The Random Album Thread

[Aux-In]

Two quick ones:

Thunderwar - Wolfpack [EP]

Spoiler for Album Cover:

Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2018
Place of Origin: Warsaw, Poland
General Pace: Fast-paced but not speed metal

Summation: Dungeons, dragons and runes. Oh my! It was okay I guess. I wasn't much on the vocalist.

Best Song: "Wolfpack" had the most brutal guitarwork but "Circle of Runes" was the most melodic. Prefer the former in this case, actually.

Would I return to this album?: No.

Aschmicrosa - Incubus Black Metal

Spoiler for Album Cover:

Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2006
Place of Origin: Slovenia
General Pace: Heavy but not speedy

Pretty much a black metal newb so I will do what I can here. Band was aight, not super horrible, but my metal-listening trend continues on not liking the vocals. The screaming didn't hit its mark either. This does have some symphonic vocal elements (chanting) in about 10% of the songs without feeling cheesy, so they did well there. Incubus Black Metal seems self-recorded but who knows. I did listen to the whole thing.

Would I return to this album?: No.

[Aux-In]

8cee - Mind Over Matter [EP]

Spoiler for Album Cover:

Genre: Electronic
Year: 2016
Place of Origin: Luxembourg
General Pace: Downtempo, jazzy/lounge, breakbeat(ish), [boom bap beat]

Summation: Right as I hit play on the first song, "Back in the Days," I felt the '60s style inspiration, and "Like the Son" is some definite Motown channeling, but overall this album has a modern sound that is more trancey than rhythmic. There are either sax or sax samples used in some of the songs. Production on this is fairly amateurish and it lacks complexity in composition in a way that is unpolished without the payoff of de-tuning. Not amateurish as in bad, because I can be more impressed with bedroom producers sometimes than traditional bands and such. I guess for me it's that the synths used sounded hollow and bored-out, so to speak, as one note stayed stationary while other parts bounced around it, instead of everything being in sync. I mean, don't get me wrong on the bad points, Mind Over Matter is laid-back as **** and you can chill to this no problem at all, but there isn't much variety, so every song tends to sound the same.



Would I return to this album?: No.

[Aux-In]

The Blackbirds - No Destination

Genre: Krautrock, Psychedelic Pop, Psychedelic Rock
Year: 1968
Place of Origin: Germany
General Pace: Slow to moderate classic '60s sounds



Tracklist:

1) Golden Sun
2) Space
3) No Destination
4) Long Tall Dorothe
5) Sandman's Bound
6) That's My Love
7) Girl I'm Wondering
8) Show Me That You Love Me
9) Something Different
10) She

So here's a window into the past, man. The Blackbirds are four dudes from Germany, making the tunes. They start off with the radio-friendly "Golden Sun," a rather downbeat song about a man yearning for a lost love. Then they immediately switch it up on the next song, "Space," an at-times eerie and trippy guitar instrumental with use of an organ (or keyboards, can't tell) for texture as the band members whistle along, and this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album's experiments. Singing-wise, these guys have trouble hitting the high notes and the harmonies could use some tweaking, but they worked with what they had in 1968, so without enhancements as anyone would be aware. Lyrically, on "No Destination," there is the line "I stay in my bed all of the day, because a job is no destination." Square that away with the album cover and that's what's what I think their direction was for the album, but as a whole The Blackbirds don't come across as overly hippy.

No Destination has slow dance numbers ("That's My Love"), but it doesn't walk a tight line as they throw in guitar solos in a number of songs, and "Something Different" is a quirky, happy "lah lah lah" sing-a-long. Why not?

The Blackbirds only put out two albums, the other being Touch of Music.

Songs that were better than the rest: "Golden Sun"; "No Destination"; "That's My Love."

Worst Song: "Long Tall Dorothe." Don't know who took over singing duties on this, but somebody get him out of there. That brah can't hang at all.



There are 10 songs on the original LP, but four bonus tracks were included in the CD reissue in 2005, which include two different covers of The 4 Seasons' "Sherry." In the video they are @35:16 w/a solo male vocal and @41:18 with the full band.

Would I return to this album? No.

[Aux-In]

Archie Shepp - Montreux Two (Live)



Genre: Jazz
Year: 1975
Place of Origin: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
General Pace: Light

Tracklist:

1. Steam
2. Along Came Betty
3. Blues for Donald Duck

This was kind of perfect timing because I wanted something to listen to that was relaxed and pleasant without being too involved. "Steam" is the door-greeting tune that lets you into Shepp's place, and "Along Came Betty" gets the people up and mingling. Don't double dip your chips, here, but do look around as you talk among friends and party guests. Dinner will be at eight, with the rather frenetic "Blues for Donald Duck" as the dessert.

Wikipedia: Recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, July 18, 1975.

Best Song: "Along Came Betty"

[Aux-In]

The Riffs - Dead End Dream



Genre: Glam Punk
Year: 2002
Place of Origin: Portland, Oregon
General Pace: Moderate

The songs contain bleak lyrics about drug addiction, tough environments and living on the streets fused with pop-sounding vocals and musician-work that is a mixed bag of various punk influences. Their sound is not too aggressive, but not too happy pop punk, either. Recording is "indie" and a little muffled so I couldn't hear every word, but the lyric sheets are strong here. Not because they're uber deep, but because you get a sense that The Riffs are not just writing for effect -- they've lived the stuff.

Best Song: "Nowhere to Go." Backup singer gets involved as the chorus is "nowhere left to go" while they throw down "be another slave on the factory floor."

[Aux-In]

Swing Out Sister - It's Better to Travel



Genre: Sophisti-Pop, Jazz Pop, Synthpop
Year: 1987
Place of Origin: Manchester, England, UK
General Pace: Moderate

Tracklist:

1. Breakout
2. Twilight World
3. After Hours
4. Blue Mood
5. Surrender
6. Fooled by a Smile
7. Communion
8. It's Not Enough
9. Theme (From "It's Better to Travel")
10. Breakout (N.A.D. MIX)
11. Surrender (Stuff Gun Mix)
12. Twilight World (Remix)
13. Communion (Instrumental)

First time hearing this band.

Of the 12 albums Swing Out Sister has put out, this is their debut, and it's '80s chic pop personified. Swing Out Sisters is fronted by Corinne Drewery, who uses low tones with drawn-out structures to carry the notes. It's mostly upbeat music with lots of trumpets, horns, some bass guitar and even a xylophone solo. It's Better to Travel would reach #1 on the UK Albums Chart, led by the hit "Breakout." Out of 13 tracks, five of them are instrumentals or remixes (of "Breakout" "Surrender" "Twilight World"), and that's where Swing Out Sister drops their previous simplicity for more elaborate compositions. It was almost like I was listening to a separate EP within an LP.

[Aux-In]

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Vespers (All-Night Vigil), for alto, tenor & chorus, Op. 37



Genre: Classical, Romanticism
Year: 1986
Place of Origin: USSR/Russian Federation
General Pace: Sounds like cathedral music

The Dude: Rachmaninoff = Russian composer guy who would eventually come to the United States, where he continued to perform until his death in 1943. There's tons about him on his Wikipedia page.

The Skinny: The original RYM listing was of the 1998 album version by the Saint Petersburg Capella, conducted by Vladislav Chernushenko. I went with the easier to find 1986 version performed by the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir, which was conducted by Valeri Polyansky and recorded at Smolensk, Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral. There are some translation issues between releases on the song titles and the spelling of the composer's name.

The Music: Essentially this is church music designed to fill large halls and light up any of the souls it touches. It maintains operatic chants and atmospheric vibes which are contrasted between more thoughtful, slower-paced compositions. This performance gets a little bombastic in places if that's something you prefer in your classical selections. Now, if you want deep-cut analysis, the YouTube comments will be better than my write-up due to the fact that they're posted by people who are more familiar with the in and outs of this type of music.

[Aux-In]

Fukpig - The World Is Weakening

Genre: Grindcore
Year: 2014
Place of Origin: Birmingham, England
General Pace: Grindcorey

To my knowledge, this is the first official grindcore band that I have ever listened to. The closest comparison I can make to how these guys sound is Slipknot. The music is heavy as you would guess, given the genre. There is an interesting contrast between the main lead and the backing singer, which I think works fine for these guys (distinct difference in vocal styles). While it's all howling and screaming, here, you can make out some of the lyrics on occasion.

Getting down to brass tacks, these guys are anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, and anti-media, too. "Hack" is a shot at the paparazzi pushing celebrity culture in the face of the unsuspecting. Not only that, they're both against the New World Order and are fairly anti old ideas, too. They'll gladly call you a sheep while hating on your violence at the same time.

Lyric stanza to "Fascist Moron":

Jackboots stomping to an imaginary beat
Look at the steps that you're following!
Fascist moron!
No one's impressed by your out-of-date beliefs
The hate you've been gladly swallowing
Fascist moron!

Fukpig aren't out to cause a scene. They're just a bunch of hands-off fatalists who want some no harm, no foul, otherworldly Armageddon to rain down on the planet, all the liars, and themselves.

Best Song: "The Prisoner."

[Aux-In]

Monomono - The Dawn of Awareness



Link to full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTyn...ETLpg8zVs7VS2Q

Genre: Afro-Funk/Rock
Year: 1974 (original release); 2011 (remaster)
Place of Origin: Lagos, Nigeria
General Pace: Smooth-groove low to moderate

The Dawn of Awareness is a cornucopia of funkadelic vibes that come together in a multi-layered and complex mixture of drums, smooth basslines, saxophone instrumentation and much much more. This album is a whole tier of sounds with positive and upbeat messages. On "Get Yourself together," Monomono essentially goes free jazz, and "Awareness Is Wot You Need" is the socially-conscious harbinger for helping not just yourself, but your fellow man when you see him down on his luck. You just have to sell your pride and take off your mask in order to see the path. The lyrics are mostly in English, but they break into their native language on "Tire Loma Da Nigbehin" and after the intro on "Ipade Aladun," which starts off with Joni Haastrup, the band's leader, explaining to the world that musicians aren't drunks or idol worshipers when on stage. Critics gonna critique, after all. Said critics just don't understand that musicians are happy people with lots of energy who "[generate] this happiness to you, so that you may be happy in your life."

Free and happy. That is what Monomono wants you to be. That is what they want everyone to be. And so we are.

Best Song: "Plain Fighting"

[Dresden]

Artist: My Baby
Album: Prehistoric Rhythm
Release date: March 17, 2017

Based on both the album art and the album name, I was expecting something more acoustic. But what I experienced was a really nice blend of electronic funk. The vocals are lovely. My favorite tracks are Luminate which is a really chill trance track. And Straight No Chaser which is very bluesy.

The tracks are all really unique and they draw from a lot of different inspirations. They appear to have moderate success in Europe and New Zealand. I feel like they deserve more global recognition. I'm really really digging this, it was a pleasant surprise.