The Syndicate

I have heard exactly one track by this band before and I have been meaning to dig deeper for ages but I keep forgetting. This is… just super great. I love everything about the instrumental for this song, it like perfectly encapsulates the mood I was going for. Gonna listen to this album a bunch now probably.

I’m a sucker for these sorts of galloping guitar lines. Whole aesthetic of this song is just super cool and something I’m instantly a fan of. The more I listen the more I want to relisten tbh - very catchy song. Great sub, big fan.

Look I’m a lesbian I’m contractually obligated to stan Florence Welch. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song by her and/or the machine that I’ve disliked. This is my first experience with this one, but I’m a big fan, for much the same reasons I’m a fan of everything else she does. Good shit.

Yeah so these strings are absolutely fucking haunting, as is her voice. Of all the songs in the top 5 this is definitely the Spookiest, I think. Consider me spooked. Captivating in a way that makes me want more.

Yeah this is just like. A Good Song. Hits right in the sweet spot of indie rock that I enjoy. Nice guitar work and I really dig that sort of swingy drumline. Would be interested in hearing more of this artist for sure.

This is… way cool. I evidently have not dug deep enough into ELO’s discography. The intro is super sick and the song that it transitions into ain’t half bad either. Shockingly spooky compared to what I expected when I saw the artist.

This is, incidentally, the only Radiohead album I’ve listened to extensively. OK Computer good.

This has some real “it’s 5 AM and I still haven’t gone to bed” vibes, in a good way. Definitely the sort of thing I like to just chill in front of the computer to. Strong percussive line, continuous chordal ambience, nice guitarwork laid over the top all contribute to that. Me like.

Danny Elfman GOAT.

This feels like something lute would listen to. That’s a compliment. Great bass, love the percussion, strong vocals. Really good chill song to murder someone to, I think.

...I mean, sure. Beatles good.

...Thomas Jefferson? But yeah, this is super sick. Think I’ve heard one track by this artist before, and now I’m thinking I probably need to listen to more. Cannibalism IS pretty spooky, yknow.

Probably the song that shot up the ranks the furthest upon subsequent listens. Was pretty jarring at first, but definitely grew on me. It’s jarring in a way that works, in a way that comes together, yknow? Maybe not. Maybe I’m rambling. This song is good.

Alright, this is some sick ambience. Absolutely love the brass here. Overall the mood of this song is just… super excellent, and manages to fill up 7 minutes quite well. Good shit.

Yeah so this was a borderline 9 until he opened his mouth. The vocals are very theatrical in a way that I find pretty grating. The instrumental, though? Fucking choice. Might look into more of this guy’s stuff, see if he has any instrumental tracks lol.

See writeup for 17th, but I like this one slightly better. Still pretty minimalist and fairly unstructured, but there’s a bit more going on here, and thus it’s slightly better at holding my interest. I will say that is quite probably the spookiest trumpet I’ve ever heard.

This track is really cool conceptually and most of the reason it’s not rated higher is for “Amy struggles with minimalism” reasons rather than any real gripes with it. I like a LOT of what’s going on here, and on the whole am really glad this got subbed - it really just suffers from being the weakest in a long line of good subs to this cat.

Very cool intro riff, but I’m not sure how I feel about these vocals. I think I’m like… okay with them? But they’re not my favorite. And then the chorus is pretty generic-sounding. There are a lot of cool elements floating around the fringes but they’re not really coming together.

RATS RATS WE ARE THE RATS

I dunno man, Nick Cave’s never fully done it for me. Just… too minimalist for me to fully enjoy it. Certainly it’s a spooky song, and it’s enjoyable enough, but I don’t think anything by Nick Cave’s ever gonna be a part of my rotation, and I’ve tried multiple times.

Well, I’m spooked.

8 minutes of vocaloid, eh? There are some cool things going on in the instrumental with the chopped-up guitar samples, and I appreciate some of the harmonies and the overall atmosphere, but I’m not really digging the slightly dissonant Miku vocals here (and it’s one of the choppier performances I’ve heard, too). Probably scores higher if it’s shorter.

The word that comes to mind is “nice”. I appreciate this for what it is, but it occupies a very background area in my brain. Doesn’t really leave a strong impression.

That is… a very high-pitched voice. Iunno, sounds like a cover of something Japanese. Probably sounds better in the Japanese. As is… not feelin’ it.

This would be a really good song to have at my disposal while editing a spooky scene or something. Is it something I want to listen to on its own? Not really, no. Just sorta does these spooky string vamps off into eternity. The thought is appreciated but the interest isn’t there.

Unfortunately for you, I have a fairly well-documented dislike of Primus, so this, uh, ain’t it chief. I think Les Claypool’s solo stuff is super good! But the aesthetic they’re going for here is… not one that appeals to me, at all. Big whiff.

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I’ve never played Jet Set Radio. But now I really want to. The vibe that this song creates… it’s incredible. I wanna be in whatever world this takes place in. Everything comes together super well. Gonna listen the fuck out of this album. Tag walls, punch fascists.[/spoilers]

Yeah, so I love Casiopea, and I’ve had this on my Spotify for years. The accidental panders continue. But as you may have picked up on by now, I’m super partial to funk/jazz fusion/etc etc and this delivers HARD. Every instrument pulls its weight, and the overall composition is just… choice. It’s choice.

Oh no, my biggest weakness - brass. If this was ever so slightly less Produced it would be a 10, but this is a fucking banger. This is the sort of thing I would be absolutely obsessed with if I saw it live, and as it stands it’s already really damn good. Gooooood shit.

I’ve heard one Foxy Shazam album, and it’s not this one, but I enjoyed it a lot, and this song seems like more of the same. I considered using one of the songs off the other album as the header for this cat, actually, because honestly they’re just pure distilled fun. The vocals aren’t “good” in the traditional sense but they work super well, and the energy in this song is electric. Love it.

J-Funk? Hell yes. This is silky smooth and I’m pretty obsessed with it. Definitely gonna be checking this band out more. Excellent sub.

Yeah, I ‘member.

Every time I listen to something by OC ReMix I regret not listening to more of them. The Tarantino name is accurate - and as a known proponent of Tarantino’s general aesthetic, I dig. Excellent sax work, excellent tone, excellent song.

Intensely relatable lyrics. I have fucked up a lot. The first half is very Violent Femmes, and the back half is just really fuckin’ good. Good shit.

I was worried that this was gonna be black metal and I was gonna have to figure out how to reconcile loving the instrumental but hating the vocals - but nope, we’re in the clear. I can just lay on the ground and let the wave of guitars wash over me. Airy ephemeral vocals work really really well here. Good stuff.

These guys have other songs besides their cover of Black Betty?! And they have female vocals?! Jokes aside, I like this a lot. It’s short and sweet, and that punchy guitar is really distinctive. High pitched female vocals on a bangin’ rock song are an easy way to wring points out of me, tbh.

A duet in which I like both vocalists! Excellent! Gun to my head I prefer the woman, but the man’s got this distinctive deep voice that I find pretty interesting. Think the vocal interplay makes this song a lot stronger than if it’d had a single vocalist. Fun time.

I can’t say I’m super into vocaloids, though I do appreciate Miku’s cultural impact, but this is the first Vocaloid song I’ve heard that I think I’m comfortable saying I like. The vocals sound a lot less choppy than some of them wind up being, and the piano is excellent here. Overall tone of the song is great.

The panning on the opening is actually a little disorienting, but otherwise this is a very nice song. The elements come together in a very nice way, and this might be the most understated banjo of all time (which is a compliment!) Super nice to listen to.

I’ve heard a couple of tracks off this album, but frankly speaking it’s not my favorite Jethro Tull album. I love love LOVE Aqualung - but I think I prefer them when they lean heavier into prog and go lighter on the folk, which is the inverse of what this album is. Ah well. A Jethro Tull song I’m lukewarm on still gets you fairly high, heh.

This is… probably supposed to be a meme? Like, I have no idea what Moose subbed if it’s not this. But the memetic quality is lost on me if it is a meme, so this is just, like… good. This sort of production is exactly what I enjoy in hip-hop - it’s very Nujabes. Very well-done mashup.

Really enjoy the vocals on this one - not that they’re anything I haven’t heard before, but I like this particular style. Was a hard one to place, because it can be hard to place “indie rock song that I just kinda think is Pretty Good”, but I think it lands hereabouts. Would listen to more by this artist.

A pleasant song, if not a transcendent one. I like the occasional horn stabs in the backing track. It’s hard for me to really synthesize further thought on this one, sorry.

The vocals are a bit generic for the genre, but I really enjoy the backing track. Super interestingly layered orchestration. I’m starting to suspect this particular brand of folk may not be my favorite genre either, because there’s a lot of things that suggest this should have scored higher but… here it is.

Confession time: never been that crazy about Elvis. Dunno why. This is better than I expected it to be, though. The orchestral accompaniment works surprisingly well. Probably the best version of an Elvis song that could have been subbed to me.