Skogyr's 2007 album Rainchants is actually really good. It's atmospheric sort of nature-based black metal in the vein of Wolves in the Throne Room, Drudkh, or Hate Forest -- but they are purely instrumental. The tracks are simply Chant I through Chant IV, with Chant IV being considerably better than the other 3. I looked it up later and found that 1-3 are re-recorded songs from an older demo and 4 is the newest one, so I guess that makes sense.
The middle two songs could be about 4 or 5 minutes shorter and the album would be just as good, if not better. Oddly it ends with a cover of the Silent Hill theme, which is interesting but kind of random for an album that seems to put such emphasis on the natural world.
Definitely check this one out if you are into that atmospheric black metal style, you'll be glad you did.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Day 7: Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim (1968)
Yep, I did it. I listened to Tiny Tim's first album. All the way through, tulips and all. And I'd do it again, dammit!
Tiny Tim is known for being a goofy, eclectic, vibrato-falsetto-singing, ukelele-playing weirdo that kind of looks like Russell Brand. But clearly there is a bit more to it than that... based on the strange set of covers on this disc he must have a pretty wide knowledge of old pop and jazz music, as well as much more of a vocal range than people realize. He even rocks some low, baritone-ish vocals in a few of the songs.
There is a lot of talking on this record, which adds to its cheesiness pretty heavily.
It's silly, and it sounds ridiculous. But there is something about Tiny Tim and his music that I can't help but kind of like. I have no fucking clue why. Pretty cool album, and I'm curious to hear what he was doing a few albums later...
Tiny Tim is known for being a goofy, eclectic, vibrato-falsetto-singing, ukelele-playing weirdo that kind of looks like Russell Brand. But clearly there is a bit more to it than that... based on the strange set of covers on this disc he must have a pretty wide knowledge of old pop and jazz music, as well as much more of a vocal range than people realize. He even rocks some low, baritone-ish vocals in a few of the songs.
There is a lot of talking on this record, which adds to its cheesiness pretty heavily.
It's silly, and it sounds ridiculous. But there is something about Tiny Tim and his music that I can't help but kind of like. I have no fucking clue why. Pretty cool album, and I'm curious to hear what he was doing a few albums later...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Day 6: The Orb & David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres (2010)
I'm not at all familiar with "ambient house pioneers" The Orb, but when I heard that David Gilmour was singing and playing on some kind of weird, ambient electronic album I was definitely interested. David Gilmour is best known for his work with Pink Floyd (in case you live under a rock or something), and I've always preferred both his voice and playing style over Roger Waters'. Waters has grown on me more recently, but I still will always love David Gilmour a lot.
Well, as excited as I was to see what kind of ambient awesomeness these two could put together, it is a serious bore. 2 tracks, the first being 28 minutes and the second around 20, are pretty damn boring even for ambient music. Add into that a few lines of hippy-ish "freedom! human rights!" lyrics that only last a few seconds and this whole thing just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
If you want to hear David Gilmour doing slide guitar to awesome ambient stuff, go listen to the intros from Welcome to the Machine or Shine On You Crazy Diamond. This thing is lame.
Well, as excited as I was to see what kind of ambient awesomeness these two could put together, it is a serious bore. 2 tracks, the first being 28 minutes and the second around 20, are pretty damn boring even for ambient music. Add into that a few lines of hippy-ish "freedom! human rights!" lyrics that only last a few seconds and this whole thing just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
If you want to hear David Gilmour doing slide guitar to awesome ambient stuff, go listen to the intros from Welcome to the Machine or Shine On You Crazy Diamond. This thing is lame.
Day 5: Gnidrolog - Lady Lake (1972)
Yet another early 70's prog-rock band, as suggested by my friend and co-worker Andrew. These guys have a sound that reminds me a lot of King Crimson's works, especially with the heavy use of saxophone. The album is an alright listen, with some really great instrumentation, but the vocal style can get sort of annoying some times. Hard to describe why, it just has a bit of a nasally whine to it at times. Still an interesting album, but if this is the type of band you're looking for, you're better of just listening to King Crimson or Uriah Heap (or the many other great bands who were playing that style at the time).
Day 4: X Japan - Blue Blood (1989)
I've been aware of X Japan for a while, mainly through videos of their insane live shows in Japan. For those who don't know, X Japan are sort of a glam metal / ballad-y / thrash-y sort of rock band from Japan. Out there, they were (are) HUGE, but here they aren't really well known outside of their home land. Their main guitarist "hide" died a few years back and only recently have they started playing anything since the late 90's.
Anyways, Blue Blood was one of their first albums. The first few tracks especially are pretty speedy, and later in the album there are a few of the more symphonic rock and ballad type songs like Endless Rain. You can immediately tell this band is Japanese, even in their more metal moments, because they just sound so damn cheesy. Lots of major chords and classical style chord progressions going on. Still it's a fun listen I suppose. I really, really love the drummer Yoshiki. He not only writes and plays really awesome drum parts, but he writes the majority of the rest of the music himself also. Pretty admirable.
Overall the album is a decent run of kinda cheesy glam metal. I think I'll stick to watching their live videos though.
Anyways, Blue Blood was one of their first albums. The first few tracks especially are pretty speedy, and later in the album there are a few of the more symphonic rock and ballad type songs like Endless Rain. You can immediately tell this band is Japanese, even in their more metal moments, because they just sound so damn cheesy. Lots of major chords and classical style chord progressions going on. Still it's a fun listen I suppose. I really, really love the drummer Yoshiki. He not only writes and plays really awesome drum parts, but he writes the majority of the rest of the music himself also. Pretty admirable.
Overall the album is a decent run of kinda cheesy glam metal. I think I'll stick to watching their live videos though.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Day 3: Tyler, the Creator - Goblin (2011)
Disclaimer: I am, by and large, not a fan of hip-hop/rap. There are a handful of albums that I really like (mostly older stuff and more underground, "artsy" stuff), but for the most part it's not my thing. Suffice it to say I can't fucking stand rappers that just sample an old beat and then spend an album on an ego trip about their bitches and money. It's boring and annoying to me.
That having been said... Holy shit! This album is amazing. Tyler, the Creator just released Goblin about a month ago, and after my friend Andy (whose rap opinions I can usually get on board with) played me a song or two of his I was definitely interested in what the rest of this album would be like. I'm really, really glad I listened to it because it might now be my favorite hip-hop album ever.
Tyler's style overall is incredibly creepy and over the top offensive. The beats are very dark and have a sort of ominous, unsettling quality about them. On top of that, the lyrics and themes are really pissed off and funny. Looking into it more, the album is a sort of loose concept album based around a conversation with his fictional therapist Dr. TC. The rhymes are creative, often funny, and overall just smart and badass. He seems to catch a lot of flak for being pretty "offensive" (he does throw the "faggot" around quite a bit, and there is a healthy dose of anti-religious material that I love), but it's not like being offensive is new for rap. Just about nothing offends me, so I just find it more entertaining. Being shocking is part of what is so cool about it, and it's done in a way that accentuates his style rather than defining it. He plays around with fast and slow rhymes, talking sections, pitch shifted vocals and characters, etc. yet with all of the experimental aspects, it flows together and feels like a solid, cohesive, and incredibly badass album.
I can't say enough positive things about this album, which is pretty damn rare for hip-hop I listen to. Considering this guy is only 20 (!!!) and seems to be starting to get some MTV attention, hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from him and the rest of his Odd Future friends. Go find this album and listen to it as soon as you possibly can.
It's hard to show how cool the overall album is with just one (EDIT: TWO!) song, but here is a sample.
That having been said... Holy shit! This album is amazing. Tyler, the Creator just released Goblin about a month ago, and after my friend Andy (whose rap opinions I can usually get on board with) played me a song or two of his I was definitely interested in what the rest of this album would be like. I'm really, really glad I listened to it because it might now be my favorite hip-hop album ever.
Tyler's style overall is incredibly creepy and over the top offensive. The beats are very dark and have a sort of ominous, unsettling quality about them. On top of that, the lyrics and themes are really pissed off and funny. Looking into it more, the album is a sort of loose concept album based around a conversation with his fictional therapist Dr. TC. The rhymes are creative, often funny, and overall just smart and badass. He seems to catch a lot of flak for being pretty "offensive" (he does throw the "faggot" around quite a bit, and there is a healthy dose of anti-religious material that I love), but it's not like being offensive is new for rap. Just about nothing offends me, so I just find it more entertaining. Being shocking is part of what is so cool about it, and it's done in a way that accentuates his style rather than defining it. He plays around with fast and slow rhymes, talking sections, pitch shifted vocals and characters, etc. yet with all of the experimental aspects, it flows together and feels like a solid, cohesive, and incredibly badass album.
I can't say enough positive things about this album, which is pretty damn rare for hip-hop I listen to. Considering this guy is only 20 (!!!) and seems to be starting to get some MTV attention, hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from him and the rest of his Odd Future friends. Go find this album and listen to it as soon as you possibly can.
It's hard to show how cool the overall album is with just one (EDIT: TWO!) song, but here is a sample.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Day 2: Massacra - Final Holocaust (1990)
I have almost nothing to say about this album... A pretty average slab of metal, mostly thrash based but clearly on the path towards death metal. There are a few decent riffs that are memorable, but overall it's a pretty run of the mill death metal album. The title track is probably my favorite from it.
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