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Reviews 34 Soundoffs 3,365 News Articles 3 Band Edits + Tags 724 Album Edits 1,784
Album Ratings 3337 Objectivity 74%
Last Active 01-05-23 6:04 pm Joined 05-30-20
Review Comments 6,618
| users' 2010s list: listening party
fella by the name TundraL5Z is already doing it, but why not do it with him. join us in trying to decipher your choices, most balancing between baffling and predictable. few of these i listen to constantly, some i've heard enough, some i've heard and liked, some didn't like, some don't remember, a few didn't hear. one way or one of the others, it is not unhealthy to revisit them and understand what locals deem decade-defining material. | 100 | | Thrice Major/Minor
I wish I could say I was anything above entertained. 'Major/Minor' is a thoroughly entertaining album. Melodically and in production I have nothing to scorn. But I fear that might be it. See, this album is fun, it engages you start to finish and you never feel even a hint of boredom. But I struggle to find any attributes other than fun and entertainment. It is not particularly memorable, lyrics aren't the most profound or clear-cut I've heard, vocals are wonky, song structures often repeat. And yet the band knows how to deliver and hit hard. 50 minutes fly by.
BT: Promises, Call It in the Air, Trading Paper, Blur, Anthology | 99 | | Cult of Luna Vertikal
This album is half two things: either truly epic engrossing music (like holy hell the latter half of "Vicarious Redemption") or needlessly long uneventful passages that feel like musical exposition (like the first half of "Vicarious Redemption"), but that's kind of always been the problem with Cult of Luna. If this were a television series, it'd be very divisive for its filler episodes and groundbreaking effects.
BT: I: The Weapon, Synchronicity | 98 | | Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
I remember this album, but apparently not well enough not to be surprised by its jazziness, breezy summery warmth and surprising songwriting depth. I remember it as a decent folk album, but not much else. Odd, considering I relistened to Crack-Up about a thousand times. I am certainly glad to have come back to it after the years and rediscovered its avant-garde magic hidden under the fabric of easy-going gaiety. It's pretty.
BT: Sim Sala Bim, The Plains/Bitter Dancer, Helplessness Blues, Lorelai, The Shrine/An Argument, Grown Ocean | 97 | | Typhoon (USA-OR) White Lighter
Greatly ambitious in combining folk and arena rock sized production. I like a lot of the songwriting and some of the more intimate songs feel very warm. But it all comes off tawdry. A lot of flash a lot of flair, also plenty of over the top songwriting and excessive theatrics. The intimacy and tenderness always has to be interrupted by the arrangement getting up its own about itself and the vocals never quite can catch up with the instrumental's grandeur. The word 'bloated' comes to mind. But bloated and morbidly obese. Like Fleet Foxes on steroids and whinier.
BT: Possible Deaths, Dreams of Cannibalism, Hunger and Thirst | 96 | | Grimes Art Angels
The biggest problem dragging Grimes down is not her style of futuristic deranged glitter-spraying love-maniac, but that she cannot make this exhilarating surfeit of glamorous insanities compliment each other. This album only wins over her others for its less all-over-the-place construction. Which in turn leaves it feeling more inessential than Grimes' ballsy aesthetic would like you to believe. So it is her more straightforward project, but even then a less than substantive work.
BT: Flesh Without Blood, Kill V. Maim | 95 | | Alcest Écailles De Lune
Alcest were always mere feel-good easy-listening band. I never found their songwriting compelling, I never saw them as particularly engaging, and I rarely felt the need in returning to their music. But to the latter point, if I ever did, it would have probably been for the exact express purposes of finding something profoundly calming, despite the heaviness of its genre. Blackgaze or post-black metal or however you'd like to categorise this "angry boi toedipping in a gentle creek" kind of music, it is pleasing to the ears. I should sometimes try putting it on to go to sleep. Not because it is boring (although it can be), but because it has a pacifying energy. Bedtime bm.
BT: Solar Song | 94 | | Weyes Blood Titanic Rising
First album on the list that I knew very well. What absolute heaven Weyes Blood gifted us here. As if to summon the god(ess) of love and beauty, 'Titanic Rising' sounds like a celebration of the absolute life, love, lovelife, love of life and life full of love. Even in moments of lyrical drowsiness, I feel like the album wants me to be happy, safe and warm in every and all case.
BT: Andromeda, Everyday, Movies, Mirror Forever, Picture Me Better | 93 | | The Chariot One Wing
Surprising amount of versatility for a screamo hardcore album. I feel weird not knowing what else to say. It really is good. All those people praising it were right.
BT: Not, First, Love., Speak, Tongues, and, Cheek. | 92 | | Night Verses From the Gallery of Sleep
I know a drummer guy who won't shut up about this band and keeps showing everyone Aric Importa's performance at Guitar Center Drum-Off 2012 finale. Listening to this I can see (hear) how this would be a topper of an instrumentalist's essential listening list. The finesse these guys display is undeniable. But other than often being overwhelmed by the instrumentals to a point of the songs being inscribed on the inside of my brain, I found most of the songwriting to be unremarkable. It is not unmemorable, but it is lacking in composition. It is like a car engine catalogue. All technicality, but unless you are already well versed in the craft of making them, you will struggle to understand what to listen for.
BT: Trading Shadows, No.0, Earthless | 91 | | Phoebe Bridgers Stranger In The Alps
This album is something strange. It doesn't really change its pace or style much throughout, and yet I still found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. Phoebe's lyricism and songwriting can be on the dam point like nobody else, but it can also be corny, a little awkward, unintentionally shy drag. And the more I listen to this album, the more some of the songs sound sleepy (like Demi Moore or Killer for the worst offenders).
BT: Funeral, Scott Street, Would You Rather, You Missed My Heart | 90 | | Amenra Mass VI
What by and large is the appeal of post-metal to me is that it often can transmit the emotional state of utter fury while possessing the energy levels of complete emotional exhaustion. It is something I often miss in genres like DSBM, where the two aspects are seated vice versa. And more than the lot of others, Amenra closed in on this particular state of music and perfected the musical feeling of complete emotional drain and hysteria turned to rage. I cannot place this record on a spectrum on their others, as they all - for lack of a better phrasing and in the nicest way possible - are the same. It is a tried and true musical formula that keeps on giving and I am happy (to be sad) for that.
BT: Plus Près de Toi (Closer to You), A Solitary Reign | 89 | | Ben Howard I Forget Where We Were | 88 | | Deafheaven New Bermuda | 87 | | Jon Hopkins Immunity | 86 | | State Faults Clairvoyant | 85 | | M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming | 84 | | Brockhampton SATURATION II | 83 | | Tool Fear Inoculum | 82 | | My Bloody Valentine m b v | 81 | | Laura Stevenson Wheel | 80 | | Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell! | 79 | | Agalloch Marrow of the Spirit | 78 | | Slowdive Slowdive | 77 | | Macaroom Homephone TE | 76 | | Anathema We're Here Because We're Here | 75 | | Hop Along Bark Your Head Off, Dog | 74 | | Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool | 73 | | Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition | 72 | | Between the Buried and Me The Parallax II: Future Sequence | 71 | | Anna von Hausswolff Dead Magic | 70 | | Damien Rice My Favourite Faded Fantasy | 69 | | Ghost (SWE) Meliora | 68 | | Swans The Glowing Man | 67 | | Deathspell Omega Paracletus | 66 | | Sophie Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides | 65 | | Alcest Kodama | 64 | | Ne Obliviscaris Portal of I | 63 | | Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial | 62 | | O'Brother Garden Window | 61 | | Flying Lotus Cosmogramma | 60 | | Circa Survive Blue Sky Noise | 59 | | IDLES Joy as an Act of Resistance | 58 | | The Menzingers After the Party | 57 | | The Dillinger Escape Plan One of Us Is the Killer | 56 | | Thursday No Devolucion | 55 | | Jason Isbell Southeastern | 54 | | Women Public Strain | 53 | | Ichiko Aoba 0% | 52 | | Julien Baker Sprained Ankle | 51 | | The War on Drugs Lost in the Dream | 50 | | Swans To Be Kind | 49 | | Amia Venera Landscape The Long Procession | 48 | | mewithoutYou Pale Horses | 47 | | Danny Brown XXX | 46 | | The Dear Hunter Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise | 45 | | Bon Iver Bon Iver, Bon Iver | 44 | | Trophy Scars Holy Vacants | 43 | | Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool | 42 | | The Dear Hunter Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional | 41 | | Deftones Koi No Yokan | 40 | | Ulcerate Shrines of Paralysis | 39 | | La Dispute Wildlife | 38 | | Gorguts Colored Sands | 37 | | The Wonder Years The Greatest Generation | 36 | | Cult of Luna A Dawn to Fear | 35 | | Titus Andronicus The Monitor | 34 | | Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas Mariner | 33 | | mewithoutYou [Untitled] | 32 | | The Knife Shaking the Habitual | 31 | | Captain, We're Sinking The Future Is Cancelled | 30 | | Sun Kil Moon Benji | 29 | | Death Grips The Money Store | 28 | | Lorde Melodrama | 27 | | Altar of Plagues Teethed Glory and Injury | 26 | | There Will Be Fireworks The Dark, Dark Bright | 25 | | Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree | 24 | | Gang of Youths Go Farther in Lightness | 23 | | Deftones Diamond Eyes | 22 | | The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis | 21 | | Frank Ocean Blonde | 20 | | Rolo Tomassi Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It | 19 | | Converge All We Love We Leave Behind | 18 | | Swans The Seer | 17 | | Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion | 16 | | The National Trouble Will Find Me | 15 | | Jeff Rosenstock Worry. | 14 | | The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt | 13 | | Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 12 | | The Menzingers On the Impossible Past | 11 | | Queens of the Stone Age ...Like Clockwork | 10 | | Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface | 9 | | Daughters You Won't Get What You Want | 8 | | brand new Science Fiction | 7 | | David Bowie Blackstar | 6 | | The National High Violet | 5 | | Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city | 4 | | The Hotelier Home, Like NoPlace Is There | 3 | | Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell | 2 | | Deafheaven Sunbather | 1 | | Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | |
someone
06.15.20 | listen along too, why don't you | Tundra
06.15.20 | nice man | Mythodea
06.15.20 | good idea from both of you | ArsMoriendi
06.15.20 | If you wanna fix the art for MBV, just know sput has it listed as "m b v" with spaces | twlight
06.15.20 | Great list tbh | someone
06.15.20 | didn't even notice there was something wrong with it. thanks a plenty | Mythodea
06.15.20 | I'd like it if we organized and listened to one album every day or so, and then commented on it. | Pangea
06.15.20 | i'll join you guys. heard 47 so far so there's plenty to explore | someone
06.15.20 | @Mythodea: that sounds great. we'll need to sync tho. i already heard Thrice. gotta ask TundraL5Z | Mythodea
06.15.20 | I've already listened to some of these, and I wouldn't be surprised if people already love some of the users FAVOURITES. I'd be glad to invest in an experiment like that. Let's say we allow some time until all people who want to join do so, and we start from scratch. One album/day. | Tundra
06.15.20 | You can call me Tundra man, I can see maybe every day people submit scores for each album and then average it up, will be a lot of work though lol, either way I want to keep doing what I'm doing on my list if thats ok | Tundra
06.15.20 | @Mythod idea sounds good | someone
06.15.20 | i wanted to go from 100 to 1, maybe we can do it that way. day 1 = number 100. but will we do it in one thread or individual? | Satellite
06.15.20 | really wish i were open-minded enough to check out all of the albums i haven't heard from this list. much respect. | Mythodea
06.15.20 | I was thinking about individual lists for each album. [i] Listening Party - Day #1 [/i] is a title that comes to mind for the daily meetings. We only have to comment our opinion in the list, whenever we are ready, until we create our own individual sound off pages.
Edit: there's a similar project for undiscovered prog gems. We did domething similar to a listening party, and each week we would vote our favourite, until we got to a winner. | Tundra
06.15.20 | I mean you could, but 100 days is a pretty long time and a long commitment as well lol, for my list I just wanted to do it for a couple weeks or at most a month. I say you do your idea, I do my idea, but I will submit my scores to yours as well | Mythodea
06.15.20 | Oh, yeah, Tundra, don't sweat. No pressure at all. I get it's something we may not even finish after all. But there's really no need to justify yourself ;) | someone
06.15.20 | so the way i see it, we have a few options:
1. proceed at our own individual pace, individual threads and just discuss the albums we want to discuss with each other
2. we have our individual lists or one list to sum up our collective opinions and proceed one day at a time
3. we do it like Tundra: proceed based on individual episodes of the featured list (100-76, 75-51 and so on) and listen to everything within those margins at our own pace and then when everyone is done and ready, proceed to the next checkpoint.
i think individual list for each day is excessive and will needlessly saturate the front page | Tundra
06.15.20 | I prefer to do it in small chunks cause 100 to 1 sounds a lot more daunting than 100 to 76, and so on | someone
06.15.20 | well you can do it that way, if we go 100 to 1, then i guess it won't really change things that much if you divide it into sections. | someone
06.15.20 | but my first comment is already up | Tundra
06.15.20 | think its being overcomplicated in all honesty, think the process should just be a chill exploration of all the albums | Mythodea
06.15.20 | I'm with you on the last observation. | zakalwe
06.15.20 | Top one hundred has a lot of nonsense.
There I’ve said it. | someone
06.15.20 | so let's just go out own pace then?
@zakalwe: i could agree more, but i agree nonetheless | Mythodea
06.15.20 | Yes, we can move on our own pace and meet at each album's review thread | someone
06.15.20 | sounds good | Lord(e)Po)))ts
06.15.20 | you brave brave soul | someone
06.15.20 | this is not going to be difficult, i like most things that are | someone
06.16.20 | so i'll proceed with the list regardless of your guys' progress, okay? | Tundra
06.16.20 | yep | someone
06.20.20 | i found my first dud | Mythodea
06.20.20 | And I guess it's Art Angels? | someone
06.20.20 | We'll see about Art Angels, but I remember disliking them severely. I was talking about Typhoon, the needlessly extravagant foray into bombastic vapidness. | Mythodea
06.20.20 | Typhoon are better when they're lamenting. White lighter was... Lighter and low on fats | someone
06.20.20 | The opposite, it's too fat. | Mythodea
06.20.20 | I mean no substance dude, don't mess with my metphor XD | someone
06.26.20 | back on track after a little break | someone
06.26.20 | i think i should go through all of theneedledrop's decade end picks after this | someone
07.06.20 | i don't know if anyone is wondering at all about this, but i have not been inactive. this listening party is still going on, but i am just struggling with the sound offs and i can't jump straight to the albums i have a good few sentences written about, because i want to make the texts appear chronologically | someone
07.06.20 | i just have to figure out what to say about Amenra, Ben Howard, Anathema and Casualties of Cool. otherwise i'm set | Mythodea
07.07.20 | I'm wondering, because I've been a bit inactive about this challenge. Sowing's list about 2020 came around and messed with User's 100. But I'm going strong now! | Pangea
07.07.20 | i'm following the list as well, nice to hear it's going on | JohnnyoftheWell
07.16.20 | h i p e | someone
07.16.20 | Will be returning to this soon, life's busy and I don't always have time to listen to a 100 albums multiple times. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.16.20 | how dare you i am shocked | someone
07.18.20 | So I'm going away for some time ,so this will have to wait | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.20 | take care m'dude ! | someone
07.18.20 | I'm not going to jail.
I'm leading a summer camp for kids. Just found out there's no internet and I don't have enough data to spend it on music, which is ficked, cause I won't reach my listening quotas. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.20 | Oh damn, that's a pain - dya have an ipod or whatever to keep your main tunes on hand? also ngl I fully believed you were doing to hospital with a trendy new virus | someone
07.18.20 | Nope, my immunity is acidic nuclear, I'm never sick. I have a futon of stuff downloaded, but I also have a rule to listen to one album every day and I will have a lot of catching up to do afterwards. | Egarran
07.18.20 | How many bytes are in a futon? | Tundra
07.18.20 | i've been done mine for weeks tbh, but go at your own pace I guess | someone
07.18.20 | I like to listen to thing repeatedly. I feel like I'm writing minireviews here, so I want to be thorough. | JohnnyoftheWell
07.18.20 | so this is what true investigative journalism is like. i just wish there could have been a better list for your fine efforts ;] | Tundra
07.18.20 | Yeah ide say I liked about half of what's there, was underwhelmed with a lot of them though |
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