Love or Hate?

Trollheart · 12-09-2015, 05:06 PM

I generally don't like Christmas albums. We had to listen to them a lot when I was young, as they were the only ones my owl fella had and he would wind up the radiogramme at Christmas, gather all the crappy Xmas records (78s) from the attic and we'd have to listen to ****ing Bing Crosby, Andy Williams et al. And all this while fending off hungry brontosauruses and avoiding swooping pterodactyls!

Really put me off those type of records. I'm not even fond of too many Christmas songs, other than the usual ones. Actually, this one is bloody epic, now that I think of it.

Machine · 12-09-2015, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Only a troll one....

Just didn't engage me. Not a jazz fan, do like Snoopy and Co but did not like this.

I getcha, just not your thing.

Trollheart · 12-10-2015, 02:27 PM

Title: ()
Artiste: Sigur Ros
Genre: Post-Rock, Instrumental
Familiarity: I've heard a few of their albums. Was very taken with Takk...
Recommended by: bob

Expectations: Greatness. A tour de force. Nothing else is expected or will be accepted.

1. Vaka: What a conundrum this presents for the reviewer! No title and all eight tracks untitled! Luckily, sanity prevails and there are alternate titles for each track, which I will use now. Nice slow start on this one, mostly piano with some effects. Getting stronger now as violin slides in, now some vocal, which I'm told is sung in a madeup language, not that it would make any difference to me as I can't understand Icelandic anyway. Very sad , kind of lamenting vocal. Really nice.
2. Fyrsta: Another soft, ethereal, gorgeous little piece, with a lovely vocal.
3. Samskeyti: Beautiful piano and I think glockenspiel here, sounds like it may be an instrumental. Much of this is like listening almost to the one piece of music (in a very good way) or the movements of a symphony. It really does flow together so well. Getting stronger now as it nears the end.
4. Njósnavélin : A little more powerful, nice guitar with some fine organ
5. Álafoss : There's a darker feel to this, sense of loss, slow but more downbeat with a somewhat yearning vocal. Percussion is really effective here. Love the buildup near the end.
6. E-Bow: Another stunning track, with a real sense of desolation in it. Great vocal. The use of the e-bow on the bass is particularly evocative.
7. Dauðalagið : Longest track at over thirteen minutes. Takes a long time to get going (like, third minute or so) but really hits the spot when it does. Very ominous, dramatic feel to it, builds as it goes, kind of Floydian in places. Again the percussion really adds to this at certain points, and at others it's perfect without any.
8. Popplagið : Lovely acoustic guitar opening. Again the percussion plays a really important role in building the tension and suspense in the track.

End result: Sure they're above criticism really, aren't they? Once you get into Sigur Ros it's kind of hard to say anything bad about them.

So, Love or Hate?It could really only be True Love, obviously.

Trollheart · 12-11-2015, 12:26 PM

Thanks to some ****er bumping necro-threads to up his post count so he can save our musical lives with his ****ing crappy link to his ****ing crappy band, this thread got pushed to page two!

Time to take back this town!

Title: Spirit of Eden
Artiste: Talk Talk
Genre: New wave
Familiarity:I know a few of their singles

1. The rainbow: Somewhat Floyd opening (circa post-Waters era), quite drony in its way, now it's morphed into a kind of early Eagles vibe, slow percussion and screeching guitar with yet no vocals and we're into the first third of the track. Ah, here they come now. Oh very nice; smooth and laconic, kind of smoky, blending really well with the rhythm and melody. Some really understated piano, vocal really reminds me of Steve Hogarth from Marillion actually. Blues guitar now with I think a talkbox on it (appropriately!) and some searing harmonica. Really enjoying this.
2. Eden: Kind of flowed seamlessly from the opener, quite similar tone from what I can hear. Really nice buildup. Can't get over the similarities to Hogarth though. Great organ, passionate vocal, guitar breaks in at just the right time.
3. Desire: Love the slow church organ opening, very sedate (not that any of the rest of the album so far has been anything but downbeat, but in a very good way) but then it kicks up in about the second minute for a short moment, and back to the low-key approach. More harmonica, methinks. Winding up now for the big finish. Excellent.
4. Inheritance: Another low-key effort, driven on soft piano and some great sparkly synth
5. I believe in you: Some really nice wailing synth here, and what sounds like an accordion?
6. Wealth: Lovely soft emotional closer, great use of the organ to drive the song along.

End result: I loved everything about this album, the atmosphere it creates, the soft, languid vocal, the sensuous keyboards and often brittle piano. The only thing that stops it being perfect is that it's basically all slow, and I would have liked a more uptempo track just to break the pattern. Nevertheless, a great great album.

So, Love or Hate? Came close to True Love but it gets a solid Love.

Plainview · 12-11-2015, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Thanks to some ****er bumping necro-threads to up his post count so he can save our musical lives with his ****ing crappy link to his ****ing crappy band, this thread got pushed to page two!

Time to take back this town!

Title: Spirit of Eden
Artiste: Talk Talk
Genre: New wave
Familiarity:I know a few of their singles

1. The rainbow: Somewhat Floyd opening (circa post-Waters era), quite drony in its way, now it's morphed into a kind of early Eagles vibe, slow percussion and screeching guitar with yet no vocals and we're into the first third of the track. Ah, here they come now. Oh very nice; smooth and laconic, kind of smoky, blending really well with the rhythm and melody. Some really understated piano, vocal really reminds me of Steve Hogarth from Marillion actually. Blues guitar now with I think a talkbox on it (appropriately!) and some searing harmonica. Really enjoying this.
2. Eden: Kind of flowed seamlessly from the opener, quite similar tone from what I can hear. Really nice buildup. Can't get over the similarities to Hogarth though. Great organ, passionate vocal, guitar breaks in at just the right time.
3. Desire: Love the slow church organ opening, very sedate (not that any of the rest of the album so far has been anything but downbeat, but in a very good way) but then it kicks up in about the second minute for a short moment, and back to the low-key approach. More harmonica, methinks. Winding up now for the big finish. Excellent.
4. Inheritance: Another low-key effort, driven on soft piano and some great sparkly synth
5. I believe in you: Some really nice wailing synth here, and what sounds like an accordion?
6. Wealth: Lovely soft emotional closer, great use of the organ to drive the song along.

End result: I loved everything about this album, the atmosphere it creates, the soft, languid vocal, the sensuous keyboards and often brittle piano. The only thing that stops it being perfect is that it's basically all slow, and I would have liked a more uptempo track just to break the pattern. Nevertheless, a great great album.

So, Love or Hate? Came close to True Love but it gets a solid Love.

Glad you enjoyed it. The 'sequel' if you will, Laughing Stock, is even better imo, so check that out if you have the time.

grindy · 12-11-2015, 12:35 PM

"New Wave"

Good to see you loved that great album though.

Trollheart · 12-11-2015, 12:36 PM

deleted: double post d'oh!

Trollheart · 12-11-2015, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

"New Wave"

Good to see you loved that great album though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_Talk

"Talk Talk were an English new wave group, active from 1981 until their breakup in 1992".

grindy · 12-11-2015, 12:39 PM

Well, yeah, but those were the early albums.

Trollheart · 12-11-2015, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

Well, yeah, but those were the early albums.

So did they then become "Old Wave"?

Sorry, if I don't know the genre I usually let Wiki guide me. All praise and glory to the Big W!

What would you call that album as a matter of interest?

Also, if it bothers anyone that I inadvertently use the wrong genre, feel free to educate me when you rec (that includes any already recced but not yet posted).

12-09-2015, 05:06 PM	#2291 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	I generally don't like Christmas albums. We had to listen to them a lot when I was young, as they were the only ones my owl fella had and he would wind up the radiogramme at Christmas, gather all the crappy Xmas records (78s) from the attic and we'd have to listen to ***ing Bing Crosby, Andy Williams et al. And all this while fending off hungry brontosauruses and avoiding swooping pterodactyls! Really put me off those type of records. I'm not even fond of too many Christmas songs, other than the usual ones. Actually, this one is bloody epic, now that I think of it. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018*

12-10-2015, 02:27 PM	#2293 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Title: () Artiste: Sigur Ros Genre: Post-Rock, Instrumental Familiarity: I've heard a few of their albums. Was very taken with Takk... Recommended by: bob Expectations: Greatness. A tour de force. Nothing else is expected or will be accepted. 1. Vaka: What a conundrum this presents for the reviewer! No title and all eight tracks untitled! Luckily, sanity prevails and there are alternate titles for each track, which I will use now. Nice slow start on this one, mostly piano with some effects. Getting stronger now as violin slides in, now some vocal, which I'm told is sung in a madeup language, not that it would make any difference to me as I can't understand Icelandic anyway. Very sad , kind of lamenting vocal. Really nice. 2. Fyrsta: Another soft, ethereal, gorgeous little piece, with a lovely vocal. 3. Samskeyti: Beautiful piano and I think glockenspiel here, sounds like it may be an instrumental. Much of this is like listening almost to the one piece of music (in a very good way) or the movements of a symphony. It really does flow together so well. Getting stronger now as it nears the end. 4. Njósnavélin : A little more powerful, nice guitar with some fine organ 5. Álafoss : There's a darker feel to this, sense of loss, slow but more downbeat with a somewhat yearning vocal. Percussion is really effective here. Love the buildup near the end. 6. E-Bow: Another stunning track, with a real sense of desolation in it. Great vocal. The use of the e-bow on the bass is particularly evocative. 7. Dauðalagið : Longest track at over thirteen minutes. Takes a long time to get going (like, third minute or so) but really hits the spot when it does. Very ominous, dramatic feel to it, builds as it goes, kind of Floydian in places. Again the percussion really adds to this at certain points, and at others it's perfect without any. 8. Popplagið : Lovely acoustic guitar opening. Again the percussion plays a really important role in building the tension and suspense in the track. End result: Sure they're above criticism really, aren't they? Once you get into Sigur Ros it's kind of hard to say anything bad about them. So, Love or Hate?It could really only be True Love, obviously. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

12-11-2015, 12:26 PM	#2294 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Thanks to some **er bumping necro-threads to up his post count so he can save our musical lives with his ing crappy link to his ing crappy band, this thread got pushed to page two! Time to take back this town! Title: Spirit of Eden Artiste: Talk Talk Genre: New wave Familiarity:I know a few of their singles 1. The rainbow: Somewhat Floyd opening (circa post-Waters era), quite drony in its way, now it's morphed into a kind of early Eagles vibe, slow percussion and screeching guitar with yet no vocals and we're into the first third of the track. Ah, here they come now. Oh very nice; smooth and laconic, kind of smoky, blending really well with the rhythm and melody. Some really understated piano, vocal really reminds me of Steve Hogarth from Marillion actually. Blues guitar now with I think a talkbox on it (appropriately!) and some searing harmonica. Really enjoying this. 2. Eden: Kind of flowed seamlessly from the opener, quite similar tone from what I can hear. Really nice buildup. Can't get over the similarities to Hogarth though. Great organ, passionate vocal, guitar breaks in at just the right time. 3. Desire: Love the slow church organ opening, very sedate (not that any of the rest of the album so far has been anything but downbeat, but in a very good way) but then it kicks up in about the second minute for a short moment, and back to the low-key approach. More harmonica, methinks. Winding up now for the big finish. Excellent. 4. Inheritance: Another low-key effort, driven on soft piano and some great sparkly synth 5. I believe in you: Some really nice wailing synth here, and what sounds like an accordion? 6. Wealth: Lovely soft emotional closer, great use of the organ to drive the song along. End result: I loved everything about this album, the atmosphere it creates, the soft, languid vocal, the sensuous keyboards and often brittle piano. The only thing that stops it being perfect is that it's basically all slow, and I would have liked a more uptempo track just to break the pattern. Nevertheless, a great great album. So, Love or Hate? Came close to True Love but it gets a solid Love*. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018*

12-11-2015, 12:35 PM	#2296 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	"New Wave" Good to see you loved that great album though. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*

12-11-2015, 12:36 PM	#2297 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	deleted: double post d'oh! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

12-11-2015, 12:39 PM	#2299 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	Well, yeah, but those were the early albums. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*