Reviews by deksametazon

Our Mother the Mountain and the s/t share the same seriousness and melancholia, but while the previous is more stone-faced, this one is more melancholic, playful and just downright free.

The orchestral tone is gone, and all we have is a vast field, a guitar and a voice to guide us. Townes can't disappoint, the songs are stark, and more streamlined into being a showcase of penmanship, with elegiac quality, and an abundance of clear personal sadness. It was a hard task to follow up Our Mother the Mountain, but with a tweak in approach, TVZ accomplishes what many strive to do, yet fail tremendously.

Townes effortlessly combined 3 things I like about music: the songwriting, country genre, and melancholy. His first album has some moments, but here is where TVZ truly shines. He reworked some songs and the results are more than good.

If I'd compare this album to food, it's like dark chocolate: it's good for you, maybe a bit strong, but once you get the hang of it, you can never return to regular chocolate.

Pretty much a greatest hits album, which isn't a new statement, with banter between tracks and a great flow between each song that removes the common "these songs don't work in a compilation" problem. TvZ doesn't miss a beat across the hour and a half he's playing.

It's always a treat to come back to this album, especially since I have it on vinyl. Pour a drink, put it on, turn the knob, and sit back and enjoy the sounds of coughs, whispers, guitar picking, camaraderie and emotion that van Zandt brings.

The thing that surprises me time and time when I listen to this album is how quickly it ends. And it's not like it's 20-something minutes long, it's the usual, 38 minute foray, but the way this one flows seamlessly from one song to another is the culprit.

There's a lot of similarity to Duster, because this IS Duster, albeit under a different name. Slow tempos and numbing drones is the name of the game here, and they play it well.

Man, I feel like the biggest problem with modern electronic music these days is that the sounds these artists create don't bring anything new and adventurous, but just take what musicians in the 2010s made and repackage it as a new and hip thing. I guess it's a product of nostalgia and yearning for a more peaceful time, so to compensate we create electro RnB car music people laughed at 15 years ago.

Totally okay-ish, a bit same-ish, I bobbed my head-ish a couple of time-ish, but nothing new-ish under the sun-ish.

This is usually where the story of alt-country begins, at least how the papers put it. Some kids decided to jam out, wearing their love for country on one sleeve, and punk on the other, Sorta like the writer of this review, and the results are this: youthful flame condensed into a 40 minute package.

Uncle Tupelo took their abundance of energy and made an album that's not without its flaws, but its flaws are what makes it good. It's an honest product, made to be made, not to have appeal (though it most certainly does).

I love the whole blue-collar, working-man aesthetic this album has going for it. It's a good mirror into the lives of people living in bumfuck nowhere, where you either work to get out, slack around the local liquor store, or both: work to slack out.

In summary, No Depression is an awesome album. Quite simple, but really infectious.

Coming into their fourth studio album, Uncle Tupelo was at a weird place. On one hand, they finally secured their major-label contract and were about to break into the mainstream, while on the other, that same band was beginning to crack. Not crack in a healthy way that can be patched with a band-aid, no, these guys were headed towards a full-on catastrophe.

But amidst this catastrophe, the band sounded in tune with each other more than they ever did before, and it's hard to say the album would have the same impact had the two leaders interfered in each other's song creation process.

The album has many different styles, ranging from rock on The Long Cut and Chickamauga, to more slower and more country tunes like New Madrid, Acuff-Rose, and even some folk in the song Anodyne and Slate which really helps show the genre in a good spotlight as an amalgam of many different influences. The lyrical content is all over the place on the surface, but it's mostly both Tweedy and Farrar throwing shade at each other for the uncompensatable damage the other has caused. There's something for everyone here, and unlike some other alt-country albums, this one doesn't fully embrace Nashville country and sprinkles some other sound, but turns its head just the right amount so it makes something that hasn't been done before.

The band would break up soon after this album after some horrifying touring. Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt, while Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco, two very important bands to the alt-country canon, and the 90s and 00s American musical canon, while Anodyne stands up high on the mountain as a monument to what can be made through pure determination and musicianship.

Whatever you think Jay and Jeff made here, they made it, and they made it even better than you expected it to be.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #20 An album with the name of a month in the title (39th Album)

Probably their worst album in their "good 80s phase", to call it something.

To set up the scene, U2 had a firm look in the mirror and started to question their very existence, which clashed with the Christian lifestyle most of the band were in at the time. Add the fact that the lyrics for the original album were lost backstage at some concert, and you get a rushed, Christian oriented album called October.

And October is exactly what you would expect from the previous paragraph: nothing special. I guess it does have a few moments here and there. "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" and "Rejoice" have good instrumental moments from Mullen Jr., and I guess "Gloria" and "Fire" can be classified as OK songs, but that's mostly just grasping at straws and wishful thinking. It also doesn't help that the whole idea of a religious album doesn't work most of the time.

A typical sophomore slump of an album I could've gone without listening, but hey, it isn't called a challenge for nothing.

At this point, U2 was as sterile as a surgical field. All their songs sound like a meticulous wank fest with zero sense of camaraderie between the guys. I get it, you're pushing 40, you got a family, kids, you have little to no gas in the tank left to create something worthwhile, but you gotta put food on the table, so you churn out an album with some singles and say "Look! E l e v a t i o n", and what not. I get that, but don't make ME listen to some boomer, reminiscing-to-the-old-days, slog and say, this is one of the greatest musical achievements. I could find 1001 albums that sound better than this.

We'll add a stronger track, a ballad, some filler, another ballad. See ya in a few years, folks! Fuck off Bono, retire already...

It's good, but it feels like it's missing some kind of key component. It's pretty straightforward, with each musician on here bringing some kind of key factor. The duo of Tyner and Jones bring that rhythmic energy while Carter is the backbone of the whole thing, and Henderson, when present, carries the songs forward. It has a sort of spiritual quality to it, which is to be expected from guys who played with Coltrane.

Annoying with its bombastic ass sound. Their previous two albums are much better and nicer sounding with sparser arrangements, and with songs that are present here, but done much better. Literally, Jerdacuttup Man is a leftover track from In The Pines, albeit more rockish, while the former is more melancholic and desolate, like the outback of Australia where they based their sound from. And much better.

Especially sad that this is in the 1001 albums list:/. They have better releases, people!

28 minutes of tropical partying, and I mean it, because this one flows like one continuous track, despite it being labeled otherwise. With that in mind, I can't write a standout track, other than "OAN" which surprised me with its sudden switch to a more funky tune. It's a great album, especially if you're into that indigenous, uplifting type of music.

I, like most, discovered T. Rex through this album or through songs that came from it. Marc Bolan's aura is incredibly infectious, and all the songs reflect a genius at creating music that lingers in the mind for a long time. When distilled, here are 11 pop songs, with a hugely influential sound and spectacular presentation.

Each song makes you want to get up and dance, and the simple formula gives Bolan space to shine from the speakers of your room, or a bar, or a concert hall, while you get to be the star and get down and boogie! Rock on!

I'm no Christian so that part of the album passes above me, but what I am is a music lover, and the ideas hit me loud and clear. Psalm 42 is a cut above everything here, with a sound that evokes imagery of a commune deep in the American fields, conjuring up a portal that plays as an overture to a medley of the first three tracks. The rest is quick and neat tho.

Fascinantno je kako su uspjeli da promovisu fašizam, uvrijede sve seksualne manjine, odbrane Thompsona, negiraju postojanje koncentracionog logora i ustaških zločina, okaljaju uspomenu na naširoko voljenog kantautora antiratnog opredjeljenja, ponovno iskažu mržnju prema homoseksualcima, te za kraj podlegnu pandemijskim paranojama. Sve u dvije pjesme.

Ako nista, svaka im cast pa su za manje od 60 minuta uspjeli usrati karijeru. Nije da su je imali poslije pocetka 2000ih.

BTW, samo pogledaj komentare na nekim intervjuima i bice ti jasno zasto odavde treba bjezat

A solid album that brings a chill atmosphere with fine and delicate vibrations. The lyrics are simple with good arrangements and good guitar work by Despot. In general, this style of music doesn't have a lot of room for experimentation and jumping to new heights (while being good at it), so what this album does, it does well, it's just that this isn't the style of music I prefer to listen to on a daily basis.. But for those who like this type of music, recommendations are here.

This is barely jazz. It's more like moments before an impending disaster. Y'know, rats running out of the sewers and shit. Lot to unpack obviously, but you don't need to; it's still holding on just fine as is.

I usually like my jazz to be palpable and easy to digest, and this just strides that line between understandable and "what the fuck" territory. The opening hodgepodge of instruments, In Touch with the female guest chants, and Wrapped/Unwrapped with its... presence, and an overall sense of unknown hands playing tricks in the dark. It surprised me every step on the way, and that's what you need sometimes, y'know.

Intimate grandeur is the name of the game here. This album sounds like a living room concert of a newlywed couple who were doomed from the beginning.

To me, this album sounds like a broken family. Richard is a stern father with his piercing voice, and Linda plays that haunting motherly figure, and the content backs that up.

At first, the hits were my favorites: When I Get To The Border and I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, but as years passed, I came to love the slower tempo, and straight melancholic songs such as The End Of The Rainbow, The Great Valerio and The Calvary Cross. All flavors of folk are here for your choosing, and all of them are performed nicely.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #6. An album created by a couple (like husband/wife, bf/gf, etc) (16th Album)

Hokey Pokey is... mainstream? I have nothing in particular to say about this album, it has a mainstream sound while still sort of keeping that intimate edge from their debut on a few songs.

Other than that... eh?? It was over without much fanfare from me, with nothing to cling onto in the end.

Oh, the cover is exactly what it is: urban, festive-ish music.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #42 An album in your friend's last.fm all-time top 5 (48th Album)

There are too many things here that require explanation, but for which it is impossible to give an adequate one. The debut album of This Heat is a rather poor entry point for music lovers into the band's oeuvre, but in many moments it is a much better indicator of the comprehensive talent these guys possessed. Sometimes I wonder if maybe they discovered a time machine and came from today to 1979 and made this album.

"Horizontal Hold" and "24 Track Loop" is quite a good instrumental tape with many moments that influenced electro music in the 90s and beyond, "Not Waving" and "Twilight Furniture" are partly a forerunner of the post-rock genre and partly an indicator of dark energy which will be present to a greater extent on the next album. "The Fall of Saigon" is somehow my favorite track here, mostly because it reminds me of the tribal music with motifs of war trauma from their next, more "commercial" and rock-oriented album.

This is one of those albums that is impossible to describe with the conventional "sit down, keyboard in hand and type" approach. Suffice it to say that these people took inspiration from classical composers who used electronic manipulation, and added a spin of krautrock with stretching and repetition of parts while simultaneously adding other instrumental moments in their own unique way in a period when you would least expect this type of music to appear. In one hand, this album belongs to this period, that is, the period of punk evolution. With its unorthodox approach, in a poetic way, This Heat makes it known that sometimes comfort is precisely in the uncomfortable.