[UNDA5: Day 13]

UPDATE (OG Score: 8.1): Yeah, this shrunk a little. I still enjoy the sparseness and rawness of the production and the melodies. Plus, some of the songs and lyrics on here are pretty great. But the overall quality didn't hit me as hard as it once did when I did my short-lived random album challenge.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

[Treasure Tue-Wednesday Ep. 17]

The Dunedin sound is a New Zealand-based movement that I have never heard in my life but Chris Knox seemed to have pioneered it. ... read more

After recent events involving the horrible death of his 15-year-old son, Arthur, Nick Cave creates an album out of pain. This is the type of pain that everyone feels whenever they lose someone too dear to them and Nick takes you to feel it with him. Like "Ghosteen" after it, I just felt down during it (and I also had a cold goddammit), but it also felt more overwhelming since this just happened and he's describing himself throwing up in the sink and desperately trying to isolate ... read more

Nick Cave and crew deliver their most depressed-feeling album in years, with a lot of somber, piano-based instrumentals and light guitar tones. He also delivers some amazing performances and the same great writing and storytelling... as per usual.

Fav Tracks: Push the Sky Away, Jubilee Street, Water's Edge, Higgs Boson Blues, Wide Lovely Eyes, We No Who U R

Least Fav Track: Finishing Jubilee Street (as much as I love the meta concept)

Score:
8.7
Exceptional

"Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" has plenty of that Nick Cave charm for the average fan to "Dig" into. His storytelling and lyricism is fantastic and the vocals and production are pretty much what you'd expect from the Bad Seeds. It's just that it feels kinda shallow and less emotionally-involving compared to most of what he's done.

Fav Tracks: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!; More News from Nowhere; Midnight Man; Jesus of the Moon; We Call Upon the Author; Today's Lesson

Least Fav Track: ... read more

At one hour, it can feel a little bloated at times (especially on the outro), but "No World As Good As Mine" is a record that has a sound that I absolutely love! The incorporation of guitars and live drums amp up his electronic atmosphere to new heights,

Fav Tracks: (Run It), Gylder Fawr, III - Blue Dots, II - Beautiful Losers, Hell For Ourselves!, I Hear Chop Snares In The Willow Trees, I - Fall In Your Hands

Least Fav Track: IV - No World

Score:
8.5
Exceptional

What I liked the most about "E" is its ethereal ambient production, which is some pretty solid stuff that complements the lyrics pretty well. There are also some low-key bangers on this project like "Peroxide" and "Time". Unfortunately, some of these ideas are are horribly executed and these vocals are just awful. One point he's sounding like a male, effects-heavy version of Imogen Heap and the next he just... doesn't sound that good.

Fav Tracks: Peroxide, Time, ... read more

The title track remains one of clipping.'s most underappreciated tracks. The rest of the EP is fine, but "Drownt" is severely underwhelming as a clipping. track.

The Deep: 9.5
Aquacode Databreaks: 8
Drownt: 5

Score:
7.5
Very Good

The only couple of times I had a laugh was, one, how repetitive and awful it is and, two, how he managed to break through the copyright barriers by putting the fucking Snow Halation theme on Spotify without any of the rights. Unfortunately, the joke managed to wear thin as the entire half-note concept stretched 19 minutes in length and I just wanted it to end. There's absolutely no value or any reason for this album's existence.

The time-span can only be so short to the point where ... read more

This is... no. This has to be the worst combination of rock and hip hop I've heard since "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven". The attempts at being "deep" fall flat into the Earth's core, the instrumentals are horrible, Vic Mensa's vocals are garbage and the lyrics... "I fuck myself and call it masturbation" is probably the most redundant, stupid and most so-bad-you-want-to-kill-yourself line I've ever heard.

Fav Track: ...

Least Fav Tracks: F.I.N.E. [sketch], definition ... read more

We return to the darkness on "The Seer"... and it's more prominent than ever before. Swans have stepped up their atmosphere to the next level for this one and it results in what is one of their darkest albums yet in an already haunting discography. That with the combination of that album cover... eyughh! Now, I should say right off the bat that, even by Swans standards, "The Seer" isn't exactly an easy listen. They literally have their first 20+ minute epics on this record ... read more

"No one cares about your punk album unless you make it kawaiI desu as FUCK with high-pitched Japanese vocals!" - Benjamin Franklin - Runescape subreddit, 1392

Fav Tracks: This Is Chai, Family Member, Great Job, Curly Adventure, Wintime

Least Fav Track: Choose Go!

Score:
7.6
Very Good

Drab Majesty seems to have that gothic fix I wanted on "Modern Mirror". It's a slickly-produced darkwave album with all that 80's flair you'd expect and it works wonderfully, with great writing and catchy melodies throughout. Now, more goth please!

Fav Tracks: The Other Side, Out of Sequence, Noise of the Void, Long Division

Least Fav Track: A Dialogue

Score:
8
Great

After 14 years, Swans are back (except for Jarboe) and a record for their return could’ve been a failure for the band. Instead, "My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky" is a solid start to a new era. Not every production choice wins and the few acoustic tracks are shallow in comparison to the more grandiose ones, but the other aspects of the production are beautiful, the mix of accessible melodies and experimental soundscapes and instrumentation is great and Michael Gira's ... read more

While still lacking the conceptual angel of his previous records, this double LP gets Nick Cave back in shape! "Abattoir Blues" is an incredible album on its own, with some great production and instrumentation and the usual great vocals and lyricism from Mr. Cave himself. "The Lyre of Orpheus" doesn't fare quite as well with reduced instrumentation and writing quality compared to its bigger brother, but it's still yet another great addition to a great catalog.

[Abattoir ... read more

It's such a shame that rappers like this go under the radar in the underground scene because Billy Woods is such an amazing rapper. "Hiding Places", a collaboration album with producer Kenny Segal, further proves that point. The flows are great and his lyricism is phenomenal, sometimes funny, and it's all backed by punchy, abstract and all-around top-tier production from Segal.

Fav Tracks: Red Dust, A Day in a Week in a Year, Spongebob, Checkpoints, Houthi, Spider Hole, ... read more

"Dos City", despite me not understanding half of what they're saying, is a wildly creative experimental hip hop album with lots of intriguing free jazz instrumentation, off-kilter usage of boom bap beats and some great flows from the crew members. Anyone looking to scratch that creative jazz rap itch shouldn't miss out on this.

Fav Tracks: Clean Ya Nerves (Cleopatra), Agharta, Bacchus, Muffin, Theater D, EPH (wo wo), In 20XX, Dos City

Least Fav Track: Do Not ... read more

Tim Fucker goes for a massive, piano-rich alternative alongside his ambient roots and hollly shhitt is it beautiful! On top of "Virgins" being his most beautiful and expansive-sounding project to date, it's also a powerful trip where I feel like I'm floating through a crystal-infested galaxy with a blue-ish hue.

Fav Tracks: Virginal I & II, Black Refraction, Live Room, Stab Variation, Live Room Out, Prism, Radiance, Stigmata II

Least Fav Track: Incense at Abu ... read more

[Treasure Tuesday Ep. 16 (update below review... but also read the review)]

OOF this is NOT GOOD. The amount of boredom and low effort poured into this is astonishing because it's just so cliche-ridden and uninteresting. The chord progressions and melodies are basic, the production is unbelievably cheap and the lyrics are utter garbage. Probably one of the most bland art pop I’ve heard this decade.

Fav Tracks: Strong, um... maybe Yours?

Least Fav Tracks: Sunny Days, To Gold, Everything ... read more

"Ravedeath, 1972" is easily Tim Hecker's most textured, detailed, comforting and most polished version of his ambient/drone sound to date. It's barren, it's an album that's absolutely demolished by the apocalypse of the music scene.

Fav Tracks: Hatred of Music; In the Air; In the Fog; Analog Paralysis, 1978; No Drums

Least Fav Track: The Piano Drop

Score:
9.5
Amazing

"An Imaginary Country" might just be the most Hecker album Tim Hecker has ever heckin' hecked. That isn't a bad thing, however. The atmosphere is as beautifully-crafted and layered as ever. It's not as consistent as his previous works, but it works well enough to Tim Heller's strengths.

Fav Tracks: Borderlands, Paragon Point, The Inner Shore, Where Shadows Make Shadows, A Stop At the Chord Cascades, Currents of Electrostasy, 200 Years Ago

Least Fav Track: Pond Life

Score:
8.2
Great