album listens #9 - apostrophe - frank zappa

 

this album is COOL and FUNNY and AWESOME. perhaps the most consistent of zappa's albums that i've listened to in terms of sound but this thing is all over the place. every song is silly but also jazzy and a little prog-y. he just has such an interesting way of writing music and i love how stupid it is and how much he leans into it. cool af album and i can't wait to listen to more zappa.

FAVOURITE SONG: Cosmik Debris, Uncle Remus, Excentrifugal Forz

RATING: 9/10

album listens #8 - master of reality - black sabbath

 

ehhhhh honestly i was kinda underwhelmed by this album :/. i've been really enjoying the old style, rock n roll, hair metal kinda vibe recently that i used to be into when i was 16 (more specifically i LOVE that AC/DC live album If You Want Blood You Got It, even tho i was never really into ac/dc) and i felt like this album was gonna satisfy the urge for some fun, maybe slightly corny rock n roll riffs that were lively and cool but this really wasn't it. i can see why people would like this album when it came out but listening back to it now it's sooooo underwhelming. the riffs are so basic and rigid, all with the same boring guitar tone and honestly most of the songs are just so uninteresting. there's a few moments that are fun in the middle of songs, mostly on bridges and such but on the whole i would probably never really listen to this one again. the more laid back songs on the acoustic are just  plain lifeless. everything on here just sounds so uninspired! boring. rock. !!!

FAVOURITE SONG: Children of the Grave

RATING: 2/10

album listens #7 - grown backwards - david byrne

 

this album is just so david byrne. it's so unique and so fun, i love the strings and the other odd instruments he adds and it's really cool to see him experiment a little after being in talking heads and you can tell that the sound is very personal to him. lyrics are witty and funny and the songs are funky and waltzy and sometimes even classical-esque. a very pleasant listening experience, maybe not as interesting or experimental as some of his stuff with the heads but i still enjoyed this one a lot. the closing track Lazy is crazy funky mixed with this orchestra and those really cool retro synth sounds?!? so amazing!! it's silly but not tongue in cheek; it's extremely sincere. definitely one i'll be listening to again :)

FAVOURITE SONGS: Lazy, Who, Dialog Box, Glass, Concrete & Stone, The Other Side of This Life

FIRST RATING: 9/10

album (RE)listens #6 - brave little abacus - just got back from discomfort we're alright

 

i remember loving this album but i really don't remember loving it this much. i think it'd be easy for someone to be put off this album, purely based on the vocals, and yeah sure i can see if you were on the fence about how u felt about it it would probably sway you. i'm really not normally a fan of them normally either, i feel like the whole shouty, midwest emo vocals are way over done, but brave little abacus just does it so perfectly. this album is so creative and i just love the lofi production (they recorded this album at home as apposed to their previous studio album). maybe i needed to pay more attention to the lyrics and i definitely will and maybe update this post when i relisten with that in mind, but the parts i remember are, for the same reason i love the csh album, just so personal. the songs are relatively basic in terms of chord progression but the where they are mixed just sounds so satisfying. i love the sound of loud, somewhat distorted guitars, there's something so soothing and also really emotional about the way they sound on this album; how do you do that with a guitar tone?!?!? you can tell adam demirjan the vocalist is just pouring every single fiber of his being into the lyrics it feels extremely cathartic and enjoyable to hear him just get everything off his chest as it fills this album. one of the things i love most about this album is also the amount of instruments that are crammed into it, it really refreshes the sound of generic guitar based midwest emo. this album is so great and emotional and bittersweet (as well being that it was their last album ever :0) and i can't recommend enough!

FAVOURITE SONG: (CAN'T CHOOSE) Pile! No Pile! Pile!, A Highway Got Paved Over My Future, I Drive It Getting To School, Aubade (Morning Love Song), Bug Infested Floorboards Can We Please Just Leave This Place Now

RATING: 10/10

album (RE)listens #5 - twin fantasy (face to face) - car seat headrest

 

honestly i don't know what the rhyme or reason to these posts are now but oh well. this one's kind of obvious if you know me (to the 0 ppl reading this) i've always loved car seat, but for me their best album has always been teens of denial. don't get me wrong i've always loved twin fantasy too but i guess i never got it properly i don't know. but yeah, after sitting down and reading the lyrics while listening to it it really is one of the greatest albums of all time. every lyric really just touches me and its so personal? will intertwines these crazy catchy, anthemic choruses with moments that are so unique and personal to him that surely no one can relate to him but it just works so well ?! the production on the 2018 version is far superior in my opinion, i can completely understand liking the lofi original version and i do respect it but its just not for me! i do tend to love lofi production (i love makeout videotape) and i get it does make it more personal etc but idk it just doesnt do it for me. this album is just the perfect mix of well written and personal lyrics i love this man, i just love how much of himself he puts into this album its so great. i guess its meant to be a breakup album but i find it to be just a whole story that's so intimate of one of will's relationship and then at some point it ends, but i guess it's also about his life at the time too. idk the writing is just so good i feel like im right there with him. this album deserves all the praise it gets, not overrated at all. parts of it are really heart wrenching and you really feel for him, it hurts in the best way possible. i love the themes of co dependency and there's just lots of little details and callbacks to previous songs about how the relationship starts to deteriorate man its just such a real album i don't know how else to put it ! but yeah aside from the songwriting the guitars sound great, it's loud and head bop-py but also has these long passages of story telling. yeah maybe i'll write a full review for this album at some point cuz i really can't say enough about how good it is !

FAVOURITE SONG: Famous Prophets (Stars)

RATING:10/10

album (RE)listens #4 - crash - charli xcx

 

i know i was only really going to do new listens, and yes i have listened to this album before but i only properly GOT IT this month. WOW! this is a perfect pop album. its everything id want from a pop album. its so fun, so catchy, AMAZING production, doesn't take itself too seriously but does what it does with full sincerity. perhaps not as experimental as some of charli's other works but that really doesn't bother me, for some reason i just love the way this album sounds. her songwriting is incredible, the hooks are perfect. this album is just so FUN. not a dull moment on here. really can't wait for her new album this year... the synths are LUSCIOUS. its simple and to the point but sometimes i think that's a good thing! wow i love this record so much! perfect ! pop ! music ! not every album has to be insanely deep and experimental to do what it intends to do well and that's exactly the case with this album. it just finds a way to dig itself into your brain, every song is so catchy and charli's vocals are just unreal! some great features from Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama on New Shapes and Beg For You too, they bring their own style to the song and sort of make it their own without taking away from charli's style, how is that possible?! anyway yes i love this album

FAVOURITE SONG: (CAN'T CHOOSE) Lightning, Used to Know Me, Crash, Twice

RATING: 10/10

album listens #3 - a.s.o - a.s.o

  this album was interesting. there's a lot of atmosphere on here but sometimes maybe it gets lost in that? like a few songs there's this really deep bass and driving drum beat but it indulges in that too much. however, there are quite a few songs that are really beautiful and have great harmonies. really cool electronic sounds all the way through, wouldn't even really know what genre to call it. trip hop maybe? vocals were also really nice when they're doing the harmonies (sounds a little like english teacher weirdly?) but then sometimes it can drag a little. overall a very pleasant listen though!

FAV SONG: Rain Down

RATIN: 4 or 5/10

album listens #2 - hejira - joni mitchell

 

wow. this album is the most beautiful thing i've heard in a long time. i don't think this is technically my first listen of this album but i don't remember the last time so i don't really count it. there's not a single moment on this album that i didn't have chills; that i didn't feel something deep inside me being moved; that i didn't feel my entire body feeling like it's being cleansed. the songwriting is simple (in terms of the instrumentals) but just so human, there's often not much more than joni's voice and an acoustic guitar, bass and drums, but she really shows that that's all you need. the guitars sound beautiful by themselves and the production is absolutely perfect. this is one of those albums where i'm just so surprised that it came from someone human. there's nothing crazy or over the top about this album it is just so sure of itself and doesn't need to show off; it simply just feels amazing to listen to which is why its kind of hard to analyse. i guess the only thing i haven't talked about is the lyrics and wow, joni really is a poet, it sounds at points like spoken word but her voice is just also so beautiful, she's sort of speak-singing i guess? but yeah anyway this is the best thing i've heard in a long time, this will for sure be on repeat for me for a long time. i love this album. i love joni mitchell. wow.

FAVOURITE SONG: A Strange Boy

RATING: 10/10

albums listens #1 - akuma no uta - boris

this is a new little thing i'm writing, honestly only to keep myself entertained. i'm gonna be keeping a little log of every album i listen to this year (not specfically albums that were released this year because i feel like i focused too much on that last year) just to keep an order of what i really enjoyed and what i didn't etc etc ! this is nowhere near the level of my other reviews but more just of like a topster style thing where i can just have a big old list, even if there's not much to say about them i'm still gonna put them here i think. anyway!!!! (lets see if i can keep it up)

first album i'm logging here is Akuma No Uta by Boris

i've literally just finished listening to this album and it honestly blew me away. its so fun and upbeat yet also really drone-y at points, i really thought i wasn't going to enjoy it after listening to introduction but the next song ibitsu totally hooked me. i couldn't stop listening and i'm about to listen to it all over again. the production is so cool because it does exactly what ur brain thinks is gonna happen to music when it goes to loud and just starts breaking but it sounds really authentic and kinda lo-fi? the album cover is a really funny nod to nick drake and i think this album is incredible from what i've heard so far. the bass is so boomy it rattles your brain but there's a lot of classic rock elements to this which make it sound like its ALMOST corny but it never quite reaches that level. then the long song in the middle naki kyoku has lots of improvised elements. very cool album wow ! EXPLOSIVE ! HEAVY ! LOUD !

RATING (AT TIME OF FIRST LISTEN): 9/10

FAVOURITE SONG: Ibitsu