The Syndicate

WOODKID: This time through I noticed a very Coldplay-esque vibe, especially on the tracks when he's singing with a piano. I can hear Chris Martin singing some of these somber tunes. Also, I think this guy could write one heck of a James Bond theme. Some of the tunes possess arrangements that are big and brassy enough to sound ominous and hit the right chords for it.

THAT HANDSOME DEVIL: Didn't make it back to this one today.

THAT HANDSOME DEVIL: Getting a weird but enjoyable Outkast meets Nick Cave fusion going on in places here. I also hear the rockabilly/swing revival influence. I'm glad the band doesn't stay too close to that last sound because I'm a firm believer that that phase, while fun in the moment, has long since passed.

WOODKID: Honing in on a final rating.

The Golden Age

I don't know that Woodkid's voice would work in any of the other categories of Pop that I listed before except for maybe Traditional Pop. His accent doesn't bother me but his range strikes me as limited in range and his expressiveness was lacking or limited in a number of tracks. That being said, I think the artist knows what his vocal limitations are and wrote orchestration that suits his abilities pretty well.

Track 1, "The Golden Age," tries to put its best foot forward and does for the most part. Even with my headphones on, I felt that his voice got swallowed up by the orchestra too much. Whether that's a mixing issue or just the reality of his voice vs. the music is unclear. Track 2, "Run Boy Run," hits the right combination of the two elements and has a good driving energy. Track 3, "The Great Escape," was grand in scope but the horns were a little over the top for me. I can envision a music video of a high-fantasy world, the hero gallantly riding his steed in time to the percussion. I don't know what should or even could replace the horns but it seemed a little thick for me.

That's more or less how this album played out for me. There were five solid tracks and the rest were just pretty good to my ears. Some songs feel a little too close to other music I'm familiar with (Coldplay, Michael Giacchino, James Bond music) and other tracks just felt like they were incomplete or missing one or two crucial elements that would put it over the top. When it works though, it's very enjoyable.

My three favorite tracks were "Run Boy Run," "I Love You," and "Ghost Lights." "Run Boy Run" has a great energy to it and contains more than just the singer and the orchestra. The opening of "I Love You" reminded me of Original Sin with its echoey, metallic sounds. The strings and bells were a nice touch in that song too. "Ghost Lights" might be my favorite of the tracks for the long brass notes. They provide some oomph that is either missing or not quite complete on other tracks.

Orchestral Pop seems to be full of niche artists that can't escape from the shadows of the soulful dramatic pop of Adele unless you are into the genre and go looking for indie/obscure artists. This album came in just a few points under The Family Crest, which surprised me. I went back and looked to see why (I thought Woodkid would come in well below them) and I found that while The Family Crest went all-out with their gusto and wore their passion on their sleeve, they were inconsistent. I wasn't indifferent to any of the tracks on The Golden Age while I was indifferent to a few on Beneath the Brine but Woodkid's album contained more tracks and fewer tracks that I thought were 'very good.' I'm fascinated that these two albums took very different journeys to very similar ratings.

G-Man Scale: 3.30 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

THAT HANDSOME DEVIL:
Another attribute I've noticed is that the artists are very intentional about portraying an image through their music. Some of the little things, like a laugh here, an extra side comment to the listener there, seem like things more suited to a live show, so it's like their trying to capture some of their stage persona on the record. It's fine on this album but it might wear thin over multiple albums for me. Another analogy I came up with to describe the album is this: take every single Quentin Tarantino movie soundtrack, put it in a blender, and add a healthy dose of Tarantino's desire to be intentionally hip with everything he does, and it might sound like A City Dressed in Dynamite.

TIMBRE TIMBRE:
How is this a variant of folk music? To me it just sounds like quasi-tongue-in-cheek gothic alternative.

Ricochet wrote: ↑Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:32 pm I wish to file a formal complaint that I'm suddenly hearing A Flock of Seagulls EVERYWHERE in 80s related movies or TVs.

A n g e r y

HA-HA! HA! HA!

I’ve been a tremendous slouch lately but I wonder what’s possibly occupying my attention right now

I should have time to finalize That Handsome Devil and Timber Timbre this weekend. THD is the kind of album that grows on me with each listen. TT not so much but it’s adequate.

Chris Squire strikes me as music made for music people. The vocals fit somewhere in the same region as Elton John and late/post-Police Sting. Not bad but not the kind of thing that reaches out and commands your attention.

Note to self: Don't listen to soft prog-rock first thing in the morning.

Chris Squire very nearly put me to sleep at my desk this morning. That's not a firm knock against the artist/album but more so a reminder to me that I can't listen to anything too light before I'm fully awake.

At the risk of starting controversy, I pondered to myself if Fish Out of Water could be considered soft rock as well as prog. While technically, soft rock normally involves acoustic instruments, why can't it include electric? I would consider Chris Squire's sound to be soft because it lacks any edge whatsoever. It's mellow but it is still artful. Perhaps soft rock is derided because it is mellow without being artful?

It's not boring but it's also not gripping. I don't know where that leaves me.

A City Dressed in Dynamite

I've said most of what I have to say about this album in bits and pieces already. It's very diverse and eclectic, which (for me) makes this band a niche product because of the genres is splices together. The uptempo songs were more fun but some of the slower tunes seemed to falter. I think it was due to their down-trodden tone, almost like wallowing a little in the gritty gloom of the storytelling.

The opener, "Damn Door," serves as a solid opener. It greets you right away with the kind of irreverence and kookiness that plays out over the whole album. It sets the expectation of not knowing what to expect. "Wintergreen" followed it up nicely but some of the language turned me off (personal thing, sorry). "Rob the Prez-O-Dent" is amusing but perhaps it's the politically-tumultuous times that we live in that kept me from embracing this song as a standout.

My three favorite tracks were "Damn Door," "Viva Discordia," and ""Squares." I've already touched on the first of my choices. I enjoyed the swing-meets-hip hop vibe of "Viva Discordia" and it was a nice pick-me-up after a few slower, less zany tracks. "Squares" hits a couple of marks for me. It has the quirky, retro anti-drugs propaganda film sample, and a fun fusion of hip hop spitting and hard-hitting rock guitar. That track alone stands as a nice summation of what this album offers.

I can't say that this is an album that I'd consistently turn to if offered but it is an album that grew on me with each listen. As someone who has little exposure to the world of drugs, street crime, and poverty, perhaps it would take a little more time for me to appreciate the lyrics. I don't typically focus on the lyrics but some tracks stand out as better storytelling than others. Perhaps I just haven't had enough time to take it all in yet.

Overall, it was a unique and interesting experience. I feel like I say that too often for the albums you folks nominate. Perhaps that means my music tastes are too conventional, boring, and/or pedestrian. We'll see.

G-Man Scale: 3.33 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

Next week is Thanksgiving, which means that I will allow myself to listen to Christmas music come Black Friday. I'd like to take advantage of the Christmas season and nominate what is quite possibly the only jazz album I own:




A Charlie Brown Christmas
Vince Guaraldi Trio
1965
11 Tracks (though most playlists feature bonus tracks)
40:25

Available on YouTube and Spotify

Creep On Creepin' On

I still don't see how this album is labeled as folk. INH tried to explain it but I still don't hear it. Perhaps that's because I don't have a firm working knowledge of folk music in general. Perhaps I'm just too cynical about weird genre names like freak folk. Whatever the case, the genre doesn't fit the album for me and the album didn't fit my tastes much either.

Track 1 ("Bad Ritual") opens with the kind of beat you might hear sampled on a hip-hop album. I dig the piano and drums combo, as well as the muted, understated tone. The sound of the vocals is deliberately eerie. If the song did more than just verse-chorus-verse-chorus, then I might have liked it more though. Track 2 ("Obelisk") was a tense and fascinating instrumental piece. I'd have liked to see more of that kind of music variety seep into other tracks. Track 3 ("Creep On Creepin' On") sounded similar to several other songs on the album but it got bonus points for the added instrumentation on the intro and sprinkled here and there throughout the track.

I think my main gripe with this album is that half the songs are structured too similarly. Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, and 8 are all rooted in the plink-plink-plink of the high keys and minimalist drumbeats. Some tracks have more to them than others but the overall sparse instrumentation really made the plink-plink-plink stand out to me. I don't want to say that I was bored but I wasn't really feeling it for most of the album.

My top three include "Creep On Creepin' On" for its musical variety, "Obelisk" for being the most interesting sound on the album, and "Too Old to Die Young" for drawing me back into the second half of the album with a non-plink-plink-plink foundation. I could see this being an interesting album to listen to when you're stoned or drinking (absinthe especially) but my conventional ears were left wanting more. Still, the band set out to evoke a mood and I think they succeeded.

I can appreciate a minimalist approach but I felt like there was too much repetitiveness in the foundations. I docked it a sliver extra for the over-reliance on the plink-plink-plink but I still enjoyed enough of it to avoid indifference. I think this might mean that I'm just not indie enough for bands like this.

G-Man Scale: 3.21 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5

I should be able to post my Chris Squire review later tonight. I hear ability but it just didn't resonate with me.

Same goes with Joanna Newsom. The first two tracks were interesting enough but the novelty wore off with track 3. It was only my first listen though.

Fish Out of Water

I grew up with very limited exposure to prog because my dad was a product of the 70s punk and new wave scene. Punk was, in part, a reaction against the rising popularity of prog (among many, many other things), which explains why I didn't hear much prog except for what I heard on classic rock radio until I got to college. Even then, my ventures were limited- mostly psychedelic prog like Pink Floyd. I don't know Yes (unless "Owner of a Lonely Heart" counts for anything), so I can't say it surprises me that I didn't (and still don't) know just how I feel about this album.

The problem I ran into with judging these tracks is that there were elements of each track that stood out but none of the tracks stood out as a total package. "Hold Out Your Hand" has the organ going for it, "You By My Side" has the Sgt. Pepper's-esque horn sections, the bass jamming on "Silently Falling" reminded me of Ben Folds Five, "Lucky Seven" has the nice saxophone parts, and "Safe (Canon Song)" has that nice bass part at 5:00 which repeats later and the final two minutes of organ remind me of the Interstellar soundtrack. The vocals never grabbed me.

The closest track to achieving more than a 'pretty good' rating is "Lucky Seven" but the pace and beat never changes, leaving it to feel like more of a smooth jam with a hint of attitude. That's where I land with the whole album really. I hear the talent but none of it excites me. Does that make sense?

Picking three tracks is hard for me because they all elicited similar responses from me. I would go with "Hold Out Your Hand" for standing out with its organ, "Lucky Seven" for vibe, and "Silently Falling" for its bass jamming. "You By My Side" is a little too lightweight for me and "Safe (Canon Song)" drags on for a little too long.

This is the first album we've listened to where I've been this neutral across the board. I think I will have to revisit it later down the road after I've listened to more prog.

G-Man Scale: 3.13 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5

Oh man, I didn't notice that there weren't any other nominees. Oh well, at least we'll be listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas during the first sliver of December. I was hoping it might fall closer to Christmas. Too fast on the trigger I guess.

Ys

Here is another case of hearing talent that does nothing for me. I watched a few YouTube videos of harpists, which gave me a significant appreciation for how awkward and intricate an instrument it is, so I can objectively say that Joanna Newsom has skill with her instrument. Her voice left me in a kind of limbo. Her voice totally suits the kind of music she makes but it's not a sound that I'm dying to hear more often. It is my theory that nobody naturally sings like that, and that her vocals represent a very deliberate and intentional product.

The first three tracks were fine enough for me. Originally, indifference seeped in on track 3 but after a few listens with the headphones on, I like the rapid harp strings on "Sawdust and Diamonds." Track 4 didn't survive the indifference test for me though, as it went on and on far too long without anything that stood out to me with wow factor. Track 5's intro reminded me of a Smashing Pumpkins song circa Mellon Collie but it didn't build into anything I would call a standout.

If I had to pick three tracks, I would take "Sawdust and Diamond" first. I think it might be the album's best track (in my opinion). After that, I 'd go with the opening and closing tracks. "Emily" sets the tone and serves as a decent (albeit long-ish) introduction to the artist. "Cosmia" closes on a relatively strong note with a consistent tune that serves as the backbone of the track.

Perhaps I'm just too nice a person, because I always feel bad when I struggle to find superlatives for albums other people nominate. I want to like these albums as much as you do and I don't want anyone to feel let down when I don't. The most I can say for Newsom is that she is talented in ways that don't fall into my orbit. I found her quaint at worst and pleasant at best.

G-Man Scale: 3.00 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5


Speaking of... where's Rico been? Did someone finally hit that dislike?

speedchuck wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 2:37 pm Uhhhhh . . . I'm not sure how comfortable I feel listening to this at work.

Joanna Newsom or Drake?

I felt awkward about both.

First thoughts on Drake:

-I like most of the beats- some EDM-esque foundations
-The mixture of R&B and rap provides nice variety
-Neither the N-word nor the P-word are a part of my vocabulary (except for pussy willow, pussy cat, and James Bond references), so hearing them so often was both distracting and disappointing
-I can tolerate the F-word and the S-word if the tone of the song is right. Drake has what I consider a pretty-boy voice, so the language doesn't sound right coming from him.
-Just because you can make an 80-minute album doesn't mean you should!

I don't dismiss it outright because of the swearing. There are only a few tracks where it's a distraction, the opener being one of them. I think we're on the same wavelength though that throwing those words out too often feels lazy. The same (swearing) problem exists in some corners of rock too.

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:13 pm

dunya wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:15 pm I think my next hip hop album recommendation will be oldschool, by my favorite rapper ever: Del Tha Funkee Homosapian and my favorite album by him: I Wish My Brother George Was Here.

I'm convinced there's some secret rap and hip hop fans, even if Drake is not everyone's cuppa tea. I honestly wanted to share it because people overlook Take Care and call Drake that annoying "Hotline Bling" rapper (which is a good tune too tbf). He's got amazing flow imo, and I enjoy him immensely, even if he does fall into the rap/hiphop/pop category.

I'm a huge fan of his Deltron 3030 work (well, we won't talk about the comeback album), but that's a solid album too.

Beastie Boys are known to let the beat drop. Just saying.

[mention]nutella[/mention] I use the Spotify web browser and I found two versions of the album- one clean and the other explicit.

For me, the album starts out pretty even, fades over tracks 6-10, picks back up but then fades at the end again. I definitely prefer the tracks that are more R&B because his voice doesn't sound right dropping rap rhymes (and profanities). As a middle-class white guy from Middle-Class White Guy Land, some of the lyrics elude me. The songs about getting some tail and spending dollars is the opposite of my world view. I'm going to try to give it two more listens before making a final ranking though. I like most of the beats. The lyrics may be the kind of thing that takes time.

I'll jump in and start the new album off. [mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention] can adjust the front post later.

I'm eager to hear what you all think. To put it simply, this is one of the few Christmas albums for me that is an essential part of the Christmas season. Oh, sure, there are many essential Christmas songs, but there's a special magic that makes a whole album essential. Something in A Charlie Brown Christmas delivers that. I'll leave it at that, as I'm sure many of you are familiar with at least a few of these tunes from past holiday seasons or even from watching the weather channel during Christmastime in years past.

A note, the original album was only 11 tracks. Both the YouTube video and Spotify add a few bonus tracks from other Peanuts specials.

Available on YouTube single video or playlist and Spotify

I added a link to a playlist on YouTube for Charlie Brown. The single video cuts out partway through the last bonus track (if you listen that far).

Take Care

Listening to this album made me realize a few things. First, most of the hip hop and/or rap that I've listened to is either white guys or part of the greater rap-rock genre. I hope that doesn't mean I'm subconsciously racist. Second, this album's lyrical content made me realize just how tame and responsible my life has been. Sure I've had moments of stupidity but I've never lived or even encountered the kinds of lifestyles on display with Drake's album.

Track 1 ("Over My Dead Body") has some great beats and backing vocals. It was lovely until Drake started his droning style of rapping, which left me on the fence. Take away his foul-mouthed braggadocio and you've got the potential for a really sophisticated and chill R&B or even rap tune. Track 2 ("Shot For Me") is smoother and better than the opener. If that is Drake singing, then he should stick to that. I thought I detected some autotune on the talk-rap, which surprised me. Did he really need autotune to keep his talking in tune or is it just an effect used to sound cool in the rap genre in general? Track 3 ("Headlines") has the best beats yet and also features the best rapping so far. Drake uses a little more vocal variety, which helps break up what could otherwise sound monotonous. The lyrics hold it back yet again.

That was a common theme I found throughout the album- Drake's lyrics fail to aspire to the same heights as his beats. The production values are lovely. I enjoyed the EDM-influenced beats and the use of ambient strings and other elements missing from the few rap songs I've stumbled upon when switching through radio stations. At times, it's a real shame.

The one track where the lyrics and production mesh perfectly is the title track, "Take Care." That is a great tune and the duet nature makes it stand out like a beacon of light. The lyrics are honest, a little vulnerable, and mostly clean. It's my choice cut for the album. Rounding out my three to take with me are "Headlines" for its blend of singing and rapping, and "Lord Knows" for its big sound that actually warrants to showy nature of the lyrics.

As a white guy from teh suburbs, I don't get rap culture. Very little exposure to the kind of "look at me mother @#%*er" self-promotion present here on many tracks caused me to reject a lot of the lyrical content. Old school rap wasn't as vulgar but I understand that gangsta rap's shadow looms long over all corners of the rap and hip hop genres. Maybe I just need to get used to hearing it because it is such a foreign element to me. I don't think I'll ever be able to say "b****es and rappin' and rappin' and b****es" is justifiable as lyrical content or as a lifestyle/worldview.

The album is inconsistent in the ebb and flow between droning raps and smooth R&B. I think that's why the length of the album is a negative aspect for me. If an album is great, you won't care how long or short it is. When it's not doing it for you, people have a tendency to check their watch. I checked mine a few times. Momentum grows over the first few tracks, then it craters through the midpoint. It picks back up again but flat-lines through the final three tracks. Despite good production, the lyrics dragged seven tracks down to 'indifferent' status. If you cut those seven tracks out, the album is shorter, tighter, and would have scored a B in my book.

G-Man Scale: 2.99 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5

To get us back on track with this week's album, I was intrigued by speedchuck's comment about being able to listen to A Charlie Brown Christmas any time, not just at Christmas. I associate it with Christmas, so it falls under my list of albums and songs that can only be listened to between Black Friday and New Year's.

But there are two types of tunes on the album. There are the original pieces and re-workings of existing compositions:

Originals:
4. Linus and Lucy
5. Christmas Time Is Here
6. Christmas Time Is Here (vocal)
7. Skating
9. Christmas is Coming

Re-workings:
1. O Tannenbaum
2. What Child Is This
3. My Little Drum
8. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
10. Für Elise
11. The Christmas Song


To the jazz fans out there- how to the re-workings sound to you? Guaraldi throws some jazz breaks into four of those six tracks (1, 2, 3, and 11). Are the re-workings with jazz flourishes admirable for Guaraldi's ability to add those touches or is adding jazz to preexisting pieces not that big an accomplishment? Or do the jazz flourishes sound forced and confined to the song's traditional arrangements?

For those who haven't seen it before:



Watch it before it gets taken down!

FYI- The sound is really low on the video.

I gave the current album of the week a listen just now. It was interesting enough but I don't know that I fell in love with any of the tracks. Some of them were too short. By the time they were over, I had just gotten a feel for them.

Also, the genre title is pretentious and I'm going to have to work past it to listen to the album objectively.

I'll do a review for Charlie Brown once I can find time to give it one last listen with my headphones on.

I'm going to be old-fashioned and sit out for this next submission round.

Hiding this inside a spoiler tag so as to not disrupt the current discussion. My apologies again for being away and falling behind again.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
G-Man Scale: 4.26 out of 5
Rico Scale: 4.5 out of 5

Flying Lotus was nice but it’s hard to pin down ratings when some of the tracks are so short.

Cunninglinguists was good. I liked their use of Arthur Brown. What are the odds of that sample?

Rishloo definitely sounds like Tool. Just did my first listen today though, so too early to tell. Tool never did much for me but I want to give this an honest chance.

I'm trying to catch up. I'll dump reviews in spurts at some point soon. As for the new round of submissions:



G-Man- Local H / Pack Up The Cats / 1998 / Rock / 15 tracks / 47:38- YouTube & Spotify

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2018 4:34 pm *flickers lights on and off a few times*

Don't look at me, man. I'm still figuring out Rishloo.

Hey there! Sorry for the long-winded intro, but here goes:

Everyone has a band that they're fixated on/obsessed with in middle and/or high school. For me, it was Local H. In the grand scheme of things, they're just another rock band that almost hit the big time. At the time, they were (in my eyes) an awesome band that everyone needed to hear.

Local H hails from Zion, Illinois and wears its Mid-Western blue-collar angst on its sleeve. The band consists of guitarist/lead vocalist Scott Lucas, his ego, and whoever he can find to drum for him at the time. When Pack Up the Cats came out, Lucas was still playing with the band's original drummer, Joe Daniels.

The most notable feature of Local H is that they are a duo. That's not such a big deal now, what with the popularity of The White Stripes and The Black Keys, but in the mid-90s, a two-piece band was a novelty. Originally a four-piece, Local H saw its membership cut in half just as their demo started circulating. Lucas chose not to hire new bandmates. Instead, he installed a bass pickup on the two low strings of his guitar and an extra output to make it all work.

The band signed with Island Records during the grunge/post-grunge boom. Their first album, Ham Fisted, was largely written off as second-hand Nirvana. Their second album, As Good As Dead, produced two moderate hits on the rock charts- "Bound for the Floor" and "Eddie Vedder." It was warmly received but critics.

This all sets the stage for Pack Up the Cats. With the momentum of their previous album behind them, Island Records set them up with producer Roy Thomas Baker, who was behind the console for several albums by Queen and The Cars. Island was building up hype and promotional material for the band and album when Island's parent company, Polygram, was sold to Seagram, who intended to merge Island with Universal Music Group (UMG).

The end result? UMG pulled the plug on many Island artists, including Local H. They released the album but had little to no support from the label, despite the album garnering a number of positive reviews. UMG opted not to re-sign the band in 1999, stalling Local H's momentum and career trajectory.

For me, Pack Up the Cats remains Local H's apex. Joe Daniels quit the band after the label dropped them. Lucas got a new drummer but it changed the band's sound and studio production never got back to the level of quality as Pack Up the Cats. This was the first album that I ever listened to where all the tracks attempted to flow together in a (mostly) seamless structure.

I read an article years ago, where Scott Lucas claimed this is a loose concept album about a guy trying to make it as a rock and roll star, sells out, gets his big break, and totally blows it:

Tracks 1-3 are supposedly about the monotony of playing a local scene and the decision to move to the big city to pursue the dream.

Tracks 4-6 involve the dark side of the big-city music scene, as the narrator makes in-roads.

Tracks 7-9 feature the narrator struggling and ultimately giving in to what the record label people want.

Tracks 10-12 feature personal drama as his life starts to fall apart just as he gets his big break.

Tracks 13-15 cover the narrator's disastrous 'big break' gig, the funk that he falls into afterwards, and his cathartic coming to terms with it all.

Is all that really in the album? If you listen for it, I guess so. It's a little autobiographical and even kind of sad that Lucas wrote an album about reaching the cusp of stardom only to have it snatched away at the last minute, because that's basically what happened to him.

Would Local H have become monsters of rock had the record label supported this album more? Probably not, but they could have extended their career for two more quality albums. Instead, Scott Lucas got a new drummer and got bitter. Subsequent albums showcase his cynicism, sarcasm, and disdain for the rock and roll rat race. He never did get over it but nor did he give up on the dream either. Nothing any incarnation of Local H has done since has matched Pack Up the Cats in terms of quality or popularity but they still make adequate music.

This album isn't sacred to me but rather more like an old friend. I'm curious to read your thoughts on it!

[mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention]- The band's name is Local H, not Local K.

Cosmogramma

I'm going to eschew my usual pattern of picking tracks and following the momentum of an album. I need to catch up, so I'm going to be a little more direct.

This album landed at the wrong time for me. My ability to soak in an album at work was minimized as I began working at a break-neck pace to accomplish major work tasks. With this album being so different, I found myself unable to keep tracks straight and/or too distracted by its nature to give it a spin while working on anything requiring attention. The Christmas season kept me busy enough to hold me back from listening at home.

So, yeah. This album was weird but a good weird. Some of the tracks are so short that they challenged my ability to box them into a rating. Are they intros? Are they vignettes? Are they stand-alone tracks? I still probably couldn't tell you with some of them. Sometimes I found myself wishing more would have been built upon a segment.

I think it lagged a little bit early and also after the mid-point (tracks 11-13 specifically), which disrupted some otherwise good flow. I can agree with those who said Cosmogramma would work as background music. I could see playing it at a party with the right people while we play a game in the next room.

I bumped my rating up to an even 3.5 for the overall quality of the vision, if not the consistency.

G-Man Scale: 3.5 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

A Piece of Strange

I grew up in a household that was unwelcoming toward hip-hop and rap music. While I haven't added much of either genre to my personal collection, I like some of it. I have particular biases against each genre and find that I like small doses rather than extensive stays. A Piece of Strange was a welcome exception.

A lot of rap and hip-hop focuses too much on big beats and grandiose sound, as if the most important thing is to sound bigger and more bombastic than everyone else. Cunninlynguist gets it right by not focusing on rap and hip-hop stylistic tropes and making something that sounds excellent. I don't know how much of the album was generated from samples (what are the odds that we visit Artur Brown twice in the same year?) and what was composed by the artists but their music choices are arresting at times.

The music has to draw me in for me to really open myself up to the lyrical content of this genre. I'm a clean-cut, middle-class white guy from the corn-country suburbs, so urban issues, crime, race, and all those issues are far removed from my day-to-day reality. The lyrics are deeper than the average rap and hip-hop song, which I appreciate. There's wit, intelligence, and breadth to what these guys write about. Social, political, personal- it's not surface-level stuff.

Not all of the tracks appealed to me but I was never indifferent. If I ever circle back to this one, it might even inch higher.

G-Man Scale: 3.5 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

Feathergun

For only 10 tracks, this album goes on for a tad too long. Perhaps that just because I didn't hear anything that made my ears perk up.

It's easy to throw the Tool comparisons out early on this album but that's just because the few Tool songs that I know sound similar. I've never listened to a Tool album, so I don't really know how much mileage such a comparison actually gets or if it's truly warranted. There are definitely sounds and songs that don't remind me of Tool, so these guys are bringing something original to the table. It just isn't a genre that trips my trigger.

Between the brooding tones and lyrics that sound a little try-hard to my ears, I just can't say that I enjoy this kind of music. It's clear that they're good at playing the style but it's just not a good fit for me. Maybe I'm too peppy and optimistic. Probably not, because I like some darker stuff on occasion.

When you play the kind of rock music that crotchety old G-Man thinks all sounds the same on modern rock radio, it's hard to make yourself stand out. Perhaps it's the time period I'm listening in. I'm busy and that means songs are more prone to blur together in my head right now. Rishloo has a proggy feel to it in places, which explains why most songs are five minutes long or more. Prog doesn't have to mean long but for some reason that seems to be what I get when I come across it.

I'll put this one in the 'come back to it at a better time' pile and move on for now.

G-Man Scale: 3.13 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5

Oh my! What an interesting pair of opinions so far.

[mention]nutella[/mention] I think the fact that the band only has two members has held back their sound for their entire career. They have a roadie play with them in concert to help replicate some of the guitar work but when the same guy has to be able to sing while playing the guitar and bass sections, it's probably pretty limiting to their song structure. I would agree that the lyrics aren't the strongest in retrospect. The album after this one had better songwriting but the production sound was lame.

I guess the one caution with listening for the supposed concept structure is that, once you hear bits of it, you'll always hear it unless you're doing a surface listen. Kind of like how when you read the obscene lyrics some people hear in "Louie, Louie" you always hear them. I found out about the supposed concept a few years after I got the album, so I can go either way on it. Part of me wonders if the singer just made up some BS story about a concept after the fact to make him sound cooler and make the fact that the album got the shaft seem more tragic.


[mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention] Never heard of Shihad. I agree that it sounds somewhat dated, especially when he's singing about all the kids being plugged in to the Net. Like I said, it's nothing mind-blowing but a nice reminder that latter-90s rock was more than just Creed or nu metal.


Fun facts:
1) The last part of track 3 ("Lucky") foreshadows (not sure if this is the right term for music) the chorus on track 15 ("Lucky Time").
2) Track 8 ("Lead Pipe Cinch") is the same tune as the chorus of track 13 ("All the Kids Are Right") but acoustic.
3) Local H recorded a cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic" that ended up making a mild (but novelty) splash on modern rock radio stations in 2005:

Sorry, I've been part of the problem. Once I listen to Ryoji Ikeda, I can post reviews for him, Kansas, and The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Pescado 2's length has me getting lost somewhere in the middle, making it hard to finalize a score. I just wrapped my score for my pick, Local H, and I listened to Marina and the Diamonds over the weekend while taking apart my daughter's crib. I hope to be completely caught up sometime over the next two weeks so I can share my thoughts in real time.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:03 pm
There are no wrong answers in music tastes.

I shall prove you wrong on this one. Mwa haa haa.

One track into Ryoji Ikeda's Dataplex and I'm so mad I'm laughing.

Still condensing my thoughts. I may only point out a set of top-three tracks on albums going forward when they really stand out. Sometimes it's been hard to find some/make up my mind. Here we go...

The Goat Rodeo Sessions G-Man Scale: 3.64 out of 5 (B+)
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5


Somewhere to Elsewhere G-Man Scale: 3.30 out of 5 (B)
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5


Dataplex G-Man Scale: 2.24 out of 5 (C)
Rico Scale: 2 out of 5

Pescado Rabioso 2 G-Man Scale: 3.40 out of 5 (B)
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

Pack Up the Cats G-Man Scale: 3.63 out of 5 (B+)
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

Quick notes on the current two I'm listening to:

Marina and the Diamonds sounds like a blend of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, in a good way. But it's got an air of try-hardism that holds things back. The singer is trying a little too hard to be original and not hard enough at being worth listening to.

Ayreon kind of eluded me on the first run. I heard some Pink Floyd influence on the slow, moody instrumentals but I was left unfazed by most of it. It's still early for this album though, so we'll see what subsequent listens do for me.

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:15 pm Ayreon. Sigh. Still absolutely not my thing. Tough to get through it. The vocals, cheese, etc. were generally much more annoying than enjoyable. I guess it could be worse, but yeah. Not much else to say. Sorry speed.

I’m curious to know what you and others consider cheese in Ayreon. When I think cheese I think Meat Loaf. I didn’t hear anything that over the top in my first listen. Perhaps there’s lyrical cheese that I missed but I don’t recall hearing any bombastic cheese.

Epignosis wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:58 pm
I'm guessing it's prog-metal "cheese" MP is referring to, which was a common complaint on Prog-Archives.

So what is prog-metal “cheese?” Is it the concept itself, a technical element, or just a genre bias against the so-called ‘metal’ component? I’m not well-versed enough in prog to understand.

Close to finishing my thoughts on Marina. Ayeron, on the other hand, needs more time (and probably a listen with my headphones on). I still don't hear anything cheesy to me other than the concept being a little overdone and perhaps taken too seriously. It's hard to tell. It's long but I can hear the skill involved. It just doesn't move me much one way or the other. I jumped around in Part 2 today and there's a lot more life and gusto in that album. Perhaps I prefer zany bravado prog to straight-laced serious-business prog, because the little bit of Part 2 that I heard was entertaining.

Just skipped around Madvillain and I think it might be more eclectic than I can appreciate. We'll see. Speedchuck and I might be in the same boat on this one.

The Family Jewels G-Man Scale: 3.41 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5

Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer
G-Man Scale: 3.07 out of 7 (B-)
Rico Scale: 3 out of 5

...and I'm caught up!

Skipping around through Madvillainy was a mistake on my part. I've listened to it in full twice now and it was enjoyable. I think I understand what S~V~S means about the album having a jazzy feel. I like the use of older music samples (or samples made to sound older) as opposed to slick modern beats. That adds a lot of character and makes it stand out from a lot of other rap (not that I've heard much other rap though). The short song structure on several tracks is going to give me fits when I try to work on a rating.