Reviews by deksametazon

I like this more than. Astonishingly beautiful album. Exudes concrete soul. I actually enjoyed every song on here. You got the heavyweights in "Safe From Harm", and "Unfinished Sympathy", but the tracks in between don't drop that far in comparison to them, so it doesn't become a chore to listen to them. I love the vocal deliveries on this. A perfect mix of nocturnal lurking of trip-hop on some tracks (on which they would build their sound on later records), and sunshine soul. Even the lyrics are good if you get into that part of the album.

I believe there isn't a single person on this planet who listened to this album that found every track boring. The only gripe I have is that Five Man Army is an amazing track that gets stale because of the length, but trip-hoppers will like that prolonged instrumental.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #46. An album without synths from the 1980s (34th Album)

Of course this is a Fred Firth foray. You get what you expect right from the get go: avant-prog mixed with no wave sensibilities.

As far as the music goes, it feels much more like a performance art piece from a museum than an album I'd return to listen to in my free time. Still, I can't say anything bad about it. It's very much full of inspiration, and you have to have talent to create a cohesive album from the sounds these people force their instruments to make. I can commend that, but that's not enough for me to return to it.

Thank you [~SpeedKills] for the recommendation!

I appreciate the direction, I really do. What boomers had in the 60s with the counter culture movements, peace protests, and whatever else they had in music, I appreciate that we have that in this day and age, because we need it.

But do we need it in a derivative post-rock form with yet another angry British man? No.

The melodies at moments are decent, I'll give them that. It's perilous and passionate, but the sax is overdone. We don't need you to be Van Halen on sax and molest it to death. Also, the lyrics are meh at best, but which politically charged piece of music past the 00s isn't?

Overall, I expected nothing and got exactly that.

At times it can feel like your typical folk album, but on the other hand, at some moments you can feel the funky jazz-folk monstrosity beginning to brew, only to be released to the world on the next album. As most have already stated, Beverley here adds a dimension that was direly needed, especially on their previous album, where she was mostly in the back. Here she feels much more confident in her abilities as a singer. Shame she never fully ambraced that role throughout her life.

It has its moments, but for the most part, it's just British folk infused with a few progressive touches here and there. This one is far from the dissonant, jazz-ambient-folk, grizzled-voiced John most of us love, but it has parts that make me think: "Oh so this idea didn't just come up randomly!".

Those moments include Stormbringer!, and the closer Would You Believe Me. Regarding his partner in crime, his wife, she doesn't pull down the album. In fact, I quite enjoyed her track The Ocean the bonus, It's One Of Those Days, and the occasional backing vocals on some of the tracks.

Overall, lacking, but not too lacking to make it a bore. Make it a task to listen to this one after you're done with the essential John Martyn stuff.

The Church With One Bell is as close of a comeback album you could find when it pertains to Martyn's career. It's an album full of covers, from beginning to end, which are well-chosen, and well done. John had a knack for covering songs, often opting for a laid back approach which fit his grizzled vocal cords best. That accompanied by a very moody backdrop of horns and guitars, and it's a very cool album, through and through.

The only thing that gets stale is the "eoough" synths. They were here for a while now, probably since the early 80s. If you heard the album, you'll know exactly what I mean.

You know, John is in a deep groove here. Whether this is the result of an increased drug dependency or simply a burst of creative energy is the subject of eternal debate, but the bottom line is that John has caught lightning in a bottle here.

It leans more towards an experimental venture with a touch of folk, unlike the previous album (which I highly recommend) which is the opposite, leaning towards folk with an experimental venture.

Simply put, a man with a goal in mind, whatever he tried, achieved. Of course, folk has always been his forte, so those songs are somehow the best here because they have a simple character to them. Case in point, May You Never, perhaps his most famous song, which has beautiful harmonies with his wife, accompanied by guitar and bass. The other side that dominates more is dark jazz sometimes mixed with moments of folk, sophisticated pop, or electro experimentation. The atmosphere is incredible throughout the whole album, and it really surprises me that there is not a single moment that's wasted and where the quality drops, considering the amount of movement between different genres.

In the end, I would just add that the album is unique in itself. I don't know if anyone then, or even now, managed to combine these sounds in this way and make them sound so connected to each other like they were always meant to be. A bold move, done in a magnificent way.

This was a weird period for him. The bigwigs at Island thought a suit would fit this folk maestro and a sophisticated approach, but alas, the mounted comeback failed. At least we got Angeline out of this one, so it's not all gloom.

It's a folk album with the influences being proudly worn across its entire body. I'm glad he ditched the whole Greenwich Village aesthetic for a more unique approach, but this album is not bad for what it is.

Finally everything came together and clicked! John finally harmonizes the tonality of his voice with the accompanying instrumentation and thus one of the best folk albums of all time is created.

In about 40 minutes, all the essence that should make up a folk album is captured: a light guitar that evokes images of fields and pastures with a light wind, and a look into the distance that longs for something, or someone. Very simple lyrics with easily understandable allegories and links are also one of the reasons I love this album. You don't have to be a pretentious asshat and go excessively deep into analysis to understand what he wanted to say because everything John thought, he expressed in a straightforward way.

Of course, as with the two albums he recorded with Beverley, there are hints of experimentation with jazz and pop in the songs Walk on The River and Bless The Weather, but still within the framework of the album's general theme. Echoplex experimentation gave us a wonderful instrumental in the form of Glistening Glyndebourne, which is a lot inspired by spiritual jazz, which gives us an insight into the future, but also into a possible timeline where John becomes a full jazz musician.

The only song that stands out in a negative sense is Sugar Lump, which stands out like a sore thumb with its sexual nature that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the album, and the rendition of Singin' in the Rain, which isn't bad, but is unnecessary. The rest is par excellence.

The peak of his career as an exclusively folk musician.

A bit too much up its ass for my tastes. This is why Pink Floyd mogs these guys: you can create a great progressive rock album with simple lyrics alongside a simple instrumental backbone, and not throw around excessive cryptic and quasi philosophical remarks like these guys. The instrumentals are decent, but some real bad choices bury it into the ground. You don't need a drum fill every minute or so, nor does Cicatriz ESP need a long, almost totally silent, part that kills any enjoyment.

Call me old-fashioned I guess...

When they're doing the hardcore (or post-hardcore, whatever the preference is), they're good. They touch on all the key stuff that, for me, makes the genre good. Catchy riffs, visceral vocals. But on the other hand, when they try their hand at "ballads", or better yet, when they tune down the aggressiveness, they turn into this sappy, hazy, indie rock outfit, and I'm not a particular fan of that approach.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #2. A visual kei album. (26th Album)

Sounds really... Japanese. Sounds racist, I know, but it has that slight bombast to it and the sort of grandiosity very prominent in Japanese visual media. In fact, the enjoyment you'll get from this stems from your enjoyment of said visual media, since this one heavily inspires/is inspired by it. I was never a fan of anime, so the eclectic sound of keys, violins, and the vaguely perilous energy of the vocalist just doesn't do it for me. In fact, I'm a bit annoyed honestly.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #4.An album that has never been physically reissued (6th Album)

Sarajevan deep cut album known for three things: being a homegrown band from Sarajevo, their vocalist losing an arm in the war, and this album fetching absurd prices.

Sadly, being rare doesn't equate to being good, as this album is as pop rock as it gets. A bit anthemic here and there, but overall really meek and already done. I guess you had to be there to experience it.

He still has a long way to go, but for a first-time effort, this is very good. An album very reminiscent of a combination of the P-Funk genre, and. The complex and lush background is at moments overused, like in those prelude songs (which there are 3 out of 12, that's 40% of the album!), but when he decides to make a real pop song, the results are above good.

What Comes After the Blues is the first album by Magnolia Electric Co., Jason Molina's band after he changed it from Songs: Ohia. Side A is the electric side, with amazing songs like The Dark Don't Hide It and Hard to Love a Man, while side B returns to the atmosphere that made Molina famous. Sparse arrangments, sometimes only him with his guitar, and sometimes followed by his band at a much slower pace.

Also, the addition of female backing vocals is definitely a change, but Jennie does very well to actually add to the intimacy of the album.

Overall, an enjoyable album. My least favorite on here is Hammer Down, but the rest is mighty fine. Tight, atmospheric, introspective, and comforting. Just as how I like my Jason.

Cutting like a saw through the bone. No stopping, just a pure onslaught of art to the mind. The guitar sound is raw and harrowing, Jason's lyrics and delivery good as in any recording. An hour and something of pure emotion and power. An amazing live album. Highly recommended to anyone loving Jason Molina or the Crazy Horse/Neil Young sound.

I dunno if it's me moving from my "sad COVID boy" era but this album is... really weak. Out of all the songs, the only one that gives me any enjoyment is Montgomery, while the rest is just a rock album through the Molina filter without any substance. It was bound to happen sometime, but I didn't expect his album with a sub 30-minute runtime to be that album.

Close your eyes, and this album is pure 70s. The album is not bad, but it's too long. I'd rather listen to Yes than this offshoot.

Disappointing album, really. Eh, now that we have brought the essence to light, we have separated those who read my reviews for my aimless babbling from those who, like my professors, who at the end of the check write under a three or at best a shaky four: "What did the writer want to say? ". Nothing much, but plenty of it.

Anyway, Real Life is an album that attracts my attention because it is one of the first post-punk albums, the cover looks spectacular, and Shot By Both Sides is an incredibly electrifying song. I somehow hoped that the album would lean more towards punk, considering the previously mentioned song and the previous engagement of the vocalist in the Buzzcocks, but I only got a post, from the post-punk. And it's not even that blood-curdling, scary, punky post-punk like Pop Group, PiL, or Nick Cave, but some futuristic, more conventionally rock-oriented post-punk whose main attraction is Devoto's lyrics, vocal performance, as well as whether you are attracted to improvisation with progressive and even krautrock. Unfortunately, only Devoto's vocal performance could be a passing point for me, the rest is li-la.