Reviews by deksametazon

Stetson isn't someone who can innovate in his field. By that, I mean that this album has the same tropes as the album that made him famous: haunting wind instruments that sound bombastic and over the top as if it's a contest to see who can make the most cliche movie trailer.

Of course, the idea is good, and the execution is good, but is there a reason to listen to this, when you have a dozen of his albums made before this one? No. No there isn't

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #31 An album with wind instruments only (37th Album)

Boy does this album sound huge. Like, "a giant rusty metal robot traversing through the open fields" huge.

The whole catch about this one, as you can guess from the title of this review, is that the entire thing is composed of different wind instruments, mainly horns, and saxes. And it doesn't sound forced and gimmicky. Sure, it can get repetitive and convoluted in itself sometimes, but the way the instruments are arranged and layered makes you forget about the concept in general. Just listen to Red Horse (Judges ll), a song that can actually make you forget what the album is about with its electro-esque infectious beat.

And it's not only about Stetson. There are spoken word passages done by Laurie Anderson and minimalistic vocal work from Shara Worden that give the album a needed break from the mesmerizing sax work.

Listening to this album makes me want to return to some of Stetson's works I've listened to earlier, because I feel like I've missed a key factor in his style of music that I've found here.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #38 A krautrock album made by non-Germans (7th Album)

When it comes to Stereolab, I can't tell you much. I think they're an art pop rock outfit that flirted with krautrock and Kosmiche lounge pop, and they're communist at the same time? I also know a few of my friends like them.

Mars Audiac Quintet is the first album by them that I listened to fully in tune with what was going on, and I can tell you that it's been an overall pleasant experience. Lot of short pop tunes that are catchy to the ear.

Personally, I like the songs that have a more upbeat dance quality to them, like Ping Pong and Nihilist Assault Group, but the entire album is good. A talented bunch that can craft jammy stuff that bops.

Can't Buy A Thrill was good, and is my favorite album by Steely Dan so far, but Countdown To Ecstasy brings a new, more serious, edge, and better instrument wanking skill. Particularly the guitar and keys.

It still has that urbanite carnival sound of the streets of NYC, but with much more progressive undertones (and overtones).Show Biz Kids has a freakishly infectious tone with those backing vocals that make me groove whenever I hear it. Overall, Countdown to Ecstasy is a perfect follow-up to a great album.

Tell me: can you really hate an album that opens with a slick tune like "Do It Again"? No you can't.

Sure, it's snobish, highrise NYC music, but it's great and infectious, with each song being expertly crafted by adding memorable solos, cohesive musical interplay or just making the right reads and selecting each following song as the perfect choice, while they also work as standalone songs.

With all that being said, one could argue their meticulous style of crafting tunes and this album is the progenitor to the modern social media algorithm: giving you not what you want, but what you need. And at the end of the day, the whole thing becomes a thing you need.

It's basically lo-fi beats to study to. But what separates this album from it, is the fact that this is scrobble-compatible.

Nice contrast between the shoegaze haziness and the basic song structure of indie songs, with memorable passages instead of just reverbing your way through. It reminds me of early Verve in how they combine atmosphere and structure. Sometimes it feels a bit samey, though, but only a bit. Not enough to deter me from returning to it.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #43. An album by an artist who has been a guest on "Hot Ones" (22nd Album)

Very fucking underwhelming, all in all. In a world where rap and electronic music come closer and closer, Big Fish Theory eeks too much into electronica territory and leaves too little quality rap moments. Vince has the talent to be a great rapper when he wants to, which he has shown in moments prior to this album, but here he tries a rapping style that sort of leans into trap, and it frustrates the fuck out of me.

In the end, too much concept and very little substance.

I've listened to some American free jazz albums, and they really don't seem like anything special. They were probably ear melting for the generations in the 50s, though, but today, they're a relic of the past.

The same can't be said for European Free Jazz. TWET doesn't rely on screeching saxophones, nor an overall abundance of noise, but rather a meticulous arrangement of mysterious ambiance. Dark Awakening is exactly the mysteriousness I'm looking for, and Men of the North's rambunctious energy with a great drum solo near the end uses all ten and a half minutes very well! A good gateway into the EU side of free jazz.

"Al' jedno vece se odvez'o u brda
I odozgo gled'o kako svijetli grad
Iznad neke male kuce
Na nebu je zvijezda zasjala

I k'o da mu se neka velika tezina
S ledja sama skinula
Doslo je vrijeme da neko drugi bude
Zabranjeno Pušenje 'mjesto Zabranjenog Pušenja"

Ne volim pisati ovdje na "naški". Nekako se osjećam ružno kontajući da će neki stranac naletit na ovo i da će gledati ovaj tekst ko kakve hieroglife, al' onda kontam "Neće niko mimo Balkana ovo uopšte htjeti pročitat', so why bother"

Elem nejse. Bosna i Hercegovina. Zemlja raznovrsne hrane, kultura, ljudi i zemlja neraznovrsne muzike. Mogu sa sigurnošću reći da Bosna nije imala neku rok scenu još od Primitivaca iz 80ih. Ovo što naleti neki album koji odstupa mimo kiča, šunda i želje za neki cash grab je rijedak ko izvor u Sahari. Al' naleti. Baš kao ovaj.

Debut Srkleta je snimljen 2020. godine, u sred pandemije kurona virusa i odlikuje ga mješavina garage rock-a, punk-a, funk rock-a, a la RHCP i psihodelije, puno psihodelije. Ovaj album je meni zanimljiv iz proste činjenice što sam ga očekivao još od maja 2020. kad je izašao singl "Trinaest" pa sam kontao da će ovo biti iskra koja će potpaliti ognjište koje zovemo "Nova Sarajevska Škola Rocka"

Album otvara pjesma "Lobotomija" čiji je glavni fazon teksta kako nema unikatne raje koja sluša dobru muziku, kako je sve kao bez mozga, itd. itd.
Ali fascinantna činjenica je da njihovom koncertu nema unikatne duše i da su sve to srednjoškolci s kosom boja semafora, starkicama i blijedim hlačama koji proživljavaju onu fazu u kojem obožavaju i kunu se u Joy Division i Smithse, puše Chesterfield jer misle da su kewl. S obzirom da je 99% ljudi koji odstupaju od slušanja Granda i turbo džigare prošlo kroz tu fazu, uključujući sebe, halalim im to.

Druga pjesma je njihov s/t, za koji mogu reći da ima dobar psihodeličan instrumental i jedan passage pred kraj koji mi se baš đaSvi.

Treća pjesma je ljubavna pjesma čija predstava je slična svakoj drugoj pjesmi, samo što Rudanovi vokali zrače onaj Sarajevski "80s klošarluk" i mladost i što podsjeća na nešto što bi Nele iz Zabranjenog Pušenja napisao.

Prijatelju Stari me podsjeća na Doorse i "Break on Through" s tišim i onda glasnijim dijelovima.

Podočnjaci je 1/1 RHCP s funky ritmom i finim gitar solom u sredini.

7 i 8 je tipična tinejdžerska depresiva, ali evo vam još psihodelije.

Tablete je možda najbolja pjesma ovdje, pored Trinaest. Ima taj neki spori feel koji meni dosta paše.

Cenzurisano je opet ona tinejdžerska zatvorenost i monotonija u životu.

Dim Cigare ne kontam. Valjda hoće da prikažu taj neki psihodelični eksperimentalni čar s viđe različitih vokala da se stvori neki manični feel. OK je.

Jackie je još jedna pjesma o djevojci koja Rudanu nije više zanimljiva, ali ova ima melodiju Balkana od Azre, a nema psihodelije, puno (wow).

Trinaest je možda najbolja pjesma, pogotovu dijelovi gdje se dosta pooštrava ritam.

Činjenica da su ovdje svi imali 18-20 godina se ogleda i u tekstovima koji govore o tom nekom tinejdžerskom životu kad si mlad i kad ti propuh piči kroz glavu, pa taj neki corny feel opraštam. Ono što me nervira je što u pojedinim dijelovima instrumentali utuše vokal i onda čuješ samo nešto što bi trebao biti vokal, ali isto dernjava u na koncertu (1,6,10,11). Možda je to bio cilj?

Za prvijenac je ok, nema šta. Tinejdžerska himna od albuma. Jedino što ne volim je što je nekako dug i gubi čar i osjećaš se smoreno dok dođeš do kraja. Produkcija je pristojna, ali može dosta bolje i vjerujem da će drugi album biti takav sad kad su napravili te prve korake i pokazali da može i u Bosni biti nešto od muzike.

Spyro Gyra was one of the first jazz outfits I checked out when I was just starting my journey into music and vinyl. Catching the Sun was a fun listen back then (it's been a while, so I don't know how it holds up), and Carnaval is the same.

My ears have matured, and what I can say now is that this album is great musicianship on display. Right from the opening song, Cafe Amore, you get a quick rundown of how things are going to shape up: Smooth jazzy fusion, with the musicians either playing tightly together, or one upping each other with some great tropical solos.

But the musicianship feels like it has reached the apex of what the genre provides. How much more can you expand? The answer is, not much more, so in the end, you're left with great potential that's bottlenecked by the limits of the genre. As far as smooth jazz goes, this is great, but as far as jazz, it's good for an occasional listen of the background variety, with the occasional turn when a cool solo pops up.

First album from Bruce that I've listened to, and he blows it out of the water. Despite what some people say, Bruce Springsteen is great, and he shows it here. Such a mature display of song craftsmanship and energy. It's hard to hate this one.

Born To Run is exactly what the title implies. It's 40 minutes of odes that make you want to explore the possibilities of the world around you, A unique sound of deep and layered instrumentations adorn this album made for running through life's obstacles. Added to that, the power of the lyrics and Bruce's delivery speaks multitudes to all generations, past, present and future. It's amazing how one guy can define the sounds of a region with a few albums.

Sprawling instrumentation mixing a lot of different musical subgenres and scenes like no wave and noise rock, but doing it in almost the most predictable way possible, and doing it to sound as edgy as possible. The vocalist going for that vocal delivery that gives us a sense of impending doom, even if he read the back of a pack of cake mix, all so he could sling lyrics that try to be as cryptic as they could go with no musicianship, and almost sounding absolutely bonkers and incoherent. If I wanted some looney bin ramblings, I'd go over the psychiatric notes from my local ward.

All that going for an hour and a half, folks.

It's been going downhill for the past few years, and it seems it has no intention of stopping.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #44 An album by a band with members over 10 years apart in age (40th Album)

Spirit was a band formed in 60s California that took a stab at the growing psychedelic counterculture of America. What differentiates them from the others is that right from the beginning, you can feel the vast influence of classical music, psychedelia, blues, and jazz. The latter is partly due to the drummer, Ed Cassidy, being a jazz head who
performed with many famous jazz musicians like Art Pepper, Cannonball Adderley, Roland Kirk, and Lee Konitz. That influenced his jazzy, and loose style of playing that gives the whole record a laid back approach.

Ed is that backbone that holds this album, but the rest of the guys create a really surreal and atmospheric vibe. Randy California has a lot of good moments like Taurus (which Led Zeppelin got sued over), The Great Canyon Fire in General (that has such a "big" sound) and Elijah (which showcases the stepfather-son dynamic of Randy and Ed).

And with a mellow voice like Ferguson's, Spirit gives us something not many psychedelic bands do: an atmosphere that doesn't turn into a slogfest, but a book full of fun passages and intricacies.

I've been meaning to listen to this debut in my quest to listen to the main Sparklehorse albums, expecting a brand of meandering slowcore like on It's a Wonderful Life, but instead I got a sort of slacker rock vaguely infused with a singer-songwriter vibe. That was because this album is the sole remnant of a time before Linkous' brush with death that left a crater bigger than usual in the singer's mind, which is hugely apparent in the amplification of introspection on subsequent releases, as opposed to slight strokes present here.

For starters, the entire album is slacker rock, as mentioned, which drags the lo-fi aesthetic alongside itself, but only in bare structure of the vocals. The instrumentations are as polished as their going to get, so if vocals that sound like they've been recorded through a tin can aren't your style, beware with this one.

Next thing that catches your eye almost instantly, is the beautiful songwriting. Mark Linkous has a sort of pseudo-poetic approach to writing, not really going to deep, but still dropping allegories with a dash of idiosyncrasy to it. I think it sports a good amount of having this easy-going momentum with a lot of space for the listener to go ham and take in the words how they wish.

I'm glad I was recommended this. Sure, if I'm being honest, the more rock oriented stuff I can live without. It's an honest move, but I'm not a big fan of the 90s geek/slacker genre for the most part, but most of the meat on this album is as delicious as it can get, and is worthy of actually getting into.

Might be a bit weird to say (and maybe even a bit racist!), but Fleetwood Mac always felt to me like it lacked the touch a black man. Their studio albums never grabbed me from beginning to end, and felt like they lose steam with how they recorded their early stuff. That's why I prefer from this period in their career, but that's a story for a different time and album.

The Biggest Thing Since Colossus fixes some of the problems I've had with them by having Peter Green solely on guitar duties while Otis Spann does the vocal and songwriting duties. And while the songwriting is serviceable (with the blues, I dont expect much), his expressionable vocals are great and fit well when the band calls for a ferocious and energetic number, something Peter Green never had going for him.

Sadly, for Otis, he never reached a semblance of fame his contemporaries did, even if he was revered in blues circles. I'm glad he recorded this album, because people will come for the Mac, but stay a while for the Spann.

Jeopardy plays like a tale of two sides. The album opens with “I Can’t Escape Myself,” the track that first introduced me to the band, and alongside "Words Fail Me" are the first in which Borland shows his fragile mental state. It's followed by “Heartland,” an energetic synth‑punk banger, while “Missiles” brings a sharper edge. Side A is packed with memorable choruses, driving instrumentals, and a sense of fun that makes it instantly engaging.

Side B struggles to sustain that momentum. “Heyday” carries over some of the edge from the first half, and “Jeopardy” eventually warmed to me, though its annoying tone makes it harder to love. “Night Versus Day” and “Resistance” fall into standard post‑punk territory, making them feel underwhelming. Thankfully, the album closes strong: “Unwritten Law” nails the cold, synth‑driven atmosphere The Sound would explore more fully in later records, while “Desire” reveals its charms only after repeated listens.

Overall, Jeopardy is a good album. Uneven, but worth revisiting. Adrian Borland’s perilous, weary vocals give it a distinctive edge, and the band balances grit with atmosphere without tipping into camp. It may not reach greatness, but it remains a compelling listen that rewards more than one spin.

Live was never the strong suit for most bands in the post-punk sphere, at least if we're judging by live albums, though one band, or better yet, one release, walked left while everyone was walking right.

And what I mean by that is, In The Hothouse is an anomaly. It very well might be their peak, as they combined the raw punk energy, with a microscopic zoom into the brooding atmosphere that jumps from being subdued and calm, into a realm of absolute noisy chaos. Adrian amplifies his energy from the studio into the live setting very well, with an almost anthemic approach to singing that scorches and torches, even in songs deemed bad, from the album Heads and Hearts.

Also, it's hella anthemic and passionate. There are a few songs about love and longing, and Adrians sings those lyrics like he means them, which he probably did. I also wanted to highlight the two added songs in the expanded version, which don't have the same audio quality as the rest, nor were they recorded from the same show. They're great, especially Monument, one of my favorite song from them. An intimate moment caught on microphone.

From what I can recall I stumbled upon this album around late 2017 when "I Can't Escape Myself" was popping up in my recommendations on Youtube because I was fanboying Joy Division. Quickly I fucked with it. I fucked with it a lot. But then I heard "Winning" from their sophomore release and I quickly realized I had to settle down with a wife, and my wife was "From The Lions Mouth". I've listened to this album so much.

Now, revisiting it a few years later, I get to know why I liked it so much. First off, I'm a fan of lesser-known stuff, and while everyone in my town was idolizing Ian Curtis, I was idolizing Adrian Borland. At the time I started writing short stories and novels in high school because of Borland's lyrics, not just on this album, but on the rest of his catalog, even past his Sound days. The thing that stuck with me was his comment that he made to his father:

"If you want to understand me, read my lyrics."

And that was me, never expressing my discontent and opening up directly, but if you read some of my stuff I wrote back then, if you get past the cringe, you get a sense of where I was mentally. And if you knew of The Sound, you'd see how much I took songs from this album and conjured stories out of it.

It's similar to both Joy Division albums, but it's like Joy Division had this direct approach to writing about being alienated by others, while The Sound always toyed around with abstract lyricism that dealt with not being alienated from others, but being alienated from yourself, which you can totally see, considering Borland was a schizophrenic.

Borland's guitar is soaring, with beautiful instrumentation and solos here and there. Graham Bailey rolls with the bass perfectly, and Max on the keyboards gives The Sound something that Joy Division only found when they transitioned to New Order. Altogether, they awoke such a feeling of genuine melancholy, despair, loneliness, fear of humans, and being generally scared that I find lacking in, I'd say all other post-punk albums. Maybe Joy Division came close to replicating that feel on Closer, but In The Lions Mouth just does it better.

Objectively, it's good. Can't say much I haven't said already. Shame they were never recognized, even today when the internet can put so many artists in the spotlight. But maybe it's better like this. The Sound and In The Lions Mouth is my safe space that I don't want to share with some normies.

Subjectively, you know when there's an album that you identify with, and would gladly take a copy to the afterlife with you. Well, this is for me, one of those albums.

I'm rambling too much, go check it out, you won't regret it. Or you'll become sad once you hear it, but you still won't regret it, I guarantee it.

The Magnolia Electric Co. is just one of those albums that click once you start listening to it and don't stop clicking on subsequent listens.

The album is sprawling with amazing melodies that don't entirely go into the country but keep that semblance of alt-rock in it (hence why the first genre tag is alt-country), which is what I like about this album and Jason's catalog in general. Another thing I like about them is the songwriting. God! Reading through them you'd think this is someone having a sad pretentious wank, but listening to the lyrics being accompanied by the music and the vocal delivery makes you feel sad, and destroyed, but also somewhat optimistic and at peace with what you are and what your life is.

Literally, any song on here can be considered a high moment of the album, and I wouldn't look down upon you if you chose any of the songs as your favorite, but for me personally, the highest points on this album are Farewell Transmission, Just Be Simple, Almost Was Good Enough and Hold On Magnolia. They just simply hit that part of the heart that most songs can't even think of hitting.

A true testament to Jason's abilities, and a landmark of music and country.

Also, Steve Albini produced this album, which just gives another reason why he's one of the greatest music producers out there.