Second CD this week.
1. This song sounds so familiar, but I don't know why. I haven't heard it as far as I can seem to recall. Maybe it's just the chord progression. I like it.
2. This song is tragically uninspiring in any way.
3. I can't stand music that sounds like this.
4. Modest Mouse? I can't place the song but I swear it has to be.
5. Weirdish vocals but there is a nice feeling I get from this song. I don't think it's all that special musically but there's some extra quality there.
6. I wish this would get more energetic, but I still quite like it anyways.
7. I would need to be in the right mood to really get into this, but if I were I could see myself digging it for sure.
8. What was the artist thinking in this intro?! I almost gave up on an otherwise good song before it had even started.
9. This is really nice.
10. Another song reeking of Modest Mouse, but I don't think this one actually is. Good either way.
11. This song would be great if the male vocalist didn't blow.
12. Fairly forgettable and lackluster.
13. I've heard this song before. Pretty good.
14. I don't usually like the singer/songwriter thing but this is pretty decent surprisingly.
15. Decent song but a lot of the things thrown in for variety end up detracting from the song.
16. Mediocre.
17. Decent but too generic, nothing stands out.
01 March 2008
Dancing to the Killah Fuck Yeah Mix
More track by trackness. I just wrote my thoughts as I listened.
1. I really do hate that I can't get into Daft Punk, but while the music is by no means bad, I just can't force myself to see what everyone else sees in them that makes them outstanding. Very mediocre in my opinion.
2. Vocalist is lacking, I understand the rough quality is supposed to be rough for the music, but it just does nothing for me. The music is also awfully cheesy.
3. Another rather lacking vocalist, but in this case the music is pretty catchy which pretty much offsets that and makes it a good song.
4. I want to accuse this of being boring, generic drivel, but I do like it, so it's hard to insult my own taste in music.
5. The vocals are nice sounding but the music is uninspiring. This guy should move to one of the aforementioned bands with bad vocalists.
6. Laid back and almost relaxing, but not in an overly atmospheric or slow drawn out way. Pretty good.
7. This guitar hook wants to sound good and catchy, but chooses to fizzle out instead into forgettableness. It's representative of the idea of the rest of the song too as it turns out.
8. This song is annoying as hell. I really wish I could figure out why I like it.
9. This song reminds me a lot of CSS, but I don't think it actually is. Good though.
10. If this band always has the lovely male/female vocals that it does in this song I want this CD.
11. Not at all what I was expecting, wow. Good.
12. Rather generic sounding, but catchy at least.
13. Stained vocal style conjures Modest Mouse in my mind at times, except this is much worse.
14. Why do songs spend their entirety straining sonically for that final extra dynamic push, but then never actually hit it? They disappoint me tremendously.
15. This song fails to do anything exciting ever.
16. Very 80's. Unfortunately Metal is just about the only good music to come out of the 80's. That said, some of the music in here is very sexy.
17. There are many great sounding parts to this song but the background buzz that lasts the duration of the song makes it feel off puttingly busy and dense, and totally destroys the song.
18. I feel like this song could be more interesting. But at the same time I do like it ok, so maybe it doesn't need to be.
1. I really do hate that I can't get into Daft Punk, but while the music is by no means bad, I just can't force myself to see what everyone else sees in them that makes them outstanding. Very mediocre in my opinion.
2. Vocalist is lacking, I understand the rough quality is supposed to be rough for the music, but it just does nothing for me. The music is also awfully cheesy.
3. Another rather lacking vocalist, but in this case the music is pretty catchy which pretty much offsets that and makes it a good song.
4. I want to accuse this of being boring, generic drivel, but I do like it, so it's hard to insult my own taste in music.
5. The vocals are nice sounding but the music is uninspiring. This guy should move to one of the aforementioned bands with bad vocalists.
6. Laid back and almost relaxing, but not in an overly atmospheric or slow drawn out way. Pretty good.
7. This guitar hook wants to sound good and catchy, but chooses to fizzle out instead into forgettableness. It's representative of the idea of the rest of the song too as it turns out.
8. This song is annoying as hell. I really wish I could figure out why I like it.
9. This song reminds me a lot of CSS, but I don't think it actually is. Good though.
10. If this band always has the lovely male/female vocals that it does in this song I want this CD.
11. Not at all what I was expecting, wow. Good.
12. Rather generic sounding, but catchy at least.
13. Stained vocal style conjures Modest Mouse in my mind at times, except this is much worse.
14. Why do songs spend their entirety straining sonically for that final extra dynamic push, but then never actually hit it? They disappoint me tremendously.
15. This song fails to do anything exciting ever.
16. Very 80's. Unfortunately Metal is just about the only good music to come out of the 80's. That said, some of the music in here is very sexy.
17. There are many great sounding parts to this song but the background buzz that lasts the duration of the song makes it feel off puttingly busy and dense, and totally destroys the song.
18. I feel like this song could be more interesting. But at the same time I do like it ok, so maybe it doesn't need to be.
23 February 2008
Reflections on Sugar Plum Aussicles
Although reviewing albums simply track by track with no overall response is probably useless at best and at worst flat out insulting to music, however, in the case of a compilation (mix tape as it were), it feels necessary to reflect on the CD in the most reasonable way possible, and with no guarantee of even two similar artists, the fact is that track by track reviewing is really the way to go.
1. This track starts slow but within the first minute there are definitely some cool things going on. Around the three minute mark there is a brief pause in the music and you wonder if the song is over. Well, it's not, but it should be. After the break the same motifs are repeated for an additional three minutes and drag the song out, killing any momentum the first half built.
2. Another song suffering from the length of the song. There's really just one motif in this song, but it drags on for 6 minutes once again. Artists need enough material to justify creating a lengthy song. This artist did not have that justification.
3. This track was actually pretty cool. Not amazing by any means, but the song is catchy and has a good feel. I would not mind listening to a CD of songs of this quality.
4. It's not often anymore that I will find no fault with a song, but still not like it either, but this is one of those rare instances. The melodies are interesting enough. The structure lends itself to the material nicely. It sounds almost like a soundtrack, which is something I've loved lately. But despite all those positive factors, this song just does nothing for me. I don't get drawn into it at all.
5. Awesome song, except, why the hell are these god-awful vocalists singing? If I could pick up an instrumental version of this song I would be thrilled. The song does drag towards the end like many on this CD, but I would buy a CD like this anyways if the vocalists would shut the hell up or just restrict themselves to one or two moments of appearance.
6. This is a great song and I will need to find a copy of this album.
7. See Track 2 review.
8. Cool track but it lacks the extra something to make it really great. Sometimes I feel like it's just on the edge and wants to jump into awesome territory but it fails to do so consistently alas. Still good though.
9. I can identify immediately what I don't like about this song. It's the male vocalists in the background going ba baba bum etc. Ruins it for me, really. Otherwise the song still isn't great but it's at least tolerable without those vocalists.
10. If there's one consistent thing that bothers me in this sort of music it tends to be the vocalizations because they are so hit and miss. This one sounds like it wants to miss but it really hits for me because it' unique enough to stand out and adds a good rhythmic aspect to the song, and unless we're listening to rap vocalists rarely add a good rhythmic feel in a song.
11. The tonality of the instruments here is tasty as hell. I love it. The mixing is great too for the song, it works really well and accents it in the right places. Above all, this is catchy and not overly self indulgent. I'll need to get this CD.
12. The mellow beginning to this song seems to belie a gradual buildup theme to the song, but alas after hitting a sound in the middle of the road the song never intensifies any further and eventually just dies out as an alright, but forgettable song.
13. This song is really dorky. Really really dorky. I also have a problem with songs that sound this electronic and fake. That said, this song delivers in an unexpected way. For one thing the dorkiness really does add some appeal and laughs in a way. But also it is dancy and does make the broad appeal most techno/electronica style music does through dancy, fun beats and music.
14. This song, while not out right boring, is not particularly interesting and serves as background music at bestfor most of the song. Not very engaging. The ending does pick up but by that point it has gone on too long to be saved effectively.
1. This track starts slow but within the first minute there are definitely some cool things going on. Around the three minute mark there is a brief pause in the music and you wonder if the song is over. Well, it's not, but it should be. After the break the same motifs are repeated for an additional three minutes and drag the song out, killing any momentum the first half built.
2. Another song suffering from the length of the song. There's really just one motif in this song, but it drags on for 6 minutes once again. Artists need enough material to justify creating a lengthy song. This artist did not have that justification.
3. This track was actually pretty cool. Not amazing by any means, but the song is catchy and has a good feel. I would not mind listening to a CD of songs of this quality.
4. It's not often anymore that I will find no fault with a song, but still not like it either, but this is one of those rare instances. The melodies are interesting enough. The structure lends itself to the material nicely. It sounds almost like a soundtrack, which is something I've loved lately. But despite all those positive factors, this song just does nothing for me. I don't get drawn into it at all.
5. Awesome song, except, why the hell are these god-awful vocalists singing? If I could pick up an instrumental version of this song I would be thrilled. The song does drag towards the end like many on this CD, but I would buy a CD like this anyways if the vocalists would shut the hell up or just restrict themselves to one or two moments of appearance.
6. This is a great song and I will need to find a copy of this album.
7. See Track 2 review.
8. Cool track but it lacks the extra something to make it really great. Sometimes I feel like it's just on the edge and wants to jump into awesome territory but it fails to do so consistently alas. Still good though.
9. I can identify immediately what I don't like about this song. It's the male vocalists in the background going ba baba bum etc. Ruins it for me, really. Otherwise the song still isn't great but it's at least tolerable without those vocalists.
10. If there's one consistent thing that bothers me in this sort of music it tends to be the vocalizations because they are so hit and miss. This one sounds like it wants to miss but it really hits for me because it' unique enough to stand out and adds a good rhythmic aspect to the song, and unless we're listening to rap vocalists rarely add a good rhythmic feel in a song.
11. The tonality of the instruments here is tasty as hell. I love it. The mixing is great too for the song, it works really well and accents it in the right places. Above all, this is catchy and not overly self indulgent. I'll need to get this CD.
12. The mellow beginning to this song seems to belie a gradual buildup theme to the song, but alas after hitting a sound in the middle of the road the song never intensifies any further and eventually just dies out as an alright, but forgettable song.
13. This song is really dorky. Really really dorky. I also have a problem with songs that sound this electronic and fake. That said, this song delivers in an unexpected way. For one thing the dorkiness really does add some appeal and laughs in a way. But also it is dancy and does make the broad appeal most techno/electronica style music does through dancy, fun beats and music.
14. This song, while not out right boring, is not particularly interesting and serves as background music at bestfor most of the song. Not very engaging. The ending does pick up but by that point it has gone on too long to be saved effectively.
17 February 2008
12 February 2008
Huckabee on Tour With Amy Winehouse!?
Well, no. Between this and the Colbert vice-presidency, I'm beginning to wonder if Mr. Huckabee has written one more pop culture irony check than he is prepared to cash.
11 February 2008
The Grammys!
The Grammys - let's talk about them. I didn't watch them and, if ratings are any indicator, neither did you. But apparently Amy Winehouse won 5 awards (out of 6 nominations) including Best Record, losing out only to Herbie Hancock for best Album.Hey Herbie Hancock is still alive? Cool. I always assumed he spontaneously combusted after crossing the streams of jazz and techno with 1983's "Rockit". But yeah, good for him.
Good thing for Amy Winehouse too. Maybe the wave of overwhelming and weirdly backhanded validation only an armful of trophies from an obsolete cultural institute can provide will fill the void in her life she's been filling with gin.
Since when did the Grammys become a charity institution for neglected/self-abusive musicians? Maybe those are the only kinds there are. I realize that Rehab was amazing (the drums alone make the track) but FIVE awards? Spread it around, for goodness' sake.
07 February 2008
06 February 2008
The Format Tune Out
Arizona's local music staple, The Format, has called it quits. Here's a post that Nate made on their MySpace on Feb. 4.
Thoughts?
We have just put out word that we will not be making a new Format album. Please understand this was a tough decision and we're both upset about it. While we accept there will be false speculation as to why, understand that Sam and I remain extremely close and in fact are still passing the twin peaks box set back and forth in an attempt to figure out who REALLY killed laura.
palmer. We also want to thank everyone with and within the Format, particularly Mike, Don, and Marko, whom without, none of this would have ever even been fully realized. We both suggest you support their musical talents and whatever they decide to do. And lastly we want to thank the fans who made this the best 5 years of our lives
Thoughts?
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