Reviews by deksametazon

This album by The Psychedelic Furs perfectly illustrates my love-hate relationship with the band. A couple of tracks (Heaven and The Ghost in You) are excellent slices of psychedelia, but the rest, while solid, is quite forgettable. The saxophone on Heartbeat is a cool touch, though. It adds a nice layer to the mix. It’s a step up from Talk Talk Talk though, the other album of theirs I’ve listened to.

That’s why their compilation All of This and Nothing works so well for their casual listeners like myself. It highlights their strongest material without the filler, something abundant in their work I've heard.

On an album level, Psihomodo Pop has never surpassed the songs on this album. Pop punk at the top of the task with a great flow of the Ramones sound: not a single song is technically demanding, but they are all extremely sonically pleasant to listen to.

I always listen to them with a smile. Lean back, or jump from wall to wall, Godina can always be listened to in any way and can be enjoyed at a high level without ever getting an inch of depth.

I can't shake the Ultravox sound these guys were going for. Thankfully, I like Ultravox, so it's not that much of a problem. They're good, they have chops, and they were very popular Down Under, and I can see championing these guys if they came from my country too. But in modern times, with streaming and all, I see no reason to return to this ever.

Swing and a miss. When it tries to be subtle, I tune out, and when it goes out to create something a bit more out there, it just turns me off with its harshness and dissonance. I think maybe if I squinted hard enough, I could find something I like out of this, but on two listens, I find very little. Thank you, but hard pass.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #47 A solicited recommendation from a stranger. (7th album)

An inconspicuous album. Luckily, I have a soft spot for Eurodance, so it doesn't become a chore to listen to.

But it does embody what the late 90s and early 00s were: a time full of hyper dance music with not a lot of staying power.

The slower tracks are a nice addition of flavor, tho.

Reminds me of high school, in not a good way. This is the music those kids who lived in the moment listened to while frying their brains with x and molly. Needless to say, most of them didn't amount to anything, much like this album,

Also, why does the cover look like a 5th grade computer science book?

After the definitive depature of Davorin Bogovic, PK brings in Mladen Bodalec and turn to a more pop oriented sound, and they strike gold, rocketing into the mainstream of Yugoslavian pop music.

That being said, mainstream pop music is the same be it in Zagreb, Timbuktu or New York: verse-chorus-verse across the whole album, which makes it decent, but nothing overly special. Still, it boasts two great songs, the opener Ne Zovi Mama Doktora, and the closing ballad Ma Kog Me Boga Za Tebe Pitaju, songs I find myself humming more than occasionally. What can I say, those are good songs!

Also worth mentioning, from this point onwards, Prljavo Kazaliste starts the trend of recording 1-2 great songs on each album while the rest is at most decent. That way, they managed to float in the mainstream throughout the mid 80s and into the modern age, despite really not recording any album that's worthy from start to finish.

Yeesh, talk about a downturn in quality. Mostly an album marred with interpersonal conflict between the singer, Davorin Bogovic and guitarist Jasenko Houra. I'm not going to go into the histrionics between them, but the result was a subpar album carried by the opener (which is not good, but you gotta hold onto something).

Davorin was never a good singer, but here his lazy delivery is as evident as it can be. The instrumentations are uninspired, and the song lyrics hold no weight to them.

Overall? Confusion in an album form. Thank God they would part ways with Bogovic and continue with Bodalec, the Croatian Bono Vox, and their sound would evolve into a much better contemporary pop sound

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #29 An album from an artist with fewer than 100 monthly listeners on Spotify (29th album)

Lukewarm. I like Milos Zubac's solo works, but this feels like nothing more than a recycled song spun nine times. It also has some weird lyrics (Here comes some white bird, to lay the moon on the sky?), or some fucking annoying ones (More just sings about the sea, and the vocalist asks can I hear it. With your stupid approach I wish I couldn't hear a lot of things) which don't help the cause. Sad, as I half expected it to be at least near enjoyable.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #17 A beloved classic album you should've heard by now (26th album)

I'm saddened to say that I've only heard of John Prine after his passing due to COVID, being one of the first famous people to succumb to the disease.

And that even more so pisses me off because what we have here is an artist, and an album, that's deserving of every particle of love listeners give him/it. I always love when someone can distill subjects like he does here to a level that can make one man laugh, and the other one cry. Depending on the depth you're willing to go.

And him giving this singer-songwriter foray a country tinge is yet another reason why more people should check the genre out. It's not all jeeps and pointy boots, folks. Sometimes, even cowboys can be as moving and acrobatic with the pen as some of the more acclaimed lyrical virtuosos out there.

But to return a bit to the album, as a closing statement of sorts, listen to it. Not a bad track on here, at worst it will of a passable quality, and at best, quotable, memorable with a lot of moments you can cherish.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #1515. An ECM jazz album (15th Album)

Two compositions, two sides. Side A reminds of a combination of Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, both by Miles Davis, but a bit more mysterious, with those stretched out keys. The drums lay down a mighty groove from the first to the nineteenth minute.

Side B is a bit more out there. It starts out more space ambient, then cranks up the jazz until it turns into a frenzy of drums and piano. Oh, and don't get me started on the trombones and saxophones that arrive on top of all that. It's much better than the A side, with a lot of ooh and aah moments that never let up and keep on piling.

I wish the first 20 minutes did simillar things as the last. I'm sure those who like Bitches Brew and the mysterious nature of jazz will flock towards it, but as it stands, I'll keep spinning the B-side.

Thank you [~SpeedKills] for the recommendation!

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #32 An album with a runtime of less than 40 minutes (16th album)

Apparently, this album is the female equivalent of, but on the tamer side. The contents are a blend of pop folk with a chamber tinge to it, but highly confessional. Also, with a witty and humorous side to it, but I believe it to be a coping mechanism due to the stress of putting out her emotions and locked up stress onto a piece of plastic.

Moreover, why does Mia Farrow appear in the most unexpected of situations since I've started listening to music more thoroughly?

Wow, this is such a beautiful combination of two genres that I don't really like on their own. The indie aspect is only here for a while, and doesn't overstay its welcome, while the post-rock is only here as an idea, the execution is done in a mellow jazz-pop type of way.

And Sam in his brief appearances behind the mic doesn't try to cram in words, but instead chooses the ones that will stick the most, and let the band do the talking for him, which is nice.

Jim O'Rourke did the production, and it's spectacular on that front. He really brought out the instruments at the moments that when they were needed the most.

I get the ick while listening to this album. Faron Young is a bad opener, plain and simple. Who starts a sophisti-pop album with a western melody, unless you're trying to make a schmuck of yourself.

And the rest of the album is numbing as well. It's perfect for those half-empty malls while shopping, and those coffee shops with hopeless romantics drinking their cold brew with sunglasses to hide their tears. Though Desire As is okay, and, truthfully, has made me revisit the album, the rest of the album is a slog to get through, even on multiple revisions. The whole atmosphere is for a retirement home.

This album is the reason why sophisti-pop is, beyond a few artists/albums, a hopeless genre. Steer away, unless you want to have an eye rolling experience.

Look, I'm a guy that likes sophisti-pop, but this? This album is so sophisticated, it turns itself upside down and turned itself into one of those fancy schmucks who only dine in those restaurants that are dwelled by high society lounge lizards that forbid you from entering unless you wear specific suits and tip the staff generously.

If you can't guess, I'm more of a dive bar/local family-owned restaurant type of guy.

I've never heard of ms. Pratt before this album, but boy can she make a great first impression. It's almost effortlessly good, especially for a night listen. Plus, it doesn't drag on, or present some unnatural ideas that require deep listening, which is perfect for this type of music.

Once you listen enough of this, it becomes an easy listening album. Hear me out, it's beautiful female vocals backed by a lounge atmosphere. Granted, it does sound like a dystopian take on the genre, but it's still easy listening.

Beth Gibbons has a voice reminiscent of 50s vocal jazz greats, and the instrumentals are varied and memorable, with lots of cool samples. There aren't many lyrical escapades here, but I particularly liked the alienation in "Roads", and the slightly upbeat "It's a Fire", which was widely omitted.

For the longest time, I've been looking for an album to play whilst I'm out and about and grogging throughout my apartment, trying to make tea and eventually wake up. I went through ambient albums by Eno and Harold Budd, Steve Roach, and his space mooginess, but found them all too slow and they make me even more sleepy. Then I went on a slowcore phase, and I realized my life became even more miserable if I put on Jason Molina. Then came post-rock, including solo Mark Hollis and Talk Talk, but found the whole post-rock idea too hard to digest in the morning. Then I put on slower indie emo a la Karate but felt too icky listening to it in the morning.

Then came Ash-Ra Tempel's debut, and I felt it suited me a lot, but wasn't quite there. Looking through the lens of ambient krautrock, I stumbled upon this, and it absolutely fits the bill! Just the perfect amount of ambient and classical in the morning, plus the female vocals guide me slowly throughout the morning. An amazing feat of music!

Despite being recorded in poor condition and in limited time, this is good "Yugoslavian proto-rock". Some really contemporary-sounding moments here, unlike other bands that tried to emulate this sound a few years later (which in music terms feels like decades).

Robert Nemecek has a beautiful color to his voice, very soulful, and the guitar work of Zoran Bozinovic is really impressive if a bit sounding like a copy of Hendrix.

It's also worth mentioning the funny story how execs at PGP didn't know the meaning of the word kiselina (acid) in the context, and only after one of them heard the other meaning from their child, they scrambled and pulled it from production, and now only a thousand copies or so remain in working order. Ya boy has one.

Lust for Life was an ode to a time passed, while The Idiot sounds like Iggy still within the clutches of drugs, despite him kicking the habit.

I can't help but compare it to Lust for Life, and Bowie's Berlin trilogy. The Idiot has Iggy crooning his way through the depths of the Berlin night, while David Bowie does magic on the brooding synths and the warbly guitar. It sounds a lot like Low (Bowie's album he was working simultaneously), so I like to call it the long-lost fourth Berlin album.

"Sister Midnight" and "Nightclubbing" display the urban, and "China Girl" shows the internal decay, and "Mass Production" is basically a Bowie tune. A good one at that. But I think my favorite is "Tiny Girls". It reminds me of Ziggy Stardust with that sax, and Iggy's yearning is just perfectly done. It's weird seeing him completely shut down from the rabid and manic Stooges Iggy we've been accustomed to.

Alongside Lust for Life, it packs a great one-two punch that Iggy never managed to replicate. Both albums, but more specifically The Idiot, created a template for what post-punk is supposed to be. While Lust for Life gets the celebratory mood right, The Idiot shows the deadpan, alienated and depressing aura that bands like Joy Division would push further. Yet, rarely would the bands get right what Bowie and Iggy got on their first try.