not like it. This isn't bad, though once again I have to suit up to do battle with my natural enemy, Autotune, damn it into the deepest darkest hell. Good enough song though.
Rating: :4stars:
So, given what was in this playlist, and allowing for the ones I couldn't find, a surprisingly enjoyable playlist, for which I have to award an average rating of
:4stars:
Next up, it's himself: (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_14_1693279965.png)
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_14_1693279965.png)
Grindy's avatar used to be this scary-looking dude or creature in a tree at night, gave me the feeling he/she/it was about to attack me. Also reminded me somewhat of Eddie on the cover of Maiden's
Fear of the Dark album. And that's how I often feel with this guy: you don't know what, to coin a phrase, mad shit he's going to come up with. So it's with a slight sense of trepidation I venture into the dark, moonless forest that is his playlist. What was that? Just an owl, you say. Hmm. All right then. I'm trusting you. Mind the covered pit with the sharpened whaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!
(https://i.discogs.com/-gD0Na-BKPsQMeBd1ewKhQXCypDn1bZ4ltheKp8MZYQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI3MjQ5/MTYtMTQxODU1MDU1/NC03NzA0LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Colin Stetson - All The Days I've Missed You (ILAIJ I)
Genre: Jazz/AVant-garde/Rock
Source: 3rd album
New History Warfare Vol 2: JudgesYear: 2011
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh no! It's the J word! And the A word! I knew it was a mistake to come into this fucking forest. Probably find my bleached bones lying here in years to come, my ears decomposed off my head with my skeletal hands still clamped to them. Oh well, I asked for this. Hey, at least it's short. Kind of like some sort of drone, mixed with a "Last Post" idea. I'll say it's okay, but probably only because it doesn't have time to get going. Whew.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/rIA4BBlPg6FBMwVgVLVw7C94LnGxJtclpZmTG8mHY44/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:350/w:350/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1NzAx/ODQxLTE1OTYyNTcw/MzgtNDE0MS5qcGVn.jpeg)
Imperial Triumphant - Rotted Futures
Genre: Black metal/Avant-garde
Source: 5th album
AlphavilleYear: 2020
Nationality: American
Comments: It's that A word again! I know Grindy likes his black metal, and in fact 'twas he, do I but recall correctly, who got me into blackgaze, so I can forgive him a lot. Mind you, I sort of get black metal a little myself now. Ah, how far I've come, and how far I have yet to go. Hah! I note a track on one of their other albums,
Abyssal Gods or something, called "Sex in the Vatican" or the like. Cool. Title of this track sounds like poorly-invested money by stock brokers. Sure, I'll shut up. Someday. Has to happen. I like the creepy opening, very sort of symphonic metal or summat, building up to something, no doubt a hoarse, scratchy vocal on the way... oh no, these guys go for the Cookie Monster vibe. Fair enough. The music is bitchin' and I mean bitchin'. Really like this. Did I mention it was bitchin'? It's bitchin'.
Rating: :4.5stars: (Only stopped getting 5 stars due to the vocal, which I can't make out and sort of takes from the song for me)
(https://i.discogs.com/KvQWBTJBHEPoFywiSJjSuVln5jufT1zCuG847uJ5eFc/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:567/w:570/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2NjE4/NDQtMTM1MTk0OTI3/OC01MzI4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Massacre - Surfing
Genre: Death Metal
Source: 2nd album
PromisesYear: 1997
Nationality: American
Comments: Now look, I'm just going to take a chance here, but I think you misspelled the track name. "Surfing"? Surely not. I see no such track on any of the albums I looked at. I did, however, see "Suffering", which seems more in keeping with a death metal band, so I'm going to go with that. If I'm wrong, let me know what album this "Surfing" of which you speak is on, but I don't see it. So then, taking "Suffering" as our subject, I, er, can't. No such track coming up. In desperation (and doubt) I tried "Surfing" too, but unless I fancy listening to a ten-hour Beach Boys compilation - spoiler: I don't - I got nothin'.
Rating:Okapi - Ricalchino Solleone
Genre: ?
Source: ?
Year: ?
Nationality:?
Comments: You've stumped me again, Mister G! I can find two artists of this name, but one is some Italian sound engineer or something and the other has two albums, neither of which this is on.
(https://media.tenor.com/fjlne8WV1O4AAAAj/can-you-please-explain-kbrown.gif)
Rating: Mark Nauseef, Ikue Mori, Evan Parker & Bill Laswell - Yuga Warp
Genre: Electronic/Jazz/ Free Improvisation
Source: 18th album
Near NadirYear: 2011
Nationality: American
Comments: And the hits just keep coming! Now we have the F word. No not that one: Free, followed by the I word. And also the J one. Sigh. Okay, cover me: I'm goin' in! And we kick off with the sound of someone opening a door and walking across a hardwood floor with a glass of water - oh you know how it goes with this improvisational shite I mean cleverly written, out of the box, unconventional... um, shite. Yeah this ain't gonna be for me Mister G sorry. Now it's like the Clangers (what?) out on a boat on the sea. I mean, I'm sure it's clever and highbrow and, um, clever, but I ain't never gonna understand this, noway nohow.
Rating: :2stars:
The Clangers(https://i.discogs.com/0V9CLRNBbB5qEM5mxBlvgM7zxtFh7Qt2-vP3_6Pi1PI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTMwNzA5/NjU4LTE3MTYwMTk2/NjMtMjExNy5qcGVn.jpeg)
Janko Nilovic, JJ Whitefield & Igor Zhukovsky - Really Hot
Genre: Jazz/funk/soul/psychedelic
Source: 32nd album
Cosmos Giants Year: 2024
Nationality: Montenegrin/French
Comments: This at least sounds more like something I can listen to. Pretty cool as it goes, very funk-ay. Like the jangly guitar. Neat. Kind of reminds me of Floyd.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/qOB7srHkkfYHeZ3iBfVv7I6VZxPkbOPxd7vexyEoyFI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0NDEz/NjgtMTcyMTQwNzE3/NC02MjE4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Time Of Orchids - Everyone Is Suspended
Genre: Rock/Classical/Post-Modern/Experimental
Source: 4th album
Sarcast WhileYear: 2005
Nationality: American
Comments: Sounds like massive layoffs! From what I hear, not before time. As soon as this starts I bloody hate it. Different vocals which seem to be out of tune (yes I know but to me they do) and a kind of hippy/folk idea running through a sharp guitar line that reminds me of something but I don't know what, but whatever it is I don't want to hear it again. Oh, and now some screaming and shouting, just what I needed.
Rating: :1stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/nljD4ufZ_nQ0fq5NCCtXWop7n4VOB43asmGdYzPJDmY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI0NzQw/MTctMTYxMzgwOTUx/Ni03MTgyLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Mary Halvorson Quintet - Saturn Sings (No. 18)
Genre: Jazz
Source: Debut album
Saturn SingsYear: 2010
Nationality: American
Comments: Easier to listen to than the last one (though cats mating in my garden at night would be easier to listen to than that, and marginally more pleasing, sorry mate) this is still not really my thing. Hey what can I tell you? I'm not a jazz fan, and I never will be. For what it is, I'm sure it's good, but it does nothing for me.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/3u0hijdzUHBrpcoGdYdqsEZBKOfy0m0OOm144RlGR6Y/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc1NzE5/MTktMTQ0NDI5MTE5/Mi03ODUzLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Make A Rising - Transmutation
Genre: Progressive Pop/Avant-Prog
Source: 2nd album
Infinite Ellipse with Head and Open FontanelYear: 2008
Nationality:American
Comments: I feel this has an odd 70s feel about it, quite catchy with some nice keyboard work. I think it reminds me of After Crying, though maybe I just need to cut down on my medications. The vocal is an odd kind of chant, multiple singers I think, two at least anyway. Yeah it's not bad but though I don't hate it I don't love it.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/lB9l80nKhDhkS4hr2-gdBXCNJUmkqhU5U_oaomTX0Uw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTg3MTQw/NTMtMTQ2NzE3OTE3/Ni05NjU5LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Keiji Haino, Merzbow & Balázs Pándi - How Differ The Instructions Of The Left From The Instructions Of The Right? (Part II)
Genre: Noise, Improvisational/
Source: 51st album
けない無防備 = An Untroublesome Defencelessness
Year: 2016
Nationality: Japanese
Comments: Disclaimer: I've had some small experience of yer man Kenjo, (and shuddering experience of Merzbow, which still has me waking in a cold sweat!) so if this is a three-day long song I'll only listen to some of it, get an idea as to whether I like it or not. I got things to do. Okay this was hard to find. I had to get the album on YT and then scan forward to this track. Will I regret it? As the man from Carlsberg says, almost certainly. Ah sure there's me Merzbow now, fair play to him, kicking up a fuss and making lots of noise that means nothing to me in a musical sense, standard Trollheart disclaimer. Sorry it's just feedback and noise to me. Never gonna get into this stuff. Oh now, I listened to the whole track. What more do you want?
Rating: :2stars:
So there it is. Not, perhaps, a fair reflection of your playlist, as there were 2 tracks I couldn't find to listen to, but I have to go with what I have, and as Rick from
Pawn Stars sometimes says, sorry man, we're so far apart we'll never make a deal today.
Overall rating :3stars:
Thanks, Trollheart ! This thread will be a great resource for anyone like me, who has looked at the playlist thread and thought, "I'm curious about these lists, but there are just so many songs..."
Now I'll have your own impressions to guide me through some music that I wouldn't otherwise explore. Well done :clap: (and good luck slogging through such a mountain of material )
I think capping the shuffles at 5 tracks is the move and not just because I did it first but because it is right
It's up to yourselves, but personally I think 10 is good. I'll do up to 20. A glutton for what, you say?
(https://y.yarn.co/8b21681d-a9cf-4ba8-9ec1-bef479ec4ec9_text.gif)
Next one up is the cutie with a real bite, as you'll see from the fact that not a single one of the tracks below is anything like a love song. Well, unless you love severed heads or making them suffer I guess! Yes, it's time to review the first shuffle from our own
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_18_1726275537.png)
And here it is.
(https://i.discogs.com/VnP1r_5aRAx8FKq_QMA36hUOXA_kH7WWuR8YZNcvlwQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1NTA4/NjAzLTE1OTI3MDg3/OTMtNDcxNC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Make Them Suffer - Soul Decay
Genre: Metalcore/ Pop Rock
Source: 4th album How to Survive a Funeral
Year: 2020
Nationality: Australian
Comments: Now, it should be understood beforehand that, though I'm a metal head (causes chaos going through airports I can tell you!) I've never been into metalcore, so this may be a bit of an ordeal. This one starts off with the classic metalcore "Give me a throat lozenge!" style of singing, like the vocalist has been arguing with someone for hours and is now just hoarse. Melody-wise it's good enough, plenty to recommend it, lots of energy, though I believe I do feel a headache coming on.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/ZaXYmTh-SGWbw70HKF302oYXMorO7JEVb-Z_PGGG0zQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:579/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2NTc3/MjctMTQyOTcwOTcx/MS00MDQxLnBuZw.jpeg)
It Dies Today - Severed Ties Yield Severed
Heads
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Source: Debut album The Caitiff Choir
Year: 2004
Nationality: American
Comments: Ah, they do like their death and violence imagery, don't they, these metalcore boys? Wonder what would happen if you got a black metal band teaming up with them? Blackcore? The only real difference I see between this and the last one is that the guitar is more of a thrash metal - oh hold on: clean vocals as well as unclean ones, as it were. Okay that's different. Think I like this one better. The clean vocals come in for the chorus, which gives the song a bit more structure (also means I can understand some of it). Daycent, as we say here.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/4H5a0BWK7CfyGiTxnvZ7zomAFZeqmYx7wzZrs4LfAvc/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEyNzI1/MzQ1LTE1NDA5MDQz/MTgtNDgxNy5wbmc.jpeg)
Motionless in White - 570
Genre: Metalcore/Industrial
Source: 6th album Graveyard Shift
Year: 2017
Nationality: American
Comments: And this is far more Maidenesque, with bouncing guitars romping along nicely. Some clean vocals here too. Look, I may not be saying a lot, but somewhat like with power metal, it seems there's not a lot you can say about metalcore, as they mostly seem to follow the same basic idea. Which is not to say that they all sound the same, but to the untrained ear they seem to be very similar to each other.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/y7f0RLh0vXZot78zUPp43yrzUtZxCJqMZcbF8YKfS4c/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:500/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI5NzAx/NDYtMTMzNjM5MDQy/OC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Iwrestledabearonce - Ulrich Firelord, Breaker of Mountains
Genre: Avant-Garde/Heavy Metal/Metalcore
Source: Debut self-titled EP
Year: 2007
Nationality: American
Comments: Although to be fair, this guy sounds like he's having a fit, or else someone stuffed a ferret down his pants and he's screaming "Get it out! Get it out!" If these guys did wrestle a bear once, I wouldn't be surprised if said bear ran away. Just a mess - oh what? Now we have reflective guitar and a female vocal, which makes me think the YT has skipped onto another video, but no, still the same song. How odd. Changes the whole feel of the thing, almost as if this is the real song, the guy roaring at the start was some escaped lunatic who somehow found his way into the studio and has been unceremoniously escorted out so that they can get on with the song. I must say, it's so much better without him. Oh, but he must have broken loose and escaped his captors because here he comes again! And now we have Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King", or a version of such. I said it before, I'll say it again: odd. But not bad.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/3tXwdlHRftNmq-qF9mwkCi5PRLwoNTyBXZ8brq5QrJc/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTg3NTA2/NC0xNTU1MTI4NTI1/LTI4MTAuanBlZw.jpeg)
Chimaira - Sp Lit
Genre: Nu-Metal/Industrial
Source: Debut album Pass Out of Existence
Year: 2001
Nationality: American
Comments: This guy has a far better voice than most of the others, and the chorus is almost clean vocals. Love the sort of Metallica style guitar in this.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/LR8jZ2cXwGU68LHB-nXiL5xyZzdGwdvUJn3g4pgGSsw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:530/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1NTg1/NDQtMTY5NDY5OTI1/My05MTE0LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Born of Osiris - Now Arise
Genre: Deathcore
Source: 2nd album A Higher Place
Year: 2009
Nationality: American
Comments: Guitar melody is cool here, almost approaching a blend of prog metal and black metal, but the vocal leaves a lot to be desired. A lot.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/ND35t_H1ffLNfi7VI60-NISo4hR_EgWGkAcIjlSCc2Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIxMjgx/NDgyLTE2MzkwMTQ1/MjEtNjM2OC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Alpha Wolf - Akudama
Genre: Hardcore/Nu-Metal
Source: 2nd album A Quiet Place to Die
Year: 2020
Nationality: Australian
Comments: This rattles along at breakneck speed, but I can't honestly say it does anything for me. Bit of a mess.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/p27fIWvU7i3mB6rwSEjQH-MERa4A_yhmFRb40JiwtWw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2NTc3/ODctMTIzNTAwODM2/Ni5qcGVn.jpeg)
Bleeding Through - Love in Slow Motion
Genre: Hardcore/Heavy Metal/Metalcore
Source: 4th album The Truth
Year: 2006
Nationality: American
Comments: Has a lot of power and aggressive energy, with what sounds like a mighty keyboard line, distinguishes it a little from most of the other tracks. Plus there's clean vocal on the chorus which puts it in almost more a speed/thrash or even groove metal vein. I do like this. No wait, I don't. I love it.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/aTrM-3TMvhB4vpD65j7UJLcKR14G-i1JMMkosS5uUZY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:596/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE3Mjk2/MzM5LTE2MTI2NzI0/NzItMzU5My5qcGVn.jpeg)
The Black Dahlia Murder - Funeral Thirst
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Source: Debut album Unhallowed
Year: 2003
Nationality: American
Comments: I know about the Black Dahlia Murder. Karen, lord rest her soul, got me to read it to her; never warned me it was about a dismembered body. Sigh. There's a certain sense of that here, a kind of dismembered vocal (one scratchy and hoarse, the other deep and growly - don't know if it's the same person, though sometimes it is) and a hammering drumbeat that just goes through my head and does nothing to help my rapidly growing migraine. Guitars are good, though they're a little subsumed in the mix it seems. Oh there's a decent solo now. That's good. But yeah, other than that, not a lot for me here. Like that book. Still gives me the shudders.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/8M5Yu1uNUSQBoKJuiYotpDhzhof1X1M8OjPS4-YiKYs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:595/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTUwNDk3/NzYtMTYxNzk5Njc5/NS04MzE3LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Suicide Silence - Disengage
Genre: Deathcore
Source: 2nd album No Time to Bleed
Year: 2009
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh for fuck's sake! Now that's taking it a little far! When I racked this up the Big Y assured me "You're not alone" and wanted to give me the numbers of "organisations that could help me". Jesus on a frog-powered riverboat attempting a crossing of the Missouri! I know, I know! Some people might listen to music like this because they're suicidal, but hey, I'm depressed but not yet ready to deprive this world of my presence. As for Suicide Silence? Hmm. How can I say this without giving offence? They can fuck off. Nothing there at all. Just terrible. And now I really have a headache. Fucking metalcore.
Rating: :2stars:
Sorry Lexi but I did explain at the start that me and metalcore may sometimes bump into each other on the street, but we always cross over to avoid one another. Needless to say, it's their fault, not mine. Best I can do for ya I'm afraid.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
Thank you
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_45_1684489615.png)
I see a whole lot more jazz here than I like, and one jazz song is a whole lot more jazz than I like! I also note most of these seem to be live performances, so I don't know if I'll be able to get them on the Y but sure I'll give it a go.
UPDATE: Saulaac has provided me with links for two of the missing tracks, new reviews shown now in green and overall rating updated.
MOWGLI - Cénac - Jazz 360 - 8 Juin 2019
Genre: Jazz, presumably
Source: ?
Year: ? but 2018 or before obv
Nationality: French, perchance?
Comments: Okay this is what happens when artists take well-known names for their projects. Mowgli is of course the young male protagonist of Kipling's "The Jungle Book", and, more importantly, Disney's interpretations of it. There are at least four artists using this name, and though I thought I had narrowed it down to a French nu-jazz artist, neither of his albums show that track. I even tried putting the word jazz after the search term, but no dice. The Lords of Y ask me repeatedly if I would like to see scenes from said "Jungle Book", to which I politely decline and back out of the viewing room without making eye contact. In other words, can't find this, have no clue what it is or where to see it, and so must leave it. Je suis desolee, as I believe you say.
Update: I quite enjoyed this, the relaxed nature of it, the way each band member did his own thing and then they joined together, the audience reaction. The music wasn't really for me, but it was good overall.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/10ceff902cf1bfa4e28c1fb1569bb90f/2373354/george-russell-vertical-form-vi-Cover-Art.jpg)
George Russell – Vertical Form VI (1981 - Album)
Genre: Jazz
Source: 4th live album Vertical Form VI
Year: 1977
Nationality: American
Comments: You neglected to say which track, just put down the whole album, so if you expect me to listen to the whole album, well, that ain't happening. Moving on.
Update: This, however, did nothing for me, and shows me why I hate jazz, sorry. Very annoying and boring, with a lot of squealing and messing around. No thanks.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/0debd6b232db0bc138abfb63bd03c77b/9760011/kerbside-collection-round-the-corner-Cover-Art.jpg)
KERBSIDE COLLECTION - GLAZE
Genre: Jazz-funk
Source: 4th album Round the Corner
Year: 2022
Nationality: Australian
Comments: Poxy algorithms! When I put in "Kerbside Collection" the first result that the Y handed me was a video for waste collection! Could that be a comment on what was to come? Well now that would be unfair, and I don't do unfair. But to be fair to me, jazz-funk is probably my least hated jazz, and I don't hate this. It's quite groovy in fact. And not too long. Very pleasant, and good to finally get one of your tracks I can bloody listen to!
Rating: :4.5stars:
Les Égarés "Orient Express" - Jazz in Marciac 2024
Genre: Jazz
Source: Dunno
Year: Dunno
Nationality: Dunno but presumably French?
Comments: Can't find anything on these guys, so have no idea what album this comes from, but I was able to find the video on the Y, which is good because it's cool as a summer shower in Florida. Sweet. And I say that with it being over seven minutes long. Jazz has never sounded so good.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/643ae473be4375266c5ddd7362cc6733/3583748/jamiroquai-rock-dust-light-star-Cover-Art.jpg)
She's a Fast Persuader - Jamiroquai Live in Sydney 2010
Genre: Jazz fusion/Funk
Source: (originally) 7th album Rock Dust Light Star
Year: 2010
Nationality: English
Comments: Not a fan of the old space cowboys now I must say, but let's see what this is like. Well it is hard to resist the innate coolness and smoothness of the song... all right, I give up. Damn fine.
Rating: :4stars:
Bob James - Live at Montreux - 1985
Genre: Jazz
Source: ?
Year: 1985
Nationality: American
Comments: Yeah, again you've got no track here and I ain't listening to a whole gig.
Rating:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/73f436f1a420294ba1e6664bbcc9b726/2533045/puccio-roelens-april-orchestra-presente-rca-sound-vol-13-Cover-Art.jpg)
Puccio Roelens - Northern Lights - Rare Groove
Genre: "Library music" (?)/Disco/Funk
Source: 9th album April Orchestra presente RCA Sound Vol 13
Year: 1977
Nationality: Italian
Comments: Oh you do make your selections hard to track down, Monsieur! Trawling through album after album by this guy, see no "Rare Groove" but the track is on this one so we'll go with that. Assuming it's on the Y. Is it? It is. Very well, then: let the Itchy and Scratchy and Puccio show (sorry) begin! Is this a cover of the old Renaissance song? Not sure, but it doesn't sound like it. It's okay I guess but sounds like a million disco-themed background music pieces I've heard on old movies. Meh.
Rating: :2.5stars:
A Certain Ratio - Flight
Genre: Post-punk/Dance-punk/Funk rock
Source: Debut album The Graveyard and the Ballroom
Year: 1979
Nationality: English
Comments: Sounds a bit dreary, like a cross between Joy Division and Kraftwerk maybe. Bit of Mode in there, possibly of the Depeche kind? Not my cup of poison, I fear.
Rating: :2stars:
LTJ Bukem - KISS FM London - 13 December 1995
Genre: ?
Source: ?
Year: 1995
Nationality:
Comments: Again, insufficient data. Shutting down program. Please do not reboot your computer.
Rating:
Although I realise the playlists weren't initially posted to be listened to, now they are being. Listened to, that is. So I need information. Information. Information. I won't get it. So if a) there are just albums mentioned, b) no YT exists or c) just an artist/gig is posted, I can't make any comments on those, and therefore overall ratings are going to suffer as a result. Speaking of which.
Overall rating: :3stars: (no change)
@Trollheart Thank you for posting your thoughts, I really enjoyed reading them even if our tastes differ! You always give things a chance and praise the elements you do like, and I think that's a good mindset to have.
The female vocalist in Iwrestledabearonce is actually doing both the singing and the screaming, just FYI. Great band, I saw them live in 2010 and they ripped.
Watch out, people, here he comes! Heeerrrrre's
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_35_1683317842.png)
And here's his playlist
Usher - Boyfriend
Genre: Contemporary R&B/Soul/Hip-hop
Source: No idea
Year: Dunno
Nationality: American
Comments: Yes I'm someone who has never heard an Usher song, what of it? Usher, Usher, all fall down! No? Well anyway, I couldn't find out what album this comes from. There were indications it was to be on his most recent, but I don't see it in the track listings. I must say, I really like it. It's very catchy and the two vocals work very well. Even the bit of Autotune ("Destroy Autotune by 2030: I am Trollheart and I approve this message") doesn't bother me that much. Oh, but the sudden bit of talking does. How I hate that. Ruined the bloody thing. Still like it though.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b4fb7c797d335d28b03d40ac4e3c6831/1339175/aceyalone-love-and-hate-Cover-Art.jpg)
Aceyalone feat Riddlore - Find Out
Genre: West Coast Hip-hop
Source: 6th album Love and Hate
Year: 2003
Nationality: American
Comments: A lot of energy in this, very dramatic kind of backing track. Pretty good. I mean, not something I'd necessarily seek out again, but I wouldn't consciously avoid it.
Rating: :3.5stars:
Tevin Campbell & Rosie Gaines - I2I
Genre: Contemporary R&B/Smooth Soul/New Jack Swing
Source: Non sequitur
Year: I have no idea
Nationality: American
Comments: Looked all through his albums and didn't find this, so who knows where it comes from? Right; I see it's from a movie soundtrack. Seriously? A Goofy Movie? Holy shit. Sounds kind of AOR to me, something like Foreigner or Toto or something. I like it.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/3ef5a883f9b6a69e8b16522c96fa270c/12356855/hanumankind-and-kalmi-big-dawgs-Cover-Art.png)
Hanumankind & Kalmi - Big Dawgs
Genre: Memphis Hip-hop/Rage
Source: 5th single
Year: 2024
Nationality: Indian
Comments: A lot of "Uh, yeah" in this I must say. Grinding guitar or synth sounds a bit like a buzzsaw. The sort of acapella bit is interesting. Like this too.
Rating: :4stars:
Dragons of Zynth - K.I.M.(Keep it moving)
Genre: Art Rock/Neo-psychedelia
Source: Unknown
Year: No idea
Nationality: American
Comments: Another one I couldn't place. Looked at the track listing for the albums, no luck. Sounds quite metal to me I must say, I guess the fuzzy guitars are where the neo-psychedelia comes in. Good singer. Sounds like he goes a little out of tune though. The slow bit halfway through is really nice.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/35ad9fe1170cf300dfd5f1a2dc8b7ca1/6494339/pentatonix-ptx-vol-iv-classics-Cover-Art.jpg)
Pentatonix - Jolene
Genre: Acapella pop
Source: 5th EP PTX Vol IV - Classics
Year: 2017
Nationality: American
Comments: God I HATE Pentatonix! As the Patrician once said to the mime in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, "learn the words!" If you can't play a musical instrument don't fucking pretend to be one! Fuckers. I've nothing against Dolly but I hate this song. So damn whiny for such a firecracker as her. I know I'll hate their version. Well at least Dolly is on the track herself. That helps. I still hate it though. Fuck Pentatonix. Did I say fuck Pentatonix? Fuck Pentatonix.
Rating: :0.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/1c59d04a3d5bbc253affe79a94debc27/4038845/red-cafe-hells-kitchen-Cover-Art.jpg)
Red Cafe feat Rick Ross & Ryan Leslie - Fly Together
Genre:East Coast Hip-hop/Gangsta Rap
Source: 8th mixtape Hell's Kitchen
Year: 2012
Nationality: American
Comments: Meh this one's okay but there's something about it that just isn't speaking to me. Too many rappers? Different styles? Not sure. Just not feeling it. Bro.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ebc44dc3f8798d966ed93f0a1cfad3a5/12232228/charli-xcx-brat-Cover-Art.jpg)
Charli xcx - b2b
Genre: Electropop/EDM
Source: 7th album brat
Year: 2024
Nationality: English
Comments: Not too much of a fan of this sort of music. I find this one extremely repetitive and the driving rhythm hurts my head, but that's just me. Doesn't seem to be much in it, but I guess this kind of music is more about being something you can dance to as opposed to having (ahem) deep lyrics.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/cdb65fd5d4277ba4d03b3f64bd0b332d/11470576/fetty-wap-king-zoo-Cover-Art.jpg)
Fetty Wap - Undeniable
Genre: Pop rap/Trap/East Coast Hip-hop
Source: 4th album King Zoo
Year: 2023
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh I like this from the moment it begins. The sweeping piano, the slow percussion, tinkling keys, the vocal. It has it all.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ebc44dc3f8798d966ed93f0a1cfad3a5/12232228/charli-xcx-brat-Cover-Art.jpg)
Charli xcx - 360
Genre: Electropop/EDM
Source: 7th album brat
Year: 2024
Nationality: English
Comments: I suppose her fans know what to expect by now. Didn't think much of this either and the video is very annoying, but then I'm not reviewing the video. I guess I can say that there was slightly more in the song than the last one in your list (the last CXCX one I mean) but not a lot. Also, I don't get the title but what does that matter to an old codger like me? Now, where's that cloud that's always laughing at me? I'll show it!
Rating: :3stars:
A pretty damn fine playlist all told, my man! No problem with any of those tracks (other than fucking Pentatonix! How could you?) and some of them I did think I'd struggle with.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me! Look, I'll put up with a lot but I am NOT listening to the crap he listens to! No. No fucking way. You can't make me. What do you mean, I'm under contract? That's not my signat - oh my! That IS a rather large stick with a very impressive nail in it that your associate is thumping into his equally impressive fist, isn't it? Okay, okay! I suppose I have no choice.
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_2_1673958603.png)
(God how I hate that guy, with his whiny "Bon Jovi are great" and "Why don't you guys like Genesis?" Makes me sick. Oh well.)
One more exaggerated sigh, and on we go.
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c8fcbd1778a8c65be98ac2fada6e3fb9/6026476/booze-control-the-lizard-rider-Cover-Art.jpg)
Vile Temptress - Booze Control
Genre: Heavy Metal
Source: 3rd album The Lizard Rider
Year: 2016
Nationality: German
Comments: Oh dear. Yet another metal band who want to be, but never will be, Iron Maiden. The guitars, the two axemen lineup, the sounds and melodies, hell, they even use the same sort of logo as Harris's boys! I mean, yeah, it's okay but Maiden do it so much better, so why listen to a third-rate German rip-off? Pass.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/892e1aad260e58c3ffb451fc1da82a60/11315018/gilbert-osullivan-the-best-of-gilbert-osullivan-Cover-Art.jpg)
Dear Dream - Gilbert O'Sullivan (shut up)
Genre: Singer-Songwriter
Source: 2nd compilation album The Best of Gilbert O'Sullivan
Year: 1991
Nationality: Irish
Comments: Gilbert was a star in Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s, scoring huge hits and making all the grannies fall in love with him. He was a major crush on my sister (not Karen, my elder, Sue) and I admit he has some damn fine songs. This is not one of them, and makes me wish he had never sat down at a piano. Drivel, pure and simple.
Rating: :1stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/141f61073726c446a8a249105f01721c/1434033/barry-manilow-the-essential-barry-manilow-Cover-Art.jpg)
Some Kind of Friend - Barry Manilow (I SAID, shut UP!)
Genre: Singer-Songwriter/Easy Listening
Source: 3rd compilation album The Essential Barry Manilow
Year: 2005
Nationality: American
Comments: Manilow is at his best when crooning out heart-wrenching ballads like "Weekend in New England", "I Made it Through the Rain" and "Could it Be Magic". When he goes (shudder) disco/uptempo it rarely works. "Copacabana" is one rare instance where it does. This is not another. It's just embarrassing.
Rating: :1stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5286b64a7026f2aa94e663215d2a95f6/8542182/david-bowie-the-rise-and-fall-of-ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars-Cover-Art.png)
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Genre: Glam rock/Pop rock/Art rock/Rock Opera
Source: 5th album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Year: 1972
Nationality: English
Comments: Oh come on now. As Occult Hawk used to say, unassailable. What more can I say?
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/484c1e7065ee7791a5b90923923533ba/1224278/jon-bon-jovi-blaze-of-glory-young-guns-ii-Cover-Art.jpg)
Santa Fe - Jon Bon Jovi
Genre: Film soundtrack/Hard rock/Heartland Rock (?)
Source: Debut solo album Music Inspired by Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory
Year: 1990
Nationality: American
Comments: You all know I love Bon Jovi, so you won't be surprised to learn that I love this song. A Jon Bon Jovi solo effort, it's music he wrote when inspired by the movie Young Guns II and... hey! Where are you all going? Oh all right, be like that!
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c7773986f5802334443bad852722ee5d/6389643/kasey-chambers-dragonfly-Cover-Art.jpg)
No Ordinary Man - Kasey Chambers
Genre: Country
Source: 10th album Dragonfly
Year: 2017
Nationality: Australian
Comments: It's not all that often you get to hear Australian country, but I loved this album when I first listened to it. I'm always tickled by the way they can bring Jesus into it, and here Kasey does just that in fine style. Great song, with a memorable chorus. Yee-haw! Or something.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/af19d39c5319f685aa779fead09766ed/10432891/uriah-heep-look-at-yourself-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tears in My Eyes - Uriah Heep
Genre: Hard rock/Progressive rock
Source: 3rd album Look at Yourself
Year: 1971
Nationality: English
Comments: I wouldn't class myself as a fan of the Heeps. I've had good and bad experiences with them. This is, as you can see, an early track, from their third album, from which the epic ten-minute "July Morning" comes, but this is definitely more in the straight-ahead hard rock than prog vein. It's okay. I guess. Probably goes on much longer than it should.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/570fb8a5371c6d3473f9862998798443/7819755/voyager-iv-pictures-at-an-exhibition-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tulleries - Voyager IV
Genre: Symphonic Prog
Source: Debut (and only) album Pictures at an Exhibition
Year: 2019
Nationality: German
Comments: Yeah, that one. I'm no fan really of prog bands who use classical music such as ELP, and this is of course a reworking of Modest Mussorgsky's famous orchestral suite, so how much credit can I give them for copying one of the old masters? Way too jazzy for my taste, mein herren!
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8074f319f4a2e0959e3583d24f125c07/2045860/randy-edelman-gettysburg-Cover-Art.jpg)
Refuse the Line - Randy Edelman
Genre: Film score
Source: 18th album Gettysburg
Year: 1993
Nationality: American
Comments: It's a film score, what do you want from me? It's evocative, it's powerful, it's grand and stately: everything you would expect from the guy.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ed2127450f93140fa166afaac9aa2ed4/3856214/for-all-we-know-for-all-we-know-Cover-Art.jpg)
Blind Me - For All We Know
Genre: Progressive Metal/Progressive Rock
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 2011
Nationality: Dutch
Comments: A fairly relatively unknown Dutch prog metal band, this quite impressed me and I need to listen to more. Good understated vocal with some good backing vocals, a chugging building guitar and some bright piano. Kind of puts me in mind of what might result were Kamelot and Evanescence to collaborate.
Rating: :4stars:
Just goes to show, I have some crap on my hard disk, don't I? Even I admit that. And you just never know what's going to come up when you hit that shuffle button. Ah well, better luck next time, possibly.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
Ok then it's time to see what
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_13_1673617225.png)
is lisna-ing to...
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ed803a8c9cbdd5117aeb82600022ab0f/1951284/the-church-priest-aura-Cover-Art.jpg)
Chaos by The Church
Genre: Dream pop/Jangle pop/Neo-psychedelia
Source: 8th album Priest=Aura
Year: 1992
Nationality: Australian
Comments: Sounds a bit Velvet Underground-y to me; sort of drony, echoing, hollow with some sort of ethnic feel to it as well. Maybe. The singer sounds like yer man out of Icehouse. Remember them? No? Sod ya then. I find this fairly depressing, if I'm honest. Yeah sorry, I really hate this, and fuck but it's over nine minutes long! Not a good start.
Rating: :0.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/e06b6a075cf7ed6585dd46636a617ab2/2498849/lucinda-williams-car-wheels-on-a-gravel-road-Cover-Art.jpg)
Drunken Angel by Lucinda Williams
Genre: Alt-Country/Americana/Country/Roots rock
Source: 5th album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Year: 1998
Nationality: American
Comments: This should be a lot better. Lucinda is one of those "bad girls of country", isn't she, the ones who forged their own path and put up with no shit. You can tell by the title already this isn't going to be some soppy love song to a cowboy or anything like that. Okay her Wiki page doesn't say anything about that, so maybe I'm mixing her up with Loretta Lynn? Still a good song - sort of sounds more like Alanis Morissette to me, not all that country. But good. Still, I'm a little disappointed, as it wasn't as good as I was hoping. Ah well, at least it wasn't The Church. Sorry.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ee7c062e95f7b666850f06dc766ac083/2613481/kolinda-kolinda-2-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tánc by Kolinda
Genre: Progressive Folk/Neo-Medieval Folk/Hungarian Folk Music
Source: 2nd album Kolinda 2
Year: 1977
Nationality: Hungarian
Comments: Neo-Medieval? Isn't that an oxymoron? And while we're at it, while are all oxys morons? Aren't there any oxybrainiacs? I think it's a little stereotyping personally. But on we go. This should be interesting. Certainly ethnic sounding from the start, can kind of imagine this being played up high in the Carpathians or something, with Count Dracula leaning out of his window saying "Oi! You! Yeah, you lot down there! Shut that noise! Don't you know I have to be up for work in the evening? Honestly! Some people have no regard for others!" But seriously, it does evoke images of the older, mythic side of Eastern Europe, and while I probably would ram that flute-like thing up whatever orifice of theirs is handy, it is, as I predicted, interesting. Is it good? Jury are still sequestered on that one.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5ad4fd094e360de4f2e80b3a889b4b67/10163903/juana-molina-un-dia-cover-art.png)
Los Hongos de Marosa by Juana Molina
Genre: Folktronica/Ambient Pop/Free Folk (Sounds like a popular uprising movement!)/Art Pop/Neo-psychedelia/Post-Minimalism/Freak Folk (now it sounds like a village where odd people live!)
Source: 7th album Un Dia
Year: 2008
Nationality: Argentinian
Comments: I have something of a nervous relationship with folk. Whereas as I said before, metalcore and I tend to avoid each other on the street, I can pass the time of day with folk, but if it starts getting all prefixed, with things like neo and indie in front of it, I usually check a watch I don't wear and remark upon the time, and exit stage whichever direction is open to me at the time. No I will not shut the fuck up. Not yet anyway. This is, well, I would have to say a little annoying. Never trust any music genre with -tronica after it, that's what I say. It's quite repetitive, and catchy in its way, but I think maybe too long at over seven minutes? Ah I suppose it's not so bad, but I'm still waiting.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ad3bfa1bea722099517e4cdaffe6629a/2633664/roy-buchanan-second-album-Cover-Art.jpg)
After Hours by Roy Buchanan
Genre: Blues rock/Electric blues
Source: 3rd album Second Album (huh?)
Year: 1973
Nationality: American
Comments: Surely we can't go wrong with the blues? Ah but then, Trollheart likes his blues slow and sad. Nothing quite like a "Stormy Monday" or "The Thrill is Gone", but you can keep your "Texas Strut" or "Walking After Midnight". Which side does this fall on? Ah yes, seems to be on my side, nice slowburning blues tune. Testify! Or something. There's surely a reason why over 1,000 people have raised the thumb on this and precisely none have given it a negative on the Y. Superb stuff. At last. Yer the first one, Lisna, other than meself, to get a five-star rating. Bravo!
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b8f32f75bb9a187eb0ab1c3c899cfbc0/8224054/patti-smith-horses-Cover-Art.jpg)
Kimberly by Patti smith
Genre: Proto-punk/Singer-Songwriter/Art Rock
Source: Debut album Horses
Year: 1971
Nationality: American
Comments: Kinda have a bias against Patti since she is said to have robbed Springsteen's "Because the Night" and had a big hit with it. Unfair? Maybe, but like superglue applied ten years ago, I'm too old and set in my ways to change now. Actually I can hear a lot of early Bruce in her singing, and the chorus reminds me of something. Mink de Ville? Think it might be "Cadillac Walk". Not sure. Good enough I guess but I wouldn't be going mad over it.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ccd85fd4bbe58db073278e3d5e0158e5/1618435/paul-simon-still-crazy-after-all-these-years-Cover-Art.jpg)
My Little Town by Paul Simon
Genre: Singer-Songwriter/Pop soul/Jazz pop
Source: 4th album Still Crazy After All These Years
Year: 1975
Nationality: American
Comments: Got a lot of time for Simon, especially when he used to hang around with that other fella, can't recall the name, big Sideshow Bob-like hair. Grundel or Grandiddly or something. On his own, he can be hit and miss for me. I love songs like "Mother and Son Reunion", "Train in the Distance" and "Slip Slidin' Away". More recent stuff though, like "You Can Call Me Al" or "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", you can basically keep. Right, the only version I get of this has himself on it too, so I don't know. Guitar is a lot more in your face than their usual laid-back college rock or whatever the fuck they played. It's okay but I could easily have lived my life without ever having heard it, sorry Paul. And your friend, whose name escapes me. Okay by the end it had grown on me. Interesting sort of break away from their usual fare with the kind of soul backing.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b1d064fb428da9d539fc80672e3c1a7f/1549882/wilson-pickett-wilson-pickett-in-philadelphia-Cover-Art.jpg)
Engine #9 by Wilson Pickett
Genre: Southern soul/Philly soul/Funk
Source: 10th album Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia
Year: 1970
Nationality: American
Comments: Probably about as impossible to hate a Wilson Pickett tune as to be rude to Lisna, so let's just say this is a classic which has been covered more times than I've listened to Marillion, and it ain't never going to stop being covered, nor should it. But this is the original, and it slays.
Rating: :5stars:
And you've done it again. Now not only the only one other than me to get a five-star rating, but the only one to get two. Sadly, the flip side of that is that most of your other songs got much lower ratings, but as the ancient Romans would say, sic biscuitus disintegratis.
Overall rating: :2.5stars:
So we're back to me eh? Well, you only have yourselves to blame. If you're not going to take your chance to rid the world of me once and for all, I have no sympahty for you.
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/781807402ccb4f164554ce5cd880fdb0/7077227/rod-stewart-blood-red-roses-Cover-Art.jpg)
Vegas Shuffle - Rod Stewart
Genre: Pop rock/Dance pop
Source: 34th album Blood Red Roses
Year: 2018
Nationality: Scottish
Comments: I love Rod but this is throwaway garbage, quite possibly worthy of being associated with the least genuine town in the USA, where glitz and glamour and bright lights belie a seedy underbelly and a rampant criminal... well, you know how it is. The song's trash, is what I'm saying.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/59c616fb64f71e3161caadb52f56e310/1354035/soul-asylum-after-the-flood-live-at-the-grand-forks-prom-Cover-Art.jpg)
I Know - Soul Asylum
Genre: Alt-rock
Source: 1st live album After the Flood: Live at the Grand Forks Prom
Year: 2004
Nationality: American
Comments: Honestly, I had no idea who Soul Asylum were until I went looking to find out who sang "Runaway Train", a song I loved. I've heard virtually nothing else from them, but this is decent. Has a pretty cool guitar line. I don't know that it would make me a fan, but I wouldn't be averse to hearing more.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/27c7817b5a2c6880335e82457d70287e/2980045/b_b-king-and-eric-clapton-riding-with-the-king-Cover-Art.jpg)
Key to the Highway - Eric Clapton and B.B. King
Genre: Blues rock/Soul
Source: 15th album Riding with the King
Year: 2000
Nationality: English
Comments: Two blues legends together: what's not to like? Well, Clapton's right-wing, anti-immigrant attitudes, but let's concentrate on the music. Is anything on which the King guests worthy of less than five stars? As if.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/500x500/d48f20487efc425ca2100b10e290eb7b.jpg)
I'm On My Last Go-round - Leadbelly
Genre: Blues duh
Source: The Blues Collection Volume 30
Year: 1994
Nationality: American
Comments: Would I be churlish and try to award less than top marks to a classic from one of legends of the genre? Not this guy.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8873e7600dd157d8e3d36af235d68b3c/2673568/rondo-veneziano-fantasia-dinverno-Cover-Art.jpg)
Litorali - Rondo Veneziano
Genre: Classical Crossover
Source: 8th compilation album Fantasia d'Inverno
Year: 1998
Nationality: Italian
Comments: Rondo Veneziano (literally, Venetian dance) are an ensemble orchestra who also use electric guitars and keyboards, and who both interpret classical standards and write their own music. This sounds familiar to me, but though I know my classical there's a lot I know just to hear, as it were, and can't identify right off. It's a nice stately flowing number with a sort of cinematic feeling to it, very relaxing. Then it picks up in the middle on a bubbling keyboard line and sort of takes on an Alan Parsons Project theme, while retaining the basic melody it began out with. A good example of their work; recommended if you like your classical a little more updated.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8e9e32db9a72a7be3ed4e8f5ff943827/2538464/the-cinematic-orchestra-les-ailes-pourpres-le-mystere-des-flamants-Cover-Art.jpg)
Life of the Bird - Cinematic Orchestra
Genre: Classical Crossover/Film Score
Source: 5th album Les ailes pourpres: le mystère des flamants
Year: 2008
Nationality: English
Comments: I had no idea I even had this band, but then, what else is new with my record collection? I do like artists that play sort of film music, the likes of Lights & Motion and Carbon Based Lifeforms. This is something similar, though quite why so many of the album titles (including this one) are in French I don't know, as they're apparently English. This is played mostly on a nice soft acoustic guitar with piano backing and then some strings, very peaceful.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/9735784068aef7938debdff3cc330628/6722635/threshold-legends-of-the-shires-Cover-Art.jpg)
Lost in Translation Threshold
Genre: Progressive Metal/Progressive Rock
Source: 11th album Legends of the Shires
Year: 2017
Nationality: English
Comments: I've been a big fan of Threshold since I heard their 2000 album Subsurface and went and got all their albums. Haven't come across a bad one yet. That said, I have yet to listen to this, or their latest, but this song puts me very much in mind of work they did on their 2012 effort, March of Progress as well as "The Art of Reason" and "Opium" off that Subsurface album, and does make me wonder if they're running out of ideas. Ah but I still love them. Big, overblown choruses, powerful keyboard solos and emotional vocals - it's prog metal. Incidentally, Threshold are one of the only bands in the genre I've heard who use vocoders. Bit of useless information for you.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/4215fe968bd33d4742a948b191f4337b/2386962/motorhead-bomber-Cover-Art.jpg)
All the Aces - Motorhead
Genre: Heavy metal, guv!
Source: 3rd album Bomber
Year: 1979
Nationality: English
Comments: Oh now what do you want from me? It's Motorhead, it's loud, it slays the competition. The original and the best. Rest in Power, Lemmy!
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b59ea5fa577993a52a91c38193eaf271/1282365/tom-waits-franks-wild-years-Cover-Art.jpg)
Train Song - Tom Waits
Genre: Tom Waits (!)
Source: 10th album Franks Wild Years
Year: 1987
Nationality: American
Comments: There's just no way to pigeonhole Waits. Last time I tried, he caught the pigeon, cooked it and ate it. I'm not that fond of this album, but the song is a yearning, Captain Beefheartesque lament for home by a man who knows he can never see it again. Or something. Great stuff.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/a00e0c84b82a7703c239af020ff467c4/1258723/russell-hitchcock-russell-hitchcock-Cover-Art.jpg)
I Come Alive (Date with an Angel)* Russell Hitchcock
Genre: Soft rock (the softest)
Source: Debut solo self-titled album
Year: 1988
Nationality: Australian
Comments: I refuse to listen to this drivel again. Why oh why did I assume Air Supply had something to give besides soppy ballads? They don't, they really don't, and their lead singer going solo has not helped. Get me out of here!
Rating: :0.5stars:
Well again there's some, how can I put this? Trash? Is trash being too impolite? No. No it's not. There's some trash here, but some classics too. It's how it goes, it's the nature of the beast, it's downloading shit you should never have downloaded but are too lazy to delete, or have forgotten that it's lurking on your hard disk, just waiting for a chance to jump out and get you in an attack of mediocrity with menaces.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
So we're back with Lucem, who becomes the first person other than me to have a second playlist here. What's in it this time? Glad you asked.
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b6f1e0a62353df1726d7a73c2aae5584/8428980/wifisfuneral-pain-Cover-Art.jpg)
Wifisfuneral - Hills
Genre: Pop rap/Southern Hip-hop
Source: 3rd album Pain?
Year: 2020
Nationality: American
Comments: Another from the man who wants to kill all our wireless communications it would seem. It's decent, but really, I don't see it as being anything special. Maybe it's just me.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/a559466d66f39ee2f3442191c73376e5/5723380/pissgrave-suicide-euphoria-Cover-Art.jpg)
Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria
Genre: Death Metal/Deathgrind/War Metal
Source: 2nd album Suicide Euphoria
Year: 2015
Nationality: American
Comments: A bit chaotic (guess the clue is in the genre title - deathgrind?) and not really something I'd listen to. Couldn't make anything out at all, though the guitars were good. Not enough to make me listen again though.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5e70d91219cf5856bef772e9f07eabfe/9382320/ouija-macc-pretty-ugly-2-Cover-Art.jpg)
Ouija Macc - Juggalord (FREESTYLE)
Genre: Trap
Source: 8th Mixtape Pretty Ugly 2
Year: 2021
Nationality: American
Comments: This honestly I find boring. Too slow and way too much lazy use of the b-word. Meh.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/48c271c4755a05c5f499253ea851234b/5730499/rivers-of-nihil-monarchy-Cover-Art.jpg)
Rivers Of Nihil - Perpetual Growth Machine
Genre: Technical Death Metal/Progressive Metal
Source: 2nd album Monarchy
Year: 2015
Nationality: American
Comments: I wonder which side this falls more over on? Oh I see: the first part. Well I kind of expected that. Never quite see the progressive tag being used with death metal myself, but there you go. Well I think I can kind of hear it now, but it's a bit of a mess to me.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/bb41b0ee1a436564ed2a765511f6c0f5/5354645/dark-lotus-the-mud-water-air-and-blood-Cover-Art.jpg)
Dark Lotus - Garden of Evil
Genre: Horrorcore
Source: 5th album The Mud, Water, Air and Blood
Year: 2014
Nationality: American
Comments: I guess you have to laugh and join in the joke on horrorcore, cos surely you're not meant to take it seriously are you? For what they do, these guys do it pretty well. I like the chorus/chant thing. It's fun, is what it is.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/cf3e2b3c5246bdafa7edf14d1ce1d818/11342940/psyclon-nine-we-the-fallen-Cover-Art.jpg)
Psyclon Nine - Widowmaker
Genre: Aggrotech/Industrial Metal
Source: 3rd album We the Fallen
Year: 2009
Nationality: American
Comments: Okay now I know what aggrotech is, I kind of know what to expect this time around. Um, no I don't. This is more like what I expected originally, and it's loud, mad fast, screeching vocal, completely unintelligible, and not at all for me.
Rating: :1stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ce27dd48b11fccfe7a353fd2f0479b0e/6755409/kxng-crooked-good-vs-evil-ii-the-red-empire-Cover-Art.jpg)
Kxng Crooked - GiveUDatHammer
Genre: Hardcore Hip-hop/West Coast Hip-hop/Political Hip-hop/Gangsta Rap
Source: 6th album Good vs Evil II: The Red Empire
Year: 2017
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh yeah I really like this. It's a bit repetitive, but the energy in it and the backing track, so cool.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/4ab9c76b8253ba2f161441f2aaa64924/2976173/suicide-commando-this-is-hate-Cover-Art.jpg)
Suicide Commando - Pleasure
Genre: Electro-Industrial/Industrial/Minimal Synth/EBM
Source: 2nd album This is Hate
Year: 1989
Nationality: Belgian
Comments: Yeah this is not for me. Just a repetitive sound like of a machine or something. Meh.
Rating: :0.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c3832c1c54c66257dbb16d11b8d072f4/7179279/alla-xul-elu-the-almighty-Cover-Art.jpg)
Alla Xul Elu - Skin
Genre: Horrorcore/Boom Bap (?)
Source: 3rd album The Almighty
Year: 2018
Nationality: American
Comments: Thought it might be boom rap, maybe I read it wrong, but no, boom bap. What in the name of blue jumping fuck is that? The echoey backing track is pretty sweet, and it's a pretty angry and forceful track, but hey, it's good. Almost sounds... familiar? Sure I never heard it before but it does sound like something else I heard.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c2ebf99bf0f34ecee688609d0f79ff02/3634027/army-of-the-pharaohs-the-unholy-terror-Cover-Art.jpg)
Army of the Pharaohs - Hollow Points
Genre: East Coast Hip-hop/Hardcore Hip-hop/Boom Bap (there it is again!)
Source: 3rd album The Unholy Terror
Year: 2018
Nationality: American
Comments: The spoken bit at the start is a bit much, very bigging himself up, but I guess that's how it goes in this genre. Keyboard line is very progressive rock - wonder if it's sampled from something like ELP or Yes? I think "I" must be the most-used word in a lot of hip-hop lyrics. It's got a nice dramatic, epic feel about it which I have to admit wears me down and I kind of like this, for what it is. Still have no idea what boom bap is, other than a rather surprising explosion of a breakfast roll!
Rating: :4stars:
I think I liked your first playlist better. Ironically, it's the metal tracks here that put me off mostly. Oh well.
Overall rating: :3stars:
Which will bring us back to d'oh! Me again. Oh yes; I'm like that bad smell that just won't go, no matter how many times you clean the carpet! The one percent of germs Domestos can't kill, the bit of toothpaste left behind when you throw out the tube.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZMw6dsG.gif)
Yeah, well, let's just, uh, move on shall we?
:shycouch:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/a86ea9c8607aa71ca88f76338e8d546e/6934707/shadowkeep-shadowkeep-Cover-Art.jpg)
Guardian of the Sea - Shadowkeep
Genre: Progressive Metal/Speed Metal/Power Metal (covering a lot of bases here, guys!)
Source: 4th self-titled album
Year: 2018
Nationality: English
Comments: Fairly bog-standard band who think they're a whole lot better than they are. Generic and uninteresting with no real identity. Could be anyone.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/d3c0f6a2c31bb22394f9d91928f54dfd/6677224/godspeed-you-black-emperor-luciferian-towers-Cover-Art.jpg)
Anthem for No State - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Genre: Post-Rock
Source: 7th album Luciferian Towers
Year: 2017
Nationality: Canadian
Comments: After the ridiculous posturing of Shadowkeep it's good to hear a band who just know they're good and don't make a big deal about it. I do like my post-rock, and there are few who do it as well as GY!BE. This is a long piece - over fourteen minutes - and as you might expect, goes through some changes as it goes along, gaining power and anger and intensity as it builds.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/6f28dc8f8b7e52e4bc907af363741b53/5989191/legenda-aurea-aeon-Cover-Art.jpg)
Abundance - Legenda Aurea
Genre: Symphonic Metal/Power Metal
Source: 3rd album Aeon
Year: 2016
Nationality: Swiss
Comments: Symphonic metal and power metal can both be very up themselves, taking themselves way too seriously, and really, in most cases this isn't justified, as most of the bands in both genres can be seen as interchangeable. I love power metal, but even I can admit that most of it sounds the same, and honestly, if I hear one more symphonic metal band copying the standard female operatic voice/male harsh voice model I think I'll just end up listening to a Wham! album! So I don't really expect too much from any symphonic metal band, be they Nightwish, Within Temptation or any other. There's little in the way of originality in either genres, and it's just something you accept if you listen to them. So yeah, this is nothing different.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/fca7eff213b3346fc18501d46abb8dc9/1434989/uriah-heep-wonderworld-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Shadows and the Wind - Uriah Heep
Genre: Hard rock/Progressive rock
Source: 7th album Wonderworld
Year: 1974
Nationality: English
Comments: This has much more of a prog rock edge than the previous Heep track I listened to, with moaning organ and a nice build-up melody which turns into a real stomping rock anthem. Just when it seems it's going to end on a cool acapella, the guitars return to add the finishing touch. Still sounds good fifty years later, and that can't be bad.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/da1cfa7c9cc23771140b2ef6e68a66ed/2268127/colm-c_t-wilkinson-stage-heroes-Cover-Art.jpg)
Bring Him Home - Colin Wilkinson
Genre: Show tunes/Easy listening
Source: Compilation album Stage Heroes: Colin Wilkinson
Year: 1997
Nationality: Irish
Comments: If you know the stage musical Les Miserables, or have read the book, you'll recognise this song. If not, it's a powerful appeal from the hero/anti-hero Jean Valjean to save his adopted daughter's lover, even at the expense of his own life. Stirring, emotional and epic. Like the show. Wilkinson, as we say here, gives it socks.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ccde5fad333468edb4e9bfe6c16746be/3873886/crystal-project-no-more-waiting-Cover-Art.jpg)
I'll Be There - Crystal Project
Genre: AOR
Source: Compilation album No More Waiting
Year: 2011
Nationality: American
Comments: Despite the fact that I know this comes from one of their other albums, the only one I can find on any of my sites - including Heavy Harmonies, which specialises in AOR - is this one, so it will have to do, a kind of retrospective, it seems. Their original albums are now lost in the mists of time, and nobody seems to care about them. Which is a pity, as it's a decent song as far as AOR goes. Of course, this is another genre in which you don't expect too many surprises or too much experimenting with the formula, but it's good for what it is.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c124cd98c3823dc2d22d8667424a1d3e/5933146/holocaust-predator-Cover-Art.jpg)
Shiva - Holocaust
Genre: NWOBHM/Heavy Metal
Source: 7th album Predator
Year: 2015
Nationality: English
Comments: Weirdly, I spent AGES looking for this album, under the misapprehension that it was called "Holocaust" and was by a band called Shiva, of which there exist a few, even an old NWOBHM one. But it's not: it's the other way round, idiot. Decent song I guess, but it's nothing special.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/f42d63552de4a85a1f86c29a4b5dd844/3872069/grand-illusion-prince-of-paupers-Cover-Art.gif)
Gates of Fire - Grand Illusion
Genre: AOR
Source: 5th album Prince of Paupers
Year: 2011
Nationality: Swedish
Comments: If you're looking for good AOR, Sweden is the place to be. Yes, the same country that gave us the most extreme of extreme metal, there is a huge sort of AOR factory there, and Grand Illusion are, well, a product of that factory. Look, as I said, it's AOR. Don't expect much you haven't heard before, but if you know what you like (in or out of your wardrobe) and that's good AOR, you'll probably like this. I do. Could have sworn that was a female singing, but no, it's a bloke. Colour me surprised.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ0OUPh8cIsecWdeOsvCSy9nPwBO2JN-_np0Q&s)
Bright Lights, Big City - Jimmy Reed
Genre: Blues
Source: The Blues Collection Vol 11
Year: ?
Nationality: American
Comments: I must say I don't know Jimmy Reed, but then I'm not all that well versed on the blues. I know the greats - Howlin' Wolf, BB, Son House, Albert King and so forth - but this guy I've never heard of. The song I have though, and it's a blues classic. Maybe I just didn't realise who was singing it.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/312ee09eac93b8433dc83ae73a69c74f/1264204/gilbert-osullivan-the-berry-vest-of-gilbert-osullivan-Cover-Art.jpg)
Who Was It - Gilbert O'Sullivan
Genre: Pop/Adult contemporary/Easy listening
Source: 3rd compilation album The Berry Vest of Gilbert O'Sullivan
Year: 2004
Nationality: Irish
Comments: I mentioned before that Gilbert has written some classic songs. Again, this is not one of those. I've been desperately trying to get the fucking thing out of my head for weeks, and now it's back. Thanks a lot Trollheart you prick. It's just insipid and lovey-dovey and owes rather a lot to one of his big hits, "Clair". I bloody hate it.
Rating: :1stars:
A little more AOR and metal in this playlist, though as we all know that's just the roll of the dice you throw when you hit shuffle. A better overall score, or a worse? Let's see.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
First playlist from
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_11_1673561975.png)
Who thoughtfully added in the albums afterwards. Thanks for that man. Others have done this too and it's appreciated; makes my work a little easier.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Welcome_To_My_Nightmare.jpg)
Alice Cooper - "The Awakening"
Genre: Glam rock/Shock rock
Source: 8th album Welcome to My Nightmare
Year: 1975
Nationality: American
Comments: I always consider one of my biggest shocks (as such) seeing Alice on a golf course selling insurance in a TV ad. The man who scandalised a generation and delighted a younger one, the guy who so flouted convention that he took a female name and chopped dolls up onstage? Oh, how the mighty had fallen! Luckily, this shows him at the height of his fame, popularity and his most mad, when even Ozzy might have been saying "Come on man, that's a bit much!" Unfortunately the track you've chosen here (or that shuffle has presented you with, I should say) is some sort of intro, driven on piano and with none of the violence or power we associate with Alice, but hey, at least he's not teeing off!
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/dfdd7f09c2139f9289e6fef1cd904ce1/1945225/hatfield-and-the-north-the-rotters-club-Cover-Art.jpg)
Hatfield and the North - "(Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw"
Genre: Canterbury Scene/Jazz-funk
Source: 2nd album The Rotter's Club
Year: 1975
Nationality: English
Comments: And this is precisely forty seconds long. I can't make a judgement on such a snippet. I'm not a fan of the Canterbury Scene, but what I hear in this little extract is ... okay.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/9645cd02f20626dcb9e2281a3e1ea721/6309054/the-megaphonic-thrift-fa-meg-til-verden-i-tide-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Megaphonic Thrift - "Den evige heten"
Genre: Dream Pop/Indie Pop
Source: 4th album Få meg til verden i tide
Year: 2016
Nationality: Norwegian
Comments: This however is a full eleven minutes long, so at least I can get a better idea of what it's like. Can't say I'm overly impressed when it starts, but there's a long way to go so we'll see. Seems to be an instrumental anyway, kind of hypnotic in a way, almost a fast drone, but not really something I'd be interested in. Good for what it is, I guess.
Rating: :3stars:
Chelsea Wolfe - "Eyes Like Nightshade"
Genre: Darkwave/Post-Industrial/Trip Hop/Industrial Rock
Source: 13th album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: Thought I had heard her before but I think that was Julia Wolfe? Any relation? Not sure. No, checked and they're not related. I can see why the tag Industrial is used: very cold, clinical, sterile but then that's juxtaposed by Chelsea's voice, which is sultry and alluring. An interesting mix, to be sure. Pretty good to be fair.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/3d6d522ed85f46f569323c4cae8e3683/2777221/the-moody-blues-with-the-london-festival-orchestra-days-of-future-passed-cover-art.jpg)
The Moody Blues - "Evening"
Genre: Baroque Pop/Progressive Rock/Art Rock/Symphonic Prog
Source: 3rd album Days of Future Passed
Year: 1967
Nationality: English
Comments: I know this one, as I reviewed the album for my History of Prog journal. An interesting one, based around the passage of one day, and the first on which they used a full orchestra. Definitely sounds like it's from a 50s movie or something when it begins, then takes on a kind of tribal chant. Oh yeah I remember now: I didn't like this when I listened to the album. Still don't.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/19c49155b4aea3163b3c6e667dd99dc2/2686296/the-fabulous-wailers-the-fabulous-wailers-at-the-castle-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Fabulous Wailers - "Shivers"
Genre: Garage Rock/Frat Rock
Source: 1st live album The Fabulous Wailers at the Castle (feat. Rockin' Robin & Gail Harris)
Year: 1962
Nationality: American
Comments: Thought this might have been something to do with Bob Marley, but no, not a rasta in sight. Could have guessed that from the genre I suppose. Basically another instrumental, mostly on guitar and organ. Meh.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5854214ad2ffb2fc8cc579e7e411032d/1884552/jefferson-airplane-surrealistic-pillow-Cover-Art.jpg)
Jefferson Airplane - "Today"
Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Acid Rock/Folk Rock/Psychedelic Pop
Source: 2nd album Surrealistic Pillow
Year: 1967
Nationality: American
Comments: A band who went through successive changes throughout their career, beginning as (The) Jefferson Airplane, updating themselves in the mid-70s to Jefferson Starship and finally dropping the Jefferson entirely to end up as Starship. This is a fairly hippy-style 60s deal, an acoustic ballad. Doesn't do much for me, I'm afraid.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5854214ad2ffb2fc8cc579e7e411032d/1884552/jefferson-airplane-surrealistic-pillow-Cover-Art.jpg)
Jefferson Airplane - "Comin' Back to Me" –
Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Acid Rock/Folk Rock/Psychedelic Pop
Source: 2nd album Surrealistic Pillow
Year: 1967
Nationality: American
Comments: Another from the same band, another from the same album? It's happened to me with so-called Shuffle, and it seems I'm not the only one. This one sounds as laid-back and acoustic as the other track - maybe all the album is like that? Well I like this one a lot more.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/dfeb069c4e0800e7595d42b74e0edae4/5342907/m83-before-the-dawn-heals-us-Cover-Art.jpg)
M83 - "Don't Save Us From the Flames"
Genre: Dream Pop/Electronic/Synth Pop/Shoegaze/Ambient Pop
Source: 3rd album Before the Dawn Heals Us
Year: 2005
Nationality: French
Comments: I liked M83 when I heard their music on the TV series Versailles. Good energy in this song, very uptempo and rocky. Like it.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/9cbb7c027b6d3b9917d52526b6d696a1/12470425/refused-the-shape-of-punk-to-come-Cover-Art.jpg)
Refused - "Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine"
Genre: Art Punk/Metalcore/Post-Hardcore/Alternative Metal
Source: 3rd album The Shape of Punk to Come
Year: 1998
Nationality: Swedish
Comments: Ah, two of my least favourite genres together, with a slice of punk thrown in. How could I not love this? Well, I don't. I mean, it's not terrible, but kind of like listening to The Jam and The Clash trying to out-punk each other, or something. Typical post-hardcore vocal, melody is very barebones. Nah, you're all right mate, I'll pass.
Rating: :2.5stars:
Well that wasn't very successful was it? Still, I has to call them as I sees them, you know?
Overall rating: :3stars:
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_2_1673958603.png)
This is the last time, I promise!*
*(Promises from Trollheart aren't worth the paper they're not written on)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/21be92cb3da7639f89fcfc3c2f69f18a/3347759/nelson-lightning-strikes-twice-Cover-Art.jpg)
To Get Back to You - Nelson
Genre: AOR/Hard Rock
Source: 6th album Lightning Strikes Twice
Year: 2010
Nationality: American
Comments: Ah I do like my ballads, don't I? And AOR does them better than most. Interesting use of flute (probably synthesised) gives this something different.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/966bed93f4095f685eb035abced50ee1/6835156/harakiri-for-the-sky-arson-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Graves We've Dug - Harakiri for the Sky
Genre: Melodic Black Metal/Blackgaze/Post-Rock/Post-Metal/Atmospheric Black Metal
Source: 4th album Arson
Year: 2018
Nationality: Austrian
Comments: Grindy turned me on to these guys a while back. I didn't even know there was such a thing as blackgaze (shoegaze in black metal) but now that I do know, I sure do like it. This is a great piece of that sort of music. You really have to listen to be able to understand. The Matrix of black metal? Maybe. Take the blue pill. Or is it the red one? Well, whichever doesn't return you to the life you know and you carry on, take that one.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/698e898c5f94adc330d63d7e29beb62d/6684127/axemaster-crawling-chaos-Cover-Art.jpg)
Crawling Chaos - Axemaster (chortle)
Genre: Heavy Metal
Source: 4th album Crawling Chaos
Year: 2017
Nationality: American
Comments: Chortle is right. Another band who think they're so hard, but really don't have enough going for them. Axemaster? Really? Oh dear: gives heavy metal a bad name.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/2b9da73e632af0532f4ce18912a1f69d/3824353/tierra-santa-medieval-Cover-Art.jpg)
Hijos del Odio - Tierra Santa
Genre: Heavy Metal/Power Metal
Source: Debut album Medieval
Year: 1997
Nationality: Spanish
Comments: I've called them the Spanish Iron Maiden before, and I think it's an appropriate description, though that's not to say they copy or rip Bruce and the boys off. They do have a very similar sound though and it's clear they've been influenced by the biggest metal band on the planet, but then, who hasn't? This is a good rip-roaring rocker from them, but you can't help but be reminded of classic Maiden.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/oSt-6oBegyc_tFHh7XEJfHxa6LstQxxm5lrxxkWcgYg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:500/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwMjE1/MTUyLTE0OTM1MzQ3/NzgtNTQ4OS5qcGVn.jpeg)
First Light - The Amnis Initiative
Genre: New Age/Neoclassical/Ambient
Source: 2nd album Relaxation Music: The Full Series
Year: 2013
Nationality: Dutch
Comments: Boring as a three-hour party political broadcast, and just as empty. Probably good to fall asleep to; about the only thing you can say about it really.
Rating: :1stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/icHfM6ZEy4WqGAy1ZMKpA6l98RLlEru-jcns3nEMaX4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExMDI4/ODAtMTI5NTM1MjQ4/Ni5qcGVn.jpeg)
Little Bird (Utah Saints Version) - Annie Lennox
Genre: Synthpop
Source: 3rd EP Little Bird
Year: 1992
Nationality: Scottish
Comments: A good rocky track with a fair bit of soul in it, but as I said before, I prefer the B-side. Which in my view should have been the A-side.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/bfb84f8f2324259362e23c1dcfa918ea/1215330/jean-michel-jarre-images-the-best-of-jean-michel-jarre-Cover-Art.jpg)
London Kid - Jean-Michel Jarre
Genre: Progressive Electronic
Source: 2nd compilation album Images
Year: 1991
Nationality: French
Comments: Not one of his Jarreness's better tracks. Very pedestrian and boring, not the sort of thing I usually associate with the man who changed the way we think about synthesisers.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/39137d9c72d0aa65cef1c4c3b8efc5e9/5020697/bruce-springsteen-high-hopes-Cover-Art.jpg)
Dream Baby Dream - Bruce Springsteen
Genre: Heartland Rock/Singer-Songwriter
Source: 18th album High Hopes
Year: 2014
Nationality: American
Comments: I've written at length already about how boring this is. Now I know it's a cover, I don't feel so bad. Still shite though.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/6dac73a3f493c485121be81f722e45f9/1330821/david-bowie-london-boy-Cover-Art.jpg)
The London Boys - David Bowie
Genre: Psychedelic Pop
Source: ?th compilation album London Boy
Year: 1998
Nationality: English
Comments: An early example of the Thin White Duke at his most cockney. Interesting in a historical sense, though really not much more than that.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/894f48b68048f260c5125e2e0125f254/2318748/yandt-earthshaker-Cover-Art.jpg)
Hurricane - Y&T
Genre: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Source: 3rd album Earthshaker
Year: 1981
Nationality: American
Comments: Powerful rocker that reminds me of when I had hair and could headbang. Not my favourite band, but they had a few good tracks. This is one of them.
Rating: :4stars:
Some pretty poor tracks in there, damn you shuffle play! It's frustrating, when you have so much good stuff that the crap keeps coming up. What was that about cream rising to the top? Not 'ere, mate!
Overall rating: :3stars:
Only five tracks submitted by
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_31_1690583568.png)
But then we can assume she values quality over quantity. Also very well and artistically laid out, with handy links to videos and removing the need for me to find images, as she has thoughtfully included them. Thanks Steph! Let's hope I can do this list justice.
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4097620149_5.jpg)
torres - good scare [silver tongue (2020)] (https://youtu.be/KUC13edzkkY?si=d2sUD8V9DqKATZ39)
Genre: Indie Rock/Art Pop/Indietronica
Source: 4th album Silver Tongue
Year: 2020
Nationality: American
Comments: What did I say about genres ending in -tronica? Starts quite sparse, drumbeat sounds like someone banging on railings or something. Her vocal is nice, quite wistful and haunting, sot of in the vein of Hazel from Lanterns on the Lake or the Deheza sisters from School of Seven Bells. Nice.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000677310634-nkib5x-t500x500.jpg)
key glock - word on the street [yellow tape (2020)] (https://youtu.be/V0RMH1sIrpQ?si=A6ShX00Ov72EfC1t)
Genre: Trap/Southern Hip-hop/Gangsta Rap/Memphis Rap
Source: 6th Mixtape Yellow Tape
Year: 2020
Nationality: American
Comments: Like the horns here, kind of reminds me a little of some of the early Waits songs. The beat is nice and the rap is slow (duh: it's trap, Trollheart you dummy!) and easy to understand, which helps. He has a good voice too, though I will say that as the trumpet or cornet or whatever it is goes on it becomes quite monotonous, playing the same few notes. Could have done with a bit of variety. Not bad though.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://images.genius.com/95c3273342cea33230b50247301c172f.720x720x1.jpg)
mavi - love, of money [let the sun talk (2019)] (https://youtu.be/4LiN2g6NUlM?si=JF0uku0rfrFa21gM)
Genre: Abstract Hip-hop/Jazz Rap/East Coast Hip-hop/Conscious Hip-hop/Drumless
Source: Debut album Let the Sun Talk
Year: 2019
Nationality: American
Comments: This is very short, which is just as well because I hate it. The guitar seems all over the place, the rap is kind of muttered and what I might call sulky, hard to make anything out. Yeah not for me at all.
Rating: :2stars:
https://youtu.be/UULrmCBzeWc?si=dfBcJvOUsfaYiJz6"](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Big_Thief_Masterpiece.jpg)
big thief - masterpiece [masterpiece (2015)] (https://scd.community/%5C"https://youtu.be/UULrmCBzeWc?si=dfBcJvOUsfaYiJz6)
Genre: Indie Rock/Indie Folk/Americana/Folk Rock
Source: Debut album Masterpiece
Year: 2015
Nationality: American
Comments: I can hear a kind of semi-country influence here, good harmony vocals but perhaps the guitar is a little too front and centre in the mix? Or maybe it's the production? It's not bad, but I wouldn't be rushing to hear more honestly.
Rating: :3stars:
https://youtu.be/Wlykn_KSQ3o?si=dYizAJj1cv6KuSwV"](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music112/v4/87/6e/44/876e4483-d618-b4fe-f82f-ca955e56e656/184923124866.png/1200x630bb.jpg)
drugdealer - honey feat. weyes blood [raw honey (2019) (https://scd.community/%5C"https://youtu.be/Wlykn_KSQ3o?si=dYizAJj1cv6KuSwV)
Genre: Psychedelic Pop/Pop Rock/Soft Rock/Baroque Pop
Source: Second album Raw Honey
Year: 2019
Nationality: American
Comments: I really like the singer's voice, very relaxing to listen to. The melody is nice too; kind of has a seventies feel to it. Oh yeah I really like this one. Finally, says you! ::)
Rating: :4stars:
Not an ideal result, but hey, for five tracks not a really bad set of scores. Also, once again, appreciation for the layout and the links, for which I think it's only fair I add one extra half star.
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
Great reviews, Trolls
I don't know how you get through them all. You stretched yourself there didn't you with the modern stuff.
OR maybe you didn't, you Jazz and Trap loving swine.
Those tunes you couldn't review earlier are below:
Composer: George Russell
Album: Vertical Form VI
Track: Event IV
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz9j-hhqUhs
MOWGLI - Cénac - Jazz 360 - 8 Juin 2019
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYhZSl-pQEU
Looks like an interesting and eclectic one from
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_12_1673567313.png)
Let's see what it's like.
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/510ef5b1cfa54ba35d9af5ac9ab51437/9389798/premiata-forneria-marconi-lisola-di-niente-Cover-Art.jpg)
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Dolcissima Maria
Genre: Symphonic Prog/Progressive Rock/Jazz-Rock
Source: 4th album L'isola di niente
Year: 1974
Nationality: Italian
Comments: I know PFM from both my explorations of the history of prog and also the special I wrote on RPI (Rock Progresivo Italiano) so this should be somewhere within my wheelhouse I hope. Yeah pretty cool. A nice little acoustic ballad, very pastoral with flute and organ. A good start certainly.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/aaf2f8457cf67ade44b00bd64401539a/7804377/avery-r-young-tubman-Cover-Art.jpg)
Avery R. Young - Tchala
Genre: Funk/Soul/Gospel
Source: Debut album Tubman
Year: 2019
Nationality: American
Comments: Sounds a bit salsa to me, with a healthy dose of funk and some gospel backing. I think I prefer my gospel pure, as it were. A little too much going on here, which is not to say it's not good, but it's only good when it could have been great.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/af5c15172028d92daa671e3ae7782c4b/2863047/klaus-schulze-la-vie-electronique-4-Cover-Art.jpg)
Klaus Schulze - Für Konrad Bayer
Genre: Berlin School (?)
Source: 14th compilation album La vie electronique 4
Year: 2009
Nationality: German
Comments: Berlin School? No, I'm going to say it. I am. Just watch me. Sounds like where Hitler went to take lessons. I assume it's some sort of German music genre, and again I assume it has to do with electronic music, as per the album title. This is a long one, almost ten minutes, and no, I have no idea who Konrad Bayer is. The music seems a bit drone-ish with a keyboard motif recurring through it like something out of The Twilight Zone. I guess it's okay but if it goes on like this for ten minutes it's going to get very boring. Yeah, it more or less did.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/354ffe24dd38f78a78811b7251ca1f42/7491948/earl-sixteen-natty-farming-Cover-Art.jpg)
Earl Sixteen - Hot Sun
Genre: Reggae/Roots Reggae
Source: 22nd album Natty Farming
Year: 2014
Nationality: Jamaican
Comments: Is there such a thing as a sad reggae song? I mean, it's not my genre of choice, of course, but they always seem to be happy, upbeat tunes. As is this. Can't complain really.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/0bbdfd9889446f5406506c63102af656/9706843/ibeyi-spell-31-Cover-Art.jpg)
Ibeyi - Sangoma
Genre: Alternative R&B/Art Pop/Yoruba Music (?)
Source: 3rd album Spell 31
Year: 2022
Nationality: French
Comments: Yoruba? Yor kiddin' me, right? Sorry. I have no idea what this is as a genre, or even whether this song fits into that genre or not. No, I imagine this would be more the alternative R&B side of things. Two female vocalists, it seems, very nice. Pleasant with a sort of echoing, slow booming percussion.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/4a3560b736d98cf1cc8b25ddc189629d/1793955/battiato-fisiognomica-Cover-Art.jpg)
Franco Battiato - Il Mito Dell'amore
Genre: Canzone d'autore (?)/Art Pop/Sophisti-pop/Synthpop/Singer-Songwriter
Source: 18th album Fisiognomica
Year: 1998
Nationality: Italian
Comments: I have no idea what canzone d'autore means, but I wonder if it has something to do with contemporary singing or something? Hell I know less Italian than I do Irish, so could be anything. Yeah, sounds like the Italian version of Julio Iglesias or something. Pleasant enough I will say. A ballad, good voice with a nice piano line and some orchestral backing. Good solos from both the guitar and the organ. Bellissimo!
Rating: :4stars:
(https://i.discogs.com/Qwo39DtSVNGUIjn3FSaZDfg4aIoU8x6iVkpouiqYjos/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:458/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1MTAy/NC0xMzUwODI5ODU5/LTYwMDUuanBlZw.jpeg)
Koala - Indian Spirit
Genre: Trance
Source: Single Indian Spirits
Year: 1998
Nationality: Unknown
Comments: This one was incredibly hard to track down, so much so that I don't even know if it's the right one. You wouldn't think there were that many artists named Koala, but there are. This uses the plural of the title whereas it's posted as singular, but I have to assume this is the one referred to. It's trance, so expect buzzing, bouncing synths and thumping drumbeats and bass. And that's what you get. Probably great to dance or get off your face to, and to be fair, really it's pretty catchy. Not a fan of trance, not at all, but this ain't bad.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/f28be63b41b41ce983ca4ab98ddbd69f/1621404/eiliff-eiliff-Cover-Art.jpg)
Eiliff - Bird-Night of the 7th Day
Genre: Jazz-Rock/Progressive Rock/Krautrock
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 1972
Nationality: German
Comments: I have something of an uneasy relationship with Krautrock too (can you even call it that these days? Guess you can) but this sounds fairly cool. Thought it was going to be an instrumental but then that bit faded out and the vocals came in, and it's a bit more punchy with the organ rising (yes, yes, ooer I know) and jazzy brass a la Van der Graaf Generator. Then it seems to begin a third time with a guitar line leading things. Well, it is Krautrock: expect weirdness. Though as that genre goes, this is relatively mild compared to other compositions I've heard.
Rating: :3stars:
Moonshine - Garden of Men
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Source: Single "Susannah" (B-side)
Year: 1969
Nationality: English
Comments: Sounds like something off Genesis's first album maybe, with a very seventies (yes I know) organ, maybe elements of early Moody Blues? Guess it's a ballad and really not too bad.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/7b2830675e6e338f54ae3c23303897a7/7596658/v4w_enko-synthetic-explosion-Cover-Art.jpg)
V4w.Enko - 221 (Part 2)
Genre: IDM/Glitch
Source: 6th album Synthetic Explosion
Year: 2012
Nationality: Ukrainian
Comments: I must admit, glitch is a genre I hate. Sets my teeth on edge with all this, this, well all I can say is that it's like dropouts on old cassette tapes, if that makes sense to anyone. Or like listening with partial hearing, like when there's wax in your ears or something. Kind of an industrial drone with beeps and scratches and blips; seven minutes is way too long, and so basically no, don't like this at all.
Rating: :1stars:
Well I said it looked eclectic, and that's surely what it is. Not a lot I'd be particularly interested in, but I guess interesting as a playlist.
Overall rating: :3stars:
Quote from: Saulaac on Sep 27, 2024, 11:58 PMGreat reviews, Trolls
I don't know how you get through them all. You stretched yourself there didn't you with the modern stuff.
OR maybe you didn't, you Jazz and Trap loving swine.
Those tunes you couldn't review earlier are below:
Composer: George Russell
Album: Vertical Form VI
Track: Event IV
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz9j-hhqUhs
MOWGLI - Cénac - Jazz 360 - 8 Juin 2019
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYhZSl-pQEU
Cool. I'll try to make time to listen to them and add to your review.
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_13_1673617225.png)
joins the ranks of those who have more than one playlist, even if he couldn't remember the names of the last two tracks!
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/fa402eb7868e7a13673729fafb42ac2c/10988806/tamikrest-toumastin-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tamikrest - Addektegh
Genre: Tishoumaren (?)/Blues Rock
Source: 3rd album Toumastin
Year: 2011
Nationality: Malian
Comments: Very nice acoustic laid back tune, two guitars I think. Very pleasant.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/2fb790473dceba4eae6593d26c491528/5467428/the-byrds-live-at-royal-albert-hall-1971-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Byrds - Eight Miles High live
Genre: FolkRock/Country Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Jam Tart sorry Band
Source: 3rd live album Live at the Albert Hall
Year: 1971
Nationality: American
Comments: The flying ones have several live albums, but one has this only as part of a medley and this one has a bloody eighteen-minute version, which I assume qualifies as a jam in anyone's book. So this must be the one. Well I know the song, but how they stretched it out to almost twenty minutes will be interesting to hear. Maybe. Or perhaps I'll go looking for my shotgun. Well it seems they jam for almost 15 minutes before they start the song. That's some jam alright.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/f5a71b9f919894fb13f4b885e285c808/1656738/joe-strummer-and-the-mescaleros-streetcore-Cover-Art.jpg)
Joe Strummer - Arms Aloft
Genre: Alt-Rock/Contemporary Folk/Reggae/Dub/Reggae Rock
Source: 5th album Streetcore (3rd with The Mescaleros)
Year: 2003
Nationality: English
Comments: Not quite as aggressive and in your face as his work with the Clash, but Strummer shows he still has it, even if this a kind of B.A.D. rather than a C.L.A.S.H. Should he stay or should he go? Stay please, Joe.
Rating: :4stars:
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Xera - Lliendes
Genre: Celtic electronica/Asturian Folk Music
Source: Debut album Lliendes
Year: 2006
Nationality: Spanish
Comments: Asturian I assume is to do with a province or area of Spain, though what that has to do with Celts I don't know. I certainly hear Celtic influence in it (uileann pipes?) with a low chant behind it and some fine keyboard work. Not at all as folky as I had expected now to be honest. Really gets going then with some frenetic fiddle and thumping percussion. I do like this.
Rating: :5stars:
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Hamza el Din - Grandfather's Stories
Genre: Nubian Music/Arab Classical Music
Source: 2nd album Al Oud
Year: 1965
Nationality: Egyptian
Comments: Arab classical music, you say? Interesting. A long one this, over eleven minutes, and seems to be almost monotone, one instrument (one I can hear anyway) being plucked away at. Perhaps the album title is a clue: is this a solo Oud performance? I will say it sounds a little one-dimensional and boring to these ears. Look, I often struggle with solo instrumental guitar albums (thanks a lot, Neal Schon!) so this is not exactly blowing my mind. I guess you have to admire the guy's skills, but it's just too long drawn-out for me.
Rating: :3stars:
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World's End Girlfriend - 100 years of Choke
Genre: Post-Rock/Modern Classical
Source: 7th album Hurtbreak Wonderland
Year: 2007
Nationality: Japanese
Comments: I don't know if it was your intention, but even forcing me to drop two tracks as you don't remember what they were, you're still giving me double-digit reviews to do here. That bloody "Weekender" has a 15-minute version, so don't expect me to listen to that, as this is 13 and I've already done 18 minutes with the Byrds, to say nothing of our extended Egyptian friend! At any rate, this seems nice, with a sort of picked acoustic guitar against what I can only describe as a muted roar of a synth maybe, and now some lovely cello or violin. Is that girl being sexually molested by tigers, or is that just what I'm seeing in a perfectly innocent album cover, and if so, what does that say about me? This tune is really nice. Think there might be some goddamn glitch in there from time to time, but it's not ruining it for me. Okay it is a little annoying. Very interesting how the percussion gets progressively faster and more frenetic while the music stays at its slow, laid back speed, and somehow it works. Oh but it has a weird, abrupt ending. What a pity. I was enjoying that.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/61946071b3a6d09112d675c4c944ec5f/2554446/flowered-up-weekender-Cover-Art.jpg)
Flowered Up - Weekender
Genre: Baggy/Alternative Dance/Dance-Rock/Progressive Rock/Neo-psychedelia/Krautrock/Jazz-Rock
Source: 4th single Weekender
Year: 1992
Nationality: English
Comments: That's a whole lot of genre tags for one single! Sounds to me fairly basic though, maybe something like Metal Tulips or Sad Tuesdays or something? How the fuck would I know? Not bad though. Can't see how all those genres apply.
Rating: :3.5stars:
Can't do the last two obviously, but honestly there's more music in your eight than there is in some people's ten!
Overall rating: :3.5stars:
Quote from: Trollheart on Sep 26, 2024, 04:07 AMOk then it's time to see what
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_13_1673617225.png)
is lisna-ing to...
... not only the only one other than me to get a five-star rating, but the only one to get two. Sadly, the flip side of that is that most of your other songs got much lower ratings, but as the ancient Romans would say, sic biscuitus disintegratis.
Overall rating: :2.5stars:
"
sic biscuitus..." :laughing: That's a good one, Trollheart.
Thanks very much for reviewing my playlist and filling out the details of albums, dates, images: I appreciate the effort you are putting in to make everybody's playlist more approachable and attractive. :clap:
I read your reviews of my playlist with great interest, only occasionally slamming my fist on the table in outrage ! ;) Actually, I agreed with your comments about two of the lowest scoring tracks (by Kolinda and Juana Molina): I played them again thanks to your links, and wondered to myself, "Why did I think this was so good a couple of weeks ago? Sounds pretty flat to me now." And I really liked your comment about the placement of the flute when the Kolinda musicians were done :laughing:
I was really pleased that you gave 5 stars to Roy Buchanan! He's easily my fave blues guitarist: he really gets to your heart and does far more instrumentals than most elec blues guitarists, afaik. I saw him once in London, on a stage that was suitably bleak: no props, everything seemed to be painted black, and he was carrying the whole show: song after song of exciting, heart-wrenching blues with discrete, almost minimal support from his small backing band.
If you and I were in a Dublin bar we might come to blows, though, over your review of
Chaos by The Church: you didn't even mention the thing I like best about this song: the rambling story of some semi-military conflict, ("
I felt something warm enter my guts/I was bleeding bad but there were no cuts" ) which ends up with the lyricist hitting on a simple formula, using "
equals", and then adding equation after equation, like a mantra which gets progressively more nonsensical or more profound: I'm so hypnotised, I don't care:
Spoiler
...a message from my enemies, and here's what they said
They said that love = hate
And death = fate
An enemy always = an adorer
But priest = aura
And life = time
And time = space
And space = sublime
And human = race
Oh and woman = man
And pot = pan
The fauna ought to equal the flora
But priest = aura
And beginning = the end
The end always = the start
But straight = bent
The mind sometimes = the heart
And you = me
The land = the sea
Richer = poorer
And priest = aura
Hey you're welcome Lisna. One of my old bosses used that "ancient Roman phrase", and it just stuck with me. It's probably not correct Latin, like the way doomicus metallicus is not real (there's a word for what they do there, I just can't think of it) but I thought it fit here. As far as The Church are concerned, I was probably just concentrating too much on hating the song to listen to the lyric, even I could even make it out. Just did not like that. Your second playlist chimed with me a lot more, as you can see, so there is hope.
Time for our second helping from
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_35_1683317842.png)
So will it be "Hang the DJ" or "Rock DJ"? Let's see.
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Taylor Swift - Anti Hero
Genre: Singer-songwriter/Synthpop/Chillwave
Source: 12th album Midnights
Year: 2022
Nationality: American
Comments: I know this, as I came across it during my charts through the decades thread (soon to be resurrected, maybe) and it struck me as unusually insightful and a real attempt to get at the roots of depression and having to live up to a particular standard. It's also a very good song, and for a very short while changed my mind about Swift. Then I listened to the rest of the album. This is great though. A very good start.
Rating: :5stars:
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Flyana Boss Feat. Missy Elliot & Kaliii - You Wish
Genre: Trap/Pop rap/West Coast Hip-hop
Source: 4th EP Make it a Double
Year: 2023
Nationality: American
Comments: Not mad about this one though. Sort of reminds me of the little I've heard from Nikki Minaj, though I probably don't know what I'm talking about. To paraphrase Midge Ure, this does nothing for me.
Rating: :3stars:
That Mexican OT & DaBaby - Point Em Out
Genre: Trap/Southern Hip-hop
Source: 3rd album Texas Technician
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: One of those dramatic backdrop style tracks. It's okay but I wouldn't be mad about it. Good for what it is.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/451e0821e4ecbd1b36ee266d2b856dfc/6472946/martin-jensen-solo-dance-Cover-Art.jpg)
Martin Jensen - Solo Dance
Genre: Tropical House/Dance-pop/Future House
Source: 5th single "Solo Dance"
Year: 2016
Nationality: Danish
Comments: Pleasant little dance tune, has a nice beat and oddly enough, lyrically parallels that old disco classic "Yes Sir I Can Boogie." Not bad.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/1a55a4701ffa1832b7b66e6d8ae17203/11260277/fridayy-fridayy-Cover-Art.jpg)
Fridayy - Stand By Me
Genre: Contemporary R&B/Pop rap/Afrobeats
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 2023
Nationality: American
Comments: This is good, a slow ballad with a lot of emotion, and a nice sort of chanted chorus.
Rating: :4stars:
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Nobuto Suda - Two
Genre: Ambient/Field Recordings/Drone
Source: 7th album Transistoriness
Year: 2013
Nationality: Japanese
Comments: I would say at the outset I never quite get Field Recordings, and this is a long track, perhaps the longest on either of DJ's playlists - over nine minutes long. But it's also ambient, so we'll see. Hmm. It's also drone, but I've got into that slightly, particularly through the work of Solar Fields. It's kind of hypnotic. Odd how an unchanging melody (or a loop of the same melody) can not get tiresome and boring, but this doesn't.
Rating: :4stars:
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Ciara - Level Up
Genre: Contemporary R&B/Pop rap/Afrobeats/Pop/Dance-pop
Source: 7th album Beauty Marks
Year: 2019
Nationality: American
Comments: A lot of energy here, but honestly it just drives me mad. Does she have to say "Level up" so many damn times? Pass.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/edfb9b0a5e711b27ee51f6388aefe33b/9817979/bree-runway-somebody-like-you-Cover-Art.jpg)
Bree Runway - Somebody Like You
Genre: Alt-pop/Synthpop/Contemporary R&B/Alternative R&B/Sophisti-pop/Adult Contemporary
Source: 14th Single "Somebody Like You"
Year: 2022
Nationality: English
Comments: Like this too; a dramatic sort of power ballad. Good song certainly.
Rating: :4.5stars:
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Gracie Abrams - Risk
Genre: Singer-songwriter/Folk Pop/Alt-pop
Source: 2nd album The Secret of Us
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: Think she sounds a little like Suzanne Vega. Interesting idea, a female stalker, as it were. Very catchy, like it a lot.
Rating: :4.5stars:
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Pardison Fontaine - Thee Person
Genre: East Coast Hip-hop/Trap
Source: 19th single "Thee Person"
Year: 2023
Nationality: American
Comments: Yeah this is pretty good. Guy has some issues he needs to air, doesn't he?
Rating: :4stars:
So let's see how you did on your second time out, DJ. There was only one or two tracks I think that I really didn't like, so the overall rating should be reasonably high.
And it is.
Overall rating: :4stars:
The first playlist from
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_34_1703040105.png)
So let's see what he's been listening to, or what the gods of shuffle have created for him as a playlist.
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The Birthday Party - "Yard"
Genre: Post-punk/No Wave/Noise Rock/Punk Blues/Experimental Rock
Source: 3rd album Prayers on Fire
Year: 1981
Nationality: Australian
Comments: I'm aware that The Birthday Party is the band which gave us the bad boy of rock darkness, Nick Cave, whom I love, however I'm the first to admit I don't like Nick's first three or four albums, and only got into him around The Good Son era. So I feel this may be too, ah, raw for me, but we'll see. Slow and doomy, with snarly guitar, you can certainly see the evolution of Nick Cave's music here, his voice more raw and ragged here than on his later solo stuff, but not bad at all. This could have been on The Firstborn is Dead or Your Funeral, My Trial. The talent was there for all to see; a rare vocalist and a fine songwriter who would go on to become a household name.
Rating: :3.5stars:
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Massive Attack - "One Love"
Genre: Trip-hop/UK Hip-hop/Soul/UK Street Soul/Dub
Source: Debut album Blue Lines
Year: 1991
Nationality: English
Comments: I've only heard the one MA album - Mezzanine - and I think I liked it but was not bowled over by it, if I remember. Is this a cover of the Marley standard? No. No, it's not. Have to say I find this stultifyingly boring. Not for me.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/2c696c4efdb76dd5ab9aecc05e50bd53/1558680/henry-butler-blues-after-sunset-Cover-Art.jpg)
Henry Butler - "Tee Na Na"
Genre: New Orleans Blues
Source: 6th album Blues After Sunset
Year: 1998
Nationality: American
Comments: I don't know what to tell you, man. The Big Y does not have it. I did listen to a version by someone called Ryan Foret, and it was a decent song, but what sort of spin Butler put on it I don't know. If you want to find a video I can listen to, let me know, otherwise I'm just marking it on the basis of the song itself. Sorry, best I can do.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8d79fbd5d4ef464671e5d822e142a6ca/1339945/manic-street-preachers-lifeblood-Cover-Art.jpg)
Manic Street Preachers - "Empty Souls"
Genre: Pop rock/Alternative Rock/Synthpop
Source: 7th album Lifeblood
Year: 2004
Nationality: Welsh
Comments: At least you've ensured we now have music from all four of the "British Isles" - we've had England, Scotland and Ireland, now we add Wales. This has some sort of sound of U2's "New Year's Day", at least to me. Maybe it's the piano line. Pretty good song though. Very catchy and sort of anthemic. Like it.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/75109ab2830b156a71982eacc675a955/6853729/the-fall-the-wonderful-and-frightening-world-of-the-fall-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Fall - "Slang King"
Genre: Post-punk/Art Punk/Dance Punk/Neo-psychedelia/Krautrock
Source: 7th album The Wild and Frightening World of The Fall
Year: 1984
Nationality: English
Comments: Oh this will not be good. If there's such a thing as an unfan, that's me with The Fall. It's not even that I hate them, but I just do not get them. I can't get any enjoyment from what is apparently (and I must accept the general wisdom) music here, and that's just how it is. Hmm. This is certainly different, not what I expected. At least I can make it out as music. Keys remind me of the early work of the Cars. Still not going to ever make me a fan, but at least I can appreciate it as music for once. Nowhere near as bad as I had feared, which with The Fall is as close you're going to get as an endorsement from me!
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ec6aab79632020930a4cd4e9f3e4f2a9/5503626/merle-haggard-and-the-strangers-a-portrait-of-merle-haggard-Cover-Art.jpg)
Merle Haggard - "Hungry Eyes"
Genre: Country/Bakersfield Sound
Source: 11th album A Portrait of Merle Haggard
Year: 1969
Nationality: American
Comments: If I remember my research on the history of country music, the Bakersfield Sound was created as a sort of negative reaction to the Nashville Sound, the sort of "country pop" seen as playing to the more commercial side of country, one that used orchestras and "safe" themes, whereas the Bakersfield sound (so called of course because it originated in Bakersfield, California) was a rawer, rougher, less apologetic version aimed away from radio airplay and general acceptance. You might, possibly, call it the punk rock of country? A nice simple country tune with some fine orchestration that doesn't take it over, and Haggard's presence is front and centre at all times. Sing it, cowboy!
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/4a999003c106cafcd2907d7a7a7b19c5/7104955/gorgon-city-escape-Cover-Art.jpg)
Gorgon City - "Real Life"
Genre: Deep House/Future House/Brazilian Bass/Dance-Pop
Source: 3rd album Escape
Year: 2018
Nationality: English
Comments: Pleasant enough dance tune. Not too much more I can say. I guess once you can dance to it, that's the most important thing. Good vocal, good beat. I don't really know about these things, but I don't hate this, is as much as I can really say.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/7c977651f0d852c2c3f7f7cdad89216c/3438941/the-sound-from-the-lions-mouth-Cover-Art.jpg)
The Sound - "New Dark Age"
Genre: Post-punk/Gothic Rock
Source: 2nd album From the Lion's Mouth
Year: 1981
Nationality: English
Comments: Very powerful, hollow percussion against a chanting vocal, then takes off nicely on a sharp guitar and thumping bass. Like this. Sort of reminds me slightly of early Police.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/74ca891e6d45a2d7d5838343daadabcc/7223949/miles-davis-e_s_p-Cover-Art.jpg)
Miles Davis - "Agitation"
Genre: Post-bop/Modal Jazz/Cool Jazz
Source: 11th album E.S.P.
Year: 1965
Nationality: American
Comments: I guess I should be grateful that a jazz fan like you has only the one jazz track here, and more, that it's Miles, who has a better chance of speaking to me than, say, Coltrane or Mingus. Mind you, starting off with a fucking drum solo is not a good way to get me onside! I won't do my joke about drum solos, but you know the one. I hope this is more than just a seven-minute-plus bashing of skins. Agitation, indeed. Okay so now there's some peppy trumpet or some sort of horn (look, I'm not a jazz fan alright?) and piano, but it's not really getting any better for me. Yeah I just don't like what I suppose you'd call energetic jazz. If I'm going to be forced to listen to any at all, something a bit more laid back would sit better with me.
Rating: :2stars:
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Raekwon - "Casablanca"
Genre: East Coast Hip-hop/Hardcore Hip-hop/Gangsta Rap/Boom Bap
Source: 2nd album Immobilarity
Year: 1999
Nationality: American
Comments: There's that exploding sandwich again! Boom bap? Seriously? What the blue jumping... well, you know. Can't say I like the start, with the basic talking, and it doesn't really get any better after that. Not much to say really.
Rating: :2stars:
So let's see how ya did on your first playlist out. Not too bad considering.
Overall rating: :3stars:
The last playlist in, as it were, season one, we're back to the lady who loves her keys. And I must say, big thanks for the YT playlist. Saves me a lot of trouble, that does. Much appreciated. (Let's hope I can repay the favour, though as you know, I call 'em like I see 'em).
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_18_1726275537.png)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/9f364c546350e37c3443ed9e7dea9b36/10752571/kraftwerk-radio-aktivitat-Cover-Art.jpg)
Kraftwerk – Radioland
Genre: Electronic/Progressive Electronic/Synthpop/Minimal Synth
Source: 5th album Radio-Activity (Radio-Aktivität, if you want to be pedantic)
Year: 1975
Nationality: German
Comments: Never been the biggest fan of Kraftwerk; find their music very cold and lifeless much of the time (I know that's how it's meant to be) and while some of their more uptempo stuff like "Autobahn" I can get into, this is really not the sort of thing I enjoy. Clever, sure, but enjoyable? Not for me I'm afraid. Bit of a dirge.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/1c12dda989346b3a78e9d565f189e122/2508250/peter-baumann-romance-76-Cover-Art.jpg)
Peter Baumann – Bicentennial Presentation
Genre: Berlin School/Progressive Electronic
Source: Debut album Romance '76
Year: 1976
Nationality: German
Comments: For one horrible moment I thought that was Peter Brotzmann! Lucky escape? Maybe. Mind you, I've heard this Berlin School on someone else's playlist (someone called Klaus Schultze?) and I didn't really like it, but we'll see how this goes. Well right away I like this better than his track, Schultze's I mean. More like what I would call electronic music, very Vangelis-like. Speaking of whom, I know.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/40f8a488f2368e3f50e76d4e3f59dc92/6387027/vangelis-spiral-Cover-Art.jpg)
Vangelis – Spiral
Genre: Progressive Electronic/Progressive Rock/Ambient
Source: 10th album Spiral
Year: 1977
Nationality: Greek
Comments: oh look! Not only an artist I know but an album I have! I love this album, one of Vangelis's best, and I love this piece too. So evocative. I first got into Vangelis through the series Cosmos and was soon a fan. Into him before it was cool, as I'm sure you were. Pre-Blade Runner. Isn't "To the Unknown Man" on this too? I love that piece.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5533750727c877cd3f727f065ebd16a4/9301578/yellow-magic-orchestra-solid-state-survivor-Cover-Art.jpg)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Rydeen
Genre: Synthpop/Electro-disco/Electro-pop/New Wave
Source: 3rd album Solid State Survivor
Year: 1979
Nationality: Japanese
Comments: More familiarity. I've definitely heard of YMO, not sure if I've heard anything from them. This is good: very upbeat and cheerful,
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b39fb248d1b5134308d2f755728704d6/6751465/depressive-silence-depressive-silence-ii-Cover-Art.png)
Depressive Silence – Forest of Eternity
Genre: Dungeon Synth/Ambient
Source: Debut album II ?
Year: 1996
Nationality: German
Comments: Sounds like a BDSM band. Sorry, DBSM! Always get those two mixed up, with often hilarious results. "Ok I agree that the acoustics in a dungeon are going to be better, but what's the whip for? Um, I think we've got our wires crossed here - NO I DON'T MEAN THAT!" Anyway, enough of my ramblings. With a name like "Forest of Eternity" you'd expect something melancholic, and so it is. Sort of reminds me of some French ABM band I think, albums was something about winter? Anyway it's very nice, quite cinematic in its way. I approve. Longest track by some way on Lexi's list, at over nine minutes. I ain't complaining.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/b2a584a993b9721ca892aa7cb7ddc342/8044898/the-bbc-radiophonic-workshop-bbc-radiophonic-music-Cover-Art.jpg)
Delia Derbyshire – Ziwzih Ziwzih Oo-Oo-Oo
Genre: Electronic/Library Music/Tape Music/Jingles
Source: album BBC Radiophonics Music
Year: 1968
Nationality: English
Comments: Ah Delia! The forerunner of all respected female musicians, who was so instrumental (sorry) with the sound effects on a little-known, obscure TV show about some guy flying through time in a box. How did they ever think that would catch on? She did it at a time when women were told to get the coffees and be quiet while the men spoke. You go, girl! Or something. As for the track, well, it's experimental, what ya gonna do? No doubt many men in suits tutted and frowned, but that wasn't going to stop her, now was it? Got to admire the innovation, even if it's not exactly what you'd call easy on the ear. Doctor what?
Rating: :3stars:
Enigma – Light of Your Smile
Genre: Ambient/Downtempo
Source: Can't find it?
Year: 1998 (?)
Nationality: German
Comments: Like it says, I can't find this album/single/EP of which you speak. Enigma (assuming this is the right one, and I don't see any other real candidates, unless you mean a death metal band from the US!) had albums in 1996 and 2000, but none that I can see in 1998. Nor any singles either. Kind of sounds like some sort of Gregorian chant behind an electronic/synthy soundscape. I'm pretty sure I've heard of Enigma before, but where eludes me. Did they have some big hit single or something? Anyway this is interesting, and also good.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/1d73f47946671ae6326d12cc4fe9ba4e/1256131/perrey-kingsley-the-in-sound-from-way-out-Cover-Art.jpg)
Perrey & Kingsley – Baroque Hoedown
Genre: Space Age Pop/Moogsploitation/Electronic/Tape Music/Exotica
Source: Debut album The In Sound from Way out
Year: 1966
Nationality: American
Comments: Well it would have to be from the sixties with a title like that, wouldn't it? Hmm. Sounds like an Irish reel or jig or some damn thing, to be honest. Okay well it is a hoedown so I guess that's not too far from the truth. Take your partner by the - um, not by there! Anywhere but there! Now look what you've done! Interesting stuff, but interesting in a way that says once is enough really. I can kind of see this as a backdrop to a lot of animated animals dancing around a barnyard, which is cute, but not real, so there you go.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ef4bb56d4dcda50ff62fb4ccd1e7e4d8/2508072/patrick-ohearn-between-two-worlds-Cover-Art.jpg)
Patrick O'Hearn – Forever the Optimist
Genre: New Age/Progressive Electronic
Source: 2nd album Between Two Worlds
Year: 1987
Nationality: American
Comments: A striding, sort of marching theme here, with a nice piano line running through it, meshed with some lush synth. Very pleasant.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/f5b008f0c72a16eddef1ae3a6958b6ce/4835607/tomita-snowflakes-are-dancing-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tomita – Clair De Lune
Genre: Progressive Electronic/Moogsploitation/Impressionism/Romanticism
Source: 4th album (2nd with English title) Snowflakes are Dancing
Year: 1974
Nationality: Japanese
Comments: I know Tomita too. Had one album by him (Grand Canyon), once upon a time. This is an interesting interpretation of Debussy's classic, which I've always loved, and he does a good job with it, as you'd expect.
Rating: :5stars:
Overall, both a very synth-heavy and Teutonic-leaning playlist, Lexi - almost 50% German acts. Some better than others, but let's see how you did as we close out the first season of shuffled playlists.
Overall rating: :4.5stars: (I added half a star for the handy YT playlist you made for me)
Okay then, as we close out season one (what is it with you, Troll? Are you not taking your meds?) let's have some statistics!
(https://i.imgflip.com/zo2dt.jpg)
No, I know you don't want them, but I do, and since you're not reading this anyway, what do you care? Besides, you're all figments of my imagination as I sit and drool and gibber maniacally in this rubber room, so what difference does it make?
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxe1wFB0Orw4NkXSogV70C7_a_HanvzOUCOg&s)
There are some great entries in here (it's like the people's TOTP). When will I get the time to go through them all?
"The Sound" album has a good cover and it reminded me of my favourite track on that album "Contact the Fact". What a whopper. And there are surely other tracks on there. Cheers to SGR for introducing me to that band previously.
Keep on carrying on...
First off, of those who posted playlists,
3 or more TH
2 Lucem Ferre, DJ, Lexi, Lisna
1 Grindy, SGR, Saulaac, Degrassi, GD, ᑕᐧᔐᔫᓂᑯᒑᔥ
Only one posted three or more (guess who?) while four posted 2 each and six posted just the one. Here's the breakdown:
3 or more (4 in fact): (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_2_1673958603.png)
2: (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_18_1726275537.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_13_1673617225.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_35_1683317842.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_19_1674048379.png)
1: (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_11_1673561975.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_31_1690583568.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_45_1684489615.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_12_1673567313.png) (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_14_1693279965.png)
How did we do in terms of nationalities? Well, probably not too surprising since most of you are American or listen to American music (even me!) the old stars and stripes comes well out on top, almost three times as many as the next-highest, but there are some interesting results here, too. Here's how it breaks down:
American: 79
English or British: 27
Other: 18
German: 8
Australian: 7
French: 6
Italian: 4
Japanese: 5
Irish: 3
Spanish: 2
Canadian: 1
Who had the longest track, and who had the shortest? Well as far as the former goes, it would be pretty damn hard to beat Lisnaholic with his 18-minute jam of The Byrds' "Eight Miles (Very) High" on his second playlist. Runners-up are me, with Godspeed You! Black Emperor's "Anthem for No State", on my second playlist, clocking in at 14 minutes and change, and Lisna again with World's End Girlfriend's "100 years of Choke" not quite coming in at the century, but a very respectable 13 minutes. Shortest? That has to be Grindy's "All The Days I've Missed You" from Colin Stetson, on his only playlist, a mere 1 minute and 14 seconds. Runner up is Ceschi on Lucem's first playlist with "Heaven at Your Fingertips" just short of two minutes, and Suicide Commando's inaccurately-titled "Pleasure", on his second, a mere 2 minutes and 24 seconds.
Ratings: Overall we have the following:
:2.5stars: 1 (Lisna playlist 1)
:3stars: 7 (Grindy, Saulaac, Lucem playlist 2, GD, me playlist 4, ᑕᐧᔐᔫᓂᑯᒑᔥ, SGR)
:3.5stars: 6 (Lexi playlist 1, DJ playlist 1, me playlist 1, 2 & 3, Degrassi Knoll, Lisna playlist 2)
:4stars: 1 (Lucem, playlist 1, DJ playlist 2)
:4.5stars: 1 (Lexi playlist 2)
:5stars: 0
So what does that prove? Not a damn thing. The ratings aren't worth a pair of foetid dingo's kidneys, as they're just the opinion of one highly suspect individual who keeps hanging around the forum and won't take the hints to go away. But they do show at least that on average, most of the playlists got a, well, average result (between three and three and a half stars) and that nobody got a perfect score, Lexi coming closest at four and a half. They also show that as usual I'm harsh but fair, as none of my own playlists got any more than three and a half, and three out of the four are right up there in the totally average scores with three. Don't say I ever play favourites, even myself.
Of course we couldn't forget genres, could we? What do you mean, we could forget the whole thing? Who said that? Guard! Guard! I'm hearing voices! No, really this time!
For ease of counting, Hip-hop will cover all styles, including Conscious, East or West Coast, Hardcore, Trap, Pop Rap etc. World Music (sorry Lisna) will cover all national/traditional folk music, ethnic music etc. Electronic will be restricted to cover instrumental electronic music, while any vocal version of such will go down as Pop. Any prog metal tracks will go under Heavy Metal, not Prog Rock, as if you care. Trance includes House, EDM and all that stuff.
Heavy Metal: 27
Hip-hop: 21
Pop: 16
Jazz : 10
Electronic: 8
Other: 7
Psychedelic/Neo-psychedelia: 6
Prog Rock: 6
Blues: 6
Singer-songwriter: 5
R&B: 5
AOR: 5
Adult Contemporary (aka shit): 4
Trance: 4
Industrial: 4
Post-punk: 4
World Music: 3
Country: 3
Ambient: 3
Indie: 2
Classical: 2
Reggae: 2
Experimental: 2
Post-Rock: 2
Soul: 2
Punk: 1
Film music: 1
Folk: 1
Rather surprised to see Metal take the top; quite expected that to be Hip-hop, but there it is. Jazz does well of course, just behind Pop. Obviously, these have been split up for convenience's sake, and some songs may rest more comfortably in other genres, but this is how I've separated them, as best I can.
Last thing I want to look at is the dates of songs. How many are very contemporary, from this or the last few years? How many are from this century, and how many from back in the previous? Let's see.
2024: 9
2023: 4
2020 - 2022: 13
2010 - 2019: 45
2000 - 2009: 25
1990s: 23
1980s: 9
1970s: 22
1960s: 10
Again it's something of a surprise to find so few songs from this and last year, with the bulk of them split between the early 2000s and 2019. Almost as many from the 1970s too.
Okay I'll leave it there. If anyone wants to kick off season two, you know what to do! Not here, of course; over in the other thread.
See ya some other time!
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRypsLU7KFUWgLO1XAMOdwIe-6KR_O5QMxIAw&s)
Quote from: Trollheart on Sep 28, 2024, 02:07 AMI don't know if it was your intention, but even forcing me to drop two tracks as you don't remember what they were, you're still giving me double-digit reviews to do here. That bloody "Weekender" has a 15-minute version, so don't expect me to listen to that, as this is 13 and I've already done 18 minutes with the Byrds, to say nothing of our extended Egyptian friend!
^ HaHa ! Sorry you had such long songs to review, Trollheart. My apology comes with an excuse too: I posted the playlist before you announced the idea of reviewing them all.
Hats off to you for sticking with the project even when it meant listening to extended tracks that weren't of much interest to you - and thanks again for commenting on our music: isn't that what everyone on SCD secretly wants ? Some feedback and comments on our musical choices/opinions, etc.
Your comment on
Weekender made me laugh: it is precisely its length that impressed me. On my first listen, while doing something else at the time, -'coz you know, I'm such a multi-tasker - anyway, when I realised, about halfway through, that the track was still going, that's when I stopped to really listen to it. So, yeah, I'm in favour of length, though perhaps I should phrase that differently to avoid misunderstandings.
Thanks again, Trolls: you have single-handedly enlivened the Music section for everyone. All those stats you compiled were interesting as well - and finally a shout out to Lucem, whose original "playlist" idea has prompted so much discussion. :thumb:
Hey thanks Lisna! Nice to know my efforts are appreciated. I work by that time-honoured maxim: if everyone else won't do it, do it yourself! Or there's the other old military one, isn't there? I wouldn't ask my men to do anything I'm not prepared to do myself.
(https://media.tenor.com/x_BFdg2llb0AAAAM/star-wars-going-in.gif)
So, into the breach I went, and I tell ya, it was fun! I like doing things like this: it's why I resurrected the old "Trollheart Listens to Every Album on Wiki's List for [insert year here]" thread. Sometimes you really can widen the musical horizons a bit, sometimes you just get to slag off people's tastes, or tell totally unconnected stories or make comments that seemed funny to you at the time, but by the time you've posted them now, in the cold light of day and with careful consideration, seem hilarious.
Anyway, thanks again for the input and feel free to throw more longer tracks at me, though if possible no more guys playing the oud while sitting in front of the Sphinx and perusing Reader's Digest! :laughing:
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Oct 03, 2024, 03:28 PM^ HaHa ! Sorry you had such long songs to review, Trollheart. My apology comes with an excuse too: I posted the playlist before you announced the idea of reviewing them all.
Hats off to you for sticking with the project even when it meant listening to extended tracks that weren't of much interest to you - and thanks again for commenting on our music: isn't that what everyone on SCD secretly wants ? Some feedback and comments on our musical choices/opinions, etc.
Your comment on Weekender made me laugh: it is precisely its length that impressed me. On my first listen, while doing something else at the time, -'coz you know, I'm such a multi-tasker - anyway, when I realised, about halfway through, that the track was still going, that's when I stopped to really listen to it. So, yeah, I'm in favour of length, though perhaps I should phrase that differently to avoid misunderstandings.
Thanks again, Trolls: you have single-handedly enlivened the Music section for everyone. All those stats you compiled were interesting as well - and finally a shout out to Lucem, whose original "playlist" idea has prompted so much discussion. :thumb:
Yes, great shout out to Lucem for starting this thread. I got more out of it than I expected. And TH did a wonderful job of accompanying it with his razor sharp, experienced and balanced critique of what was thrust before him. Good job guys.
H-h-hey now, what's thrust before me in the privacy of my own home is my business! :laughing:
:shycouch:
Looking forward to season two: recap coming up soon, so stay tooned!
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CT3cvvBuHKQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
"Shuffle Your Playlist"...
DJ was a fan of the "brat" but also inflicted the virus known as Pentatonix upon us, while Grindy provided us the shortest song on the thread and also took a trip to Saturn looking at some Rotted Futures. Lucem had Heaven at his fingertips and his Bitch waitin' at home, while Saulaac went very jazzy but in his excitement forgot to not only note some of the albums but some of the songs in his playlist!
Motionless in White, our octosynthgirl was Making Them Suffer and Bleeding Through, while also attending the Berlin School and watching Snowflakes Dancing. Tragedy struck however for Lisnaholic when, after taking a trip back to 1971 to go to a Byrds concert, he got so caught up in an eighteen minute version of (rather appropriately) "Eight Miles High" that the cleaners had to remove him from the concert hall the next morning. Thoroughly disoriented, he was last seen in a black-and-white groaning "But where was Mister Tambourine Man? Tell me that!"
Resident Superbitch Femme Fatale Sexbomb Sexbomb Degrassi Not-Always-High was the only one with the guts to buck the trend as ever and present a highly artistic layout for her playlist, also dispensing with the ten-track format and dancing to her own drum. Having escaped from police custody and now on the lam, Lisnaholic caused Chaos in The Church, shouting "Arms aloft" at Joe Strummer, who didn't understand he was being robbed, and instead told him to "Go Straight to Hell boy!" Not discouraged, the wide-eyed kid from Freecloud set about robbing an oud off Hamza al Din (much to the Egyptian's surprise, who kept strumming as if it were still in his hands) before leaving town on Engine No. 9 in the company of World's End Girlfriend and a very Drunken Angel. Trollheart wandered in and out with various playlists nobody cared about, and got ignored as usual, while Lucem was now being sought by the law on charges of desecrating graves and, with one terrified witness testifying that he growled he would "GiveUDatHammer" and was a Widowmaker with Hollow Points, was last seen around the vicinity of the Garden of Evil. SWAT teams were dispatched.
GD had Eyes like Nightshade (likely under the influence of some narcotic) and his failed attempt to immolate himself when he warned "Don't Save Us From the Flames!" was greeted with Shivers, but in the end he just fell asleep on quite a Surrealistic Pillow and we expect him to be Awakening soon. Welcome to his Nightmare. Meanwhile, Sixteen Earls hung out and drank Moonshine in the Garden of Men, and a German electronic musician whined that nobody cared about Konrad Bayer. And nobody did.
Bowie wandered by, looking suspicious with a large shovel over his shoulder and requesting directions to the cemetery, and to everyone's considerable surprise DJ turned narc, quite the Anti-Hero when he offered to Point 'em Out" and declared it was Somebody Like You he had seen. Stand By Me? You Wish! Quite a Risk to take there, DJ!
SGR joined The Birthday Party with a Massive Attack. Hungry Eyes but ultimately Empty Souls, Agitation too but in the end, in Real Life it was all One Love. Lexi went into something of a Spiral as she fell into a Depressive Silence, but she's a Solid State Survivor even in the Forest of Eternity. Forever the Optimist, Between Two Worlds it was the Light of her Smile that soon had her back in Radioland.
When TH started reviewing everyone's playlists, I thought that the polite thing would be for somebody else to review his playlist for him, although I missed the chance to get in first. Still, if you like the idea of someone listening to and commenting on your playlist, here it is, Trolls, spoilered so as not to disturb the flow of this thread:
Spoiler
(My apologies for just copying and pasting your images.)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c8fcbd1778a8c65be98ac2fada6e3fb9/6026476/booze-control-the-lizard-rider-Cover-Art.jpg)
Vile Temptress - Booze Control
My Comment: Although I can't measure it against Iron Maiden, for me it has a definite "heard it all before" vibe to it. Still, it's rocking, some nice guitar interludes, and the vocals weren't as bad as I expected.
Rating: :3stars: (= 0.5 more than TH's rating)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/892e1aad260e58c3ffb451fc1da82a60/11315018/gilbert-osullivan-the-best-of-gilbert-osullivan-Cover-Art.jpg)
Dear Dream - Gilbert O'Sullivan
My Comment:The positives: old-timey piano and lyrics that you can catch every word of. These, however are swamped by the negatives, most notably the chirpy, self-satisfied tone that comes across all through the song, the done-to-death stuff about dreams coming true, and the total nose drive for me, when the chorus chimes in , more-or-less 3/4 of the way through. G O'S was occasionally tolerable as a lone, confessional singer-songwriter, but that pop chorus really highlights what a feeble song he has written in this case.
Rating: :1stars: (same as TH's)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/141f61073726c446a8a249105f01721c/1434033/barry-manilow-the-essential-barry-manilow-Cover-Art.jpg)
Some Kind of Friend - Barry Manilow
My Comment: It's all relative, isn't it? After the previous G O'S song, this comes across as a hard-hitting powerhouse of a song! I feel that our man Barry has a better grasp of pop clichés (or more accurately, chooses better clichés to emulate), so this has a slick, professional sound that pushes along well enough, even though the lyrics are uninteresting and the song quickly becomes repetitive. Here's my revenge on TH for complaining about song length: this song goes on for a mind-numbing 4 mins :laughing:
Rating: :2stars: (= TH's + 1)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5286b64a7026f2aa94e663215d2a95f6/8542182/david-bowie-the-rise-and-fall-of-ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars-Cover-Art.png)
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Comments: I used to so love this album, hearing this track takes me straight back to the time and place when I was 18 yrs old. Still, I´m not that big on musical nostalgia, and even though this song is an old friend, the lyrics are pretty bad imo ("making love with his ego" being the low point for me). Nice guitar though, and DB's arch, camp voice at its best.
Rating: :3.5stars: (= TH's minus 1.5)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/484c1e7065ee7791a5b90923923533ba/1224278/jon-bon-jovi-blaze-of-glory-young-guns-ii-Cover-Art.jpg)
Santa Fe - Jon Bon Jovi
Comments: First time that I've listened to a song by this guy, and sorry, TH, but I wasn't very impressed. From the onset of that slow persistent beat, I felt a kind of inevitability about how the song would go, with the soaring vocals, etc, etc. The nicest bit was the interlude with strings at about 3:30 mins in, but nothing else about this power ballad distinguished it from a million other power ballads, imo.
Rating: :2stars: (= TH's minus 3)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c7773986f5802334443bad852722ee5d/6389643/kasey-chambers-dragonfly-Cover-Art.jpg)
No Ordinary Man - Kasey Chambers
My Comment:First song from TH which overlaps with the kind of stuff I explore myself. I really like the uncluttered sound, the strummed guitar and KC's voice is good, but I didn't like all the Jesus stuff in the lyrics. By accident, I played the title track (Dragonfly) of the album first, and liked it a lot more, so this is an album I might check out in the future.
Rating: :4.5stars: (TH's minus 0.5)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/af19d39c5319f685aa779fead09766ed/10432891/uriah-heep-look-at-yourself-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tears in My Eyes - Uriah Heep
My Comment: I can't improve on TH's description of "straight-ahead hard rock", although the song takes a welcome change of tempo at 1:30 mins, and becomes interesting from then on, so altogether better than I expected.
Rating: :4.5stars: (= TH's +1)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/570fb8a5371c6d3473f9862998798443/7819755/voyager-iv-pictures-at-an-exhibition-Cover-Art.jpg)
Tulleries - Voyager IV
My Comment:The jazzy piano is very welcome after some of the previous songs, then as an extra bonus a synth comes in halfway through, before the music dials back to some delicious piano playing. I really liked this, and am not worried that it's a cover of something that has been covered by others already. Will be checking out this album: thanks, TH :thumb:
Rating: :5stars: (= TH's +2.5)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8074f319f4a2e0959e3583d24f125c07/2045860/randy-edelman-gettysburg-Cover-Art.jpg)
Refuse the Line - Randy Edelman
My Comment: Sweeping orchestral effects are just a musical turn-off for me, so, of all the playlist, this track is the one I found hardest to sit through. Plus, I'm guessing that there's some subtext of glorifying military endeavor going on, which I don't like. Didn't Ennio Morricone demonstrate how a pared-down music was evocative of the Old West ?! This full-on orchestration is like, stylistically, going back to some dreary old 1950s Hollywood notion of The Wild West.
Rating: :0.5stars: (=TH's minus 4)
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ed2127450f93140fa166afaac9aa2ed4/3856214/for-all-we-know-for-all-we-know-Cover-Art.jpg)
Blind Me - For All We Know
My Comment: As TH mentions, a nice "chugging building guitar", though I didn't like the vocals so much: I can't call them weak, but they were too smooth, too unassuming for my tastes. I was looking forward to the "bright piano" that you mention - it was nice, all ten notes of it! In the recording studio, I would've said, "Get those guys to stop singing, and let's 'ave some more pi-anah!"
Rating: :3stars: (TH's minus 1)
Overall rating from me: :2.9stars: (=TH's minus 0.6)
Quote from: Lisnaholic on Oct 06, 2024, 06:30 PMWhen TH started reviewing everyone's playlists, I thought that the polite thing would be for somebody else to review his playlist for him, although I missed the chance to get in first. Still, if you like the idea of someone listening to and commenting on your playlist, here it is, Trolls, spoilered so as not to disturb the flow of this thread:
(My apologies for just copying and pasting your images.)
Hey thanks for that Lisna. I must admit, I had no idea you were one of those hardened cowpokes who herd wild proboscises to market! Wow. Those "nose drives" can be tough, indeed. Hat's off to you man. :laughing: (Sorry, I couldn't resist).
Knocked out your spoilers so I could respond.
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c8fcbd1778a8c65be98ac2fada6e3fb9/6026476/booze-control-the-lizard-rider-Cover-Art.jpg)
Vile Temptress - Booze Control
My Comment: Although I can't measure it against Iron Maiden, for me it has a definite "heard it all before" vibe to it. Still, it's rocking, some nice guitar interludes, and the vocals weren't as bad as I expected.
Rating: :3stars: (= 0.5 more than TH's rating)
Yeah it's bog standard metal-by-the-numbers, nothing to see here, move along, move along.
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/892e1aad260e58c3ffb451fc1da82a60/11315018/gilbert-osullivan-the-best-of-gilbert-osullivan-Cover-Art.jpg)
Dear Dream - Gilbert O'Sullivan
My Comment:The positives: old-timey piano and lyrics that you can catch every word of. These, however are swamped by the negatives, most notably the chirpy, self-satisfied tone that comes across all through the song, the done-to-death stuff about dreams coming true, and the total nose drive for me, when the chorus chimes in , more-or-less 3/4 of the way through. G O'S was occasionally tolerable as a lone, confessional singer-songwriter, but that pop chorus really highlights what a feeble song he has written in this case.
Rating: :1stars: (same as TH's)
I do, as I say, carry the weight of my sister's adoration (even now) of Gilbert, and, given that we're talking late 1960s/early 1970s here, for an Irish artist to be in the charts was really quite unusual. U2 were a long way off, and even Lizzy were being claimed as a British band! But yeah, while I like songs like "Get Down", "Clair", "Alone Again (Naturally)" and many more, this is, to use a technical term, shit. It just makes you want to barf up your breakfast, doesn't it? And I agree, Gilbert's nasally voice can get on the nerves just a teeny bit. Sue would kill me! :laughing:
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/141f61073726c446a8a249105f01721c/1434033/barry-manilow-the-essential-barry-manilow-Cover-Art.jpg)
Some Kind of Friend - Barry Manilow
My Comment: It's all relative, isn't it? After the previous G O'S song, this comes across as a hard-hitting powerhouse of a song! I feel that our man Barry has a better grasp of pop clichés (or more accurately, chooses better clichés to emulate), so this has a slick, professional sound that pushes along well enough, even though the lyrics are uninteresting and the song quickly becomes repetitive. Here's my revenge on TH for complaining about song length: this song goes on for a mind-numbing 4 mins :laughing:
Rating: :2stars: (= TH's + 1)
Like Gilbert, I can take the "standards", the hits, but God when Baz goes all Vegas and tries to rock out he just falls down badly, and this is for me an example of that. I guess if you're comparing like to like, he wins over Gilbert by a nose. Sorry.
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5286b64a7026f2aa94e663215d2a95f6/8542182/david-bowie-the-rise-and-fall-of-ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars-Cover-Art.png)
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Comments: I used to so love this album, hearing this track takes me straight back to the time and place when I was 18 yrs old. Still, I´m not that big on musical nostalgia, and even though this song is an old friend, the lyrics are pretty bad imo ("making love with his ego" being the low point for me). Nice guitar though, and DB's arch, camp voice at its best.
Rating: :3.5stars: (= TH's minus 1.5)
Well, for anyone to do other than worship Ziggy, all I can say is I hope the wild ears and the feared man-eating eyebrows get you on the next nose drive! To quote a certain hawkish alumnus, unassailable.
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/484c1e7065ee7791a5b90923923533ba/1224278/jon-bon-jovi-blaze-of-glory-young-guns-ii-Cover-Art.jpg)
Santa Fe - Jon Bon Jovi
Comments: First time that I've listened to a song by this guy, and sorry, TH, but I wasn't very impressed. From the onset of that slow persistent beat, I felt a kind of inevitability about how the song would go, with the soaring vocals, etc, etc. The nicest bit was the interlude with strings at about 3:30 mins in, but nothing else about this power ballad distinguished it from a million other power ballads, imo.
Rating: :2stars: (= TH's minus 3)
Honestly, I'm not at all surprised - or offended - by your dismissal of JBJ. I know people hate him, and I'd be the first to admit that much of his, and his band's music sounds quite similar and formulaic. But I like it, and for me this is one of the better tracks on this album (not an endorsement? Whatever do you mean??)
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/c7773986f5802334443bad852722ee5d/6389643/kasey-chambers-dragonfly-Cover-Art.jpg)
No Ordinary Man - Kasey Chambers
My Comment:First song from TH which overlaps with the kind of stuff I explore myself. I really like the uncluttered sound, the strummed guitar and KC's voice is good, but I didn't like all the Jesus stuff in the lyrics. By accident, I played the title track (Dragonfly) of the album first, and liked it a lot more, so this is an album I might check out in the future.
Rating: :4.5stars: (TH's minus 0.5)
Ah I love it when they bring Our Lord and Saviour (TM) into it! Gives it real heart, and what's a country song without the Son of Man? But yeah, great album. You might also check out Sunny Sweeney's output, very impressed with that.
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Tears in My Eyes - Uriah Heep
My Comment: I can't improve on TH's description of "straight-ahead hard rock", although the song takes a welcome change of tempo at 1:30 mins, and becomes interesting from then on, so altogether better than I expected.
Rating: :4.5stars: (= TH's +1)
Nothing to add here.
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Tulleries - Voyager IV
My Comment:The jazzy piano is very welcome after some of the previous songs, then as an extra bonus a synth comes in halfway through, before the music dials back to some delicious piano playing. I really liked this, and am not worried that it's a cover of something that has been covered by others already. Will be checking out this album: thanks, TH :thumb:
Rating: :5stars: (= TH's +2.5)
Bolded: oh Lisna you philistine! It's from the classical work by Mussorgsky, "Pictures at an Exhibition" (also, I think, covered by Emerson, Lake and someone else whose name escapes me)!
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8074f319f4a2e0959e3583d24f125c07/2045860/randy-edelman-gettysburg-Cover-Art.jpg)
Refuse the Line - Randy Edelman
My Comment: Sweeping orchestral effects are just a musical turn-off for me, so, of all the playlist, this track is the one I found hardest to sit through. Plus, I'm guessing that there's some subtext of glorifying military endeavor going on, which I don't like. Didn't Ennio Morricone demonstrate how a pared-down music was evocative of the Old West ?! This full-on orchestration is like, stylistically, going back to some dreary old 1950s Hollywood notion of The Wild West.
Rating: :0.5stars: (=TH's minus 4)
Meh, you either like "sweeping epic orchestral music" or you don't. I does.
Quote(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ed2127450f93140fa166afaac9aa2ed4/3856214/for-all-we-know-for-all-we-know-Cover-Art.jpg)
Blind Me - For All We Know
My Comment: As TH mentions, a nice "chugging building guitar", though I didn't like the vocals so much: I can't call them weak, but they were too smooth, too unassuming for my tastes. I was looking forward to the "bright piano" that you mention - it was nice, all ten notes of it! In the recording studio, I would've said, "Get those guys to stop singing, and let's 'ave some more pi-anah!"
Rating: :3stars: (TH's minus 1)
Yeah I thought it was good.
QuoteOverall rating from me: :2.9stars: (=TH's minus 0.6)[/spoiler]
Thanks for taking the time, especially after your ill-fated journey back to the 1970s! Hope you managed to square everything with the cops.
Thanks for your responses, TH, and for being so good-natured about my criticisms. Also, congrats on spotting that typo: I'm now wondering myself what a Nose Drive might be: is it a charity event involving sponsored sneezing, or perhaps a government campaign to promote rhinoplasty ?
I'll check out the artist you recommend, Sunny Sweeney, and perhaps Uriah Heep too. I had friends who used to enthuse about UH, and also ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition. I didn't have much interest in either band (although I liked ELP's first album). Maybe I'll discover something I overlooked in the past - or will have better luck with Voyager IV.
News to me that Gilbert O'Sullivan is Irish : I thought he was prob from the Home Counties, especially when my brother he saw him one night drinking in a pub about 25 miles outside London. I'm sure your sister Sue would've made better use of the opportunity to speak to the great man himself - I'm afraid my brother' reaction was more on the indifference/contempt spectrum.
Ah yeah, sure isn't he as Oirish as meself? Born on the east coast, down there in Waterford, but as you say he spent his adult life in the UK, emigrating at 21 with his family. Fun fact: his name - as you probably worked out - is not Gilbert; he was born Raymond but took the name as a sort of nom de muse (?) based on the famous comic opera duo. Hey, it worked didn't it?
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Now you have raised a sore point. All those poor defenceless noses being driven across state lines to be sold to wealthy women who need cosmetic surgery! The horrors they endure! The hardships. Nobody thinks about them. I tell you, it smells bad to me. Not to be sneezed at, and certainly a practice that should be blocked. Justice? Equality? They don't get a sniff! The worst thing is when some of them try to break loose and escape - nothing like a running nose - and the way they risk catching a chill by hiding in huge bales of straw to evade the drovers: no it's not funny - hay fever is a real problem for them.
And then there's the religious persecution element of this vile trade. Did you know that most wild noses don't believe in any god? They're all agnostrils, and they suffer for it. Pulled, twisted, tweaked and rubbed, picked on just because they're different. But tell this to anyone and all you'll get are snorts of derision. No wonder so many of them flu in the Great Migration of 2018! Their great leader, Conk the Mighty, crying "Come with me, fellow slaves! Follow your nose!" Unfortunately, bigotry and xenophobia prevented them from getting across the border. Oh you must remember the news stories! Those hateful signs? "America keep your noses out of our country!" Shocking. I heard most of them had to take menial jobs working in Hooters. Disgraceful.
Dear Sir Trollheart,
I create a whole new playlist everyday on YouTube Music, and never miss.
I'm replying to this thread because I have been using Gaelic for the title names. I use computer code sometimes but then just the brain sometimes just settles for plain "October 26th, 2024" or something simple. Other days I'll title it something wild too.
Here is today's, I'll be jamming to all these today/tonight and move over the ones I want to bring to 'October 27th, 2024" and leave behind the ones I am finished listening to. I delete the daily playlists as I go, but keep the day before up and maybe a couple days sometimes.
An 26ú Deireadh Fómhair 2024 (https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL6aKcXALC1sqSV_Wn4dc77He7BHUyI8x&feature=shared)
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/l41lM9G1L2Q4iwb96/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9521pu5rhrfbqalzulp8sjlv4bof7akip3jgeq9j5sj&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Oh what's that player? You want more? You done got more! Ya feel me? *
Yeah, it's time to premiere
(https://media.tenor.com/qV6SUe2SS98AAAAM/dakota-laden-chelsea-laden.gif)
*Trollheart is currently awaiting sentencing after having been found guilty by a unanimous verdict at his trial on charges of, and I quote, "Aggressively and Deliberately Trying to Be "Street" at an Inappropriate Age. And Being Irish Too, Which is Almost as Bad".
And we begin as we did in season one, with the man who started it all.
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"God of Destruction (Cryo remix)" - Suicide Commando
Genre: Aggrotech/Dark Industrial
Source: 19th album Goddestruktor
Year: 2022
Nationality: Belgian
Comments: If I recall correctly, I experienced two different sides of aggrotech in season one, the second being very much more on the "aggro" side. Which will this turn out to be? Given the album cover, title, and indeed song title, I'm willing to bet this will be more like the second time I sampled this genre, but we'll see. I guess an air-raid siren is not the most ideal thing you want to hear when a song begins, and I can feel that thick buzzing synth shaking the ground beneath my feet as the track begins, but initially at any rate it comes across as more techno? Not that I would know about such things.
Yeah, overall more on the "lighter" side of aggrotech, if that is indeed what this is, and probably great to get smashed out of your head and dance to, again not something I would know anything about. But decent to listen to, and I like this. Good start.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Czarface_Meets_Metal_Face.jpeg)
"Don't Spoil it" - Czarface and MF DOOM
Genre: Hip-hop
Source: First collaborative album Czarface Meets Metal Face
Year: 2018
Nationality: American/English
Comments: I've heard of MF DOOM (not to be confused with the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom, but then you knew that) and I've heard of Scarface, but not Czarface. Says they're some sort of hip-hop supergroup. I wouldn't know. The song is just over 90 seconds, so perhaps hard to judge but there's a nice bopping drumbeat and the rap is okay, kind of relaxed compared to some I've heard. It's all right.
Rating: :3stars:
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"Dilemma" - Dark Half
Genre: Horrorcore
Source: 2nd album Graveyard Blues
Year: 2012
Nationality: American
Comments: While it certainly wouldn't be my genre of choice, I've found most of what I've listened to of Horrorcore to be quite amusing. This starts off with the standard scary/horror music but then rides on a nice little acoustic guitar line with piano, and swaggers along in a mid-tempo sort of slow swing. Listening to the lyric it's pretty damn dark and depressing, but whether or not you're supposed to take it seriously I don't know. Good song though.
Rating: :4stars:
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"Lost Times" - Schoolboy Q (featuring Jozzy, apparently)
Genre: Hip-hop
Source: 6th album Blue Lips
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: I've said it before, and I will now repeat it: holy fucking hell! How many producers can you have on one album? I count 26! That's 8 more than there are tracks on the album! Anyhoo, sounds like something out of the 70s soul stable, whatever the backing track (?) is, then a nice little piano piece reminiscent of Rose Royce or something. Seems like a fairly aggressive rap, then there's a nice sung bit (presumably the bracketed Jozzy?). Good enough I guess.
Rating: :3stars:
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"Kill the Beat" - Kodak Black
Genre: Trap, Southern Hip-hop
Source: 2nd mixtape Heart of the Projects
Year: 2014
Nationality: American
Comments: Think I heard his debut album Painting Pictures way back when. Don't recall what I thought of it. I never honestly know whether to talk about the music on a hip-hop song or album - am I right that they don't make their own music but always use samples? Or does that just throw my total ignorance of the genre into the harsh daylight? I don't care: I'm prepared to admit I know fuck-all about hip-hop and am happy to learn. But given that, all I can say is the rap is okay but the second voice (backing rap?) annoys me. Not really for me.
Rating: :3stars:
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"Shroud" - Tech N9ne
Genre: Hardcore Hip-hop
Source: 15th album Special Effects
Year: 2015
Nationality: American
Comments: Is that backwards masking? Sure sounds like it. Very good soulful voice I must say, then some sort of spoken word piece (not a rap) and then a harder rap. Interesting stuff, kind of industrial rap maybe? Ah, what the fuck do I know? Good though.
Rating: :4stars:
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"Amethyst" - Roc Marciano
Genre: East Coast Hip-hop/Gangsta Rap/Drumless
Source: 8th album Behold a Dark Horse
Year: 2018
Nationality: American
Comments: Now that is one cool album cover! I would have taken that as a metal one had I not known. Wish it had been. Didn't think much of this at all.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/340abfcafb551063d8b2148783e77cfc/1438009/_wumpscut-music-for-a-slaughtering-tribe-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Koslov" - :Wumpscut:
Genre: Dark electro/Electro industrial/Aggrotech/Dark Ambient/Darkwave
Source: 3rd album Music for a Slaughtering Tribe
Year: 1993
Nationality: Germany
Comments: Odd. Lucem has this down as coming from another source, but that "first take" might mean it's off a demo maybe? Anyway this is the only version I can find so I'm using it. Only the second track on his list that is not American. Sounds like an excerpt from a movie opening it, then pretty aggressive synth and industrial percussion, a ragged vocal that's very hard to hear, really really far down in the mix. If this is a first take I hope they did better with the second! I can barely hear him, not that I'd be able to understand a word he sings if I could, but still, for those who could make it out, it would be nice to be able to hear him. Yeah, started out interesting but it's just annoying now.
Rating: :3stars:
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"Pieces/Ruins" - P.O.S.
Genre: Conscious Hip-hop/Experimental Hip-hop/Abstract Hip-hop
Source: 6th album Chill, Dummy
Year: 2017
Nationality: American
Comments: Never entirely comfortable with any genre that uses the word "experimental", but so far this is okay. Nice sort of swinging beat to it. Yeah I like this one.
Rating: :4stars:
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"Euronymous" - GHOSTEMANE
Genre: Trap/Memphis Rap /Horrorcore
Source: 6th album Plagues
Year: 2016
Nationality: American
Comments: This is interesting. Once I saw the title I wondered, and yes, it does seem to be linked to Mayhem and Varg Vikernes' burning down of churches in Norway in the 1990s, soon after (or before) which Mayhem lead guitarist Euronymous was killed by Varg. So we have a news report in the background, with a Horrorcore rap and beat running through it and I guess a sort of "reimagining" of the guitarist's last moments, and I guess that's a Mayhem track tacked on at the end. Weird, but then, it is Horrorcore, so weird comes as standard. Overall I'd have to say on balance though that I don't think much of it.
Rating: :2.5stars:
So how have we done as we open season two? Let's see what Lucem's playlist scored overall.
Average rating: :3stars:
Next up:
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(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_11_1673561975.png)
"Was He Ever Alive?" -Swans
Genre: Neo-folk/Post-punk/Gothic Rock/Industrial
Source: 3rd compilation album Various Failures
Year: 1999
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh, I don't like Swans. Not the birds, they're fine. But the band. Yuck. Everything I've heard from them so far (admittedly not a terrible amount but still) I have religiously hated. There's something very dark and aggressive about them, and while I don't have a problem with dark and aggressive (I've listened to Doom Metal, Black Metal, even DSBM) there's something just, I don't know, bleak about them? Yes, I'm aware of the irony of quoting Depressive Suicidal Black Metal and then moaning about a band being bleak, but there it is. This comes across as early Nick Cave maybe with a shot of Johnny Cash at his most mean, and to be fair, not as bad as I had expected. Very minimal guitar, strumming the same chords it seems, with perhaps a dark synthy organ? First Swans song I've heard that I didn't hate, and that's something. Quite surprised.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/ea4b093b8311d2e5e9d39bc9603e9195/5220034/tim-hecker-ravedeath-1972-Cover-Art.jpg)
"In the Fog I" - Tim Hecker
Genre: Ambient/Drone/Noise/Electroacoustic
Source: 7th album Ravedeath, 1972
Year: 2011
Nationality: Canadian
Comments: Hold on: two questions. Why is an album released in 2011 showing a date of 1972, and how can acoustic be electric? Electroacoustic? Aren't the two things mutually exclusive? Answers on a piece of skin ripped from the back of your worst enemy to... What? Come on now: who still uses postcards? Well, we'll just see if it catches on, now won't we? The music? Oh fuck yeah, the music. Knew I was here for a reason.
Right then. Nice ambient sound to it, pretty relaxing, then some sharp feedback guitar or something slices through it, but it's still cool. Almost like some sea-beast coming up out of the tranquil waters of a lake or something. Well I don't know; that's how it sounded to me. Yeah, enjoyed that.
Rating: :4stars:
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"Communion" - Killing Joke
Genre: Post-punk/Industrial Metal/Industrial Rock
Source: 9th album Pandemonium
Year: 1994
Nationality: English
Comments: How odd that I should come across this band twice in the one day. Reviewed them as part of SGR's selection in my other thread, and now here they are cropping up again. This has a more solid, fuller sound that the track I listened to on SGR's choice, but that was from an album released nine years prior, so I guess they were evolving, progressing. This has a kind of eastern tinge to it, nice rolling percussion and immediately grabs my attention more than the other one did. Going well so far.
Rating: :4stars:
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"New Seeds" - Boards of Canada
Genre: Ambient/Downtempo/Progressive electronic
Source: 7th album Tomorrow's Harvest
Year: 2013
Nationality: Scottish
Comments: If we can keep this four-star rating going, it will be quite something, as I really don't like Boards of Canada. Is this their last album? 2013, so ten years and more, and I don't see anything else being released by them. This, to be fair, is not bad. I can certainly listen to it, which is not something I can usually say for their music. It's got a nice melody running through it and it doesn't grate on my nerves, which is always a plus. Ah, what the hell? Let's keep it going.
Rating: :4stars:
"Als wär's das letzte Mal" - DAF
Genre: ???
Source: No idea
Year: Shrug
Nationality: German I guess?
Comments: I have looked high, then I considered also looking low, so I did. I then searched far, but came back realising I had not also searched wide, so I went back and did that. Finally, I travelled to all four corners of the earth, realised the earth is a sphere and has no corners, and returned home a lot grumpier than I was when I set out, the upshot being I have come across a few DAFs, but no German one and none that seem to have recorded this. So I got nothing, and can only listen to the track and let you know what I think of that.
Yeah, even the YouTube is in German, so no help there. Seems to be a fairly basic old-school rock or maybe punk track, with a decent guitar riff and a singer who seems to prefer to talk rather than sing. Not really worth all the searching then. Should have stayed at home.
Rating: :3stars:
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"Theme" - Public Image Ltd.
Genre: Post-punk/Art punk/Experimental Rock/Punk Rock/Noise Rock
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 1978
Nationality: English
Comments: Ah, I remember Public Image, Johnny Rotten/John Lydon's attempt to throw off the cloak of controversy and scandal that went with the Sex Pistols and reinvent himself in the public eye as a more acceptable musician. Their first single featured, I do remember, all of the band saying "'Allo" in a mad attempt to be taken seriously and as civilised human beings. Fucking hilarious.
I shudder when I see this is over nine minutes long, but we'll see. I feel the days of 4-star ratings are long over now. It's slow and doomy anyway, with sharp angry guitar that sounds like it's being forced to be polite and restrained, and doesn't like it one little bit. Reminds me of when Brian Robertson replaced "Fast" Eddie Clarke in Motorhead, a cartoon that showed him riffing and Phil "Filthy Animal Taylor" and the dearly-departed Lemmy looking at each other quizzically and saying "'Ere! 'E's a bit, well, musical, innee?"
PIL always feel to me like someone took the Pistols (who I hate, don't get me wrong) and forced them into three-piece suits and told them to behave. You can hear it in Lydon's wailing attempt at a vocal as the guitar yearns to be let loose, or preferably jammed up someone's arse, but has to be good. Yeah, there's no reason this needs to be as long as it is. Just an overlong diatribe with added guitar, possibly a joke I don't get.
Rating: :2.5stars:
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"The Same Old Sauce" - Grötüs
Genre: Experimental Rock/Industrial Rock/Industrial/Alternative Metal/Raga Rock
Source: 2nd album Slow Motion Apocalypse
Year: 1993
Nationality: American
Comments: I really don't like the E word, and this track bears out why. This is just a mess. Some sort of metal riff with someone shouting in the background and possibly kicking dustbins over. Pass. At least it's short, thank the Great Pixie.
Rating: :2stars:
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"Virginal II" - Tim Hecker
Genre: Ambient/Electroacoustic/Drone
Source: 9th album Virgins
Year: 2013
Nationality: Canadian
Comments: We're back with the Canadian ambient/drone musician, and this is much more of a drone, as I understand them; quite repetitive, almost a loop in some ways. It's all right, but not as good as the first track.
Rating: :3stars:
"Fratres for Violin, String Orchestra and Percussion" - Arvo Pärt
Genre: Modern Classical
Source: 5th solo album Tabula rasa (or possibly 6th orchestral album Symphony No. 3, not sure)
Year: 1977 or 1971
Nationality: Estonian
Comments: I like the violin, but rather like the flute or horn, I prefer the softer, sweeter side of it. Here, it's kind of aggressive, Pagnini-like, played in your face as opposed to allowing it to wash over you. Mind you, that's just the opening of a 9-minute symphony, and it does settle down nicely soon after. I've heard Part's work (hah! Part work! Sorry) before and quite liked it. This is nice. Can't beat a bit of classical.
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/e26ce19d979c01a9ad395b8e53addb7d/10887293/siouxsie-and-the-banshees-juju-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Sin in My Heart" - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Genre: Gothic Rock/Post-punk/Neo-psychedelia/Art Rock/Deathrock
Source: 4th album Juju
Year: 1981
Nationality: English
Comments: From the sublime to the, well, not sublime. Never a fan of punk, and though I'm slowly getting there under my own steam, and though I see this is labelled as post-punk, it can't be denied that Siouxsie led the charge for England along with the Pistols, Toyah, Hazel O'Connor and the Clash in the full-on assault on the establishment, and is remembered as one of the heroines of the punk rock movement. But yeah, this could go down more as Gothic Rock for sure, hardly a punk riff about it, more like a Cure song really. Never been mad on her voice though. It's decent enough, in fairness.
Rating: :3.5stars:
Started off really well for GD, then started to slide a little, but let's see what the average is, in the end.
Average rating: :3.5stars:
Oh, sorry. "DAF" stands for Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft. I blame Spotify, who have them listed in the former way.
And if you want to hear more Swans in the vein of the first song try listening to White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. The song "Blind" and a few others are among the best in their catalog and should be more up your alley than their 'normal' sound (or at least the albums I imagine you're thinking of).
Thanks again for your perspective, it's always fun to read :)
On we go then with
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And he wants to break me right out of the gate with a fucking eighteen-minute track! Are you and Lisna teaming up or something? God help me. Oh right: there is no god. Well that's me fucked then, innit?
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"Won't Let You Down" (Extended Texas Remix) - Chamillionaire
Genre: Southern Hip-hop/Pop Rap/Dirty South/Political Hip-hop/Hardcore Hip-hop
Source: 8th album Ultimate Victory
Year: 2007
Nationality: American
Comments: Oh fuck what is it about this? The moment it begins I fucking LOVE it! The rhythm, the melody, the backing, the rap - everything about this smokes! (Probably not a street word, and if not, copyright Trollheart MMXXIV). I'm actually glad this is as long as it is. Really enjoying this. The horns are amazing and the tolling bell, but I just love everything about it. How does this maintain that level of energy for almost twenty minutes? Never flags, not once. Fucking superb.
Rating: :5stars:
"Long Way Home" - Decora
Genre: Hip-hop I assume?
Source: Not sure: an album called Bread and Oats maybe
Year: 2016?
Nationality: American
Comments: I had some serious trouble tracking this down, the first reference to Decora being some Spanish band or something. I just instinctively knew that was not the one. But I eventually, I think, found that it comes from an American rapper (how odd!) who seems to be involved in some sort of adult literacy programme? Anyway, it looks like the album in question is Bread and Oats, but I can't find any links for it, so I don't know, if there's a sort of hip-hop version of Discogs or RYM, maybe you guys could let me in on it, because I am finding this nowhere!
On, then, with the music. Well, initially no, it's not music, just a spoken word piece behind some wind effects, but very impressive. Then there's a sung piece and then the rap, and it all comes together very well indeed. Very upbeat, dancy, and catchy. I like this too.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/3bea3ad726e56a45fe92355ce88500d3/5263905/alicia-keys-its-on-again-Cover-Art.jpg)
"It's On Again" - Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamaar
Genre: Contemporary R&B/Film Soundtrack/Hardcore Hip-hop
Source: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 OST
Year: 2014
Nationality: American
Comments: Very powerful intro by Kendrick, and when Alicia comes in she just gives the song another level of grandeur. Really good.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5c5f25fbd3a4b34630c59d118025e4ee/12535547/flyana-boss-nepo-baby-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Nepo Baby" - Flyanna Boss
Genre: West Coast Hip-hop/Trap
Source: Single
Year: 2024
Nationality: American
Comments: Can't say I like this much. I can't work out whether she's dissing "welfare queens", or teenage mothers, or what the hell. The beat is good, but there's something about it that doesn't speak to me. Bitch.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/651e2f9fb1ea6daf5c5f29dfcaebcf77/6301614/john-legend-darkness-and-light-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Love Me Now" - John Legend
Genre: Neo-soul/Contemporary R&B/Pop Soul
Source: 6th album Darkness and Light
Year: 2016
Nationality: American
Comments: Love the orchestral intro and then the sort of climbing piano melody, and the song sounds familiar to me, which is odd as I've only heard a few Legend songs, though maybe it was used in some TV show? Very good anyway.
Rating: :4stars:
"Whips and Chains (Lovin' on Me)" - Eliphont
Genre: Dunno: R&B?
Source: No idea
Year: 2023
Nationality: American I assume
Comments: Another one I can't find. Maybe she's only on YouTube. Probably just as well if so; song is okay but just kind of meh. Nothing special.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b273cb0942253173b397b15af90f)
"When it Comes to You" - Fridayy
Genre: R&B
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 2023
Nationality: American
Comments: Starting with fucking Autotune is not a good way to get me onside, and not being on RYM is also not a good thing. Right, found him on Wiki. And now I recognise that album sleeve. I've certainly heard at least one track off this, but I don't remember if I thought much of it. Based on what I hear on this one, nothing great, pretty standard ballad in a sort of soul mould I guess. Bleh.
Rating: :3stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/1aa32f71d58aa9f713d4a0876f84539a/10368165/post-malone-mark-morrison-and-sickick-cooped-up-return-of-the-mack-Cover-Art.png)
"Cooped Up/Return of the Mack" - Sickick
Genre: Pop Rap/New Jack Swing
Source: 8th single
Year: 2022
Nationality: Canadian
Comments: Okay this is more like it. Very catchy and with a lot of kind of low-power energy, reminds me of those old soul songs from the 70s in some ways, with a shot of reggae for good measure. Oh the backing track is "You're Lyin'" by, um, let's see... some guy. Linx. That's the one. No wonder it sounds so familiar. Like it though even so.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/094711619351b50075840118ec2370c3/5700117/zedd-true-colors-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Beautiful Now" - Zedd
Genre: Electro House/Electropop/Complextro (?)/Festival/Dance-pop/Progressive House/Big Room House (shouldn't that be big room in a house?)
Source: 2nd album True Colours
Year: 2015
Nationality: Russian
Comments: Is it possible I'm becoming a fan of progressive house? I've kind of liked everything I've heard so far, and this is no exception. Really catchy and quite emotional. I can see dancing to this. Not me, you understand: I wouldn't inflict that horror on anyone. But this is great. Finishing strongly.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/39beedf0f5ea643e40fcf7bd7f4de1be/4514543/cheryl-lynn-preppie-Cover-Art.jpg)
"Encore (Extended Version" - Cheryl Lynn
Genre: R&B
Source: 5th album Preppie
Year: 1983
Nationality: American
Comments: A soul diva. Meh. I find a lot of these ladies sound quite similar, and really, I could be listening to Chaka Khan or Donna Summer or Dionne Warwick. Not to say it's bad, but it's just a bit of a damp squib to end with. There's also not too much to the song, and I don't really see why it needs to be extended to over eight minutes. Five minutes into it I'd had enough.
Rating: :3stars:
Well the playlist started off really well, dipped a little and then sort of came back up, so let's see what we got.
Average rating: :4stars:
Next up@ (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_2_1673958603.png)
Oh no! Not this cunt! Anyone but him!
Okay it looks like we're back to this lazy fucker again.
(https://scd.community/avs/avatar_2_1673958603.png)
Jesus! Doesn't he ever get up? Happy to lie there and let others do the work, then ramble on about how he does or doesn't like it? Arrogant bastard. Let's see how he likes it!
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2791671977_16.jpg)
"The Snow! The Hand Holding Apocalypse!" - A Perfect Day
Genre: Post-rock/Post-black metal/Dream Pop/Electropop/Shoegaze
Source: Seventh album A Long Wait, A Quiet Forthcoming
Year: 2015
Nationality: Canadian
Comments: I had a hell of a time tracking this down. Yes, I know it's one of mine, but you would not believe the shit I have on my hard disk which baffles me as to where it came from. Anyway this starts off very buzzy and fuzzy (yes I know), which could very well be a blackgaze thing, I'm not sure. It just sounds like badly-tuned radio signals at the moment, but I can hear the guitars separating themselves out from the general noise now. There might be a voice in there, somewhere, buried in the overall chaos, but impossible to tell. Maybe in some ways it's a bit like Harakiri for the Sky, but not really. Just a mess, to my ears. No video available.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/You_Say%2C_We_Say.jpg)
"Walls" - Royseven
Genre: Alternative Rock
Source: 2nd album You Say, We Say
Year: 2011
Nationality: Irish
Comments: Nice little piano and organ intro, kind of reminds me of Deacon Blue or Snow Patrol maybe. Very catchy; good to see an Irish band making such excellent music.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Barryultimate.jpg)
"The Old Songs" - Barry Manilow
Genre: Easy listening/Adult contemp(t)orary
Source: 11th compilation album Ultimate Manilow
Year: 2002
Nationality: American
Comments: Ah, Baz! Nobody can write the love songs like you! Except I found out, to my surprise, that he didn't write one of his most famous, literally. "I Write the Songs" was written by Bruce Johnson. Yeah, and while we're on the subject: "Mandy"? Nope, not him either. Nor is this one, so maybe the above comment might be taken with a liberal sprinkling of sodium chloride. It's a cool little song though, where our Baz hopes that by slapping on some old records his squeeze might change her mind and stay with him after all. Not gonna happen, Barry me old son! Flowers, chocolates, diamonds, a massive co... mittment, maybe. Most likely, the auld ring on the finger will do it. Soppy love songs? Nah. Ye might get a last wriggle for old times sake, or because she knows she won't ever see you again, but change her mind? Not in this life, mate.
Anyway, you probably know the song, and it's one of the better of his ballads, though as I look down the list of his greatest hits, I'm gobsmacked to see how few he actually wrote, or even co-wrote. I write the songs? My arse, son. But that's a conversation for another thread, perhaps.
Rating: :4stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Porcupine_Tree_-_XM_%28album_cover%29.jpg)
"Wedding Nails" - Porcupine Tree
Genre: Progressive Rock
Source: 3rd live album XM
Year: 2003
Nationality: English
Comments: Ah, the prickly ones! How I love/hate you. Like other prog acts I can't quite get into - Riverside, Spock's Beard, Eloy - I've heard some good stuff from them ("Heart Attack in a Layby," "Last Chance to Leave Planet Earth Before it is Recycled" etc.) but a lot of their music goes right over my head. And a lot of it gets on my tits. And can anyone tell me what a "live in studio album" is? I mean, you're either live, or you're in the studio, is how I understand it. Anyway, this is certainly more on the latter part of the prog rock tag, sharp snappy guitars biting at you and a kind of ominous, cinematic feel to it, and I think it's an instrumental. Can't say it endears the band to me any more than they've managed already. In other words, keep trying lads.
Rating: :2.5stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/THRAK_-_Original_Album_Cover.jpeg)
"Vroom Vroom (Coda)" - King Crimson
Genre: Progressive Rock/Progressive Metal/Industrial Rock
Source: 11th album Thrak
Year: 1995
Nationality: English
Comments: Another prog rock icon I'm trying slowly to get into, and with I think some more success than the Porcs. This is the second track I've heard off this album, the previous one coming from someone else's playlist, and I have not got as far as this album in my exploration of the band yet. This is, apparently, the closing track. Instrumental? Well yeah, it seems most of the album is, though I'd describe this as more sound effects and such, what I think Fripp likes to refer to as "Frippertronics". Have to say, it does nothing for me. Sounds like a dying animal in pain. Maybe it's meant to. Don't care.
Rating: :2stars:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Lucky_Town.jpg)
"Leap of Faith" - Bruce Springsteen
Genre: Rock/Americana/Roots rock
Source: 10th album Lucky Town
Year: 1992
Nationality: American
Comments: Now here I am, finally, a lot more in my wheelhouse. Been a big Springsteen fan since my twenties, and though the general opinion seems to be that this, and the album released on the same day, Human Touch, met with unfavourable reception, I love them both. It's more his folky stuff I don't like - The Ghost of Tom Joad, Devils and Dust, We Shall Overcome, that kind of thing. But this I like. It would be unfair to say that if you've heard one Springsteen song, you've heard them all, but this is a little generic. It has some nice gospel singing in it, and it's upbeat and cheerful, and what's wrong with that? I've heard far better from the Boss, of course, but it's not a track I'd skip.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JYggPwyML._SL500_.jpg)
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 18th Variation - Sergei Rachmaninoff
Genre: Classical
Source: This particular version comes from 100 Popular Classics, Vol I
Year: 1993
Nationality: Russian
Comments: Ah just shut up and listen. It's literally a classic, and I can't write any more about it or any better than a thousand writers before me have. Some music is just timeless and non-reviewable.
Rating: :5stars:
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/8f9444e73b3b6c5ac6d707f0e36c4ff5/5251187/unisonic-light-of-dawn-Cover-Art.jpg)
"When the Deed is Done" - Unisonic
Genre: Power metal
Source: 2nd album Light of Dawn
Year: 2014
Nationality: German
Comments: Ah, power metal. Can't beat it. Unlike that stupidly-inaccurate and wrong quote by Tom Hanks about boxes of chocolate, you always know what you're going to get with power metal. Rarely if ever do any band stray from the formula, and you can pretty much guarantee that almost any power metal album will sound like any other, that the bands are almost interchangeable and listening to one it might be hard to work out who it is you're listening to. German power metal, so much more so. But that doesn't stop me loving it.
Mind you, there's good power metal, there's great power metal, there's bad power metal and then there's awful power metal. Which category does this fall into? I have to say, the first, if not the second. This is perhaps the thinking man or woman's power metal, and has a lot of heart - and indeed, intelligence, something a lot of music in this genre tends to lack - which makes me want to listen to more. Sehr gut!
Rating: :4.5stars:
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/5080/cover_5348617102019_r.jpg)
"Blinded by Sunshine" - Byron
Genre: Crossover Prog
Source: 2nd album A Kind of Alchemy
Year: 2009
Nationality: Romanian
Comments: Very laid back and without a single trace of Eastern European in the vocal at all; could be American or Canadian or even English. The bubbly organ and piano remind me of Chris Rea, and there are definite elements there too of Toto and Styx among others. Pleasant enough. A discovery? Maybe not quite that, but I might be returning to this album, and this artist. Or maybe not.
Rating: :3.5stars:
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/343/cover_24671072009.jpg)
"Still Life" - Van der Graaf Generator
Genre: Progressive Rock
Source: 10th compilation The Box
Year: 2000
Nationality: English
Comments: A band I don't like as much as I wish I did, VDGG tend to go off on those free jazz histrionics a little too much for my liking, which makes it hard for me to listen to a full album. There's no doubting the genius of Peter Hammill though, a role model for both Fish and Peter Gabriel, a man with a truly remarkable vocal range. This seems to be one of his lower-key performances, bit of a dirge (maybe the clue is in the name), mostly driven by an almost church organ sound with Hammill's voice riding high above it. The song though is over seven minutes long (short for a prog band) and picks up soon after, marching and swaggering along as Hammill unleashes the more manic side of his vox, lot of horns in there too and that organ gets quite exuberant. Maybe the clue is not in the title, after all.
Rating: :4stars:
Another overall pretty shitty playlist from me. Why does none of my good stuff ever come up? Oh well.
Average rating: :3.5stars:
Next up: (https://scd.community/avs/avatar_44_1688586295.jpg)