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#Classical Music Reviews Albums
johnjpuccio · 2 years
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Review of “New Year’s Concert 2022.” Daniel Barenboim, Vienna Philharmonic. Sony 19439962512
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You doubtless know that Vienna’s New Year’s Concerts have been going on since 1941 when the Vienna Philharmonic began its annual custom of offering them, and things haven’t changed much since then. EMI, RCA, DG, Decca, and now Sony are among the many companies that have recorded the VPO’s concerts over the stereo years, and in keeping with the orchestra’s tradition of having no permanent music director, they invite a different conductor to perform the New Year’s duties each year. The New Year’s conductors in recent times have included some of the biggest names in the business, including Herbert von Karajan, Carlos Kleiber, Willi Boskovsky, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Georges Pretre, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Franz Welser-Most, Zubin Mehta, Gustavo Dudamel, Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, Andris Nelsons, and in 2022 the orchestra invited Daniel Barenboim to return.
To read the full review, click here:
https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2022/04/new-years-concert-2022-cd-review.html
John J. Puccio, Classical Candor
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lovejustforaday · 6 months
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Shoegaze Classics - Loveless
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Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)
Main Genres - Shoegaze, Noise Pop, Dream Pop
A decent sampling of: Experimental Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Alternative Dance
DUT DUT DUT DUT VREW VREW VREW VREW VREW VREW VREW
Well, if you knew anything about shoegaze going into this series, you knew that this review was going to be inevitable.
Today I take on the most truly revered shoegaze band, and probably one of the most legendary indie bands of all time. God help me, I'm going to do my best, so here goes nothing. Let's talk about My Bloody Valentine and Loveless.
The Band
My Bloody Valentine is an awesome band. Plain and simple. The name is awesome, the sound is awesome, their public persona is awesome. Just, lots of awesomeness.
Okay, I can probably do better than that. Hmmm... Okay wait, stay with me here.
My Bloody Valentine were originally an unlikely, little-known post-punk band from the 80s, that somehow went on to being one of the most important and influential bands of the 90s whilst only having dropped one record for the entire aforementioned decade.
After a series of lineup changes that coincided with a search for the bands' sonic identity, the true My Bloody Valentine lineup solidified as Kevin Shields, the madman musical genius leader of the crew on guitars and vocals, Bilinda Butcher, a feathery soft-spoken punk on guitar and vocals, Colm Ó Cíosóig as the animated, flappy-haired drummer, and Debbie Googe as the badass butch bassist (BBB) who was originally from the anarchist punk scene.
I've been trying to consistently use the term "British Isles" to describe the epicenter of the initial first wave of shoegaze. I wanted to be careful not to just say "Britain" or the U.K., because that would be somewhat revisionist.
Proto-shoegazers A.R. Kane may have formed in London, but other "proto" bands like Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins were from Scotland. As for the band most credited with the true inception of shoegaze by its strictest definition, that would be My Bloody Valentine, hailing from Ireland, folks who often (for very good reason) don't take too kindly to being described as "British". That being said, Debbie and Bilinda are English.
I won't waste too much time going into the history of the band for this review, mostly because this is already gonna be a long one and I've got so many things to say about the record itself. So I'll give you the sparknotes version.
Like most early shoegazers, My Bloody Valentine dropped a few EPs before their first full-length LP, albeit in some completely different genres. C86 style Jangle Pop, Post-Punk, and frigging Psychobilly of all things apparently?
The band really found their sound, and pioneered the definitive collective traits of shoegaze in 1988, signing with Creation Records and dropping the EP You Made Me Realize and, later that year, their debut full-length Isn't Anything which, depending on who you ask, is the first true shoegaze LP (Though a very little known post-punk band named A Primary Industry may have something to say about that).
Shoegaze was invented with the propagation of a new world of sonic timbres discovered through the usage of guitar pedals, and My Bloody Valentine in particular really loved their pedals. On top of those pedals, the band laid a lot of distortion and harsh volumes.
Likeswise, My Bloody Valentine has pretty much always been just as much a noise pop band like their contemporaries The Jesus And Mary Chain. The two scenes overlapped a lot during the first wave (just like dream pop and neo-psychedelia), and some even describe the shoegaze formula as essentially being dream pop + noise pop = shoegaze. Personally I think this is a reductionist definition when there are many shoegaze bands that don't fit nicely into either of those other categories. But I digress.
Isn't Anything was the record that launched a thousand (shoegaze) ships. It's certainly a bit more overtly post-punk in its foundations, and rougher around the edges than what would come next. But I also really do love this record. "You Never Should" and "No More Sorry" in particular are two of my favourite My Bloody Valentine songs.
What came next, however, is a whole different beast entirely.
The Record
I'll start with the disclaimer that everything I could possibly say about Loveless is probably already a cliche by now.
Insanely fuzzy and warm. Layers upon layers of sound that demonstrates a level of musical precision and perfectionism that almost doesn't seem human. Reinvented the guitar like virtually no other record before or since. Oddly arousing and potentially even sapphic if you read into the lyrics (tbf Debbie is a confirmed gay indie icon). Sounds exactly like the neon shades of magenta displayed on the cover art.
2023 is frankly a little bit late to be writing a review about this heavily celebrated 1991 record. Others have already written entire dissertations about this revolutionary LP. I don't promise this is going to be the most definitive and thoughtful review of this record, nor am I anywhere close to being the first or last indie nerd to ever champion and fanboy over this goddamn masterpiece of its genre, but I do wanna talk about how I myself personally experience Loveless.
Funny enough, my favourite memory of listening to this record (which I've been loving since 2015) was actually when I was dog-sitting for a friend's mom at her house in 2018 during the early autumn. The dog herself even seemed to wanna dance with me while I was spinning in little circles to the rhythms of "Soon". I think that's the season when I enjoy this record most - probably a mix of the coolness and crispness of the autumn breeze, and wearing the same kind of cozy sweaters that the My Bloody Valentine members are wearing in like half of their 90s photoshoots.
Okay, enough chitter chatter. Let's get into it.
"Only Shallow" is one of the most iconic album openers of all time, period. Instantly overpowers the listener with those first few overblown snare stabs before exploding into a pounding noise pop delirium of screeching banshee guitars. Letting up only slightly for the verses, where Bilinda Butcher describes something sweet, soft, and warm, in a brazen contrast to the blustering razor guitars that are unleashed after each verse. This track most perfectly encapsulates a pervasive trend across the rest of the album, wherein the sonic mosaic of textures can be described paradoxically as both cushiony and razor-sharp at the same time.
Lyrics and their delivery will continue from this point on to be every bit as textural and vague as the music itself, creating abstract entities that are transient and androgynous. Indeed, I struggled a lot on my first few listens to discern which tracks were being sung by Bilinda and which were Kevin or the both of them. Bilinda recalls that she would often take naps in the studio when they were recording Loveless and would do her vocal tracks soon after being awoken, which lends itself to her very tranquilized delivery in which I feel like I can picture the drowsy bags under her eyes in some of these songs. Likewise, most of this entire album is best appreciated in a half-awake mental state, even more so than other dream pop / shoegaze records.
"Loomer" is the dark underbelly of Loveless, like listening through the old floorboards of a basement ceiling to sounds of the band playing a live house show in the living room upstairs. It's a grainy, gloomy bed of sound that feels as though it could be physically slept on if desired.
I have no idea how many actual layers of track recordings went into the concoction of the heavily experimental "To Here Knows When", but it feels like hundreds. This song is a whirring helicopter blade of thousands of little sounds, scattering everywhere until it creates a thick, opaque, sparkling lilac mist that obscures the upbeat melody that's utterly buried in the fog of noisy drones and distortion. The mastering sounds as though you're listening to all of this happen through a small tubular opening in a giant glass wall, as if all of the tonal anarchy is happening from the other side, perhaps in another dimension. For a bonus observation, this one in particular sounds even more unreal and transcendental when you're tired as fuck on an early morning bus ride after a night of zero sleep (Don't ask me).
"When You Sleep" is probably My Bloody Valentine's most acclaimed and influential song. That de-tuned, icy, fluorescent glowing pop melody motif is seriously addictive, and it sounds almost deranged. The heavily compressed drumming provides the propulsion needed for a track that feels like its intensely vibrating every last quark of matter in its audible vicinity. I really have to remind myself that these crazy sounds are being made by guitars with effect pedals, and not with synthesizers (or, as the meme goes, vacuum cleaners).
The record really crunches in on those guitar textures with "Come In Alone" a track that you'll be hearing echoing in the back of your mind long after its finished (note: this record is NOT recommended to those especially prone to having tinnitus). This track is like all of the blood rushing to your head when you would hang upside down from the monkey bars as a kid. It feels intoxicating in the best way.
The band takes an unsuspecting turn for gut-punching emotions on "Sometimes", likely the only song with a more or less discernible lyrical theming on the record, about sharing intimacy with another person and the insurmountable fear of isolation from someone you love. The timbral effects are applied minimally on this song, but the dozens of recorded guitar tracks drone in a wondrous hum that resonates with the vibrations of a lonely soul. Usually, I'd say this is my favourite My Bloody Valentine song, though "To Here Knows When" and "Only Shallow" occasionally compete for the number 1 spot as well.
"Blown a Wish" is cool, dreamy shoegaze that fizzles and melts in your mouth like an ice cream soda. Pure pleasure is the best way I could describe its sensation, with all of its rippling, neck-tingling guitar effects that dance in and out of the foreground. Alternatively, this is like being high on helium and having so many butterflies in your stomach that you actually start to feel like you're levitating in a luscious trance. Delicious song.
The record closes with its poppiest and most accessible number "Soon", a mix of comparatively light shoegaze psychedelia and alternative dance beats that sounds enormously sexy. Evokes psychoactive substances, gently swaying hips, and grassy fields filled with buzzing fireflies. A very stylish way to end the record and solidify My Bloody Valentine's status as indie music legends.
What Came After That?
Loveless was a certified gold commercial success, about on par with the success of Ride's Going Blank Again, but it was also purportedly so expensive to make that it bankrupted the Creation Records label (serves you bastards right for making Oasis happen) and caused the band to be dropped.
I honestly kind of laugh to myself whenever I think of Alan McGee's pompous ass looking at the numbers and having a panic attack, almost as much as I laugh when I remember how Catherine Wheel gave him a big fat "NOPE!" to being signed after he pestered them. Have I mentioned I really don't like Creation Records ways of doing things?
*seething* ANYWAY, My Bloody Valentine basically disappeared for the rest of the 90s. Members moved on to different projects.
And then, after years of teasing a third record, the band's self-titled mbv was finally dropped in 2013. This one seems to divide fans a lot more than their other records; it wasn't as universally received as the Slowdive comeback record a few years later. This one is arguably more experimental than Loveless, and there's even a couple of tracks with some DnB influence. I think all things considered, it's a pretty great comeback record. I think many folks were probably expecting a Loveless 2, and it probably helps that I didn't even listen to this band before the new record came out, so I had no expectations built over years for this record.
There is allegedly a fourth record (and possibly fifth) LP in the works, but Shields has been teasing at it for years now, and its sort of becoming a running joke in the shoegaze community that we're gonna be waiting another five or ten years.
But hey, good work takes time. After making a record like Loveless, I personally think you've earned the right as an artist to afford yourself all the time in the world. I certainly wouldn't know how the hell to follow upon something that masterfully crafted, and some bands probably wouldn't even try to.
But besides all that, Loveless speaks for itself. It is a singular album experience. Nothing really sounds anything quite like it, to the point that newbies often getting into shoegaze for the first time with this record often lament the fact that the scene is not full of other records sounding just like this. It's for this reason precisely that, if you are totally new to shoegaze, I don't recommend this as a starting point. A lot of other great shoegaze records are unfairly compared to this record a whole fucking lot, and it can have a spoiling effect for some folks. But not every shoegaze band should sound like My Bloody Valentine, or have a Loveless in their discography.
But, at the same time, holy crap this is one of the coolest records of all time and if you haven't already heard it by now then you're doing yourself a huge disservice by not listening to this some time in the next week at the latest. Loveless is something that every fan of music should experience at least once, and there's only a handful of albums that I could confidently make that statement for.
So, yeah. Go listen. (✿ ᵔ ᴗ ᵔ )y
10/10
Highlights: "Sometimes", "To Here Knows When", "Only Shallow", "When You Sleep", "Blown A Wish", "Soon", "Come In Alone", "Loomer", "I Only Said"the
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idiotcoward · 8 months
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Bolt Thrower - War Master
Jesus Christ bolt thrower’s albums are just so god damn fun. The whole thing feels so insanely epic. It has to be some of the best music to just hang out to and feel powerful. I myself have a toe that’s fucked up and am cramped to hell so I’m laying in bed and thinking about this absolutely insane album.
The riffs are just so over the top. I particularly like how they really do a great job at charging them forward almost march like. Like you get the feeling that some insane fantasy army would be marching to the beat of these riffs. On top of that the soloing is all over the place from more melodical epic and triumphant solos to one’s that feel like absolute chaos just hurtling up and down the fret board.
The vocals are also just so fucking powerful. Bolt Thrower albums always just feel like they’re the perfect thing to get yourself all hyped up. Definitely definitely definitely check out this record if you haven’t already.
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bijouxcarys · 5 days
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Queen's Hot Space Era: A Deep Dive
Masterlist
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I’ve been thinking over this album and era more than usual lately, and decided that I’d write this up. Perhaps as a way to extricate all the Queen knowledge from my head, and the era in question takes up quite a lot of RAM.
The Hot Space album, and era, is very controversial and to this day garners a polarising set of opinions amongst fans and critics alike. So I just thought what the hell, let’s let everyone know what the hell was going on with Queen in the early 80s.
The Hot Space album was the 10th studio album by Queen and was released on the 21st May 1982. It had elements of disco, funk, R&B, dance, and pop, which was very different to what Queen had been doing throughout previous albums. The dance elements of this album was supposedly inspired by the success of Another One Bites The Dust, released in 1980.
Another One Bites The Dust was extremely successful in the US and the UK, the two largest marketing countries in the Western world, at least at the time—and Queen aimed to prolong that success.
The band started recording for Hot Space in June of 1981, and spent a gruelling 10 months on the project before wrapping up the production element in March of 1982. Upon its release, fans and critics found it disappointing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said “the band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesisers on their albums now dramatically reversed course, dedicating the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance pop, all driven by drum machines and coloured by keyboards with Brian May’s guitar coming in as flavour only on occasion.”
The fourth track on Hot Space, Body Language, has been dubbed the worst song in Queen’s discography by fans, and the whole album received no more than a 3-star rating overall.
Rolling Stone gave them a 3-star, whilst the Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave a 1-star… Yikes.
Hot Space is one of the more obscure Queen albums to those who are not currently, or have ever been, active within the fandom. So we’re going to break it down a little bit, and let’s just talk about the background and context of what the hell was going on with them.
So in 1981, Queen recorded Under Pressure with David Bowie, and it’s still considered one of Queen’s staple and most popular songs. It was recorded in Montreux, and was a completely separate project to Hot Space. The band had met up with Bowie and jammed together for a while, just to see if they could come up with something to lay down and master. Of course, as most people know, bassist John Deacon came up with the iconic Under Pressure bass riff, just before they all went out to get some pizza. And by the time they’d returned to the studio, he’d forgotten it! But luckily drummer Roger Taylor remembered it.
Now, this was the first time Queen weren’t working alone; they were used to working only with their producers, never having had anyone else’s input. The two artists merged as one for the song and it pointed in the direction of a potential new road for Queen—it was looking like an exciting one.
But what went wrong during the recording of Hot Space?
Brian May recalls that there was a total change of life for all of them. They travelled to Munich and according to Brian, that’s when things started to go downhill.
Let’s talk a little bit about the studio in which they recorded the album in Munich. It was situated in the basement of a hotel, and it was called Musicland Studios. It closed in the 90s due to some road issues, so it’s no longer open. But Brian remembers this place being grim and depressing.
The band’s mental health started to deteriorate after learning some unsettling details about the place. In Brian’s words:
“A lot of people used to jump off the top of the building and kill themselves off that particular building. We didn’t know that until we got there.”
The urge to finish recording grew, and they spent months at the hotel.
The aim was to create an album that focused more on the dance elements of music due to the success of Another One Bites The Dust, as I mentioned before. They seemed to be in luck, as Freddie Mercury’s entourage at the time was concentrated with dance influences in the form of Paul Prenter.
Now, who was Paul Prenter, you ask? If you’ve seen the film, you’ll kind of already know, but here’s a bit more of an in-depth look at him.
Paul Prenter was Freddie Mercury’s personal manager from 1977 to 1986. Despite their professional relationship, the two also engaged in intimate relations, and Prenter had a huge influence over Freddie’s life during the time he worked for him. He held partial responsibility for Freddie’s excessive involvement in drugs, alcohol, and his growing promiscuity. 
Freddie was known to have fired Prenter in 1986, and shortly after it was plastered all over the news. It turns out Paul Prenter had sold personal stories to the press about Freddie… What a dick.
After receiving money from multiple press outlets, he moved back to his hometown of Belfast and spent it all—smart. He then asked Freddie for more money! After all that, he went back and asked him for money! But it’s okay, he did succumb to complications from AIDS a few months before Freddie. So… Freddie got the last laugh, it seemed.
You’re probably wondering what Paul Prenter had to do with Hot Space. After all, he wasn’t part of the band, right?
Well, Freddie’s life was ruled by the New York-inspired gay lifestyle of the 80s, particularly engaging in extreme partying and extreme promiscuity. And at the time, Freddie had suggested to the band that the music on their new album should sound like that of which they’d play in a gay bar, but those words had initially come from Paul Prenter.
It’s said that Prenter despised guitars and relentlessly referred to Brian May as old-fashioned. Roger Taylor recalled that Prenter was a “very bad influence” on the band:
“He was a very, very bad influence upon Freddie, and hence on the band. He very much wanted our music to sound like you just walked in a gay club, and I didn’t.”
The strain and tension became inevitable with the four personalities—and we all know that John, Freddie, Brian, and Roger have massive personalities. Whilst they had always experienced bickering, as most bands do, they now with the added tension, the production of the album isn’t going to go as smoothly.
“Arguments would start off as creative, but slowly became personal.”
Brian recalls that less and less time was spent in the studio and more time was spent arguing.
To put it into perspective about what life was like for the 10 months they spent recording Hot Space in Munich…A regular day recording this album went a little bit like the following:
The entourage recall waking up at 3am, working for hours, having dinner, and then roadies would mix up cocktails and other things would pursue. The band got mixed up in cocaine and various other drugs. Random women, and relentless drinking, and as any sane person will tell you, that is not a good thing.
Roger described it as an exhausting cycle day after day. Imagine doing that for 9 whole months.
Brian remembers them getting into “deep trouble emotionally” in Munich, which possibly explains why their mental states deteriorated.
Now, the Hot Space era didn’t just end when the album came out. Obviously, when an album comes out, you have to do interviews to promote your album and after months and months of bad influences and arguments, the band’s relationship had kind of broken down. Things continued in quite a tense fashion. 
In fact, Freddie was left very unhappy and depressed after Hot Space wrapped up—it lasted a while, and he was completely immersed in places and habits that remained detrimental to his fate. Freddie became passive during interviews and defensive on certain questions concerning anything but current projects.
His attitude during the 1982 press conference in Europe was already standoffish and it was extremely obvious that he didn’t want to be there. The body language of the others, especially Brian, speaks volumes. The mood is low and they all seem exhausted.
Another nationwide interview the band gave in promotion for the album presented the group separated; Freddie was notably disinterested as the others spoke. There was even a moment where Freddie responds to the interviewer’s question with “let’s break up tomorrow” as a joke. But, watching it, you can’t help but feel there’s some truth to his words. Nobody laughed, even Roger looked uncomfortable by it!
One of the more well-known interviews from this era was with Brian and Roger, which displayed multiple moments of awkwardness with them both trying to make jokes and seem like they’re happy with what they’d produced, making up amateur excuses as to why they created something with a different sound. In my opinion, they just didn’t seem very happy. Do we even need to mention the “shut up” from Roger, and then the succeeding comment from Brian about Mack having the best drum sound?
Then, we have the iconic 1984 Freddie interview, where he left viewers stunned with his answers:
“I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you,” “I’m not an artist, I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.”
The long-term effects of what happened behind the scenes of Hot Space were everlasting and turned the group into four completely different people than they were prior to 1982. 
As I’ve already mentioned, Hot Space wasn’t received well upon its release, and there are still very strong opinions about it today. Brian stated in 2014 that it isn’t the band’s worst album, but the timing of its release was just wrong. As time goes on, more people begin to accept the Hot Space album as just another reason why Queen is one of the most versatile groups of all time, with them branching out into very different styles to what they’d done earlier in their career, like Sheer Heart Attack, News Of The World, etc…
80s culture looked down upon disco and funk, so reception for Hot Space was bound to be less than amazing. However, today, all styles of music are simultaneously celebrated, and people enjoy the album more now than they did 40 years ago.
So in conclusion, recording Hot Space was a difficult period for Queen. It’s horrible to think about your idols going through the kind of thing they did in the early-mid 80s, influenced by not very nice people. But focusing on the album itself, it’s truly not a bad album at all. Granted, the timing of the release wasn’t the best for Queen, but it holds up as a fan favourite today.
If you haven’t heard any of the songs from Hot Space, besides Under Pressure, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s very different to what Queen usually did and I think it’s worth a listen.
Anyway, I’ll leave it at that. Let me know if you liked this little… post, whatever the hell it is, and if I should do more posts like this. I enjoy throwing all my useless knowledge onto a page lol.
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penelopephiliana · 9 months
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔) 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | A REVIEW
ALBUM SCORE: 10/10
Rock Opera Extravaganza!
The pinnacle of My Chemical Romance's career. The Black Parade shaped a generation.
A story about a patient's journey of facing death, My Chemical Romance captured it all in the most dramatic manner by their unapologetic and brutal lyricism. No album captured an energy as intense as The Black Parade delivered.
The unnecessary hatred this had and still has, the thriving growth of the, so called, "emo culture", the lives it saved and the temporary demise of the band itself made this album an instant modern classic.
Checkout my AOTY profile for more reviews: https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/humanoid-/
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ok-albumreview · 1 month
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Funny Christmas Hits: Minions Version by Christmas Classics Remix, Kiddoyish, Funny Minions Guys (2/10)
BEST SONG: "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (Funny Remix)
WORST SONG: "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas (Funny Remix)"
I don't know what this is or what you're doing... why you want this from me, minions, but if I could just say one thing to it's, um, I don't like you very much. Why do you exist, minions? You're minions.
It's not like you have a job or any real responsibilities. All you do is lie around the house and say unfunny things and eat bananas.
Minions, I don't like you. You've ruined my life.
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album-a-day-project · 1 month
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2/16/24
Alice in Chains
Dirt
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1992 album from Seattle-based (obviously) sludge/grunge band. Timeless tracks like 'Them Bones', 'Rooster', 'Would?'. Although I can appreciate the depth and breath of the album, it's not for me. It's great to see that it's still appreciated and tracks are timeless throughout all these years.
7/10
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sjwallin · 4 months
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Glowing Review for Album, SHARDS
I received an amazing review of my latest album SHARDS in Fanfare Magazine​! Here are some of my favorite bits:
"Her music positively buzzes with energy…There is no doubting that Sarah Wallin Huff has a distinctive voice that is well worth hearing, and she is well served by a set of fine interpreters."
"There is no doubt that DodecaFunky is a great title…The “funk” element is rhythmically garlanded, so there is the impression of a level of extra complexity. The piano break around three minutes in is guaranteed to raise a smile, being compositionally cheeky and offering pianist Yuko Hagino the chance to shine (as she does). Brady is a fine flutist, a true mistress of her instrument, not least in the multiphonic moment. Wallin Huff’s sense of lightness is the mark of a versatile composer. This piece represents a nexus between hard bop, swing, and dodecaphony."
"The ensemble piece Of Roses and Lilies reveals another aspect of Wallin Huff’s output, full of repose and glowing timbral and harmonic beauty. The music is sometimes unashamedly expansive, post-Romantic and even filmic, and brilliantly written for solo soprano…and a six-member women’s chorus. It is only later that this is colored with more extended harmonies and somewhat clashing lines."
"A “Gothic Suite” based on poems by Edgar Allen Poe, Nevermore was composed for violist Charlotte Goode​ between 2019 and 2021. The first movement is “Raven”: A man pines for his lost lover, Lenore; a raven arrives and says the one word, “Nevermore,” mocking the narrator’s sorrow. The viola line is both long-breathed and longing; some gestures from Liszt’s dark side permeate the piano. The dedicatee is also the performer here, and Goode and Hagino work perfectly together. There is a real sense of illness to “Annabel Lee”… Goode’s tuning is perfect, her phrasing eloquent and heartfelt."
"The final piece [The Dark Glass Sinfonia] dates from 2017. I imagine Forteian pitch-class set analysis might have a field day here: the piece is hexachordally based, but blends free atonality with nodal harmonies in an attempt to represent the eternal flux of the Soul. This short work of less than eight minutes is fascinating in its harmonies: They seem pregnant with meaning and potential. The Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava is in top form, with some particularly impressive trumpet solos. For all its background theory, there are moments of real harmonic warmth. The piece is subtitled “We See Through a Glass Darkly,” and until about five minutes in it keeps to the mood of the title; then an Ivesian riot ensues (slightly toned down from those of the Master). It certainly sounds like the Ostravans have fun here, as the performance takes on an energy akin to live performance. It has a rather filmic climax. This is a well-composed piece that traverses a wide terrain over its brief duration."
Read more detail at the link below!
And, if you haven't already, be sure to save this album on your favorite platform! :)
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Favorite Albums That I Listened to in 2023
I'm not a huge fan of listening to albums, so I'm actually surprised as to how many I listened to in the past year: though that's mostly because a friend and I started giving each other album recommendations.
Cracker Island Gorillaz, 2023
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I was excitedly anticipating this one, though I'm a pretty moderate Gorillaz fan. They had some great collaborations on this one, such as Bootie Brown, Beck, Bad Bunny, and Stevie Nicks! It's not my favorite Gorillaz album but still a pretty solid one.
Favorite songs: "Cracker Island", "Oil", "Skinny Ape", and "Silent Running".
Bella Donna Stevie Nicks, 1981
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In contrast to Cracker Island and Gorillaz, I am a huge Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac fan. Bella Donna is Nicks' debut solo album, and I absolutely love how powerful it feels, and the Nicks era that it ushered in.
Favorite songs: "Edge of Seventeen", "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
The Kick Inside Kate Bush, 1978
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Kate Bush is an artist that I love dearly, though I usually prefer to cherry-pick her songs rather than listening to entire albums of hers, usually because each individual song on her albums vary greatly by tone. I would say that The Kick Inside is one of the few that I do enjoy listening to from beginning-to-end. Some of my absolute favorites of Kate Bush come from this album, and overall, it does have a pretty consistent tone. It's airid, ethereal, comedic and whimsical.
Favorite songs: "The Saxophone Song", "Wuthering Heights" (!!!!!!) "Oh to Be in Love", "L'Amour Looks Something Like You" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
The Queen is Dead The Smiths, 1986
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Very appropriate listen for 2023.
I don't know much about The Smiths lore or what it says about me that I like them or whatever, I just enjoy listening to their music :).
Favorite songs: "I Know It's Over", "Cemetery Gates", "Bigmouth Strikes Again"
Melt My Eyez See Your Future Denzel Curry, 2022
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This was one that was recommended to me by a friend based on his personal taste, which is pretty different from mine. I absolutely adore this album's sound. It has a sort of vulnerable charm to it.
Favorite songs: "Walkin", "Mental"
Are You Experienced Jimi Hendrix, 1967
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I only started listening to Jimi Hendrix in 2023, and boy have I been missing out. His voice!!! His sound!!!! His guitar!!!!! Him!!!! Absolutely spectacular. This is Exhibit A in music that changes you. I feel like that scene in Elvis where all the girls lose their minds when I listen to this album.
Favorite songs: "Purple Haze", "Manic Depression", "Hey Joe", "Love Or Confusion", "The Wind Cries Mary" (!!!!!!) "Are You Experienced", "Highway Chile"
Hozier Hozier, 2014
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I listen to this one and I think, "Yep, this is a Hozier album." Idk how else to describe it. Quintessential Hozier: ethereal, folksy, bee-boppy.
Favorite songs: "Jackie And Wilson", "From Eden", "Someone New", "Sedated", "Work Song" (!!!!!!!!)
Wasteland, Baby! Hozier, 2019
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Again, quintessential Hozier, yet a bit more refined, more dark and romantic. Hozier's artistry is aging like wine. Transcendent.
Favorite songs: "Almost (Sweet Music)" (!!!!!) "Movement" (!!!!!) "Would That I", "Sunlight"
Never for Ever Kate Bush, 1980
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Kate Bush at her finest. She is my everything. Similar to The Kick Inside, this one is whimsical and comedic, yet it differs with a much heavier weight and increased closeness.
Favorite songs: "Babooshka", "The Wedding List", "Army Dreamers" (!!!!!)
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars David Bowie, 1972
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I want this buried with me. My absolute favorite of Bowie's albums. It has a transcendent proximity, a sentence which makes no sense. It feels close and far away at the same time (what I am pretentiously describing is called an echo).
Favorite songs: "Five Years", "Soul Love", "Starman", "It Ain't Easy", "Lady Stardust", "Star", "Ziggy Stardust", "Suffragette City", "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"
Superclean, Vol. II The Marías, 2018
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Another one of my friend's recommendations. This one puts me in a good mood and clears my mind. :)
Favorite songs: All of them.
Unreal Unearth Hozier, 2023
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RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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Favorite songs: "De Selby (Part 2)", "First Time", "Francesca", "I, Carrion (Icarian)", "Who We Are" (RASDHFKASDJGSDKGFGNASJDDSJGAFVLDFEJRGAOLFNVASGNWRG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), "Abstract (Psychopomp)", "Unknown / Nth", "First Light"
Thee Sacred Souls Thee Sacred Souls, 2022
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The Greta Van Fleet of soul, taking it back to one of the most recognizable sounds from the genre. They're just so sweet.
Favorite songs: "Lady Love", "Easier Said Than Done", "Future Lover" (I have a t-shirt of theirs with this song's lyrics)
Also, it's not on this album but "Running Away" is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC AND I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF IT.
Mozart: Requiem Mozart, Karitta Mattila, Sara Minguardo, Michael Schade, Bryn Terfel, Berliner Philharmoniker
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It has the drama. It'll make you feel like you're in a Donna Tartt novel. I have a bit of a hard time sitting through classical albums but this one is endlessly captivating.
Favorite songs: "Requiem, K. 626: I. Introitus. Requiem aeternam", "Requiem, K. 626: III. Sequentia: f. Lacrimosa", "Requiem, K. 626: V. Sanctus"
Final Thoughts: Quite a wide range of genres this year, though I must say I enjoyed stepping out of my usual listening tendencies and exploring some genres I was heavily deprived in.
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universalanguage · 11 months
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Past to Present: The Hybrid in Retrospect
In the world of Hip-Hop few and far apart are the seminal voices that shake up traditional styles to birth something new and dynamic. Detroit's Danny Brown is one of those voices, who's managed to win over a cult-like fanbase due to his unique stylings and often strange antics.
With the recent release of his joint album w/ JPEGMAFIA accurately titled "Scaring the Hoes" I couldn't help but harken back to the Danny Brown cuts that initially caught my ear.
......
Sometime in late 2010 an acquaintance of mine was playing various new rap cuts in between bits of a writing process to generate our own rhymes. Early in the mix of songs that was something that I had never heard before and it stood out like a sore thumb. The track was "Shooting Moves" from Danny Brown's critically acclaimed debut album "The Hybrid". To clarify, while many see "XXX" as his initial album there is a large swath of folks who remember and revere the former record as their intro.
To be quite honest, at the time I would've considered myself a purist of sorts whose favorite hip-hop records came with a more backpack kind of sound so my initial reaction to Danny was something of disgust. It's truly bizarre that I had an outright distaste for what I was hearing but for some reason or another I couldn't help but revisit that song for about a month wondering why someone would voluntarily listen to it. His voice was shrill at times and often totally out of tune and the beat selection was something otherworldly altogether but I couldn't leave it alone..... and then it clicked.
......
To those of you familiar with the Kingsway Sample Library the name Frank Dukes will ring plenty of bells. To those who aren't, just know that Frank is a sort of musical savant who plays and records original samples that have been used by producers such as Jake One, Hit-Boy, Kanye and even the elusive Madlib. Before the unfolding of what's become a brilliant career Frank Dukes was another producer on the rise and many early Danny Brown tunes including "Shooting Moves" featured Frank's inventive brand of sampling and arrangement.
"Shooting Moves" happened to be the tip of a rather bizarre iceberg. Once I managed to wrap my head around the wild sonics and strange flow patterns I was hooked. Soon after I discovered "The Hybrid" which was then and still is one of my personal favorite albums of all-time.
The opener "Greatest Rapper Ever" starts in with a spacey modulated sample and the perfect drum break crafted by none other than Quelle Chris. Danny's starts in immediately with the following lyrics:
My homie a magician with the Tec (Tec) Make your chain disappear and reappear on his neck (Neck) I ain't tricking with your hoes (Nah), but, shit, don't ask 'em (Nah) Only thing I give a bitch: A fucking orgasm (Chyeah) I'll throw you in the river (River), hands tied tight (Tight) Watch your ass drown, feel it in the air tonight (Tonight) I'm spitting that dope shit (Dope), smoking on regulars (Ugh) Writing sixteens like internet child predators (Chyeah)....
To say I was floored is an understatement. Never in my life had I heard something so awe inspiring, it's the kind of reaction that only happens on very rare occasions like when you first heard Kid A by radiohead or something but if I were to put it into a rap nerd perspective is comparable to the kind of feeling I get when I listen to "Ready to Die" by Biggie. Something so viseral yet indescribable that it makes you wanna punch something and cry heavy tears at the same time. I'd wager that I played that track at least ten times before starting in on the rest of the album which was immaculate from track to track.
......
Most notable on this release in terms of cadence and approach to rapping is the intermingling of Danny's various vocal tones. Post "XXX" his signature high pitched register is a calling card of sorts but "The Hybrid" is an example of his early attempts at perfecting such a cadence. Albeit biased this is my favorite era of his work for just that reason. Danny was in the up and comer space and as a result was still trying various sounds and deliveries. As a result from track to track the album gives us a wise spectrum with which to engage and paints fine brush strokes with a myriad of colour palettes. Songs like "Greatest Rapper Ever" feature a more brash and confrontational tone that harkens to his background in the ghettos of Detroit while others like the closer "S.O.S." have a more soft and poetic undertone.
A great example of the projects versatility is a track titled "Juno" which I assume is titled after the Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page) and Michael Cera film. This cut has Brown giving an unadulterated observation of the struggles and disappointments that are birthed as the result of unplanned pregnancy in a poverty ridden landscape. The opening line references Tupac's "Brenda's got a baby" directly paying homage to what might've been the songs direct inspiration but rather than take the more soft and thoughtful tone Danny's delivery embodies the type of frustration and disgust that breeds itself among those in dire straights. It's quite literally the ugly truth in it's purest form and as ugly as it might be it draws you in and keeps you coming back.
Another stand out is "Drinks on Me" features an utterly intoxicating instrumental and has Danny reflecting on the ills of alcoholism through an introspective lens. This track observes the various angles and vantage points that "normalize" alcohol within society and touches the core of the subject matter succinctly. From drinking as a means of celebration to drowning one's sorrows in a bottle of their choosing it's one of those songs that's managed to get me into my feels even when I'm in the best of moods and although counter-intuitive pairs well with a drink.
For those familiar with Danny's work beyond this period, you'll feel right at home with joints like "White Stripes". It's one of the earliest examples of the pitch and delivery we've all come to know so well. The sample is a grungy mix of dirty guitar fuzz and big drums that function like an 80's power ballad. The rapping is something all it's own as the vocal inflections aren't quite as embellished as Brown's subsequent releases. The tone is a great range of vocals from low to medium and higher registers and is a lot more fluid than the years that followed in my own opinion. You can hear the energy of something new being brought forth. It's the kind of thing that happens when someone makes something they know is good but hasn't field tested it to see if the flame will catch. Nonetheless it makes for one of the most memorable and awe inspiring offerings.
......
I could wax nostalgic about this album from front to back for ages. it holds a really special place in my heart and in my library and for those who haven't explored it I urge that you do so with urgency and the utmost intent. From Danny's off the wall fashion to his unique and eclectic style of rapping/songwriting much of what the so called modern era syphons from is owed to albums such as this that birthed and inspired so much of what proceeded them.... but don't just take my word for it.
-YOSHI
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kulturado · 4 months
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The Story: Sunday Reviews: Every Picture Tells a Story by Rod Stewart
The Writer: Tal Rosenburg
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Well, I have a sad thing to report about buying any of Fanny's re-released albums on vinyl.
I only own two Fanny records on vinyl: Charity Ball (which is an original release), and Fanny Hill (which is a re-release).
Guess which one has superior sound quality? 😭
I bought Fanny Hill off of Real Gone Music (so it's not Fanny's fault), and, yeah, I listened to it first and then listened to my copy of Charity Ball, and...huge difference, starting with the general volume (I had Fanny Hill turned WAY UP and I didn't think it was very loud, but I had no idea just how much I had the volume turned up until I took it off and put Charity Ball on and almost blew my eardrums out, LOL), but not ending there; I also felt that the mix of the entire album was raised in pitch? Close to halfway through side one I was low-key expecting to hear chipmunk voices instead of the equally lovely soft tones and growls of Fanny. 😭 And I inspected my record player, and I inspected my speakers, and nothing was wrong with either of them. I also own Fanny Hill on CD and have listened to it (on repeat) enough times that I know what it's supposed to sound like, and even by streaming standards, I know that it sounds lower [in pitch] and louder than what I heard on the vinyl. It's definitely the vinyl.
So to anyone thinking of buying any of Fanny's music, at least, off of Real Gone Music, I recommend that you think twice...and keep checking your local record stores for original copies. This may just be me and the area I live in, but with most indie record stores that I go in, I can tell the staff what albums or whatever that I'm looking for and they will offer to notify me and/or hold on to them for me if they get them in. I don't think it would hurt to ask if they could do that, anyway, but I would think that they would do something like that especially to guarantee a future customer (and pretty much all indie record stores are struggling for those, so it'd be in their best interest, I'd think).
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lovejustforaday · 5 months
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Shoegaze Classics - Xuvetyn
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Xuvetyn - Lovesliescrushing (1996)
Main Genres - Ambient, Shoegaze, Ethereal Wave, Experimental
A decent sampling of: Drone, Noise, Dream Pop, Post-Rock, Neo-Psychedelia
I'm not gonna lie - I'm super excited to gush about this record. I've been meaning to get around to reviewing this bountiful, fascinating little gem for years now. Let's hope that I can do this often unsung masterpiece the much needed justice that it deserves.
🙙
I touched on this previously in my Ride review, but for all of the talk of the 'Big 3' of shoegaze, I think that many of the younger shoegaze fans these days would agree that Slowdive and My Bloody Valentines' discographies are a cut above the Ride catalogue. Not to diss on the band, but the Big 3 is really starting to feel more like a Big 2 these days, with Slowdive's relevance to new fans only increasing over time whilst Ride's relevance seems to be stagnating.
This has left a potential vacuum in the consensus online. Don't get me wrong; plenty are still going to champion Ride as one of the giants of shoegaze, and most folks that were around for the original scene that celebrated itself are most likely still diehard for Ride as the scene's closest group to being mega rockstars.
But in terms of the legacy of 90s shoegaze, could there still be a record that is missing from all-time canonization? One that has oft been overlooked when discussing this supposed "Big 3"? Is one of indie rock's most beloved and revisited eras still hiding an elusive diamond in the rough?
In case it wasn't already obvious, that's the case I'm going to be making today. And I don't think I'm entirely alone on this one. Few shoegaze bands from the 90s have had such a considerable late resurgence like this band, though they've always had a cult following.
Today I'll be making the case for Lovesliescrushing, the creative juggernauts behind the 1996 experimental ambient shoegaze masterpiece Xuvetyn.
The Band
Lovesliescrushing are one of the rare American bands of the original 90s wave.
The project began in 1991 as the brainchild of avant-garde guitarist and producer Scott Cortez, who teamed up with the apparitional soprano voice of singer Melissa Arpin-Duimstra, a vocalist who more than any other shoegaze vocalist before or since has dedicated her artistry to using the singing voice as a medium to carry and modulate the properties of sound timbre first and foremost.
Daringly, Lovesliescrushing as a band decided to forego having a rhythm section altogether. Not even a drum machine. The band's radical ethos right from its inception would seem to have been to distill shoegaze rock music down to a purified elemental substance, achieving the platonic ideal by creating an undisturbed solution of dense and glorious blended textures.
Indeed, where reverberated guitar sounds with bizarre effects and blended vocals were what set apart bands like Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel, and Curve from being otherwise ordinary indie/alternative rock bands, the qualities I just described encompassed the near-entirety of Lovesliescrushing's early output, taking the concept of the subgenre to its logical extreme.
The band pioneered what is essentially the fusion of ambient music and shoegaze, a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned. This marriage of genre ethos would give way to some of the most unyielding sublime auditory sensations that I have ever been so fortunate to have experienced.
Lovesliescrushing also had one foot steeped firmly in the murky waters of ethereal wave (particularly on the sophomore record), the goth subgenre which served as shoegaze and dream pop's most apparent predecessor and influence. Indeed, some of the band's material can be seen as building upon the prototypical blueprint that can be found in Cocteau Twins' fourth LP Victorialand which similarly removed the rhythm section in order to create pure blissful atmosphere.
Some may see Cortez's work as hero worship, and I've heard a dozen or so folks accuse this band of being "My Bloody Valentine without the melodies and drums", but this is a grossly reductionist take that does a huge disservice to just how brazenly groundbreaking and experimental this band's early work was at the time and still remains to this day.
Lovesliescrushing also regularly made their foray into other schools of experimental music like drone, sound collage, and harsh noise, incorporating these ideas into their creative process. Some of their material even sounds like experimental music with no apparent roots in any particular legacy whatsoever.
This is honestly some very radical music. I can't think of much of anything really quite like early Lovesliescrushing. Perhaps MBV is one of the closest points of reference, but then only because they were a shoegaze band that also sounded quite unlike anything at the time.
Information on the beginnings of this band is scant on the internet compared to many other shoegaze artists, and they were never well-documented by the alternative music press the way that bands like Slowdive or even Catherine Wheel were. And as far as the North American scene goes, Drop Nineteens definitely overshadowed their popularity.
I think it's a fair assessment to say that Lovesliescrushing were truly underground in the band's formative years. I remember only as far back as 2017, when I was just getting into this band through online recommendations, that even many avid fans of Slowdive and MBV had never even heard of this band. But I digress.
Lovesliescrushing released their debut LP Bloweyelashwish twice: first as a casette tape in 1992 on their own indie label with a shorter track listing, and then as a longer full-length album in 1993 on Projekt Records, with newer recordings and mastered versions of the songs.
Bloweyelashwish is a beautiful record in its own right. More generally noisy and droning than its successor, with crunchier guitar sounds, blown out distortion, and a listless melancholic atmosphere. Somewhat closer to very early Sonic Youth, or some of A.R. Kane's weirdest output. What the record does somewhat lack, at least in comparison to its successor, is relative cohesion.
Nevertheless, some very brilliant tracks on the debut LP. "Babysbreath" is music for when you need to smother your tears in a pillow with all of the lights off, "Sugaredglowing" is one of my favourite ambient tracks ever (and a surprisingly potent form of migraine relief), and "youreyesimmaculate" is a stunning and ethereal foreshadowing of what was to come next.
Speaking of which...
The Record
Xuvetyn is... what even is it?
Xuvetyn is a series of documented sound frequencies that would be made by a sentient, shimmering blue light galaxy consisting entirely of trillions upon trillions of frozen ice shard particles. Alternatively, it is the contradictory sound of the bitter coldness of the universe itself caressing the listener in a warm cocoon.
The fact that most of all of this is accomplished with guitar, pedal, vocals, and some studio effects here and there is still unfathomable to me. That is an incredible feat in itself.
Judging solely by the ability to create awe-inspiring atmosphere, I don't believe that there is any other shoegaze band that has managed to accomplish the level of mastery that Lovesliescrushing consistently demonstrates on this record. Yes, If Loveless was the zenith of shoegaze texture, then Xuvetyn is the zenith of shoegaze atmosphere. Completely surreal and captivating.
As I've described the band's sound itself, Xuvetyn really is the concept of shoegaze distilled into its essence, then manipulated ever so slightly with a delicate songcraft and expertise, in order to give these tracks a semblance of form and structure. But make no mistake - there is no solid seabed foundation to this ocean of resonant sounds like there would be on any other shoegaze record. No, this is just infinite, icy sonic fluid that flows all the way down into a multi-dimensional abyss. And holy fuck is it ever beautiful.
Which is not to say that there is no songwriting here - just that it is incredibly subtle. But also incredibly effective.
People who generally don't care for or listen to ambient music often stereotype the genre as being uninteresting, low-effort, or too non-descript, when in fact all of the truly greatest ambient musicians know that making a masterpiece is about learning how to do miraculous things with precious little. It requires immense patience (as does the listener sometimes), a keen ear for detail, and meticulous perfectionism. Unsurprisingly, Scott Cortez strikes me as being just that kind of guy.
The album is a double LP in length, with an hour and sixteen minutes runtime and a listing of 18 tracks. Most songs generally run over the five minute mark, with the A, B, and C sides of the record all padded out every one or two tracks with these really curious little intermissions that are generally less than a full minute each.
These intermissions are often the most experimental recordings on the album, like the abrasive hailstorm noise collage of "Aquan 1" and the gloomy factory white noise of "Hum VIbralux". I could see how someone might want to omit these, but personally I think it adds to the record's pacing by giving it room to breathe, and they made the right decision to let up for the last set of tracks. Plus, the little intermissions are all so deliciously weird that it kinda reminds me of the way that your brain will just plant these bizarre, inexplicable little blips in the middle of your dreams sometimes.
Also hey, can I just nerd out about something really silly for a second? Has anyone ever noticed how a bunch of the track names on this record end in an "-ed"? "Threaded", "Handed", "Blue-Eyed", "Honeyed", "Blooded". Just another cute little detail, adding to the esoteric nature of this record, and I appreciate the alliteration.
OKAY, let's just get to the track by track analysis already.
Admittedly this is one of those records that hits you with the very best it has to offer right out of the gate. Listening to "Valerian (Her Voice Honeyed)" is among the most sublime feelings I have ever experienced in my life, literally ever. Not just in music but like, anything.
Think of any familiar place, or perhaps a virtual space in a piece of media, that held a sort of transcendental significance to you during your childhood, as though it carried a life of its own, a place that you may have revisited in your warmest dreams - for me, it's the lost woods in Ocarina of Time. Think of the sensation that those transcendent spaces would give you.
This track is that same sensation, only on steroids. As soon as that heavy ambient wall fades into the foreground and the sense of infinity takes hold, this gently flowing waterfall of dark sound matter creates a sort of window of reflection into wherever it is in your soul that you have ever felt the most at home. I get that music is a subjective experience at the end of the day, but I feel like what I just described would be inevitable for almost any listener, unless they simply weren't listening to this track the right way. One of the greatest songs ever? I'd wager a hard fucking yes.
The good news is that from here, you have only just begun your journey into a world of many more sublime and mysterious figures.
"Xarella Almandyne" is like the sound of a choir of angels in a massive hall the size of an entire city - the unknowable, lovecraftian, biblically-accurate seraphim kind of angel. Somehow soothing, yet oddly paralyzing at the same time. Based on this track alone, I must say that I'm not entirely convinced that Scott and Melissa are regular mere mortals of this world.
"Blooded And Blossom-Blown" is an eerie, gleaming, and loudly piercing void. I find the majority of the songs on this record to be overall comforting, sometimes somber and darkly mystifying if anything, but this might be the one odd track that genuinely unsettles me; in a way that I cannot get enough of, mind you. Compared to what we often call white noise, this piece represents sound that I visualize in the distinctly unnatural shades of negative blues and turquoises.
"Virgin Blue-Eyed" is a very rare departure in the band's early discography from their guitar ambience, focusing on the incantations of Melissa's euphonious elven voice, with clanging little bells in the background (which, funnily enough, technically makes this the most percussive track on either of the band's first two records).
My favourite of the intermissions is "Seesaw". Transitory shoegaze in a continuously elevating loop, like music for the loading screen that would take you to the shoegaze version of heaven, or perhaps the mythological world of Mag Mell.
"Golden-Handed" is soft, swirling, hypnagogic, and lamenting. This ambient ethereal wave track manifests as the faintest, loneliest light flickering in the gloomy hush of an otherwise dead midnight. Completely arresting atmosphere.
"Bones of Angels" is a two parter - first there's "Bronze Lit Feathers", a labyrinthine chorus of resplendent, inharmonious, and rippling guitar impressions, drifting almost aimlessly and forming only vague constellations with the help of Melissa's frail melody, and a foundation of ambient bass notes cutting through the discordance with great magnitude. This is contrasted by the second part "Her Tongue Pulled Out", wherein the sky parts and the drifting guitar sounds align into a shrill cry, forming a radiant column of sonic light, as if something gorgeous is beginning to descend upon the world. Music for high priestesses summoning divine power.
Xuvetyn reaches its second greatest peak with the penultimate track "Ghosts That Swirl", a piece which opens with this really foreboding orchestra of dreary, gargantuan ambient chimes, sounding as though the world around the listener was compressing in on itself and then stretching in and out of itself, like alternating waves in the membrane of the universe. This overture leads into an ominous, secluded, and crystalline dreamland soundscape, further removed from reality than any other track on the record, and unlike any other song that I have ever experienced. This is music that could only be dreamt up from the confines of a comatose slumber, wherein Melissa's whispers in your ear are the only traces connecting you to the corporeal world, though only audible as faint echoes far off in the distance of a seemingly endless cerulean.
I could go on all day but I've decided to end the track-by-track analysis here. The entire record is vividly evocative beyond what should be reasonably possible (and what I can convey words). You might get something entirely different from my descriptions of these tracks, but I guarantee that you will experience something unearthly.
What Came After That?
Lovesliescrushing followed up their first two records with a series of two records in 2002 that were more just straight up ambient music, rather than comprising an ambient shoegaze fusion.
The first of these is Glissceule, a similarly icy record to Xuvetyn with less dark edge and more of a reserved calm, plus more electronic elements. Second was the more ambiguous Voirshn which I enjoy significantly less than previous projects unfortunately.
The band has sporadically released more ambient records over the course of the last couple of decades, which I have yet to really deep dive into. Scott has worked on a few separate projects, most notably his other band Astrobrite which releases much harsher noise shoegaze records. Nothing from this band has really grabbed me like Lovesliescrushing's work, so I am not very familiar with it.
Like I mentioned previously, Lovesliescrushing's relevance in online shoegaze circles has seen a steady increase over time for a little while now. But Scott and Melissa have always been favs amongst the more hardcore followers of the scene, achieving an almost mythical status as figureheads of the experimental shoegaze micro-scene. And they're pretty much always one of the first bands I see people recommending nowadays when someone online says that they're looking for more "weird shoegaze".
And believe me, I'm one of those nerds recommending this band with every relevant opportunity that I can seize. This should be among the first dozen records we play when the aliens come down to Earth, in order to plead our case for the culture of humankind. This is a very special piece of art.
I won't pretend that this is going to be music for everyone, but if you really wanna transcend your corporeal existence in way that doesn't involve experimenting with potentially harmful substances, I can't really think of any better method. Xuvetyn is from beyond our plane of existence - some people native to our world (allegedly) just happened to manifest it one day.
Join me next time where, in case this review wasn't goddamn long enough, I will be doing a series of reviews on every major Slowdive release from the self-titled EP all the way up to their latest record 🙃.
10/10
Highlights: "Valerian (Her Voice Honeyed)", "Ghosts That Swirl", "Bones of Angels", "Xarella Almandyne", "Golden-Handed", "See Saw", "Blooded and Blossom-Blown", "Virgin Blue Eyed", "Flowered Smother", "Mother of Pearl", "Mandragora Louvareen", "Milkysoft", "Hum Vibralux", "Staticburst"
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idiotcoward · 8 months
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Dystopia - The Aftermath God, clearly I've been on a Dystopia and Crust Punk kick, but here's another just ten out of fucking ten record from Crust Legends, Dystopia. This record doesn't take as much advantage of sampling as some of their other records, but to be honest, I don't mind too much. Now, don't get me wrong, I fucking love the sampling on their other work, but the riffs and singing and overall musical performance on this record are just as strong as their other work, and just as worthy of some serious attention.
The thing that really separates dystopia from other crust punk bands is their embracing of Sludge Metal. Now, a shit ton of Crust bands embrace metal, but it's usually black metal, in the sense that they'll include tremolo picking minor or melodically dissonant riffs; or it'll be metalcore, usually by leaning more into modern hardcore. But, for Dystopia, you have these long bluesy but still harsh and grimey riffs overflowing with these individual classic crust flourishes like arpeggiating guitar chords, distorted and grimey sounding guitars, more of a screeching then growling sound to the vocals, and loads and loads of bass drum. Dystopia is just so fucking good. I absolutely recommend any fan of the genre or of music in general at least give them as a band a shot. Definitely one of my personal favorites.
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greensparty · 5 months
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Album Reviews: Jimi Hendrix Experience "Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967" / Scream "DC Special"
Jimi Hendrix Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967
Another year, another Jimi Hendrix Experience release just before the holiday season! Since beginning this blog, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing loads of Hendrix albums including the posthumous album Both Sides of the Sky, the 50th anniversary Deluxe Edition of Electric Ladyland, the 50th anniversary re-release of his live album Band of Gypsys, his live box set Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts, the live album and movie Live in Maui, 2021’s Record Store Day release Paris ‘67, and last year's Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969. This week Legacy is releasing a never-before-released (or bootlegged) live album of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's concert at Hollywood Bowl just before they became famous with Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967.
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At this concert, the Experience were opening for The Mamas and the Papas. Attendees were mainly there to see the headliners. Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut album Are You Experienced would be released in the U.S. five days later on August 23, 1967 (it had been released in the U.K. on May 5, 1967). By this point, the band had played a legendary show at the Monterey Pop Festival and opened for The Monkees. This is literally the moment just before they got famous. The trio were bigger than the sum of their parts: Hendrix on guitar, Noel Redding on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. There were quite a few songs from Are You Experienced, but there are also loads of covers including favorites by The Beatles (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Killing Floor”), Bob Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”), The Troggs (“Wild Thing”) and Muddy Waters (“Catfish Blues”). A live album would pretty much be enough to please a lot of fans, but this one is cool because it's not some overly-bootlegged concert so there's a sense of discovery, but also the covers make this feel like you're getting something new and different. There's nothing like hearing a band the very second they became famous and here it is!
For info on Jimi Hendrix Experience
4 out of 5 stars
Scream DC Special
Bursting out the DC hardcore punk scene in the 80s was the legendary Scream. The Reagan administration gave the Washington DC punk community quite a bit to rant about in the 80s and Scream were among the biggest of that whole scene, along with Fugazi, Bad Brains and Henry Rollins (the list, of course, goes on). In my friend Scott Crawford's 2014 documentary Salad Days about the DC punk scene in the 80s, he interviewed multiple members of Scream. Singer Pete Stahl and his brother / guitarist Franz Stahl, bassist Skeeter Thompson were a tight knit unit with original drummer Kent Stax. After Stax left the band in 1986, his replacement was teenage drummer Dave Grohl, who truly brought it. I was a big fan of the band's albums No More Censorship and Fumble and I have them in my record collection. After the band broke up (as we all know), Grohl joined Nirvana and brought that punk energy he honed in Scream to the masses. The Fumble album had been recorded in 1989 but was finally released in 1993. There were a few reunions here and there and Grohl has continued to work with the members of Scream (i.e. Franz was in Foo Fighters from 1997-1999). In 2009, the original lineup of Scream reunited and they even recorded with Stax on drums at Grohl's Studio 606 for an EP. But we haven't actually had a studio album from Scream since Fumble, which was 30 years ago. This week, Dischord Records is releasing DC Special featuring the original lineup. In September Stax died at age 61, making this his final album with Scream.
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With the Fumble album it felt like the band was really evolving. The punk sound was there, but there was also a post-punk sound coming through. With all of their collective outside projects, i.e. Franz in Foo Fighters and DYS, Pete and Franz in Wool, Pete in Goatsnake and Earthlings?, Skeeter's solo work, etc - this band is way more than just an 80s punk band. This album incorporates a lot more styles and even some melodic tendencies. It's a nice full circle moment that this album got recorded with Stax before he died and that Grohl made a guest appearance. There's loads of other DC punk veterans appearing here including Dischord Records founder and Fugazi / Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye. This is album is a treat for fans and enough to make you want to, well, scream!
For info on Scream
4 out of 5 stars
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wallisninety-six · 2 years
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The Weirdest (and Endearing) Beach Boys Album at 45 - “Love You” (1977)
To be a fan of this album and recommend to a newcomer would be disastrous.
There is a subconscious reason why I left this album out of my Beach Boys flow chart, because there’s no way to even remotely prepare you for it unless you really know the Beach Boys and their history, to know Brian Wilson and his history- and even then, you can’t be prepared just what the hell you’re about to listen to.
In the mid-1970s Brian was in severe trouble, after dealing with his undiagnosed schizoaffective disorder, excessive misuse of drugs along with his brother Dennis (and it’s apparent when you hear their voices on the album- gone are the falsettos of Brian), and gone is the short-lived lavish praise he was getting from the mass media who, at this time was severely mistreating him while he was at his absolute lowest point, driving him further into severe depression, isolation, and drugs.
Love You is still a highly controversial album among the fanbase, for understandable reasons, it’s a completely different sounding album right down to the really base-heavy synth, the lyrics and subject matter is so downright odd (right down to making an anthem for Johnny Carson, seriously), It’s hard to be into it first listen, and even I still have a love-hate relationship with it.
However, the album is anything *but* boring, far, far from it. First, there’s the shock at hearing this strange, strange music, from the highly energetic first half, to the super somber synth-love ballads dealing with middle-aged crisis and marriage issues, and by the end of it you have no idea what to feel. BUT the songs are so catchy and they refuse to leave your head, they stay with you.
Despite the Beach Boys label, this is essentially a Brian solo album, solely written and produced by him. This is him at his most honest and open, exploring every emotion under the sun- from humor to sadness, in his own endearing way. Love You is easily Brian at his most genuine, and- yes, even innovative since the Smile sessions. His use of synths was legitimately groundbreaking at the time, putting himself alongside acts like Kraftwerk who innovated it in the 70s as well. Not only that, you can really feel that Brian believes in these songs and is working really hard for them, it’s hard to tell at first, but it’s really there. Not to mention he made some of his best love songs in a good while, especially “The Night Was So Young”. The fact that even *now* it sounds unlike anything msuic has made ever since, and the fact that the album can *still* shock listeners, is kind of amazing actually.
Despite the divisive reception within the fanbase, musicians and groups as a whole like R.E.M., Sonic Youth, and the godmother of punk herself Patti Smith praised the album since it came out (with Patti Smith making a whole dang poem to show her love for it, yes, seriously.)
Considering that this was Brian at his lowest point, and he *still* put out an album of this caliber, deeply unique, deeply original, strange, catchy, innovative and genuine- and considering that before and (especially) after this album came out, people were working to control him and what he could and couldn’t make music-wise, and *especially* knowing the tragedy and actual physical and psychological abuse Brian went through- from his father to Eugene Landy, Love You feels like a total triumph for the man.
Despite the fact he never made an album like this before or after 1977, Love You is a tour-de-force, self-contained gem, and despite my severely complex feelings on it, I’ve come around to loving it for what it is- similar to what happened with me and 1967′s Smiley Smile. And perhaps that’s why Brian consistently states that Love You- yes, Love You is his favorite album he ever made.
"That's when it all happened for me. That's where my heart lies. Love You, Jesus, that's the best album we ever made." - Brian Wilson, 1998.
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