Trollheart

Album title: Monkey Business
Artist: Margaret
Genre: Pop
Nationality: Polish
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 1.81
What a very odd idea! Apparently, this album was released only in Margaret's native Poland. Nowhere else. Surely that's a mad commercial decision, whoever took it? You're restricting your sales to one country, and if this ended up being a popular album, nobody else could buy it? Mind you, I don't know if that means it was only physically available there: maybe you could get it on itunes or whatever, though I have noticed it's not on Spotify. Well, maybe there's a reason for that. I mean, it's fairly standard pop fare really, nothing special. “The Colour of You” has a nice reggae beat to it, “Cuz It's You” is an okay ballad, and I guess there are a few good tracks but to be honest, from what I can hear here, the rest of the world outside of Poland didn't lose out by not being able to access this album.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Strange Words and Weird Wars
Artist: Marnie
Genre: Electronic/Synthpop
Nationality: Scottish
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Second
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.22
Pleasant catchy synthpop. I like her voice, it's different. “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” is moody, brooding and kind of ominous. A real standout. “Lost Maps” is great too, love the bouncy, synthy rhythm to it. Some very good tracks but overall I have to say not a whole lot that really sticks in the memory after the album has been played. Good stuff, but that's probably about it really. Might though benefit from extra listenings.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Colours2
Artist: Partynextdoor
Genre: R&B
Nationality: Canadian
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Eighth EP; tenth overall
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 2.74
You know, I just wish Wiki editors would get their **** together. The page for this EP puts it as released on June 2, then notes that it was released in September! Which is it, you stupid ****? Checking with RYM seems to confirm the June release date, but it's annoying that people can't check their facts before submitting articles. That said, this has only four tracks, most of which are pleasant enough r&b tunes, slow ones too, though “Low Battery” is more uptempo (despite the title). Not bad really.

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

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Is This the Life We Really Want?
Artist: Roger Waters
Genre: Progressive Rock/Art Rock
Nationality: English
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Fifth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? Yes
Average RYM Score: 3.34
Love him or loathe him (and I know for many of you it's the latter), you can't be unaware of the existence of Roger Waters. The man who co-founded Pink Floyd, who was responsible for the masterpiece or ego-fest, depending on your opinion, known as The Wall, and without whom, to many, Floyd struggled to retain their identity as a band. His solo material has been a mixed bag, as far as I'm concerned: Radio Kaos and Amused to Death were superb, Ca Ira was pure ****e and The Pros and Cons of Hitch-hiking was just, well, there. So this could go either way. Nevertheless, it's his first album in over ten years and I'm looking forward to it with hope and a sense of expectation.

The first thing I notice, before even pressing play, is that the cover of the album closely resembles that of 1987's Radio Kaos. Whether that's a good or a bad omen I don't know, but as it begins there are muttered and distant voices, which grow louder as the track begins, and again remind me of that album. “Deja Vu” recalls very distinctly “Pigs on the Wing” from Pink Floyd's classic Animals album. Is this a good sign? I don't know again, but there's some really nice orchestration, which always helps, and as per usual Waters' voice ranges from the murmured to the manic howl, and he uses the old Floyd tricks, such as sound effects – glass breaking, gunshots, taped voices, radio broadcasts, the usual thing. Perhaps it's a little predictable, perhaps a lot, but so far I love it.

You get his often annoying socio-political commentary all through the album, and sometimes it gets a little wearing, like being preached to by some old man in a pub who's too tired to do anything about the world but advises you to. But that's Waters, and he'll never change. The music certainly makes up for any annoyance at finding yourself trapped in the Church of Waters for almost an hour, and makes the time fly by. It is though VERY Floyd, with lots of Animals and Dark Side in there – much more so than his previous albums, which makes me wonder either a) is it a deliberate nod back to the past or b) is he running out of ideas? I also hear much that could have been on The Final Cut, and there's a lot of gentle acoustic guitar pieces, though the title track brings out angry Roger, with a snide little dig at Trump, among others, and a very ominous melody. I would venture to say that “Bird in a Gale” relies way too much on the sound effects though. Dogs barking have been overused by the Floyd machine at this point too. We get it: dogs of war, dogs of Wall Street. Stop. Just, you know, stop. Dog-gone it. Sorry. I'm dogged by bad puns. I'll stop now. Heel, boy! Heel. No, I'll really stop now. Bitch. Sorry, sorry. My bark is worse than my – ow! Okay, okay! I get the message!


I think I would have to admit that this album is almost a snapshot of Waters' entire career, with influences taken from the albums mentioned as well as his previous Radio KAOS and Amused to Death. Seen that way, perhaps it might be viewed as a rip-off a la Floyd's swansong album, but I don't think so. There's a lot to enjoy here, but let's face it, if you're not a Waters fan, this is not an album that's going to change your mind. If you are, then you'll be glad to see him back in the game. Most likely, you won't care. More likely, I don't care that you don't care. I've been waiting for this album for almost a quarter of a century, and it's been more than worth it. Go listen to your hippity-hop.

Check out more from this artist? Always, though by the time he releases another album I may be dead.
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Always and forever

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Home Counties
Artist: Saint Etienne
Genre: Alt-Dance
Nationality: English
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Ninth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.28
Interesting start: a radio broadcast from Radio 4 – reminds me of the opening of Sean Filkins' War and Peace and Other Short Stories. I like this when it gets going though I would call it more synthpop than dance music. Really nice; sort of reminds me of Swing Out Sister in a way. Okay, well, “Dive” brings in more dance elements, quite funky too with some great brass and a kind of Mexican/mariachi feel to it. Love this. Despite being less than two minutes long, and basically a choir, “Church Pew Furniture Restorer” is excellent, not that there has been anything here so far that hasn't been. An indication of how good this is is that when I originally saw there were nineteen tracks on the album, I groaned and rolled my eyes. Now, having heard so far eleven tracks, it's not a problem at all.

“Heather” is another standout, but then I love “Train Drivers in Eyeliner” too. I was trying to think who she reminds me of, and on “Unopened Fan Mail” I get it: Sharleen Spiteri from Texas. Very similar, at least on this track, and a few others. Not that she's in any way copying or ripping her off, but the style is quite similar. But then, I love Texas, so that's not a bad thing. All right, there's absolutely nothing on this I don't love. “Sweet Arcadia” is one part spoken word, one part proggy organ extravaganza and one part haunting vocal coda. I could do without the little interludes – don't get the point, although given the album title, a look back to gentle English societal norms might cover that – but everything here is gold, and there's much platinum too. Consider me a new fan.

Check out more from this artist? Downloading their discography now
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes but I still maintain this is more pop/synthpop

Actual Rating:

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Anteater

Is This the Life We Really Want? is an album that has a production approach and quality which I love but songwriting that doesn't really work for me from track to track. Waters really should bury the hatchet with Gilmour...'cause he needs him badly.

Never heard of Saint Etienne before, but this album you featured come across as a better, more English version of Haim's latest. And that's definitely not a bad thing.

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Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Trollheart

Album title: The Future in Whose Eyes?
Artist: Sikth
Genre: Progressive Metal/Mathcore/Avant-Garde Metal
Nationality: English
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Third
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.18
Not sure what to make of this really. The vocal is almost an angry rap, kind of reminds me of some of that post-hardcore I've heard, but the music does seem to stay within the general area of prog metal. Yeah, I don't know: the album has its moments but mostly it's not appealing to me. The vocal is far too hysterical-sounding for what I would consider prog metal, and to be honest most of the songs are not that great anyway. There are some nice interludes, passages and even the odd decent track, - the spooky, mostly spoken-word “The Moon's Been Gone For Hours” is a case in point, and if more of the album was like this then I'd have a different opinion of it - but overall not something I'd be interested in revisiting. The closer is really nice too, but again more an exception than the norm on this album. Pretty much a disappointment, I'd have to say.

Check out more from this artist? Probably not
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes (prog metal)

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Walkin'
Artist: Suran
Genre: K-pop
Nationality: Korean
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Debut
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? No
Average RYM Score: 3.00
I guess we've done fairly well to have avoided K-pop so far this month, but you can't escape it forever and here's the first one. Luckily as usual it's only an EP/mini-album with a mere five tracks on it. It is, of course, rubbish. Well, it's K-pop: what do you expect? To be fair, it's not terrible, but it is like just about every other K-pop album I've listened to since I began this project, and probably every other K-pop album I will listen to until I come to its end. Oh, I should make special mention of my annoyance for the occasional inclusion of a rap on one track, as tends to happen on a lot of these albums. Just, well, annoying, and becoming very much a gimmick that's already been overused and played out. Like K-pop itself. All right, I'm done now.
Check out more from this artist? Nah
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? No

Actual Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: One Foot in the Grave
Artist: Tankard
Genre: Thrash Metal
Nationality: German
Release date: June 2
Position in Discography: Seventeenth
Estimated Rating:

Have I heard of this artist? Yes
Have I heard anything by this artist? Yes
Average RYM Score: 3.26
Ah, just what I need to blow the sticky, sugary cobwebs of K-pop away! Some thrash metal! I've always considered Tankard to be the non-pirate equivalent of Alestorm, and I can imagine what a gig with both of them on the bill would be like. They've always had a great sense of irreverence, humour and a general ****-you attitude towards, well, everything, and they are always fun to listen to. There aren't as many songs about drinking here as there would usually be on a Tankard album, (actually, there aren't any! What's going on guys?) in fact some of the subjects are quite serious (take “Syrian Nightmare”, which focusses on the war in the Middle East or “Pay to Pray”, which seems to be their “Holy Smoke”, Iron Maiden's rant against organised religion) and I guess with a title like that the album itself possibly indicates a slowly-growing realisation of mortality. But hell, it's still great fun, if nothing original or new.

Ah yeah, but is it, really? I mean, it's great thrash metal, but there are a few too many political messages in the songs, and while that's all well and good, I'm used to Tankard being more about the beer. It's kind of like that time Krusty left on vacation and they ran a boring, dry, David Frostesque chat show with him, not an iota of humour in it. To paraphrase Monty Burns, where's the fun? Thank god their next album, released this year (2018) is entitled Hymns for the Drunk. I'll be looking forward to that one. Hopefully they'll have got all this political nonsense out of their systems and not want to leave the pub again.

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

Actual Rating:

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The Batlord

Beast of Bourbon is still one of the most underrated thrash albums of the new millenium. Or any millenium.

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