Reviews by deksametazon

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #9 An album from Björk's list of favorite albums (29th Album)

So, I've been listening to Desertshore over the last 48 hours, which means I've listened to it during the scorching midday sun and the unexpected, but welcome, windstorm last night. And let me tell you, it works in any setting. It's unsettlingly vast and empty, yet Nico's piercing vocals give it a really tumultuous edge.

Worth mentioning is Cale's presence here. In my opinion, without him, this album doesn't work. Of course, Nico laid the foundation, but Cale is the one who elevated the record, especially with his droning viola, and his arrangements elevate the whole album from a musical footnote to a real masterful piece of art.

Where does that leave Bjork? She named it one of her favorite albums, and it's apparent. Nico very much influences her vocal style, both rejecting the standard pop deliveries for a sort of "shattered glass", momentous style, and I've heard similar styles of instrumentals across her albums, even if I don't like them. However, hers is more rooted in electronica.

A few big aspects clash on this one. The first one is her voice, which I found to be not my forte but definitely moments where it becomes bearable, but mostly dwells in the category of being too much like pudding and the second is the mellow, minimalist instrumental consisting of nothing more than guitar, harp and piano play. Joanna's ability to weave a story in just a few lines of poetic text is also a very good addition, but my god, if her voice pitch was just a few notes lower, the album would've been amazing.

As it stands, it's between a 2.5 and a 3 star rating, but I'll lean toward a lower 3 star rating because even if her voice has the tendency of being a bore, it still has its moments that make me want to return to this one sometime in the future.

Occupies a weird position to me between being cringe inducing in some of the more dance oriented tracks like Fine Time, which was clearly created in a time, and for a time, when you take a pill and go wild, letting the trance of the surrounding sounds.

But then you have songs like Guilty Partner, which is an infective post-punky tune that surprised me on the first listen with a great bass backbone by Hooky. All the Way and Love Lass are also two nice jangly songs.

It really depends on the day with this one. Today I'll say this album is decent, tomorrow you'll catch me vibing hard with the entire thing. But whatever the day might be, one cannot deny how this album flows easily.

For me, this album is still a transition album from JD to NO. I enjoyed the new-wave-influenced tracks (A1,2,3 and B4), but those dancy tracks kinda miss the mark for me. I'd still recommend listening to this. This album is a bonafide classic, I can see that, but it's just not for me.

Well it's nothing overly amazing, it's just New Order being adaptive and good at their craft and all, but my God, is "Turn The Heater On" one of the better covers I've heard.

Good Old Boys is old. It's for the boys down from the South, but most importantly... it's good. It's a chronicle of life and history of the south, told from a perspective of a southern everyman, but it's also a collection of love songs from a perspective of a not so regular Joe who asks his lover for help when he's drunk and high on coke, and who marries a freak like himself and doesn't mind whatever comes with it. Those are the songs I come back to the most. Political and historical context misses me the most, but love always hits like it should.

The first album in the American Trilogy (quadrilogy, if you count) and the best album out of them all.

The main point of attraction, other than his songwriting, is the use of ambiance. Throughout the entire album, you can faintly hear rain and thunderstorms outside while the melancholy prevails in Mickey’s voice. It’s a nice touch that leaves a lot of ambiguity and room for interpretation: on the surface, it’s a sign of melancholy, sadness, and grief, but on the other hand, a sign of growth, change, washing from previous filth and a start of a new chapter. The ethereal choir present at times also breathes in hope for the poor soul, even if the lyrics might not outwardly reflect that. In my opinion, without those factors, this album would not be as good as it is.

In terms of songwriting, don’t go in expecting some Dylan-esque poetry, but do expect some hard-cutting and home-hitting moments that brew a storm inside your heart like the one you hear on the album.

I love this album because it feels so Germany-coded (or any western Europe country-coded), if that makes sense. Side A has that endless feeling of driving across the country going 140kmph, taking in the beautiful tapestry of trees, fields, the occasional house and lots and lots of cows and sheep. And also Leb' wohl is a beautiful ballad-ish closer that I absolutely dig.

Side B is the other side of the same coin. While it does have the same core idea of the driving 4/4 motorik, it's coated in a harsher paint. It foreshadows the punk sound, but compared to most punk, songs like Hero and After Eight to me sound more like songs that would influence experimental bands such as This Heat and Suicide than bands in the vain of the Clash or the Damned. Also, the vocal work on Hero was a bit annoying, but the "Citeeeeh" grows pretty quickly on me. Plus it's a great song to pace through after a good night out.

Shotgun Willie was the first album from Willie that I've heard proper, and would you believe me, there wasn't anything I could point to that made me give this album high marks. Yet I always return to it. That might be because of the simplicity of the recording. Willie is obviously a natural when it comes to recording loose country albums, and this album is a testament to that.

It's a bit top-heavy, I can say. Songs 1 through 3 are amazing, but the rest is good, just not... that good. It's not fully blown out outlaw stuff, but a mixture of an "easy-on-the-ears" country sound with a more "edgier" approach.

Without the constraints of going for a clean image, Willie managed to tap into the creative well that yielded a true "no fucks given" album that the world at the time needed.

Certainly his best album. Shotgun WIllie was too commercial, and Phases and Stages was too theatrical. Both of those albums are very good, but Red Headed stranger walks the fine line just about perfectly and stands above them.

It's a concept album both full of beautiful interludes that lead into spectacular poetic displays of country and folk. Like a true outlaw, Willie stands against all odds, with only his guitar and occasional piano or bass following, laying an emotional tale of an outlaw on the run.

What's also great is how he managed to tell the story in quick little snippets. Only three songs pass the 3-minute mark, but they all tell a story that an album twice the length struggles to.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #10 An album recorded by an artist over 80 (45th Album)

Well, it's a cheat code to put Willie on this list, but we're nearing the end of the year, and I need to grind out the last few albums, so here we are.

So the story of this album can be summed up like this: Willie records his farewell album, which means he gives a retrospective of his life and the choices he made. It's weird reviewing it now, because the guy is exceeding every expectation you have of a human being, pushing now across his 90s, but I believe the emotions people had when this got released in 2018 gave this album a big boost.

As it stands now, in late 2023, it's somewhere in the middle. The songs are simple in nature, and Willie still has it in him to produce passable songs. The content doesn't feel forced, and isn't an album that, given its themes, is a sad experience. Willie makes you feel at home, like sitting with someone who has no regrets in life, busting jokes on one line, but then giving some heartfelt advice on the next.

But at the same time, those things are what makes it forgettable. All the songs follow a same little formula, and we don't get the energy he was once capable of. You might think that's unfair criticism, and I might agree, but I seriously find it hard to give this album anything more.

I most definitely won't return to it, but for what it is, it's alright.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #50 A folk album from Uzbekistan (32nd album)

Pretty alright if you ask me. With a lot of Eastern influence, from culture to religious musing, Sevara uses her beautiful voice to create a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere.

NSB is the poster child of folky, drony post-rock music that's feels more like a portal to a different dimension that's meant to be enjoyed in a certain atmosphere and mindset than an album of songs.

This one evokes the cold melancholy of the desolate woods. Maybe that's the reason why it didn't hit as it probably should've, because I listened to it in the middle of summer. Still, I applaud the effort. The atmosphere is great, and the sparse vocals are haunting and fit perfectly. Maybe lovers of post-rock will find more to love here than me.

It's hard to beat an album such as this, with stellar production, flow, memorable beats, amazing urban storytelling that threads between poetic play on words and the simple, cold, hard truth of the life on the streets.

If there's one album you need to hear from the East Coast Hip Hop scene, it's this one.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #9 A regional music album from Namibia. (25th album)

These Namibians sure know how to bust out a funky groove. It gets a bit stale, especially after going for almost an hour, but listening to it while working on something? Pretty good choice.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #25 A post-1977 jazz album (22nd Album)

John Zorn and his brand of "jazz" (if you can call it jazz) has always been intimidating from the outside looking in, and listening to this has justified some of the sentiment. The opener is the grand spectacle of it all, with shades of jazz, chamber music and some post-rock all sprinkled in. It sounds like a broken blender in the best way possible: you turn it on but nothing happens, then ten seconds later all hell breaks loose, only for you to turn it off again.

The rest of the first half is like a noir exploration of a decrepit, old, stone theater lost to time. It's both relaxing and uneasy, like a slow river of anxiety sloshing away.

But after the 8th track, the album goes from soothing to a full on teeth pulling exercise. It's perfectly encapsulated in the name of the 17th track. Jazz Snob Eat Shit indeed. It could've probably been turned into a longer free forming suite instead of a 20 something track mental buzz saw lobotomy of screams and drum fills, but who cares. It's still a great and integral part of it that wouldn't hit the same if it was differently done.

Anything else being said would spoil your experience. It's a fresh take on jazz to this day.

Thank you, [~SpeedKills] for the recommendation!

This album is like a spinoff series of a show (which was bad in itself btw) that nobody asked for.

Loveless had its moments, but m b v feels formulaic. Old band reforms, and drops a sterile reenactment of past glories. We've seen it happen with every big band past their prime: Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest etc.

What differentiates My Bloody Valentine from the other big bands is that between Loveless and this, they weren't ever truly forgotten. Late 90s and early 00s alternative rock was inspired by indie a la MBV. Plus, appearing every now and then to say you're working on an album gives the average fan the sensation of a multi-year edge session.

And finally, the album drops, and the load has been released. And then you realize the mess, the sterile sound of the album, and the numbing sensation of 45 minutes of buzz and sultry female vocals that make you ask yourself: where's the catch? What's the point?

There is no point. And much like gooning, the fan moves on end edges onwards, and to this day he still edges, waiting for the 4th sweet load release. But hey, Kevin said the album is 85% done, so it will be all over soon. Right??

I listened to this album a few times, and I can never get why this site adores this album. Sure, it has the merit of being one of the most influential albums ever recorded, but it's not really my cup of tea. If they didn't drown the vocals under the instruments, I'm sure I'd like it much more, but then it loses the thing that made it so unique. "Only Shallow" is my favorite song here, and I can see why "Soon" gets the reputation as one of the most revolutionary pop songs.

This album is a perfect portrayal of an idyllic landscape in a hazy morning. Wish I could recreate the initial feeling when I heard this album. This album beamed a ray of light inside my head, and a vision of me content appears for 30 minutes... and I was happy.