Trollheart's Listening List 2015/2016

Tristan_Geoff · 12-20-2015, 07:51 PM

This might be one of the most entertaining arguments I've witnessed on here. Though there are tons to contest with.

The Batlord · 12-20-2015, 08:04 PM

Learn to antagonize Trollheart and you will never be bored on this site.

grindy · 12-20-2015, 08:05 PM

He should start by somehow sneaking in double live albums into 'Love or Hate'.

Tristan_Geoff · 12-20-2015, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

He should start by somehow sneaking in double live albums into 'Love or Hate'.

Can't say I know of any actually. I'm open to other ideas though.

The Batlord · 12-20-2015, 08:14 PM

I've got a devious plan to trick him into listening to grindcore while being none-the-wiser. PM me for the deets.

Trollheart · 12-21-2015, 06:21 AM

I'd just like to say, in the spirit of the season, I hate you all. Go boil your heads.

Trollheart · 12-22-2015, 06:50 AM

Title: Molok
Artiste: Gazpacho
Year 2015
Nationality: Norwegian
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rank: Apprentice
9

Expectations: Another classic like March of Ghosts or Missa Atropos? Often seen as the natural successors to the prog throne held by Marillion, since Hogarth and the boys deviated somewhat from the path of true prog, Gazpacho have been making inroads with their last few albums, and although I didn't yet listen to 2014's Demon, I'm assured it was another masterpiece.

1. Park bench: Unlike the previous album, which consisted of only four tracks, almost all in the double-digits in terms of running times, the songs here all seem relatively short, with nothing over seven minutes, save the closer, which edges towards ten. The opener here has some pretty tribal, upfront drumming and then the vocals of Jan Henrik Ohme come through very forcefully. Lovely violin from Mikael Krømer with a gentle pastoral kind of ending. Okay, not quite pastoral, but very relaxing.
2. The master's voice: Glockenspiel? Xylophone? Marimba? Nice anyway, with a vocal choir almost singing in praise as the bass gets going, but it's another slow paced song, and this is something of the problem I tend to run into with Gazpacho; they rarely if ever kick it out. Still, that's their trademark I guess. Kind of almost doom prog, if you like.
3. Bela kiss: Well now just to contradict me they're pumping up the tempo a little, which is good to hear. Great piano here, also some pretty mad violin in a very folk dance kind of vein. Ohme certainly always makes his voice heard; don't know if it's the production or he really has that strong a voice, but when he sings, even over very loud and frenetic music, he never ever disappears into the mix like some singers can do. Overall a pretty crazy and fun tune, and very short too.
4. Know your time: Much darker now, with a good strong buildup on synth and percussion, kind of ambient in a way, or maybe what they call darkwave? Oppressive anyway and with a kind of ominous, menacing vocal from Ohme. More sublime violin and a big booming final drumbeat right at the end.
5. Choir of ancestors: Lovely fragile piano leading this into a superb soulful choir, the percussion very driving without being too forceful, and to top it off a really expressive guitar solo that reminds me of Andy Revell from Twelfth Night.
6. ABC: Short little song driven on acoustic piano
7. Algorithm: This one is also short and has a lovely sort of hummed vocal line with really effective percussion. Like this a lot.
8. Alarm: There's a great strong organ sound opening this, then some lovely electric piano and yes, it's another slow song but it's a good one.
9. Molok rising: So this is the epic, just short of ten minutes and it goes through some changes, as you would expect, though not really that many, starting off (oh what a surprise!) slow and moody and, well, pretty much staying that way all through. The pealing, doleful bells at the end sort of underlines the morose character of not only this track, not only this album, but kind of all of the Gazpacho albums I've listened to up to now.

Final result: I do love Gazpacho, but they're so serious and almost funereal most of the time! I just wish they'd lighten up. Mind you, I have only heard the three albums so far, but even within that percentage of their discography I've yet to hear anything that made me smile or want to dance, or even tap my fingers. Being serious is all well and good, but even Genesis and ELP let their hair down once in a while. Maybe it's because it's so cold up there in Oslo, I don't know. But I could just do with a lighter moment occasionally from these very talented guys. That said, still a great album though I don't see it making it into my top ten.

Rating:

Trollheart · 12-22-2015, 03:36 PM

Although this is expressly NOT a rec thread (Batty!) there may be occasions where the talk will be so animated around a certain album or albums that I may feel it or they are worthy of inclusion in the list, and in that case will probably not only add them but bump them up the running order too. Anyone is welcome to suggest an album, but bear in mind that a) I am not constrained to add it if I don't feel it's something I'd be into (so talk about Run The Jewels or To Pimp a Wotsit all you like, I'm not interested) and b) it should be something that, overall, has a decent chance of being liked by me.

I therefore don't want a flood of recs, but will take some on a case-by-case basis, and if the album(s) is/are not well known, to me, then I will need some sort of reason as to why I should include it/them.

With that in mind, two albums that have caught my attention, and will be pushed right to the top after the current batch are these:

Purple --- Baroness (Almost EVERYONE is talking about this, and IDM's contention that any music fan should hear it has prompted me to think, yeah, I'll try it. It also seems to be on a lot of AOTY lists, so it must be good. Maybe I'll hate it of course, but I'll review it either way.)

Nightmare Ending --- Eluvium (YorkeDaddy was so passionate about this I simply have to try it. Yes it's 2013 but who cares?)

So once the current three albums are done, these two will take the place of the ones on the list that were due next, then we'll revert (unless some other amazing album pops up) to the current running order.

The Batlord · 12-22-2015, 03:54 PM

Did you say you're taking recs?!

Spoiler for nsfw:

Trollheart · 12-22-2015, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Did you say you're taking recs?!

Spoiler for nsfw:

**** off.

12-20-2015, 08:05 PM	#73 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	He should start by somehow sneaking in double live albums into 'Love or Hate'. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*

12-21-2015, 06:21 AM	#76 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	I'd just like to say, in the spirit of the season, I hate you all. Go boil your heads. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

12-22-2015, 06:50 AM	#77 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: Molok Artiste: Gazpacho Year 2015 Nationality: Norwegian Genre: Progressive Rock Rank: Apprentice 9 Expectations: Another classic like March of Ghosts or Missa Atropos? Often seen as the natural successors to the prog throne held by Marillion, since Hogarth and the boys deviated somewhat from the path of true prog, Gazpacho have been making inroads with their last few albums, and although I didn't yet listen to 2014's Demon, I'm assured it was another masterpiece. 1. Park bench: Unlike the previous album, which consisted of only four tracks, almost all in the double-digits in terms of running times, the songs here all seem relatively short, with nothing over seven minutes, save the closer, which edges towards ten. The opener here has some pretty tribal, upfront drumming and then the vocals of Jan Henrik Ohme come through very forcefully. Lovely violin from Mikael Krømer with a gentle pastoral kind of ending. Okay, not quite pastoral, but very relaxing. 2. The master's voice: Glockenspiel? Xylophone? Marimba? Nice anyway, with a vocal choir almost singing in praise as the bass gets going, but it's another slow paced song, and this is something of the problem I tend to run into with Gazpacho; they rarely if ever kick it out. Still, that's their trademark I guess. Kind of almost doom prog, if you like. 3. Bela kiss: Well now just to contradict me they're pumping up the tempo a little, which is good to hear. Great piano here, also some pretty mad violin in a very folk dance kind of vein. Ohme certainly always makes his voice heard; don't know if it's the production or he really has that strong a voice, but when he sings, even over very loud and frenetic music, he never ever disappears into the mix like some singers can do. Overall a pretty crazy and fun tune, and very short too. 4. Know your time: Much darker now, with a good strong buildup on synth and percussion, kind of ambient in a way, or maybe what they call darkwave? Oppressive anyway and with a kind of ominous, menacing vocal from Ohme. More sublime violin and a big booming final drumbeat right at the end. 5. Choir of ancestors: Lovely fragile piano leading this into a superb soulful choir, the percussion very driving without being too forceful, and to top it off a really expressive guitar solo that reminds me of Andy Revell from Twelfth Night. 6. ABC: Short little song driven on acoustic piano 7. Algorithm: This one is also short and has a lovely sort of hummed vocal line with really effective percussion. Like this a lot. 8. Alarm: There's a great strong organ sound opening this, then some lovely electric piano and yes, it's another slow song but it's a good one. 9. Molok rising: So this is the epic, just short of ten minutes and it goes through some changes, as you would expect, though not really that many, starting off (oh what a surprise!) slow and moody and, well, pretty much staying that way all through. The pealing, doleful bells at the end sort of underlines the morose character of not only this track, not only this album, but kind of all of the Gazpacho albums I've listened to up to now. Final result: I do love Gazpacho, but they're so serious and almost funereal most of the time! I just wish they'd lighten up. Mind you, I have only heard the three albums so far, but even within that percentage of their discography I've yet to hear anything that made me smile or want to dance, or even tap my fingers. Being serious is all well and good, but even Genesis and ELP let their hair down once in a while. Maybe it's because it's so cold up there in Oslo, I don't know. But I could just do with a lighter moment occasionally from these very talented guys. That said, still a great album though I don't see it making it into my top ten. Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

12-22-2015, 03:36 PM	#78 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Although this is expressly NOT a rec thread (Batty!) there may be occasions where the talk will be so animated around a certain album or albums that I may feel it or they are worthy of inclusion in the list, and in that case will probably not only add them but bump them up the running order too. Anyone is welcome to suggest an album, but bear in mind that a) I am not constrained to add it if I don't feel it's something I'd be into (so talk about Run The Jewels or To Pimp a Wotsit all you like, I'm not interested) and b) it should be something that, overall, has a decent chance of being liked by me. I therefore don't want a flood of recs, but will take some on a case-by-case basis, and if the album(s) is/are not well known, to me, then I will need some sort of reason as to why I should include it/them. With that in mind, two albums that have caught my attention, and will be pushed right to the top after the current batch are these: Purple --- Baroness (Almost EVERYONE is talking about this, and IDM's contention that any music fan should hear it has prompted me to think, yeah, I'll try it. It also seems to be on a lot of AOTY lists, so it must be good. Maybe I'll hate it of course, but I'll review it either way.) Nightmare Ending --- Eluvium (YorkeDaddy was so passionate about this I simply have to try it. Yes it's 2013 but who cares?) So once the current three albums are done, these two will take the place of the ones on the list that were due next, then we'll revert (unless some other amazing album pops up) to the current running order. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018