Topic: gonna post in this thread every time i listen to a new album, attempt #2
hamfist !0Ynig1RSDc started this discussion 10 years ago #55,868
fishmans - long seasonlong season is essentially a 35 minute song split into 5 parts. it's highly regarded in certain music circles, so i decided i would give it a shot. i'm glad i did, as it's a pretty good record/song. it exudes the same kind of "epic" atmosphere a godspeed you! black emperor track gives, and it showcases the evolution of fishman's sound over the years. the throbbing bass is very typical of their earlier dub reggae influences, broken up by dreamy interludes and vaguely psychedelic synth organs peppered in - not to mention shinji sato's unique vocal style. it's easy to see how this is generally considered their magnum opus.
8/10
ThatOne joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 3 minutes later[^] [v] #722,354
Can I help?
Green !BEERiVqJJw joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 34 minutes later, 37 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #722,369
> albums
hamfist !0Ynig1RSDc (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 1 day later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #722,693
thinking fellers union local 282 - strangers from the universe
apparently this album has a cult following of sorts. it sounds kind of like captain beefheart mixed with maybe pavement or guided by voices. there are interesting bits here and there but they never bloomed into anything significant and overall i wasn't hooked on it. that being said, the album is playful without coming off as trying too hard to be quirky, and i can respect that.
6/10
apparently this album has a cult following of sorts. it sounds kind of like captain beefheart mixed with maybe pavement or guided by voices. there are interesting bits here and there but they never bloomed into anything significant and overall i wasn't hooked on it. that being said, the album is playful without coming off as trying too hard to be quirky, and i can respect that.
6/10
hamfist !0Ynig1RSDc (OP) double-posted this 10 years ago, 1 week later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #725,365
keiji haino - watashi dake?
(i tried to be a little more official for this review)
1981 wasn’t a terribly exciting year for music as far as I’m concerned. From what I’ve gathered there was a whole lot of post-punk being released and the now-famous record label 4AD was struggling in its infant years. 1980 has the Talking Heads’ Remain in Light and 1982 has Michael Jackson’s Thriller, but ’81 doesn’t have a defining album. But somewhere in Japan, a weirdo named Keiji Haino released his first studio album: Watashi Dake? “Watashi Dake” translates to “Only me?” – an ominous title, but very apt. There’s nothing quite like this album, and I imagine all 12 people in Japan who actually bought Watashi Dake were either really pissed off or completely blown away. The cover is an eerie black-and-white photo of Keiji Haino wearing some sort of surgical mask and his trademark sunglasses. It really sets the tone for the next 37 minutes of his dark music. All of the tracks are untitled, and I imagine this is because the album is meant to be taken as a whole instead of picking and choosing favorite tracks. These aren’t exactly songs you’ll want shuffled in your jogging playlist. But if you sit down and really listen, there’s a lot to like about Keiji Haino’s atonal guitar work. I think ‘raw’ is the best word to describe Watashi Dake. Perhaps if I understood the Japanese lyrics there would be less mystery surrounding this album, but honestly that kind of mystery is what I like the most. It sounds like there’s something Keiji Haino understands that we don’t. Only me, indeed. Keiji Haino didn’t release another solo album until 1990, and after that he released about 30 more albums. Needless to say, his discography is extensive, but not all of it is good. In fact, many of them are quite boring. They fail to capture the raw artist expression of Watashi Dake. So tread cautiously when exploring Keiji Haino’s other musical efforts, as many of them are too bloated and too dull. But don’t be afraid to embrace the avant garde.
8/10
(i tried to be a little more official for this review)
1981 wasn’t a terribly exciting year for music as far as I’m concerned. From what I’ve gathered there was a whole lot of post-punk being released and the now-famous record label 4AD was struggling in its infant years. 1980 has the Talking Heads’ Remain in Light and 1982 has Michael Jackson’s Thriller, but ’81 doesn’t have a defining album. But somewhere in Japan, a weirdo named Keiji Haino released his first studio album: Watashi Dake? “Watashi Dake” translates to “Only me?” – an ominous title, but very apt. There’s nothing quite like this album, and I imagine all 12 people in Japan who actually bought Watashi Dake were either really pissed off or completely blown away. The cover is an eerie black-and-white photo of Keiji Haino wearing some sort of surgical mask and his trademark sunglasses. It really sets the tone for the next 37 minutes of his dark music. All of the tracks are untitled, and I imagine this is because the album is meant to be taken as a whole instead of picking and choosing favorite tracks. These aren’t exactly songs you’ll want shuffled in your jogging playlist. But if you sit down and really listen, there’s a lot to like about Keiji Haino’s atonal guitar work. I think ‘raw’ is the best word to describe Watashi Dake. Perhaps if I understood the Japanese lyrics there would be less mystery surrounding this album, but honestly that kind of mystery is what I like the most. It sounds like there’s something Keiji Haino understands that we don’t. Only me, indeed. Keiji Haino didn’t release another solo album until 1990, and after that he released about 30 more albums. Needless to say, his discography is extensive, but not all of it is good. In fact, many of them are quite boring. They fail to capture the raw artist expression of Watashi Dake. So tread cautiously when exploring Keiji Haino’s other musical efforts, as many of them are too bloated and too dull. But don’t be afraid to embrace the avant garde.
8/10
(Edited 19 seconds later.)