Chore of Enchantment

Chore indeed. Would be revolutionary if Lou Reed hadn't already done it 25 years earlier.

Horrible indie/alt rock garbage. Singer has the most monotoned voice ever. They got the word Chore right.... It is a Chore to listen to.

While listening to Temptation of Egg, my 4yr old son put his fingers in his ears and said he didn't like it. He has more sense then the complete morons who thought this album belongs on this list. This is absolute hipster indie/alt rock garage. Nothing about this is good.

Favourite songs: Dirty From the Rain, Shiver

Least favourite songs: Temptations of Egg, and the rest of this piece of shit record...

1/5

Dude seriously tried to rhyme Cohen with Own.
Also sampled about four different genres and was terrible at all of them.

I just couldn't get past the lackluster vocals paired with laid back instrumentation, just nothing to grab attention or hold interest.

I really like his voice, and how low and crackly it is. The sparse instrumentation compliments it well and knows exactly when to jump in and out. I'll have to explore them more.

This is somewhere between Wovenhand and Silver Jews and isn’t bad, but is not as good as those other bands.

I got far into this, but at the end of my commute to work I was still five songs from the end and hadn’t enjoyed a single minute, so I’m calling it. I didn’t *hate* it, exactly, but it’s firmly in the bottom 20% of albums in this project, so I’m giving it a 1.

I'm not sure why this album is rated so low. It's not bad at all, I enjoyed it. It's sort of reminiscent of Tom Waits. Maybe like dollar store Tom Waits. A lot of the reviews talk about how bad his voice is but I don't get that. I mean it's not fantastic but it's not off-putting at all. I feel like this record has got some interesting things going on, and I really like how most of it is arranged. The lyrics are sort of pseudo-pretentious, like if you weren't really listening you might think he was saying something profound. He's not. I feel like he based the whole record on a thought of "if I play a quiet, slow, and simple guitar part and sort of talk-sing in a deep voice it will sound better than it actually is." There's definitely something about this album that feels like it could be any singer/songwriter that's playing at a local brewery on a Tuesday night. Does that mean it's bad? No. But I can see why no one has ever heard of this before. Did I get a little bored with it by the end? Yes. 2.5/5 but I'll round up to 3.

This was pretty awful. The dude cannot sing and his music was bad. 1/5

As others have noted - this indeed is a chore. Sort of alt-country, sort of indie. There are some interesting moments- but they don’t outweigh the sameness.

Didn't find anything exciting about this album. It was okay I guess. Wouldn't listen to it again.

Wow did this one sneak up on me. Never heard of it, pulled it up and saw 1h57 minutes, let out a small moan of despair (mind you I had a 2h15 min double album the day before). Overture gives no hint of what’s ahead. First listen first song, I’m not getting it. Despair starting to turn to dread. Let’s head to Wikipedia… hey there! This isn't a two hour album! Spotify added 14 bonus tracks. Ok ok unclench that jaw. We’ve gotten to track four now, and things are starting to change up a bit. Maybe this album is more interesting than I realized?
I’m going to pay more attention. Holy cow, I think I’ve fallen in love.
I’ll get to the bonus tracks in a little while, First I’m gonna go back and listen to the original album again!

They weren’t wrong. It was a real chore to get through it. Very dull.

Leonard cohen meets Tom waitts

A cool exploration and breakdown of genre. not really feeling it 5 tracks in but its cool.

Has a bonny prince billy vibe

Yup, that was a chore! I liked how several of the songs start off, then they seem to drop off the cliff edge.

Country con toque sureño, me gusta. Me sonaba el nombre de la banda, pero creo que nunca los oí. A pesar de que en Wikipedia no hay nada, lo cual suele ser una bandera roja importante, me ha parecido interesante. He guardado X-Tra wide, no creo que lo vuelva a escuchar. Aunque sí al autor, debe tener cosas mejores.

The very definition of unremarkable. Don't really recall a single redeeming thing about the listen. 1.5/5

As the album was still getting on its feet I was feeling as though this would be on the more dry side of alt-country; one that can be hard to sludge through without some endurance. However, the album picked up some speed a little bit in and stayed rather good throughout, with a lot of Neil Young influence to keep you entertained, and a surprise or two in the form of noisy tracks to keep you on your toes. As much from the era, its far too bloated, and I could see this being repetitive for some, as it does keep a general tone that can feel flat all in a row, but if you let the album take you places, its really good at being something rather pretty, and I'd even argue has some of that melancholic feel that Leonard Cohen presents, although its not as captivating lyrically as Cohen. Overall, a solid record that I'm glad I spent time listening to.