Trollheart Listens to Every Album on Wiki's List for 2017

Trollheart · 02-09-2018, 03:39 PM

Album title: 7 Series
Artist: Kid Ink
Genre: Hip-hop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Second
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 1.67
I'm afraid I really don't have anything to say about this. It seems pretty generic hip-hop (as I understand it): I don't hear anything different or anything that stands out. Could be any rapper really. Just a big shrug.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

grindy · 02-09-2018, 03:40 PM

There should be rapper called 'big shrug'.

Trollheart · 02-09-2018, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

There should be rapper called 'big shrug'.

Shruggaz new album It Don't Matter A Fuck.

Trollheart · 02-09-2018, 06:04 PM

Album title: Everybody
Artist: Logic
Genre: Conscious Hip-hop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No but I've heard of him and of this album
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 2.09
Now this is more like it! From the kick off, this has heart, passion, energy. You can feel your feet move, your heart beat, your soul fill up. This is uplifting music and even though the opener pushes seven and a half minutes, there's nothing wasted. If the rest of the album is like this I'll have no problem with it. I love the talk with God at the end. “Confess” is a brilliant track that just rocks along with a superfast rap and a real soul vibe to it. “Killing Spree” is a powerful sermon from the Church of Trap, while “America” features the legendary Chuck D himself, what an honour. “Ink Blot” allows something of a chance to catch the breath, slowing things down for a short relaxed little track, before we're back and firing on all cylinders with “Mos Definitely”, a rapid-fire rap spraying around like an Uzi.

Back to Logic's meeting with God on “Waiting Room”, which has no music at all. And no rap. It's literally a spoken conversation between Logic, as Adam, and God. Very impressive. That segues almost directly into “1-800-273-8255”, which tackles the idea of suicide, the title being the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Love that. They should have this on the hold music for that help line. If there is hold music, which I guess at some point there must be. Superb song, a real highlight. This album just keeps on giving. Excellent stuff. If the opener was long at nearly eight minutes, the closer is very long at over twelve, and features everyone's favourite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Now what rapper can boast of having both him and the Public Enemy founder guesting on his album? That's pretty special. So is this album.
Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-10-2018, 11:20 AM

Album title: This Old Dog
Artist: Mac DeMarco
Genre: Lo-Fi/Jangle Pop
Nationality: Canadian
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? Heard one album
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.40
Odd how your memory plays tricks on you, isn't it? I find it hard to remember things and it's also odd how your memory plays tricks on you, isn't it? I know I heard one of this guy's albums in the “Love or Hate?” thread, but I can't remember what I thought of it. Also, I had for some reason formed the idea he was a hip-hop artist. Weird. Anyway I find it a bit boring up to “For the First Time”, but overall there's a very relaxed – perhaps too relaxed – seventies soft rock feel to this, and he does that kind of laconic singing that I'm not very fond of. “One More Love Song” is good too, as is “Moonlight on the River”, but generally I'm just bored with this. Meh.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Don't know

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-10-2018, 11:49 AM

Album title: Bold
Artist: Mary Lambert
Genre: R&B/Folk/Pop/Spoken Word
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Third EP; fourth overall
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Some yes
Average RYM Score: 3.62
An interesting mix of singer/songwriter folky pop and spoken word; half of “Lay Your Head Down” (which runs for almost eight minutes) consists of her just speaking against a soft piano melody, with the chorus sung by her and then back to the spoken word. On the other side of things, “Hang Out With You” is a simple, happy, uptempo pop song and “Know Your Name” is more a rock/AOR style, with tinges of country in “I'd Be Your Wife”. Impressive stuff, though considering there are only seven tracks I think it was a mistake to include two mixes of one song.

Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-10-2018, 02:30 PM

Album title: Musas
Artist: Natalia Lafourcade and Los Macorinos
Genre: Folk
Nationality: Mexican
Release date: May 5 (Cinco de Mayo!)
Position in Discography: Seventh
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.53
A collaboration between Natalia Lafourcade and the acoustic guitar duo Los Macorinos, which I'm afraid means nothing to me, as I know neither, but it seems to be a big deal. Mostly traditional Mexican songs with a few of her own thrown in, I of course know none of them but the album does achieve what she says she set out to do on it, which is to make it sound very authentically Mexican. I guess if that's your bag then you'll probably enjoy this, but it doesn't do anything for me personally."Qué He Sacado Con Quererte" is nice, some really lovely cello on it, and "Rocío de Todos los Campos" is pleasant too, but isn't “Son Amores (That's Amore)” Italian? I certainly know that song – who doesn't? - but it's the only one I do know.

Yeah, it's very pleasant and she's a great singer no doubt, to say nothing of the expertise of the two lads on guitars, but for the most part I was just, again, bored. The only real highlight for me was the instrumental closer. Just not really for me, I'm afraid.

Check out more from this artist? No (maybe Los Macorinos)
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-10-2018, 06:09 PM

Album title: Non-Stop: Mexico to Jamaica
Artist: Ozomatli
Genre: Reggae/Funk/Soul/Hip-hop/Latin/Folk/World/Country
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Eighth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? I have heard one album
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? All those genres?

Average RYM Score: 3.00
I knew I had heard the name before. It's quite distinctive, after all, and again I look back to “Love or Hate?” where I was introduced to them via the album Street Signs, which I think I liked. I certainly like this; very smooth, cool and cheerful. Mostly (all) reggae so far though; not sure if those other tags are going to be warranted. Still, we have another eleven tracks to go, so plenty of time. Okay, “Besame Mucho” has a hip-hop rap and feel to it, with some sort of Mexican trumpet thing going on too. A reggae version of “La Bamba” is very welcome, and when they add a rap, well, that's just so much better. They do this again in “De Paisano a Paisano”, and there are even songs in English: in the end, “Evil Ways”, “Land of 1000 Dances” and “Come and Get Your Love” are the least interesting of them all. Great album though. Still, didn't see any country, little funk or soul and not too much in the way of World Music (though that's almost too broad a genre tag to be using anyway) here. Mostly reggae with a healthy dart of Latin and Hip-hop.

Check out more from this artist? Yeah
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 06:22 AM

Album title: No Shape
Artist: Perfume Genius
Genre: Chamber Pop/Art Pop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Fourth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.52
Begins very quiet, with Perfume Genius, which is the stage name of Mike Hadreas, singing softly over gentle piano which then explodes into a powerful orchestral piece, but the following tracks don't seem to live up to the promise of that opener and I get a little distracted and bored by track four. “Wreath” has something about it and returns to the kind of quality of the first track, almost gospel in its way, and the soft vocal on the fragile “Every Night” reminds me of Marillion's Steve Hogarth at his most earnest. Lovely strings accompaniment too. Speaking of strings, there's a sense almost of Vivaldi's “Winter” in the orchestral backing to “Choir”, and yeah, there are some really nice songs here. Guess it got a lot better after the first two tracks. Pretty impressive really.

Check out more from this artist? Might
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 10:41 AM

Album title: The Weather
Artist: Pond
Genre: Psych Rock/Neo-Psychedelia
Nationality: Australian
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Seventh
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.19
This album seems to have gone in faster than I had expected. Is that a good thing? Not sure. The vocal is quite muddy and sort of shoegaze-y, the music is certain psych – fast, frenetic, upbeat mostly and pretty trippy – until “A/B” slows it all down on a single piano, and “Edge of the World Part 2” is nice too, but overall a certain sense of meh and even what? Kind of started to get into it near the end, but might need further listens to form a proper opinion. Yeah, like that's going to happen!

Check out more from this artist? Maybe
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

02-09-2018, 03:39 PM	#1831 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: 7 Series Artist: Kid Ink Genre: Hip-hop Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Second Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 1.67 I'm afraid I really don't have anything to say about this. It seems pretty generic hip-hop (as I understand it): I don't hear anything different or anything that stands out. Could be any rapper really. Just a big shrug. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-09-2018, 03:40 PM	#1832 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	There should be rapper called 'big shrug'. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*

02-09-2018, 06:04 PM	#1834 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: Everybody Artist: Logic Genre: Conscious Hip-hop Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Third Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No but I've heard of him and of this album Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 2.09 Now this is more like it! From the kick off, this has heart, passion, energy. You can feel your feet move, your heart beat, your soul fill up. This is uplifting music and even though the opener pushes seven and a half minutes, there's nothing wasted. If the rest of the album is like this I'll have no problem with it. I love the talk with God at the end. “Confess” is a brilliant track that just rocks along with a superfast rap and a real soul vibe to it. “Killing Spree” is a powerful sermon from the Church of Trap, while “America” features the legendary Chuck D himself, what an honour. “Ink Blot” allows something of a chance to catch the breath, slowing things down for a short relaxed little track, before we're back and firing on all cylinders with “Mos Definitely”, a rapid-fire rap spraying around like an Uzi. Back to Logic's meeting with God on “Waiting Room”, which has no music at all. And no rap. It's literally a spoken conversation between Logic, as Adam, and God. Very impressive. That segues almost directly into “1-800-273-8255”, which tackles the idea of suicide, the title being the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Love that. They should have this on the hold music for that help line. If there is hold music, which I guess at some point there must be. Superb song, a real highlight. This album just keeps on giving. Excellent stuff. If the opener was long at nearly eight minutes, the closer is very long at over twelve, and features everyone's favourite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Now what rapper can boast of having both him and the Public Enemy founder guesting on his album? That's pretty special. So is this album. Check out more from this artist? Yes Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-10-2018, 11:20 AM	#1835 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: This Old Dog Artist: Mac DeMarco Genre: Lo-Fi/Jangle Pop Nationality: Canadian Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Third Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? Heard one album Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.40 Odd how your memory plays tricks on you, isn't it? I find it hard to remember things and it's also odd how your memory plays tricks on you, isn't it? I know I heard one of this guy's albums in the “Love or Hate?” thread, but I can't remember what I thought of it. Also, I had for some reason formed the idea he was a hip-hop artist. Weird. Anyway I find it a bit boring up to “For the First Time”, but overall there's a very relaxed – perhaps too relaxed – seventies soft rock feel to this, and he does that kind of laconic singing that I'm not very fond of. “One More Love Song” is good too, as is “Moonlight on the River”, but generally I'm just bored with this. Meh. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Don't know Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-10-2018, 11:49 AM	#1836 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: Bold Artist: Mary Lambert Genre: R&B/Folk/Pop/Spoken Word Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Third EP; fourth overall Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Some yes Average RYM Score: 3.62 An interesting mix of singer/songwriter folky pop and spoken word; half of “Lay Your Head Down” (which runs for almost eight minutes) consists of her just speaking against a soft piano melody, with the chorus sung by her and then back to the spoken word. On the other side of things, “Hang Out With You” is a simple, happy, uptempo pop song and “Know Your Name” is more a rock/AOR style, with tinges of country in “I'd Be Your Wife”. Impressive stuff, though considering there are only seven tracks I think it was a mistake to include two mixes of one song. Check out more from this artist? Yes Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-10-2018, 02:30 PM	#1837 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: Musas Artist: Natalia Lafourcade and Los Macorinos Genre: Folk Nationality: Mexican Release date: May 5 (Cinco de Mayo!) Position in Discography: Seventh Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.53 A collaboration between Natalia Lafourcade and the acoustic guitar duo Los Macorinos, which I'm afraid means nothing to me, as I know neither, but it seems to be a big deal. Mostly traditional Mexican songs with a few of her own thrown in, I of course know none of them but the album does achieve what she says she set out to do on it, which is to make it sound very authentically Mexican. I guess if that's your bag then you'll probably enjoy this, but it doesn't do anything for me personally."Qué He Sacado Con Quererte" is nice, some really lovely cello on it, and "Rocío de Todos los Campos" is pleasant too, but isn't “Son Amores (That's Amore)” Italian? I certainly know that song – who doesn't? - but it's the only one I do know. Yeah, it's very pleasant and she's a great singer no doubt, to say nothing of the expertise of the two lads on guitars, but for the most part I was just, again, bored. The only real highlight for me was the instrumental closer. Just not really for me, I'm afraid. Check out more from this artist? No (maybe Los Macorinos) Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-10-2018, 06:09 PM	#1838 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: Non-Stop: Mexico to Jamaica Artist: Ozomatli Genre: Reggae/Funk/Soul/Hip-hop/Latin/Folk/World/Country Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Eighth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? I have heard one album Familiar with the genre or subgenre? All those genres? Average RYM Score: 3.00 I knew I had heard the name before. It's quite distinctive, after all, and again I look back to “Love or Hate?” where I was introduced to them via the album Street Signs, which I think I liked. I certainly like this; very smooth, cool and cheerful. Mostly (all) reggae so far though; not sure if those other tags are going to be warranted. Still, we have another eleven tracks to go, so plenty of time. Okay, “Besame Mucho” has a hip-hop rap and feel to it, with some sort of Mexican trumpet thing going on too. A reggae version of “La Bamba” is very welcome, and when they add a rap, well, that's just so much better. They do this again in “De Paisano a Paisano”, and there are even songs in English: in the end, “Evil Ways”, “Land of 1000 Dances” and “Come and Get Your Love” are the least interesting of them all. Great album though. Still, didn't see any country, little funk or soul and not too much in the way of World Music (though that's almost too broad a genre tag to be using anyway) here. Mostly reggae with a healthy dart of Latin and Hip-hop. Check out more from this artist? Yeah Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 02-14-2018 at 06:32 AM.

02-11-2018, 06:22 AM	#1839 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: No Shape Artist: Perfume Genius Genre: Chamber Pop/Art Pop Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Fourth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.52 Begins very quiet, with Perfume Genius, which is the stage name of Mike Hadreas, singing softly over gentle piano which then explodes into a powerful orchestral piece, but the following tracks don't seem to live up to the promise of that opener and I get a little distracted and bored by track four. “Wreath” has something about it and returns to the kind of quality of the first track, almost gospel in its way, and the soft vocal on the fragile “Every Night” reminds me of Marillion's Steve Hogarth at his most earnest. Lovely strings accompaniment too. Speaking of strings, there's a sense almost of Vivaldi's “Winter” in the orchestral backing to “Choir”, and yeah, there are some really nice songs here. Guess it got a lot better after the first two tracks. Pretty impressive really. Check out more from this artist? Might Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-11-2018, 10:41 AM	#1840 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Album title: The Weather Artist: Pond Genre: Psych Rock/Neo-Psychedelia Nationality: Australian Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Seventh Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.19 This album seems to have gone in faster than I had expected. Is that a good thing? Not sure. The vocal is quite muddy and sort of shoegaze-y, the music is certain psych – fast, frenetic, upbeat mostly and pretty trippy – until “A/B” slows it all down on a single piano, and “Edge of the World Part 2” is nice too, but overall a certain sense of meh and even what? Kind of started to get into it near the end, but might need further listens to form a proper opinion. Yeah, like that's going to happen! Check out more from this artist? Maybe Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018