The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 130

As I mentioned in my review, if you have Apple Music, check out the remastered version. Some of the additional tracks are really impressive and the interview at the end is great.

 

I have Google Play, but thankfully they also have the remastered version. I'll definitely stick it out through the extra tracks and interview!

 

Oh crap. It’s thursday and I’m just realizing did we switch to 7 days? I still need to talk to @Nate_Johnson ans need to write my review for @bachna84

I suck but I’m also new at this and the rotation switch messed with me haha

 

Haha you’re good man! The last session doesn’t end until Monday, so you got time for your write up. And your session with Nate doesn’t technically start until then too

 

I was partnered with @Larry David for this session.

They will be listening to... Ceres - Drag It Down On You (2016)

I will be listening to... The Island of Misfit Toys - I Made You Something (2015)

 

This makes so much sense. I probably could’ve looked closer at the numbers and figured this out on my own hahah

 

I think both me and @MikeyPaine completely forgot

 

yeah I rarely venture into this hear part of town but I am down to participate i love the idea

 

Dates are on the first post of the thread usually too

 

Well you have a partner or two to get with lol

 

@thenewmatthewperry and I teamed up recently and they recommended I check out:

The Strokes: First Impressions of Earth (2006) SONY BMG Music Entertainment

I don't think introductions are necessary for The Strokes. If you are a member on this site or have a radio I am sure you have heard their hit single, Last Nite, off their debut album, Is This It. That single made them almost overnight sensations and launched them into the forefront of revival bands of the art-rock sound made popular by bands like Televsion and The Velvet Underground. But was that album all the band had to offer?

I will be honest and say that I haven't listened to this band much but I am going to be very blunt in saying that I did not enjoy this record at all. The immediate turnoff for me was front man Julian Casablancas vocal delivery. He does not have a large vocal range and that is fine but the way it is presented in this "I could care less" flare makes it even less appealing. Lyrically, he falls short as well and hits rock bottom on the track, Ask Me Anything, where he repeats the same line "I've got nothing to say", over this plodding and repeating keyboard beat minus the rest of the band. My last huge complaint are the drums and the fact that throughout the majority of the record it sounds like a drum machine. I did look at the notes for the album and there was a drummer at the time of recording, Fabrizio Moretti, but either the production was done poorly or he may not be that versatile a drummer.

Despite all these criticisms, there are some enjoyable tracks on here. Lead guitarist, Nick Valensi, can play! This is showcased on songs like You Only Live Once, Heart in a Cage, Vision of Division and Red Light. My favorite track on the album( which is the lead single, go figure) is Juicebox and all I can say is: Holy Bass! Bassist Nikolai Fraiture is incredible on this song and plays the bass like a lead guitar. If they allowed him to shine more throughout this album it would have been a much more enjoyable experience but overall the songs blend together and are forgettable.

I am interested in hearing some of their other albums and hope they all don't sound like this one. I will definitely be jamming Juicebox a lot though!

Favorite Songs:
You Only Live Once
Heart in a Cage
Juicebox
Vision of Division
Red Light

RIYL: The Velvet Underground, The Bravery, The Killers

2/10 Sorry @thenewmatthewperry but thank you for getting me to sit down and listen to one of their albums.

 

Ah man I love that album so much. I love Julian’s vocals and Fab definitely isn’t a drum machine, he likes to record live drums and make them sound like a machine

 

I sincerely appreciate the honesty @Nate_Johnson. I think Casablancas is a love/hate thing but glad you could at least enjoy the instrumentals where they shined!

The album is the most divisive of The Strokes for sure but it’s my favorite by far.

 

I love the first three Strokes albums, although there are a few filler tracks on FIOE. If you enjoyed Valensi's guitar playing, I would highly recommend his side project CRX. Their debut New Skin was one of my favorite albums of 2016. Easily my favorite Strokes-related output since FIOE.

 

Thanks for the information and I will check it out. The band itself is great, but Julian Casablanca's vocals are a thing to be desired. If they were an instrumental act I would be on board 100%.

How did you end up liking T. Rex by the way?

 

I liked it! Very solid album from front to back. I thought the interview at the end was really engaging and candid too. Thanks for recommending it!

 

@Craig Manning and I were paired this time around and he recommended two albums I will definitely return to

Jason Isbell - Southeastern (2013)
I saw Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound top a few lists last year, including Craig's. My familiarity with Jason Isbell and country music is very limited, and while I wouldn't call Southeastern a country album, it certainly gives me a great place to start. Jason Isbell has a warm, comforting tone, and so do these songs. Album opener "Cover Me Up" is a tender love song, and gives an idea of what follows throughout Southeastern - primarily acoustic songs by a very talented singer-songwriter. It's also one of my standout tracks. "Travelling Alone" and "Live Oak" are also beautiful, this whole album is. Jason Isbell is a storyteller, singing universally relatable songs about love and healing, but other songs are tinged with darkness - "Elephant" is focused on cancer, and "Yvette" is about sexual abuse and how rampant it is, and Isbell aims to help people start a conversation. Seems fitting in current times, to be honest. I look forward to hearing more from Jason Isbell!

The New Frontiers - Mending (2008)
I was devastated to learn that this band isn't around anymore. Mending is a wonderful indie rock album where every song is great. "The Day You Fell Apart" is only the second song on the album, and I already painfully related to a song. Trying to trust and love someone again after being badly hurt is a long healing process, and Nathan Pettijohn's vocals gave a voice to thoughts I passed a few years ago. I felt it all over again and appreciated the power of music; heartfelt, honest music, all over again. "Strangers", "Walking On Stones", and "Spirit And Skin" are other notable highlights. It really is a shame that The New Frontiers broke up, I loved Mending. Mending is a cohesive, chilled album on the surface. There's so much more to find, and I don't think I've found it all yet.

 

So glad you enjoyed these! Mending is definitely a lost classic by a band that never got the attention they deserve. Every time I go back to it, I find something new I love.

Hoping to get reviews for your recs done this weekend!

 

Both albums are very special. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts!

 

I was given the album Here and Nowhere Else to listen to by the band Cloud Nothings by @sean_rugy . This is the first time that I've ever listened to this band and I was pleasantly surprised by what I have currently heard and may check out more music in the near future. Cloud Nothings are a indie punk/noise punk band and straight from the first song I'm getting Beach Slang vibes. However, the difference between Beach Slang and Cloud Nothings is that they lean more towards the punk side than Beach Slang do with their music, as well as the vocals themselves sounding a bit deeper than Beach Slang's, whose vocals lean more towards the nasally side.

The album itself is pretty straightforward indie punk but that itself isn't to take anyway from the album itself, the songwriting is crisp and tight whilst the production itself is very well done as no instruments seem to come off too loud or too quiet. That being said, if there is a nice guitar or drum section they want you to notice, they'll definitely make you notice but not to the point where you can't hear anything else. I've already touched upon the vocals earlier but the lead singer, Dylan Baldi, does a decent job in that department. They can be rough, they can be soft, at times yelpy, at times angsty, but they're passable nonetheless.

If I had a couple of complaints with this album is that the vocals can be buried in the mix in a way that you can't hear what Dylan sings all the time, but the songs themselves are so well written you'll just be bopping your head too much to care at times. A second complaint is that the lyrics themselves, when you decipher them, aren't all that impressive but in a way they seem like they're not mean to be impressive. It feels like the music itself is supposed to be the main focus with the vocals/lyrics being more of an afterthought.

I'll give this album a 7.5/10 just for the killer riffs and all round great songwriting from everyone here, however if it's great vocals and deep introspective lyrics you want, you may want to give this one a miss depending on your tolerance of how much you like punk rock/indie punk music.

Recommended tracks: Now Hear in, Psychic Trauma, Just See Fear, I'm Not Part Of Me

Next review on Monday will be @Larry David who recommended: Captain We're Sinking - The King of No Man

 

Great review! Glad you generally like it. This album just speaks to me, listen to it almost daily. The drumming in "Psychic Trauma" is out of this world. Working on your Brockhampton review, I'm a little late. Sorry!

 

Here we go! Late, as per usual, on @Rob Hughes recommendation.

Brockhampton - Saturation (2017) - I think the real reason I'm so late to writing this is because I struggled collecting my thoughts and putting them together in a meaningful way. Please bare with me as I ramble on about an album that I truly, truly love but struggle to write about.

I used to listen to a lot more hip-hop than I do now, I don't know how/when that shift happened, I listen to only a handful of artists these days (Earl Sweatshirt, Kendrick, P.O.S, Oddisee). I'm happy to now be adding Brockhampton to that list and I think it's because I can find little bit of all of those artists reflected here, this thing has layers I was not expecting. I have no idea how many members they have but they are all incredibly talented and bring something unique to the table. I know they all, for the most part, live and create in the same house. It's a unique situation that comes through in the album, there's chaos but it's controlled and meaningful. Kind of similar to how I imagine actually living in a house with 10+ incredibly creative human beings would be like.

I don't think there was a song that I particularly disliked, everything felt fresh and never played out throughout the 17 tracks and 51 minutes. As one song ended I was eagerly anticipating whatever was coming next and I was always surprised with that I heard. The opener "HEAT" sounded straight out of an Odd Future playback, it's has that blown out bass that just kicks you in the chest from the start and the bars to go with it. "GOLD" and "STAR" kept the energy moving right along, when I wanted to listen to just one song from the album it was usually one of these. I loved "2PAC" but it ended way to quick at only a minute long. I could quite possibly go through every. single. song. and tell you what I enjoyed but I don't want to do that to you. Aside from the more traditional hip-hop songs (I'm use traditional loosely here) I found myself gravitating to the more poppy songs way more than I thought I would, especially "SWIM". I found myself falling in love with a different part of Saturation after every listen but the moments in "SWIM" will always stand out. "BUMP" and "CASH" are a great one-two punch and keep the energy moving with infectious choruses and fantastic production. And then there's "MILK", holy shit, that is all. Must listen, please.

Before listening to this I knew Brockhampton as the band from Kevin Abstract who had a show on Viceland (which is incredible btw). But I am walking away with is a newfound respect and admiration for what this crew has been able to create. I will absolutely be checking out the rest of the trilogy. I mean, they out out a TRILOGY. Enough said.

 

What the heck is this

 

@Nate_Johnson wanna take this one?

 

Haha! Sure. Send me a DM @ShadowTh2b