The Fascinating Turnip

+81 sent me this:

Remember how you thought some of those songs from your Game Boy games were really cool, yet you never heard of any "Game Boy music" albums?
Well, if you find yourself saying "My god, I remember feeling like this so well, this Unchained Ballad chap is amazing", and you also like some hip-hop, this is your answer.

It's an immensely fun album which's lyrics seem to revolve around being a videogame master. Expect some random dialogue about almost finishing a level or taking turns to play a game.
Geeky? Yes, sir!
Hilarious? Indeed.

Hilarity aside, though, "Bad Dudes", for example, is a pretty good piece of music. That little...let's call it "riff", is quite amazing and gets me excited everytime.
I also really enjoy the fact that "Falcon Assult"'s occasional effects make me reminisce about blowing other Pokemons to smithereens with my powerful Charizard.

Overall, it's a astoundingly silly album, but don't let the laughs you'll have deafen you, they're actually pretty good musicians.

Anyway, Thanks mate!

+81

I'm glad to hear you had a good time with it! I always seem to find myself bustin' out the rhymes to 'Controller Hog' myself.

__________________
My Music on: Facebook Last.fm
My Last.fm
My Poor Ol' Neglected Journal

Freebase Dali

Abdullah424 and I agreed to send each other 2 albums after some indecision on what to send, and this is what he sent me:

Battle Of Mice - A Day Of Nights (Post Rock/Sludge/Metal)


This group/album reminded me a lot of a more modern version of some of the Goth Rock an ex-girlfriend used to listen to a long while back. While I never got into it actively, I dig the tone of the music, and this album--for the way it bears some of the same characteristics--seemed familiar in that regard.
Without comparing this to anything else, there's a good flow throughout the album between gritty intensity and melancholic innocence that sort of intertwines in unusual but effective ways. In places, the female vocalist's emotion is palatable and lends a lot to the music, and in others seems to focus more on just fitting with the music, which... is a success in context with the album. I was a little turned off by some of the lyrics, but it was minor.
Overall, I think the best description I can possibly come up with for this album is that it would be a perfect soundtrack to a The Crow movie.



The Ocean - Precambrian (Post-Metal/Progressive Metal)


This was a 2-disc release, the first disc being:

Hadean/Archaean:

Although there were only 5 tracks on the first disk, they contained a lot of good riffs. I normally don't dig 100% screaming in anything, but it fit with the music well enough. I was more interested in the guitars throughout the first disc. Overall, I didn't really care for the first disc as much as the second:

Proterozoic

This disc opened up the atmosphere and provided a stark contrast to the first disk in terms of composition and flow. The juxtaposition between both the first and second discs was made apparent here, along with the flow of the second disc alone being broken up into moments that complimented each other nicely. I liked the exploratory melancholy feel of the softer parts and how emotion was added to it in a way that built them up instead of tearing them down. I loved the gypsy-sounding fiddles and the atmosphere it creates along side the distorted riffs chugging along nowhere near precariously, like traveling with more urgency but still toward the same destination. The vocals were where they needed to be and when they were needed there. Overall, compared to the first disc, the second disc could easily stand on its own and after listening to it I honestly can't figure out why the first disc was even included.

I liked it. I would recommend the second disc to anyone.

abdullah424

Glad you enjoyed them ok. Now I feel bad for being a week 2 reviewer

Freebase Dali

By all means, take your time!
I feel kind of bad being so quick about it, but I listened to the albums you sent quite a lot in that time.

Anteater

Obtained this one through CanwllCorfe-


I'd actually been planning to get this for awhile before Canwll got paired up with me, so I was happily surprised when he threw it my way when I mentioned I wanted to get into more atmospheric black metal.

In the case of this album, atmospheric is an understatement: this is up somewhere in the moon's orbit, which is awesome. Although not too quiet, Il Était une Forêt burns nice and slow compared to much of its ilk at first glance.

But anyway, six tracks later and the album already over, I found that Gris haven't done anything I haven't heard before: they've simply taken the black metal aesthetic and refined it through a doom metal sift, which is something you see a lot these days. However, the experience moves from satisfactory to excellent in the album's more striking moments, such as the wholly classical La Dryade or the opening acoustics of Cicatrices that reminded me of early Ulver. Such things are not nearly as common in the scene, and hence I was ultimately drawn in due to that.

In conclusion, black metal works best for me when you get the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of noise and see what wicked things are at work beneath the surface. And in that respect, Gris have succeeded splendidly. Thanks Can!

__________________
Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

CanwllCorfe

I'm glad you like it! I agree it isn't anything TOO groundbreaking but I'm very surprised at how well made it is for a band who only ended up sticking around for 2 albums (one under Niflheim). I wasn't sure if you were gonna go for that or the Sortsind! Both mint albums but definitely far apart stylistically.

Got this one from Anteater:



For awhile now I've been wanting to get into smooth jazz because of how positive it always sounded and the fact that I tie into the beach and vacation. I'm not sure why.. but every time I hear it I always think of a vacation I had in Florida. I get feelings and vague images but I get a very clear picture of me looking out the window at the sun and hearing the music. It's fandiddles.

I was leery at first when I heard "80s" because, for some reason, when I hear music noticeably older than the 90s I feel weirdly uncomfortable or just put off. I can't really explain it (like most of the "feelings" I get) but regardless, my worries were resolved when I put it on and could tell it was definitely from the late 80s; 1989 to be exact. The whole album is exactly what I expected from the genre; that feeling of carelessness like you're on a vacation and maybe drinking some sort of alcoholic beverage (I don't drink despite my German and Irish background and last name of "Beers"). So I guess I'd just be drinking water.. but you get my drift. I'm happy to finally have been introduced to the genre and shall do some exploring!

Thanks kind sir

__________________
Your eyes were never yet let in to see the majesty and riches of the mind, but dwell in darkness; for your God is blind.

duga

Glad you enjoyed the album, Unrelenting. I'll have yours reviewed very soon...I've just had a very busy week starting work again and moving to a new place with limited internet access.

__________________
Confusion will be my epitaph...

abdullah424

Freebase Dali sent me these two albums because of our mutual indecisiveness:

Propagandhi - How To Clean Everything


Propagandhi is a punk band with an infusion of Ska (correct me if I'm wrong but from what I can tell Ska is almost reggae) every now and then. The thing that struck me right away about this album was the energy. I've probably mentioned this in a couple of other reviews I've done in this thread but for me my listening experience is always enhanced by albums that make you want to move.

After listening to this album I believe I've been confusing punk with hardcore because I expected a much heavier sound going in but if this album is representative of punk as a whole I've been ignoring the genre for the wrong reason because I love the lighthearted songs and lyrics. I also love political music so when I saw the title Stick the Fucking Flag Up your Goddamn Ass you Sonofabitch I knew I was in for a treat and the album delivered.

Overall I really enjoyed the album and will definitely check out more punk in the future.

The second album Freebase Dali sent me was:

Grayarea - Global DJ Broadcast (2003)

I want to say this album is Progressive Breaks or Progressive Electronica but I'm not 100% sure. The one thing I am 100% sure of is I loved it from the second it started playing. Listening to it actually reminds of house music which I'm a fan of living in Chicago after all. The first thing I noticed while listening to this album were the soundbites from various movies (I love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas so I recognized that one right away).

Once again I love the energy in the album. If you can listen to this without bobbing your head and bouncing in your chair you're a better person than me. This reminds me of a song I downloaded ages ago mislabeled as an Eminem track that I couldn't get enough of and never could find out who really made it.

Needless to say I really enjoyed this trade. I got to listen to two new albums I probably wouldn't have heard otherwise and I have two new genres of music to work my way through. Both of which will make it onto my ipod for the record.

Thanks Freebase Dali

Freebase Dali

Awesome! I was afraid you might be a little "meh" about what I sent you but I'm glad you liked them.
As for Propagandhi, I consider them more pop-punk simply by definition, but their earlier stuff, including the album I sent you, is part of a different feel and style than what's representative of pop-punk today. The late 80's through the 90's really had a lot of good artists that sort of encapsulate that sound and it's not a sound you're likely to hear anymore in that genre now days.

Regarding the DJ mix, it features both Progressive Breaks and Progressive House. Grayarea are live PA musicians that sequence their own music live and play additive instrumentation at their shows. That mix specifically stands out for me for many of the same reasons you mentioned, and I haven't yet come across a DJ mix that I like more. It's an inspiring mix that I've been loving for 7 years and I'm happy to have had the chance to share it.