Audio

Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Language of Threat EP from EULA. EULA falls somewhere between Indie Rock and Post Punk or Art Punk. This album in particular leans more towards the Post/Art Punk.

I really, really like this band. Why have I bot been listening to this more? They have a good amount of aggression mixed with melodic vocals – and often not melodic vocals. There are some great guitar riffs. And just overall enjoyableness.

Rating: 9.6

Favorite Track(s): “Housewolf” really is great. Great changes in tempo. Fantastic appropriate aggression at times. Interesting song structure. Things really flow into “Above the Weather” which is just a great song! “Fight Tiff” has a nice leaning angularity to it.

Keep or Trash: Keep

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is the Hype EP from Sigrid. She is a Norwegian pop artist and I have a weakness for Nordic pop. Therefore I own this.

I objectively think this is ok pop. I have a weird relationship with pop which I mostly dislike. But then I have weaknesses. Anyhow, I like this enough to probably keep it. Definitely one of my guilty pleasures.

Rating: 8.5

Favorite Track(s): Probably Borderline. Maybe The Hype.

Keep or Trash: Keep for now. I do kind of dig it.

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is WHNZ:57:WAMAWA from Keijo. This is a Free Folk artist from Ukraine. They self tag as experimental and Forest Folk for what it’s worth. It definitely has psychedelic influences.

I’m impressed with the sort of ambient psychedelic sounds they create. It’s all very melodious given its experimental nature. This is good music and it’s all very good. It flows as an album in a very effective way. I’m a bit unclear if this is a live album or what but it works as a conceptual album either way.

With all that said, it does get a bit old after a while. I think that it can feel a bit repetitive. So while consistent, some vocals are something would help provide variety. There are vocals on the last track which helped a little. Though they weren’t striking vocals. In any case, overall good album.

Rating: 8.8

Favorite Track(s): “To a Nest to Rest” is really cool. “All Alone” also cool. Very melodious. “With the Blue of the Time” is very bluesy.

Keep or Trash: Keep.

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Hyacinths and Thistles from The Kyle Sowashes. This is considered Indie Pop – maybe Chamber Pop. To put it most succinctly I’ll quote Wikipedia: “The 6ths was a band created by Stephin Merritt, also the primary songwriter and instrumentalist behind the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes.”

There are definitely some interesting things going on here. I can see why they are listed as Chamber Pop. On “Oahu” though the little sparkly sound at the end goes on for way too long. And I mean WAY too long. Then my favorite song followed by a pretty song and then a weird one. As my wife said, “These guys are all over the map, wow!” And they really are. It’s sort of a strange album. I’d say this almost has an experimental edge to it. It could be considered Art Pop.

Rating: 7.7. Although it has some bangers, overall I felt this album was more okay than great.

Favorite Track(s): “You You You You You” is a long time favorite of mine…

Keep or Trash: Keep for the bangers…

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Somebody from The Kyle Sowashes. They are basically Indie Rock though RYM lists them as Alternative Rock. The distinction is a fine one anyhow.

Ive been partial to them since I saw them live in Pittsburgh many years ago. They were good live and I bought a couple of albums. I think their sound most likely translates better live than on recording. But the recording is solid enough. But that describes it. It’s not top tier for me.

Their sound is clean. Sometimes almost garage rock but not quite. Very much Indie Rock to me.

Rating: 8.4

Favorite Track(s): “Bloomington, IN” works for me. It’s a bit garage rock. There is a line about the time in Bloomington that makes me laugh because parts of Indiana use Daylight Savings Time and so don’t or at least it used to be that way. Anyhow it was always confusing. “Out Behind the Sun” is solid enough. They deserve credit for making a song about “cholesterol”. “Sheen’s Down” rocks but apparently not about Martin Sheen. Overall I feel it’s a good album.

Keep or Trash: Keep. Solid enough.

I could not find the full album streaming but here is a sampling from the album…

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is I’m Going Away from The Fiery Furnaces. I think that the best genre description for them might be Progressive Pop. Progressie because of their creative music construction and Pop because of their approachable style.

Their music is so good. They do a sort of bent on indie pop with various musical structures and vocal harmonies. Songs tend to shift and meander in a way that is contradictory at times, but overall interesting to follow.

Rating: 9.6

Favorite Track(s): “I’m Going Away” is intense but excellent. “Drive to Dallas” has that sort of musical feel with an Indie Rock touch. “The End is Near” is lovely. The whole album picks up and down as needed. Very excellent! “Even in the Rain” is probably my favorite.

Keep or Trash: Keep.

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Fearless from June Bug. They are listed on Rate Your Music as folk but they aren’t really folky at all. Maybe experimental. Or Indie Pop.

Anyhow I really like this. They mix some synths with strong vocals and amplifications. Describing it is a bit hard, but they also do some harmonizing and have good melodies.

Rating: 9.5

Favorite Track(s): “Dusk” is both chill and appealing. “Rollercoaster” is so tantalizing. “Bite Me” is poppy but good. “Fearless” is fantastic!

Keep or Trash: Keep. Adding this to the rotation…

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is O from xbxrx. This is experimental noise rock. I love this shit!

I really like this whole album. It’s very good. But no question – this is an acquired taste. Even though there are 10 songs it’s only a 9 minute long EP. So that tells you something. It’s loud, intense, erratic, angry, and discordant.

As a bit of note keeping for the Random Album of the Day series – this is my last album from a band that starts with X. Hard to believe but there aren’t many and most XDS falls under E in my collection. So I’m basically out of X albums… So if I roll an X with the dice, I’ll have to re-roll or maybe I’ll force that into a compilation selection.

Rating: 9.6

Favorite Track(s): “Decay” is quite the intro. “Life is Our Grave” is intense. “Opposed Reality” rips. “I Can See” rocks. “Stop the Signs” is so good. “Knowledge is Death” is a head banger! “Comfort” grooves. Not a bad track really. They are all super short and super intense.

Keep or Trash: Keep.

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Ourself Beside Me‘s Self-Titled Album. This is an Indie Rock band from China. They self tag as Noise Rock and Post-Punk and those labels fit here.

The intro I could do without but the album is excellent! The buried vocals are well placed. The overall sound is great. I listened twice…

Rating: 9.5

Favorite Track(s): “Sunday Girl” is just phenomenal. “Here I Come” gives me a Neo-psychedlic feel. “Someone’s Love Song” is perfectly angular. “Tuuuuuuuu” is soooo good. Reminds me of Olimpia Splendid. “Holiday” is a great instrumental. “Broken Heart Blues” brings a nice surf touch to this album.

Keep or Trash: Keep. This is delightful.

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Random Album of the Day

Today’s Random Album of the Day is Sea Stacks and Sleestacks from The Jade Shader. Rate Your Music lists this as Indie Rock and Post-Hardore. The Indie Rock I see but not the Post-Hardcore. I don’t really see that at all.

I really wanted to like this but I didn’t really get into it. It’s kind of plain rock and roll to me. Which is disappointing because they even self-tag it as experimental rock. but I didn’t get the experimental part. It did get better as the album progressed but it never reached me.

Rating: 6.0

Favorite Track(s): “The Sky is a Sea” is okay. “Metamorphosis 1” is actually good. Unfortunately that’s all I got.

Keep or Trash: Trash. I just didn’t like it enough to keep it.

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