Reviews by kuvien

The sweet, delicate, falsetto version of hard rock. Good shit, great riffs, wonderful vocal histrionics. Anyone else feel like snorting coke and hugging yourself? I do, especially when classic rock silliness extends itself into side-B-long songs.

Somebody put something in the water at the end of 1970, stepped back, and watched from the shadows as all-that-is-awesome unfolded in the next year. The vocals on this album are so effortless and cool, the guitars cocky and energetic. One day I’m going to have to listen to this album as I watch the sunrise.

An ancient wizard with a cloak of gold and eyes of fire drinks your wine and tells you he’s come down from his mountain home to dispel your fears and impart unto you his wisdom. The backing keyboards blend so well with the guitars that it sounds like the guitars are breathing their chords, giving the music a more progressive and psychedelic feel.

I had this album at two stars until the last track. Yeah, cringey aged-like-milk zeitgeist crap gets one star.

Quirky, bouncing clarinet music. Mellow, sinister piano music. Dramatic synth and drum music. But what makes this great is when the three strains come together and play off one another. The last track breaks all that down, however, as it flirts with an industrial edge.

A disturbing vocal beginning (much like the invocations of many a “weird” 70s album) flows into something more melodic and instrumental that still retains a sinister feel. There are brief descents into discordance, but overall it’s Berckmans’ bassoon that creates the backbone of the album’s atmosphere.

Being a little bit electronic and a little bit Middle Eastern in feel makes for an unusual album, since these two musical elements aren’t something that really go together in most people’s minds. "The Funeral Plain", a 20-minute sprawling track detailing the conflict between the individual and his circumstances (with all its fits and starts), is, in the artists’ words, dedicated to “all living hardships that lead into self-awareness.”

I am convinced the more I hear its magic that the bassoon is a summoning agent, much like incense, and if put in the hands of a master, the fragrance is an undeniable lure.

So much bassoon in this it could be on Disney's next Fantasia soundtrack (albeit a dark, disturbing one!). Prog rock played for a small, elite audience, like after a fancy dinner or something. Not sure it it's good for the digestion, though. In its quieter moments, this recording has a sinister, cinematic quality to the music.

This makes baby Jesus cry.

This is one of the best collaborations I've ever heard, and I'm not even a fan of hip hop in general. I've heard them each solo and don't care for Aesop Rock, but together, they're just my thing. She's saccharine on her own, but he's too acidic. Put them together, though, and you got a great sauce. This album is a hip, cool, quirky, eminently sing-a-long-able, head-bopping, foot-tapping, hmmm??-inducing ride through modern American hopes and fears. Come of age, and then age out.

This is an album that can only ape what country is. Country is either in the blood or it isn't, and it definitely isn't in their blood. Every song they sing on this album reminds me instantly of a better country song dealing with the exact same themes.

I never have much to say about library music. I don't have much to comment on when walking through museums, either. This is the very definition of background music, audio artifacts of the sounds of the times. Good stuff, but nothing to write home about. I like a bit of this mixed into my collection.

I’m not a fan of Ulver in general, but this album’s genre trumps band name or identification. This, like most dark folk, evokes a strong mood that cannot be denied. The album is aptly named, “Twilight Songs”. Not something to really go with a bright summer day. The lack of black metal elements on this album is definitely a feature for me. This is an album to listen to when you’re alone and doing nothing else but perhaps have a warm drink.

Soprano saxophone, drums, and double bass swirl freely around the vocal improvisations of a solo Ukrainian folk singer. Recorded live in an old church, this album is all about wandering through sonic spaces, of voice and instrument meeting and traveling along a common path but for a little while before diverging.

The pagan songs Vikings might have sung while rowing their longboats to war, the chanting and subdued drumming creating quite a hypnotic effect, perfect for repetitive manual actions. This recording does, in fact, include 11 traditional Lithuanian war songs, and Lithuanian does have access to the Baltic Sea. Gorgeous all-male a cappella singing, too.

Sounds like Modest Mouse lyrically but lacks their lyricism.

Is this good? Yes. Should I be listening to it? No.

Mo' mental. Mo' problems.

This album isn't just about creating the dark folk mood of soothing guitars and natural sound effects... the crying, growling vocals seem to be actually lamenting something. With slight Chilean flourishes on the music, this album stands out as offering something a bit different from its Scandinavian cousins.