Album of the Day

[fightinfrenchman]

@Vinyanyérë I added a new one

[Vinyanyérë]

Ah fuck I was halfway through Mystère but then accidentally deleted the entire review because I was too lazy to save it in a document I'm going to do it tomorrow. Album was decent.

[Dolan]

I plan on doing an album of the decade. I need 30 suggestions please.

Maybe start a new thread on this topic. Then it's gonna get more attention.

[Vinyanyérë]

August 11th: Stara Rzeka - Zamknęły się oczy ziemi
Recommended by Cometk

Track 1 - Nie zbliżaj się do ognia

Heavy opening. Last couple minutes with the acoustic guitars over the droning is awesome.

Track 2 - W sierpniową noc

Acoustic guitar

Track 3 - Małe świerki

The placement of the vocals in the mix, coupled with the fact that I don't understand any of the lyrics, makes the vocals act like another instrument rather than the focus of attention. That's a good thing too, since they work well sharing the spotlight with the guitar.

Track 4 - Czarna woda

Wind chimes or something with light guitar to start us off. A little bit of guitar faffing makes me wait for the black metal drop. It's cool and everything but I don't want to spend all thirteen minutes of this track on it. Kind of a UFO or early Star Trek phaser sound running in the back.

Halfway through it seems like we've got a shift coming up. This riff is definitely building into something, right? Nope, not really. This must be one of those high IQ tracks.

Track 5 - BHMTH (czyli historia z wujkiem Albertem)

Opening drum thing wasn't expected. Liking the guitar, though it doesn't fit with the beat as well as I'd prefer. Had to run back that transition into sci-fi keyboards, it was not expected. Oh, but now we're back to guitars, I guess that's ok too.

Track 6 - Melodia

Nice intermission track. Guitar on this album has been fantastic. Might be my favorite track of the album so far despite its simplicity.

Intermission

This album is almost 90 minutes long, and I've had to re-listen to a couple of these tracks. So far pretty good, although definitely something that requires more than one listen to appreciate. It’d also probably be better to listen to in a different environment than the one I'm in - air-conditioned offices in suburban California during the middle of summer are probably not the ideal conditions. I'll download it to my phone for a listen next time I'm in rural Poland.

During the intermission, I engineered some data and listened to two albums: Syd Arthur's Apricity and Harakiri for the Sky's Aokigahara. They are both good albums.

Track 7 - Stara Rzeka

This track is named after the band. It was alright.

Track 8 - Mapa

Some more of the acoustic guitar. He's good at establishing these dreary moods.

Track 9 - Ogniste kazania B.B.

A lot of these tracks sound pretty alike if you're not paying enough attention. Unfortunately, I'm not. This is the fourth of the "vocals over acoustic guitar" tracks that we've seen, and while none of them are bad, I think I'd like to see more done with them.

Track 10 - W szopie, gdzie były oczy

A nineteen-minute-long monstrosity. Sinister noise things for a few minutes and we're back to the acoustic guitar. That bit around six minutes in that precedes the birdsong is pretty good, and then the following guitar bit as well. I like how they repeat it later on.

Synthy bits aren't really my thing. There's a fair number of these sections throughout the album, and they do a good job of contrasting with the acoustic guitar sections. Although I prefer the guitar, an album of just that without anything else to split it up wouldn't work well I think; it'd be too easy to get bored of.

Track 11 - Mitylena

On cue, more of the guitar. It’s a nice ending but nothing special.

Standout tracks - Małe świerki, BHMTH (czyli historia z wujkiem Albertem), Melodia

Zamknely sie oczy ziemi by Stara Rzeka - Needs a second listen out of 10



Track 1 - Nie zbliżaj się do ognia

After hearing this for the first time, I was an expecting an album of a lot of this. It's dark and heavy, kind of bringing out this industrial and urban feeling. Halfway through, the blast beats start, and I'm expecting to hear some black metal vocals.

The transition into more of a synth-based track is interesting, but it's where it loses my attention. Over time, it devolves into a white noise-ish thing that then falls away into the guitar, which I like. Yeah this guitar part is great.

Track 2 - W sierpniową noc

Can dedicate more attention to listening to this now. There’s an interesting shift in the guitar that happens about one minute in, I'm not sure what is happening from a technical perspective but the effect is that the mood goes from melancholy to dark and sinister. I've heard this track like four times and it's gotten my attention each time.

Track 3 - Małe świerki

Still love how the vocals and guitar work with each other. Cool bit where the drums come in a minute or so in. And again halfway through the track. Lots of layers to this. I can’t tell if this is a trumpet or saxophone (I think the former) but it’s a good addition. I like this one.

Track 4 - Czarna woda

I guess these aren't exactly chimes, it sounds similar but the notes don't go on nearly as long. It's about four minutes into this that I'm expecting the entire thing to break open into some blast beats but then it doesn't and it’s kinda disappointing. Still, there's some good ideas here. It’s a long track, and it goes to many different places without seeming to excel in any of them, but I'm more positive than negative about it.

Track 5 - BHMTH (czyli historia z wujkiem Albertem)

This beat and the guitars are actually a bit like some of the AoE2 music lol. Once the beat is embedded far enough within the other instruments I think it fits well now. The first half of this track before the synth switch is excellent. Not as high on the other half.

Track 6 - Melodia

Reminds me of revolutionary/frontier United States. You could probably work with it a bit (maybe make it a little brighter) and make it suit the revolution victory music in AoE3.

Intermission

I'm going to go play some StarCraft

Track 7 - Stara rzeka

Yeah it's alright

Track 8 - Mapa

Actually starts off very bright in comparison to the last track. Parts of this would go pretty well in a post-apocalyptic setting. It doesn't sound much like the music from the film Annihilation or game The Last of Us, but would fit with either one. Actually, come to think of it, the acoustic guitar + drony synths is pretty close to the Annihilation soundtrack.

Track 9 - Ogniste kazania B.B.

I like how this one opens. It's a good song, but I get the feeling that it wasn't needed that much.

Track 10 - W szopie, gdzie były oczy

The guitar section about a third of the way through is great. And I see the need for bookending it with the more drone/synth/ambient-heavy sections - this wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if it had followed the guitars on Mapa and Ogniste kazania B.B. directly. But those sections themselves don’t get my attention the way the guitar sections do, and they often run longer than I’d like them to.

Track 11 - Mitylena

It's like Melodia but not as good!

I think that this album could have stopped at track 6 and been great. The second half of the album has its moments, but it also feels like it spends a lot of time meandering without getting much of anywhere. Still, it was worth listening to twice, and I'll likely put it on another few times and in different contexts to see how my opinion of it changes over time.

Standout tracks - Nie zbliżaj się do ognia, Małe świerki, BHMTH (czyli historia z wujkiem Albertem), Melodia, Ogniste kazania B.B.

Zamknęły się oczy ziemi by Stara Rzeka - needs a third listen, but I have things to do so I'll give it a good out of 10.



Yeah I know I still have to do Mystère and I was also supposed to do ~ today they're both on the way.

see you tomorrow

[Cometk]

arigato duck san

[fightinfrenchman]

I'll download it to my phone for a listen next time I'm in rural Poland.

The next ESOC meetup sounds depressing

[Kaiserklein]

Can't you hear me knocking is solid af. Need more respect.

I'd propose some albums but it's hard to find one that isn't from Pink Floyd that also has only good songs

[Riotcoke]

Even pink floyd's album's have some shit music, like the wall has some pretty crap songs on it, the trail for example is just weird.

[Vinyanyérë]

I will accept Pink Floyd recommendations as I understand them to be a major influence on a few of my favorite bands and yet I haven't listened to anything by them except parts of The Wall.

[Dolan]

I'd propose some albums but it's hard to find one that isn't from Pink Floyd that also has only good songs

Yeah. There are very few albums that are good in their entirety, except for concept albums like those made by Pink Floyd.

That's why I find it hard to recommend an album. Lots of albums with a few good songs and lots of filler crap.

[Kaiserklein]

Even pink floyd's album's have some shit music, like the wall has some pretty crap songs on it, the trail for example is just weird.

The wall has too many songs in it, there has to be mediocre ones.
Wish you were here or animals don't have shit songs, for example.

[Riotcoke]

Even pink floyd's album's have some shit music, like the wall has some pretty crap songs on it, the trail for example is just weird.

The wall has too many songs in it, there has to be mediocre ones.
Wish you were here or animals don't have shit songs, for example.

Yeah wish you were here is great, have a cigar is my most played song on spotify

[Kaiserklein]

Yeah I also play it a lot on stream.
So I'd recommend wish you were here for a review

[Vinyanyérë]

August 15th: Cake - Comfort Eagle
recommended by fightinfrenchman a.k.a. The Ear

Track 1 - Opera Singer

Good intro/instrumental section at the beginning. Don't like the vocals as much, this guy sounds bored but not in the cool way. That thing with the trumpets that they do at the beginning and also halfway through is really good. It also kinda reminds me of Sesame Street (this is hard to explain) but in a good way. Instrumental parts of this were great, vocal parts were boring.

Track 2 - Meanwhile, Rick James…

Smooth piano thing. And then the singer comes in again just shut up already. It's not even that his voice is bad his parts are just so flat and about as catchy as a porcupine.

Track 3 - Shadow Stabbing

Yeah look at this bass damn it's so good ah fuck he's back. Okay actually he's more tolerable in this song. But now the guitars underneath are boring it's like they have only a finite amount of goodness that they can distribute across the band and whenever someone's using it up the rest of them start to suck. This was ok.

Track 4 - Short Skirt/Long Jacket

Haha that cowbell part. Yeah otherwise my comments here are the same as my comments for the others.

Track 5 - Commissioning A Symphony In C

Eh

Track 6 - Arco Arena

This is an instrumental except for the vocalist occasionally doing some "YAH!" this every thirty seconds or so, which I can live with. Fuck this was only 90 seconds long? It was actually decent.

Track 7 - Comfort Eagle

Vocals weren't awful I guess he still sounded really bored but at least there was a somewhat interesting rhythm to it.

Track 8 - Long Line Of Cars

This one was pretty good.

Track 9 - Love You Madly

Another good instrumental intro. Vocals are alright too here. See this band has some good ideas they just need to rewrite all their vocal parts and also have a singer whose day job isn't as an HR rep at a mid-size regional paper supply firm.

Track 10 - Pretty Pink Ribbon

It's ok

Track 11 - World Of Two

Also ok

There were a lot of good parts, but I didn't get anything out of the vocals. To reiterate, it wasn't even that the vocalist was bad, it's just that it was super bland and offered nothing extra to the songs. This probably wouldn't work well as an instrumental album either, so just firing the vocalist and going from there wouldn't cut it.

Standout tracks - Opera Singer, Arco Arena, Long Line Of Cars, Love You Madly

Comfort Eagle by Cake - Missed potential out of 10

I'm like three albums behind so
see you later today

[spanky4ever]

https://youtu.be/h5jz8xdpR0M

[Riotcoke]

https://youtu.be/h5jz8xdpR0M

This isn't where you meant to post single songs

[fightinfrenchman]

@Vinyanyérë You must learn to love his voice

[spanky4ever]

I will not have any album. at any day, now ; sorry.

[Riotcoke]

I'm not going to delete your post

[spanky4ever]

I'm not going to delete your post

please do, I am not soar about that.

[Riotcoke]

You deleted it, this does not count

[Vinyanyérë]

August 13th: iamthemorning - ~
recommended by duck

This album is recommended by duck. I'm not sure - is that the handsome gentleman who was holding up the sign at the LAN? It's too bad I couldn't make it to Manchester myself, but the Republic of China was very firm about not issuing passports to birds.

Track 1 - ~ [Intermission I]

Ocean sounds and seagulls start us off. I love how the vocalist's voice is layered over itself in the first minute. She's faded out and the piano is brought in, and shortly afterwards she and the piano are joined. The layering is once again spectacular.

Track 2 - Inside

More piano (Gleb Kolyadin) and singer (Marjana Semkina) duet. Some subtle violins underneath. Piano does a slow build into a heavier section with vocalist + some other instruments that I can't identify. Then back to a piano with light strings underneath. This is great when the pianist is just going off.

Track 3 - Burn

Light piano intro for a minute, then the drummer launches us into the full band. The rhythm section kills it in the first section, listen to that bass just fucking slap. Piano riffs and violin fills as Marjana, carries the melody. The last couple minutes have the violin and piano taking lead sections. Listen to that drumming though.

Track 4 - Circles

Burn is a tough song to follow, and iamthemorning decides to slow things down. Drums, bass, and guitar are out of this; we're back to just piano, violin, and vocals. By the way, I'm going to use violin to refer to all stringed instruments played with a bow or plucked with the fingers so don't at me if I say the wrong one sometimes.

Track 5 - ~ [Intermission II]

The cello violin comes out and is joined with the piano for a short piece.

Track 6 - Weather Changing

The weather's indeed changed from the last track - we're back to the more upbeat style of Burn. Drums are back in the mix. So cool how the violin "chorus" a minute in foreshadows the vocals after the buildup near the end.

Track 7 - ~ [Intermission III]

Airier vocals with a darker piano than the previous track. Not long enough to talk about at length.

Track 8 - Scotland

Piano has that rainy feel to it just like the real Scotland. Track builds more and more instruments into the sound before getting heavy (by the album's standards) with some electric guitar. So many layers, every part manages to stand out.

Track 9 - Touching II

One of the best tracks on the album. After listening to the studio version, I like to listen to one of the live performances. It adds a lot to the original rendition.

Track 10 - ~ [Intermission IV]

It's good. It’s very short at only 45 seconds long and there's not a lot in it, but it's a good way to break between the tracks that surround it.

Track 11 - Monsters

Back to the upbeat tempo - did I mention how perfectly this album is paced? It knows just when to get heavy, when to get light, when to speed up, when to slow down.

Track 12 - Serenade

Acoustic guitar track. It’s a short one, shorter than the longest of the Intermission ~ tracks, but it's a welcome addition.

Track 13 - ~ [Intermission V]

Very calm in comparison to the two prior tracks.

Track 14 - Would This Be

Lovely piano at the beginning. The piano flourishes around 1:50 and again at 2:10 are the best things. This is the first song that I heard by iamthemorning, and I never get tired of it.

Track 15 - ~ [Intermission VI]

Track 16 - i.b.too

This starts off pretty simply, with just Marjana and Gleb. Drums come in after a minute, and the rest of the band a minute later. This is about as heavy as they get on the album. Last minute lets the drums and violin go off.

Track 17 - ~ [Intermission VII]

Solo piano, nicely stripped back after the last track. They use this technique a few times during the album, where they strip things to just piano or piano + vocals, then introduce new instruments over the course of the next track gradually while building into something explosive.

Track 18 - Afis

Except this time, where Intermission VII leads into a track with just Marjana and Gleb finishing things off. It recalls the opening, Intermission I, and works as a fitting end to the album. Seagulls at the very end so that they can do that thing that prog bands like to do where they make the album start and end the same way to act high IQ (yeah I'm calling you out Dream Theater).

Yeah I guess we can't be surprised that I'd having nothing bad to say about the album that I recommended.

Standout tracks - ~ [Intermission I], Burn, Scotland, Touching II, Would This Be, i.b.too, also all of the other tracks

~ by iamthemorning - 10/10 it’s a mastapiece out of 10

see you later today I promise I'll do two today

[Dolan]

Are there any rules to participating in making these reviews? I might be interested in writing one, at some point, if that's possible.

[Cometk]

Are there any rules to participating in making these reviews? I might be interested in writing one, at some point, if that's possible.

just do it lil bitch

[Riotcoke]

Are there any rules to participating in making these reviews? I might be interested in writing one, at some point, if that's possible.

You need to be able to hear.