Human Performance isn’t quite as scrappily charming as Light Up Gold, nor as refined and sharp as the forthcoming Wide Awake!- but there’s still a confidence in both the playing and theming here that make this an essential Courts release. Dust, the title track, and Berlin Got Blurry are specifically potent
Of significant less charm and wit than Light Up Gold in just about every facet. The back half picks up the slack a bit (mainly due to Instant Disassembly being so punchy) but this is still a weak Courts record
Before the Courts would later perfect their unique brand of quirky dance-punk, they were dishing out frenetic critiques on the state of America five years prior. The whole record isn’t necessarily highlight after highlight, but the record as a whole is evenly balanced
One of Thin Lizzy’s ‘grander’ records, though there’s still more than enough charm to prevent any idea of pretentiousness
Pure and simple Hard Rock. It's not Thin Lizzy's best just on a track-to-track basis, certainly, but any Hard Rock purists will be salivating over this one. Solider of Fortune, title track, and Dancing In the Moonlight are bucketloads of fun
Is it overshadowed by the superior Jailbreak released earlier in the same year? Unequivocally. The absolute firepower the boys were kicking with in Jailbreak is still 'here', just... weaker, across the board. That said- Don't Believe a Word is absolutely in the Thin Lizzy hall of fame
A definite improvement on Fighting that came prior and a solidification of Thin Lizzy's standings as the smoothest dudes in 70s hard rock. The hits here are only marginally better than some of the deeper cuts (think tracks like Romeo and the Lonely Girl, Warriors, *especially* Emerald), all just proof that when the boys came back to town, they crash-landed in a blaze of glory
Many or the basic elements of this record, on their own, would make for a perfectly average and forgettable Hard Rock record- but something about Lynott's smooth-as-silk timbre against the bluesy guitars make for a record with too much charm to write off. It's not Thin Lizzy's best by any account, but it is their first classic of a surprising several
One of Evans’ most tender and delicate sets, its potency made apparent given the circumstances of Evans’ death the year prior. The keys are just as gentle as any of his early 60s works, while the bouncing bass fills in the gaps to ensure dynamic tension is always held on tight command. Says an infinite amount intermittent the spaces between keys- a statement to describe Evans’ career on the whole, if you ask me
Aperture was honestly a pretty solid single that felt like a genuine attempt at pinning some real House influences- regrettably, the rest here serves as cheap parody at best, and total missteps at worst
It's hard to not view Intermodulations as a sort of continuation of Undercurrent/Evans and Hall's collaborations, and in terms of firepower? The duo spark yet again. Sure, the results maybe aren't *quite* as explosive as the aforementioned Undercurrent, but Intermodulation still has some truly incredible creative moments like the first two tracks and the particularly playful Jazz Samba
An Evans cut that's easy to scan over- on one hand, there's no truly stellar moment here like on his other, more acclaimed works from the first half of the 60s. On the other hand- these are still six incredibly played and composed pieces. The opener in particular is woefully under-appreciated if you ask me
Rivals Undercurrent for the most essential display of Evans' brilliance. To begin- My Foolish Heart truly may be the best Cool Jazz track ever recorded, and if there are pieces that do rival it, chances are I'll pin them as also coming from Evans- maybe even this recording. Rarely does this recording even give away the fact that it's live, as there's so little noise coming from the clearly-enamored audience- it's in the sheer liveliness of Evans and his bandmates' ... read more
Some more classic Bill Evans- what's there not to like? The first four tracks in particular here are among his best sequences of tracks
Bill Evans' piano skills and Jim Hall's guitar fiddlings are one of the most powerful duos in Jazz history- the type of combo that feels almost predestined to happen. Among the very titans of Cool Jazz- every track here is sublime.
Also- easily one of the best cover arts of the entire 60s
Relatively weaker among Evans’ early output, but still has some of his best compositions (Haunted Heart, Elsa, Nordis)
Another brilliant piece of Evans' delightful early career. The operative here isn't to 'wow' the listener, but instead to ease with subtle bravado, as evidenced by the gently bouncing bass on Someday My Prince Will Come or the smooth-as-silk keys on, say, When I Fall in Love. This version of Autumn Leaves is also assuredly one of the best- an incredible feat
The title seems almost garishly braggadocious, yet ended up leaving me convinced it must be true. Evans’ piano-playing is the type that instantly lures you in and urges you to stay put for a while. Not every track here is slow-moving and ruminative, but I’d argue the best tracks here are. Peace Piece in particular is one of the best Cool Jazz tracks ever recorded
It's not often you see a swirl of early 2000s Garage Rock Revival and Neo-Psych + Shoegaze, so I was intrigued- a lot more could have been done even with the record having a highly approachable sound on the whole. Rarely did it feel like the potential here was met- many of the tracks moved at a shockingly slow speed, an abnormality for Garage Rock Revival
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On Jalen Ngonda - Doctrine of Love
"@Shayden 100% agree, it’s a throwback record done right"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 yeah I def get what you mean. Pac’s cadence and energy is so infectious for me I was able to look past the production being relatively ‘one-note’, even though like you said it is excellent production. That’s an excellent analogy"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 that's a fair critique, I will say flow is not Pac's strongsuit, though a lot of people would probably disagree with that. The production is pretty much perfect here imo but it is definitely uniform across the record so I could see it growing stale if G-Funk adjacent stuff isn't as much your bag"
On David Bowie - David Bowie [Space Oddity]
"@usur_disc350 I’ll admit I’ve not revisited this much at all in the last couple years, but I’ll definitely stand by it having several great cuts beyond the title track"
On usur_disc350's review of McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
"Honestly, really well put. I still have this rated pretty highly but I'd say I feel similarly, there's a sheen over this style of 'indie rap' that's starting to feel like the sheen that's covered a large bulk of indie rock the past decade (post-Mac if you will), it's a sheen of homogenization. Hadn't really put much thought to it until now but I think this absolutely hits the nail on the head, and is probably why despite there being so much 'good' hip-hop nowadays, the bulk of it feels like one big swirl of sameness. Excellent take"
On susquatch - Water Plant
"@Rileone it is yeah but it’s also definitely math rock too"
On Faith Evans & The Notorious B.I.G. - The King & I
"@TheTrillTrolla that’s actually very informative, thank you!"
On Doofy's review of The The - Infected
"I prefer Soul Mining a shade, but I’ll agree that this record should be considered as far closer in quality than most. Nearly everything that makes Soul Mining so excellent is found here too, excellent production and songwriting especially"
On Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
"@HomeSession3 holy shit what a story! Thank you for sharing, that certainly sounds like one of those life-defining moments, for you and Roach. Live Jazz may be the definitive form of live performing for the reasons you said- it makes the frail jolt to life"
On My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe
"@Trazyn I hate saying ‘annoying’ bc that’s reductive, there are def moments where the lyricism along with the vocal style felt really contrived and grating to me though. Overall it’s certainly not an ‘annoying’ album, just nothing particularly new for Windmill. I would say I’m annoyed with the windmill scene in general nowadays"
On Tangerine Dream - Rubycon
"@Litebill931 thank you much! I have to stop myself from over-writing a lot of the time lol"
On π©πππππππΆππ's review of Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
"First review of this project that’s really made me want to check it out- seriously excellent write-up"
On XTC - Drums and Wires
"@sher12308 you’re totally right! Major goof on my part, I’ll edit that, appreciate the call-out"
On King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
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On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 yeah for sure! I appreciate the compliment! Jeff Buckley is a perfect example of why 90s rock really shouldn’t be funneled into those two ‘categories’ I listed because he blends so many styles and sounds (a major reason why Grace is one of the most majestic albums of all time). I’m the same as you in that there’s very little I truly dislike that I listen to- it makes it a lot easier to be encouraged to check out more stuff! Let me know when you’ve got those reviews typed out, I’d love to check em out!"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"Sorry for the long winded answer, hope that helps! If you need help finding some specific bands lmk too and I can try and throw you some based on what you currently rock with π€"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"The other main strain in my mind is Slacker Rock (the kind I tend to prefer a bit). This is your Pavements, Built to Spills, Weezers, etc. This style of rock tended to ‘look forward’ whereas grunge took influence from a lot of its contemporaries in many ways.
In terms of what I’d do for a deep dive now- honestly, I’d determine which strain you like more and start with the big bands before digging deeper, maybe even trying out some of the influences/ similar bands. For instance, if you really fw Weezer I’d recommend other Geek/Wacky Rock bands like Cake or Grandaddy. Same goes for, say, AIC- you could check out other alternative metal bands for instance."
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 for sure! I went on a pretty big 90s rock binge a couple years back and it’s definitely a vast canyon. This is a wildly simplified answer, but imo there are two *main* streams of 90s rock. The first is what most people think of , being Grunge. These are your Nirvanas and Pearl Jams and basically what the average person will probably think of when they think of ‘90s rock’- and it’s great! Grunge pulls a lot from heavier influences depending on the band, such as Punk and Noise Rock for Nirvana or even Metal with bands like Alice In Chains."
On The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
"@Zubb autism + long commutes to work goes a long way lmao"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne thank you so much! It’s become something of a passion of mine for sure. The kind words go a long way, I’d love to have my own site or something one day"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne no I’m not, it’s funny you ask because in high school I had plans to maybe become a writer but it never panned out"
On Johnny Blue Skies - Mutiny After Midnight
"Unless you find a rip somewhere or dish out thirty bucks it’s impossible for the time being unfortunately, it is an absolute blast of a record though no doubt, one of his best easily"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne thank you much! I have fun with them lol"
On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby that does look interesting, I’ll try and get to it later today, thanks again for all the recs! You’re the Zappa guy so it’s been helpful as a total Zappa novice"
On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby honestly, having sampled a handful of tracks from his studio records to follow from here I think I’m going to bow out for the time being on his discography, I’d prefer to end it on a high note. Someday I’ll eventually go the whole distance but I think I’d honestly just get burned out going through a series of just messy subpar records tbh"
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