After leaving their label 4AD, in 1993 the Twins released Four-Calendar Cafe. The band moved in a way more radio-friendly direction after "Heaven or Las Vegas", which in turn makes the music loose a bit of it's ethereal charm. At times even sounding more like jangle pop that dream pop. The album isn't bad though. Despite it's pretty light sound, lyrically it's one of their darkest with a lot of the songs focusing on Fraser's childhood trauma related to her abuse and her anxieties with ... read more

I would probably choose heaven between the two of them ngl.

I mean, what hasn't been said about this album? Widely acknowledged as one of the best albums of the 90s and considered a seminal work in the dream pop genre. It even got a 10 from Pitchfork! (although I don't know if that's worth as much anymore but still). Heaven or Las Vegas is also one of my favorite albums of all time.

The LP begins with "Cherry-coloured Funk". If you've ever listened to the Twins you've probably ... read more

Blue Bell Knoll isn't too dissimilar from 1986's Victorialand except it's not as slow and ambient. That's not a bad thing though, because it's probably The Twin's most accesible and best album up until that point. It's also got a sound that most songs stick to, however, it's much more diverse in sound than Victoria. All of this makes for an all around great Dream Pop album that doesn't sound like any other.

Favorites: Carolyn's Fingers, For Phoebe Still A Baby, Spooning Good Singing Gum, A ... read more

( Ah, screw it. I've already mentioned King Gizzard once in this discog dive, so here goes another)

This album reminds me of "Sketches of New Brunswick East". Both of them were released around half a year after the bands' best albums up until that point ( in my opinion) and were a colab album with another artist. Oh yeah, they're also really god damn mid.
.
.
.
.
.
In all seriousness though, this project isn't bad, but it really isn't great either. A lot of the songs just feel way to ... read more

I'm a bit conflicted on this one. On one hand, this LP sounds way better than any other Cocteau Twins albums released before it. At this point in the Twins' discography, the band has pretty much completely moved away from the gothic rock sound that was a big part of their first two records. This is the band's first album where I think you could really call Fraser's voice "the voice of god" ( some publications actually did, look it up) and I can't think of any other words to describe ... read more

I don't think I would be very inclined to listen to this LP if someone had described it's premise and sound to me verbally. ​I only listened to it at all because I misread "new wave of the future" as "newave of the future" (as in the genre) in a review . However, having listened to it, I can say that I really like it!

The combination of so many genres and a side of pure chaos makes for a very fun album full of bangers.
"70%" is incredibly strange, with it's ... read more

This album is one of the most dreamy projects I've ever heard and it truly makes you transcend. It feels a bit slower than the previous two but that's definitely not to it's detriment. It feels like walking around the town the day before Christmas Eve. It's snowing, everyone has got lights up and you're just walking around. Basically, it's magical. I do have to say that some song here don't really go anywhere, and some (like "Beatrix") don't really mesh well with Fraser's vocals. I ... read more

Head Over Heels is definitely an improvement from Cocteau Twins' debut LP Garlands. I'd say it's still more on the gothic side of the band's discography, but it's still very solid. The band also starts going into truly Dream Pop territory with songs like "Sugar Hiccup". Overall the sound on this LP is much more diverse than the previous, including jazz instruments like the saxophone (see "Five Ten Fiftyfold") and more traditional instruments like the acoustic guitar (on ... read more

Cocteau Twins (hehe cock) is a goth rock/dream pop band from Grangemout, Scotland. Even though they are bri'ish (there are worse types of bri'ish than sco'ish though) I will try to grade them as fairly as possible during this discog dive. That's right, this is a discog dive. So first up we got the band's debut album - Garlands.

Garlands is.... ok. It's definitely leaning on the gothic side of Cocteau Twins and has some very dark and experimental ideas however the execution of them often feels ... read more

Woah this single was something. In terms of the black midi these songs couldn't have been more apart in sound.

John L - Probably the most hectic and chaotic track black midi has ever released. And that's saying a lot for black midi. The addition of some classical and jazz instruments take black midi's sound from controlled chaos to just plain chaos. I like it though! While the strings did take a while to get used to, this track grew on me with every listen and it makes me excited for all the ... read more

While I think this record is definitely better than K.G, I have to say the microtnal style is slowly getting stale

This is a pretty old review I wrote for this album last year but here goes:

black midi are an experimental rock group from London, England. It consists of 4 members: Geordie Greep (on vocals and guitar), Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin (also on vocals and guitar ), Cameron Picton (on vocals, bass and synths) and Morgan Simpson (on drums). There's a very high chance that you've heard me talk about them since I spam new members and pretty much don't talk about anything else. The term Black Midi ... read more

Woah. Yeah this is not what I was expecting from the title. While listening to this you'll get hit by so many different sounds. Whether it's psychedelic rock, electronic and even dance, this album puts you into a sort of trance like no other. I don't have many words to describe this project to be honest. Warm, I think that fits. Tracks like "Loaded" and "Inner Flight" remind me of old Pepsi commercials and the feeling of riding a bike during the hottest days of summer. This ... read more

Leviathan manages to perfectly satirize the romanticization of violence in modern day media while also making a fun song. The way he brags about wiping out a city is clearly a representation of how violence and murder is glorified in the rap game. He also satirizes the amount of misleading information in today's society by how he treats reviving a person as something normal. This song truly says a lot about society.

I don't think there exists an album that fills me with as much nostalgia as The Beatles' 1967 LP Magical Mystery Tour. I remember listening to it on the CD with my father. Singing songs like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" , "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" while running around the house or taking a walk. This project feels a bit magical to me. While not being sad or sombre it oftens makes me feel isolated and the while not being fanfare music or ... read more

OwO, wook at aww the wonewy peopwe
OwO, wook at aww the wonewy peopwe
Eweanor Wigby (UwU)
Picks up the wice in the chuwch whewe a wedding has been
Lives in a dweam
Waits at the window
Weawing the face that she keeps in a jaw by the do_ow
Who is it fow?
OwO, the wonely peopwe
Whewe do they aww come fwom?
Aww the wonewy peopwe
Whewe do they aww bewong?
Fathew McKenzie
Wwiting the wowds of a sewmon that no one wiww heaw
No one comes neaw
Wook at him wowking
Dawning his socks in the night when ... read more

The Last review was a le epic troll. Nav is god actually

Hello gamers. Welcome back to another episode of “Is it really NOT GOOD?” The series during which I listen to and review every album that theneedledrop gave a NOT GOOD rating.

For this installment I listened to Nav’s 2020 masterpiece “Good Intentions” and by masterpiece I mean it’s bad. I don’t really know why I said masterpiece. Anyway I do wanna clarify that Fantano did technically review the deluxe album too which is 15 extra songs, however, I ... read more

David Bowie and cocaine. Name a more iconic duo, I'll wait

Hello and welcome to the first installment of “Is it really NOT GOOD?” a series during which I’ll be listening to each one of the albums that theneedledrop gave a NOT GOOD and reviewing them because I hate myself and I have nothing better to do. During this series we’ll be asking important questions like “Is it really that bad?”, “Why am I doing this?”, “What’s the meaning of life?” and “Who’s Joe?”.

For the ... read more