The Syndicate

Pack Up the Cats

1. All-Right (Oh, Yeah) - boring
2. "Cha!" Said The Kitty - ehh
3. Lucky - meow meow meow
4. Hit The Skids - I might fall asleep
5. 500,000 Scovilles - this is a different track? what
6. What Can I Tell You? - this one is slightly better
7. Fine And Good - this is ok actually
8. Lead Pipe Cinch - short lil emotional interlude? I can appreciate that but also.... boring
9. Cool Magnet - generic af
10. She Hates My Job - I don't blame her
11. Stoney - half-decent interlude/transition fluff
12. Laminate Man - generic
13. All The Kids Are Right - the verse melody is actually decent (kinda sounds almost more early-2000s pop-punk than the 90s grungey vibe of the rest of the album). chorus is boring and repetitive though
14. Deep Cut - blah
15. Lucky Time - ehh pretty generic again

Sorry G. Not my genre. I appreciate that it has sentimental value for you but pretty much nothing about this music is original or impressive or interesting to me. I might give it another chance based on the context you gave and the concept structure you outlined but from a first pass there doesn't seem to be much to the lyrics (mostly repetitive) and it just doesn't seem compelling to me at all. Just... generic cookie-cutter 90s rock. For now... 1.5?

Aight still on Pescado 2 second listen

1. Panadero Ensoñado - silly cute fun
2. Iniciado del Alba - this track is actually quite good I like it!
3. Poseído del Alba - also good [mention]dunya[/mention] see I'm liking it more the second time around :P
4. Como el Viento Voy a Ver - not really my style
5. Viajero Naciendo - this one doesn't really do a ton for me either
6. Hola, Dulce Viento! - meh
7. Nena Boba - also meh
8. Rock de la Selva Madre - slow... the guitar in the last minute is ok
9. Amame Peteribí - this one's kinda fun. decent jammin'
10. 16" de Peteribí - this doesn't count lol why is it separate :S
11. Señorita Zapada - ok lil interlude
12. Credulidad - ok
13. Hola, Pequeño Ser! - first half of this one is again not really my style but I can see the appeal, some fun instrumental bits. I love the last couple minutes though v nice
14. Mi Espíritu Se Fue - ok
15. Sombra de la Noche Negra - this one's pretty solid
16. La Cereza del Zar - nice I guess
17. Corto - ok
18. Aguas Claras de Olimpos - pretty good

mayyybe 3.0? Sorry dunya there are some parts I really enjoyed but for the most part it just doesn't stand out as anything particularly special.

ok I'm at the end of the album and it's... fine, I enjoyed it but didn't get anything super special out if it? I can understand a fair amount of the lyrics and they have some really cool imagery, and there have been some nice melodies and instrumental parts, but I'm not wowed by it or anything.

Yeah it does sound like the kind of thing that would commonly trigger ASMR (which I don't think I actually get per se but I have enjoyed a lot of the same types of sounds)

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:57 pm
speedchuck wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:47 pm On a side note, as of today, I have reviewed/listened to 25 of the 43 albums in this topic. I want to give every piece of music submitted at least one chance to catch my attention and broaden my horizons. I am going to catch up.
I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts! Be sure to keep me updated, even if via PM to link me systematically -- if you don't want to dump into the thread.

He has them all in a spoiler in his first post here

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:05 pm Compared to other glitch albums like Endless Summer by Fennesz, which I would give a 5 every day of the week,

Listening to this now and it's great so far! Definitely more... more music-y than dataplex, lol

speedchuck wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:45 pm I listened to the whole thing. And I would do it again.
Wasn't expecting to enjoy this thing. But lo and behold, I had no issue sitting through it. Even the high-frequency sounds fit the music, and I can't say that I wished they were gone.
By using the digital sounds, outside of the normal spectrum for music, dataplex has become something special. It demonstrates how you can take harsh or unpleasant sounds and link them together to make something good. The beats were what I appreciated most. They made me want to move, which is one of my 'things that I appreciate in music'. With the album moving a variety of beats along at a rapid pace, I didn't have to worry about getting bored or fatigued. Whenever something I didn't like came along, I just waited two minutes.
I put this music on in the background while working. It's surprisingly good for that. The music sounds like the way that my brain works, rapid paced, processing several different things at once, never letting up. It speaks to me.
Of course, all is not good. My praise doesn't change the fact that I would have enjoyed the album just as much at half the length. It doesn't change that I had to listen to this on headphones, so as not to have people scream at me. This is still a harsh album with an unpleasant tone, one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It still doesn't have many different avenues by which I enjoy it.
But dang, I could actually see myself listening to this again.
...

3.5/5

...Yeah, I just finished and I agree with a lot of this post tbh. It was really interesting actually, nice in the background but I think it is too long. There were definitely some grating parts but overall I was surprised at how much I liked it. I'll give it a light 3.0.

track 4 is very reminiscent of The Gloaming by Radiohead (which I think Lent once described as a "digital rainstorm" -- this is a little less intense than that but similar timbre and rhythm) I'm actually liking this now omg

ok, I've just started. there's.... not a whole lot going on so far. not a huge fan of the super high frequencies but I like the crackling and tapping sounds. I'm... okay now I'm three tracks in and I'm starting to see how it's building on patterns/getting more complex, that's interesting -- from the first track I was afraid I wouldn't really call it music lol but it's doing some stuff now that's actually pretty cool.

OK now I'm afraid to listen to it.

looking forward to dataplex, sounds like it'll be... different

still catching up on StE with a second listen, here are some thoughts
1. Icarus II: this track is 100% awesome. totally love it.
2. When The World Was Young: meh
3. Grand Fun Alley: meh
4. The Coming Dawn (Thanatopsis): lyrics are cheesy but pleasant enough melodically; I absolutely love the instrumental bridge (and parts of it strongly remind me of at least three different Muse songs lol I'm sure they took some inspiration from Kansas)
5. Myriad: nice instrumental intro, rest of the song is ok. lyrics (like much of the lyrics throughout the album) feel a lil pretentious to me
6: Look At The Time: this sounds super familiar was it in a movie or something? or does it sound a lot like a different song? anyway it's fine
7: Disappearing Skin Tight Blues: once again I love the instrumental intro but it's very separate from the rest of the song, and again the song is ok but not super special
8: Distant Vision: pretty solidly great all the way through
9: Byzantium: ehh...
10: Not Man Big: meh
11: Geodesic Dome: kinda fun but I don't really get why it's there

so... I only really liked... about two and a half tracks? Icarus II is fantastic and I like scattered instrumental tidbits throughout the album but the majority of it was just not very special. 3 stars I guess

Enjoyed my first listen. Loved the instrumentals right off the bat, less sold on the vocals.

lol that you copied my whole ramble into the post

anyway I love this album!

Meh. First listen didn't really do anything for me. In the middle of a second listen and I'm really just bored.

OK this is easily one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard, both musically and lyrically. I've been following along with the lyrics and annotations on Genius and this is.... this is good shit. The themes and stories and messages, the samples and instrumental bits and the delivery, everything about this is awesome. 5 stars.

Hey, what's Arthur Brown doing here?

For reals though I'm really enjoying this so far. Haven't been paying super close attention on the first listen but it's enjoyable for sure

for my second listen of Cosmogramma I'm taking down some brief track-by-track reactions bc otherwise I won't nail down my feelings about it. most of this will be gibberish/very general/not fancy reviewing words hahah

Spoiler: show

1. Clock Catcher - the good good sounds. love it
2. Pickled! - even more fun sounds. also love it.
3. Nose Art - I'm not usually a fan of the, idk what you call it, the very staccato/cut-off sounding style of electronic music, so this track is lower for me
4. Intro//A Cosmic Drama - pretty, feels like it should be evocative of some kind of scene but can't settle on what.
5. Zodiac Shit - feels a bit more generic/standard electronic music, meh
6. Computer Face//Pure Being - meh. I like the end I guess
7. ...And The World Laughs With You (ft. Thom Yorke) - could easily be a TKOL- or AMSP-era B-side. Love it
8. Arkestry - the first half of this with the drums reminds me of something idk... jazz sample is good, haunting vocals at the end feel separate but nice
9. MmmHmm (ft. Thundercat) - longest track on the album at a whopping 4:14, wow! not getting much out of the vocals/lyrics. they feel trite and out of place and I'd rather just have the background instrumental stuff that sounds like the rest of the album
10. Do The Astral Plane - dank beats yo. can't decide how I feel about the scatting. the rest of it is decent low-key bounce-to-the-beat fare, would definitely enjoy it a lot more under the influence of some green herbs
11. Satelllliiiiiiiteee - weird funky vocal effects that I'm generally not into. as with a lot of this album, this track has nice enough beats/sounds but doesn't really stand out at all
12. German Haircut - pretty I guess
13. Recoiled - I like this one quite a bit actually, it's very pleasant, I guess in the same way that I liked the first two tracks
14. Dance Of The Pseudo Nymph - ditto. this track is awesome. love the handclapping sounds and everything
15. Drips//Auntie's Harp - beautiful orchestral bits/harp sampling, and especially given the context MP explained this is lovely
16. Table Tennis (ft. Laura Darlington) - very clever!! I hope/assume that's an actual recording of actual ping pong (sure sounds like it), that's super cool. the vocalist and echoey-ness sounds very ethereal and floaty. goes well with the harp parts before, during, and after it in the album
17. Galaxy in Janaki - good closer, it feels very fast-paced and busy compared to the previous track but in a good way. it's fun, I like all the different timbres in it.

ok, so to summarize, I really liked the first two tracks, and I really liked everything from 13 to the end -- that's a great stretch. everything in between is pretty meh to me. Overall I'm feeling a 3.5.

This is pretty cool and I enjoy listening to it (lots of cool sounds/beats/mixing/samples/etc) but it's not really leaving a huge/distinct impression on me so far. I have listened to FL before and generally feel that way about his music -- it's fun but doesn't astound me or leave a lasting impression. I'll give it another couple listens though and try to figure out a rating.

Submission: nutella - Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma - The Goat Rodeo Sessions / 2011 / Bluegrass/Classical fusion / 11 (+2 bonus) tracks / 57:18 (without bonus tracks) / Youtube (though this playlist seems to be missing the last track for some reason as well as the bonus tracks but they can be found separately) and Spotify (also missing bonus tracks

they're really good though and I'm used to them as they're on the CD edition that my mom owns)

I loooooove this album a lot and I hope you guys do too, it's an extremely impressive collaboration between several amazing musicians

[mention]speedchuck[/mention] you're missing the bonus final track, Make Me A Boat. I recommend finding it. Enjoyed reading your review

Oh I never gave a rating for Ys, huh. OK I'm caught up

Ys - 4.5
Take Care - 2.0 (maybe 2.5 if I'm feeling generous, it was fine in the background I guess)
Charlie Brown Christmas - hmm let's say 3.5? maaayyybe 4 for sentimental associations? Hard to rate since I'm so familiar with it

tbh the numbers are meaning less and less to me every week, they just feel arbitrary now and probably wouldn't all make sense relative to each other

^I agree with pretty much 100% of that post

ok this is way too long. I'm bored as hell

wait so for those of you who have listened, did you find a youtube playlist that all worked, or did you have to search for some of the tracks? I'm not using the spotify version because it appears to be censored, and on the youtube playlist I found some of the videos are deleted and it's kind of a chore to have to individually find some tracks to make sure I'm not missing anything.

in other news, I'm not hating this as much as I expected, hehe! it's still really not my genre but it's ok so far, for the most part not actively annoying and some parts are quite pleasant. the lyrics are so far removed from my world though haha

Wyclef Jean is good -- in fact I believe you guys recommended him to me a while back in another thread, along with a bunch of other artists including the other ones just mentioned in here which I still haven't gotten around to but I have a list. I've also enjoyed Nas a bit, and a handful of newer artists such as Milo and clipping. -- they're all pretty different though I suppose, I'm still a noob to the genre and might categorize it weirdly in my head, haha. I also like Death Grips

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:11 pm
Even though I've come a long way with hip hop in the past decade, I still can be picky when it comes to the genre as a whole, and especially so with pop rap and R&B-sounding stuff which almost always lands in the indifferent or worse spectrum for my taste.

I'll try to approach this album with as open a mind as possible though.

This is about how I feel. (Snipped first part because I'm not familiar with the other album, but I have heard a couple of his hits and feel similarly) I have enjoyed a fair amount of hip-hop, but as far as I know Drake is exactly the type of pop/r&b sound that I generally cannot stand.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:55 am
Lyrics by track:

Emily
Monkey & Bear
Sawdust and Diamonds
Only Skin
Cosmia

Quoting these links because I am now strongly seconding Jay's recommendation to follow along with the lyrics and the analysis/annotations on Genius. I am extremely impressed by her poetic capabilities -- the multiple meanings, stories, metaphors, multiple literary references, intensely personal experiences, and emotional expression behind all the lyrics, as well as the poetic sound structure and wordsmithing (rhymes, alliteration, assonance, etc).... all of this shows outstanding talent, not to mention the musical skill and vocal delivery (I'm still not a huge fan of her vocal style, but I can still appreciate the strength of her delivery along with her other multiple talents). The lyrics are clearly extraordinarily intellectual and multi-layered and emotionally wrenching.... reading all these annotations I'm totally overwhelmed by everything she's crammed in here.

I enjoyed the album on a musical basis on the first listen, but reading the lyrics made me understand why this is considered a masterpiece.

There's something about Joanna's voice quality/articulation/enunciation style that I don't really like, but otherwise everything about Ys so far is near musical perfection. I'm only about halfway through but loving the intricate melodies and varied string timbres (the plinky bits in track 3 are heavenly)

G-Man wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:16 pm 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

nice one!! a staple in my family's Christmas season album rotation

Really enjoying Fish Out Of Water. I don't have a lot of fancy review words to use, but despite not getting a ton out of my first listen I'm loving every minute of the second listen. Rather indifferent to his voice, but all the different instrumental flourishes hold my interest. (I'm also a sucker for 7/4 time, haha) Very cool listen.
I'm having a hard time sorting out my ratings for the last three albums. They're all leaning toward 4.0 but it's hard to say for sure if they all deserve that, in relation to how I've previously used my ratings. I use 3.5s a lot but it tends to span a wide range. So I'm just gonna give these all 4s because of how much they grew on me with each listen, making me excited to go back to them later (I think Timber Timbre edges out the others by a fair bit and it definitely deserves a 4, but I've been looking forward to revisiting THD as well since it was so interesting)

A City Dressed in Dynamite - 4.0
Creep On Creepin' On - 4.0
Fish Out Of Water - 4.0

I'm really looking forward to Joanna Newsom!

Been really enjoying Timber Timbre's discography. Giving it a high-leaning 3.5 also.

Sorry I'm so behind! I'll give That Handsome Devil a high-leaning 3.5 -- I wasn't really into them at first but then I listened to their other albums and enjoyed them a lot, and subsequently enjoyed this one more as well. Really fun stuff. Will do the same for Timber Timbre tomorrow (listen to other albums and then this one again)

Ahhh yes this will be a good Halloween one. I've heard Timber Timbre before and keep meaning to actually listen to them more. Good shit

Just finished first listen of THD. It was... interesting, but I don't really know how I feel about it beyond that yet. I'll have to absorb it a couple more times. I think my feelings might end up similar to MP's though -- I definitely appreciate it as, well, interesting, but it doesn't really do much for me in particular that I can't get somewhere else. Or it's just not really my style anyway. Idk, we'll see.

On another note, I just realized I never actually gave my own rating for Woodkid. I'll say 4.5 (some days I might even say 5 just because it's a sort of special album to me personally but not, like, one of the most important)

I think the Family Crest comparison is much fairer, but maybe I'm biased

Still, not necessarily the first connection I would make, as I think they evoke very different moods and I don't think Woodkid is "over the top" in the same way TFC are. But it's interesting/insightful from my perspective that you pointed out that overlap in my taste.

I don't understand (/am surprised/rather baffled by) the Adele comparison. Can you guys explain what you mean by that? Where's the similarity, other than that they're both very talented singers with unique voices? Does it have to do with the orchestral/"epic" sound of many of the tracks?

I find Woodkid's music to be quite unique and really beautiful, and I'm curious what you guys found boring or irritating about it.

Leucocyte - 3ish? I definitely appreciate what it is but I enjoy some parts of it a lot more than others and some of it just drags on/doesn't hold my interest much.

whoa, didn't realize spotify links automatically embed. well there it is

nutella wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2017 4:46 pm Ooo I'm eligible again. I submit The Golden Age by Woodkid.

Resubmitting^

Mugur de fluier - strong 4.5
AFoS - meh 3.0

This is really my kind of shit. I'm really into all the different folky bits. Quite a bit of variety throughout the album but consistently super cool. I've enjoyed every track.

I got into TVZ a lot more on second listen actually. Solid. 3.5/5
Ratatat was enjoyable but super same-y throughout. I've known "Loud Pipes" for like ten years but never listened to them otherwise. Pretty fun album I guess, I really liked the first couple tracks but then it was all kinda the same after that. Uhh 3.5 also I guess.

I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics tbf. I'll focus on them next listen.

Eh, upon first listen I can't say as I feel particularly strongly about this album at all. It's fine but it doesn't really do much for me. It sounds pretty nice within the confines of its genre, but it's of a genre that I don't usually get much out of unless it has unique character and this doesn't really have that to me, it just sounds fairly standard/predictable. Maybe I'm missing something that I'll appreciate more on second listen but this album just didn't leave any impression on me.

Caught up.
Songs From the Big Chair - 4.0 - good stuff
Fetish Bones - 3.0 - very powerful/compelling lyrics/poetry, interesting production and variety of sound

Ooo I'm eligible again. I submit The Golden Age by Woodkid.

I'm going with 4.5 for Faces in the Rocks. I love it.

Almost done with a first half-attentive listen. Lovely, beautiful, I'll have to listen more to get a rating but it'll be a high one.

Epi did you ever get to Toehider? I really wanted to hear your impression on it

By now y'all probably know how I feel about fuckin' dank string bits. 5/5.

Finished. Meh, there were some really fun parts of this album, but it wasn't outstanding or anything. I didn't care for the voice, but I liked a lot of the beats and synths and catchy parts. Track 3 was my favorite. Overall I think I'll give this a 2.

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