I'm really digging this album. The melodies are interesting, the guitar tones have that low post-punk sound I like so much, and Eldritch has a cool voice.
But I gotta agree with Naney that Doktor Avalanche is the weakest link here. It's not just too repetitive, it's too loud. Quieter drum machines—even if they were just as monotonous—would better fit the broodiness of the rest of the band. Two exceptions: The loud drums work in "This Corrosion" because the rest of the song has enough swagger to match it, I think; and the bonus track "Colours" has a noticeably different beat that sound really good.
Whatever. Probably gonna track down a physical copy of this.
I'm really digging this album. The melodies are interesting, the guitar tones have that low post-punk sound I like so much, and Eldritch has a cool voice.
But I gotta agree with Naney that Doktor Avalanche is the weakest link here. It's not just too repetitive, it's too loud. Quieter drum machines—even if they were just as monotonous—would better fit the broodiness of the rest of the band. Two exceptions: The loud drums work in "This Corrosion" because the rest of the song has enough swagger to match it, I think; and the bonus track "Colours" has a noticeably different beat that sound really good.
Whatever. Probably gonna track down a physical copy of this.
The only real problem I have with it is that the tracks that weren't singles feel a bit fillerish (although the singles are indeed superlative, including "1959" which I gather was supposed to be one but didn't quite make the cut in the end). I still find them listenable and decently effective, though, so they'll probably grow on me with time.
I also do agree that the drum machine is mixed a bit too loudly over the rest of the instruments on all the tracks except "This Corrosion" and "1959" (which has no drums), but when the melodies are as good as they are on this album, I can find myself overlooking that flaw.
At any rate, I've already scrobbled the album and I will be keeping this within my collection.
First off, I should say that Blur are more than just the “woo hoo” song that you hear on the radio. This album is a testament to that fact.
It is very much a “we did it on drugs” album, and indeed Damon Albarn was on heroin during this period. He also had a breakup around this time that informed his lyrics for this album. He also developed an increased interest in “spacy” production that has never really gone away since, but has certainly milded out since this album.
At the same time, guitarist Graham Coxon had become an alcoholic and was starting to get frustrated with his place in the band, which resulted in him getting noisier and freer with his guitar work.
These two factors combined to create an oddly dense, heavy sound unlike anything they had done before. In that regard, it’s quite similar to Spiritualized’s excellent album Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space. It’s not quite as sublime as that record, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable experience if you’re able to adjust to its mindset.
My favourite tracks are “Tender”, “Coffee & TV” (the most accessible track on here by some distance, but still one of my favourite songs ever), “Battle”, and “Trimm Trabb”.
I have the two-disc special edition. The actual album is only on the first disc, but I know that some people appreciate bonus tracks, so I've left them in for those who do.
So, I had heard 13 before, years ago. I enjoyed a bunch of the individual songs, but didn't care for the overall album, just because I thought there was too much disconnect between the beginning and the end (even after knowing the "story" the album is telling). I even thought "Coffee and TV" (the one Graham Coxon song) sounded like it belonged in a different album altogether. This time, I find the whole thing hangs together quite a bit better.
Comparisons to Spiritualized's Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space are inevitable, but still interesting. Both albums are spacey, genre-hopping, drug-fueled elegies to failed romances. And "Tender", with its big Gospel choir, even sounds a lot like a Spiritualized recording. But Blur's version is less accessible in some ways (on 13, the highs are higher and the lows are lower, while on Spacies and gentlefloats the last track isn't that much more of a downer than the opener) yet more accessible in others (Albarn and Coxon write songs with hooks, while J. Spaceman thinks he's a minimalist or Stereolab or something).
I still find myself enjoying the first half of 13 more than the second half, but this has convinced me to check out some more of Blur's stuff.
As for disc 2: to the surprise of absolutely no one, "Trade Stylee" is my favorite of the Bugman remixes.
it is very big, like a gnarly and tall thing walking through a foggy landscape, just a massive blurry shadow and some impersonal glowing eyes roaming about like searchlights. it is menacing through sheer scope, but it isnt actively after you
it is also coherent, with each track building and moving nicely into the next with an aim beyond just keeping the energy up. the hoary cliche when describing electronic albums that work like this is saying that it's "the soundtrack to an imaginary movie", but i dont think that is really fitting here, it has a monologue at the beginning (sourced, the internet tells me, from an interview with one Louise Wener from a band called Sleeper if that name means anything to any of you?) about growing up in London, and then with that idea in mind each track is sort of a mood vignette, the sound of a memory or a picture.
i tried to pick something that would be tolerable to most people (jane might wanna skip a few tracks though) and that most people wouldnt have heard, though sunn has prolly heard it already
It's a nice piece of minimalistic metal, but in the end, it may actually be simultaneously too minimalistic (in the sense of there being no defined riffs or themes) and not minimalistic enough (in the sense of not going so far as to define a coherent atmosphere) for me to really like it.
I like the idea of the album enough that I'll probably give it another go sometime, and hopefully, it'll click more with me then.
Overall, I think I respect this album more than love it. I do dig the attempt at diversifying beyond the standard minimal techno sounds.
Things like this tend to take some time to grow on me, so I'll probably return to it at some point and be more on the "like it" end of things. I appreciate having listened to this, at any rate.
Yeah, he was named that because his first incarnation was a Boss "Doctor Rhythm" DR-55. Then it was a Roland TR-606, then a Roland TR-808, then a Roland TR-909, then an Oberheim DMX (for First and Last and Always), then a Yamaha RX-5, then by the time of the Floodland recordings, an AKAI S900 sampling Oberheim DMX toms and Yamaha RX-5 sounds for everything else, and by the time of Vision Thing, an AKAI S1000
Idea: The first time we roll virtual dice to pick the person. The next time, same deal, but we remove the person who picked the first album from the list. We keep doing this until we have a set order we can just cycle through.
If anyone new wants to join after the cycle is established, they can just go as soon as possible and get added to teh cycle.
the nature of this album is extremely upbeat, melodic, and shoegazey black metal that prominently features hammered dulcimer
i listened to this recently actually and it's a very good album. the tremolo-picking sometimes-sorta-medievalist stylings of black metal go really well with the sound of the hammered dulcimer as an instrument, so that's kinda a masterstroke for me, though i think botanist has been doing dulcimer-driven BM for a while. there are some properly gorgeous melodies on this album too. it's kinda tired to compare every experimental or unusual BM release to sunbather but i always thought that sunbather was nothing special, and in terms of the songwriting and how it lifts bm into shoegazey and uplifting territory this album does it way better. i think there is some concept behind botanist wherein there is some mad scientist who decides he hates humanity and retreats into the forest to grow plants and plot the demise of mankind, and i can definitely vibe with that. it's a Really Cool Album (of course it is it's a flenser release)
i should listen to the last few albums aswell which i never got round to. wicker and steel ive listened to before and remember being impressed with, saint-saens is extremely rad and ive listened to some sisters of mercy before (though not sure it was floodland? pprobably a different one) so i''lll relisten all of that. never heard of Corrupted before and it sounds interesting as hell so i wanna hear that too
Comments
(The other Jane)
(The other Jane)
(The other Jane)
It was pretty great, actually.
The only real problem I have with it is that the tracks that weren't singles feel a bit fillerish (although the singles are indeed superlative, including "1959" which I gather was supposed to be one but didn't quite make the cut in the end). I still find them listenable and decently effective, though, so they'll probably grow on me with time.
I also do agree that the drum machine is mixed a bit too loudly over the rest of the instruments on all the tracks except "This Corrosion" and "1959" (which has no drums), but when the melodies are as good as they are on this album, I can find myself overlooking that flaw.
At any rate, I've already scrobbled the album and I will be keeping this within my collection.
(The other Jane)
The "Flood" pieces probably won't as much, but they seem to be atmospheric interludes more than anything, so they work well enough for that purpose.
(The other Jane)
Where's the site to do that, again?
I rolled a d4. 1 and 3 are me, 2 and 4 are Naney.
1. Planet Jane
2. Panurge
3. thenamelesssamurai
4. Section
5. Corvidium
6. MetaFour
7. SF
8. Sunn Wolf
9. Pyridrym
10. Naney
I'm next. I'll get my album and writeup posted in a little bit.
Write up will follow shortly.
It is very much a “we did it on drugs” album, and indeed Damon Albarn was on heroin during this period. He also had a breakup around this time that informed his lyrics for this album. He also developed an increased interest in “spacy” production that has never really gone away since, but has certainly milded out since this album.
At the same time, guitarist Graham Coxon had become an alcoholic and was starting to get frustrated with his place in the band, which resulted in him getting noisier and freer with his guitar work.
These two factors combined to create an oddly dense, heavy sound unlike anything they had done before. In that regard, it’s quite similar to Spiritualized’s excellent album Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space. It’s not quite as sublime as that record, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable experience if you’re able to adjust to its mindset.
My favourite tracks are “Tender”, “Coffee & TV” (the most accessible track on here by some distance, but still one of my favourite songs ever), “Battle”, and “Trimm Trabb”.
I am out with my dad right now, will do this when I get home
I'll go back and listen to tns's thing, too, while I'm at it.
It's a nice piece of minimalistic metal, but in the end, it may actually be simultaneously too minimalistic (in the sense of there being no defined riffs or themes) and not minimalistic enough (in the sense of not going so far as to define a coherent atmosphere) for me to really like it.
I like the idea of the album enough that I'll probably give it another go sometime, and hopefully, it'll click more with me then.
Overall, I think I respect this album more than love it. I do dig the attempt at diversifying beyond the standard minimal techno sounds.
Things like this tend to take some time to grow on me, so I'll probably return to it at some point and be more on the "like it" end of things. I appreciate having listened to this, at any rate.
Anyone else who still wants to do this should speak up ASAP.
(The other Jane)
(The other Jane)
(The other Jane)
the nature of this album is extremely upbeat, melodic, and shoegazey black metal that prominently features hammered dulcimer
1. ágætis byrjun is one of my least favorite sigur rós albums, its got some cool moments but overall it seems pretty rough and unfocused to me
2. i love the psychic paramount, ii is fuckin wicked
3. yield to despair and wicker and steel sound like stuff id be into so im gonna check them out
(The other Jane)
i should listen to the last few albums aswell which i never got round to. wicker and steel ive listened to before and remember being impressed with, saint-saens is extremely rad and ive listened to some sisters of mercy before (though not sure it was floodland? pprobably a different one) so i''lll relisten all of that. never heard of Corrupted before and it sounds interesting as hell so i wanna hear that too