Reviews by uhhhellurr

a pretty fun synthpop album. i liked the juxtaposition of the upbeat instrumentals with the more subdued and dour lyrics at points. the production is not my favorite but i found it still enjoyable!

yeah this is extremely my shit. i don't know what it is, but zappa's music just really scratches an itch in my brain. it's complex, yet clearly doesn't take itself seriously. just some really cool stuff here - i especially love the first track, but the standout to me on this listen was the track with captain beefheart singing. just really cool, fun stuff.

the best i can say is i gave it a shot. it's not the worst thing i've had to listen to but i can really say it is not my favorite to come across my desk. really, it is just bottled up angst that is reflected in a way that my angst was not. i find it pretty unrelatable, and although i can be convinced on a lot of metal instrumentation, the growl vocals are something that never suit my music preferences. sorry to all my depressed friends from middle school but i didn't get it then and i still don't get it now.

this was an interesting one. i'm not the hugest world music person, but i definitely keep my mind open. language barriers don't usually dissuade me, and it was the case here. this album was not mind blowing to me, but had some really interesting moments. at times, it kind of felt a little new-wave-y??? which was cool, but otherwise nothing that stood out above anything else I've heard from the continent of Africa so far in this project.

this one put them on the map. you have three immense talents working together at really a creative pinnacle. to me, what sets them apart from their contemporaries are the harmonies. their voices together just make such a great blend. just a great counterculture folk rock album. i'll admit i am biased because i adore this album to pieces and have for years, but there is a reason i have come back to it countless times in my life.

listening to this album, you can tell sonic youth is cool. they are too cool for me.

so full disclosure, i opted to listen to 1989 (taylor's version) - not sure if that is in standing with the spirit of this project or not, but as i understand it, i think taylor swift fans consider the "taylor's versions" canonical now over the original releases. and so i think it's fair to listen to the artist's "preferred" version over the original. and i'm not familiar enough with the original to really know a difference one way or another.

all that aside, this is just a good pop album. taylor swift is not usually my kind of music but it is undeniable that she has a knack for writing a great hook. this whole album is just hooky as hell, from front to back. clearly this music resonates with a significant portion of the population, it doesn't quite with me, but i appreciate the artistry here. there's a reason she is the most famous person in the world.

not generally my cup of tea, but i thought this album was fairly interesting. i felt like the structure of a song being led in by a "tale" was neat and gave the album a pretty good narrative flow. the music, production, and performances were alright, but ultimately this just isn't totally my thing. i still appreciate what it was going for and am happy i got exposed to something outside of my normal bubble.

dave brubeck was a phenomenal pianist. of course, 'take five' transcends jazz music and is one of the most famous jazz compositions of all time. i love 'blue rondo a la turk' - another in the vain of 'take five' that really tickles my receptors with their uncommon time signatures. beyond that, the rest of the album is pleasant, but a lot of time amounts to music that is reminiscent of vince guaraldi's work with charlie brown. not to say that is a bad thing, the album is very good, calming, and pleasant. but ultimately it does not amount to much mind-blowing outside of the non-standard time signatures exhibited, and lacks the grit or edge i normally enjoy or look for when listening to jazz. still, it's an all-timer for a reason!

i try to go into every album with an open mind. christina aguilera's music is not really in my wheelhouse - even when i was a teen in her hitmaking era and more interested in pop music, her music never quite did it for me. that being said, i was pleasantly surprised by the first disc. like i said, it's not really my type of pop music, but its sound is extremely nostalgic to me. some of these songs i heard on the radio or vh1 at the time, but also this is some of the music that dictated pop music's sound at the time.

her voice is unquestionably great, the "throwback" production of the first side - i.e. sampling of retro instrumentals - is fun, albeit a bit dated sounding at this point. but the peaks of disc one are really fun.

then we hit disc two. starting off with the circus song, it then becomes a hyper-sexualized throwback to old-fashioned cabarets. i can't say i really enjoyed this part. her voice is still great but this part of the album is just too over the top. she's moaning the whole time, saying stuff like "now spank me" - i don't even really care about sexual content in music, but this is so over the top, it almost feels like it is forced by an executive or something. or maybe it's the opposite - the executive forced the normal pop music while she really wanted the over-sexual burlesque schtick. quite simply, it's just really cringey. just very bizarre.

also, because of the two disc format, this album is BLOATED AS HELL. had they split the two discs into their own albums, i think it would be ok. or even if they made a one disc combination of these two concepts, i think it could potentially work. honestly, the two of them together is a chore. i really think the album's length detracts from the overall quality.

she really had me in the first half, not gonna lie.

another group that i have heard the name of but didn't know anything about except that they were "punk" - holy cow I was not expecting this. I absolutely loved everything about this album. it's like a mixture of 60s garage rock, surf rock, and punk. it feels slimey and grungy and just everything it ought to be. excellent stuff!

a pretty fun spin on the electronic/dance genres. definitely has an indie tinge, which i appreciated. and what's most important to me, it feels human, which i find a lot of electronic music lacks. just a really fun time!

cocteau twins is a name i've heard but i don't know if i've ever experienced their music before this. really cool stuff. very atmospheric and the vocals are haunting. i could see myself absolutely falling in love with this album if i give it another few listens, but as it stands right now, i am extremely impressed. very compelling and stark.

great grooves, great playing. some cool stuff here. ultimately, maybe not the most interesting record i've ever heard, but still quite cool and a unique combination of its era of jazz and r&b.

my second experience with solo morrissey, after listening to 'vauxhall and i' - and i can't say i am any more impressed with it than the first time. here, i find his lyrics are a bit more cringey, maybe not less biting than i've heard him write before, but certainly a lot more bold-faced. once again, even with how i feel about his lyrics, they are better than the music, which is down quite a few pegs from his smiths days (more of a glowing review of johnny marr than anything). so yeah, not very impressed with this. it was fine, but i can't say i would ever seek it out again.

ray charles is great, but i sort of swing back and forth on his music. his up-tempo r&b stuff is great and i love that, but the more slow, ballad style of songs he does sort of leaves me a little cold. not that it's bad, but just not my thing. this album is mostly the latter, not the former, so for me it was not the most exciting album, although the quality of the album was high. still an enjoyable listen for a monday morning.

look i love this era of music, i truly do. and i love paul revere and the raiders. but paul revere and the raiders were not an album band. this album is not BAD but it's not very remarkable. there are a few album cuts here that i think are kind of cool ('all i really need is you' has a '66 psych-tinged stones/beatle-esque feel) and the singles off of this one are great, but really i'm mostly confused as to why this album is listed amongst these other ones. i don't mind it, but i think most people will not enjoy having to listen to this one.

full stop, you do not have rock n roll without little richard. bands for decades have been trying to emulate this. from front to back, non-stop energy. this isn't a cornerstone, this isn't a foundation, this is the whole damn building.

there is something about beach house's music that i feel so deeply inside me. i got into a lot of their music in a long bout of depression and there is something i can't place that finds this music so comforting. whatever it is, i just really like this album! very chill, great songwriting.

front to back, this one is a stone cold classic. every song on this slaps and is just a wild jazz rock ride. love it!