My Exploration into 2016
 

A whole new year, a whole lot of music to find on Bandcamp. That's where I get most of my new albums. Plus, with a whole new year, I don't want to wait until anything on my hype list is out, so I'll be keeping a journal of every 2016 album I hear throughout the year. If anybody has some recommendations (never death metal or black metal), that would be appreciated.

Entire list:
PAGE 1
1. Timelines by Jordan F (Synthwave) 70/100
2. Anthology by the Vanishing Point (Gothic Rock) 95/100
3. Live at the WSBF buy Solaire (Stoner) 74
4. Mansion by the Lake by Morgans Door (Progressive Post-Hardcore) 88
5. The Invitation by Psalmz44 (Christian Hip Hop) 83
6. Wanna Make It a Day by Robin Famewolf (Acoustic Power Pop) 69
7. The Fourth Is Bearded by The Fourth Is Bearded (Post-Rock, Post-Hardcore) 74
PAGE 2
8. Blackstar by David Bowie (Experimental Rock, Art Rock) 86
9. The Soldier by Borejko (Ambient) 95
10. Pages 期 by waterfront dining (Contemporary Vaporwave) 92
11. Bright Universe by The Grey Marshmallow and The Prodigal Son (Experimental, IDM) 82
12. Soft Days by Sea Pinks (Surf Rock, Soft Rock) 70
13. The Astonishing by Dream Theater (Prog Rock, Prog Metal, Rock Opera) 81
14. Enstacy by Khan (Alternative Rock, Ambient) 92
15. Swan Valley Heights by Swan Valley Heights (Stoner Rock) 83
16. Wrong Side of Darkness by My Creepy Susanne.
17. We Can Do Anything by Violent Femmes (Acoustic Rock, Alternative) 71

Right now I'm listening to an album called Timelines by Jordan F, released today on NewRetroWave Records.

Synthwave. I haven't listened to a lot of synthwave, but I like the synthy sound in synthwave and synth pop. However, the album doesn't rreally try to hard to be an album. It's there for a simple guilty pleasure in which a listener can relax and let his mentality dance instead of allowing the body to dance. That's kind of how I feel. It's a little more mental to me than physical. Generic, yes. Worth a listen or two, yes. It is enjoyable and it's quite serene for synthwave. I like it, and I wouldn't mind a couple more spins. Who knows? Maybe this album will seriously grow on me to the point I give it a 9/10, maybe not.
7/10.

Subscribed. I'll try to keep up and listen to the albums when you do. I tried to do this last year but ultimately failed in keeping up with how many releases there were.

Heh. I just listen to whatever interests me. No need for me to hear everything, especially not the bad stuff.

Thanks for the subscription to all who have and all who may. I'll be back in about an hour for an update (note: I won't be telling people that all the time). I have a great album I'm listening to right now.

Anthology by The Vanishing Point

http://cdn.discogs.com/53b_j2Is8Xsrb...-2086.jpeg.jpg

Gothic Rock, Post-Punk

One doesn't find many Bandcamp albums that bother to focus on their compositions lime professionals. Simple, yet talented, Anthology is a debut album of amazing post-punk power. The singer slightly changes his voice depending on what fits the song, and sounds perfect on most tracks. The drummer times his compositions very well. The guitars maintain an ambient gothic feel so original that they could have made a name for themselves in the 70's. Statue is one of the best tracks. The album has a hypnotic fell a vaguely like The Doors. But they maintain a similar meaning in their music, akin to Joy Division. Yet, its always fast like punk. Even though you may have a tiny interest in punk, I recommend it.

Track Ratings:

Displaced Man: 10.5/10
From the Heart: 10
Face to Face: 9
Statue: 10
House of Cards: 9
Cradle of Fame: 9.2
Looking Glass: 8.5
Oh Woman: 8.5
Wrapped in Gold: 11
Dreams: 10
Goddess of Love 9.5
Voices: 9.5

I'll give it another spin tomorrow.

Total: 9.5/10.

Yeah, I don't mean every album either, but there certainly are a lot of great albums I'm interested in that I never got around to.

Live at the WSBF by Solaire

Stoner Rock, Alternative Rock
Release Date: January 1, 2016
Recorded Oct. 2, 2014

This was a live performance they did before releasing there 2015 debut album. I found the album to be better than "Live." The album is loud, and a little noisy, but the songs are pretty catchy. The vocalist has a couple different voices with which he mostly shouts, but very tolerably. Generic, but catchy stoner rock music. I will say this: "Jigsen's Wrath" was a great track. I recommend this album for any stoner listener.
74/100.

Now I'll decide whether I wan to go on a Van Morrison marathon or a Nina Simone marathon, so it's a pretty hard choice.

Mansion by the Lake by Morgans Door.

Post-Hardcore, Prog Rock, Alternative Rock, Progressive Metal
Release: January 4, 2016
Length: 110 minutes

It's official: Prog and Punk make a good combo. These guys feel a little like a hardocre Dream Theater. I've been coming across many new albums with singers who change around their vocals, and this guy has at least 5. I depends on whether he wants the feel to be screamo, punk, prog, alternative, metal, post-hardcore, etc. Also, the album apparently has a zombie concept. As far as the music goes, catchy, well-written, well-produced, worth it. I'm glad I felt like post-hardcore today.
88/100

The Invitation by Psalmz44
Christian Hip Hop
Release Date: January 4
Length: 35 minutes

My first hip hop album of '16. Actually, it's the first hip hop album I've heard for a while. Although it doesn't really hold up to other hip-hop legends, but the lyrics can be quite creative. I can't count how many great uses of TV references are in “Film in Reality.” He loves references. Check his Bandcamp page. He has a Lexus logo backwards and it stands for a “J” for “Jesus.,” and his banner is a Subway logo saying “His Way.” The album has a Christian concept, and the artist does a pretty good job making rhymes of his beliefs. It's worth the play. Also, the album has little to no language and the album is very ambient and cheerful. If you're not Christian, then just listen for the lyrical creativity.
83/100

Wanna Make It a Day by Robin Famewolf
Style: Acoustic Power Pop
Date: January 5, 2016
Length: 56 m.

Well, the songs are catchy and radio-friendly, but the production is quite sloppy. Despite that, the album begins very well. But soon the album gets tiring.
69/100

The Fourth Is Bearded by The Fourth Is Bearded
Style: Post-Rock, Post-Hardcore
Date:
Length: 50 min

There's really nothing special about this one. It's a mix of post-hardcore and post-rock. Other than that, it has semi-cool riffs with clear and sleak production and a lot of grunty vocals. The band doesn't bother to do snything with these elements other than to stretch their songs to nine minutes. Although the album isn't horrible or bad by any means, I was disappointed that the band hardly tried to make it amazing.
74/100