Trollheart

Obviously what I meant was, the music was ok/good and I was enjoying it and then that voice came in again and annoyed me. No, tbh I don't get what it was supposed to represent, and maybe you should understand that not everyone who listens to instrumental music is going to be able to get inside your head. The fact that nobody else (you say) understood it shows that I'm not alone, and that you're either not communicating whatever it is you want to tell us sufficiently clearly, or it's just wank. I don't think it's the latter so I understand your frustration, however it is, I'm sorry, down to you. If you put this stuff in your music, you have to make it obvious why, otherwise people are going to go

When those voices come in during "The great gig in the sky", people know why they're there and what they represent. When you use speech in your music, I expect to understand why, or at least to be able to correlate the one to the other, and with yours I couldn't do that.

Finally, as I think you know by now, I say what I mean and what I hear in the music, and I'm sorry but I won't censor myself or soften the blow. If I think it needs to be said, I'll say it. If your attitude is "say what you want about my music but don't criticise [fill in the blank]", then the solution is simple: don't ask me to review any more of your albums. Sorry man, but that's how it is with me: you get all or nothing, no compromise.

I note you're only focussing on the bad parts and ignoring where I said your music was good, not to mention my effusive review of Frownland and For Now. Can you not take one negative review? I asked people not to be butthurt, and if they thought they might be, not to bother. You're kind of a veteran of my reviewing techniques, so I'm surprised you're taking it so badly.

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Plankton

Here ya go:

https://planktonsodyssey.bandcamp.co...walk-the-plank

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Plankton

Thanks! Once again, you've managed to hit things fairly squarely on the nose with most of that. That album was made up of songs I've recorded over a few years. I had a bunch of cover songs laying around, so I threw them all in an album of sorts, and called it a day. There are some mistakes and clams in the mix and performance, and I have a few notes on some of the things you were unsure of.

That's me doing all the singing, except for the female vocals on Comfortably Numb, and WMGGW and the end of Applause and of course not Crowley. I hate my voice, as most people do, but I belt out what I can. You should hear the last few collaborations I've been involved in lately where I do the vocals on Melissa (Allman Bros), and wrote and sang an original. It's a little cringey for me, but I still happily trudge along.

Jacobs Ladder was done using a backing track for bass drums and synth, but I actually found out I knew the guy that created it, Johnny Megabyte. We've been friends on another forum for years. Small world.

Mr. Crowley has always been my favorite Randy guitar solo, so I wanted to pay tribute to the man. The opening synth is from the original, but I used a backing track for the drums and bass that didn't quite keep the same tempo as the original, so I had to slice and dice Ozzy's vocal track to get it to fit. The guitars are all me though, which is the point of it.

The instrumental version of Everybody Hurts was done live with one microphone in the center of my friends living room, who was a part of a small three piece band I was in. She played the rhythm as her friend (the third member of the trio) played some low synth, and they gave me this beautiful backdrop to just let rip. It was meant to be a song that we'd play live with the actual lyrics and vocals, but they liked that version of it better, and that was one of those 'one take wonders' that we kept from those recording sessions.

I hope that clears up any remaining questions, as I know I really don't explain things before hand, since I like to let the listener form their own thoughts first. It keeps things organic in that sense. On that note, I'll just say that the next one I linked you to is something I put together for an easy listening experience and was put together with a mix of originals and some backing tracks I had laying around. Hope you enjoy it and if I don't see/read ya before hand, have a Merry Christmas!

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Trollheart

Next up is Tristan's band. Ah. When I click the link I get nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip. “The thing you are looking for is not here”, or something like that. Tristan, new link please, stat!

In the meantime, we'll move on. This is an album recorded by a member who I believe is no longer here, but then that's no reason not to review his music, is it? Does anyone remember Epoch6?

Synaptic Obsolescence – Mindprowler (Epoch6) – 2012

I have no idea of course, but when I look at that cover it just screams electronica or synthwave, and the artiste name he has chosen kind of says the same. Could be neoclassical or hardcore emo, who knows? Well, I'm about to find out as I hit “play”. There's a gradual beginning anyway as the first track, “Doors of perception” slowly makes its way in, and it sounds at first anyway very ambient and esoteric. Getting a bit more coherent now, with wind sounds and what appears to be an organ, percussion slowly coming in now (which reminds me of something but I can't remember what: you probably don't know it. Oh wait: Peter Gabriel?) The tune is changing now, acquiring a darker, more ominous feel and direction, synths rising and falling as the percussion continues. It's a very effective beat I must say. The basic melody doesn't change all that much but it's pretty effective. The title track is up next, and it's got a more kind of organic feel? Sounds of dripping water and murmuring synths Some nice keyboard runs there, a sort of percussion that reminds me of JMJ and oh-oh! Here comes some spoken word stuff. Why do you electronic artistes always want to add in some recorded speech? Don't get it. Yes, sometimes it works but most of the time, to me anyway, it just seems lazy, and often detracts from the music. Oh well, guess I won't get an answer at this point, and to be fair, the music is very good. Verging on excellent here.

Okay, I see now the tags mention drum and bass and electronic house; I don't hear that here, not that I'm very familiar with either genre. But does not drum and bass exclude any other instruments, or am I wrong there? Anyway, it's a short album and there are only two more tracks to go, so the penultimate one is “Complexity impelled” and opens with more talking before a deep dark synth gets going, percussion coming in very unobtrusively, which I imagine is not that easy to do with percussion, and some electronic sound effects being added into the mix. The final track is much slower, almost plodding, with a kind of echoing drumbeat and fizzing synths. It's nice, it's dark and it's very well played and composed, but for me, like much of the album, it will be unmemorable.

Track listing and Ratings

1. Doors of perception
2. Synaptic obsolescence
3. Complexity impelled
4. Nootropics

If Epoch6 should happen to read this, don't take it as a slight on your music. I've said it about other electronic composers here before: often the emphasis seems to be more on how clever and innovative you can be, without worrying about how a listener is going to enjoy it. This isn't quite that, but at the same time I didn't hear anything that I would call catchy on it, and I won't be humming it afterwards. But a very good effort nonetheless.

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Mondo Bungle

I was on a metal forum with him when he first shared his releases, it was pretty cool. So I've been a fan since day one, some good electro stuff. I wish he was still here.

I was like 12

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Machine

TH you should review my album once it's ready to come out. I think you'll really like this one. I've completely moved away from ambient, drone, and experimental.

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listen to me stroke my delay pedal

ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.

Trollheart

Next up we have another short one, an EP this time from our mate Xurtio.

Some Rhetoric – Hymnomancer (Xurtio) – 2016

Xurtio (real name unknown) hails from Canada, from Ontario in fact, and I did previously review one of his albums. He told me the title but it didn't ring a bell – maybe they changed it after I reviewed it – but at any rate, this is the second offering from his four-piece. Makes it difficult right away: file won't play online so I have to download it. Argh. First we have the title track which has a nice rocky feel to it, the singer sounding a little Cave/Eldritch to me. I do dig the guitar, so points for you there Xurtio. Nice solo man, in fact the guitar is pretty much what drives the tune. “Up and down” has a sort of Santana feel to it, a kind of Latin rhythm running through it. I do have to say I can't stand the vocalist, sorry guys. He just doesn't do it for me; his voice doesn't fit with the music. Great guitar work again, saves the song. Liked this one better. The final track then is “Come fear”, which is faster, almost a metal thing going on here. The vocal kind of works with this, but hell, the guy just sounds so boring and listless. Oh, the song has gone into a kind of reggae moment; that was quite unexpected but good. Another fine solo. Is this guy too good for this band or what? Ah, sudden ending. Didn't really like that.

Track listing and Ratings

1. Some rhetoric
2. Up and down
3. Come fear

I must be honest, I'm rating the songs above purely on how good the guitar was. I wasn't overly impressed with the construction of the songs and again, none are in the least memorable, but man can Xurtio kill it on the axe!

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Trollheart

Send it this way, boy...

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Xurtio

Thanks for the feedback, Trollheart. Vox is a topic that comes up occasionally.

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H̓̇̅̉yͤ͏mͬ͂ͧn͑̽̽̌ͪ̑͐͟o̴͊̈́͑̇m͛͌̓ͦ̑aͫ̽ͤ̇n̅̎͐̒ͫ͐c̆ͯͫ̋ ̔̃́eͯ͒rͬͬ̄҉

Trollheart

Always a sense of trepidation reviewing one of Frownland's albums. I don't think there's been one if his I've listened to yet that I have enjoyed, but something tells me that maybe this could be the one. He tells me it's one of his most accessible (not sure if that's saying anything) so I guess if I'm ever going to appreciate or get into his music, this may be my best chance.

The Beatloads – The Beatloads (Frownland) – 2016

Well it wouldn't be a Frownland album if there wasn't at least one superlong track on it, and the opener clocks in at just over eleven minutes. Sounds like he's setting his table to a background of dark synthy music, maybe moving the tongs over by the fireplace now? This goes by the title of “Induction trance”, and I can see the idea in the almost hypnotic and basically unchanging (so far anyway) synth, with what I assume is percussion going on there, some more synthy sounds coming in, maybe something like a digital signal processor being used? Damned if I know. I suppose that synth would be called a drone, but the percussion just sounds like someone falling over things in the background, no rhythm that I can see to it. Honestly, if it wasn't for that synth I would have stopped listening to this about ten minutes ago. I still don't really like it, but I don't quite hate it, which, given my track record with Frownland is actually saying something.

Track two is “I'm a bleeder”, and features what sounds like someone drunk hitting a drum every second or so. Hitting the guitar now too, but nothing vaguely resembling a tune that I can hear. I suppose this is meant to be a Beefheart tribute or something, but it doesn't work for me. Some nice acoustic guitar but it seems to go out of tune? Yeah, it's just gone now. Some sort of mad guitar thing there near the end, not bad but I feel this is going to be another long heavy trudge to the end with very little light coming through from that very distant tunnel. The best thing I can say about “Landing” is that it's short. Mercifully short. As is “Siamese twins and an obese lady”, however “Elephant housing” isn't. They seem to be using some sort of echo or reverb or some damn thing, but it just drives spikes into my head and I can't wait till it finishes. I mean the whole album. I can't even muster the strength or interest to write anything about this, not even anything remotely humourous. I'm just holding out for another, what, nineteen minutes or so.

W have a trumpet screeching in “... And the dead goose laid a dozen eggs”, with some more hitting of drums, seems quite haphazard. Maybe you can call this free jazz? Who knows? If I have a favourite track (I don't) it would be “Delivery man” merely for the length, a blissfully short thirty-two seconds, but then the Joker jumps out of the box and hits me upside the head, as we have another eleven-minuter to close, just in case I was thinking I was getting off lightly. It's called “Exit trance”, so I guess is meant to be related to the opening track, and it kind of is, with one instrument, this time a guitar, carrying the main tune. It's actually, dare I say it, quite good! Bit of a surprise there right at the end.

Track listing and Ratings (Are we really gonna do this?)

1. Induction trance
2. I'm a bleeder
3. Landing
4. Siamese twins and an obese lady
5. Elephant housing
6. ... And the dead goose laid a dozen eggs
7. Delivery man
8. Exit trance

I hate reviewing Frownland's music, because I hate putting down anyone's efforts, but there's nothing I can get hold of here, no sort of saving grace if you will. It just all sounds terrible to me, and I'm not going to go into a long diatribe about how bad it sounds. You know, fuck it: I hate to have absolutely nothing good to say about any album. Let's see: the synth that underpinned most of track one was excellent and the guitar that was the main instrument in the closing track was also very effective. But I have to make a decision now, and it is this: I'm not going to review any more albums by Frownland. It's wasting my time, and his, and it's just simply not fun. I like to enjoy what I'm listening to, and with Frown's music I never do. So please don't rec me any more of your albums, Frown: it's nothing personal, in fact it kind of is, as I'm sorry to keep disappointing you and crapping on your music, and I just don't want to do that any more. So let's just leave it there, yeah? I'll never get into your music, and I'm done trying, for all our sakes.

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