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

Trollheart · 02-10-2018, 05:09 PM

Album title: Non-Stop: Mexico to Jamaica
Artist: Ozomatli
Genre: Reggae/Funk/Soul/Hip-hop/Latin/Folk/World/Country
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Eighth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? I have heard one album
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? All those genres?

Average RYM Score: 3.00
I knew I had heard the name before. It's quite distinctive, after all, and again I look back to “Love or Hate?” where I was introduced to them via the album Street Signs, which I think I liked. I certainly like this; very smooth, cool and cheerful. Mostly (all) reggae so far though; not sure if those other tags are going to be warranted. Still, we have another eleven tracks to go, so plenty of time. Okay, “Besame Mucho” has a hip-hop rap and feel to it, with some sort of Mexican trumpet thing going on too. A reggae version of “La Bamba” is very welcome, and when they add a rap, well, that's just so much better. They do this again in “De Paisano a Paisano”, and there are even songs in English: in the end, “Evil Ways”, “Land of 1000 Dances” and “Come and Get Your Love” are the least interesting of them all. Great album though. Still, didn't see any country, little funk or soul and not too much in the way of World Music (though that's almost too broad a genre tag to be using anyway) here. Mostly reggae with a healthy dart of Latin and Hip-hop.

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

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 05:22 AM

Album title: No Shape
Artist: Perfume Genius
Genre: Chamber Pop/Art Pop
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Fourth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.52
Begins very quiet, with Perfume Genius, which is the stage name of Mike Hadreas, singing softly over gentle piano which then explodes into a powerful orchestral piece, but the following tracks don't seem to live up to the promise of that opener and I get a little distracted and bored by track four. “Wreath” has something about it and returns to the kind of quality of the first track, almost gospel in its way, and the soft vocal on the fragile “Every Night” reminds me of Marillion's Steve Hogarth at his most earnest. Lovely strings accompaniment too. Speaking of strings, there's a sense almost of Vivaldi's “Winter” in the orchestral backing to “Choir”, and yeah, there are some really nice songs here. Guess it got a lot better after the first two tracks. Pretty impressive really.

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

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 09:41 AM

Album title: The Weather
Artist: Pond
Genre: Psych Rock/Neo-Psychedelia
Nationality: Australian
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Seventh
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.19
This album seems to have gone in faster than I had expected. Is that a good thing? Not sure. The vocal is quite muddy and sort of shoegaze-y, the music is certain psych – fast, frenetic, upbeat mostly and pretty trippy – until “A/B” slows it all down on a single piano, and “Edge of the World Part 2” is nice too, but overall a certain sense of meh and even what? Kind of started to get into it near the end, but might need further listens to form a proper opinion. Yeah, like that's going to happen!

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

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 10:29 AM

Album title: Time and Emotion
Artist: Robin Trower
Genre: Blues Rock
Nationality: English
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Twenty-second solo
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? Heard of him
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.53
I don't know: sometimes ageing rockers still have it, sometimes they just sound like, well, ageing rockers. So far, this falls into the latter category. I could be listening to Clapton or Knopfler, or even Gary Moore to an extent. Don't see anything standing out about Trower, and I'm just bored here. Some blues albums have this effect on me. There are only four tracks left so I won't bail, but I won't pretend I haven't been tempted to. Get this far though, you might as well tough it out. Yeah, to be fair, there are some good tracks here, but I kind of just don't really care.

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

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-11-2018, 03:18 PM

Album title: There's Really A Wolf
Artist: Russ
Genre: Hip-hop/R&B
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Debut
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 1.91
Sounds all right I guess, but twenty tracks? It will need to be more than just all right for me to get through all those. “Act Now” has something about it, and on “Cherry Hill” he sings rather than raps. Another point in his favour is a total lack of guests. None. Not a one. That seems to be quite rare, especially for debut albums, so fair play to him for making it on his own terms. “Ride Slow” is almost funereal in its pace, great organ on it, like a church organ or something. Yeah, there's some good stuff here. The sentiments expressed in “Family and Friends” are refreshing, “Saved” has a nice slow, lazy rhythm to it and “One More Shot” recalls reggae and the Caribbean sound. I like “Pull the Trigger” too. Pretty impressive.

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

Actual Rating:

**Exo** · 02-11-2018, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Album title: No Shape
Artist: Perfume Genius

The production on this album alone is worth the listen.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 02-11-2018, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Artist: Russ

lol russ sucks

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

was waiting for this one

did not disappoint

pretty disappointing album tho

Trollheart · 02-12-2018, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

lol russ sucks

I disagree. Thought he was pretty good to be honest.

Trollheart · 02-12-2018, 09:21 AM

Album title: Slowdive
Artist: Slowdive
Genre: Shoegaze/Dream Pop
Nationality: English
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Fourth
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? I've heard one album and loved it
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No but slowly getting more into it
Average RYM Score: 3.63
Souvlaki was, I think, the album that made me think more deeply about shoegaze and recognise the fact that the vocal is often so seemingly muddy. Up to then, I had assumed it was just bad singing/production (as with MBV, yeah yeah I know). So I've been looking forward to doing this one. It's their first album, I'm somewhat surprised to hear, in twenty-two years, and some people have remarked it's not as good as previous efforts. I can't comment on that, as I've, as I say, only heard the one album and that several years ago, but I do remember loving it. So far, there's nothing I don't love about this one either. I think – and I'm only relying on my faulty memory here so I could well be wrong – that this seems to be a moderately faster album than Souvlaki, which was mostly slow songs I think. Just as good though.

“Sugar For the Pill” is the first song where they really slow down, and really there's not a bad track on this. Another triumph, and I look forward to hearing more of Slowdive's music. Worth waiting two decades for? Hell yeah.

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

Actual Rating:

Trollheart · 02-12-2018, 10:13 AM

Album title: Tajmo
Artist: Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo'
Genre: Blues
Nationality: American
Release date: May 5
Position in Discography: Twenty-seventh; first collab
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.25
Now this is how I like my blues! To hell with Robin Trower: this is the real stuff! Engaging and absorbing from the first riff, a growly, raspy voice that just drips the blues, some fine brass, and of course that mainstay of the bluesman (other than his geetar), the harmonica. Sweet. Taj Mahal has been around since the sixties, whereas Keb' has only been playing since the nineties, so I guess we're talking an old master teaming up with a young whippersnapper, and we get the benefit of that collaboration. Got some soul and gospel too in “All Around the World”, and country in “That's Who I Am”. I will say “Shake Me In Your Arms” gets a little boring and repetitive, and given that it runs for less than four minutes, that ain't good, but I feel like it's been going for about eight by the time it winds up.

The simplicity of the acoustic “Diving Duck Blues” is followed by The Who's “Squeeze Box”, with some nice accordion and organ. “Soul” has a nice Caribbean feel to it, bouncing along with timbales, congas, shakers and ukulele; great sense of exuberance in it. That leaves “Waiting On the World To Change”, a cover of the John Mayer song, and a very good version of it too. Decent album, lots to recommend it certainly.

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

Actual Rating:

02-10-2018, 05:09 PM	#1831 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: Non-Stop: Mexico to Jamaica Artist: Ozomatli Genre: Reggae/Funk/Soul/Hip-hop/Latin/Folk/World/Country Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Eighth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? I have heard one album Familiar with the genre or subgenre? All those genres? Average RYM Score: 3.00 I knew I had heard the name before. It's quite distinctive, after all, and again I look back to “Love or Hate?” where I was introduced to them via the album Street Signs, which I think I liked. I certainly like this; very smooth, cool and cheerful. Mostly (all) reggae so far though; not sure if those other tags are going to be warranted. Still, we have another eleven tracks to go, so plenty of time. Okay, “Besame Mucho” has a hip-hop rap and feel to it, with some sort of Mexican trumpet thing going on too. A reggae version of “La Bamba” is very welcome, and when they add a rap, well, that's just so much better. They do this again in “De Paisano a Paisano”, and there are even songs in English: in the end, “Evil Ways”, “Land of 1000 Dances” and “Come and Get Your Love” are the least interesting of them all. Great album though. Still, didn't see any country, little funk or soul and not too much in the way of World Music (though that's almost too broad a genre tag to be using anyway) here. Mostly reggae with a healthy dart of Latin and Hip-hop. Check out more from this artist? Yeah Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 02-14-2018 at 05:32 AM.

02-11-2018, 05:22 AM	#1832 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: No Shape Artist: Perfume Genius Genre: Chamber Pop/Art Pop Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Fourth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.52 Begins very quiet, with Perfume Genius, which is the stage name of Mike Hadreas, singing softly over gentle piano which then explodes into a powerful orchestral piece, but the following tracks don't seem to live up to the promise of that opener and I get a little distracted and bored by track four. “Wreath” has something about it and returns to the kind of quality of the first track, almost gospel in its way, and the soft vocal on the fragile “Every Night” reminds me of Marillion's Steve Hogarth at his most earnest. Lovely strings accompaniment too. Speaking of strings, there's a sense almost of Vivaldi's “Winter” in the orchestral backing to “Choir”, and yeah, there are some really nice songs here. Guess it got a lot better after the first two tracks. Pretty impressive really. Check out more from this artist? Might Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-11-2018, 09:41 AM	#1833 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: The Weather Artist: Pond Genre: Psych Rock/Neo-Psychedelia Nationality: Australian Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Seventh Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.19 This album seems to have gone in faster than I had expected. Is that a good thing? Not sure. The vocal is quite muddy and sort of shoegaze-y, the music is certain psych – fast, frenetic, upbeat mostly and pretty trippy – until “A/B” slows it all down on a single piano, and “Edge of the World Part 2” is nice too, but overall a certain sense of meh and even what? Kind of started to get into it near the end, but might need further listens to form a proper opinion. Yeah, like that's going to happen! Check out more from this artist? Maybe Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-11-2018, 10:29 AM	#1834 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: Time and Emotion Artist: Robin Trower Genre: Blues Rock Nationality: English Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Twenty-second solo Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? Heard of him Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.53 I don't know: sometimes ageing rockers still have it, sometimes they just sound like, well, ageing rockers. So far, this falls into the latter category. I could be listening to Clapton or Knopfler, or even Gary Moore to an extent. Don't see anything standing out about Trower, and I'm just bored here. Some blues albums have this effect on me. There are only four tracks left so I won't bail, but I won't pretend I haven't been tempted to. Get this far though, you might as well tough it out. Yeah, to be fair, there are some good tracks here, but I kind of just don't really care. Check out more from this artist? Unlikely Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-11-2018, 03:18 PM	#1835 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: There's Really A Wolf Artist: Russ Genre: Hip-hop/R&B Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Debut Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 1.91 Sounds all right I guess, but twenty tracks? It will need to be more than just all right for me to get through all those. “Act Now” has something about it, and on “Cherry Hill” he sings rather than raps. Another point in his favour is a total lack of guests. None. Not a one. That seems to be quite rare, especially for debut albums, so fair play to him for making it on his own terms. “Ride Slow” is almost funereal in its pace, great organ on it, like a church organ or something. Yeah, there's some good stuff here. The sentiments expressed in “Family and Friends” are refreshing, “Saved” has a nice slow, lazy rhythm to it and “One More Shot” recalls reggae and the Caribbean sound. I like “Pull the Trigger” too. Pretty impressive. Check out more from this artist? Yes Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-12-2018, 09:21 AM	#1839 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: Slowdive Artist: Slowdive Genre: Shoegaze/Dream Pop Nationality: English Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Fourth Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? I've heard one album and loved it Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No but slowly getting more into it Average RYM Score: 3.63 Souvlaki was, I think, the album that made me think more deeply about shoegaze and recognise the fact that the vocal is often so seemingly muddy. Up to then, I had assumed it was just bad singing/production (as with MBV, yeah yeah I know). So I've been looking forward to doing this one. It's their first album, I'm somewhat surprised to hear, in twenty-two years, and some people have remarked it's not as good as previous efforts. I can't comment on that, as I've, as I say, only heard the one album and that several years ago, but I do remember loving it. So far, there's nothing I don't love about this one either. I think – and I'm only relying on my faulty memory here so I could well be wrong – that this seems to be a moderately faster album than Souvlaki, which was mostly slow songs I think. Just as good though. “Sugar For the Pill” is the first song where they really slow down, and really there's not a bad track on this. Another triumph, and I look forward to hearing more of Slowdive's music. Worth waiting two decades for? Hell 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

02-12-2018, 10:13 AM	#1840 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: Tajmo Artist: Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' Genre: Blues Nationality: American Release date: May 5 Position in Discography: Twenty-seventh; first collab Estimated Rating: Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.25 Now this is how I like my blues! To hell with Robin Trower: this is the real stuff! Engaging and absorbing from the first riff, a growly, raspy voice that just drips the blues, some fine brass, and of course that mainstay of the bluesman (other than his geetar), the harmonica. Sweet. Taj Mahal has been around since the sixties, whereas Keb' has only been playing since the nineties, so I guess we're talking an old master teaming up with a young whippersnapper, and we get the benefit of that collaboration. Got some soul and gospel too in “All Around the World”, and country in “That's Who I Am”. I will say “Shake Me In Your Arms” gets a little boring and repetitive, and given that it runs for less than four minutes, that ain't good, but I feel like it's been going for about eight by the time it winds up. The simplicity of the acoustic “Diving Duck Blues” is followed by The Who's “Squeeze Box”, with some nice accordion and organ. “Soul” has a nice Caribbean feel to it, bouncing along with timbales, congas, shakers and ukulele; great sense of exuberance in it. That leaves “Waiting On the World To Change”, a cover of the John Mayer song, and a very good version of it too. Decent album, lots to recommend it certainly. Check out more from this artist? Yes Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Actual Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 02-14-2018 at 05:36 AM.