Frownland

I didn't catch when you started doing it and didn't think to check the OP since, well, those don't tend to have weekly updates. I'm not sure who shat in your cereal, it was a pretty straightforward question.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

The Batlord

+1 for using the correct form of "shit".

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Trollheart

Album title: Reaching into Infinity
Artist: Dragonforce
Genre: Power Metal/Speed Metal
Nationality: English
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Seventh
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? Yes
Average RYM Score: 3.29 (Seriously?)
I think there's only really one way to listen to Dragonfarce, is there not?

Ah, bless! They think they're Iron Maiden! Yeah. Sure. Well, as you would probably expect, it sounds just like any other Dragonfarce album you may have been unfortunate enough to have endured. I do like this quote from one of them, taken from Wiki:
According to Li, the portal in the middle of the cover is a wormhole. It symbolizes the timeless energy of DragonForce's music, since a considerable amount of energy would be required to open one wormhole, if it is ever possible.
Oh yeah, the idea of Dragonfarce being pulled into a wormhole en masse certainly raises a few smiles! If only! All the songs sound pretty much the same here, and one even runs for eleven minutes! Really looking forward to that one! Oh look, they slow it down for a few moments during “Curse of Darkness”, but they just can't restrain themselves and soon they're hammering away at top speed again. Putting the speed, if not the metal, in speed metal.

To be fair and equitable, I'll admit “Silence” is not a bad ballad. I mean, it's nothing particularly great, but at least it does show they can, very occasionally, slow down and take it the **** easy. Not for long, of course, as they're off at the gallop again for “Midnight Madness”, which seems to rehash the theme of – hell, I don't know: one of the earlier songs – where they were wittering on about being "the masters of the stars and all time". Right. Running out of lyrical ideas already, boys?

Well I'm about ready to bail, but I have to be honest: I have a kind of morbid interest to see what they do with an eleven-minute song. Might as well wait it out I guess. Oh dear! They mention that they're dabbling in “death metal” on this album (oh no!) but if “WAR!” is supposed to be their attempt at same, then it's not quite death, not even coma, more a light sleep. And as for “harsh vocals”, I've heard stronger from Bruce Dickinson.

Ah, and now we come to the eleven-minuter. Well, I'll give them this much: “The Edge of the World” doesn't sound like Dragonfarce. They said they were inspired to write this epic by Maiden's “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, which is fine, except they've copied them completely, even ripping off part of the midsection from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. I can see no reason why this song needs to be eleven minutes long (most of it is repeating the same parts anyway) and I don't understand the silly short acoustic ending. Speaking of endings, the album then ends as you might expect: badly. Chalk another one up to the Clown Princes of Power Metal.

Now, where did you say that wormhole was again?

Check out more from this artist? Never
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Proper metal, yes

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: World Be Gone
Artist: Erasure
Genre: Synthpop
Nationality: English
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Seventeenth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? Yes
Average RYM Score: 2.90
Never one of my favourite bands, Erasure, like their parent band Yazoo, were what I think I've mentioned before one of my workmates used to disparagingly refer to as “puff bands”, along with the likes of Communards, Bronskibeat, Fiction Factory and Flock of Seagulls. But as I've gotten older but not necessarily wiser, I've become a little less rigid in my musical opinions (after all, I can now listen to Black Metal and even some jazz, to say nothing of punk!) and so I'm happy to give them a go. Never listened to one of their albums, so all my experience with them is predicated on their singles, and I must say the opener is very good. The title track is a nice ballad, and there's the barest nod back to their big hit, “Only You” as Yazoo in “A Bitter Parting” - just a few notes, but enough to tip the wink to those who know the song. Nice touch.

Quite a lot of this is slow, or at least lower-key than I would have expected; perhaps a sign the band are maturing and slowing down slightly? Of course, as I've said, I've never heard a full album of theirs, so maybe this is how Erasure albums go usually. I just would have expected, on the strength of the singles, a bouncier, poppier sort of dancy kind of thing. Not that I'm complaining. Actually, maybe I am: it's becoming a little dreary and I could probably go for some dancy pop in among all the kind of darker, slower stuff. “Lousy Sum of Nothing” has a kind of semi-gospel feel to it, and most of what's here is pretty morose. I guess he's making a political or ecological statement, or both. Yeah but I kind of miss the vacuous bounce of “Sometimes”, “Who Needs Love Like That” and “Oh l'Amour”. A good album though, certainly, and deeper than I had expected.

Check out more from this artist? Probably not
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: The King & I
Artist: Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G
Genre: R&B/Hip-hop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: n/a
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? B.I.G, yes, Evans, no
Have I heard anything by this artist? No to both
Average RYM Score: 1.74
This is one long album: twenty-five tracks, and even if a few of them are interludes of less than a minute, that's still a lot of music. I don't know either artist, and don't have any particular interest in getting to know their music, so to ask me to sit through that many tracks might be a bridge too far, but we'll see. The interest factor would, I guess, be in the fact that Evans is the widow of the late Notorious B.I.G, and I can only assume this is material recorded by them when they were together, or at least prior to his murder. Well, that notwithstanding, totally bored and unimpressed till the fifth track, “Don't Test Me”, when they both seem to wake up and turn off the autopilot and actually do something. I'm halfway through now and I'm finding it harder and harder to care, especially about Evans' soppy stories about her (their?) son getting married.

“Fool For You” pokes its head in, a good bluesy swaying number which makes me glad (a little) that I waited, but nothing really after that. “Somebody Knows” has an opening very similar to Madonna's “Borderline”, not a bad song. Yes, it's a touching tribute and I'm sure some kind of closure for Faith Evans, and I can see the historical significance of this album, and the personal side too, but it doesn't mean a lot to me and I just didn't get a whole lot out of this. Those who are more connected with the story, and fans of B.I.G will probably understand it a whole lot better, but I'm on the outside looking in and from where I'm standing, there ain't a whole lot to see.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Step into Light
Artist: Fastball
Genre: Rock
Nationality: American
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Sixth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.10
Decent singalong rock. “Behind the Sun” is a nice acoustic ballad, and most if not all of the album is really catchy and pleasant. Nothing harsh, nothing that would sound out of place on the radio, but a hard enough edge to prevent the music being pop. Nice. The instrumental “Tanzania” is particularly good. For some reason, had I not known these guys were American I would have said Australian or maybe New Zealanders. They just give me that vibe. Overall, a really good album, if not actually a great one. Or maybe I should say, a great album though I can't quite put my finger on why it's great. Hey, any band who can write a song about a star from the silent movies era get my vote!

Check out more from this artist? Probably will actually
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Bodyguard
Artist: The I.L.Y's
Genre: Garage Rock/Art Punk/Surf Rock/Experimental Rock
Nationality: American
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 2.93
It's pretty meh till the fourth track, aptly entitled “Quietly Being the Best”, which is a pure eighties synthpop tune drowned in new wave goodness, but seems a little out of place. In fact, this is a weird little album. There are a few gems that pop up - “I Love You Man”, “This is How it is Now” - but in general it's kind of poor, or at least forgettable. And I don't see much experimental, art or even surf about it: seems like indie rock/pop mixed in with the odd bit of synthpop.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Modern Kosmology
Artist: Jane Weaver
Genre: Electronic/Krautrock/Folk/Synthpop/Indie Pop
Nationality: English
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Eighth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.30
Interesting stuff; grabs you right from the beginning. She has a very ethereal, haunting voice and I can see the krautrock part of the genre as soon as it opens, with “Slow Motion” being the first real instance of synthpop, “The Architect” another standout, while “Ravenspoint” has some interesting folk elements to it. Good album, quite impressed.

Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? So many of them!

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Black Origami
Artist: Jin
Genre: Experimental/Footwork/IDM
Nationality: American
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Second
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: N/A
Now this sounds like just the kind of thing Frownland is probably into. When I read the songs are complex pieces that take advantage of silence as much as sounds, I knew this would be a hard sell for me. And the tag “experimental” always gives me a problem, generally. So what's it like? Well, the first track isn't bad, the second is mostly percussion with someone shouting “Yop!” or something repeatedly, so that does my head in of course, and mostly we're looking at those fragmented samples that drive me up the wall. The percussion is very inventive on “Nyakinyua Rise” and again on “Hatshepsut” (try saying that after five pints! ) but mostly it's just not for me. Very clever, I'm sure, very avant-garde or whatever you're having yourself. But I'll pass.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: You
Artist: The Kolors
Genre: Pop
Nationality: Italian
Release date: May 19
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.25
Italian band trying desperately to sound like an American boyband. Meh, fairly bog standard pop album really. “Souls Connected” is a nice instrumental; little else to write home about though. Odd little sound effect in “What Happened Last Night”: seems to be the sound of a gun being cocked. About the only really interesting thing on the whole album, to be honest, and not really that interesting anyway. Like this album.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018