Reviews by deksametazon

A recovering heroin addict at a hospital where I used to volunteer recommended me this album a few years back, and only recently did I remember to listen to it. She told me that she listened to this guy in the late 90s when she used to travel through Europe.

As for me and my thoughts on it. It's good, a bit repetitive, but I like the ominous tone and the middle eastern influence that's present throughout, not only this release, but most of his catalog. Even if you're not into techno, like I'm not, I'm sure you'll like it. It's on the longer side, sure, but it doesn't feel like your run-of-the-mill techno, more of a dubby ambiental piece if anything. Perfect for relaxing. Recommended

Mungos were a band formed by legendary producer Tihomir "Tini" Varga and keyboardist Hrvoje Marjanović, a session musician who played with legendary bands such as"Grupa 220", "Vještice" and "Plava Trava Zaborava".

This sole album by the duo is a doozy of a piece. A mix of new wave, funk, soft rock, with psychedelic and acoustic tinges sprinkled around. And highly unknown too (only one other person rated this album at the time of writing). The album has been on my permanent rotation since first hearing it, with the only track that I skip is the upbeat track "Vlak" which kills the vibe set by "Pjesma", the previous track. I would move it in front of it so the album can end on a melancholic note with "Pjesma" and "Stoj".

Tini's guitar playing here is amazing, though it can feel a bit repetitive when the solo quite literally repeats twice in a song, chord for chord in "Šetač", but I don't mind. Hrvoje is an unsung hero on this album, with synth and piano playing that accompanies Tini well and doesn't try to be in your face.

All in all, I'm quite perplexed. How can such an album be so forgotten? It doesn't fit. Tini is arguably an A or even an S tier Yugoslav producer (and with this album a formidable musician as well) and you have a feeling that an album by a person so famous and revered in the musical circles would at least be recognized to exist, but sadly it went not only under the radar, but under the ground!

Highly recommend checking the album out. It's highly cohesive, considering the number of styles it has, and I'm pretty sure that every listener will find something that they like in here.

You're either going to absolutely love this album, absolutely hate it, or stand confused in the middle.

I'm in that middle category.

This album took everything and actually made an album that kinda makes sense. It's a funky, experimental, ska metal masterpiece. The musicianship on here is on par with some of the best albums ever made. Every instrument here sounds so much in tune and connects well with each other. Maybe listening to it a few more times would make me like it even more, but as it stands, I can admire it, I can recommend it, I can laud it as a musical landmark and praise it to the moon and back, but I can't say I actually like listening to it.

Also, John Zorn produced it, and it's very apparent lol.

It's the same as their first, so minus for that. The complex drumming is still there, and the tightness throughout each song (especially the 14-minute opener) is remarkable, but the originality is missing, and that's a big thing for me. Maybe when I'm on a MGP binge?

These past few years, I've been far removed from my heyday as a prog rock lover, but I still enjoy an album here and there when it's done well.

MGP succeeds in doing just that. I'm a sucker for manic drumming in a quirky atmosphere, so this is right up my alley. It blends rock and jazz with a dash of theatrical art, connecting it all with great technical proficiency. A real treat for all lovers of fun progressive rock in the vein of bands like Caravan and Soft Machine.

This album is the equivalent of a cake baked by your 85-year-old demented grandma.

You say it's good, when in reality you want to spew vomit out of every crevice you have.

There's nothing that really stands out here, and also there's nothing here that reeks of awful. I like the melodic, introspective sound it's going for, but John's vocals continue to be a thorn in my overall enjoyment, even if his brand of songwriting is applaudable.

I'm sure this album has its audience. It has its qualities, it's just that I find the album to be just OK at the end of the day.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #20 An album with a cover done by Mick Rock (24th Album)

Does nothing bad, but also doesn't do anything great. It's one of those albums I don't mind listening to, but doesn't have anything that sticks. Not even the self-titled song, which gets stale on a relisten few years later. Yeah, got nothing else. Moving on.

Oh man I might get flak for this, but this sounds better than Astral Weeks to me. It's an effortless pop album that goes full on the jovial and easy going side while not sacrificing the power display on Astral Weeks. Just directing it in a different direction.

The first five tracks are amazing. And It Stoned Me is a song I find myself singing quite a lot this past month, and Moondance is beautiful pop song with a swinging rhythm to it, and it caps off with Into The Mystic, a beautiful interpolation of love and the spiritual journey within us. And the songs on side B perfectly wind down from the beautifulness of side A. You might find this album to be a sellout moment, but I assure you it's far from that. It's more akin to a musical maturation.

And apparently it was voted as the most listened album by doctors when doing surgeries. Makes sense why I'd like it.

Good God this album is all over the place. Sure it's spectacular, grandiose, and luscious, and the orchestral arrangments are good, but the whole schtick of them being this progressive giant just doesn't do it for me. Y'all can't just make an album, have songs that last more than 5 minutes, and brand them progressive rock. C'mon, y'all are better than that. Plus, the whole concept of an album representing parts of the day is just some weird mumbo jumbo. I'll listen to it in the evening, nope, the first side (and even a part of the second one) misses the mark. Want to listen to it in the morning, too bad, the album wears down by side B.

I truly wanted this album to live up to its reputation, but everywhere I try to give it some praise, it just reminds me how lackluster it is (considering the reputation it has).

Just listen to Nights in White Satin and skip the rest.

The only saving grace for this album is that it was a buck in the local flea market and that the first track is good.

If music was to be judged solely by stories around it, it would probably be at the pantheon alongside the likes of Station to Station,...Yes Please! by Happy Monday and Mayhem's debut. It's 1965, 4 American GIs, new sound yadda yadda. You've heard it all.

And if you like this kind of music, the Del Shannon, Jonny Burnette inspired rock n' roll, but with a twist that makes your coke dealer say "you should lay off the stuff.", then this stuff is for you. Punk and krautrock are indebted to these guys, no doubt, but hearing the same 12 songs delivered in a wacky voice with some rolling instrumentals can only get you so far.

But it's a fine piece of history, tho!

Sometime after releasing his most celebrated album, Jason Molina decides it's high time to release music on yet ANOTHER name, that being his own. And with the solo releasing comes the solo performing, which means this album is a whole different beast compared to his Songs: Ohia catalog, which was highly emotional and cathartic at times, and MECo., which leaned more on aggression and spite.

Taking the time to characterize Pyramid Electric Co., I would describe it as being an homage to his first chapter as a musician, a.k.a., the Songs: Ohia years. You can feel almost every previous album to an extent here: the fervor of longing for a significant other from, optimistic musing from, slower instrumentals of, and the general poetic edge from, are all present here kept together by a rope of sparseness.

This was an album for some reason I always steered away from when looking at Jason's discography. God knows why, because this is as competent as some of his best albums.

Is it his best album? No.

Is it his most sincere? By an absolute mile.

While other albums of his try one way or another to be commercial, on here Jason is as open as he can be. It's mostly slow acoustic guitar playing with sparse shaky musing of the cryptic kind detailing his battles with depression in forms of shadows dragging him back, dark beasts attacking, and wishes to be left behind to his own devices. The album also coincides with his worsening alcohol dependency.

The whole album is most definitely as blatant as it gets to being a cry for help. It starts off poetically with songs like It's Easier Now and "Everything Should Try Again", but by the end it sounds as if he's given up all hope and just tries to as direct as he can be: Let me go, let me go, let me go.

Man I wish I could time travel so I can give him a hug.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #25 A pop album from Zimbabwe (41st album)

This Zimbabwean pop album is good at what it does, it's just that I'm not interested in this kind of music.

There are several reasons I can't give This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About (from this point on known as "the album") more than 3.5 stars.

First off, the album crumbles under its own weight. It goes for 74 minutes, while it could have easily been trimmed to 60, or even 50 minutes, but you lose 80% of pointless noodling.

Second, starting an album with your high point, i.e Dramamine, really makes the rest of the album feel like a cold pizza slice. Sure it's pizza, and it's good, but it could've been better.

Third point I want to make is that Isaac's vocals get a bit annoying because of the length. It's not THAT big of a deal, and I get that his style of approach has its audience. It is pretty much a style of delivery that's a characteristic of midwest emo, and it does have its moments where it shines, just that there are parts where the vocals make me laugh and some make me want to punch a hole in the wall (maybe it's an intended effect?).

With all the things said, you can still make a counter-argument to every point I made. Sure it's noodling, and it drags on, but some of the songs benefit highly from having an extended instrumental passage. Even though it starts with its peak, there are still some songs that almost get to the high point set by Dramamine. And to build on that, Isaac's vocals hit hard at some points, pouring out all that raw emotion really gives a boost to otherwise meh songs.

All in all, give it a listen if you want to give Modest Mouse a shot. You just might like it.

The album boils down to this: if you grew up in post 9/11 America, watching Nickelodeon, playing on your Xbox 360 or your ps3, and loving whatever was on the radio from around 2007 to 2013, you'll love this album.

Except I did none of these things. I want my 30 minutes back!

Also, who rhymes loud with aloud?!

Prior to hearing the full thing, my knowledge of this album consisted only of Survival of the Fittest and Shook Ones, which are the two songs everyone knows from this one. And they're probably the best ones, give or take a few cuts that come close.

But what surprises me is that it isn't a full out grimy east coast rap album like you'd expect. Of course, it's not roses and rainbows, but it's full of a subdued jazzy atmosphere that reeks crime, but of an organized type. No petty robberies. I think that's mostly due to the beats, which are very memorable and are the benchmark to me for what a good gangsta rap backbone should be.

It gets a bit longer with those preludes. It's not as bad as it can get on some albums (cough Biggie cough), but they do take up unnecessary space that could make the album less than an hour long. Still, even with them, it's an album that I could spin any time. A massive hip hop album.

Nothing over the top, but also nothing that I would consider a flop. A very safe album from Mitski. At least it doesn't drag on, with the album clocking in at 32 minutes long. "Working for the Knife" is the only song on here that I would recommend, as the rest feels so bland and uninspired.

This is my third Anaïs Mitchell album, and I’m still not feeling it. Hadestown was a clear standout. It had that theatrical punch and a strong concept that made it memorable. But the rest of her work, including this one, just doesn’t land for me.

I can tell the songwriting comes from a genuine place, and I respect that. But her voice, kinda like Joanna Newsom’s, just gets under my skin. They have those voices that are unique, and will either make or break the album. Add in folk instrumentation that feels a little too safe and familiar, and I end up drifting in and out. When I snap back to attention, it’s usually because something irked my ears. You Are Forgiven is a nice tune, out of all.

It’s not bad music by any means, it’s just not something I enjoy.