Love or Hate?

Plankton · 06-17-2015, 08:31 PM

*lol at the thing that happened*

Trollheart · 06-18-2015, 03:33 PM

Title: Never were the way she was
Artiste: Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld
Genre: Instrumental/Ambient
Familiarity: Zero
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_...he_Way_She_Was

Track 1(Hate) Ok, apparently both of these people are members or ex-members of Arcade Fire. That doesn't mean a lot to me. But given that one is a saxophonist and one a violinist, am I to assume this is another instrumental album? After suffering through Bay of Kings I'm not quite sure I'm up to that. Opening track is good, lots of peppy violin mostly, but I wonder will I have a lot to say about this album? We'll see. A seven-minute opener is not good though. Gets on my nerves after a while.
Track 2(Love) This one's nicer, more laidback
Track 3(Love) This has a nice kind of cinematic feel about it. Gets a little hyper, which I find offputting. Good work though.
Track 4(Love) That was okay; kind of ambient
Track 5(Love) And this has a dark, kind of menacing feel to it
Track 6(Hate) Too much annoying horn on this. The violin's pretty irritating too.
Track 7(Love) This is nice; kind of reminds me of the soundtrack to Interview with the Vampire
Track 8(Hate) Meh, it's just sound effects mostly. Poor ending.

End result: Possibly it's unfair, but coming off the back of a classical guitar album I just was not in the mood for another instrumental one, and this did little for me. I gave it a lot of Love for the tracks, but I'm just being polite really. I got very little out of this album.

So, Love or Hate? Because I didn't fully hate it it has to be Love, but again it's just by default.

Chances of a full review: 0/10

grindy · 06-19-2015, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Title: Never were the way she was
Artiste: Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld
Genre: Instrumental/Ambient
Familiarity: Zero

Track 1(Hate) Ok, apparently both of these people are members or ex-members of Arcade Fire. That doesn't mean a lot to me. But given that one is a saxophonist and one a violinist, am I to assume this is another instrumental album? After suffering through Bay of Kings I'm not quite sure I'm up to that. Opening track is good, lots of peppy violin mostly, but I wonder will I have a lot to say about this album? We'll see. A seven-minute opener is not good though. Gets on my nerves after a while.
Track 2(Love) This one's nicer, more laidback
Track 3(Love) This has a nice kind of cinematic feel about it. Gets a little hyper, which I find offputting. Good work though.
Track 4(Love) That was okay; kind of ambient
Track 5(Love) And this has a dark, kind of menacing feel to it
Track 6(Hate) Too much annoying horn on this. The violin's pretty irritating too.
Track 7(Love) This is nice; kind of reminds me of the soundtrack to Interview with the Vampire
Track 8(Hate) Meh, it's just sound effects mostly. Poor ending.

End result: Possibly it's unfair, but coming off the back of a classical guitar album I just was not in the mood for another instrumental one, and this did little for me. I gave it a lot of Love for the tracks, but I'm just being polite really. I got very little out of this album.

So, Love or Hate? Because I didn't fully hate it it has to be Love, but again it's just by default.

Chances of a full review: 0/10

Well, as with all minimalist and somewhat ambient music this should be listened to with some immersion to fully appreciate it, although I'd say that the compositions are varied and complex enough to be entartaining anyway.
Plus the fact that Stetson plays all this at the same time and without effects certainly adds to my enjoyment of the album (although again the music also stands on ist own), not sure whether you really care about the technical aspects of his playing and the unique timbres of his sound.

Trollheart · 06-19-2015, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

Well, as with all minimalist and somewhat ambient music this should be listened to with some immersion to fully appreciate it, although I'd say that the compositions are varied and complex enough to be entartaining anyway.
Plus the fact that Stetson plays all this at the same time and without effects certainly adds to my enjoyment of the album (although again the music also stands on ist own), not sure whether you really care about the technical aspects of his playing and the unique timbres of his sound.

Bolded: there is an argument for my listening to these albums the once, and often in something of a hurry as I go through the "assembly-line" idea, get the next one done and move on, detracting from possible enjoyment that might result if I listened to them more, or gave them more time, but that's the situation I'm in; they get one chance to impress and if they don't then that's it I'm afraid.

In Red: I have to say that for the most part I found them both boring and a little dreary. And generally I like violins and cellos, but this did not chime with me at all.

Underlined: No, I have little to no interest in that. I'm not a musician and so that aspect almost never comes into it for me. I don't understand it, so I am in no position to comment on the way particular instruments are used. It's all about the simple idea of whether or not I enjoy the music. I don't care how many instruments someone is playing (well I might; take Mike Oldfield or Panopticon, but rarely) or how technical their playing is.

grindy · 06-19-2015, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Bolded: there is an argument for my listening to these albums the once, and often in something of a hurry as I go through the "assembly-line" idea, get the next one done and move on, detracting from possible enjoyment that might result if I listened to them more, or gave them more time, but that's the situation I'm in; they get one chance to impress and if they don't then that's it I'm afraid.

In Red: I have to say that for the most part I found them both boring and a little dreary. And generally I like violins and cellos, but this did not chime with me at all.

Underlined: No, I have little to no interest in that. I'm not a musician and so that aspect almost never comes into it for me. I don't understand it, so I am in no position to comment on the way particular instruments are used. It's all about the simple idea of whether or not I enjoy the music. I don't care how many instruments someone is playing (well I might; take Mike Oldfield or Panopticon, but rarely) or how technical their playing is.

I didn't mean to criticize you in any way, it was just a comment. I understand what you're doing in this thread and you being new to a lot of the music posted here and having only limited time ressources at your disposal adds to this threads character and to our enjoyment of your reviews.
I don't quite get what you mean by playing many instruments though, Stetson plays only saxophones and clarinets here, I was talking about him playing the "percussion", bass and often several melody parts at once on one instrument. I don't think one has to be a sax player or musician to appreciate that.

Trollheart · 06-19-2015, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

I didn't mean to criticize you in any way, it was just a comment. I understand what you're doing in this thread and you being new to a lot of the music posted here and having only limited time ressources at your disposal adds to this threads character and to our enjoyment of your reviews.
I don't quite get what you mean by playing many instruments though, Stetson plays only saxophones and clarinets here, I was talking about him playing the "percussion", bass and often several melody parts at once on one instrument. I don't think one has to be a sax player or musician to appreciate that.

That's all right; I didn't take any offence. It was more an explanation as to why I can't get too deeply into any of these albums, at least for this thread.

As for the multi-instrumental thing, that didn't refer to this album, just a comment on what I would see as musicians being technically adept. Shows how little I know.

Trollheart · 06-19-2015, 05:58 AM

Title: God don't like it
Artiste: Holly Golightly
Genre: Garage Rock/R&B
Familiarity: Zero
http://www.discogs.com/Holly-Golight.../master/118994
Track 1(Hate) For some reason, I guess due to the sleeve, I expected a black soul voice. This is more like, what, surf rock? Very sixties anyway. Meh, it's okay I guess. Doesn't do a lot for me.
Track 2(Hate) Sort of bluesy. I'm not much into sixties style music so I'm not envisioning a great experience here. Meh again. The male vocal adds an extra layer of meh. Harmonica is nice. “Feel something”, she says. I don't.
Track 3(Hate) The singing here is really annoying.
Track 4(Love) Slow, smoky, sultry blues. Like this one.
Track 5(Love) Sort of a Country twang to this. Meh, not too bad.
Track 6(Hate) Sorry, I just don't like her voice.
Track 7(Hate) Harmonica again is nice. About all I can say really.
Track 8(Love) This one isn't too bad. Again, blues vibe, slow, nice groove, decent echoey kind of guitar.
Track 9(Love) Another slow one, sultry and sexy. I like this one too.
Track 10(Hate) No, don't like this one at all
Track 11(Love) This is not too bad. Sort of aggressive without being overtly so.
Track 12(Hate) No, this does nothing for me.

End result: I just have no interest in this genre at all. Add to that the fact that I don't like her voice and this was never going to end well.

So, Love or Hate? No, that's a definite Hate.

Chances of a full review: 0/10

Trollheart · 06-19-2015, 09:34 AM

Title: Plastic Beach
Artiste: Gorillaz
Genre: Not sure: Hip-hop, pop, orchestral, ambient .... lots in there.
Familiarity: Zero
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Beach#Music

Track 1(Love) Well, this was unexpected! (No, I did not read the track listing before writing that, and yes I'm an idiot) Beautiful orchestral intro (am I about to be made a fool of as this explodes into ... no?)
Track 2(Love)Oh dear! A rap! But a slow one, with a nice beat behind it, some cool brass, vocoder and it has this guy on it

Track 3(Love) Love the flute intro and the sort of celtic reel plus the violins ... ah, but then it turns into a rap I really don't like. Is that casiotone in the background? Urgh. Have to be honest though: the ending pulls it out for me. I think I have to change my original rating. Yeah.
Track 4(Love) A sort of Waitsy vibe to this (shut up Frown) and it's not bad. The keys are nice.
Track 5(Love) Reminds me of Kraftwerk. Good or bad? Good, I think. Bobby Womack makes it.
Track 6(Love) Fun I guess, if a little annoying
Track 7(Love) This is really nice; laidback, gentle, sort of a Bread meets Simon and Garfunkel thing going on. Kicks up then, but loses none of its charm.
Track 8(Love) This one's pretty good; mostly instrumental
Track 9(Love) Kind of Britpop. Not bad.
Track 10(Love) Really like this one. Sort of new wave idea to it. Puts me in mind a little of The Cars.
Track 11(Love) This one too. Slower, moodier but still quite Carsish I feel.
Track 12(Hate) Nah, not going for this. No way, Senor Feliciano!
Track 13(Love) Ah, we're back on track, good.
Track 14(Love) This is very enjoyable; kind of an ELO feel to it. I said, shut up...

Track 15(Love) Bobby Womack again. Superb.
Track 16(Love) And this is a great closer.

End result: I haven't found a new favourite band or anything, and I probably would not be in too much of a hurry to listen to Gorillaz again, (though I see I have another in my queue) but it was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated.

So, Love or Hate? Yeah, it would be Love, for sure.

Chances of a full review: 0/10

Chula Vista · 06-19-2015, 09:40 AM

Troll, can you edit the OP to change the Hackett entry to Plankton? Thanks.

Machine · 06-19-2015, 09:56 AM

Ah I'm suprised you liked that as much as you did! I thought for sure I might have a hate on my hands, which would have been sad because it's like one of my fav albums.

06-17-2015, 08:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	lol at the thing that happened __________________ See location...

06-18-2015, 03:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Title: Never were the way she was Artiste: Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld Genre: Instrumental/Ambient Familiarity: Zero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_...he_Way_She_Was Track 1(Hate) Ok, apparently both of these people are members or ex-members of Arcade Fire. That doesn't mean a lot to me. But given that one is a saxophonist and one a violinist, am I to assume this is another instrumental album? After suffering through Bay of Kings I'm not quite sure I'm up to that. Opening track is good, lots of peppy violin mostly, but I wonder will I have a lot to say about this album? We'll see. A seven-minute opener is not good though. Gets on my nerves after a while. Track 2(Love) This one's nicer, more laidback Track 3(Love) This has a nice kind of cinematic feel about it. Gets a little hyper, which I find offputting. Good work though. Track 4(Love) That was okay; kind of ambient Track 5(Love) And this has a dark, kind of menacing feel to it Track 6(Hate) Too much annoying horn on this. The violin's pretty irritating too. Track 7(Love) This is nice; kind of reminds me of the soundtrack to Interview with the Vampire Track 8(Hate) Meh, it's just sound effects mostly. Poor ending. End result: Possibly it's unfair, but coming off the back of a classical guitar album I just was not in the mood for another instrumental one, and this did little for me. I gave it a lot of Love for the tracks, but I'm just being polite really. I got very little out of this album. So, Love or Hate? Because I didn't fully hate it it has to be Love, but again it's just by default. Chances of a full review: 0/10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 06-19-2015 at 05:44 PM.

06-19-2015, 05:58 AM	#7 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Title: God don't like it Artiste: Holly Golightly Genre: Garage Rock/R&B Familiarity: Zero http://www.discogs.com/Holly-Golight.../master/118994 Track 1(Hate) For some reason, I guess due to the sleeve, I expected a black soul voice. This is more like, what, surf rock? Very sixties anyway. Meh, it's okay I guess. Doesn't do a lot for me. Track 2(Hate) Sort of bluesy. I'm not much into sixties style music so I'm not envisioning a great experience here. Meh again. The male vocal adds an extra layer of meh. Harmonica is nice. “Feel something”, she says. I don't. Track 3(Hate) The singing here is really annoying. Track 4(Love) Slow, smoky, sultry blues. Like this one. Track 5(Love) Sort of a Country twang to this. Meh, not too bad. Track 6(Hate) Sorry, I just don't like her voice. Track 7(Hate) Harmonica again is nice. About all I can say really. Track 8(Love) This one isn't too bad. Again, blues vibe, slow, nice groove, decent echoey kind of guitar. Track 9(Love) Another slow one, sultry and sexy. I like this one too. Track 10(Hate) No, don't like this one at all Track 11(Love) This is not too bad. Sort of aggressive without being overtly so. Track 12(Hate) No, this does nothing for me. End result: I just have no interest in this genre at all. Add to that the fact that I don't like her voice and this was never going to end well. So, Love or Hate? No, that's a definite Hate. Chances of a full review: 0/10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-19-2015, 09:34 AM	#8 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Title: Plastic Beach Artiste: Gorillaz Genre: Not sure: Hip-hop, pop, orchestral, ambient .... lots in there. Familiarity: Zero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Beach#Music Track 1(Love) Well, this was unexpected! (No, I did not read the track listing before writing that, and yes I'm an idiot) Beautiful orchestral intro (am I about to be made a fool of as this explodes into ... no?) Track 2(Love)Oh dear! A rap! But a slow one, with a nice beat behind it, some cool brass, vocoder and it has this guy on it Track 3(Love) Love the flute intro and the sort of celtic reel plus the violins ... ah, but then it turns into a rap I really don't like. Is that casiotone in the background? Urgh. Have to be honest though: the ending pulls it out for me. I think I have to change my original rating. Yeah. Track 4(Love) A sort of Waitsy vibe to this (shut up Frown) and it's not bad. The keys are nice. Track 5(Love) Reminds me of Kraftwerk. Good or bad? Good, I think. Bobby Womack makes it. Track 6(Love) Fun I guess, if a little annoying Track 7(Love) This is really nice; laidback, gentle, sort of a Bread meets Simon and Garfunkel thing going on. Kicks up then, but loses none of its charm. Track 8(Love) This one's pretty good; mostly instrumental Track 9(Love) Kind of Britpop. Not bad. Track 10(Love) Really like this one. Sort of new wave idea to it. Puts me in mind a little of The Cars. Track 11(Love) This one too. Slower, moodier but still quite Carsish I feel. Track 12(Hate) Nah, not going for this. No way, Senor Feliciano! Track 13(Love) Ah, we're back on track, good. Track 14(Love) This is very enjoyable; kind of an ELO feel to it. I said, shut up... Track 15(Love) Bobby Womack again. Superb. Track 16(Love) And this is a great closer. End result: I haven't found a new favourite band or anything, and I probably would not be in too much of a hurry to listen to Gorillaz again, (though I see I have another in my queue) but it was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated. So, Love or Hate? Yeah, it would be Love, for sure. Chances of a full review: 0/10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 06-19-2015 at 10:14 AM.

06-19-2015, 09:40 AM	#9 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Troll, can you edit the OP to change the Hackett entry to Plankton? Thanks. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

06-19-2015, 09:56 AM	#10 (permalink)
Machine moon lake inc. Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Detroit Posts: 2,125	Ah I'm suprised you liked that as much as you did! I thought for sure I might have a hate on my hands, which would have been sad because it's like one of my fav albums. __________________ boost my ego listen to me stroke my delay pedal ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.