Shapeshifting - Chrysalis' Journal
 

So, I'll be talking about three things in here:

• Music: This will be limited to album reviews and me posting a few songs that I've been listening to a lot recently.
• Video Games: This is a subject that, to my knowledge, has never been talked about in journals on here. I was going to make a separate journal for this (like Plankton having a separate journal for guitar players and Conan starting a (short-lived) journal about dreams, although both of these are related to music), but I'll just keep everything in one journal. I'll probably just limit this to reviews of games that I've been playing recently.
• Television: As far as I know, Trollheart is the only person to talk about this in his journal. I'll admit that I don't watch television that much, so you won't see me mention it that much in here, but I'l probably review a few shows ater I've finished watching them in their entirety.

Anyway, I suck at writing introductions for things like these, so I'll just end this here.

Hmmm. Title is why? :confused:

^I'm terrible with naming things (and I was tired when I made this journal), so I just went with a reference.

The Standard - August (2002)
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...ers/august.png
The Standard are an indie rock band that was formed in Portland, Oregon in 1999. Despite touring with bands like Wire and The Shins, they aren't really well known (only having almost 6,100 listeners on last.fm). I found out about these guys back when I first joined Music Banter and took a look in the thread "MB's Most Wanted" (and they had a good reason to be in there: their albums are almost impossible to find online... well, when it comes to download links).

August is a good indie rock album that has some tempo changes (the best example of this being "Bells to the Boxer"), distorted guitars and synths scattered around the album. It's not for everyone (I wouldn't be surprised if some found it boring), but if you like a bit of melancholy in your indie rock, feel free to give this album a spin.

I know that this review sucked, but it's the first one I've ever written. I'll try to expand on my thoughts about albums in later reviews.

Sure, I understand that, I just wondered what it referred to? Being Irish, a) we call oatmeal "porridge" and b) I have never heard this reference.

Your review was short and succinct, but I wouldn't say it sucked. At least you gave an idea what the bands were about and used some YouTubes for those whose attention span can't even take in those few lines. Most importantly, you bothered to write something.

Not everyone can write thousands of words per review --- I sometimes cut mine to 200, though that's really a challenge for me, usually I do write a lot --- but as long as you get across even the basic interest you have it all helps.

Look forward to your next --- hopefully longer! --- review.
:)

I actually plan on posting a review either this evening or tomorrow, but would a mod mind changing the thread name to "Shapeshifting - Chrysalis' Journal"?

Done! I like it :)

Yeah, much better. Could you delete my two messages too please, as they now make no sense? TVM!

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...nationtime.png
Joe McPhee - Nation Time (1971)

Let me get this out of the way: I don’t know that much about avant-garde jazz. The only albums from this sub-genre that I’ve heard are John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and Sun Ra’s Space is the Place. When it comes to jazz, I personally feel a lot more comfortable with Miles Davis’ and John Coltrane’s earlier albums, but I decided to get this since I felt like needed some more experimental jazz in my collection.

I went into Joe McPhee’s debut album with very few expectations. For some reason, all that I was expecting was a bunch of jazz instruments soloing at the same time for 40 minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this was not the case. Yes, there is a lot of soloing on this album, but the only track which has the majority of it being comprised of soloing is the closer. The first track, Nation Time has a nice balance between instrumental chaos and some more traditional jazz. The second track, Shakey Jake doesn’t have many solos as well, but when they appear, it’s just one instrument soloing at a time. Actually, the second track was obviously influenced by funk, and it doesn’t remove the influence at any point during the song. The last track, Scorpio's Dance is pretty weak in my opinion, and could have definitely been trimmed by a few minutes. It pretty much consists of constant soloing (although there’s a couple of short breaks that last for about 20-30 seconds), but unlike the title track, I found it to be more annoying than captivating.

Did I like this album? Aside from the last track, I did. While I wouldn’t recommend this for people who are interested in getting into more experimental jazz (I’d just say to listen to A Love Supreme), this will probably appeal more to those who are more into avant-garde jazz than I am. Still, this was a pretty interesting album that I’ll probably return to after a few months have passed.



(I understand if some people think that this review sucks, but this is the first time that I’ve written anything since my sophomore year ended back in May)

No, a decent review, but unfortunately that pretty much sums up how I see and expect jazz to be, and it's a genre that I really have no interest in. Just one of those things. I know not ALL jazz is going to be like that, but it just does nothing for me.

Nice to see you getting back to the journal though... :thumb:

Dude. That album sounds completely badass. I must listen to it immediately.

I myself do enjoy avant garde jazz, so I think I'll like that last track more than you do.

And Trollheart, I once again am amazed that you can listen to the most pompous, technical power metal all day long and yet you have issues with showiness in jazz. I need to find a jazz album you like.

I think that it's about time that I start updating this journal again.

Thanks to the inspiration from an internet friend who's taking on the same challenge, I have decided that from tomorrow to the end of August, I'll be reviewing an album that I haven't heard before daily. Why am I doing this? Because I'm really ****ing bored and have no friends to hang out with this summer who can stop me from doing this. (insert feels.jpg here)

I already have a schedule planned for what I'm going to be reviewing for the rest of this month, but I'm going to be asking for suggestions for albums to review during August. It doesn't matter what genre the album is, as I'm open to anything, but I'm only going to ask that each member suggests only one or two albums for me to review (download links won't be necessary).

Anyway, I'll give the first album I'm reviewing a listen in a few hours, so I'll have a review for it before tomorrow evening.

DAY 1

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/51759363/void.jpg
Access to Arasaka - Void(); (2010)
Genres (according to RateYourMusic): IDM
Thoughts Before Listening to This: I don’t really have any as I know absolutely nothing about this guy. I only found out about this album because I was looking through a few random lists on RateYourMusic because I was bored one day.

I’ll start this review by saying that this album started exactly the way that I expected it to: a bunch of glitchiness over a piece of dark ambient music. It does set a nice mood, which remains consistent throughout the album. A glitchy beat which nicely compliments the ambience is then introduced into the track. Said beat goes on for a minute before the ambience takes over the rest of the track. The rest of the tracks so far (aside from the short interludes &sin and optilist:) follow a somewhat similar pattern (dark ambient > IDM > dark ambient > IDM, etc), which does get a bit tiring after a while, despite the changing beats and the short track lengths (the longest track on here is 4:42).

Halfway through this album, my feelings about it start to change. syslog_ident is pretty damn beautiful, with it’s quieter beats and piano playing in the first half (a beat similar to the ones on the rest of the album is introduced into the second half, but, like the other beats, it doesn’t last for very long). While some of the remaining tracks follow a similar pattern to the first half of the album, the tracks on the second half sound more captivating to me. Unfortunately, I don’t really have too much more to say about this album. If Rob Lioy (the man behind Access to Arasaka) cut out the entire first half aside from the first two tracks, this would be a much better album.

Conclusion: The first half of this album isn’t really that interesting, but I really like the second half, which I’ll probably be listening to again sometime soon.

DAY 2

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/50...insuicides.png
Air - The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Genres (according to RateYourMusic): Ambient Pop, Film Score
Thoughts Before Listening to This: Let me get this out of the way: I have never heard any of Air’s albums before (not even Moon Safari). I have also never seen the film that this soundtrack was made for. Thankfully, this means that I have no expectations for this whatsoever!

This album starts pretty strongly with Playground Love, a nice downtempo track featuring Gordon Tracks’ quiet vocals and a saxophone that sounds like it was taken straight out of a film noir soundtrack. The next few tracks, unfortunately, are a pretty obvious reminder that this is indeed a film soundtrack, as I feel like these pieces would sound better when accompanying the visuals of the film. Despite this, they’re still relaxing (although Dark Messages is a bit unnerving) and don’t overstay their welcome due to their length. Dirty Trip, despite going on for six minutes, manages to keep things interesting during it’s length. Also, am I the only one who thinks that Air were inspired by Pink Floyd when listening to a few of these tracks (Bathroom Girl, The Word Hurricane, and Dirty Trip)?

The second half of the album starts with Highschool Lover, an alternate version of Playground Love that replaces most of the instruments and the vocals with a piano. It’s pretty nice, although it’s not as interesting as Playground Love. The following four tracks are similar to the majority of the first half of this album as they really do sound like a film soundtrack, but, like the first half, they’re pretty damn short and relaxing (although Dead Bodies is a lot more energetic that anything else on this album). The closing track, Suicide Underground, is another lengthier track with a distorted spoken word piece playing over it (I’m going to assume that the spoken word part is from the film) which ends the album quite nicely.

Conclusion: This is pretty damn good. While most of the tracks make it obvious that this is a film soundtrack, none of them really overstay their welcome, so this makes for a enjoyable, relaxing, eerie, and brief listen.

DAY 3

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/...+the+River.jpg
Felt - Poem of the River (1987)
Genres (according to RateYourMusic): Jangle Pop, Indie Pop, Post-Punk
Thoughts Before Listening to This: I have a feeling that this isn’t the best place to start when it comes to Felt’s discography, but it’s their only album that’s on my iPod at the moment. I've still heard some pretty good things about this one, so I'm looking forward to listening to this.

The album opens with the two short, pleasant indie pop tracks Declaration and Silver Plane. Both of them aren’t anything truly spectacular, but the organ playing is a really nice touch. We then reach the first lengthy track, She Lives By the Castle, which is pretty spectacular. It’s even mellower than the first two tracks (I don’t know if anyone else would agree with me about that, though), and the last third of the track is sublime. Not too much goes on in the song, but it never feels like it overstays it’s welcome at all.

The second half of this album opens with Stained Glass Windows in the Sky. It’s a pretty great track, but I kind of wish that it was longer. After that, Riding on the Equator, the longest track on the album, begins. While it’s not as good as She Lives by the Castle, it’s still pretty impressive. Dark Red Birds ends this short album quite nicely, although I can’t think of anything else to say about it for some reason.

Conclusion: This is definitely the best album that I’ve reviewed so far. While I have a feeling that this is going to be a slight grower, this is a really enjoyable and mellow album.

4/5

DAY 4

http://f0.bcbits.com/img/a2858636370_2.jpg
Eric Fourman - Nonprescription (2013)
Genres (according to Bandcamp): Ambient, Drone, Free Improvisation, Progressive Electronic
Thoughts Before Listening to This: I wasn’t going to review one of Eric Fourman’s albums, but after recently falling in love with his albums Vision and Balance, I went on Bandcamp to get his most recent albums. I saw that this one was his most recent (he released it a few weeks ago), so I decided to review it today. I’m worse at reviewing ambient than I am at reviewing every other genre, though, so this should be a pretty short review.

Well, this didn’t start the way I expected it to. Supplement consists of mostly improvised (at least, I think that it’s improvised) keyboard playing, although some drones come in about halfway through the track. Amphetamine Salts consists of some lush drones for the first five minutes, until it stops, manages to sound a bit bleaker, and then returns to the mood that was present a bit earlier... until some slightly menacing keyboards come into play. Blood Thinner seems more like a combination of both of the previous tracks, with some drones similar to that of Amphetamine Salts playing throughout the entire track, but with some keyboard playing similar to Supplement being introduced halfway through the track (noticing a pattern here). The album closes with Monosulfate, which begins with some really menacing noises that resembles the sound of wind in a harsh storm that slowly morphs into a track that sounds like a combination of the other tracks. Despite how repetitive I made this album sound, it manages to sound beautiful during it’s entirety, and I absolutely love it.

Conclusion: I ****ing love this. This probably won’t impress those who have heard a lot more ambient that I have that much, but I’m probably going to be listening to this a few more times during this week.

4.5/5

(Due to how obscure this guy is, there aren't any uploads of his tracks on YouTube. This album (as well as every one of Eric Fourman's other albums) is on Bandcamp for free if anyone's interested, though)

DAY 5

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/50...range+Days.png
The Doors - Strange Days (1967)
Genres (according to RateYourMusic): Psychedelic Rock
Thoughts Before Listening to This: I’ll admit right now that I’m not the biggest fan of The Doors. I heard their debut album a few years ago, thought that it was just alright, then forgot about them for a few years. A few months ago, I was DJing a party that was meant for one of my classes, and one of my classmates wanted me to play a few tracks from their debut. I liked Break on Through to the Other Side and Light My Fire, but I still wasn’t really impressed with the other tracks I heard. I’m not planning to revisit their debut album (and, if I’m not impressed with this album, I probably never will), but I’ve recently heard a few people whose taste I trust say that this was their best album. So I decided to give this group one last chance by listening to this.

The album opens with the title track, which is pretty good. Jim Morrison’s vocals aren’t that interesting, but I’m liking the slightly trippy atmosphere that the instruments create. You’re Lost Little Girl and Love You Two Times are both pretty good follow-up tracks, with the latter incorporating elements of blues rock into it’s instrumentation. Unhappy Girl is, unfortunately, a track that I don’t really care for, despite a slightly interesting and trippy atmosphere in the middle of the track. After the interlude Horse Latitudes, which is useless in my opinion, we reach Moonlight Drive, which, while an alright track, is slightly forgettable.

People Are Strange is, unfortunately, another somewhat forgettable track. My Eyes Have Seen You is actually pretty good, and is probably the best track on here. I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind is another track that isn’t really that interesting, but, sadly, that all I really have to say about it. The album closes with When the Music’s Over. It’s alright, but it really doesn’t deserve to be eleven minutes long.

Conclusion: A few tracks save this from being a huge pile of adequacy, but even those tracks aren’t anything truly special. I might give this another listen later this month, but I have a feeling that I’m done with The Doors.

3/5