Frownland

What is this, third grade? Post your rating as a decimal like a goddamn adult.

(review coming soon)

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windsock

Eh I'm not really a math guy, just like you aren't really a reading guy.

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RYM
Last.fm

MicShazam

I need to get this album done, but I also wanted to check out Tool's Ænima album. Playing both at the same time now and the results are not half bad!

Anteater

One of the best "free" folk albums I've heard in ages. It has a refreshingly exploratory yet uneasy atmosphere, like the soundtrack to a game where you wander a mystical realm somewhere between demon infested feudal Japan and the misty haunted highlands of Appalachia.

Needless to say, this was a great suggestion and a fantastic album to kick off the Album Club. Definitely deserves more spins.

9/10

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WWWP

Cool album, nice listening experience. There's a lot of texture to the layers of sound, especially in that final 17min track. I keep wanting to describe it as good storytelling, because I felt to some extent that I was following a plot. Or maybe it's just because this album is great daydream fuel. I'll be checking out more from Thuja, good rec.

7/10

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Blarobbarg

Sadly, between my very enthusiastic first listen and my second, the album lost some of its magic for me. The first time, every new piece and texture was surprising and drew me in. The second time around, the free expression lacked the same sense of newness and felt quite a bit less exciting. Halfway through, I felt quite bored.

That said, it's not a bad album at all. I would consider listening to it again if I got into the right frame of mind. I enjoyed the spiritual, ritualistic, almost transcendental feel of the album, especially the closer. It was a fun new way to experience folk instruments, which are usually relegated to highly structured songs and strict rules.

My rating: 6.5

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Neapolitan

Anteater thought it hip to give every album a fortnight to review. You have till a fortnight or when the internet crashes, whatever comes first.

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MicShazam

I feel irrationally stressed out by the album club already.
Gonna do the album this evening if I can, just to be done with it, even if I have a lot of time left.

Neapolitan

I listen to the album last week, but the thread wasn't started to post a review. Here a whole week passed already, and I still haven't found time.

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MicShazam

Thuja - All Strange Beasts of the Past

I'm on board for the first handful tracks, where I find a raw but beautiful, sort of mournful atmosphere that I can immerse myself in. The sonic presence of these textures is a great asset to the album and it's very suited for a headphone enabled deep-dive.

Because my preferences as a music listener are as they are, my attention trails off during the last 3 tracks. Especially the very last (and very long) track. Not really interested in these if I'm being perfectly honest.

Basically, when this album feels like some raw folk music of some kind, I find it quite convincing. A strong aesthetic and some tracks that ooze atmosphere. But when it goes for a more ambient focus, I feel like it becomes more run off the mill and I feel like I've heard it all before.

But the first 4 tracks engage me with no problems at all.

Do I really have to rate it? I'd rather not.

EDIT: I guess so! Rating after a personal perspective would have to be something like a 6/10. Definitely not without qualities, but I'm also probably not coming back, so I can't really score it higher. To me, 6/10 is the critical limit for something I'd actually chose to keep in my CD collection or not. Right around that point, it would be balancing on a knife's edge, and that's what it would be if I had the CD.