Reviews by deksametazon

Thanks to the sole English review, I was able to piece up together an opinion, that otherwise would've just be me stating how anonymous it feels due to me being unable to connect with the lyrics.

I always imagined this is what favelas sounded like. Happy melancholy. Sort of like how Bosnia feels most of the time. Even the poetic depiction of people down on their luck is spot on: reality mixed with wittiness and dark humor. On the musical side of things, it's a host of different vocalists, singing a host of different indigenous variant of samba (though they all sound the same to me), all with passing grades. It reminds of the melancholy of Dorival Caymmi, but more urban.

I wish I understood Portuguese, as I think the real beauty is hidden beyond the language barrier. Still, even without a direct understanding, I found it really nice and enjoyable. Another approving grade for the Vanguard Paulista!

There's a lot to unpack here, but everything present here can be summed up as less than thirty minutes of a rapid onslaught of manic rhythms. It has a lot of influences, from East Coast style of angular post punk and No Wave, more extreme metal, and local Brazilian music with some jazz.

Those moments where the band sings the "chorus" in union in Tô tenso, Poema em linha reta, and Três por quatro are my favorite, but I also like the drum workouts some of these songs have. Paulo Barnabe has such an infectious growl, he reminds me of some of our own local 80s punk band vocalists.

I always thought this sound was mostly indigenous to the iron curtain countries. Goes to show how even in the 80s without the power of internet, certain sounds manage to find their way to other continents and transcend space. Recommendation for those looking or some more underground art-punk albums.

Before listening to this album, bear this thought: This was Jaco before the fame. Before Hejira, before Weather Report. John Francis was just a bass teacher with the occasional gig and recording job here and there, and this was his chance to show the world how much of a dizzying bass player he was, hence the abundance of wankiness on... most of the tracks. And the unbelievably weird sequencing of it.

Which is the thing that eternally pisses me off when listening to this album. The alternation between the bass driven, minimalist tracks like Donna Lee, Portrait of Tracy, Continuum and the fusion oriented ones like Come On, Come Over, and Speak Like a Child hurts it, BUT, that don't mean the music is bad. In fact, all the songs are good.

The intimate emotion of the former tracks outweigh every bad thing I can say about the latter, and the forward-thinking nature this album possesses is out of this world, sometime going from jazz, to an ambient territory few jazz albums could pull off. As for the more energetic, funk oriented stuff, every note is like a powerful zap going through the speakers, with an all-star cast shining through alongside Jaco, whose freewheeling, driving, and infectious bass lines just keep piling on.

Pretty good study music, much better than the crap musicians peddle as study music these days (I'm looking at you lo-fi girl). It's probably my favorite strictly guitar jazz album. While it does lack original compositions (only having one, "Blues for Alican"), Joe pretty much aces the entire thing. Definitely recommended if you're looking for some sparse jazz albums that make you feel like you're sitting at an empty bar on a Wednesday.

Dolly Parton was always (and probably will always be) the poster-woman of country, but past her beautiful looks lies a bona fide genius with a knack for making songs that range from easy listening pleasantries to real gems of the country genres.

This album is Dolly at her peak, and a song like Jolene is the one you put on top of your CV. But not Dolly, because this album boasts so many beautiful tunes that it's hard for me to pick favorites. Of course, Jolene and I Will Always Love you are staples and classic, but some lesser known moments like Early Morning Breeze and Lonely Comin' Down can easily be considered high points as well.

In a time when country was beginning to sound like diluted milk, Dolly gave us this album that exudes a beautiful pastoral energy that almost feels like a last hurrah before the genre eventually got put down like a horse that's broken its hind leg. But we all know that horse would keep on galloping even if its head only remained.

Red bi bio da se odradi recenzija ovog jako bitnog album sa podrucja bivse Jugoslavije. Rekao bi da je debitantni album Partibrejkersa jedan od prvih albuma koji su definirali mračni Beogradski underground zvuk od druge polovine 80ih, na koji je dijelom uticao "heroinski boom" i generalni ekonomski pad.

Cane, vokalist i tekstopisac, nikad se nije oslanjao na dop kako bi stvarao pjesme. Sta vise, prezirao ga je. Zbog toga, imam osjecaj da njihovi tekstovi, i njihov zvuk generalno, su vise dolazili iz nekog iskrenog mjesta bunta i ostre kritike.

Ako Si... je odlican pocetak, a 1000 Godina je himna urbane generacije, dok je Stoj Dzoni omaž njihovoj inspiracijij, Chuck Berry-ju. Zajedno sa unikatnom postavim vokal-2 gitare-bubanj, i utjecaja bluza i psihodelicnog roka, za razliku od kolega koji su najvise vukli inspiracije of Sex Pistolsa i Clasha, stvorili su atmosferu koja je i lo-fi i jako dinamična, iako postava govori u prilog plitkoci zvuka.

Mala digresija za kraj, drago mi je sto su Croatia Records i Cane uspjeli doci do sporazuma da se ovaj album reizda. Po mom misljenju, ovaj album je kljucan za Jugoslovenski kanon (kao i njihova naredna dva), i svakom preporucujem da ga poslusa ako zeli da cuje stvaranje ovog zvuka.
_________________________________________________________________

I’d like to do a review of this very important album from the former Yugoslavia. I would say that Partibrejkers’ debut album was one of the first records to define the dark Belgrade underground sound of the late 1980s, shaped in part by the “heroin boom” and the general economic decline.

Cane, the vocalist and lyricist, never relied on drugs to write songs. On the contrary, he despised them. Because of that, I feel their lyrics—and their sound overall—came from a more genuine place of rebellion and sharp critique.

Ako Si… is an excellent opener, while 1000 Godina stands as an anthem of the urban generation. Stoj Dzoni is a direct homage to their inspiration, Chuck Berry. With their unique lineup of vocals, two guitars, and drums, and with influences from blues and psychedelic rock—unlike their peers who mostly drew inspiration from the Sex Pistols and The Clash—they created an atmosphere that was both lo‑fi and highly dynamic, even though the setup might suggest a thinner sound.

A small digression to end on: I’m glad that Croatia Records and Cane managed to reach an agreement to reissue this album. In my opinion, this record is essential to the Yugoslav canon (as are their next two), and I recommend it to anyone who wants to hear the birth of this sound.

So far, this album is the only good project front to back from this Brooklyn band (other than maybe Light Up Gold, but we'll get to that).

While I personally categorize them as punk, what we have here is a great assortment of indie songs played with punk grit. And that's coming from a person who doesn't quite like indie. I've touched upon it in my review of Sympathy for Life, but here they sound even more like the Talking Heads, with the title track being a clear example, but also the general tone of bass and key driven songs with a funk backbone exudes the CBGB sound.

Andrew Savage brings a great quality on the vocal end, with a nice piercing and rebellious sound. The songs done by Austin are not too bad, but don't come near to the ones done by Savage.

Nut Cycle

Human Performance = Pre-nut

Wide Awake! = Moment of nut

Sympathy for Like = Post Nut Clarity

They continue to play with their sound, but it just feels off on this release. It's lacking the punk that made Wide Awake so good, and still good. The singles were ok, "Marathon of Anger" feels like Talking Heads took acid, "Just Shadows" has a calmer sound that reminds me of their older songs, with a pinch of acid. Application/Apparatus has an punkish Arthur Russell vibe, but falls short. The s/t track is a feel-good funk song, but remove anything that has any semblance of good in it (thank God it only goes for 2:50). Zoom Out starts out nice, then it gives you a millisecond of hope that they're going to speed things up, but just return to "the nice". Trullo is as forgettable as it can be. Pulcinella is a nice slower song.

Don't recommend this one in its entirety. They tried to experiment with their sound and add some psych to it, but in the process removed the thing that made them stand out. I recommend the singles (Walking at a Downtown Pace; Black Widow Spider; Homo Sapiens), Marathon Of Anger, Just Shadows, and Pulcinella.

This is what Joy Divison would've sounded like if they linked up with Henry Rollins on their USA tour

Can someone explain to me how these guys mixed hardcore punk with post-punk and darkwave? And to still manage to sound good as fuck. I'm not a hardcore punk type of guy, but this album hits that good nerve holy fuck.

Recommend the whole thing, it's not like you'll regret losing 15 minutes to pure rockage!

EDIT: Now that I think about it, they sound similar to Električni Orgazam on their debut, just darker and faster.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #42 An album preserved in the Library of Congress (49th album)

There's something wrong with this album. No, the mastering is great, the mood it sets is amazing, and the creativity is seeping out of every pore. To mix funk with a spiritual and futuristic aspect and to add jazz influences on top of that is genuine creativity.

But the problem for me is the pacing of it. It feels unrealistically stretched out. Weirdly stretched out even. I enjoy it on a surface level, but it lacks a facet that would leave me wanting to replay it. It gets even weirder because I enjoy a lot of similar projects in the P/F universe, just not this one.

Still a tasteful batch of grooves, mind you, just enigmatically lacking.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #27. An album with over twenty tracks. (3rd Album)

Nuklearne Olimpijske Igre is a fun album. It's totally devoid of feelings of superiority artists usually have around here when recording an album. Instead, it screams and spits in your face with an unusual fervor, not caring what it sounds like, but what in conveys - from song to song.

Knowing how underground this is, this sounds very polished. Sometimes it's straight punk, sometimes is goes off the deep end and turns into an avant-garde mess. Despite that, it keeps the energy in a high gear, which is all that matters.

One fun little fact I like to tell about my father is that he personally knew Ivica Čuljak from the time he worked in the psychiatric hospital, and Ivica was a patient. He remembers Ivica fondly - they exchanged punk tapes, and played chess together.

Pallbearer do a little twist on the doom metal genre - instead of going for the sound that shakes the ground, they devise a plan to create a total opposite. A cosmiche doom sound.

And it works. They sound sort of like Warning, but with more emphasis on instrumentals, rather than vocals. Each song has a sound that differentiates it from one another, along with having an almost "a-ha!" moment placed somewhere. The lyrics are philosophical and mysterious, with the theme of the passing of life being the focal point of the whole shebang.

A surprise really, considering metal isn't really my forte. Especially modern metal. But doom is an outlier in that, and this modern take is a real eyebrow raiser in the best way possible!

A concept album about a cockroach running from God, eventually starting questioning why he's running in the first place. Similarly to Kafka, who's a clear influence, Owusu gets introspective on us while throwing us on a sonic journey through a plethora of his musical influences, from dance, punk, soul, hip hop, and funk, not giving us a chance to get our palates comfortable and make us engaged and waiting for the next curveball to come.

Even though it freely roams wherever Owusu wants it to go instrumentally, STRUGGLER is tied up perfectly with a central theme of confusion, facing up to things that make you uncomfortable and standing up for yourself, while still being an album whose themes are presented in a way that doesn't make it a hard and undigestable beast.

The thing I also like about it is that at its core, STRUGGLER is a concept album, but it's a flexible one, giving us the chance to play the album how we want, and not confining us to playing the album from beginning to end, as is with most concept albums. Plus, it doesn't overstay, clocking at an OK 38 minutes.

Side A is a hypnotic journey through the microcosmos of chips, electric sockets, and circuits, while side B is a slow walk through the CPU of an old and dusty GBA.

It's good!

A nice little psychedelic soul album with blues inspiration. The guitar playing rightfully outshines the mediocre vocal department, but even with virtuoso guitar playing, the album still lacks an it factor to make it to my regular listening catalog.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #11 A vinahouse album. (33rd Album)

I have no idea who suggested this entry, but it's probably the biggest filler entry I've ever had to do for the challenge.

The album sounds like squeaky-clean electro that's stuck in some faraway time. Like Youtube in the mid 2000s. And it should've been stuck there.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #36 A non-metal album from a metal band (18th album)

Another year, another challenge, another Opeth album.

But this time, I'm not going to trash it. But still, I'll echo the same sentiment I had for. While there, they had some semblance of being original, with a progressive metal approach with a death metal attitude mixed in with a penchant for a more gothic style, here is where this band morphs into.

Fully. The atmosphere, the instrument playing. Everything. I'm baffled at how Steve didn't jump in on a few tracks as the lead vocalist (but he did provide backing ones, so it's at least partially true). I found myself enjoying it more than, but it's still memorability which it lacks

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #41 An album from a genre you usually don't listen to (13th album)

This album feels like your group of friends that all like to hang out, but are forced to add another guy into the mix that really doesn't gel with anything you guys do. Drinking? Yeah, he'll take the root beer (not that there's anything wrong with it, just bear with me). Digging the ladies? Yeah, he'll sit in the corner with his cup of water. Going trespassing in some abandoned building? He'll watch the car.

He's not a bad guy. In fact, he's awesome, it's just that he's gotten with the wrong crowd and is sticking like a sore thumb. In the crowd of leather-wearing, boots-thumping, long-haired weirdos, he's that plain-shirt guy with jeans and sneakers on.

Oh yeah, his name is progressive rock. Sometimes even goes by Steven Wilson

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #29 A rock album without guitars (8th Album)

A guitarless rock album, with the trio of Schickele, Walden and Dennis all playing keys, with different approaches. It feels like a soundtrack to an imaginary movie. It has ambient tracks, more upbeat ones, some moodiness here and there etc.

In the end, it's wildly mild, and unamusing, but that's where its beauty lies. It's very much psychedelic in the same vain as later ambient music, with the layered keyboards, organs and pianos giving it distinct licks across the board. The first comparison that comes to mind is Brian Eno. The two best songs on the album are A3 and A4, and also the additional Much Too Soon and Exchanges of Information, with their angular, poppy approach. I applaud the overall creativity.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #36. An album with religious imagery in its cover art. (31st Album)

Advaitic Songs is very similar to what Cisneros' other band, Sleep, created. Atmospheric stoner rock that sometimes rocks, but with more leanings toward psychedelia and oriental sounds.

It's very good, but much like the deserts of Africa and the Middle East, it's mostly flat, rocky, and expansive with a mediative quality to it that makes it great to vibe to, but it's mostly nothing once you put your mind to it. I could see myself putting it on sometimes for the heck of it, but won't go out of my way... probably ever.

Also, the cover is a photo of John The Baptist.