Micshazam's album and song picks

~~MicShazam~~ · 01-23-2018, 02:36 PM

I've had a lot of interesting albums to listen to lately, but I'm not sure I want to write any full reviews. Maybe I'll just end up posting a few select tracks from them, but for now, here's some more things I've been bumping into online lately. As always, I quite like all of it.

Cornelius - 『あなたがいるなら』"If You're Here"

Japanese pop, but of a very different kind than what usually escapes Japan. They basically seem to be keeping the good stuff under lock and key. I had to pry this from the cold, dead hands of some obscure webiste.

PERFECT BEINGS – Anunnaki - Patterns of Light

I'm not swinging by the record label InsideOut's Youtube channel so often, since progressive rock and metal isn't really my favorite thing ever, but they've got a few interesting things going on now and then. I like how this track sounds like it is influenced by modern prog-metal, without really being metal at all.

Vilde Frang - Etude in D-Flat Major Op. 8 No. 10 (Arr. Szigeti) (from the album Homage, 2017)

I'm slowly getting more into classical. I like the energy of this track and might get the album once a few more important ones are out of the way.

These next couple tracks are songs I've know for a long, long time. I listened to a lot of my old albums recently, digging deep into CD's that's been collecting dust for a while. Here's some of the things I re-connected with (warning: No MB credibility boosters here. On the contrary, in fact).

Kittie - Cut Throat

Grip Inc. - Rusty Nail

A Perfect Circle - Orestes

Guano Apes - This Time

**Janszoon** · 01-23-2018, 06:13 PM

I had no idea Cornelius had a new album out! It's been forever. I love that guy.

~~MicShazam~~ · 01-23-2018, 06:16 PM

I didn't even know he existed until earlier today, so I've got a few things to get familiar with.

**Janszoon** · 01-23-2018, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

I didn't even know he existed until earlier today, so I've got a few things to get familiar with.

His album Point is amazing. One of my favorite albums of the 00s.

~~MicShazam~~ · 01-23-2018, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

His album Point is amazing. One of my favorite albums of the 00s.

Since Point is very, very cheap on Amazon, I'm thinking I might as well just give it a chance and start there. As a side note, it's pretty cute how the new album is available on cassette

**Janszoon** · 01-23-2018, 06:41 PM

Well, here's a little sample of it:

Have you listened to the whole new one?

~~MicShazam~~ · 01-23-2018, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Have you listened to the whole new one?

No, I've just checked out the track that I posted, plus this one:

What I often do with new albums is that, if I'm sold enough on a quick glimpse of it and a source that I trust has praised it a lot, I tend to just give a few select albums a chance. Basically just buying the CD and hoping for the best. It's served me surprisingly well over the years and leads to a lot of positive surprises.

I listened to the track you posted above. It speaks well for the album it is from. There's that same attention to detail and sonic richness that I really dig about the tracks from the new album.

~~MicShazam~~ · 01-27-2018, 04:34 PM

I made a few Spotify playlists, so I'm posting them here where they don't bother anyone.

This one is a bunch of all-time favorite songs of mine. They're heavily cherrypicked to fit losely withing a sort of pop/rock category. That means no metal, folk, jazz, classical, weird electronic stuff... Just some pretty catchy, simple tunes... that I absolutely adore.

https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...ZXoirb4vZMzxvE

This one contains my favorite songs from 4 maligned albums that generally don't have a good reputation. All of these songs are excellent as far as my opinion goes. I enjoy them with no reservations.

https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...wsjWBZHxTeODea

This one is a bunch of all time favorites, this time strictly confined to the genre of metal. I tend to love metal bands with a sort of poppy, genre bending sound. Most of these bands tend to keep things simple to a degree.

https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...dkHa1IN4xxsGv5

~~MicShazam~~ · 02-01-2018, 02:22 PM

Been checking a lot of old music bookmarks, trying to clear the mess. It's so easy to save a bookmark of something that might be interesting, but going through it all takes work. I'm barely scratching the surface of the surface.

I did find some gold nuggets this evening.

Sivan Arbel - For Aba

Jazz.

Karen Beth - April Rain

Folk.

Aaron Parks - Invisible Cinema (Full Album)

Jazz.

Chris Potter – Yasodhara

Jazz.

Quercus - Heart With Bread (Full album)

Funeral doom.

Songhoy Blues - Bamako

Funky blues rock.

The Gathering - On Most Surfaces

Not exactly a new discovery for me, but I recently started taking an interest in the band.
It's all really thanks to how amazing I think Anneka Van Giersbergen's new band, Vuur, is.

~~MicShazam~~ · 02-09-2018, 03:59 AM

A couple things I've been checking out of recently.

Jinjer - I Speak Astronomy

The video is a bit cheesy (what metal video isn't?), but I think I could get into the musical style of this band. I've ordered the whole album on Amazon, so I better hope my judgment isn't totally off here...

ギターカバー dir en grey THE ⅢD EMPIRE (VESTIGE OF SCRATCHES ver.)

Turns out my favorite band has a new track out! It's just a re-recording of an older song, featured on their upcoming best-of compilation. Still, I usually find their re-recordings to be very interesting. This song is originally from a while back (2003), so I expect some degree of reinterpretation, since that's what they usually do with older songs. Frustratingly enough, I can't actually listen to the track where I'm sitting right now, so I don't know if it's good. I'm going to run it on repeat first chance I get.

A Perfect Circle - Talk Talk

I'm not really a big fan, but I do like their first album. Their upcoming 3rd album has been incredibly long underway. Not actually very impressed so far. Three tracks have been revealed, all three pretty nice, but they don't have much personality. The first album by this group was way more unique.

01-23-2018, 02:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I've had a lot of interesting albums to listen to lately, but I'm not sure I want to write any full reviews. Maybe I'll just end up posting a few select tracks from them, but for now, here's some more things I've been bumping into online lately. As always, I quite like all of it. Cornelius - 『あなたがいるなら』"If You're Here" Japanese pop, but of a very different kind than what usually escapes Japan. They basically seem to be keeping the good stuff under lock and key. I had to pry this from the cold, dead hands of some obscure webiste. PERFECT BEINGS – Anunnaki - Patterns of Light I'm not swinging by the record label InsideOut's Youtube channel so often, since progressive rock and metal isn't really my favorite thing ever, but they've got a few interesting things going on now and then. I like how this track sounds like it is influenced by modern prog-metal, without really being metal at all. Vilde Frang - Etude in D-Flat Major Op. 8 No. 10 (Arr. Szigeti) (from the album Homage, 2017) I'm slowly getting more into classical. I like the energy of this track and might get the album once a few more important ones are out of the way. These next couple tracks are songs I've know for a long, long time. I listened to a lot of my old albums recently, digging deep into CD's that's been collecting dust for a while. Here's some of the things I re-connected with (warning: No MB credibility boosters here. On the contrary, in fact). Kittie - Cut Throat Grip Inc. - Rusty Nail A Perfect Circle - Orestes Guano Apes - This Time Last edited by MicShazam; 01-23-2018 at 02:58 PM.

01-23-2018, 06:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	I had no idea Cornelius had a new album out! It's been forever. I love that guy. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

01-23-2018, 06:41 PM	#6 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Well, here's a little sample of it: Have you listened to the whole new one? __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

02-09-2018, 03:59 AM	#10 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	A couple things I've been checking out of recently. Jinjer - I Speak Astronomy The video is a bit cheesy (what metal video isn't?), but I think I could get into the musical style of this band. I've ordered the whole album on Amazon, so I better hope my judgment isn't totally off here... ギターカバー dir en grey THE ⅢD EMPIRE (VESTIGE OF SCRATCHES ver.) Turns out my favorite band has a new track out! It's just a re-recording of an older song, featured on their upcoming best-of compilation. Still, I usually find their re-recordings to be very interesting. This song is originally from a while back (2003), so I expect some degree of reinterpretation, since that's what they usually do with older songs. Frustratingly enough, I can't actually listen to the track where I'm sitting right now, so I don't know if it's good. I'm going to run it on repeat first chance I get. A Perfect Circle - Talk Talk I'm not really a big fan, but I do like their first album. Their upcoming 3rd album has been incredibly long underway. Not actually very impressed so far. Three tracks have been revealed, all three pretty nice, but they don't have much personality. The first album by this group was way more unique. Last edited by MicShazam; 02-10-2018 at 05:00 PM. Reason: spelling and other errors

01-23-2018, 06:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I didn't even know he existed until earlier today, so I've got a few things to get familiar with.

01-27-2018, 04:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I made a few Spotify playlists, so I'm posting them here where they don't bother anyone. This one is a bunch of all-time favorite songs of mine. They're heavily cherrypicked to fit losely withing a sort of pop/rock category. That means no metal, folk, jazz, classical, weird electronic stuff... Just some pretty catchy, simple tunes... that I absolutely adore. https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...ZXoirb4vZMzxvE This one contains my favorite songs from 4 maligned albums that generally don't have a good reputation. All of these songs are excellent as far as my opinion goes. I enjoy them with no reservations. https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...wsjWBZHxTeODea This one is a bunch of all time favorites, this time strictly confined to the genre of metal. I tend to love metal bands with a sort of poppy, genre bending sound. Most of these bands tend to keep things simple to a degree. https://open.spotify.com/user/micmot...dkHa1IN4xxsGv5

02-01-2018, 02:22 PM	#9 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Been checking a lot of old music bookmarks, trying to clear the mess. It's so easy to save a bookmark of something that might be interesting, but going through it all takes work. I'm barely scratching the surface of the surface. I did find some gold nuggets this evening. Sivan Arbel - For Aba Jazz. Karen Beth - April Rain Folk. Aaron Parks - Invisible Cinema (Full Album) Jazz. Chris Potter – Yasodhara Jazz. Quercus - Heart With Bread (Full album) Funeral doom. Songhoy Blues - Bamako Funky blues rock. The Gathering - On Most Surfaces Not exactly a new discovery for me, but I recently started taking an interest in the band. It's all really thanks to how amazing I think Anneka Van Giersbergen's new band, Vuur, is.