genuinely an underrated project with an interesting and energetic experience to offer. give it a listen
baffling vocal choices throughout. please, j, if youre reading this, learn scansion. orchids is the best song because you are actually singing within meter in the english language.
While some are slightly lacking and some are slightly repetitive, there's a palpable and important emotion to every second of every track. This record does everything right. Living is strange. She's right! How sad, yet how lovely.
I am legitimately shocked like im actually baffled. every single track has so many surprises that made my jaw drop
i dont know what i was expecting sonically but it sure wasnt shitty soundcloud indie pop??
i dont know what i was expecting lyrically?? but "YIFF IMITATES LIFE" is such a ridiculous quote
i certainly wasn't expecting a reference to CHANGED in TWO THOUSAND TWENTY FIVE,
WHY does the PITS instrumental cut out every line?????? like what
this feels so much longer than 17 ... read more
Coltrane's elusive live recording somehow manages to paint an even more evocative soundscape on the foundation of what is already near superhuman.
An amazingly theatrical and rosy record that evokes more a musical soundtrack than a studio album. While certainly *not* being “Ants From Up There 2”, Forever Howlong retains some of the best compositional and instrumental styles from their previous record and applies them to a more whimsical setting while still maintaining a complex and emotional underlying structure. Evolution of sound and subject between new records are paramount to a growing band and BC,NR do not slow down in ... read more
i hear the nine inch nails kick drum.
the future belongs to the analog loyalists. fuck digital.
![betcover!! - 勇気 [Yuki]](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/100x0/album/1348609--yuuki_145948.jpg)
usually jazz rock ends up becoming a lot more rock focused, and while this isnt quite a departure from that trend, i find the more apparent interjections of funk and bebop in the quicker tracks to be really awesome! and the slow saxophone chords in Summerland (サマーランド) are really awesome as well. there is a very bittersweet yearning to the slower tracks. super super enjoyable. ive listened to a bit of betcover!! in the past but this surpasses what ive seen far and beyond.
impossible to describe this other than masterpiece. i’ll write a real review soon
The Lemon Twigs really shine when their harmony is the focus. They are exceptional at injecting sweet key modulations and smooth secondary dominants into the late 60s and early 70s sound. Prime example being the gorgeous key change in the “when you hold my hand and you tell me who i am / i’ll find my heart’s connection” on New to Me! Effective usages of diminished chords throughout is really refreshing. Instrumental choices like the vibraphone are AWESOME too.
While ... read more
any band that can throw 11/8 into a track and not have it sound overly jerky or otherwise out of whack is deserving of respect in my book. great bits of jumpienss and distortion in some tracks. a truly surreal composite identity in drum land. playing with the mixing is fun.
Four college kids sitting in a Kentucky basement all summer, repeating riffs for hours a day in a trancelike state, slowly crafting a pitch black opus of angst, apathy, and trickling darkness.
What was born of that summer were six tracks, six compositions that would change music forever. Songs that commanded the curiosities and attention of everyone fortunate enough to hear them, lyrics that pencil in horrific, blacked out faces, instrumentals that built and characterized a world of intense, ... read more
(my old review was wack)
Simple and effective lyricism over lavish synth instrumentals characterize this album as both fantastical and eccentric while it journeys through a scattered mind. There are some production choices that are such big standouts that they basically add a whole point to the rating. It's not *perfect*, some tracks are slow; however there are so many instances of pop brilliance that you kinda just let those bad parts slide. Very spectacular, and Cry for Me is the best ... read more
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Recent Review Comments
On venturing - In the dark
"@musicSrated okay"
On venturing - In the dark
"@musicSrated what?"
On Natural Snow Buildings - Daughter of Darkness
"@locustpupil I don't think its *about* them per se, album just acts as a premonition to me"
On xaviersobased - Xavier
"@okokvyl LOL"
On lipaomusic's review of Racing Mount Pleasant - Racing Mount Pleasant
"have you listened to For The First Time?"
On Maruja - Knocknarea
"@TopHatGoose I do quite like Forever Howlong but i think any copycats wouldn't be particularly enjoyable. The sound evolution was VERY appreciated to me. The combination of Baroque Pop and Chamber Rock is hard to fake: It's usually great, or it's quite bad. Forever Howlong proved to me that BC,NR are one of the more cohesive modern bands in the artistic sense, and I deeply respect them for their commitment to originality. They don't invent the conventions but they do innovate in important ways. If other people fail to make Baroque Pop next, fine! Most I can do is give my props and credit to the artists I like.
Nice talking to you! AOTY usually isn't the place I go for actual music discussion, so this is quite welcome."
On Maruja - Knocknarea
"@TopHatGoose Thanks for the explanation, I likely won't sit through more though, lol
The constant windmill scene veneration is something that has annoyed me to no end! It essentially has two genres (crank wave and chamber-post-baroque-rock-pop / ants from up there-ish), and i'm sick of both. this year has seen so many derivative windmill type albums that the scene has near lost its charm. It's frankly ridiculous how boring it's all become (looking at Racing Mount Pleasant). I seriously hope its just a 2020s fad."
On Maruja - Knocknarea
"@TopHatGoose Pain to Power was the first Maruja thing I ever heard, it's fascinating how they've been making the same okay crank wave for years It kind of pisses me off that I disliked this EP so much because now i feel like i was swindled. Takes a lot for a band to pull that off.
Funny story, after hearing Pain to Power I was so enamored by it (as one is the first time hearing Proletariat-Crank-Wave) that I pre-ordered the vinyl. It never ended up coming after four months, I eventually had to call my bank to refund. I don't know if that's a normal occurrence, but I think it IS a sign."
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@Mac1Glazer 15yo white kid saying "brodie""
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@Mac1Glazer yet another quadeca aoty drone in my comments"
On Rex Orange County - Apricot Princess
"@ENILTOHNHOJ read the tone of the review"
On Rex Orange County - Apricot Princess
"@Linus8090 read the tone of the review"
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@ButteredDuck yet another "quadeca aoty" drone in my comments"
On The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre
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On The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre
"@Nchris790 google "opinion""
On ValentinesDay's review of The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre
"@Nchris790 im not talking to you why are you replying to me"
On ValentinesDay's review of The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre
"i respect this take. i do feel the album is a little shallow, just not entirely sure how."
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@Krk you like ai music and kanye west"
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@weroamtundras who are you"
On mussomyers's review of LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"don’t let them get you down you’re speaking truth"
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@PANTLESS_PESO porter robinson sucks"
On LAUSSE THE CAT - The Mocking Stars
"@Corrinsama you gave furfag a 100"
On Slint - Spiderland
"@yonn YEAAAA"
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