Reviews by kuvien

What dire and wonderful secrets are in that flying saucer that you have to set its controls for the heart of the sun? I bet it’s all that mad imagination locked inside Syd’s brain. No matter, though. We’ll discover it again in time. It’s our destiny, like entering the Monolith. An ascension indistinguishable from apotheosis.

This album is pure genius wacky crazy fun. The best hypnagogic pop album yet. I'm not really one to watch music videos, but the videos for some of the songs on this album are worth watching. They give you a peek into Ariel Pink's mind, and it's quite an interesting ride. The videos definitely have a more artistic bent, but that's what I'd expect from a quirky pop artist outside the mainstream. Anyway, this music is just so cool. I feel cooler just listening to it. I disagree with the criticism that Ariel Pink is style over substance. There's a lot to unpack here if you just listen.

Not as good as Pom Pom because this one lacks the previous album’s overall catchiness and cleverness, but it’s still a damn good experimental psychedelic pop album. Some of Ariel’s lo-fi tendencies find their way onto some of the tracks. Based on this album, I went ahead and checked out Chris Lucey’s Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest. Meh. Anyway, “Do Yourself a Favor” is probably my favorite song on this album. The way he sings “pop goes the weasel” is just so beautiful.

A fine intersection of prog folk and Italian prog rock, but not as gripping as their next album,. This one is more pleasantly pastoral and not much more. It feels like a sonic exploration of the contrast of light and darkness. "Lady Ligeia" is a fascinating highlight.

This album is a must-have for any music lover who delights in the weird, unexpected, and groundbreaking. The electronics on display here couched in prog sensibilities and spoken-word parts is simply stunning.

I love the comfortable unpredictability of this album, with its avant jazz sounds steeped in Canterbury sensibilities. The random cries, moans, and gargles in the vocals, the playful tinkling of triangles over ominous droning, the horns and reeds fleshing out a lush soundscape, the xylophones keeping things silly amid the roaring of psychedelic guitars. A brilliant debut album, and not at all what I would have expected from the Italian prog scene.

Neo-Medieval interludes with harpsichord and close, simple, male vocal harmonies sprinkled throughout this epic journey. (Is that Latin I hear at one point?) This feels like a group of soldiers on campaign singing, and one of those myrmidons plays the flute, keeping pace with the lively march. I love the moments when it sounds like they’ve entered a cave lair, where strange insects chirp and human voices echo. Then it all ends with just a touch of the sense of the wide expanse of space.

Wonderful debut for the legendary synth/dancepop duo, with their two classics, the ever-cool "West End Girls" and the wide-eyed "Opportunities". But, like I wrote about other Boys' albums, stopping at the singles is a mistake, and you end up missing a lot of good songs. I feel like the Boys craft their albums with as much attention to detail as they do their individual tracks. They have as much skill with slow, melodic (almost orchestral) synths as they do with highNRG beats. Anyway, as a debut album... well, how? Did Tennant and Lowe just read each other minds? It'd not surprise me to find out they have some kind of music-telepathy.

For all their iconic bangers, Pet Shop Boys' best track is "Left to My Own Devices". Just a flawless dance-pop tune, with this beautiful, ever-renewing center of energy that invigorates everyone it washes over and, despite its long play for a pop song, cannot help but hold the room in its sway. Besides, that crescendo moment where the beat disappears, only to return with joyful trumpets? Perfection. Earworm synths, exuberant brass, and dramatic dance-floor beats follow, leading into one of the best and most unexpected covers ever recorded: a hi-NRG rendition of an old country song, keeping the lyrics slow but working it to a fast dance beat. And not afraid to indulge in some wonderfully campy faux-opera vocals.

Holy shit. She's the throat goat.

Tap your toe, have a drink and a quiet, pleasant conversation. At night. This is what I put on when my dinner guests say they wanna hear some "jazz".

The problem with this trio is that they'll do legit songs then sing shit like "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "It's Raining It's Pouring".

The real-life frontier of space isn't warp speed. It's slow. Very slow. Lots of chrome lobbies and white-walled waiting rooms. I mean gleaming white. The trip was billed as "a short jaunt to the Moon", but it's not so short in reality. The in-flight entertainment and food are just as crappy as their terrestrial counterparts. During your long layover at a space station, kick back at what passes for a Starbucks now and enjoy all the quaint songs of your childhood re-imagined for the space age.

Exotic space age lounge pop inviting you to just switch off and forget for a while. Complete with those 70s bubbling sounds. Take a lesson from the water without memory, and everything will be okay. Float along or through, be it on a wide sunbathed river or in the sundrenched expanses of outer space. Makes no difference since everynow is its own destination. Whimsical woodwinds and bold brass frolic together through this lush soundscape.

I liken this album's structure and progression to the growth of a vine which is sometimes carefully cultivated in its runner while at other times letting the stems spiral out in their own bursts of creativity. The album begins and ends in such bursts, whereas the middle is dominated by this rich, deep, beautiful delicacy with a lot of wonderful piano work.

Much to my initial chagrin, this album has nothing to do with Euclidean math. But, that aside, this is a pretty album, and it's definitely a girl's album. Ms. Perhacs (now a FB grandma) ruminates and reflects upon the silent narratives of nature, thus learning something of herself and her relationships with others.

I enjoy the clean, unembellished sound of this deceptively simply folk music. Pérez Cruz's lovely voice perfectly fills the space between Fernández's minimal guitar and the listener's ear. This duo performs flamenco nuevo with an experimental elegance that has no fear of swerving into harder, more distorted and discordant territory as the passion temporarily rises.

Before Halvorson was a MacArthur Fellow, before she wowed us at NPR's tiny desk, before she pissed off my friend for making the shittiest guitar music known to man, the eminent guitarist and weird vocalist was part of a duo (guitar and drums) that quickly expanded into a trio. Halvorson is known for her angular, atonal guitar work, and this album, in the context of experimental rock, is one of her staging grounds as she develops her creative voice. Lyrically, this album ranges from the obscure to the nonsensical as it continues--in the grand tradition of avant-prog--to pull down the preconceptions of what we think music should sound like and what musicians should sing about.

A charming (and long--it's a double disc) live album by some talented, soft-spoken musicians who do everything from blues to Medieval, from jazz-influenced numbers to traditional folk standards. And wow the crowd really love these guys. Quite refreshing, actually, to hear a not jaded audience. Anyway, the storytelling here is delicate and exquisite, a beautiful rendering of Child ballads.

This is a bit different from their other albums in that it is a collection of versions of traditional ballads, thus rendering it more folksy. This is therefore an album of beautiful, immersive storytelling that cannot be enjoyed on a mere casual listen. They’re telling amazing stories here, so pay attention.