User
Reviews 72 Approval 97%
Soundoffs 60 News Articles 2 Band Edits + Tags 150 Album Edits 198
Album Ratings 1753 Objectivity 70%
Last Active 12-25-22 12:45 am Joined 08-07-14
Review Comments 27,694
| Conthousand, a review
This may be the most masturbatory thing I've ever done, but bear with me because I fucking love lists and I love ranking things that don't need to be ranked. Sorry if I come off as too cocky or confident or whatever, I'm not trying to show off I just thought it'd be nice to review my own reviews + the stuff I've done on sput up until this point. | 1 | | Patrick Watson Love Songs for Robots
REVIEWS RANKED
didn't rate them cuz that'd be too hard and weird but here is the ranking of all the reviews I've done thus far! They are ranked from bottom to top (44 to 1):
While this is my worst review, I love reading it since it is truly my first attempt at a music review. The alliteration in the first sentence is cute and I actually like the brevity of the first paragraph. However, this review is riddled with grammatical mistakes, repeated words and ideas, and clunky sentences that do not read naturally. Also the informal parts of this review (“boy do they hit it out of the park!”) are very cringey to read haha.
Summary: “Just a little whisper”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 1/44 | 2 | | Marietta As It Were
This one starts off pretty rough damn, first two paragraphs I did not enjoy reading haha. Way too repetitive in word choice and the flow is very off. This review reads like me obviously just stating my favorite parts/lyrics of songs but saying it in a “review-y” tone. Despite my very surface level lyrical analysis, I do enjoy a couple of sentences throughout here and strangely enough this review uses a couple of techniques that I still use today, marking the start of my reviewer’s voice. But holy shit younger Connor you gotta learn how to TRANSITION.
Summary: “I feel much better”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 2/44 | 3 | | Tigers Jaw Tigers Jaw
An attempt at a casual review and oh boy is this not that good. That intro is actually atrocious haha like why do I like talking about myself so much? I really overuse the personal tone in this one and it gets a bit cringey to read. Art was nice in saying that the review isn’t very deep but that’s ok because it’s what the album is about, and while I agree with that point as it was my intention to describe the album in such a way, I don’t think I nailed the execution. There’s just so much more I want to do with this review, especially considering how this is one of my favorite albums but oh well it’s just a “fun” review like the album right? Right…
Summary: “It’s time, it’s time I live my life”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 18/44 | 4 | | Silversun Pickups Better Nature
This one I distinctly remember writing because I wrote the entire thing on the sput album entry like an idiot and when I submitted it, it timed out and didnt go through and my work was lost. So this is my 2nd review for this album in a way, and it’s the first review I actually try to incorporate and apply a thesis yay! The informal tone here reads a bit better but still a lot of cringey parts (“why am I not getting any feelings?” lol…). I like the paragraph where I criticize the album, I think that reads well and I still agree with that point today. Still, there are many weirdly worded things and repeated words throughout this album. But hey that closing line isn’t half bad Connor.
Summary: “Taking the edge off”
Score: 3.5/5
Review #: 3/44 | 5 | | Marietta Summer Death
I’m glad people initially ignored this review because despite its lofty goals it’s one of my worst reviews by far. I think I took the advice “add more personal tone” a bit too literally and with this one I basically describe my life in way too much detail and describe the album in way less detail. Although I can appreciate the review’s structure and the idea behind it, I cannot appreciate the prose/tone used throughout it and it just comes off as immature, cringey, and musically undescriptive. If there’s one shining light with this review it’s the auditory/visual connection (“viewfinder of my ears”) but that’s one sentence of the entire review. Ambition is great, but the end product is not. Sucks that my worst reviews are for my favorite artist ):
Summary: “It’s autumn now so please forget me”
Score: 5/5
Review #: 11/44 | 6 | | Remo Drive Greatest Hits
Like I mentioned in the comments of this review, the guys from Remo Drive read this little piece and even shared in on their Facebook which was awesome, plus it got featured. This review is just not done well, however, I honestly really dislike it. It was a review that needed to happen, though, because I was in quite the slump and it was more of a way to vent my frustrations with reviewing and finding inspiration rather than a critical analysis of the album. I lazily describe their sound in like 2 sentences and the rest of the review is just me showing off my knowledge of emo bands and complaining about reviewing emo albums. I will say that there’s something about the tone in this review that I enjoy and the last paragraph is nice and succinct, just wish I could’ve done better for such an amazing band. Maybe next time…
Summary: “Revitalize me.”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 26/44 | 7 | | Weed (CAN) Deserve
This is overall a pretty clunky review, both in its language/prose and its conciseness. As TheSpaceMan pointed out, there’s a lot of redundancy within the first two paragraphs and although the edits helped I still think I could’ve done a better job. That first paragraph where I describe my already cringey song idea is somehow even more uncomfortable to read. Review just reads like it was a bit rushed which is strange because it wasn’t a new release and I don’t think I had any time constraints haha. However, that last paragraph is something special, I love the criticisms brought up and it shows that some of my more successful writing comes with analyzing both positives and negatives within an album.
Summary: “Simple noise.”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 22/44 | 8 | | Kid Cudi Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven
This review was featured as well and it is also the first review my friends in real life read and talked to me about so that’s super cool. This one is very long though, longer than it needed to be and I remember Johnny tearing me a new one with his edits but until this point I had only gotten positive feedback so that was actually super helpful for me as a writer. Basically this is a worse, more condensed version of Anthony Fantano’s review but I still chuckle at a couple of my lines (“this is what it’s like to listen to the death of a musical career”). The more formal tone reads pretty well however and even though I repeat a lot of ideas throughout the review the criticisms are still very valid. Reviewing an album like this though is like hitting a baseball off a tee since it’s so easy to tear into this terrible excuse for a record.
Summary: “Insanity at its worst”
Score: 1/5
Review #: 5/44 | 9 | | JANK Awkward Pop Songs
This one flows pretty nicely as well and I really like the use of parentheses in this one (even if I overdid it a bit). Since it was a 4.5 review, the minor criticisms I included were pretty unnecessary and the form of this review looks as if I decided to copy the structures of my first two reviews lol. I think the rhythm in this review is well done and it reads fairly naturally as the playful, semi-formal tone is used well. Also, there’s definitely more analysis in this review which is nice because it shows an improvement from my first 5 reviews. Overall this reads pretty cleanly and doesn’t have any major flaws.
Summary: “I don’t care if you’re angry, suck it up, suck it up”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 6/44 | 10 | | Pity Sex White Hot Moon
Love the concept of nostalgia and the idea of experience this feeling even when the catalyst is unrelated to you past, so much so that I wrote an entire research paper on it. Funny enough, I wrote the paper after I wrote this review, so in a way this thing helped me decide what my research project was going to be about. For that reason it holds a special place in my heart. However, it’s a very surface level review that does just enough to describe the album and why it’s special but not much past that. Prose is very meh and even though there’s not good synonym for “nostalgia” I still use that word a bit too much. That last paragraph is actually really good, however, as it’s the only paragraph where I decided to change up the sentence lengths (why am I so straightforward and brief before this?). Overall I enjoy the conceptual aspect of this review but it’s still underdeveloped in the critique sense.
Summary: “Do you remember? I’d give my life if it would last forever”
Score: 4/5
#: 9/44 | 11 | | Oh Sees A Weird Exits
I wrote this review for Sowing’s little user competition and I unsurprisingly lost! (altho I’m a bit salty the winner was at the time a contrib). The review is so bland and normal that it almost hurts, and while the writing is fundamentally good, you can tell I’m trying REALLY hard to impress. Despite all of this, the structure of the review makes a lot of sense organizationally and while I stick to this pretty stubbornly it at least reads well. I do the song grouping structure much better, however, in my Alter review so in comparison this just doesn’t hold up. Compared to the other “worse” reviews it at least is void of any detrimental grammatical mistakes and cringey personal interjections so that’s cool.
Summary: “Comfort in conformity”
Score: 3.5/5
Review #: 17/44 | 12 | | Into It. Over It. Standards
My third review that was featured and I think the first review I had another sput user proofread. It reads pretty cleanly and is one of the more refined/reserved reviews of my earlier stuff but the theme behind it is so boring. From a writing/prose standpoint it’s average but I can’t find too much to fault about it. Probably my most ~vanilla~ review, but compared to previous works my song descriptions are getting a bit better. Overall it’s fine and I still agree with my points but it’s pretty plain idk.
Summary: “The steps that I have been taking, carefully curating”
Score: 3.5/5
Review #: 7/44 | 13 | | Dikembe Hail Something
This is a weird review to analyze because I can totally see and appreciate where I was trying to go with this review but it doesn’t translate quite that well. Honestly, though, with some slight tweaking, this could easily read like a recent review of mine as it’s based in a metaphorical theme (kiddy pool of emo hehe). I think I’ll give this one extra points because of this, despite the many flaws it contains, like the beginning of the intro which is a very obvious and unnecessary point to make. I just think I was trying to say that they switched up their style in an attempt to be ambitious, but by doing so they end up copying another widely heard genre. Basically there were better, and more clear ways to say that but I just couldn’t articulate it in this one for some reason.
Summary: “Stay afloat.”
Score: 3/5
Review #: 13/44 | 14 | | Modern Baseball Holy Ghost
Due to the album’s structure, this is one of the few times I can excuse the faux-track-by-track review format that I take on. It’s really a well structured and thought out review that goes through musical development, lyrical analysis, and the theme of contrast all in one. This was also the first review I tried writing while under the influence, hence the very strange paragraph that compares the two sides of the album to the action of running home in the rain. I probably could’ve pulled it off a bit better but the idea is there and it’s actually kind of poetic in a way. I wish I would’ve gone more into why the 2nd half of the album is so appealing due to its rawness but other than that I hit a lot of great points about this album. Sure the word choice and vocabulary is a bit ameture and sure I’ve tackled more impressive thematic concepts but for what it is, I’m pretty proud of this early review.
Summary: “‘For the next record, do you wanna do a Speakerboxxx/Love Below?’”
Score: 4/5
#10 | 15 | | Free Throw Bear Your Mind
My one and only 1 paragraph review and I honestly think I can do better. While I do a great job of sustaining this dismissive, slightly upset tone throughout the review I don’t think it matches well with the score. I think this reads like a 3 or 3.5 review re-reading it as my praises rely heavily on other people knowing my 4.5 score for their previous album. I’m also not the biggest fan of the 1-para format as it doesn’t fit my style the best, leaving little room for thematic introduction which I do often. However, it reads very cleanly and I wouldn’t change much from a word choice standpoint. It’s just that I think I had a lot more to say about this and I didn’t allow myself to say it. Brevity can be a bitch…
Summary: “Artificially pleasing.”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 30/44 | 16 | | american poetry club glad to be here, etcetera
First review I ever wrote for an album that a friend of mine made and comparing this to the NovelT review I think it’s worse. This one is pretty well written and appropriately brief but the voice in this one comes off a bit awkward while I feel the NovelT review was much cleaner and clearer. That last line is so forced it makes me cringe a bit too. However, there are small glimpses of things I enjoy, the 2nd paragraph especially. It’s actually really interesting how both of my reviews that deal with writing about friends also deal with the theme of honesty (both friends are named Jordan and both reviews were featured...woah) and I like the way this review tackles that conceit. I just think this could’ve been better written as often times I can see exactly what I was trying to mean/say but it comes off a bit strangely.
Summary: “Knowing is the first step”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 27/44 | 17 | | FIDLAR FIDLAR
Thematically this review is stellar and I’m surprisingly able to keep the conceit going throughout the piece in a subtle yet effective manner. Flow wise this is a bit awkward and clunky, like a lot of my earlier reviews, and there are a couple grammatical errors. Funny enough, I can see the formula-based crutch that the review is standing on, and while it’s not as obvious as some previous reviews it still isn’t ideal. Other than those things, however, this review is very solid and describes the album pretty damn well. Plus I stick the landing with that last sentence nice!
Summary: “So what, fuck you.”
Score: 3.5/5
Review #: 14/44 | 18 | | Gates Parallel Lives
Funny enough, I listed this as my favorite review over a year ago when I hit 500 ratings for that fun lil list. I still enjoy this one but it’s pretty obvious I’m trying soooo hard to be JohnnyOnTheSpot (to me at least ahah). It’s definitely a solid review though, although I’m not sure how solid it is compared to a couple others around this time. It’s theme is really interesting but I think I could’ve framed the review a bit differently around that idea. There are a couple small mistakes, sure, but overall this is a pretty clean, albeit, harmless review. I think I was just proud of the fact that I was able to articulate my opinions about the album and everyone seemed to like this review because it matched their opinions as well, even down to the favorite songs! Also another solid concluding sentence which were hit or miss at this time period haha.
Summary: “Soft maturity.”
Score: 3.5/5
Review #: 12/44 | 19 | | Foxing Dealer
My very first review that got featured so I’ve always been really proud of this one. After reading it now, though, I definitely see some flaws as a lot of the song descriptions are very surface level and vague. I do, however, stick to a central theme in this one and the review actually flows together pretty well and has a rhythm for once even if the sentences themselves sound a bit strange. Love the link between the summary/theme and the final line. This review is also pretty short which I like because a lot of my reviews nowadays are pretty brief haha.
Summary: “I’m alright, it’s time I’ve moved on”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 4/44 | 20 | | Acid Ghost WARHOL
Last review as a regular ol user and I think this one is pretty nice. The theme is way too forced, not necessarily in the sense that it’s a stretch to apply the art imitating life concept to the album, but rather it’s the fact that I try to insert this conceit into every single paragraph. I definitely could’ve been more subtle and I think a lot of my more recent reviews do a much better job at such a thing. However, I adore the imagery of the “bath of fuzz” line and I often think back to that analogy when attempting to write evocative and visual song descriptions. It’s a progression from my previous couple reviews and it’s still one of my better pre-contrib pieces but it’s definitely not the best.
Summary: ““If you’re not trying to be real, you don’t have to get it right. That’s art.” – Andy Warhol”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 23/44 | 21 | | Danger Incorporated Are You Afraid of the Danger Boys
This is a fun little “let me see how many artists I can name drop” review which I think is a bit more enjoyable to write than it is to read. However, the prose and vocab are pretty clean and clear, and the review definitely justifies its length. My lyrical analysis is such a stretch though holy shit haha. It was basically my way of bullshitting past just saying “the lyrics are terrible” and it worked a bit but I can see through my own bs more than others. However, as Jack and Blush said, it does do a good job of combining general lyrical analysis within emo rap and the actual sound of the album so in that sense it’s pretty successful.
Summary: “emotional fun in the age of the internet”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 40/44 | 22 | | WATERMEDOWN Somewhere Sleepless
I like this entire idea of an anti-introduction and this is probably the best example of my attempt at one. Basically I talk about how great restraint is within music and then completely and purposefully contradict myself for the rest of the review, praising a lack of restraint in favor of raw emotion. Although the language and flow isn’t quite there sentence-wise, the brevity mixed with the music/lyric descriptions in the second paragraph work pretty well I think. One of my first reviews as contrib and I can definitely see the shift in style compared to my earlier reviews and this is one that definitely holds up.
Summary: “Screaming into emptiness”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 25/44 | 23 | | who loves you Green and Tangerine
First thing I noticed when I read through this was how I use the word “sound” like 10 times in the intro and beginning of the 2nd paragraph alone. Yet, other than word choice issues I do enjoy this review as it reads pretty well. I didn’t notice it until now but I basically copied the same exact line about genuineness for my WATERMEDOWN review, which might explain my frustrations exhibited in my Remo Drive review. The third paragraph showcases some of the best lyrical analysis points I’ve done, I think, and it’s about colors to boot! This is a neat review even if it reads super similarly to that WATERMEDOWN review haha. Plus the last two sentences are pretty great.
Summary: “Everything is dipped in shades of blue and in shades of green”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 21/44 | 24 | | JANK Versace Summer
This review reads like a follow up to my other JANK review, which makes sense because this album was the follow up to Awkward Pop Songs. When comparing the two though I definitely prefer this one as it’s brief, succinct, and generally descriptive. I still to this day describe the album’s production as “bubblegummy” so the fact that the description held up after these years is nice. Thematically it’s pretty bare but I don’t think this album needed anything too poetic as it’s just a fun emo release. So for what it is, it works.
Summary: “I’m not dead yet but it’s a start”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 16/44 | 25 | | Childish Gambino Because the Internet
Looking back at my old lists/comments it seems as if people wanted me to write about this album or at least encouraged me to (prob due to my avatar aha). It’s also the first review that Blush commented criticism on (“it seems like this write-up is a lot less formula-driven in comparison to the last few I've read of yours” - very, very true point, also blush you were stalking my reviews??). Overall I really like the personal tone, the voice in this review sounds like me which is nice to read. It also explains really, really well why I love this album so much and it reads as such (even though it gets a bit preemptively defensive ahah). Overall, this is one of my better reviews and one I looked back to a lot in my early writing stages.
Summary: “I just wanna feel something”
Score: 5/5
Review #: 8/44 | 26 | | American Football American Football (LP2)
A bit of a lengthy review but I think it mostly stays not too redundant which is nice because usually I had a lot of trouble with that in my earlier works. When I first wrote this I though the mirrored opening questions and answers were cute but they come off a bit strangely now. Although there is a decent amount of musical description mixed with contextual information, this review just reads very plainly. Like it might be the most inoffensive review I’ve ever written and I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. I will say that the language and overall flow of this review is pretty nice and the argument is pretty strong/clear so I guess that’s cool. Side note, clear example of my overuse of the word “twinkly” right here but an appropriate album for that nonetheless.
Summary: “delicate past”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 19/44 | 27 | | Psychedelic Porn Crumpets High Visceral Pt. 1
Oh man I could write about synesthesia for hours I love the concept of it and the possible combinations it can bring. Re-reading this and I think it’s a bit too short as I really only talk about two songs while also ignoring a lot of aspects about this album. Like if I talked about the painting theme and paralleled it with how the album changes instead of throwing it in WHEN I talked about the switch in musical tone it would’ve been so much better. For what it is though I enjoy this review and it reads very neatly. Plus I think this marks my love for describing songs in colors so that was a cool thing that I still do today. It is a vivid lil review and Piglet seemed to enjoy it a lot, so much so that he wrote an even better review of my review in a way haha.
Summary: “a painter’s touch”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 39/44 | 28 | | Palm (PA) Shadow Expert
I honestly love it when I get long comments that legit critique my review as they help me look at the piece in a different light. When I first wrote this I thought it was really well done in explaining what the album sounded like while also explaining their uniqueness (in a hyperbolic way, of course). However, after reading the comment about how those initial descriptors can really be applied to any “weird” album it helped me push myself as a writer to better explain what the music sounds like. Also I raise a lot of unnecessary questions and I passively answer them so going forward I definitely try to write more confidently and definitively. All in all, I love constructive criticism so always, always add your input if you have any! Also this review was featured, despite the flaws.
Summary: “history in the making?”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 31/44 | 29 | | Patrick Watson Close To Paradise
This is by far my most experimental review but I think I’m still nervous about totally abandoning any song descriptions as I still include those subtly in this one. As for writing in the second person I definitely need to work on that as this reads a bit awkward and clunky but that’ll come with practice. Also fun fact: every song title is in this review and they appear in order so that’s kinda fun but also some of those song names are just forced in here. With this one I’m definitely more in love with the idea of it than the execution but there’s something promising in here especially within some of the imagery. Maybe I’ll try my hand at another one of these someday…
Summary: “read this with your eyes closed and daydream with me” (fav summary tho)
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 37/44 | 30 | | Melody's Echo Chamber Melody's Echo Chamber
Ok this is gonna sound strange and I’ve only told Blush this as he was editing my review but I wrote almost the entirety in my head while I was coming down after a shrooms trip. I was in my bed, though, and somehow remembered most of it the next morning and this is the product of that. The theme of this was basically me projecting my own trip experiences onto Melody and her album and I think it worked but it definitely reads a bit ~off~. I dislike that second sentence a lot now that I read it: strangely upsetting (hehe). I think this review gets a bit too caught up within its own theme and doesn’t spend enough time talking about the music but prose wise I do enjoy this review/style. Also the closing line/quote makes me smile and is a good lil message to end on.
Summary: “soft awakenings // personal reflections”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 42/44 | 31 | | The Obsessives Heck No, Nancy
This is fun lil wispy review that features a ton of introductory bs and not a lot of musical analysis. Although I really enjoy the informal, conversational tone of this piece I think I get a bit too focused on my theme rather than actually explaining how the music encapsulates this conceit. I do adore the last sentence in the 3rd paragraph though and the end feels like an ending of sorts that wraps things up decently well. If I were to re-write this I would probably spend more time on music description with another paragraph instead of writing it off as a well done emo album
Summary: “I keep waking up in pools of sweat with this feeling in the back of my head”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 35/44 | 32 | | Ride Weather Diaries
Funny enough, the only reason I wrote this review was because I said to myself “I write way too many 4+ reviews I should try a negative one” and I just so happened to listen to this album and dislike it enough to try my hand at it. I knew I did well when Blush said “this might be one of your best reviews” and looking at it now I kinda agree. Although my central argument is terrible and kinda dumb (basically I wanted a shoegaze album and I got a brit pop one, boo hoo), the writing itself is pretty great and clean. I love the theme here, imagining the life of a musician and making assumptions based off that imaginary life. Because of this, the review isn’t really supposed to be accurate more so than it is a critique based on personal expectations and preferences. So yeah maybe I should try more negative reviews haha
Summary: “can you tell I’m pleased?”
Score: 2.5/5
Review #: 32/44 | 33 | | NovelT The Odyssey
A very personal review and for good reason, this one I’m still especially proud of despite the obvious flaws. When my friend (NovelT) read this review he was legit blown away and was appreciative of it being featured, plus, I could tell he was sincere in his appreciation for my critiques and it shows in his output today. He also really loved the Brand New comparison when I showed him the song and how it sounded like his. For obvious reason, this review is already on the self-defense and Clov pointed it out right away when he edited this review. I agree with him, though, this review is meant more for NovelT than it is for everybody and even though it was successful in one sense, it definitely could’ve been better in the other. Weirdly enough, however, it reads a ton like a normal review if you strip away the bias as it’s one of my few recent reviews to actually go into everything about the album (production, lyrics, music, etc)
Summary: “morality and honesty”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 33/44 | 34 | | Atalanta Tainted
I really enjoy this review and at the time I considered it one of my best. Special shoutout to FearThyEvil for rec-ing this album to me because it fucking slays. As for the review, I definitely see where I was going with this one but a couple sentences are a bit awkward/clunky, particularly in the first paragraph. Like the Alter review, this is a great indication of my reviewing style right now and how I’m trying to improve on the 2-3 paragraph format. Overall, I think the structure makes sense and the thematic expression is pretty clear and interesting enough to be the main focus for this piece. I really love the last line I quote, it’s probably my favorite part of the review and I didn’t even write it haha. With that being said I love the way this looks visually but idk if that counts for anything.
Summary: “I find your lack…”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 29/44 | 35 | | A Great Big Pile of Leaves Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?
Now THIS is a “fun” review done right (I’m looking at you Tigers Jaw…). It’s personal but definitely not overpowering and it’s carefree/lighthearted while still analytical and descriptive. I really adore how I utilized the lyrics to help describe this idea of what summer means to the band and I think it’s a perfect mixture of describing the lyrics and the music at the same time. I admittedly get a bit too redundant, however, as I take this theme of summer feelings a bit too literally but I appreciate the intent. The ending is a bit cliche and there are some weird grammatical errors but overall this is one of my favorite reviews I wrote as a user and it was my only 15th one!
Summary: “Gonna have some great fun while we can still be wild”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 15/44 | 36 | | The Bright Light Social Hour Space Is Still the Place
So funny story, when Jack and I were editing this review we legit spent like 30 minutes trying to come up with the last line hahah. I think it’s beautiful though (Jack came up with the proxy part if ya couldn’t tell) and I really like how it jumps tones and then closes on the original tone. This review is a bit melodramatic, however, but I think the more informal paragraphs ground the review in reality, so to speak. Only thing I would say is that this should’ve been a bit longer, I feel like a lot of the song descriptions are pretty surface level and I probably could’ve done more with that. Overall I love this review and it’s one of my favorites flow/prose wise.
Summary: “astrophotography”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 41/44 | 37 | | Lowercase Kill The Lights
I love to see my own laziness in my writing as I basically described one song in the first paragraph and said “yeah this is what they do on every song” lol which isn’t even true like I contradict my own point in the second paragraph. I really enjoy the banker/loan analogy though and this is probably one of my cleanest, most succinct reviews that I’ve written so I’m definitely proud of how it turned out. Fun story: for like months I promised Pjorn that if he ended up writing that Black Eyes review that I would review this album for him. We kept our promises (:
Summary: “lender’s guilt.”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 38/44 | 38 | | Hovvdy Taster
Ah yeah it’s extremely hard to look at these recent reviews with a removed viewpoint, especially this one. The concept behind this is admittedly pretty obvious once you see it (vv = start and end each paragraph with two different “v” words), although I think it was executed pretty decently. The descriptions I’m pretty proud of though, especially the ones for ‘Can’t Wait’ and ‘Try Hard’ as they describe the songs’ tone well. The opener as Zak pointed out is definitely a bit melodramatic, however, and I’ve definitely come up with better, more succinct closing lines. I have to admit I do love this review and I’m still proud of it.
Summary: “vv”
Score: 4/5
Review #: 44/44 | 39 | | Alter Pendulum
Before going into the review itself I just wanna say that I adore how this one looks, it’s very aesthetically pleasing haha. As for the content, I think the structure is very obvious by just looking at the review so the introduction seems a bit superfluous, especially with my very general description of shoegaze. However, it ties well into the conclusion and although the prose isn’t quite there yet I would say out of all my reviews this is pretty indicative of what type of reviews I’m attempting to write today. Although I kinda bs’d the whole fear, realization, and dread theme, when I listen to this EP it matches surprisingly well tone wise and there’s a reason I was able to find lyrics that matched so well with the themes. Also the band shared my review on their facebook and talked to me about it over messenger so that’s super awesome.
Summary: “Mastered tonality.”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 28/44 | 40 | | Q and Not U Power
First review as contrib and this was for Fripp’s list of getting a random album to listen to/review which was very fun! This is another example of an anti-introduction as I begin talking about appreciating a well put together album when this album is anything but that. For the review itself I really, really like this one although there are a couple nitpicky things I noticed. It’s concise and full of personality (as Asleep and Blush both said) and funny enough the review made me want to re-listen to the highlights when I re-read it just now. Even though it’s a 3 review, it somehow makes me want to listen to the entire thing and that’s something that I need to do more often in my reviews. This one feels like it’s focusing on advertising and explaining the highs and lows of the album FOR the reader, and some of my more recent reviews seem to be more for developing my own prose. Didn’t ever consider this one of my best reviews until now.
Summary: “A revealing mess."
Score: 3/5
#24 | 41 | | Tyler, the Creator Flower Boy
I think Ash’s comment about how this review doesn’t read like I wrote it says a lot about this review as I mostly agree with him. On one hand, the review reads pretty professionally, I think, for a more personal exploration. Also, it’s a review based on contextual analysis rather than looking at the album microscopically. I think the rhetorical questions to begin each paragraph is a nice touch but admittedly cliche and a bit forced near the end (especially the third paragraph) but I like how the technique wraps things up. Also this review my friends irl read and talked to me about mostly because the entire first paragraph was based on a conversation I had with some buds before this album dropped. It’s a bit of a vanilla review but I still enjoy its cleanliness and how it reads as it states my opinions and I think a lot of people’s thoughts pretty well. Also might be my only feature/best new music review combo so yay.
Summary: “I grow alone.”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 36/44 | 42 | | Pretend Circular Ræsoning
I think I really struck a nice balance between brevity and descriptiveness with this one as it’s skirts the line between song descriptions, thematic exploration, and short analogies all in two paragraphs. This is a review I am really proud of for an album that is one of my favorites for this year. As with a lot of my reviews, it lacks in depth lyrical analysis but I think this is a good example of a review not needing a checklist. If there’s one issue with this review it’s that the vocabulary I use is very repetitive, not within the review but rather in general (I use the words “bubbly” and “twinkly” way too often haha).
Summary: “can we be kids again?”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 34/44 | 43 | | Cloakroom Time Well
I remember writing the first paragraph and thinking “holy shit this is the best thing I’ve ever written” haha. Reading it again now and it’s just shy but I still enjoy the tone of this review, definitely matches up well with the album’s feeling which is something I’ve been trying to do as of recently. The descriptions are some of my better ones as well, I think, and the whole thing reads very cleanly. It says a lot in two paragraphs and even though the overarching theme isn’t the strongest I don’t mind a more description-based review. Other than a couple word choices, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this review (pls tell me if I’m wrong haha) and I adore the parallel between the opening and closing lines. Also was the last review of mine to get featured!
Summary: “rubbed eyes after the awakening”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 43/44 | 44 | | Old Gray Slow Burn
I’ll just say it now, this is my favorite review that I’ve ever written, despite whatever flaws or melodramatics it may contain. I say this because when I read it I can almost feel exactly how I was feeling at the time I wrote it, and although that might just be personal association I think it also speaks volumes about how well it describes those feelings. And somehow I was able to filter those exact feeling and project them onto the album, and it works because there’s definitely a ton of similarities between the emotions and the album’s tone. Sure the little one sentence breaks might be annoying or pretentious or whatever you want to call them but this is a fantastic time capsule of sorts and I wouldn’t change anything about this review. Glad this was featured because I’m convinced that it’s the only reason I was even considered for contrib haha.
Summary: “put down the knife.”
Score: 4.5/5
Review #: 20/44 | 45 | | Conman Demo
FAV LISTS!
Just a few of my favorite lists I've put together idk not ranked | 46 | | Cheerleader (USA) The Sunshine of Your Youth
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1052092&listid=168496
"If Instagram Filters Were Songs"
Hell yes to describing songs with colors and this is a weird, basic bitch way to do that I guess. | 47 | | Can Tago Mago
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1052092&listid=175297
"con's psychedelic adventure"
What a journey, still isn't complete but this was so fucking fun. | 48 | | Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1052092&listid=172267
"2Con16"
End of year list that I put way way way too much effort into, kinda like this one haha!!! | 49 | | Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1052092&listid=168897
"Con's 500 Ratings/50 Lists/Best Friends"
Was really fun to make, and the vibes in the comments make me so happy that sometimes I just read thru em to cheer myself up (is that weird??) | 50 | | White Noise of Anxiety Awkward Silence
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1052092&listid=163160
"Need help with band name"
This is fucking hilarious and classic shit. I felt famous due to all the comments at the time hahah | 51 | | Conman Demo
STATS!
Just some fun lil stats up until this point | 52 | | Charts and Maps Dead Horse
Emo: 25%
Indie Rock: 22%
Alternative Rock: 19%
Psychedelic: 11%
Hip Hop: 8%
Shoegaze: 7%
Punk: 6%
Electronic: 6% | 53 | | Charting The Depths Of Despair Charting The Depths Of Despair
Reviews 44
Soundoffs 27
News Articles 2
Lists 81
Band Edits + Tags 112
Album Edits 109
Album Ratings 1000
Objectivity 70%
Review Comments 18,316
Joined 08-06-14 (Over 3 years!) | 54 | | Statistics Often Lie
Average Rating: 3.58
Rating Variance: 0.36
Objectivity Score: 70%
(Fairly Balanced) | 55 | | Conman Demo
THANK YOUS
Ok this isn't like indicative of who my "best friends" are or who I like more or whatever, this is just a shoutout to a few people that have really helped me recently. I love you all and listing all the people that I appreciate would take forever, so please don't get mad if you're not on here. | 56 | | Blushing Tether
Blush - thank you for always reading my reviews, always giving me amazing criticism and always encouraging me to be a better person. I love you man you're the realest, kindest person on here and I say that with as much sincerity as I can over the internet. Keep writing, keep supporting others, and keep doing you because it's beatiful. | 57 | | Mainland Divide Mainland Divide
LandDiving (Jack) - thank you for inspiring me as a writer. I've never felt more encouraged to write ever since you started absolutely embarrassing everyone out here with your 58 amazing reviews and in such a short period of time. You are my biggest inspiration as a writer, I appreciate you and everything you do on here. Thanks for making sput great again (; | 58 | | Asleep On the Wheel Still the King
AsleepIntheBack - thank you for being my amazing friend on here and actually doing that 1k list with me. You're always so kind and I feel like we get along the best. You're one of the main reasons I decided to keep writing so thank you for that as well, wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. | 59 | | LOL Boys Changes
ok this is getting too long winded so I'll just say thanks to Unique for the recs, butcher for the smokes, neeka for the judging, kyle for the edits, boney for the reality checks, sounds for the laughs, ian for the memes, sowing/johnny/arcade/atari/rowan for the inspirations, deadly for the job, spaceman for the vibes, and anyone else who has helped with my journey thusfar on sput, there's too many to list. | 60 | | Conman Demo
MY 5s RANKED
And lastly, here are my favorite 14 albums ranked. Might add descriptions later, who knows, who cares there's already too many words on this damn thing. | 61 | | Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind
#1 | 62 | | Marietta Summer Death
#2 | 63 | | Childish Gambino Because the Internet
#3 | 64 | | The Hotelier Home, Like NoPlace Is There
#4 | 65 | | Snowing Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit
#5 | 66 | | Tame Impala Lonerism
#6 | 67 | | Silversun Pickups Carnavas
#7 | 68 | | Frank Ocean channel ORANGE
#8 | 69 | | Tame Impala Currents
#9 | 70 | | A Great Big Pile of Leaves Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?
#10 | 71 | | Q and Not U No Kill No Beep Beep
#11 | 72 | | Baths Cerulean
#12 | 73 | | Mount Eerie A Crow Looked At Me
#13 | 74 | | Julien Baker Sprained Ankle
#14 | |
Conmaniac
09.21.17 | slowly updating but here it is I guess | Papa Universe
09.21.17 | At first I thought that you are scoring your own revies... huh | Papa Universe
09.21.17 | man, this is getting more and more massive. | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Interesting stuff Con! Didn't read the whole thing yet haha but what I did was cool, interesting to hear your thoughts on your old writing. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | yeah I'm not done yet hold up | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | yep that'll do it for now! this was fun to make, now I can finally put in my albums I haven't rated aha | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | From what I've read this is class con. Cute idea. I always find it rewarding to go through my own reviews with a critical hat on. | butcherboy
09.21.17 | this is a hell of list, Con.. Cheers for shoutout, dude.. It's been a blast getting to know ya.. | SandwichBubble
09.21.17 | Psychedelic: 11%
that rec list really did a number on you | Jots
09.21.17 | nice list idea, doesn't hurt to reflect on your writing IMO. I've a handful of old reviews I haven't read since their submissions | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | it def did sandwich and thanks butcher you as well! johnny read 18 and try to guess what review of yours I tried to copy lmao
sach why is that? i think it's kinda fun | Jots
09.21.17 | tbh my Gates review is probs one of my 10 least favs, in hindsight | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | (answer was ur Told Slant review)
and really? why do you say that | Jots
09.21.17 | it was a bit of a hack review and i had no idea what the press push had been/would be for the record. the album kinda blew up and tbh i had written an "album-i-stumbled-upon-on-bandcamp"-tier review for it. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | oh well that's circumstantial, same thing happened to me with my Remo Drive review and it's bottom 10 as well | Jots
09.21.17 | i think my fav reviews i've written are... hm, probably lil ugly mane, radiohead, miki yui, and maybe arturo stalteri. kinda like my first review too (sparklehorse). i dunno | ArsMoriendi
09.21.17 | Damn you guys listen to albums fast...
Makes me wonder how much you re-listen to albums though... | DoofusWainwright
09.21.17 | I checked my scrobbles the other day, apparently I listened to 104 songs on average per day the last two months (plus a bit more that aren't picked up, maybe another 6 songs a day on bandcamp, youtube, etc.) I'd think it splits 50/50 new stuff and re-listens.
I only listen to relistens when I'm out and about, usually primarily new stuff when at home.
| theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Wait Doof has a last.fm???
Also damn that's a lot of scrobbles, even my best weeks I don't hit 100 let alone on average. | Jots
09.21.17 | "Makes me wonder how much you re-listen to albums though..."
once i feel like i've gotten as much as i can hope to get from an album, i probably won't re-listen until a couple years later, if at all. too much music to discover. downside is wading through a lot of shit, of course. | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | For me the amount of listens depends on how much I like it. If I decide something's a 3 then I probably won't listen to it more than like 5 times before falling out of rotation. 4s get about 10 listens, 4.5s more. | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | too much music to discover [2] for sure | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | sach i love ur writing stop you kill it
also most of these albums have 2+ listens but there's def some exceptions | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Wait you've written reviews based on only 2 listens? | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | i meant my 1000 ratings. only review I wrote after 2 listens was Kid Cudi cuz that was fucking painful | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Ok that makes more sense lol.
I would say that less at least 90% of my ratings have at least 5 listens. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | oh and maybe that Oh Sees album as well was only 2ish listens. i don't have a rule for amount of listens before I review but most of the time the album has to inspire me enough, which of course means repeated listens. this is also why i'm pretty bad at getting reviews out for new albums quickly | MarsKid
09.21.17 | Fun list concept dude. Keep on writing, it only gets better and better | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | ^ [2] | MarsKid
09.21.17 | I remember when you had like no 5s tho, what the hell happened lol? | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | aw thanks Mars means a ton man. with school it'll be difficult but I'll keep trying | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | oh yeah this summer I reassessed all my 5s/4.5s and bumped one of my 3 5s down and like 12 of my 4.5s up. | MarsKid
09.21.17 | Yeah, I'm probably gonna have to reassess stuff at some point myself too. There's just too much music out there | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Only fourteen 5s is still pretty conservative | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | altho being very picky was fun (I used to say I had to enjoy EVERY song on the album), I realized going by the 4.75+ rule was better | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | he hath been liberated!!! | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | agreed though tbh, being more loose with 5s and 4.5s (within reason) is good in my book | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | I enjoy every song on most albums I rate a 4, you must be a hard man to please con. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | I'm tempted to bump one or two down as 14 seems like too much but idk | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | enjoy = 4+ but like if an album is all 4/5 worthy songs it's a 4/5 album you know? | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Not necessarily, an album where every track is a 4/5 might be a 4.5 for me. | MarsKid
09.21.17 | Ratings are goofy, just 5 everything | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | yeah con you're harsh when it comes to handing out 4.5s it seems. being a bit more cautious with 5s is cool but damn you have a tonne of 4s but relatively few 4.5s | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | idk man 3.5 is like my baseline so I consider a 4 a really solid album and a 4.5 a special album so like most of my 4.5s were 4s at first but then grew. most of my 4s are ones that I might consistently listen to but dont have that special something idk | MarsKid
09.21.17 | I don't have too too many 4.5s either in relation to my 4s and 3.5s, I think all 4.5s are at a certain higher level. Some are just under the 5 mark too. | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | nah nw, I get you, I'm largely the same. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | I'll peep my 4s and see if any deserve a bump tho | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | Yeah Con it always seemed to me you give out 4s really easily compared to your 4.5s and 5s but you do you! Everyone's system is different. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | yea man I don't judge (usually), everyone's minds works in different ways | MarsKid
09.21.17 | The only 4 I might wanna bump is Justin Timberlake tbh, that album is stuck in my fucking head. Tunnel Vision bangz | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | bumped 2 4s to 4.5 (Velvet Underground and who loves you). rest are pretty solidly 4s but a couple caught my eye that I might have to relisten to... | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | good man, spread the love of music | MarsKid
09.21.17 | It's crazy how fast opinions can change tbh, I can't wait to see what my 4-year anniversary lists look like. Considering I'll be back to seriously staying on top of new music next year I might get around 2500 ratings by then jesus | Chortles
09.21.17 | love it con. nice to look back on your writing and see where you've gone.. and just taste in general for sure. crazy how much it changes using this dumbass site | AsleepInTheBack
09.21.17 | for sure. I barely recognise my taste now, sput has changed it so much | MarsKid
09.21.17 | I went from being a tech guy to a core guy and sad stuff. Good times. | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | My taste hasn't changed that much due to Sput tbh. | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | sput has opened up my taste but without sput I would still LOVE the same things (emo/indie shit) but I wouldn't be nearly as exposed to some other genres like electronic music, psych rock, and even post metal | Conmaniac
09.21.17 | also thanks Chortles, much love (: | MarsKid
09.21.17 | I probably never would have given emo a chance without Sput, and I'm still getting in to the genre. | theBoneyKing
09.21.17 | I've definitely dabbled in things I wouldn't have tried otherwise and I've been turned onto a lot of great artists but they're mostly in genres I already liked and the core of my taste is still more or less the same. | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | overall sput is a sick place ya | butcherboy
09.22.17 | Con, listen to more pavement and guided by voices already.. they shaped so much of the contemporary music you love.. also, you're a rad dude, cheers | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | will do man, def starting with Pavement. | theBoneyKing
09.22.17 | I gotta get into Pavement and GBV too. 90s indie is the best indie | butcherboy
09.22.17 | It's the I Ching of all modern emotive music.. besides, Con dug Dino Jr.. so this is perfect for him, and Crooked Rain just may be the album made especially for you, Boney.. | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | yeah after hearing that Dino Jr. album and seeing how similar it was to a tonnnn of the indie punk stuff I like I knew I needed to check more stuff like that | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | woah didn't even see ur comment butcher but yeah You're Living All Over Me is fucking amazing | Dewinged
09.22.17 | Impressive list Connor, you've put a lot of heart into this, very nice man. A bit of autocritic is always good for the soul. | Dewinged
09.22.17 | And I always think of Blush too when I see that Blushing EP cover haha | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | hehe ikr? and thanks man, was kinda fun but also strange as hell attempting to critique my own work. | theBoneyKing
09.22.17 | I just need to check more old music in general. | neekafat
09.22.17 | Cheers for the shoutout mate (:
Lovelovelove this list idea! | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | no prob man and thank u lovelovelove u (: | cylinder
09.22.17 | Such a cool idea, nice | hesperus
09.22.17 | neat list con. this kind of retrospection can be fun and helpful. also, i didn't realize you'd done that many reviews, so kudos on the output | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | much love you two, thanks for peepin. and yeah hesp i was able to crank a ton out this summer but college is slowin me down a bit. | verdant
09.22.17 | i love it!!! thank you for helping me settle in to this place con, u r great :~)
i think the best review i've ever written is | Orb
09.22.17 | Clever list haha. Tldr for me but I love the idea | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | yeah way too many words but if u remember a review of mine and wanted to see my thoughts on it this is the place to go!
jack my fav review of urs is all of them | AsleepInTheBack
09.22.17 | jack my fav review of urs is all of them [2] | Conmaniac
09.22.17 | that Milo one is p delish tho | ScuroFantasma
09.23.17 | Con-gratulations (: I'm sure no ones made that joke before.
Great list too man | ashcrash9
09.23.17 | happy 1000, man!
you've come a long way as a writer since the early reviews, keep at it! | Conmaniac
09.23.17 | thanks you two! been a fun ride and yeah I agree ash those first two reviews are so bad hahah | AsleepInTheBack
09.23.17 | aw maaan I didn't even see that shout out. love ya con. never stop writing. | Conmaniac
09.23.17 | love ya too Ben (: | BlushfulHippocrene
09.24.17 | What a fantastic idea for a list, Connor, it's so interesting seeing what you think of your reviews, and being able to critique even the more recent pieces of writing is really a testament to how much you've grown and are growing as a writer. Also, thank you, you beautiful man, and please never stop writing. < 3
Also, of course I wasn't stalking your reviews. *looks away* | Conmaniac
09.25.17 | aha ur too sweet blush thank you. ill try not to, been fun thusfar! | Spluger
09.26.17 | I really enjoyed your Remo Drive review because I agreed with most of the points you were making about emo as a genre, but I see where you're coming from about it not describing the album enough. Interesting list though dude, I don't think I'd have the balls to do this if I ever get off my ass and start writing reviews. | Conmaniac
09.26.17 | aha well i'm glad you enjoyed it man. i feel like non musical descriptions can work within reviews when employed correctly but because of the tone of that review it kinda comes off as dismissive of the music when actually I should be praising a lot of things they are doing. that's mainly why I personally dislike it. thx for reading tho man | Archelirion
09.27.17 | Really love this idea for a list, and I'd imagine from a personal perspective it's kinda nice to see what you like/dislike about your writing from a more critical perspective. I loved that Alter one, glad to see it ranks highly in your own eyes too. | Conmaniac
09.27.17 | thanks Arch boi. hopefully my next review will benefit from it! and yeah that Alter review is great, glad ya like it (: | Conmaniac
08.10.18 | i love this list still |
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