Micshazam's album and song picks

**Frownland** · 04-06-2018, 02:42 PM

Nah I enjoy the album quite a bit, not 100% sure about ranking but it would be up there. It's just not a good starter place for noise music. You're best off exploring noise rock then seguing into industrial/power electronics to get a feel for noise.

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-06-2018, 02:47 PM

Noted.

I definitely enjoy several things that have elements of noise and atonal harmonics, but ultimately, I'm a total sucker for melody and chord progressions. I'd need to take baby steps to move in this direction.

The Batlord · 04-06-2018, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

There are similar sounds used for MMM, but it's too diverse throughout the album for me to call it repetitious. And it's not abrasive you pansy.

I think that both theories are true: they were ideas that Reed wanted to try out and his label also would hate it. Win win win.

It really isn't. It's actually oddly lush and euphoric, like the aural equivalent of the instant of brain death followed by seeing god. It took me a few times listening to it but eventually I got over the hump and it's now pretty fantastic and I don't even listen to noise.

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-07-2018, 05:26 AM

Attempting to take a break from listening to crappy music has ironically caused me much more pain than most of the stuff I've been through on Spotify the last few days.

I needed a break from my Britney Spears album-marathon, so I thought, why not listen to the new Kylie Minogue album?

It's the first 2018 album that I've listened to in full, and it's a terrible way to start a new year in music.

Kylie Minogue - Golden

After a bad breakup, Kylie went to Nashville with the aims of watering down her music by collaborating with songwriters that have worked with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. The project went along without a hitch and she got the awful mom-core album she was apparently dying to make.

Listen to the song "Love" if you want to feel what it's like to have your brain drilled out with a spike of frozen, white bread.

I hate this album. Easily the worst in her entire discography.

Front to back, it's nothing but these country pop dance numbers and ballads with absolutely not a shred of any good hooks, appealing musical arrangements or even decent production. The whole album sounds so bland that it feels like it's guaranteed to be the biggest disappointment of 2018 for me. I mean, who could possibly make a worse album?

1/10

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-07-2018, 03:50 PM

Terrible Music Challenge: The full discography of Britney Spears: Part 1

My quest to listen to some of the least respected artists in the main stream of music continues. Yesterday, I went through a few of Britney's albums, so this is part 1 of 2 or 3 to come.

Of course I know all of the - in their time - practically inescapable singles of Britney Spears, but on album level, I don't really know what she's all about.
For this entry I will have listened to her albums in chronological order and reacted to them accordingly. Hopefully this will lead to some sort of change of perspective along the way, as I work my way through these albums, but let's see how it goes.

Baby One More Time

Most tracks on this albums are flat and dull. I mentioned Atomic Kitten in passing a few posts above and that band is my personal benchmark for terribly bland pop. A lot of this album sounds like Atomic Kitten. That's a very harsh condemnation. There's a banger or two, but most of the album is so boring it gives me a headache.
A lot of these tracks inarguably sound like Mariah Carey minus a capable singing voice.

*Flushes toilet*.

Oops!... I Did It Again

"I Can't Get No Satisfaction" cover that doesn't exactly rock.
WHERE ARE THE CATCHY POP TUNES!?

I'm quite confused. I thought this was gonna be what Briteny albums were all about, but there so much dull, whitebread waffle pop here that I feel like this album and the one before it were created to pacify stressed out suburban housewives.

The only reason why I'm able to carry on with this little project is that I expect this **** to fade way as we remove ourselves from the 90's.

Pop really is better these days. That is honestly a revelation that came to me while listening to this.

*Flushes toilet*.

Britney (self titled)

The song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" is exactly the sort of thing that sunk her two previous battleships and I hate it.
Most of the other songs on this album aim for a bit more energy, sexiness (successful or not) and catchiness.
There's some decent dance numbers here, but I'm not exactly impressed.
Call me biased, but some of this stuff is just Kylie Minogue lite.

"Boys" is one of the decent tracks. "Let Me Be" is also a highlight, although I suspect both seem better than they are, since the previous two albums were largely a wash.

"Bombastic Love" is one of the most amusing song tiltes I've seen in a while. I'm not sure why, but it just seems so dumb.

Not a terrible album, although it sneaks in some syrupy, goopy balladry of the worst kind in near the end. Not really a good album either. It's too bland to be good.

In The Zone

Ok, it's starting out a bit more busy than anything on the previous albums. Feels nice after all that overly restrained pseudo-muzak I just went through. So far, it's as if even the supposed "bangers" aren't really letting loose.

I'm still waiting for things to get more fun and energetic. I'll skip through this album a bit to help things move along before I lose my mind.

A bit furhter along, I think my take on this album is going to have to be this: While it's really nice to see that we're starting to remove ourselves a bit from the most played-out clichés of late 90's/early 2000's pop, this still doesn't strike me as very involving music. It's less fun than agreeable and honestly feels like it's been made less to light the dancefloor on fire than to sit comfortably in the background while you're doing your dishes.

Best album so far, but still not very good.

Some tracks reminded me a bit of mid-90's Madonna, but I honestly never liked Madonna, so that's not really meant as praise.

*phew*

I need a break. All of this **** is starting to sound the same. I'll continue listening/writing tomorrow.

The Batlord · 04-08-2018, 10:01 AM

Start fresh with Blackout. Good idea. Her early albums are definitely uneven affairs, and her debut is straight trash, but I still enjoy a lot of the songs even if I don't come back to them as much as her later work.

Trollheart · 04-08-2018, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

A bunch of music. This time with... no theme at all...? Ok, I'll make something up on the spot: All these will be full albums that I'd love to read full reviews of if anyone feels up to the task. You can post them in here if you please.

Not that I expect anyone to bite but... please?

Be'lakor - The Frail Tide [Full Album]

The only album from this band that I haven't heard yet. The CD has been a bit elusive, but I expect it to be good. I love this band. Pretty much the best melodic death metal band ever.

Dir en grey - Kisou (鬼葬) (FULL-LENGTH)

You probably know my stance on this band by now. I hope. This is their 3rd album and their last before a major change of musical style.

Helloween - Better Than Raw (full album)

This band is pretty corny at times (more precisely at all times), but I like them with their current singer. This album was always my favorite. Still is.

Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (full album)

Might get you into Tori Amos. Really.
(Note that you will get better sound quality on Spotify. This upload sounds a bit squashed.)

Céu - Vagarosa (full album)

Two years ago, I bumped into the music of Céu. This set off a chain-reaction and she's basically the reason why I now like several artists from South America and have become way more interested in so called "world music".

Go on, I'll do one. You pick. Maybe I'll do more than one. Maybe not.

Trollheart · 04-08-2018, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

There are similar sounds used for MMM, but it's too diverse throughout the album for me to call it repetitious. And it's not abrasive you pansy.

I think that both theories are true: they were ideas that Reed wanted to try out and his label also would hate it. Win win win.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

There was a certain droning noise that appears on so much of the album that I had a hard time getting around it. I even got a bit angry when the second track started with that noise again, because I really hoped that would be the end of it. I'm not saying there's no change at all on the album, but I really wanted it to take a more dynamic and varied approach than it does. I think that, intentionally or not, Lou Reed has crafted one of the least welcoming noise albums ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Sounds like you missed the variety tbh. It's a subtle variety but no two moments on the record are the same apart from the closing loop.

That's adorable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

Like I said, it's not very accessible to plebs who don't appreciate the genre.

Seriously. Any other crazy ass, abrasive, mentally taxing noise project I've listened to felt less like actually sticking my head in a tumble drier full of screws.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Does that category include more than 10 albums? Because that's--and I don't mean this as an insult--hella ignorant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

It really isn't. It's actually oddly lush and euphoric, like the aural equivalent of the instant of brain death followed by seeing god. It took me a few times listening to it but eventually I got over the hump and it's now pretty fantastic and I don't even listen to noise.

Look, all you need to know is that I listened to it and I ****ING LOVED IT! Me, the noise hater! Me, who was forced to listen to Merzbow (yeah I know but still) - now if you want pointless, abrasive, let-me-out-of-my-brain noise, he's your man. Hell, listen to him and you'll go back to Lou thinking, how relaxing. Seriously. These guys above know what they're talking about.

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-09-2018, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Go on, I'll do one. You pick. Maybe I'll do more than one. Maybe not.

My two top picks would be that Belakor album: https://open.spotify.com/album/7L4x2kIuTY5CnDOQ0PzeWh

And the Tori Amos album: https://open.spotify.com/album/77Aoown5BoLvQJnZJBICPO

Then the question is simply whether you feel more like listening to metal or something more mellow. I can't vouch for the quality of the Be'Lakor album, but I've loved all of the albums that came after this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Look, all you need to know is that I listened to it and I ****ING LOVED IT! Me, the noise hater! Me, who was forced to listen to Merzbow (yeah I know but still) - now if you want pointless, abrasive, let-me-out-of-my-brain noise, he's your man. Hell, listen to him and you'll go back to Lou thinking, how relaxing. Seriously. These guys above know what they're talking about.

It's not going to get a 2nd chance any time soon, but let's say I won't refuse to listen to it again.

~~MicShazam~~ · 04-09-2018, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Start fresh with Blackout. Good idea. Her early albums are definitely uneven affairs, and her debut is straight trash, but I still enjoy a lot of the songs even if I don't come back to them as much as her later work.

In The Zone is where I started seeing that it maybe wouldn't continue to be so underwhelming to go through her albums, but it didn't exactly blow me away. I'm giving the next few a go soon enough.

04-06-2018, 02:42 PM	#131 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Nah I enjoy the album quite a bit, not 100% sure about ranking but it would be up there. It's just not a good starter place for noise music. You're best off exploring noise rock then seguing into industrial/power electronics to get a feel for noise. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

04-07-2018, 03:50 PM	#135 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Terrible Music Challenge: The full discography of Britney Spears: Part 1 My quest to listen to some of the least respected artists in the main stream of music continues. Yesterday, I went through a few of Britney's albums, so this is part 1 of 2 or 3 to come. Of course I know all of the - in their time - practically inescapable singles of Britney Spears, but on album level, I don't really know what she's all about. For this entry I will have listened to her albums in chronological order and reacted to them accordingly. Hopefully this will lead to some sort of change of perspective along the way, as I work my way through these albums, but let's see how it goes. Baby One More Time Most tracks on this albums are flat and dull. I mentioned Atomic Kitten in passing a few posts above and that band is my personal benchmark for terribly bland pop. A lot of this album sounds like Atomic Kitten. That's a very harsh condemnation. There's a banger or two, but most of the album is so boring it gives me a headache. A lot of these tracks inarguably sound like Mariah Carey minus a capable singing voice. Flushes toilet. Oops!... I Did It Again "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" cover that doesn't exactly rock. WHERE ARE THE CATCHY POP TUNES!? I'm quite confused. I thought this was gonna be what Briteny albums were all about, but there so much dull, whitebread waffle pop here that I feel like this album and the one before it were created to pacify stressed out suburban housewives. The only reason why I'm able to carry on with this little project is that I expect this **** to fade way as we remove ourselves from the 90's. Pop really is better these days. That is honestly a revelation that came to me while listening to this. Flushes toilet. Britney (self titled) The song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" is exactly the sort of thing that sunk her two previous battleships and I hate it. Most of the other songs on this album aim for a bit more energy, sexiness (successful or not) and catchiness. There's some decent dance numbers here, but I'm not exactly impressed. Call me biased, but some of this stuff is just Kylie Minogue lite. "Boys" is one of the decent tracks. "Let Me Be" is also a highlight, although I suspect both seem better than they are, since the previous two albums were largely a wash. "Bombastic Love" is one of the most amusing song tiltes I've seen in a while. I'm not sure why, but it just seems so dumb. Not a terrible album, although it sneaks in some syrupy, goopy balladry of the worst kind in near the end. Not really a good album either. It's too bland to be good. In The Zone Ok, it's starting out a bit more busy than anything on the previous albums. Feels nice after all that overly restrained pseudo-muzak I just went through. So far, it's as if even the supposed "bangers" aren't really letting loose. I'm still waiting for things to get more fun and energetic. I'll skip through this album a bit to help things move along before I lose my mind. A bit furhter along, I think my take on this album is going to have to be this: While it's really nice to see that we're starting to remove ourselves a bit from the most played-out clichés of late 90's/early 2000's pop, this still doesn't strike me as very involving music. It's less fun than agreeable and honestly feels like it's been made less to light the dancefloor on fire than to sit comfortably in the background while you're doing your dishes. Best album so far, but still not very good. Some tracks reminded me a bit of mid-90's Madonna, but I honestly never liked Madonna, so that's not really meant as praise. phew I need a break. All of this **** is starting to sound the same. I'll continue listening/writing tomorrow. Last edited by MicShazam; 04-07-2018 at 04:23 PM.

04-06-2018, 02:47 PM	#132 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Noted. I definitely enjoy several things that have elements of noise and atonal harmonics, but ultimately, I'm a total sucker for melody and chord progressions. I'd need to take baby steps to move in this direction.

04-07-2018, 05:26 AM	#134 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Attempting to take a break from listening to crappy music has ironically caused me much more pain than most of the stuff I've been through on Spotify the last few days. I needed a break from my Britney Spears album-marathon, so I thought, why not listen to the new Kylie Minogue album? It's the first 2018 album that I've listened to in full, and it's a terrible way to start a new year in music. Kylie Minogue - Golden After a bad breakup, Kylie went to Nashville with the aims of watering down her music by collaborating with songwriters that have worked with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. The project went along without a hitch and she got the awful mom-core album she was apparently dying to make. Listen to the song "Love" if you want to feel what it's like to have your brain drilled out with a spike of frozen, white bread. I hate this album. Easily the worst in her entire discography. Front to back, it's nothing but these country pop dance numbers and ballads with absolutely not a shred of any good hooks, appealing musical arrangements or even decent production. The whole album sounds so bland that it feels like it's guaranteed to be the biggest disappointment of 2018 for me. I mean, who could possibly make a worse album? 1/10