Now this is the shit. Funky, groovy, sexy, spacey, slightly trippy maybe hopping even. Just quality music overall that's easy to get lost in and I don't want to find my way out. Great debut from Hooverphonic, this is an easy early highlight of my journey through 1996!
Recs:
- Inhaler
- 2 Wicky
- Wardrope
- Plus Profound
- Nr. 9
- Sarangi
- Innervoice
According to the wiki, this album holds significance for being amongst the first to fuze elements of 60s to 70s folk with modern electronica and trip hop. I personally find that almost as neat as this album in general. It's not only an early example of the innovation but a good one!
Recs:
- She Cries Your Name
- Tangent
- Touch Me With Your Love
- Someone's Daughter
- I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine
- Galaxy of Emptiness
![坂本龍一 [Ryuichi Sakamoto] - Smoochy](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/100x0/album/77493-smoochy.jpg)
Other than a couple tracks near the end I couldn't connect with what was offered here.
Recs:
- Rio
- Tango (Version Castellano)
A very quiet and chill alt country release that's nice and all but I didn't find it the most interesting listen.
Recs:
- The Man Who Loved Beer
- Smuckers
- Your Life as a Sequel
GYB offers a decent if bloated release.
Recs:
- Burning Flag Birthday Suit
- Look at Them
- The Perfect Life
- Underwater Explosions
- Don't Stop Now
- Sheetkickers
A decent neo psych release that dives a bit too deep into the drugs that makes for a pretty sluggish listen.
Recs:
- The Soul Quietens
- Jaguar Meets Snake
TBJM harkens back to the garage rock of decades past in this acclaimed release that I personally found to be a decent to mixed experience. A bit bloated as well with 17 tracks.
Recs:
- Straight Up and Down
- Take it From The Man
- B. S. A.
- Mary Please
- Fucker
- In My Life
In their final effort with some help from several guest musicians, Porno for Pyros offers an enjoyable alternative rock that has some interesting experimental parts to it though I personally prefer when they keep things relatively straightforward. Regardless it's a very good point to end their short tenure as a band.
Recs:
- Tahitian Moon
- Kimberly Austin
- Thick of it All
- Wishing Well
- Freeway
Another decent effort from Kagami with a couple tracks I found notable enough.
Recs:
- Lost Echo
- Whisper in the Void
This is decent. More of the exceedingly slow ambience with some house beats overlayed cause why not.
Recs:
- Private Vices
- Lotus in Water Current
And we are back to the boring minimalist ambience. Smile just can't help themselves.
And we are back on the endless Kagami Smile train.
We finally made it to 2021 and I need to go through 11 albums before catching up to 2022. Man the discog of this lad is ridiculously huge.
The cover art on this album is imo their strongest one since thigh way back in their early days before I got sick of the droning ambience for a while. Looks scifi, moody and a bit surreal. I wonder if they are going to switch things up a little this time around? Not likely, they are pretty locked into ... read more
Listening to a bunch of singles cause why not? (20/20)
The second I saw this had released I knew I had to finish this little series on a high (If y'all aren't just hyping this up to an insane degree just because it's Swans. I do have faith that it is that good since I found the beggar to be some of the most enrapturing two hours I have ever listened to.) Alright, let's see what the next twenty minutes has in store for me...
Man these guys are just MASTERS of slow ... read more
Reviewing a bunch of singles cause why not? (19/20)
Queen stay queening. Though it's not at the level of their iconic tracks, this is still a pleasure to listen to. They have long mastered their craft at this point in their career and are just having fun with it and they more than deserve it.
Reviewing a bunch of singles cause why not? (17/20)
You may think this is an overplayed dad rock tune. But it's literally impossible to play this too much. It's literally ingrained in our culture at this point.
Reviewing a bunch of singles cause why not? (16/20)
Can't go wrong with Iron Maiden. They got that classic Heavy Metal vibe DOWN great for metal heads young and old to enjoy. If you can't respect the OGs then what are you even doing? Everything is done well here as per usual, Maiden just refuses to miss at this stage of their career.
Reviewing a bunch of singles cause why not? (15/20)
I have listened to some Outkast past Hey ya with me listening to their debut album. I personally didn't care too much about it but maybe I will enjoy this track better.
Oh so that's where that earworm of a soundbite came from. Yeah , needless to say I fucked with this a lot harder than their debut. This song has a lot going on but that earworm holds it together nicely sonically. The rapping is quality, the lyrics engaging, ... read more
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Recent Review Comments
On ねごと [NEGOTO] - アシンメトリ [Asymmetry]
"@themarsvolta not everything, bit a good amount. To answer your question is genuinely I didn't connect with the experience. That's it."
On Black Sabbath - Paranoid
"@frogofprog of course, all the songs listed in the review are great including the all time classic in War Pigs. I just think as an album experience as a whole it could be a bit better."
On The_troll's review of The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time: Stage 1
"You are in for one hell of a ride if you're going to listen to it all the way through at once! Well worth the six hours of investment."
On Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
"@ScottShelby As for what's next for Zappa since I have listened to most of his Acclaimed stuff besides a couple of TMOI releases In likely to finish off that bands offerings before down the road see what Zappa has to offer in his more contentious releases."
On Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
"@ScottShelby That was intentional, got to save some big hitters for the future you to appreciate."
On Bridget St. John - Ask Me No Questions
"@AidenBowe45 she reminds me strongly of Nico so if you are a nico fan, you'll like this."
On Bedhead - Transaction de Novo
"@musicfanboy You looked into that more than I ever cared to so I guess? I don't know. I do generally find slowcore rather boring to slog through, so your probably right."
On Terry Reid - Terry Reid
"@AidenBowe45 He reminds of Paul McCartney at points with how passionately he sings and the instrumental goes crazy. It's a fun album for sure!"
On Muddy Waters - After the Rain
"@AidenBowe45 I honestly am just too familiar with this kind of style of straightforward Blues, sure it's classic but I find it stale and uninteresting especially compared to other styles that bring more to the table of the genre that makes for more engaging listening."
On Herbie Hancock - Fat Albert Rotunda
"@AidenBowe45 Groovy, funky and takes you on a ride. I don't remember if it goes wildly off the track but I wouldn't be surprised if it did with an artist like Hancock at the wheel."
On Harry Partch - The World of Harry Partch
"@AidenBowe45 yeah basically. I'm not here to hear your lips flapping."
On Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei
"@AidenBowe45 I'm excited for whenever you do decide to listen to it, they put you on a wild ride that's the best of both worlds and reminds me why I regard Krautrock as one of my all time favorite genres to lose my mind to!"
On Eyeliner - Buy Now
"@AidenBowe45 I mean it's not the definitive vaporwave experience, but if you're a fan of the genre then there's definitely some solid stuff here."
On girl in red - if i could make it go quiet
"@AidenBowe45 I am likely not the intended audience since I am a grown ass 26 year old listening to these lyrics. I may not be fully aware of what the kiddos are into these days, but when I was an edgy teenager in middle school, shit like this banged for the girlies."
On Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
"@OldTask This album is definitely geared towards the artsy fartsy folks that appreciate just how deep into the rabbit hole this experience takes them. Definitely takes an experienced or a very open ear to truly "get it." Not everyone does, but the ones that do praise this shit up and down like I do."
On Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
"@Moosky This album is fit for a very particular meditative mindset you have to be in for the Inherent strangeness to pack as hard of a punch as it does. Like many albums I love this is like a sonic drug trip that is more to be experienced than enjoyed as regular music. This album has a legendary status because it goes deep into this surreal experimental soundscape unapologetically and not everyone is going to get it, but those who do are immensely rewarded. I recommend you to maybe expand your horizons and listen to ambient/Psychedelic/ experimental releases similar to this so your pallet is more used to what this amazing album has to offer. Cont."
On David Bowie - Station to Station
"@Jakeisthedoctor You mentioned that across the board I have wild takes, are there more recent examples that raises your eyebrows?"
On David Bowie - Station to Station
"@Jakeisthedoctor Man I really should delete and reevaluate these albums I reviewed in my early days when my taste wasn't nearly as refined yet expansive as it is now. Back in 2023 I was throwing my inexperienced taste into classics head first with no idea what I was talking about. It's part of the reason why I am exploring the 60s and 70s again along with bolstering my limited playlists. To great success too with my 60s playlist going from 90 tracks to over 750 and growing as I am now appreciative of the greatness that I am consuming. I promise when I get to these albums again down the road, I will likely have a more reasonable take. For now, just enjoy how unhinged I was in 2023."
On Vapora - Oceanside Mall
"@frogofprog oh yeah, Vapora. I definitely had mixed feelings with this artist. They had some genuinely great vaporwave along with...well ones that missed the mark. Yeah I was a bit more loose with my reviews back in 2023 just experimenting with how I liked to present my reviews. It results in some reviews I am still proud of to some I just go crazy on. It is also an era where I was still forming my tastes on like twenty+ genres at once so don't take my early reviews that seriously."
On Drake - Scorpion
"@Triplo Thanks! I don't often have something to say about an album these days past a standard passing observation, but popular releases from the 2010s are a good way to get be talking at least a little bit."
On Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel
"@RSmithFan What I meant was that this was the first album that felt like it was made in the eighties. Don't know why I phrased it that way either."
On Not Marshall - FRIDAY NIGHT A DRESS2IMPRESS MODEL HAS TO SHOW OFF HER NEW AFRO HAIRSTYLE
"@engar where? what? I don't see anything eyebrow raising."
On Fabrizio De André - Vol. 1°
"@I_love_chickenw 👍 Whatever you say bud. I'll keep on doing what I do regardless of your berating."
On Fabrizio De André - Vol. 1°
"@I_love_chickenw Good for them and the people that praise their writing. That's not the reason I fell in love with music so I don't focus on it. And that is just as fine as those who do the opposite and completely mute the music and gush over the writing. Different strokes, we all appreciate art in our own individual ways."
On Fabrizio De André - Vol. 1°
"@I_love_chickenw Maybe I'll appreciate that part of the experience when I decide to give a shit about the lyrics. Until then, those pink floyd classics offer an amazing sonic experience regardless of whatever they are yapping about."
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