Trollheart Listens to Every Album on Wiki's List for 2017

Trollheart · 01-01-2018, 10:18 AM

[Reserved for April index, part three, if needed]

Trollheart · 01-01-2018, 10:21 AM

Album title: Bulletproof
Artist: Young Dolph
Genre: Hip-hop/Trap
Nationality: American
Release date: April 1
Position in Discography: Second
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 2.70
First up for April then is this, the second effort from American rapper Young Dolph, and all I can say is that at least it's not K-pop! Pretty decent start to be fair, like the dark atmosphere woven by the music and his rapping is good. Clever too: I see if you read the track list downwards, he's “done a [MERIT]”, ie the track titles form a sentence about what happened to him, apparently. I can kind of see the story running through the songs, though while it's okay I'm not totally blown away (no pun intended) – first song to really stand out is “That's How I Feel”; great rhythm to it and I love the melody and the rhyme of the lyric too. I'll definitely give YD (no, not YorkeDaddy!

) points for resisting the urge most rappers seem to have, to throw fifteen, twenty or more tracks on their album. There are only ten here, which is grand, as anything over sixteen/seventeen can often be a real slog for me, especially if there's a lot of filler. Kudos to him for not annoying me or stretching my patience.

“All Of Them” is another good song, but I will say that one thing I'm not that happy about is the way Young Dolph sings (all right, all right: raps then!): there's a kind of sulky, morose way he has of rapping that gives you the impression of an angsty teenager, and he's over thirty years old. I'd prefer a bit more animation, personality, maybe even anger rather than sullenness, but he is a good rapper, from the tiny bit that I know of it. Backing music is good, sparse at times, but kind of when it needs to be, and then laying down a nice backdrop when it's required, as in the piano that underpins “I'm Everything You Wanna Be”, and then there's the closer, which has no music at all but still rocks like ****. As I'm reliably informed the kids say these days, dope.

Check out more from this artist? Yeah
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-01-2018, 11:08 AM

Album title: Coloring Book
Artist: Oh My Girl
Genre: K-pop
Nationality: Korean, duh
Release date: April 3
Position in Discography: Fourth EP
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No but having to listen to a lot of it!
Average RYM Score: 2.59
Ah, K-pop! Where would I be without ya? Every single goddamn month so far, K-pop groups seem to release a slew of albums in the first few days, so here we are again. At least it's pleasant and upbeat, cheerful and fun, being a girl band, which is something I can't say for the boybands, who always seem to take themselves too seriously for me. Anyway, this is yet another EP (EPs seem to be big in Korea) so it's only five tracks and just over a quarter of an hour long in total. Decent mix of music on it, to be fair; nothing earth-shattering, but who's expecting that? “Agit” (a git?)

has a nice sort of semi-balladic feel to it, while there's a proper ballad in the whimsical “In My Dreams”. Very nice. A fun album, for sure. Yeah, ok: EP. Whatever.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Only for this thread

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-01-2018, 11:47 AM

Album title: Love Live Nut
Artist: YFN Lucci
Genre: Hip-hop
Nationality: American
Release date: April 4
Position in Discography: Debut EP
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 2.15
Another relatively short album – or rather, a long EP – with just nine tracks. It's also this guy's debut it would seem, and it certainly kicks off nicely. He's got a good way of almost singing the rap which I haven't heard, I don't think, before this. Very impressive. “Ammunition” has some dark menace about it, while there's reflection and maybe a sense of hopelessness in “Been Broke Before”, though I could do without “10AM” to be honest.

The overall theme of this record seems to be YFN appreciating the fortune he's had, the way he's made a career in music, and this follows through in “Everyday We Lit”, and generally I think he has a right to be proud: this is a pretty damn fine album. EP. Yeah.

Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-01-2018, 06:28 PM

Album title: Belladonna of Sadness
Artist: Alexandra Savior
Genre: Indie Pop/Art Pop
Nationality: American
Release date: April 6
Position in Discography: Debut
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.16
Well her voice kind of grates of me from the off, but we'll see. Yeah, I don't know about belladonna of sadness, but it's pretty depressing. Someone has dubbed her a poor man's Lana del Rey. I think that about fits here. Doubt I'll make it through this. It's a real struggle. Yeah; halfway through now and I'm feeling it no more than I was when she first opened her mouth. Pass.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Maybe

Trollheart · 01-02-2018, 08:30 AM

Album title: Strange Attractor
Artist: Alphaville
Genre: Synthpop
Nationality: German
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Ninth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? I've heard the singles
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Not really no
Average RYM Score: 2.91
I know of Alphaville only from the charts: “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young” being their two big hits that I remember, and I've never listened to an album from them. It actually came as a surprise to find they're German! Interesting opener, quite sort of darkwave to a degree (or it would be, if I fully understood what that entailed!) then it bops on with an uptempo rocker which reminds me very much of Bowie's “Fashion”. I mean, very much. “House of Ghosts” on the other hand has a very a-ha feel to it with some very eighties sounding synth lines, then “Around the Universe” has very much the ghost of Morten Harkett flitting through it; if the previous track was reminiscent of a-ha, they might actually have a case against Alphaville for this one! Not that that makes it a bad track; far from it. When these guys do dark ballads they really shine, if that's not a contradiction, which it is. Appropriately, “Enigma” is a good example of this.

It's really, really hard to get away from the a-ha comparisons though. The singer sounds so much like Morten most of the time, and even the rhythms, the melodies, the structure all remind me of Norway's most famous pop export. It's not quite a criticism, as I adore a-ha, but it does come across as slightly less original, though of course Alphaville have been going almost as long as Morten, Pal and Mags. “A Handful of Darkness” would definitely stand out, though, as being not only different but also my favourite track so far. I have to say, I'm a lot more impressed with this than I had expected to be. Good stuff.

Check out more from this artist? I think I will
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-02-2018, 03:17 PM

Album title: Arca
Artist: Arca
Genre: Electronic/Experimental
Nationality: Venezuelan
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.31
There's certainly a lot of feedback on this first song, which does lend it a certain atmosphere but also annoys my ears, but it seems to settle down fairly quickly. The vocals are all in Spanish, so I can't tell you anything about them, but I kind of get the feeling that his voice is being used as just another medium through which to express his music. It's pretty ethereal mostly, though I think his music might be an acquired taste. I certainly wouldn't dismiss it, but I think it's a little hard to get too excited about it on just the one listen. May come back to this at some point. Some very nice soundscapes in there, some good ideas, but it's hard to take it all in at once. On one song, “Couraje”, he seems to be making cat noises. “Whip” on the other hand is, well, the sound of multiples whips. Indeed. Lots to take in, for sure, and a bit too much for one meal, but could provide some serious sustenance once the taste was acquired.

Check out more from this artist? No, but I might listen to this again
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-02-2018, 03:43 PM

Album title: Silver Haze
Artist: Aye Nako
Genre: Indie Rock/Punk
Nationality: American
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Second
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.10
I find the vocal very hard to make out on the first track; I don't know whether that's deliberate, it's the production or the singer is just terrible. Okay well it's not the production, as the second track hits hard and she can obviously sing loudly enough to be heard – whether I consider her a good singer or not I'll reserve judgement on for now – so I guess it was a deliberate attempt to be “edgy”. Didn't really work for me. Third track has a little more about it, more the indie rock side of them I guess, but most of this seems to me to be out of tune, and yer wan's vocals don't help. Meh. Had enough of this. Cue elphenor checking it out. You're welcome, mate.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Trollheart · 01-02-2018, 06:10 PM

Album title: Starlight
Artist: Bethel Music
Genre: CCM/Worship
Nationality: American
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Ninth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: N/A
Why do these Christian groups seem to release so many live albums? And what's the point? They don't sound live. I suppose most of their audience is in religious raptures anyway, but they sure don't show it. Anyway, apparently Bethel Music are some sort of collective, and there's a mention of Brian and Jenn Johnson, whose album I seem to remember I rather enjoyed one of the previous months, so maybe there's hope. Decent enough start anyway; I think they may even be using some of the Johnsons' songs here. Some of them look and sound familiar, but then maybe they all do. It's all decent enough pop/rock with a serious helping of God, but it's kind of like, heard one CCM album – especially live album – heard them all. It's a bit like eating too much chocolate (something I know a lot about!) - it's great for a while but soon you get sick of it.

Check out more from this artist? No way
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Not by choice

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 01-03-2018, 10:09 AM

Album title: Story Songs
Artist: Betty Buckley
Genre: Dunno: showtunescore?
Nationality: American
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Eighteenth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: N/A
Oh, just what I need: showtunes!

Apparently Buckley is a well-known actress in the US, and has starred in shows such as Eight is Enough and Oz, as well as guesting in many more. This is all well and good, and I'm sure she's a fine actress, but do I want to hear her sing? More to the point, do I want to listen to a double album of her singing? There's a beautiful piano intro, it has to be said, to the opening track, but when she starts to sing I find she has that annoyingly aggressive sound a lot of stage performers have (I guess because they often have to act while singing, or project their voice towards the back row so everyone can hear, who knows) and it grates on me. Sadly, this also seems to be another live album which is just basically a studio album with some polite clapping edited on, or so it sounds. Her voice is better used in the next track, Radiohead's “High and Dry”.

Generally, this is pretty much like what I assume listening to a Barbra Streisand album is like. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the music but it's not my thing, and I'll be damned if I'm a-gonna listen to a whole double album of this. It doesn't help that most of the songs break the six-minute barrier. Nah, I've had enough now.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? No, unless I have to

(Sorry: it's the only video I can find. Who's going to click it, anyway, if we're being honest here?)

01-01-2018, 10:18 AM	#1451 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	[Reserved for April index, part three, if needed] __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-01-2018, 10:21 AM	#1452 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Bulletproof Artist: Young Dolph Genre: Hip-hop/Trap Nationality: American Release date: April 1 Position in Discography: Second Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 2.70 First up for April then is this, the second effort from American rapper Young Dolph, and all I can say is that at least it's not K-pop! Pretty decent start to be fair, like the dark atmosphere woven by the music and his rapping is good. Clever too: I see if you read the track list downwards, he's “done a [MERIT]”, ie the track titles form a sentence about what happened to him, apparently. I can kind of see the story running through the songs, though while it's okay I'm not totally blown away (no pun intended) – first song to really stand out is “That's How I Feel”; great rhythm to it and I love the melody and the rhyme of the lyric too. I'll definitely give YD (no, not YorkeDaddy! ) points for resisting the urge most rappers seem to have, to throw fifteen, twenty or more tracks on their album. There are only ten here, which is grand, as anything over sixteen/seventeen can often be a real slog for me, especially if there's a lot of filler. Kudos to him for not annoying me or stretching my patience. “All Of Them” is another good song, but I will say that one thing I'm not that happy about is the way Young Dolph sings (all right, all right: raps then!): there's a kind of sulky, morose way he has of rapping that gives you the impression of an angsty teenager, and he's over thirty years old. I'd prefer a bit more animation, personality, maybe even anger rather than sullenness, but he is a good rapper, from the tiny bit that I know of it. Backing music is good, sparse at times, but kind of when it needs to be, and then laying down a nice backdrop when it's required, as in the piano that underpins “I'm Everything You Wanna Be”, and then there's the closer, which has no music at all but still rocks like **. As I'm reliably informed the kids say these days, dope. Check out more from this artist? Yeah Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating:** __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-01-2018, 11:08 AM	#1453 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Coloring Book Artist: Oh My Girl Genre: K-pop Nationality: Korean, duh Release date: April 3 Position in Discography: Fourth EP Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No but having to listen to a lot of it! Average RYM Score: 2.59 Ah, K-pop! Where would I be without ya? Every single goddamn month so far, K-pop groups seem to release a slew of albums in the first few days, so here we are again. At least it's pleasant and upbeat, cheerful and fun, being a girl band, which is something I can't say for the boybands, who always seem to take themselves too seriously for me. Anyway, this is yet another EP (EPs seem to be big in Korea) so it's only five tracks and just over a quarter of an hour long in total. Decent mix of music on it, to be fair; nothing earth-shattering, but who's expecting that? “Agit” (a git?) has a nice sort of semi-balladic feel to it, while there's a proper ballad in the whimsical “In My Dreams”. Very nice. A fun album, for sure. Yeah, ok: EP. Whatever. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Only for this thread Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-01-2018, 11:47 AM	#1454 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Love Live Nut Artist: YFN Lucci Genre: Hip-hop Nationality: American Release date: April 4 Position in Discography: Debut EP Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 2.15 Another relatively short album – or rather, a long EP – with just nine tracks. It's also this guy's debut it would seem, and it certainly kicks off nicely. He's got a good way of almost singing the rap which I haven't heard, I don't think, before this. Very impressive. “Ammunition” has some dark menace about it, while there's reflection and maybe a sense of hopelessness in “Been Broke Before”, though I could do without “10AM” to be honest. The overall theme of this record seems to be YFN appreciating the fortune he's had, the way he's made a career in music, and this follows through in “Everyday We Lit”, and generally I think he has a right to be proud: this is a pretty damn fine album. EP. Yeah. Check out more from this artist? Yes Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-01-2018, 06:28 PM	#1455 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Belladonna of Sadness Artist: Alexandra Savior Genre: Indie Pop/Art Pop Nationality: American Release date: April 6 Position in Discography: Debut Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.16 Well her voice kind of grates of me from the off, but we'll see. Yeah, I don't know about belladonna of sadness, but it's pretty depressing. Someone has dubbed her a poor man's Lana del Rey. I think that about fits here. Doubt I'll make it through this. It's a real struggle. Yeah; halfway through now and I'm feeling it no more than I was when she first opened her mouth. Pass. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Maybe __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-02-2018, 08:30 AM	#1456 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Strange Attractor Artist: Alphaville Genre: Synthpop Nationality: German Release date: April 7 Position in Discography: Ninth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? I've heard the singles Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Not really no Average RYM Score: 2.91 I know of Alphaville only from the charts: “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young” being their two big hits that I remember, and I've never listened to an album from them. It actually came as a surprise to find they're German! Interesting opener, quite sort of darkwave to a degree (or it would be, if I fully understood what that entailed!) then it bops on with an uptempo rocker which reminds me very much of Bowie's “Fashion”. I mean, very much. “House of Ghosts” on the other hand has a very a-ha feel to it with some very eighties sounding synth lines, then “Around the Universe” has very much the ghost of Morten Harkett flitting through it; if the previous track was reminiscent of a-ha, they might actually have a case against Alphaville for this one! Not that that makes it a bad track; far from it. When these guys do dark ballads they really shine, if that's not a contradiction, which it is. Appropriately, “Enigma” is a good example of this. It's really, really hard to get away from the a-ha comparisons though. The singer sounds so much like Morten most of the time, and even the rhythms, the melodies, the structure all remind me of Norway's most famous pop export. It's not quite a criticism, as I adore a-ha, but it does come across as slightly less original, though of course Alphaville have been going almost as long as Morten, Pal and Mags. “A Handful of Darkness” would definitely stand out, though, as being not only different but also my favourite track so far. I have to say, I'm a lot more impressed with this than I had expected to be. Good stuff. Check out more from this artist? I think I will Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-02-2018, 03:17 PM	#1457 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Arca Artist: Arca Genre: Electronic/Experimental Nationality: Venezuelan Release date: April 7 Position in Discography: Third Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.31 There's certainly a lot of feedback on this first song, which does lend it a certain atmosphere but also annoys my ears, but it seems to settle down fairly quickly. The vocals are all in Spanish, so I can't tell you anything about them, but I kind of get the feeling that his voice is being used as just another medium through which to express his music. It's pretty ethereal mostly, though I think his music might be an acquired taste. I certainly wouldn't dismiss it, but I think it's a little hard to get too excited about it on just the one listen. May come back to this at some point. Some very nice soundscapes in there, some good ideas, but it's hard to take it all in at once. On one song, “Couraje”, he seems to be making cat noises. “Whip” on the other hand is, well, the sound of multiples whips. Indeed. Lots to take in, for sure, and a bit too much for one meal, but could provide some serious sustenance once the taste was acquired. Check out more from this artist? No, but I might listen to this again Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-02-2018, 03:43 PM	#1458 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Silver Haze Artist: Aye Nako Genre: Indie Rock/Punk Nationality: American Release date: April 7 Position in Discography: Second Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.10 I find the vocal very hard to make out on the first track; I don't know whether that's deliberate, it's the production or the singer is just terrible. Okay well it's not the production, as the second track hits hard and she can obviously sing loudly enough to be heard – whether I consider her a good singer or not I'll reserve judgement on for now – so I guess it was a deliberate attempt to be “edgy”. Didn't really work for me. Third track has a little more about it, more the indie rock side of them I guess, but most of this seems to me to be out of tune, and yer wan's vocals don't help. Meh. Had enough of this. Cue elphenor checking it out. You're welcome, mate. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-02-2018, 06:10 PM	#1459 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Starlight Artist: Bethel Music Genre: CCM/Worship Nationality: American Release date: April 7 Position in Discography: Ninth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: N/A Why do these Christian groups seem to release so many live albums? And what's the point? They don't sound live. I suppose most of their audience is in religious raptures anyway, but they sure don't show it. Anyway, apparently Bethel Music are some sort of collective, and there's a mention of Brian and Jenn Johnson, whose album I seem to remember I rather enjoyed one of the previous months, so maybe there's hope. Decent enough start anyway; I think they may even be using some of the Johnsons' songs here. Some of them look and sound familiar, but then maybe they all do. It's all decent enough pop/rock with a serious helping of God, but it's kind of like, heard one CCM album – especially live album – heard them all. It's a bit like eating too much chocolate (something I know a lot about!) - it's great for a while but soon you get sick of it. Check out more from this artist? No way Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Not by choice Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-03-2018, 10:09 AM	#1460 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Story Songs Artist: Betty Buckley Genre: Dunno: showtunescore? Nationality: American Release date: April 7 Position in Discography: Eighteenth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: N/A Oh, just what I need: showtunes! Apparently Buckley is a well-known actress in the US, and has starred in shows such as Eight is Enough and Oz, as well as guesting in many more. This is all well and good, and I'm sure she's a fine actress, but do I want to hear her sing? More to the point, do I want to listen to a double album of her singing? There's a beautiful piano intro, it has to be said, to the opening track, but when she starts to sing I find she has that annoyingly aggressive sound a lot of stage performers have (I guess because they often have to act while singing, or project their voice towards the back row so everyone can hear, who knows) and it grates on me. Sadly, this also seems to be another live album which is just basically a studio album with some polite clapping edited on, or so it sounds. Her voice is better used in the next track, Radiohead's “High and Dry”. Generally, this is pretty much like what I assume listening to a Barbra Streisand album is like. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the music but it's not my thing, and I'll be damned if I'm a-gonna listen to a whole double album of this. It doesn't help that most of the songs break the six-minute barrier. Nah, I've had enough now. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? No, unless I have to (Sorry: it's the only video I can find. Who's going to click it, anyway, if we're being honest here?) __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018