Love or Hate?

Trollheart · 11-22-2015, 04:28 PM

Note: Those of a more pedantic bent among you will notice that the next two are both from Goofle. This is out of keeping with my usual rule, ie four other members must rec albums before one who has already done so can do so again, but in this case it just happened that Goofle's was the last of the previous round and he ended up being the first in the new round, so I'm treating them as two separate entities. I could of course have moved his new rec four places down, but I didn't feel it was fair to do that: the four-member-gap rule is there to prevent one person reccing a slew of albums at once and so hogging the limelight. There is a gap of several months between these two recs, so I don't think anyone could accuse Goofle of trying to monopolise anything. With that in mind, here's the first of his two recs, this posted some months ago as the last of what was then the current round.

Title: Gimme Shelter
Artiste: Merry Clayton
Genre: Funk/Soul
Familiarity: Zero

1. Country roads: Powerful voice with a real soul feel to it and more than a little gospel. Some great brass.
2. Tell all the people: This is far more in the gospel mould. Good strong performance. Quite uplifting.
3. Bridge over troubled water: Think I may have heard this song before (!)

Good version; lends the old classic some new life.
4. I've got life: Another good strong song.
5. Gimme shelter: Very powerful cover of the Stones classic.
6. Here come those heartaches again: Very nice soulful ballad; great vocal harmonies
7. Forget it I've got it: Yeah, this one is okay but not as good as the previous tracks.
8. You've been acting strange: Kind of same here really
9. I ain't gonna worry my life away: A superbly powerful gospel blues ballad with real teeth.
10. Good girls: Another kind of powerful semi-ballad
11. Glad tidings: Never liked Van Morrison. And I don't like this.

End result: It's a good album but somehow it just doesn't hit the spot for me. I kind of got a little bored about halfway. I'm not very much into soul or funk, and this was just not something I could get into.

So, Love or Hate? Meh, I'll give it a Like. That's being a little generous though.

TechnicLePanther · 11-22-2015, 04:56 PM

I guess I'll inject a recommendation in here:

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children

Justthefacts · 11-22-2015, 05:55 PM

If Trollheart doesn't hate me anymore, I'd like to recommend this

The Batlord · 11-22-2015, 06:00 PM

At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul

Trollheart · 11-23-2015, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justthefacts

If Trollheart doesn't hate me anymore, I'd like to recommend this

I don't hate you, but you have to be able to take rejection of your recs the same as anyone would. Frownland will argue with me, Batty will sneer at me, Machine will scratch his head, but nobody else has cursed me out and called my thread a piece of ****.

So as long as you're prepared to be civil and accept that I might not like your rec and that that does not then give you the right to insult me (I don't care about humourous insults, obviously, such as "what the **** do you know? You listen to Genesis! Yeah. G-E-N-E-S-I-S!", but nothing serious) then I'll put this in the queue. But remember, I'm (allegedly) human too, and I have feelings. No more temper tantrums, and we'll forget the past. Deal?

bob. · 11-23-2015, 07:31 AM

Texas is the Reason - Do You Know Who You Are?

i feel this may be pushing your limit....but it's an amazing record

The Identity Matrix · 11-23-2015, 03:16 PM

The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth (2006)

A personal favorite as you could probably tell by my avatar. A very interesting record as it deviates from their past material at the time.

Trollheart · 11-24-2015, 11:21 AM

Title: Beauty Behind the Madness
Artiste: The Weeknd
Genre: R&B, Pop
Familiarity: Zero

1. Real life: Sharp guitar and synth? Did not expect that. Not at all. Vocal reminds me of a sort of cross between Jackson and George Michael. Good powerful percussion, very echoey. Good start. Not a “yo!” or “Bitch” anywhere yet. Lovely violin. Like this a lot.
2. Losers: Quite funky this one. Like it also. Cool piano.
3. Tell your friends: Could do without the autotune, but it's a nice ballad, even if the language is a little, shall we say, choice? It's unfortunate though, as the autotune does my head in. Nice guitar solo though. Came close to Green, if only it hadn't been for the a/t...
4. Often: Yeah not bad but it's a bit boringly self-absorbed. Not that impressed with this one.
5. The hills: This one's better. Kind of a dark, laidback vibe to it. Even the a/t doesn't bug me here.
6. Acquainted: This is ok, but the album has kind of slipped into a rut of slow, drony songs now and I'd rather hear something a bit more uptempo before I fall asleep here. The bit at the end is weird.
7. Can't feel my face: Okay, this is more uptempo. Nice funky guitar, good chorus.
8. Shameless: Back to the slower tracks, though this is quite good. Like the acoustic guitar, percussion is nice. Excellent solo, as Homer would say.
9. Earned it: Great blues track, love this one.
10. In the night: This is really great; has a kind of “The way you make me feel” beat about it.
11. As you are: This has a soft anthemic feel. Good ending.
12. Dark times: Another superb little slow blues number. Neat.
13. Prisoner: This is really good too; has a real, I don't know: tribal? Feel about it. Slow and moody but with some real danger in there.
14. Angel: Lovely ballad to end.

End result: Much much better than I had expected. Thought it would be all rap and hip-hop. A little too slow mostly for me; I would have preferred a few more uptempo tracks, as it tended to drag a little for me. But overall a very fine album.

So, Love or Hate? Have to be a Love.

TechnicLePanther · 11-24-2015, 12:03 PM

Went through a bit of a struggle to figure out which of his albums I would rec you, but in the end, I settled on the newest masterpiece.

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell

YorkeDaddy · 11-24-2015, 12:09 PM

^^^Already reviewed, he liked it quite a lot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Title: Carrie and Lowell
Artiste: Sufjan Stevens
Genre: Folk/Indie
Familiarity: I've heard one of his albums: Illinois I think. Or Michigan. Some state anyway. Don't remember being too impressed with it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie...#Track_listing

Track 1(Love) Nice soft folky feel to this, maybe mandolin in there. Nice gentle voice with some good vocal harmonies. Ooh! Nice piano!
Track 2(Love) Yes this is very nice too. Very personal songs. Very simple. Beautiful bit of cello at the end. I think.
Track 3(Love) This is really nice too. Hard to say anything about this so far, other than it's nice. Which is probably enough.
Track 4(Love) This has a very haunting quality to it, especially at the end.
Track 5(Love) Nice sort of rippling guitar in this. This guy has not raised his voice once so far, and we're halfway through the album.
Track 6(Love) Sort of a jaunty, sad little song concerning the realisation of mortality. The bit about what to do with the body was pretty hard to hear. Very brave.
Track 7(Love) Is there harp in this? No? Just me then.
Track 8(Love) Another really nice track with rippling guitar again
Track 9(Love) Just another really nice one
Track 10(Love) Like the bitterness aimed at God and/or religion here
Track 11(Love) Beautiful piano, gentle and moving closer.

End result: An album of infinite sadness, tenderness, courage and power. Almost like someone ripping open their chest and showing you their still beating heart. Unnerving, scary, triumphant, heart-rending, joyous and brave as all hell. Bravo. One of the most personal records I've heard since Rod Stewart's Time. Guess I may need to give Sufjan Stevens another shot.

So, Love or Hate? It would have to be a Love, wouldn't it?

Chances of a full review:8/10

11-22-2015, 04:28 PM	#2141 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Note: Those of a more pedantic bent among you will notice that the next two are both from Goofle. This is out of keeping with my usual rule, ie four other members must rec albums before one who has already done so can do so again, but in this case it just happened that Goofle's was the last of the previous round and he ended up being the first in the new round, so I'm treating them as two separate entities. I could of course have moved his new rec four places down, but I didn't feel it was fair to do that: the four-member-gap rule is there to prevent one person reccing a slew of albums at once and so hogging the limelight. There is a gap of several months between these two recs, so I don't think anyone could accuse Goofle of trying to monopolise anything. With that in mind, here's the first of his two recs, this posted some months ago as the last of what was then the current round. Title: Gimme Shelter Artiste: Merry Clayton Genre: Funk/Soul Familiarity: Zero 1. Country roads: Powerful voice with a real soul feel to it and more than a little gospel. Some great brass. 2. Tell all the people: This is far more in the gospel mould. Good strong performance. Quite uplifting. 3. Bridge over troubled water: Think I may have heard this song before (!) Good version; lends the old classic some new life. 4. I've got life: Another good strong song. 5. Gimme shelter: Very powerful cover of the Stones classic. 6. Here come those heartaches again: Very nice soulful ballad; great vocal harmonies 7. Forget it I've got it: Yeah, this one is okay but not as good as the previous tracks. 8. You've been acting strange: Kind of same here really 9. I ain't gonna worry my life away: A superbly powerful gospel blues ballad with real teeth. 10. Good girls: Another kind of powerful semi-ballad 11. Glad tidings: Never liked Van Morrison. And I don't like this. End result: It's a good album but somehow it just doesn't hit the spot for me. I kind of got a little bored about halfway. I'm not very much into soul or funk, and this was just not something I could get into. So, Love or Hate? Meh, I'll give it a Like. That's being a little generous though. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-22-2015, 04:56 PM	#2142 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	I guess I'll inject a recommendation in here: Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

11-23-2015, 07:31 AM	#2146 (permalink)
bob. Still sends his reguards. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Trying to get out of the cat town.... Posts: 5,039	Texas is the Reason - Do You Know Who You Are? i feel this may be pushing your limit....but it's an amazing record __________________ A kiss is the beginning of cannibalism. Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose.

11-24-2015, 11:21 AM	#2148 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: Beauty Behind the Madness Artiste: The Weeknd Genre: R&B, Pop Familiarity: Zero 1. Real life: Sharp guitar and synth? Did not expect that. Not at all. Vocal reminds me of a sort of cross between Jackson and George Michael. Good powerful percussion, very echoey. Good start. Not a “yo!” or “Bitch” anywhere yet. Lovely violin. Like this a lot. 2. Losers: Quite funky this one. Like it also. Cool piano. 3. Tell your friends: Could do without the autotune, but it's a nice ballad, even if the language is a little, shall we say, choice? It's unfortunate though, as the autotune does my head in. Nice guitar solo though. Came close to Green, if only it hadn't been for the a/t... 4. Often: Yeah not bad but it's a bit boringly self-absorbed. Not that impressed with this one. 5. The hills: This one's better. Kind of a dark, laidback vibe to it. Even the a/t doesn't bug me here. 6. Acquainted: This is ok, but the album has kind of slipped into a rut of slow, drony songs now and I'd rather hear something a bit more uptempo before I fall asleep here. The bit at the end is weird. 7. Can't feel my face: Okay, this is more uptempo. Nice funky guitar, good chorus. 8. Shameless: Back to the slower tracks, though this is quite good. Like the acoustic guitar, percussion is nice. Excellent solo, as Homer would say. 9. Earned it: Great blues track, love this one. 10. In the night: This is really great; has a kind of “The way you make me feel” beat about it. 11. As you are: This has a soft anthemic feel. Good ending. 12. Dark times: Another superb little slow blues number. Neat. 13. Prisoner: This is really good too; has a real, I don't know: tribal? Feel about it. Slow and moody but with some real danger in there. 14. Angel: Lovely ballad to end. End result: Much much better than I had expected. Thought it would be all rap and hip-hop. A little too slow mostly for me; I would have preferred a few more uptempo tracks, as it tended to drag a little for me. But overall a very fine album. So, Love or Hate? Have to be a Love. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-24-2015, 12:03 PM	#2149 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	Went through a bit of a struggle to figure out which of his albums I would rec you, but in the end, I settled on the newest masterpiece. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

11-23-2015, 03:16 PM	#2147 (permalink)
The Identity Matrix [REDACTED] Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: East of West Posts: 994	The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth (2006) A personal favorite as you could probably tell by my avatar. A very interesting record as it deviates from their past material at the time.