The Syndicate

Submissions:

nutella - Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs / 1997 / Vocal Jazz / 8 tracks / 42:42 / YouTube (nutella please verify) and Spotify

MovingPictures07 - Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun / 1987 / Neoclassical darkwave / 8 tracks / 38:43 / YouTube and Spotify

Golden - Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Deluxe) / 2016 / Neo-soul / 16 tracks / 75:32 / YouTube and Spotify

speedchuck - Toehider - What Kind of Creature Am I? / 2014 / Progressive rock/metal / 10 tracks / 51:45 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

JaggedJimmyJay - CunninLynguists - A Piece of Strange / 2005 / Southern hip hop / 16 tracks / 54:19 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

triceratopzeuhl - Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt / 1969 / Country/folk / 10 tracks / 34:33 / YouTube and Spotify

G-Man - The Stooges - Fun House / 1970 / Proto-punk / 7 tracks / 36:35 / YouTube and Spotify

sprityo - Michael Guy Bowman - Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido / 2011 / Synthpop / 9 tracks / 39:21 / YouTube and Bandcamp

Glad to have you aboard sprityo!

I'm feeling pretty good about this one through one spin. 3.5

I'm listening to The Mountain Goats now. Halfway through the album they seem pretty agreeable. The first thing I noticed was how similar to Neutral Milk Hotel they sound; I actually checked to see if there was any band member crossover (there isn't).

Submissions:

nutella - Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs / 1997 / Vocal Jazz / 8 tracks / 42:42 / YouTube (nutella please verify) and Spotify

MovingPictures07 - Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun / 1987 / Neoclassical darkwave / 8 tracks / 38:43 / YouTube and Spotify

Golden - Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Deluxe) / 2016 / Neo-soul / 16 tracks / 75:32 / YouTube and Spotify

speedchuck - Toehider - What Kind of Creature Am I? / 2014 / Progressive rock/metal / 10 tracks / 51:45 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

JaggedJimmyJay - CunninLynguists - A Piece of Strange / 2005 / Southern hip hop / 16 tracks / 54:19 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

triceratopzeuhl - Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt / 1969 / Country/folk / 10 tracks / 34:33 / YouTube and Spotify

sprityo - Michael Guy Bowman - Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido / 2011 / Synthpop / 9 tracks / 39:21 / YouTube and Bandcamp

I've reverted to the prior-submitted albums for those who did not get selected last time. If you'd like to change your submission, just say so.

Also, it's time the prepare the queue for the next five album cycle. Get your submissions in unless you had one selected in the previous cycle. On Thursday I'll get a poll up so we can make our votes.

I wish to hear more reactions to this album.

Better that than "Safe Sex"

I actually regret awarding 3 stars for cheese novelty. I'll reduce that to 2.5.

That makes sense. One of my immediate thoughts was "this guy is Meat Loaf caliber cheesy. It has to be on purpose".

Some exclusive shots of my reactions to this album:
Seriously though, it's really funny and I think it's meant to be that kind of fun experience more than something taken entirely seriously. Based upon that perspective, I'll give it 3 stars. It achieves what it sets out to achieve (I think -- I could still be wrong).

I've decided that hilarity is the clear intent. I haven't stopped laughing the whole time.

This album is hilarious. I'm not certain yet whether it's meant to be.

Haha, I just started listening and my initial response is the same. I'll give it a chance.

I'm giving it a second spin tonight, and it is enjoyable enough. I think it starts well and is generally fair throughout, though it could stand to break its own formula more frequently. Eventually the songs blend together for their samey momentum-driven construction, a gripe I have with a number of other indie rock acts. I don't think it's a bad product though. 3 stars

3 stars for Echolyn

I'm only a few songs into the album, but I am hearing some resemblance to the Kaiser Chiefs. Cool beans.

S~V~S wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:50 pm

Ricochet wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2017 8:52 am The Syndicate 2.0.: Nobody cares about SAW anymore

I care; I just started to feel stupid and amateurish. I don't know much about the technical parts of music, I just know what I like. It had nothing to do with Syndicate 2.0; I dropped out before that.

I will try again

What you like is the only thing that matters anyway! There are no wrong answers here, and no takes are unworthy of being shared.

After two listens, the recurring reaction from me is indifference to 7 of the 8 tracks and a strong fondness for the exception: "(Speaking In) Lampblack". That one's excellent.

I gave the album a spin and it didn't make any impression on me either way, though I was rather distracted. I'll give it a fairer opportunity before I render judgment. It might be worth paying close attention to the lyrics too, i.e. following along with a lyric sheet. The tracks are long and purposeful, and I suspect the best way to do it justice is to be thorough. This doesn't strike me as something meant to be heard in the background.

Sorry gang, but I have no time at all to keep up with this right now. I will need others to keep it rolling for the time being if it is to survive.

By all means, fine with me. I am too pressed for time anyway. Rico, please grab the links.

I am fairly sure we got the full week out of A Passion Play, or at least very close to it, before the site exploded.

Hey y'all, by all means jump into the next album -- sorry that I cannot keep up currently. I have a ton going on this week. The next one is Epi's -- Echolyn. If anyone else can get those sexy graphics up to kick off the week, get 'er done! We can extend it to Monday of next week since it's delayed.

Poor Golden.

Since interpretation and reception of music (or any art) is by nature subjective, the creative process which inspires and builds the art is subject to the respect or disrespect of the observer. This includes whatever skills are necessary to generate whatever variety of music is being discussed. I would agree that arrangement is an important factor for field recordings specifically, but to judge the "quality" of an arrangement is inherently nonsense because it is reliant entirely upon the perspective of the observer. Person A (not intended as a reverse of the username ) might draw real meaning from any given thing while Person B might perceive it to be void of meaning or substance. Neither of them is objectively correct; they are simply reporting on their own subjective viewpoints -- which I would theorize are derived nearly at random.

Skill cannot be relevant because interpretation of skill is not consistent. One skill which is paramount to a progressive rock fan (such as technical aptitude with the instruments) might be meaningless to the pop fan who is much more concerned with some other skill (such as songwriting aptitude). Yet another person might not care about either one, and is instead only concerned with arrangement, or emotional resonance, or something very specific like time signature, or whatever other crap people might arbitrarily care about.

If even a single listener out there draws meaning and importance from something, then that person perceives a skill to exist in its creation (whatever that skill may be). I cannot find a way to justify calling that person wrong if I do not find the same something to be interesting. The notion makes no sense to me.

I consider "skill" to be irrelevant as a factor for determining the artistic merit of something.

I hope we can find a way to get Golden, Epi, and Rico into the mix finally.

Sorry for the delay folks, but the new poll is up. It'll conclude Saturday night just before we transition to Week 11.

Glad to have you, speedchuck! You're not too late, I'll add your album to the thing. I'll set up the poll sometime this afternoon.

The first Ricoreview I haven't watched in full.

I'm finishing up the deadmau5 album now. It has had some entertaining moments, but for the most part I have found it to be a tedious listen. At its worst it's pretty lifeless to my ear, and that covers a significant fraction of the thing. I have nothing against this genre, but this is not an example that works well for me. It's not terrible though. 2 stars.

I'll open the new poll on Thursday. Anyone else eligible is welcome to submit albums until then. juliets? Quin? S~V~S?

thellama73 - Pandora's Box - Original Sin / 1989 / Art Pop / 14 tracks / 67:11 / YouTube

Ricochet - Jethro Tull - A Passion Play / 1973 / Progressive Rock / 2 tracks / 45:11 / YouTube (Rico please verify this playlist is legit)

insertnamehere - The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas / Lo-Fi / 14 tracks / 42:02 / YouTube (INH please verify) and Spotify

nutella - Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs / 1997 / Vocal Jazz / 8 tracks / 42:42 / YouTube (nutella please verify) and Spotify

MovingPictures07 - De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead / 1991 / East Coast Hip Hop / 27 tracks / 73:32 / YouTube (MP please verify) and

Epignosis - Echolyn - Echolyn / 2012 / Progressive Rock / 8 tracks / 70:44 / Bandcamp

Golden - Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Deluxe) / 2016 / Neo-soul / 16 tracks / 75:32 / YouTube and Spotify (Golden please let me know if you'd like to change your submission)

Quin - Last Dinosaurs - In a Million Years / 2012 / Indie Pop / 11 tracks / 42:56 / YouTube and Spotify

speedchuck - Toehider - What Kind of Creature Am I? / 2014 / Progressive rock/metal / 10 tracks / 51:45 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

Here we go. Time for my rave.

Along with giving Marmot's album a listen, there are a couple other things I'd like to handle this week:

1.) Please respond to the current poll to indicate how you would prefer to proceed with the SAW thread moving forward from the options provided.

2.) If you would like, submit an album for the 3rd cycle or queue. If we vote to maintain the procedure as before, then any ineligible submissions this week will be delayed until the next cycle.

Thanks, A Person, for giving us the opportunity to explore a variety of music that many of us had not tried before. For week 10 we move into the realm of electronic music.

I have no issue calling it music. I don't think melody is a requirement by definition. I agree though that it really doesn't matter -- the intent is artistic either way.

I'm almost through my first spin of Whole Stories. I like the part with the noises.

Thanks for the submission, Trice. It maintained a nice trend of sending us back and forth through time, which continues again with our next album.

Hackett wrote:I've enjoyed Arthur for the most part. In limited exposure I think I like the former half of the album more than the latter. I appreciate the straight-forwardness of the music; no genre-bending gimmicks are called upon to add unnecessary flare. It's a 3.5 for me.

That's exactly how I feel.

I won't get a chance to listen until later in the week. It's been a long time since I've listened to The Kinks so it should be neat.

Hey y'all, I'm on my phone all day and can't really present the next album. I'd appreciate it if anyone else could move us forward. Thanks again for giving Woodface a listen.

This isn't actually on the album after Woodface, but it's my favorite song in the world so I'm sharing it anyway. Nobody is obligated to listen.
This is what I perceive a perfect song to sound like.

Rico's review and the ensuing conversation reminded me of something that might help explain my fondness for Crowded House better.

I understand how, on the surface, they might sound like a standard issue pop rock band with some nice songs but nothing that jumps out. Indeed, a term I would imagine some critics applying to them is "inoffensive". I think this perception is a symptom of a quality I believe the band boasts which their contemporaries often did not (or at least it was less audible in the music): maturity.

When I view Crowded House's lyrical content, and when I listen to the arrangements of their songs and albums, I hear a group which has already enjoyed a long and thorough musical progression. If you follow the music of Neil Finn backwards in time, I think you'll hear the refined songwriting become less refined, and the mature presentation will become progressively more gimmicky.

Split Enz and the first two Crowded House albums can be squarely associated with many of the hallmarks of '80s production and songwriting. I'd call their debut album which Rico mentioned derivative even, though I do enjoy it a lot. Woodface and Together Alone see Crowded House coming into a sound uniquely their own, with an appeal that can be felt by all age groups in a way that I don't think can be as easily said of REM or a few other contemporaries. Crowded House also had two comeback albums in 2007 and 2010, and they are both even more refined and mature -- to the point that some fans didn't like them as much (I love them).

That's just my perspective though. There are no wrong answers in music.