The Album Club 2017

Aloysius · 05-06-2017, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Daniel wrote it.

Admittedly I didn't bother to check the writing credits. It's just that I loved some of the album and wanted to give it a 9/10 but some of the covers let it down for me. I've certainly never heard that lofi aesthetic working so well and with such clarity.

Anteater · 05-06-2017, 10:21 AM

Half Japanese - We Are They Who Ache With Amorous Love

At the end of the day, it never matters much to me how conventional or unconventional a band is. I mean, you can hate Steely Dan's Aja, but go watch Behind The Scenes for that album's recording and you'd be blown away at the Kubrickian lengths Fagen and Becker would go to to achieve perfection. On the opposite side of the spectrum, The Residents have been recording music even before they knew how to pluck stringed instruments in the 1960's. That's something to be admired, and being completely outside the box has its own appeal.

All that taken into consideration, Half Japanese are fun because they're completely and utterly irreverent. They don't fit comfortably into any particular experimental niche and transcend time and space through the sheer force of their individuality. I wouldn't be surprised if Jad Fair or somebody else ran across a live rip of Cromagnon's Orgasm some Les Rallizes Dénudés concert as elementary school students and thought "**** this sounds great but its too long" and went from there. And the more lo-fi they get ('Gloria', for instance) the more their charm shines through.

8 out of 10.

OccultHawk · 05-06-2017, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Steely Dan's Aja

Is it like part of you schtick to mention that record no matter what you're on about?

Anteater · 05-06-2017, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Is it like part of you schtick to mention that record no matter what you're on about?

You might have me confused with someone else.

Trollheart · 05-06-2017, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Is it like part of you schtick to mention that record no matter what you're on about?

A jast leave him alone.

innerspaceboy · 05-09-2017, 07:20 PM

Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine (Biomech)

A few initial thoughts as the opening tracks unfold... this is interesting… melodic metal which is instrumentally reminiscent (in my incredibly limited experience) of Heartwork. Certainly accessible. Not as “extreme” as Extreme Noise Terror or O.L.D. but certainly bold and forceful stuff.

A minor gripe - I’m definitely not digging the album art. The typeface choice demonstrates either laziness or a complete absence of design knowledge. And from the graphic, I presume the artist was going for that retro garbage quality video toaster stuff that I hear is back in fashion… but it really fails to evoke any sort of conceptual intent or to indicate even the slightest hint of conscious effort of any sort. But maybe packaging design is just not Devin’s forte. I’m not familiar with the HevyDevy Records catalog or their associated design staff. Maybe this is par for the course for these guys. (Sorry - I worked in the design industry for nearly two decades… sub-par packaging design gets on my nerves.)

But back to the music. (That’s what we’re really here for.) I’m definitely enjoying it. It’s prog metal… a genre with many traits which resonate with my own personal tastes and values. It’s certainly melodic, which I like in my metal. And several selections border on pure prog rock instead of metal per se. Which is in no way a bad thing.

I briefly explored the lyrics of this record. Nothing exceptionally poetic here, but I don’t think Devin is trying for that. The subject matter is somewhat generic - just a jumble of words and phrases like “cold, night, dark, waves, dreams, sleep, running away, alone, fade away, rain falling down, sun, shadows, dance, tonight… and I went to a funeral in the rain.” But perhaps that’s sufficient for the task. I’m a bit of an outsider here, so I’m interpreting the content as best I can without contextualization.

I will say that I like the samples interjected throughout the record, particularly the noisy indecipherable mess over the course of “Sister.” I’m a nutter for soundscapes, and these elements add an abstract quality to the album that I’m drawn to.

“3 A.M.” is another interesting track - a beatless, almost ambient spacey break from the percussion and guitar work which otherwise dominate the album. And Devin explores this further with “The Death of Music.” And it’s variation like that which really makes the record work.

And Devin takes a chance with the closer and delivers a thoughtful ballad. I give him props for taking that risk for fans who might appreciate it.

There are no particularly stand-out tracks here, but the album works well as a whole.

6/10

Anteater · 05-09-2017, 08:17 PM

Thought you might find this helpful innerspaceboy, and great review.

Quote:

Taken from a recent interview on the Metal Hammer site:

"But the most stirring songs on Ocean Machine are those that confront that cruel plane of existence head on. Life, a sonically uplifting rumination on the preciousness of existence, and Funeral, a hymn-like address punctuated with desperate cries, were written following the death of 16-year-old schoolmate Jesse Cadman. On the evening of October 18, 1992, he was senselessly stabbed.

“He was killed walking home by a group of kids that wanted his hat,” says Devin quietly.

Though Devin and Jesse weren’t close, Devin was good friends with Jesse’s sister. He also played in local band Grey Skies, of which Jesse was a fan. When it came to organising his funeral, the Cadmans asked Devin to speak in church – something that left an indelible impact on him.

“I hadn’t experienced death in a tangible way prior to that, so when we went to the funeral and I had to speak, I remember I hadn’t anticipated they were gonna bring the body out, and I just panicked,” he says. “I couldn’t cope with it, and I wasn’t alone in that, either. It was a real heavy time for a lot of people, because it was our first experience with that sort of thing, and it was senseless. It affected my teen years profoundly.”

Jesse’s parents became involved in youth work and politics, and Devin is moved to learn that his mum, Dona Cadman, has publicly spoken alongside the mother of her son’s killer. “It’s a testament to the parts of the human condition that are worth fighting for,” he says."

Full Interview - The story behind Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine: Biomech

innerspaceboy · 05-09-2017, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Thought you might find this helpful innerspaceboy, and great review.

Thanks! Great stuff! I always love a bit of context with my music!

Blank. · 05-10-2017, 10:32 AM

My review.

Seventh Wave - We start out with somebody talking about some shit which moves into some interesting riffing. So far so good. Vocals come in and they aren't that great. I could do without these.

Life - Starts with similar riffing to the last song and then a snare roll comes in to make... something generic. Nothing to fascinating happening. Kind of boring really.

Night - Starts with some alternative riffing, that gets into more generic shit. I'm kind of getting a Marilyn Manson vibe from this... but not as good.

Hide Nowhere - Same story as the last two songs. Boring, generic, and not doing a whole lot for me.

Sister - This starts kind of different but interesting. Frankly the guitar is getting lost in all the noise. There is so much going on that nothing is really aloud to stand out. It feels like a big jumble of noise rather than an interesting take on music. Strongly dislike this song.

3 A.M. - No to these vocals. This guy is not good enough on his own to carry a track with his vocals. Music is coming in and drowning him out a bit.

Voices in the Fan - Ok, and here we are in an industrial track. It's much better than the rest of it so far. Actually might call this one good.

Greetings - This one has a cool intro. In the situation of this song it builds nicely to a fairly satisfactory pay-off.

Regulator - Hell of a lot heavier then all the other tracks so far. I'm headbanging along to this one a bit.

Funeral - A lot of these songs try so hard to be larger than life then fall flat on their face in the process. This song is no exception to the rule.

Bastard - Has a nice riff going on. Good track so far. Track goes on too long and the larger then life feeling is a failure at times.

The Death of Music - Hear some people whispering in the background with a soft drum beat happening. The vocals are coming in... Gosh, that is drenched in reverb. Not feeling this. Found this song to be boring.

Thing Beyond Things - Pretty good song. Has that larger than life feeling but doesn't fall flat on it's face. The scream though just fucking made me jump. Hahaha

Final Thoughts: Album is pretty boring and generic. The mixture of Alternative metal and progressive metal is usually an awesome mixture, but this manages to miss the mark and be a rather boring album.

☆☆1/2

Anteater · 05-10-2017, 11:02 AM

It's like you went in to review a Pink Floyd record but you were expecting Motorhead or Big Black.

05-10-2017, 10:32 AM	#799 (permalink)
Blank. Jacob Sartorius Join Date: May 2016 Location: Dank memes Posts: 4,033	My review. Seventh Wave - We start out with somebody talking about some shit which moves into some interesting riffing. So far so good. Vocals come in and they aren't that great. I could do without these. Life - Starts with similar riffing to the last song and then a snare roll comes in to make... something generic. Nothing to fascinating happening. Kind of boring really. Night - Starts with some alternative riffing, that gets into more generic shit. I'm kind of getting a Marilyn Manson vibe from this... but not as good. Hide Nowhere - Same story as the last two songs. Boring, generic, and not doing a whole lot for me. Sister - This starts kind of different but interesting. Frankly the guitar is getting lost in all the noise. There is so much going on that nothing is really aloud to stand out. It feels like a big jumble of noise rather than an interesting take on music. Strongly dislike this song. 3 A.M. - No to these vocals. This guy is not good enough on his own to carry a track with his vocals. Music is coming in and drowning him out a bit. Voices in the Fan - Ok, and here we are in an industrial track. It's much better than the rest of it so far. Actually might call this one good. Greetings - This one has a cool intro. In the situation of this song it builds nicely to a fairly satisfactory pay-off. Regulator - Hell of a lot heavier then all the other tracks so far. I'm headbanging along to this one a bit. Funeral - A lot of these songs try so hard to be larger than life then fall flat on their face in the process. This song is no exception to the rule. Bastard - Has a nice riff going on. Good track so far. Track goes on too long and the larger then life feeling is a failure at times. The Death of Music - Hear some people whispering in the background with a soft drum beat happening. The vocals are coming in... Gosh, that is drenched in reverb. Not feeling this. Found this song to be boring. Thing Beyond Things - Pretty good song. Has that larger than life feeling but doesn't fall flat on it's face. The scream though just fucking made me jump. Hahaha Final Thoughts: Album is pretty boring and generic. The mixture of Alternative metal and progressive metal is usually an awesome mixture, but this manages to miss the mark and be a rather boring album. ☆☆1/2