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Title: The Rain Artist: Ghazal Genre: Classical/World Fusion Artist Reaction: Never heard of them so shrug Genre Reaction: Not at all bad. I like classical and I can certainly dig some world music Familiarity: Zero Suggested by: grindy A Little Background: Very little really that I can dig up. Ghazal appears to be a three-man outfit, helmed by Kayhan Kalhor, who plays something called a kamencheh, which from the picture appears to be a cross between a lyre and a violin, and is an Iranian traditional instrument, Shujaat Khan, who plays the sitar and Swapan Chadhuri, who plays the tabla. Their style is said to be a blend of Indian and Persian classical music. Expectations: Not really sure, but this could be at least a Like I hope. Overview: Their fourth album, The Rain was actually nominated for a World Music Grammy in 2004. Oddly enough, despite the above, tabla player is listed as Sandeep Das, so perhaps a lineup change for this album? It only has three tracks in all, but none of them run for less than fifteen minutes, so the album still comes out at around 53 minutes in total. Fire: The unmistakable sound of a sitar, always, in my mind, synonymous with Indian and Eastern countries like that is joined by what sounds like a violin, and therefore I’m assuming this is the first we hear of the kamencheh. For someone completely unversed in this kind of music the traditional images appear in my mind, of deserts and camels and rolling dunes and dudes swathed in white flowing robes with dark, piercing eyes, the sun a burning orb in the clear, metal-blue sky above. Yurts and oases are other images, all I’m sure very stereotypical, but this is what comes into my mind. Very relaxed and gentle as it begins, a certain shimmering in the music which reminds me of snake charmers (stereotype 101, I know) but one thing certainly emerges very early, and that is that these guys are not just adept on their instruments, they’re masters of them. Vocal now comes in, very low and I must say soothing, almost a lullaby, gentle and reassuring. This is by now almost five minutes into the eighteen-minute opening track. Some great interplay now between the instruments, the tabla coming more into the mix, vocals dropping out for the moment. That kamencheh is just a beautiful instrument I must say, and the sitar complements it so well. I don’t think we’re about to get any shredding, but the guys can make both sitar and kamencheh rock when they want to. A little more vocal in the tenth minute - these guys are definitely believers in the axiom of less is more, at least when it comes to vocals; Shujaat Khan knows just when to sing and when to let the music do the talking - then we’re off on a pretty frenetic instrumental call-and-response between sitar and kamencheh, with the tabla looking on wisely. Three paragraphs, and only the first track? You’d better believe it! This album does not deserve a few pithy lines, and in fact I doubt that would even be possible. It’s quite likely that I will end up writing as much as, or even more than I wrote for Beefheart’s thirty-odd tracks as I do for these three epics. The soundscapes these lads weave between them are nothing less than spellbinding, and to draw on yet another cliche, they have the power to transport you to a foreign land and make you feel instantly at home there. Really speeding up now as we head into the final few minutes, and by Allah it doesn’t seem like it’s been eighteen! Big finish and we’re onto track two. Hey, sounds like that track was live! Maybe all of this album is. Dawn: Kamencheh opens this one on a low, mournful sequence as the rest of the instruments hold back for now. This is the shortest (!) track, at just seconds under fifteen minutes, and now the sitar is taking over, running off a kind of Bachesque fugue there, then quieting right back down again as the kamencheh comes in hard (ooer!) and re-establishes its mastery and domination of the track. If you’re wondering why I’m referring to the instruments and not the musicians, there’s a very good reason: I’m a lazy bastard and don’t want to keep writing out those Indian names! :laughing: Sitar now pushing kamencheh to one side and saying “I’ll take this one, son,” and doing a hell of a good job on it. To be perfectly honest, though they’re probably there I can’t hear much of the tabla and this piece seems almost percussion-free so far, which is the sixth min - oh I hear it now. Very hollow and almost like tapping on metal pipes or something, and now the singing begins, again very low and soft, almost muttered or hummed before it picks up in strength a little. This is without doubt beautiful, ethereal, almost spiritual music, and I think though it’s a little hard to review it, it’s certainly going to be harder to stop listening to it. To paraphrase Monty Burns: is all Persian music this wonderful? And again it appears to be live, though you can only tell by the applause (very much deserved) at the end. Of course, it’s not the kind of music where you would expect to have people shouting and whistling and clapping. Calls of “Yeah!” or “Play Eternity!” would not, I think, go down well in this environment. Eternity: Opened this time on the sitar, though it doesn’t take long for the kamencheh to join in. This is in fact the longest on the album, almost twenty minutes long. All the instruments coming together really well here, but so far (six minutes and counting) no vocals. And just as I typed that someone spoke. Just a word I think. Still no singing yet. A more uptempo piece this, I feel, kind of bouncy and joyous whereas the last two have been more restrained and kind of elegant, a real sense of peace and tranquility about them. There’s that voice again. If this is, like the other two tracks, live, then maybe they’re just talking to each other occasionally as they play? Twelve minutes now and still no vocal. I’m not complaining; not that the vocal is unwelcome, but the music is just so damn good that it survives on its own. Singing is a great bonus, but I’ll take this. And it’s turning out to be the best track too. Out of three, I know that’s not saying much, but given the length of each track and how absolutely not a second of either even came close to sucking, I think that it is quite an achievement. As we head into the seventeenth minute I feel it’s safe to assume there will be no singing on this track. Stunningly superb even so. A real workout for the guys: bet they were sweating after that. Rain indeed! Conclusion: Talk about someone opening your eyes! For some reason I assumed grindy’s selection would be black metal or noise rock or experimental or some mad thing. I was certainly relieved when I read who Ghazal are, but there was still an element of maybe, will this be boring? Hell no! Best pick so far. I know there’ve only been two, and the first I already knew of, but top marks g-man! So, Love or Hate? Total True Love here. |
As promised: Gang of Four - entertainment! See no Frownland & Neapolitan conspiracy there. N.B. this post is for later, when cycle through all the other members' requests and begin: Love or Hate Reborn - Round 2
Gang of Four - entertainment! https://i.postimg.cc/1X5xXmKM/gang-o...ertainment.jpg |
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So, any more suggestions from anyone who has already an album in the queue, hold off please until your album is done. Thanks. |
Can you add my band's album? I think I gave you the link earlier
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Very glad you enjoyed Ghazal!
I was relatively sure you would but then again it might have been too exotic, the tracks too long and it all too (gasp) live. Next one: Illusion Machine by Bret Higgins’ Atlas Revolt https://open.spotify.com/album/3L1bg...apNkF7EKy?nd=1 |
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:shycouch: No I really enjoyed it end to end, not a bit of it I didn't. Yer man has such a soothing voice, and that kamencheh? Just beautiful. Thanks for introducing me to this music. |
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Title: The Invisible Comes to Us Artist: Anna & Elizabeth Genre: Folk/World/Country Artist Reaction: Never heard of them so neutral Genre Reaction: No problems here Familiarity: Zero Suggested by: Frownland A Little Background: Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth Laprelle are an American duo who specialise in integrating traditional folk music, Americana and especially Appalachian music with experimental techniques. Anna plays banjo while Elizabeth sings and is a multi-instrumentalist. Expectations: The word “experimental” always worries me, but I don’t fear too much that I’ll hate this. I’m going for a hopefully pretty strong Like. Overview: This is their second album, and no, I have no idea what the title means, though it sounds vaguely spiritual or religious. Jeano: Starts acapella, very haunting, reminds me a little of Suzanne Vega, then deep organ sighs in, and Anna and Elizabeth begin to harmonise, which is very nice indeed. Can’t find much in the way of details on the album but it sounds like maybe horns and some sort of bells being added in, which gives an extra layer to the music. Fading out now on sort of oriental-style chimes. Very nice start. Black Eyed Susan: Darker and more brooding this time, with heavy, sullen drumbeats and the banjo leading the tune, organ in the background kind of, then that all fades out and we’re left with the vocal, solo this time, and banjo, sort of a distant rolling percussion which also fades out. One of the longer songs on the album, this runs for just over five minutes. Nice sort of stuttering effect, which sounds like someone crumpling up tinfoil or static on the radio. Fits in well. Ripest of Apples: Led by banjo again this time, a softer vocal with a kind of more upbeat tone that the last two tracks, sort of a country feel to this. Drums get very insistent and powerful here near the end. Irish Patriot: First time since the opener we hear the two ladies sing together. They should do this more. Another droning organ complementing them, not a carbon copy by any means of “Jeano” but quite close in structure. Some sort of taped speech now, getting a little confused, with a swirling keyboard line and now alto sax, which pulls it back on track. John of Hazelgreen: And more vocal harmonies, almost acapella but accompanied by soft tripping banjo, and sounds like there might be flute in there too. Nice. Woman is Walking: Pure acapella as the two girls harmonise. It’s short, so I hope it stays like - no, there’s organ and some small percussion coming in now. Well it’s still really nice; I just would have preferred, for such a short track, them to perform it acapella. Virginia Rambler: Basically acapella again but just one voice this time, with some sporadic percussion behind her. If I assume that to be Anna singing, then Elizabeth has now joined her, and there’s a droning organ adding its effect too. By the Shore: Sounds like Waits does folk for a few moments, then the organ slides in (oo-****ing-er!), the vocal fast and sort of echoed in delay (not sure if it’s the same voice, probably not). I’d say this is the first one I haven’t really liked. Reprises the chorus from “Woman is Walking” for some reason. I guess this is where they use the experimental technique, lots of odd and discordant effects, doesn’t really work for me personally. Farewell to Erin: I read recently that Appalachian music originated when settlers arrived from Ireland, Scotland and England, so it’s not such a surprise to hear them singing about Ireland again. Kind of adds an extra dimension to the album for me, I guess. I can’t say I’m mad about the vocal here though, which seems to almost mirror the drone synth, itself at times sounding like badly-tuned bagpipes. Very discordant and therefore not music to my ears. This also happens to be the longest on the album, almost six and a half minutes. Just my luck. Mother in the Graveyard: Like this one a lot better. Sort of a slow, bouncy banjo with the two ladies harmonising, which is really nice. Margaret: Starts out with an annoying announcement. Not sure about the point in that, then some crackly recording of an old song with I think the girls adding some of their own musical accompaniment to the old recording. Clever, but perhaps too much so. Doesn’t do anything for me. At least it’s short. Bad end to a decent album. Conclusion: Certainly don’t hate it, but it’s probably not something I would come back to, and I wouldn’t be searching out any more of their material. There’s nothing necessarily bad about it, but the combination of kind of weird electronic effects, recordings and voices over folk music doesn’t really work for me. Two lovely voices, two very accomplished musicians, but even without the experimental stuff I’d probably still be saying, nice but that’s about it. So, Love or Hate? I’ll give this a Like. It’s not a strong one though. Whatever that means. |
I keep having to go back to the OP to figure out what the colors mean cause they're arbitrary.
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My next rec is Discipline by King Crimson, doesn't look like you've heard it based on a forum search. Quote:
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Oooh that's my favourite lpd album so far (and not even because it carries my name)
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Title: The Woods Artist: Sleater-Kinney Genre: Alt-Rock Artist Reaction: I’ve heard them before. I don’t think I liked them but I don’t think I hated them. Genre Reaction: Alt-Rock covers such a wide selection. Can be really good, can be really bad. What is “alt” anyway? Familiarity: Heard one album, possibly for the original of this thread Suggested by: MarieMarie A Little Background:Sleater-Kinney are a two-man, or I should say woman, band who have been around since 1994. Seems they went through a pretty major change this year when longtime drummer Janet Weiss left. Perhaps they were a trio before that? I guess Marie can fill everyone in if they need to be told. Sleater-Kinney have been referred to as “the greatest rock band of the last two decades.” I don’t know about that. What I do know is that in the Wiki picture, one of the girls looks spookily like someone I used to work with. This is bad, because she was a right bitch. But anyway... Expectations: I doubt I’ll hate it, so probably a strong Like or above? Overview: Their seventh album, this is one on which Weiss was still with the band, and so it’s a three-piece. Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Village Voice all creamed their pants over it. Make of that what you will. Let’s see what I think. The Fox: Certainly a riotous opening, very powerful and chaotic, find the vocal kind of Hazel O’Connorish, punkish overtones certainly and the guitars are loud and in your face. Definitely not my thing, at least not on this track. The tremelo in the voice of the singer annoys me, and I have to be honest, I don’t think she sings well, but then, this genre (riot grrrl?) ain’t never been for me. There’s a certain catchiness in the guitar riff, but that’s about it. Wilderness: A somewhat more restrained guitar, jangly with some nice riffs, still hate the singing. Not my type of vocalist at all, and let’s be honest, I’ve come to appreciate black metal vocalists, so nobody can say I only like one type of singing. I was never a fan of Lene Lovich, Siouxsie or even Toyah, so it’s probably no surprise I don’t like this. Manages to emulate Ann Wilson on odd occasions, but generally not someone I would enjoy listening to. I fear for my sanity when I look at the track listing and see an eleven-minute composition near the end! What’s Mine is Yours: Choppy guitar, again quite Hazel O’Connor, this time bringing in perhaps elements of The Clash, the mixture of which really doesn’t work for me. Nor does the snarling guitar here. In fact, nothing in this track works for me. Next! If we must. And I fear we must. Jumpers: This sounds a lot better. Vocal is much clearer and less angry, the guitars busy but not going for the throat (at least not yet). Yeah this is pretty decent. Modern Girl: And this sounds like it might be continuing this sort of gentler approach, with a jangly, upbeat guitar and a nice enough vocal. Catchy, certainly; sounds like harmonica coming in there, which is always welcome. Heavy percussion now doesn’t ruin but in fact improves it in tandem with the harmonica. Much better. Entertain: Might be going a little mad again, back to the frenzied attack of the first three tracks. Yeah, the vocal is back to that punkish style, drums are harder and more in your face, though to be fair, though it’s tougher than the last two it’s not as caustic as the openers. I could like this, or at least listen to it. Rollercoaster: In general, this album seems to have started badly - really badly - but then improved in leaps and bounds, then tailed off slightly. This track continues the latter trend. It’s not bad, a real sharp rocker with a sixties garage punk feeling (no I don’t know what I’m talking about either) but it’s not as good as “Jumpers” or “Modern Girl”, or even “Entertain”. Still, I don’t hate it. Steep Air: Things actually slowing down? Can it be? Very claustrophobic air to this one, sounds like piano there but none is credited so maybe not. Vocal is very low and almost indistinct, guitars hard and sharp, growling and snapping. No that must be piano. A very decent song. Let’s Call it Love: This is that eleven-minuter I feared. Although I don’t know the band, they don’t seem the obvious type to write epics - short, sharp stabs in the face seem to me to be more their style than long, prolonged kickings while you lie writhing on the ground - but here we are. Will it be an endurance or a revelation? Well it starts off tough enough, and I find it hard to understand how they’re going to stretch this out for eleven minutes, but let’s see. Yeah, it’s exploded into a real punk/riot grrl rockfest now, not good news for me. Now it’s slowing down on a kind of almost metal beat, marching drums, thumping guitar but you know, it’s not as bad as it could have been. Not quite sure why it needs to be this long though. Night Light: Great closer. Powerful but not too angry vocal, excellent guitar, catchy hook. Conclusion: I felt sure, when this started, that it would be an easy Hate. I don’t like hating albums, especially those suggested by other people, but some things just don’t sit well with me. As this went on, however, I warmed to it more, and though I couldn’t honestly say I’d ever listen to another Sleater-Kinney record, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. So, Love or Hate? I guess I can say I Like it a little |
Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
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Can just one of the returning members not be trash?
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TH, Chula, Tristan, jwb, you. The loser quotient is high even with Tristan but he's more of a neutral than a positive.
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I mean really is there a single human being that’s spent more than 15 minutes on MusicBanter in their life that is not a loser?
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Urban even if he tried to carry himself like a snarky music writer permanently in-between jobs.
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I haven’t made anything since 2016, with nothing new planned in the near future. Too much going on to focus on it. I hardly have the time to even listen to music nowadays, though I adore the album I rec’d you here and hope you do too! |
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Bro I just realized TH is using proper capitalization for album titles now. Crazy.
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Title: New Mexico Artist: The Oppenheimer Analysis Genre: Electronic/Dance/Synthpop Artist Reaction: Shrug; never heard of them Genre Reaction: Dance I’m not crazy about, synthpop mostly I can enjoy Familiarity: Zero Suggested by: Batty A Little Background: Can’t really find anything about the artist, but it appears to be two guys from the UK. Hopefully this is the right album, as it’s under the name Andie Oppenheimer, though it is called New Mexico and I doubt two bands have the same album with the surname of the father of the atomic bomb in them! Expectations: Don’t know; hoping for at least a Like Overview: Can’t tell you much, other than they seem to have had only two albums, of which this is the second, the first released all the way back in 1982. That’s a long time between albums. Okay well according to Discogs the way Spotify has the tracks listed is wrong, but as it’s easier I’m going to go with Spotify’s version. Don’t suppose it makes too much difference. In which case we begin with The Devil’s Dancers: Has a very eighties new-wave feel, don’t particularly like the voice of the singer, bit moany, sort of reminds me of Martin Gore. Maybe. Very synth-led of course, with the drum machine going and making it all sound very, I don’t know, plastic? Manufactured? My favourite word for this kind of music: soulless. Radiance: Slower track, but not too much different from the opener (as Spotify has it); quite depressing really. I do like my synthpop but I prefer it to be more upbeat in tone than this. Also reminds me now of Numan when I’d prefer OMD sort of thing. Bored with this. Martyr: At least this has a bit more life in it. Still don’t like the singer but this is a lot better. Cold War: Keeping this moving. I can take this sort of dancy electronica better than the kind of coldwave (?) of the previous two tracks. This isn’t bad. But god that bored vocal! Like a cross between Gore and Tennant, a match for me made in Hell. Yuck. Don’t Be Seen With Me: This has something about it. Like the rippling synth line, the hollow drums and the basic rhythm of the song. Even the vocal is not bad this time around. Best song so far (though that’s not saying much). This actually opens the album, according to Discogs, and if I had heard this first maybe I might have had a different slant on the album. Modern Wonder: Then it goes right back to the bored, listless vocal. You know, at times I think he’s not even singing in tune. Ah, what do I know? I know I don’t like his voice on about eighty percent of these tracks, that’s for sure. Subterranean Desire: There’s a certain something about this track. I can’t say I like it particularly, but I dislike it less than most of the others. Man, if that’s close to the best I can say about this album we done got us a problem! Scorpions: There’s a nice kind of synth motif running through this. It’s quite Depeche Mode but with a sort of Cars feel in places too. Not bad. New Mexico: This is a real dronefest though. Very boring. And way too ****ing long. “The land of enchantment”? The land of tedium more like! You know, I’m changing that black to red. **** this. It’s just the same ****ing thing over and over and over again. Why does this have to be nearly eight minutes long? Shut the **** up! Behind the Shades: Another decent rippling keyboard riff; I think anything would be better after the ****fest of the title track, but to be honest this isn’t that great. Sort of a brassy thing going on too, which is a little interesting but overall it’s dreary and boring. Yawn. Men in White Coats: Worrying that these guys are going to show up and drag me off at this point. Almost wish they would. This is really terrible. The album I mean. This track does at least have a bit of energy about it, and again the vocal has some personality in it, one of the few times I hear it. Could be decent, give it a chance. Yeah, I can get into this, which puts it very firmly in the minority. You Won’t Forget Me: This one is okay too, quite good in fact. Snatches of AOR-ish keyswork in there, vocal has some emotion, more of that Cars feel about it. Upbeat and bouncy. Better. Almost sounded like some guitar there! Science: More downbeat but an uptempo track, not half bad. Under Surveillance: Says original mix so I assume this is from the other album, the one released in 1982? Well how weird! Looking at that album I see it’s basically the very same track listing, with one or two other tracks. What the blue living -? So I don’t know where this comes from but it’s quite good actually, very uptempo and catchy. One of the better ones. Fellow Traveller: This time it says “guitar version”, but where the original version is I don’t know. And now I see Spotify has two versions of the album, the second one of which, the one I didn’t see, is the correct track listing that ties in with the Discogs one. Oh well. Looks like I only missed out one track, “Security Risk”, but took in two, no three others in its place. This runs on acoustic guitar, which is a nice change (clue is in the name, Trollheart) and it’s pretty good. Conclusion: I was pretty convinced I was going to hate this, or at least dislike it as the album went on, but though I do dislike a lot of it, there are a few tracks that I did like and so I can’t really rate it too low. It certainly improved towards the end, making a strong showing and if more of the album had been like the last three tracks or so I would have likely rated it higher. So, Love or Hate? As it is, I can just about stretch to Like it a little. Note: I’ve had some comments that people are getting confused by my colour-coding, so in future I will be adding a reminder at the end of each review. Everyone happy now? True Love Love Really Like Like a Little Meh Dislike Really Dislike Hate |
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If you use the color spectrum and their gamma's, it makes more sense.
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Plus, that cyan can really mess with Neo's head. |
gamma's? Splendid idea though
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I'm not sure what the heck that is either, it just sounds cool.
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Lol
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I just realized Trollheart can't quote that and copy/paste it if he wants to use it, so here's a quotable copy/paste ready to go. True Love Love Really Like Like a Little Meh Dislike Really Dislike Hate |
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