Reviews by galway_rat

November 30, 2024

Uh, not first listen
I swear I filled my noggin with the last few albums and now I kind of forget how this one goes. I do hear “Idioteque” and “Everything in Its Right Place” pretty regularly: classics

What do I even have to say about this? It's Kid A. Probably didn't even care for this the first time I heard it, but does anyone? The abrasive noise (and brass) of "The National Anthem" so close to the healing frequencies of "Treefingers"* is some real whiplash; yet at 45 minutes, no trick or experiment goes on long enough to wear me out before the next one hits. It shares that tonal inconsistency with Amnesiac, but I believe the high points of this one are just that much higher.

HL: Everything

Actual HL: “Everything in its Right Place”, “National Anthem”, “How to Disappear Completely”, “Treefingers”, “Idioteque”, “Motion Picture Soundtrack”

maybe even the title track

*I swear it turned off my anxiety tonight, at least till the next song

Hey get the pitchforks, I thought classical music wasn't allowed here!

There are some goosebump moments, and a couple painful synth solos that detracted from my overall enjoyment of this adaptation. Closing the concert with the Nutcracker feels like a troll move, but the audience seems pretty into it

HL: “The Sage”, “The Great Gates of Kiev”

November 29, 2024

:0 how is it that Scottish post-punk on this list still has the ability to surprise me

Even though it’s a chill, groovy album, there’s enough outside-the-box genre bending to keep it from stagnating

The Associates 🤝 Vampire Weekend

November 27, 2024

HL: "Starship", "Borderline", “Rocket Reducer No. 62”

They said 'motherfucker', thusly this is an important album

1001 stars out of 5

also November 26, 2024

The generator has been holding out on Clapton (I think last time was Derek and the Dominos over 2 years ago)

As complicated as the larger historical/cultural context behind "I Shot the Sheriff", or Clapton's career in general, is, I think it's a strong cover. Or maybe I just like a good organ part.

HL: "Motherless Children", "Give Me Strength", "I Shot the Sheriff", "Please Be With Me", "Let it Grow"

November 26, 2024

HL: title track, "Fire and Rain"

Along with the Carpenters' 1970 release, this is gentle pop rock I want to like more than I do. Also like aforementioned Carpenters, has some evergreen hits that makes it hard to argue its relevancy and acclaim

November 25, 2024

HL: "Don't You Want Me", "Open Your Heart", "Darkness", "Love Action", "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of"

Love some human music 🤖

November 24, 2024

Okay, it’s a little notorious in this lil online community, but I gave Shleep a 3 and Soft Machine a 4, so I’m not too worried

Update: this is a special record
I can see how the spaciness and jazz excursions will lose some listeners, but there’s also many gentle, beautiful moments. I’m honestly surprised it ranks lower than the other Wyatts

There is a certain fretful, chaotic mood that surfaces, for instance in “Red Riding Hood”, where I hope that nobody tried listening to this on psychedelics

This, along with The Incredible String Band is some folky nonsense that hits a niche I never knew I wanted or needed. Thanks Britain 👍

November 22, 2024

HL: “Squares", "Dragon", "Broke", “Quiet”

“The intensity of Hot Shots II... will become legendary in, oh, about ten years time. Just wait and see"
Since this list was first published in 2005, we still have a year to make it happen, folks!

Despite the musical adventurousness, I wouldn’t describe this as intense, particularly as it ends in basically a shrug and a commitment to get high

Bear in mind when I listened to this, I was already distracted by the fact I suddenly had new Kendrick and Kiwanuka albums to listen to. Consider this, like basically every other review, as an impressionable first impression.
I thought its mix of trip-hop and slacker rock was often intriguing, it just didn’t grab me the way a few recent albums have

3.5

November 21, 2024

Perfect. The newest album on the list is followed by one of the oldest ones

My body cannot take this much mambo

HL: “Hong Kong Mambo”, “Estoy Siempre Junto a Ti”, “3D Mambo”

Not 1st listen- pretty sure when I got back into this project after dropping it for a year, I saw the most recent release was Heaux Tales, put it on for a lark and was left profoundly indifferent.
I've had about two years to change my mind, and in the meantime listened to a lot of soul and R&B that may have informed Ms. Sullivan in the present day: Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, D'Angelo, Beyonce, etcetera.
What did we learn...
- Never appreciated the gospel influences in this album until today
- Sullivan's range is a wonder, in certain songs she sounds like 3 different ppl
- I really enjoy the spooky riff in "Price Tags" feat. Anderson.Paak
- The walk-on cameos from Paak and Ari Lennox made me consider that they'd be justified inclusions for this list on their own (having heard Malibu earlier this year, and Lennox's Shea Butter Baby literally today)
- Despite the mountain of talent on display, I had a feeling of "is that it?" at the end. Which led me to Heaux Tales, Mo' Tales.
- The title of the deluxe version is pretty accurate: there are definitely more tales. They're pretty good, but I believe the standouts were already on the standard version.
- So we're back at the standard version. Over half of the "real" songs (4/7) are listed below as my personal highlights, and I don't mind the other 3, so case closed, right? Any other album (or extended play -_-) that I can shout out over half the tracks is a pearl. I can nitpick all I want about the interludes, which structured as they are is a bit academic for my tastes. As embarrassed as I am to admit, I gave Lauryn Hill's only album 3 stars at the beginning of this project, partly because of the interludes; but at least the way they were interspersed were more organic.
But it all comes back to the music, and hoowee it's a doozy. Heaux Tales is perhaps another hasty modern entry, and will probably be removed the next time they come out with a book edition, but it IS a promising example of where R&B is going into the 2020s. Rounding up to a 4

HL: "Price Tags", "Lost One", "On It", "Girl Like Me"

November 20, 2024

November 19, 2024

HL: "Never Said", "Shatter", "Divorce Song", "Canary"

Not sure what it is about that track, but right at "6'1"" I was prepared to dislike this album, as sometimes happens with 90's alt/lo-fi releases on this website. Yet despite my misgivings, I ended up impressed with Liz Phair's debut. Having read about some career drama (self-titled album, the Pitchfork 0.0 blah blah), it's refreshing to actually listen to her work.
"Never Said" is perhaps the poppiest tune, and MAYBE I'd overlook it on 90's nostalgia radio but it's a much needed bright spot amidst moodier, grungier pieces.
"Explain It To Me" and "Canary" are curious ballads in the middle of the album, the former awash with cozy reverb and the second with wintery piano.
"Shatter" makes a couple electric guitars sound cavernous, the eerie canons of "Flower" and "Johnny Sunshine" evoke both the Go-Gos and PJ Harvey.
A couple songs (out of 18) seem unfinished & inconsequential, but there's enough strong ones that I won't dwell on them.

I was going to give this a more critical review but it’s too late to…

HL: "CULT OF PERSONALITY", "I Want to Know", "Open Letter", "Funny Vibe", “Which Way to America”

unexpected Public Enemy. unexpected Talking Heads. Shit even Jagger is on this album

Remarkable relic of the hair metal era; Living Colour, along with Fishbone, provide some much needed funk rock that isn’t the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Faith No More. The 1988ish production maybe robs their debut of a little bite, but I still had a lot of fun with this.

Also, a Guitar Hero 3 classic 🎸

November 17, 2024

NOT first listen

Throwback to 2017, where I decided between Lorde's Melodrama or Lana Del Rey's Lust for Life in a music store. I chose the latter. No regrets, even if RYM will tell you it's her worst album -_-

Nonetheless, I have returned to this album a few times, usually to get a quick shot of dopamine with "Green Light". Favourite track is "The Louvre", easily the most Bleachers of these Jack Antonoff-produced songs.

I don’t have many strong feelings about Melodrama, but it is a great example of 2010’s pop.

HL: "Green Light", "Homemade Dynamite", "The Louvre", "Hard Feelings/Loveless", "Writer in the Dark"

November 16, 2024

November 15, 2024

One day after another 1977 album with Brian Eno: “Can you not be [producing classic albums] for FIVE MINUTES?”

NOT first listen; my favourite track the first time was “Warszawa”, and it may still be. The harmonica-laced “New Career in a Small Town” is pretty stiff competition.
Overall, while Low introduced this experimental phase of Bowie’s music, I think I enjoy “Heroes” a bit more. Though I’m probably too much of a fan to contest both albums being on this list…

HL: “Sound and Vision”, “A New Career in a Small Town”, “Warszawa”, “What in the World”

ScIeNcE rUlEs

Alrighty I got the two Roxy Musics featuring him, and Bush of Ghosts, and Warm Jets, and the Airport one & Green World. I even listened to his collab with Lanois, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, of my own volition, and *loved* it.
The exciting thing: I still have no idea what I'm getting into here- such is the guy’s creative restlessness.

At first I thought “Here He Comes” was just Eno’s take on yacht rock, but the modern-sounding guitar and harmonies elevated it on a subsequent listen.

Holay there are some beautiful moments in this ("By this River")

This may come on top for solo Eno releases for me. In the past, his rock-y tracks took a back seat to the ambient ones, but here I didn't really have a preference between the two.

HL: “Spider and I”, “By This River”, “King’s Lead Hat”, “Backwater”, “Here He Comes”, "No One Receiving"

November 14, 2024

November 13, 2024

HL: "When I Get to the Border", “The Calvary Cross”, “Down Where the Drunkards Roll”, title track

I got Richard’s band Fairport Convention back in May (Unhalfbricking), and was a bit lukewarm on it despite a special melange of British and American folk. I took to this album quicker, however. It could be a right-time-right-place love, considering how many later “slowcore” albums have been hit-or-miss for me; these slow, meditative tracks are a surprising antidote to a cold, cloudy day. And you still have some brighter moments like “When I Get to the Border” and “The Little Beggar Girl”.

Would pair with a fireplace in the future, if I HAD ONE

HL: "Bury Me Deep in Love", "Trick of the Light", “Blinder By the Hour”, “Jerdacuttup Man”

Things I know about the Triffids:
-they’re Australian*
-people seem to HATE them on this website

Idk, I liked it quite a bit 🤷‍♂️
Warm, slightly woozy sound (befitting the title)- some tracks resemble shanties, one has uileann pipes which is like a cheat code to get me enjoying a song.

1987 pop trends threatened to drown it, but Calenture remains seaworthy

*3rd band in a row not from UK or USA, a rarity

November 11, 2024

HL: title track, "Kometenmelodie 1", "Morgenspaziergang"

I rly like these minimalist album covers on the remasters, including this one

Already familiar with the title track (love the simulated car horns), let's see what the rest brings....

Alright, before industrial and synth-pop became their own genres, we have the second half of this album. Very spacey, sometimes pretty.
I'm glad I didn't expect this to top Die Mensch Machine & Trans Europe Express; it's a little jankier and more inconsistent.
Nevertheless, it’s a vital link to countless future genres (and future Kraftwerk), and a heck of an album to commute to.