Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Hmmm, I saw another review call this "Captain Beefheart pop" and I think that's spot on. They're deliberately trying to violate as many conventions at once, which makes this a challenging listen. If you're not in the mood to be challenged... well, just look at all the one star reviews! 😆 I gave this two listens and I'm sure with 2 or 4 more I'd really start to grok what they're doing, but honestly I'm not sure it'd repay the effort - I think if I want indie pop in this vein then I probably want friendly welcoming indie pop, not challenging avant weirdness. Fave track - eh..... "Remade Horizon" maybe?
Decent but hardly life-changing indie rock. I definitely preferred the female vocalist to the main guy, wish she had more stuff here. C
The sound definitely reminds me of a certain time in my life, though I’ve never listened to this before.
I actually kind of liked this album. I don’t know why I’m surprised? I think it’s just been a hot minute since I’ve heard something even slightly good. If I had been able to listen to this a couple more times I could even give it a 4, but I think even a 3 is good. 6.5/10 I think.
I've had this one for years and it's a tough one. Not *awful* tough but more of a challenge. I'm not sure how you describe this music - art pop? There were a lot of "this kind" (all different, so that phrase is kinda meaningless) of artists emerging around this time in the Animal Collective, Juliana Barwick, Grizzly Bear melodic-yet-jarringly-odd camp. That's just it - it's impossible to describe; you just have to listen to it. And after ... 20? listens (i hadn't listened to this album in a decade) I still have trouble judging it. It's fascinating, it's different, it's impeccably-crafted, the instrumentation is unique, the arrangement is completely unpredictable. And yet I cannot connect with it. I don't dislike it at all - it's a mood - but it's that connection that I've never been able to make that makes it a touch frustrating. I often wonder if I need hooks or a killer chorus and sometimes that's the case but ... if I can thoroughly immerse myself in a 20+ minute song like Genesis' Supper's Ready which has no hooks or chorus whatsoever then it's not a mandatory prerequisite. Yes, these are the negatives, if they *are* negative. So while it's certainly a challenging album, it does have its rewards. For instance "Two Doves" is lovely. "Useful Chamber" has a fascinating structure - beautiful and delicate interspersed with brief aggression. ...So. After a 2nd consecutive listen today I think an obvious personal sticking point I've missed is this: I don't like David Longstreth's voice. As soon as that light bulb went off I was able to hear this in a new and different way; I'm certain I'd love this album if it were instrumental or if either of the other vocalists (Amber Coffman / Angel Deradoorian) took over instead. This second listen was me focusing on everything *but* his vocals and I liked it so much more. TL;DR: very dense; at times too much so. But with such creative and atypical chord progressions and dynamics, it's really worth a few listens before judging. I hope to not wait another decade before listening again, but also might check out more of Coffman's/Deradoorian's solo work as a result. 6/10 3 stars *also it means nothing but reading an interview w Longstreth only hurt my view of him - slamming older/incredible musical artists and talents was supposed to go out when Cobain shot himself. Bullshit 90s "my music is cooler than yours but i'm pretending not to be cool" attitude that frosted/s me. Makes me hate his voice even more which is absolutely stupid I admit.
Interesting mix of Indie, Soul, Art Pop and a dash of Prog. I like the shorter and concise albums, but this was almost overstaying to me. There were moments I was really into it, especially instrumentally. Vocally it didn't get me that much. 7 out of 10
A very unique and fun listen. The vocals were so beautiful and soothing. I think it reminded me of Oh Wonder?
Weird
This album is the result of combining every acclaimed indie album of the 2000s
Tämä ei ihan auennut vieläkään, vaikka on tässä hetkensä. Välillä saavuttaa Björk-tason intensiivisyyden, mutta vastapainoksi on aika paljon tunneköyhää kikkailua. Arvaamattomuus pitää otteessaan kuitenkin sen verran, että sanotaan 3/5.
I had not heard of this band nor had I heard any of their music. It's interesting; kind of indie pop with a little soul added. Personally, I happen to prefer the vocals by Amber and Angel more than those by David, but that's just my own listening experience. The performances by the instrument players are excellent. Overall, this is a very good album and I plan to explore more of their work.
No Intention sounds like lots of squirrels scratching away over piano strings. Occasionally entertaining but mostly unmemorable. It sort of just washed over me.
vet a faen var helt ok
My heart sank when I saw this was the weekend album but actually it wasn’t that bad. Quite a haunting sound but not unpleasant. A surprising 3*
At certain points I understood what they were trying to do....and then I lost it again. Interesting album but left me with a vague sense of annoyance. 5.5/10 Fave track: Two Doves
meh 3*
One of those bands I've heard the name of for over a decade and probably heard them on KEXP a bunch of times but could name one of their songs. Definitely has an aughts indie-rock sound. Not bad.
Interesting vocal play. I hear the Bjork influence. Different. Don’t really like it though.
Interesting sound
Highlights: "Remade Horizon," The Bride," "Two Doves," "Temecula Sunrise" Not a bad idea to take ideas from Captain Beefheart and sweeten the deal with the thing he lacked the most: strong performances of stronger vocal arrangements, especially the dazzling ping-pong counterpoint on "Remade Horizon". You also get swelling strings in daring modern harmonies and lots of glittering guitar hammer-ons and pull-offs reminiscent of Malian blues with a twist of veering chromaticism. The main problem isn't so much Longstreth's strangled goose voice (again, better than Beefheart any day). It's really his lyrical fishtailing between jarringly stupid banality and megalomaniacal pretentiousness. This guy has himself staring into Nietzsche's eyes in the album art but sings stuff like "what hits the spot yeah like Gatorade? you and me baby hitting the spot all night." The name of the album, "bitte orca," repeated throughout the bridge of "Useful Chamber," is just his response to 'cellar door,' a pair of words he champions as being exceptionally beautiful. Please. Also, Amber Coffman's voice is very mainstream on the surface, but regularly becomes unbearably piercing and harsh, like a grotesque of its first impression. Besides the consistently interesting music, this is a good time capsule for the '00s boom in internet-driven college kid pop: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Inventive, surprising, and almost unlistenable. This album goes out of its way to create extra tension so the resolution feels much more satisfying - I’m not quite sure if that’s a positive quality or not yet. Certainly unique and hard to describe, so it gets a 3/5 for eccentricity.
Fairly average alternative rock album that does nothing to stand out or warrant any place on this list
Kind of experimental indie rock, but the "experimental" part was on the far end of the spectrum. Some songs were straight up unlistenable, with so many tempo changes, erratic vocals, seemingly having nothing to do with the melody and general lack of flow made it a challenge to stick with the album. It had few high moments as well, where the music suddenly clicks and is very enjoyable, unfortunately I doesn't happen too often. Very interesting and original concept, but maybe a bit too complicated for me. Nice attempt, though!
This was good, but didn't really stand out for me as exceptional.
Decent, but I would have to give it another chance to really appreciate it. Having said that, "No Intention" is just wonderful! The album also ended really well, although I will admit this was not a "one sitting" listening experience for me. 3/5
What can I say, average again, but slightly higher average
Too dissonant and experimental to put into my rotation. Pretty at times, though.
Individual songs I liked but as an album is was just okay. I do hear the influences on other albums, though
Has tenets of something that I don't quite know how to describe, but I'm gonna call it hypermusicality - essentially a lot of intricate, accomplished, often quite clean and shiny musical elements layered over one another, that I'm sure to the more classically trained ear are very pleasing, but for me tend to add to less than the sum of their parts (Jacob Collier is a good example). I also find some of the bands vocalisations pretty grating at times - the frequent use of runs, bright harmonies etc. However nothing truly frustrated me, and there's certainly tracks I can see myself liking more if I came back to them. Not gonna make it anywhere near the rotation, but not a write off. Fave track: Two Doves
Some really unique stylings in the indie genre which makes for some really bubbly and fun listening. It is a style that can grow a bit tiresome and sometimes be challenging - I’m not sure if in a good or bad way. Indie music from this period has sometimes aged pretty badly (at least in my head) but I think there’s still some interesting stuff here I like this album overall and think there are a couple bangers for sure. A solid three-and-a-half; I kept tossing back and forth whether to round up or down and gonna just go with this. Shoutout to Stillness is the Move, but favourite track here was No Intention.
When I read "experimental rock band", I was skeptical. This was not difficult to listen to. It's a culmination of stuff that sorta works.
Interesting but some of it is too lacking in melodies/structure, Some good tracks and worth a relisten though
Not what I was expecting. Descent
Pleasant. Fine. Not great.
Not bad, but it didn’t do anything for me.
Good, but nothing that memorable for me in there
Vampire Weekend from Aliexpress
Did not much care for this one too much as a whole. Useful Chamber was the highlight for me. Very much felt the 2009 in it. Vampire Weekend vibes. I also did really love the auto generated Spotify radio for the album a lot so idk why Bitte Orca wasn’t doing it for me :/
I mean it was a little janky at times, but id still say this is an okay album.
This has a certain oddball charm. Clever, disjointed pop sounds with alternatingly pretty and atonal aspects to it. It starts out rough, but improves by the back half. Fave Songs: Two Doves, Useful Chamber, Fluorescent Half Dome, Stillness Is the Move
Meh
Listened to on 12/8/22 2.5/5 Favorite song: Temecula sunrise, fluorescent half dome This album was weird - not necessarily a bad weird but also indescribable. I think I liked it overall but very experimental indie rock made the songs a hit or miss
The sound of Pitchfork circa the late 2000s. Does Pitchfork have the same cultural impact and ability to make a band as it did back then? It's kinda interesting in that it's a weird blend of English folk, that Vampire Weekend Afropop sound, David Byrne-esque new wave, and prog rock. I think I was due to see them at a Brisbane festival that got canned. I did see Deradoorian, the band fronted by their ex-singer/guitarist. Was probably the worst attended show I've been to at a Zoo, not helped by being a Sunday night. I do remember her saying they tried to get food but everywhere was shut. Hooray for the "New World City" that is Brisbane.
Missed entirely. Good but not great.
J'ai bien aimé c'était original mais ca s'écoutait super bien. 3.5
Indoe hipster stuff, kind of disjointed.
My first thought about this is: I know I listened to this album about 15 times in 2009 & 2010. But I can't even remember what kind of music this was. It has left no lasting memory at all. And now that I've re-listened to it a couple of times over the last 2 days that feeling hasn't subsided. It's all pleasant music, I don't dislike listening to it. It's clever enough, musically, rhythmically and lyrically. Musically it's in the Indie style I loved back in the day (Yeasayer, TV On The Radio, the whole Brooklyn scene). But it doesn't do anything for me. It's passing me by. And I don't feel I need to listen to this again.
This was the most 2009 Williamsburg album to ever 2009 Williamsburg
4th October 2022 Listened in the day while working from home. Chilled yoga in the evening. Vintage, angular, intelligent 00s indie.
Used to be a fan of this album, but I feel like it's a bit of a chore to listen to now and David Longstreath is a self-righteous prick.
I really love parts of this and then others get too experimental for my tastes and the noise rock aspects are overbearing. "Two Doves" was my favorite song from the album. Overall the bass was very good throughout the album.
delte meininga om dette likte eit par songar, men det var og nokon ganske plagsomme
I’d heard of Dirty Projectors but never heard their music. Now I have, and I don’t know if I could describe what I heard. Is that good? Regardless, I enjoyed most of it, especially when it came to the syncopated chorale runs.
Indie vibes
3.75
Tja, dit kende ik helemaal niet. Begon lekker, werd wat vaag maar bleef verder wel ok
Totaal nieuw voor mij, best aardig plaatje, maar moet het waarschijnlijk meer draaien om erachter te komen of dit echt wat voor mij is.
Beetje weird, maar ook niet vervelend.
Niet heel spannend, maar het had ook wel weer iets weirds wat het toch wel interessant maakte.
A fun, defiant LP that pushes slightly above the crowded 2010s indie scene. There's some excellent guitar work here, and the arrangements are generally chaotic and absorbing without being too abstruse. There is a fair amount of soft-voiced downtempo generic indie filler, however, and even the most interesting tracks suffer a little from lack of editing when they introduce a fun guitar lick... only to repeat it for four minutes into an eventual fade-out. Longer tracks are fine ('Useful Chamber' is one of those sprawling indie anthems that contains worlds within itself and invites endless relistening), but only when there's a fair amount of variety to keep things from getting stale.
Refreshing, eclectic, lovely harmonies. Not a group or style I am that familiar with, so difficult for me to compare it to anything else. But it did sound like Jeff Buckley may have been an influence? Not bad at all
I really enjoyed the mixing of electronics and strings, the male and female vocals. Very experimental and playful. The more electronic songs reminded me a little of Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens. 3.5
Not super into the songwriting or the vocals, but there are some super interesting production and mixing choices here that make it feel more substantial than a generic indie pop record.
Weird but I liked it
Second Listen. One of the most interesting (in a bizarre way) albums on the list. I don't think any one song stands out, they are all fairly equal to me. I have a favorable opinion of the album this time around, not sure if I think it is worthy of the list, but I enjoyed it. 3/5
Okay
Good album, but like most of the post-2000 additions to this list I gotta ask what makes this a must listen? I've never heard of this album or group. Granted when this was released, I had a four year old running around the house. 3.5/5.
I've heard other Dirty Projectors albums before that I've liked better. I want to like this one, but it's a little too discordant for me to totally get on board withh
Interesante, bueno
Unexpected and easy to listen to.
Tuneyards, anyone?
Pop sin estridencias. Melodías algunas un tanto extrañas. Agradable, pero sin aportar nada
Band name and album art were vaguely familiar but the music was all new to me. Funky fresh, inventive blend of electric, acoustic, orchestral, world music etc. Really picked up momentum at track 4 - would've enjoyed more tracks with the female vocalists. Less exciting second time round once the thrill of the new had worn off, but I still appreciate the creativity.
pretty forgettable
Best Song: Stillness in the Move. Best vocals of the album. Worst Song: Temecula Sunrise. Really don't like the instrumental spasm they do right before the words "Temecula Sunrise". Overall: Fun looping and layered instrumentals that just ultimately wasn't for me.
Upbeat joyous nonsense.
That was fun!
This is pleasant plinky plonk pop but utterly devoid of anything that stands out. I know they are an American band, but it's like listening to bottled Shoreditch at times. Temecula Sunrise is basically 20 songs they didn't know what to do with.
Well, on first listening, I found I liked the most traditional-sounding song, "Two Doves" and found the rest hard to get into. I worked a little to get into "Stillness Is the Move" and started to appreciate it a bit more. Repeated listening may spark more appreciation, but there's hundreds of albums to go and I'm not gonna.
I listened a few times and still couldn’t really get into it. There is a peculiar nature to the compositions that I thought repeated listening might make me better see the beauty. However, I still only found the album as something that I can tolerate, not really like.
Cool, aber auch schwere Kost!
Guter anspruchsvoller Pop
Close to a 4, but I don't feel quite that strongly.
Didn't like as much as I remember. Vocals sound great and interesting music, it just doesn't add up to much really. Stillness Is The Move is a great song though
Very enjoyable. Most likely a strong grower.
OK. Nothing out of the ordinary
Not immediate but wanted to listen again when it got to the end
I really wanted to like this album but it didn't give me anything to really grasp on to. This history was fascinating - including the stories behind the band members and the art work - so I would love to spend more time in the space of this album but in the meantime I'm giving it 3 stars. Mainly becuase I can appreciate the experiemental nature of the album and the fact that the Dirty Projectors tried to do something a little different... It just may be a little TOO different for me.
It's growing on me.
Very much a Euro Alt Rock / Indie type thing. Never heard of this group before. Very up and down with some relatively normal folksy type indie tunes, and then getting into some weird yodeling and jazzy/inconsistent melodies. It was ok, seemed very experimental, not really my cup of tea but I didn't hate it. Vocalists remind me of Mother Mother, lots of harmonies with the 3 of them but the music almost gives me a Swedish or Icelandic Fairy-tale kind of vibe. A bit trippy and very offbeat. It's so hard to pin down.
A bit of odd-ball pop music. Does not stray away from eccentric arrangements and play-styles. But, at it's core, it's still pretty good indie pop music. Some may find the eccentricity annoying, what with the constant off-beat hits and moving from one riff to another. It sounds similar to what ADHD would be like in music form. All that being said, I don't think it would be nearly as memorable if it didn't have those manic moments. One of the simpler songs, Two Doves, is a nice song but doesn't stick with me like the weirder tracks that come before. The drum break in Useful Chamber was particularly fun, leading into the dirty distortion of the next section in the song. I think, at the end of the day, this isn't going to be one of my favorites. It's just too self-indulgent to have any really depth, despite how much I appreciate the choices made to make this album stand out.
5/10 - Talent was there from the musicians but the vocals were super off putting. I feel like they are very pretentious....
Great harmonies with interesting music to go along with it
Interesting. One of the male vocalists sounds like Jeremy of "Woody & Jeremy"
// Favs: – Score: Light to Decent 3
I *think* I liked this. It was an experience.
Alright
Chill, nothing exciting but good.
Stillness is the move is die goede NBA 2k13 bop. 3.5
Oh dirty projectors daar luister ik al eens graag naar, dit album nog niet beluisterd dus ben benieuwd, is vaak goed voor rustige achtergrond muziek. (vaak zowat toffe vrolijke geluiden) Stilness is the move - goei pop jam Voor de rest; goed voor op de achtergrond
This was an interesting modern relief after a run of stodgy 80s acts. Kinda weird, thin, jagged stuff. Pretty good in parts but was lacking either a folk mind or a indie pop dancefloor heart.
The singer and some of the songs gave me some serious Ra Ra Riot vibes, which I enjoyed. Highlights: Cannibal Resource, Two Doves, Fluorescent Half Dome
Took a second listen to get this one but it’s actually pretty good. I really like the way they use the guy and girl vocals and some of the weird guitar timing was really interesting. I could see this growing on me and deserving a higher rating but for now it’s a 3. My favorite tracks were “Cannibal Resource” and “Stillness Is The Move”.
Ovo je zapravo jako dobar album. Odlično ime benda, coveri albuma su im top i htio sam neko vrijeme ih preslusati i evo napokon. Nešto malo drugačije, instrumentalna potkrepljeni sa ženskim/muškim vokalima.
Начну с небольшого списка альбомов, вышедших в 2009 году и не указанных в списке: Karnivool — Sound Awake Mastodon — Crack the Skye Sonic Youth — The Eternal Muse — The Resistance Kid Cudi — Man on the Moon: The End of Day Converge — Axe to Fall Porcupine Tree — The Incident Puscifer — "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) Tyler the Creator — Bastard Bat for Lashes — Two Suns Immortal — All Shall Fall и наконец ебучий Сплин — Сигнал из космоса. Год явно был не выдающимся для музыки, многие из этих альбомов на гениальные не тянут. Но насколько же они лучше, чем Битта Орка. Смешно, что это поняли даже создатели списка и пидорнули из него пластинку в ревизии 2018 года. Но мы, видимо, ознакамливаемся с какой-то более древней версией, поэтому кушаем на здоровье. И не сказать, что альбом прям говно. Ну да, это очевидно новый для меня арт-альбом, который и не должен даваться легко. Уж чего нельзя ему вменить — так это банальности и потакания массам. Музло экспериментальное, самобытное, местами цепляющее, местами сбивающее с толку. Но я так и не смог запустить эту музыку к себе в сердце. Оооочень много ничем не обоснованного авангардизма для авангардизма — все песни кривые, ломанные, практически нет четких мелодий, которые бы придавали композициям целостность. Оно всё как-то существует отдельно друг от друга, песни внезапно стопорятся, меняют темп, начинается какая-то ничем не обусловленная какафония, вокалист воет где-то на уровне умирающего попугая. Ну да, как эксперимент это необычно и уважабельно. Но слушать такое для удовольствия просто невозможно — каждая песня просто душит, просто блять ногой на горло наступает своими полумузыкальными выебонами. Короче хз, ну 5/10 где-то, не могу толком определиться, что с этим делать.
I thought it was nice and varied. I didn't think it sounded loads like vampire weekend tbh. I might give it another listen later today because word on the street is it's better the second time.
The sound is immediately recognizable as more modern than most of the 1001 LPs. I like the way the guitar plays the rhythm without strumming. I appreciate the originality of how they accomplish this. There is something in their sound related to the transitions within the songs that you might label unusual or creative (depending on whether you like it) . It's not only the vocals or guitars coming in unexpectedly, although this is done a fair bit, but also other jumps within the songs. I can't describe these maneuvers well and certainly can’t explain how they get the listener to heed the jumps but the fact they accomplish this with the listener validates their creativity. While I appreciate the music and the creativity, I find the "sleight of hand" in their music cumbersome and, at the end of the day, exhausting.
The record was quirky and took some risks. While it was not my cup of tea I know some folks who probably love it or would so.
I don’t know how I feel about this
I enjoyed this album and more so on the second time of listening, my favourite track was ‘stillness is the move’. I would have no idea how to categorise this music genre but i’m a fan yeah. Not quite 4 stars but a high 3.
Frequently kind of jarring, and a little too out there for me to deeply enjoy it.
Salvages a three because its so close to being good. Some of their artistic choices making it see more disjointed than it needs to be. Feels a bit like my head is spinning listening to this album. Worth maybe giving another shot later
Decent!
3/5
This is a quirky collection of songs. I enjoyed the ones with the female vocalists; moving the background vocals up front was very different and original; I didn’t like the constant changes of mood and tempo. This wasn’t in the original 1001 so it must be a recent addition.
I like this more than I'd like to admit.
Enjoyable but kinda weird and hectic
Rock experimental.
n/a
The vocals, a little trying to me. Maybe too clever by half.
I respect the experimental-ness, but it doesn't always work for me. The guys voice is not my cup of tea, the female led vocals are better for me, like on Stillness is The Move which is not bad. But it is definitely indie-pop, which in the end I still don't usually like a lot.
eh
I enjoyed this but didn't love it. I think if I was seeing them live I really like them but nothing really drew me back to the album. As discussed I think they are a time sensitive band and listening to them now they just sound like many others bands but looking at the year this album came out it must have been a pretty fresh sound.
On second listen I did like this album more - I think I would have loved it had I discovered it during my indie phase of high school
Pretty good. A little odd at times but enjoyable.
Alright I guess
Gillade det här ganska mycket. Jag kan verkligen uppskatta flippiga rytmer och taktarter men då tycker jag att hela bandet får spela samma flippiga rytmer och taktarter. Blir lite för otajt ibland tycker jag. Åtminstone för mina sköra små lekmansöron.
3
2009 indie
Interesting
This album caught me on a good day. I was in the mood for something like this. But, as I type this, I realize the album was largely forgettable.
Indie-rock, moderne, opløftende, eksperimenterende, varieret vokal
Too fiddly for me
This is more of a 3.5 than a 3. Some really beautiful moments here, but sometimes a little too chaotic for my taste. Still, I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed it considering the fact that I got a free song from this album back in 2010/2011 and I didn't like it back then. We love to see the evolution of music taste! Growth!!
stop sprawling and start editing people
A bit plinky plonky in places but it had some good tracks
3.5/5. It was different, but good. I liked the sounds on it. I need to listen again.
test
Rätt stökiga, ostrukturerade melodier och många olika typer av sound genom hela albumet. På ett bra sätt! Dock lite för modernt och fräscht för min smak!
Liked a few songs, but most were noisy and chaotic. Liked the calmer ones like Stillness.
I can’t say I hate this hipster kind entirely, but this album just mixes to many elements leaning towards a more artsy crowd, that I’m not, I just rate what I like. Stillness is The Move was decent, but perhaps because it was a collab and broke whatever the rest was going for
SO 2009. a couple fun ones. bit tooo odd for me
Oh cruel fates! You give me this and Joanna Newsom on the same week? I hated this with a fiery passion when it came out, but it wasn’t so bad this time around. Definitely beyond over-hyped, though.
IDk kinda random
nein danke
Trotz der schlechten Bewertungen war ich versucht unvoreingenommen reinzugehen und dachte vielleicht trifft es ja genau meinen Geschmack. Hat es nicht.
Da fuq? and that’s being nice…
This sounds like something from a conversation with your weird hippie friend who implores you check out this band because "they're not mainstream" or "none of that pop song structure crap" and then you listen to this
I don't know what to think about this. Appreciate the skill and talent, but this music does nothing to me emotionally
An American band on this list?! I've maybe heard their name once or twice but never listened to them. This is apparently considered their masterpiece. Research says they're "known for one of the more genuinely experimental and unpredictable catalogs in modern indie rock" Experimental for sure. His voice blows and got old fast. His vocal gymnastics on the first 3 songs are self indulgent, someone's apparently been singing in the shower at home all alone for a long time. Song 4, "Stillness Is The Move", with the girls singing, was a breath of fresh air. This is the indie sound with alt rock vocals that I was hoping for - no coincidence it's the most listened to track with almost 10M listens. I didn't know the word "Shine" could be stretched to 5 syllables. He's just an annoying vocalist. Masterpiece my ass. Below average and not Top 1001 worthy. No hits, no airplay, no legacy or longevity, no hooks, no influence, no nuthin'. 2 stars.
Descending Minor Third -- The Album
Not awful but a bit meh, I think.
Not heard much like that. Hopefully i won't again
Very 2009 coded indie
This one didn't connect for me. I didn't find it awful or unbearable, but I just kinda bounced off it and forgot about it when I finished. I'm having a hard time describing what I didn't like about the album, but it just wasn't for me.
The problem with experimental music is it's often heavy on the experimental and light on the music. Nothing about this is memorable.
not for me
I’m always a little confused when an album from ‘’my era” appears on this list yet I’ve never heard of it. Just gave it my first listen, and I possibly see why. Doesn’t fit it any other genre from the 2000s. Suspect they like Kraftwerk a lot as there is definitely overlap with the whole art disco stuff from the 80s, and the German in the album title is likely an unsubtle nod to that. Whole thing comes across as a bit pretentious
When this album came out everyone (see: critics) raved about it. I gave it 2 listens and it didn’t click. Never listened since. Played today and I still don’t get it. Perfect album to use as an example for editing this list.
Didn’t enjoy this. Never heard of this group. Won’t seek out any of their other music.
So some of the instrumentation work is ok, but the vocals and lyrics.. is a nope from me. So please Orca, put this out of my misery.
Unpleasantly weird. Bitte orca? Nein panda.
Some cool music but the vocals were just too much for me
Not much of an impact. Just meh.
I didn't know what to think about this recording. It was so many different things. I sometimes wanted to turn it off then it would completely change. I probaly won't listen to it again but it was an experience.
Seinfeld_Playbill_Nope.gif
All of the songs just feel so un-cohesive. 2/5
Yeah not that into it
Ikke for mig, anstrengende omgang
Now That's What I Call Rasmus-Core Vol. 2
Thoughts before listening: I have heard songs I enjoy from this band before, but I have also often found them to be too weird for their own good. I don't believe I have ever listened to a full album all the way through, so this will be a first for me. Review: Yeah my memory of these guys mostly being weird, out of tune warbling over angular, frayed pop instrumentation holds up. I was 28 when this came out in 2009 and very much into the indie rock of the day. Yet despite being praised on all the sites I followed, I just couldn't get into these guys. They have some decent ideas and melodies, but all of the songs just end up falling apart for me. I will say however that when this ended and Spotify started playing "similar" music it was banger after banger. I am not opposed to the whole genre of "late 00s era indie rock", I just don't really like these guys. 2-stars
Did not enjoy. I don't think this will age well. It's that arty indie sound where no-one can really sing.
Meh
Listening session: july 17th, while chilling at home Listened to before: no Thoughts: this is just indie music that tries too hard to be hipster Favourite track: Two Doves
Not bad
It's fine and consistently so. Nothing really bad here but whenever I enjoyed a song I could tell I wasn't ever going to listen to it again. Little tidbit but I really like the album cover despite it being pretty simple conceptually. I don't know this is probably the best two I've heard so far.
It's all very interesting, but ultimately not very entertaining.
At least they tried to make something different but it’s annoying. They yodel.
Don't know why this is here?
2009. The music contained within the album "felt very much about colors, and their interaction," and that the music was written with the notion of the band, as a whole, in mind. The album leaked to the internet two months before its official release.
I found this irritating
Pretty mid, and an uninspiring listen. This list more filler than killer 😒
What if indie rock but having a lot of weirdness and not a lot of catchiness?
3.5/10 Well that was annoying
Eh this has some interesting bits in it, but I have no idea what it wants to be. Some individual tracks have consistency but as an album its all over the place. What is the point of this, what is it aiming for. I have no idea, but I feel like it missed. 2stars
weird alternative pop that seems like it was made for a particular audience. The type of person that has a mustache tattoo on their finger and only drinks craft beer, artisinal everything, and an incredibly insufferable personality. I cant be mad, I think in 2010 I wouldve forced myself to like this because its different. Its all disjointed as hell, its like the singers are on a different track than the music behind them.
Weird without being interesting
Propositions musicales intéressantes en théories, mais l'impression constante qu'il manque un truc. L'album est banale et je ne peux pas citer une chose que j'ai vraiment kiffer, mais en même temps ne m'explose pas les oreilles
bad
I’m in the bathroom of the Thought Lot taking a wet leaky crap while a college freshman at the sink takes a moment to reflect on their polycule relationship with their professor and other classmates. This is playing off of someone’s iPhone X in the stale next to me. It’s alright.
Absolutely garbage. Nothing new or original, sounded like a wannabe Beatles cover band, with some 'experimental' stuff thrown in, which translates to making stupid noises and strumming guitars randomly. Didn't enjoy anything in this really.
Annoying! Jacob Collier vibes
A bit quirky.
Ihan ok meininkiä, useampi vokalisti. Välillä räikeitä rytmissäpysymättömyyksiä mikä ei tuolla tavalla iske laisinkaan.
I gotta say this album felt like it was specifically designed to meet a lot of my regular complaints about other albums while still being “not really my thing”. The best example of this is I’m always complaining that albums need to take bigger risks and incorporate more variety or more creative originality. This album definitely has that, unfortunately it still didn’t really work for me. One of the biggest obstacles for me is I don’t really like the vocals. Far from the worst I’ve heard, and definitely not the worst vocals on this list, but I still found it underwhelming in that capacity. I’ll just cut to the highlights, the songs I liked were “stillness is the move” and “no intention”. Both of these songs I think did the most with their creativity, while the other songs had their moments but I didn’t enjoy any of them at bough to save. I’m glad I gave this album another chance cause I really hated it at first, but it’s not THAT bad.
Dette fikk æ bare ikke til. Vanilla Ice versjonen av Beyonce, No4 vibes, og ingen låter som ga meg behag i øret. Skal være litt snill og trekke opp siden platen var relativt kort.
As decisive as beefheart . Experimental pop. I might like it but for his voice
Experimental but annoying.
It's just annoying enough to frustrate me. I almost like this.
New to me - I had dismissed Dirty Projectors as pretentious guff when they first came out. That snap judgement wasn't totally wrong, but quite enjoyed parts of this. Would listen again.
I had never heard of this, and I really didn’t like it as it started, it got mildly interesting towards the middle (bit depeche mode). Overall not great though
Annoying af
Hat mich richtig genervt! Kann aber nicht behaupten, dass das per se schlecht ist.
These guys really should've invested in a metronome and a few piano lessons. Frugal bastards
Meh
reviews on this were so hateful and so fun to read. to be honest, i don't despise this as much as others apparently do. there were enough interesting musical turns of phrase to elevate this to 2-3 territory, but something about it all does just make you a little angry
Did not enjoy, the music seemed to go nowhere and the songs were forgettable.
The issue I have with art pop / rock, and I assume that this is what we have here, is it don't know what a bad example of the genre is. I like the songs in the middle of this album, but Stillness Is The Move and Two Doves seem to be collaborations. Remade Horizon is my favourite out of the songs with the man singing, as it appears to be the only song where he's sticking close to the tune being played by the musicians and the rhythm being knocked out by percussion. For most of the rest, everyone seems to be going completely rogue, with backing vocals bearing no relation to lead vocals in some of the songs. My favourite part of the entire thing is the last 30 seconds of the last song and it shouldn't be like that. Is this the best that art pop has to offer? I really hope not. A low 2 stars.
I don't think this is that bad, but its still hipster bullshit. Favorite track: The Bride 2.5/5
A couple of OK moments but a lot more WTF is this?
No le presté atención, y aunque supongo que pueda ser por mi culpa entiendo que el disco en sí mismo algo tendrá que ver.
Sure
Had its moments, but not enough to linger long in the memory.
started off so strong with cannibal resource but unfortunately my enthusiasm for this album faded from there. wasn’t super keen on the vocals 😥
I can absolutely imagine BBC 6 Music listeners lapping it up—this feels tailor-made for that crowd: arty, angular, and just accessible enough to feel cool without ever quite settling into something straightforward. Respect it more than I love it.
His vocals aren't that good, the guitar is decent, the background melodies are nice, but put them all together and it's quite shit.
Track 5 reaches acceptable - just. Most of this is dissonant and cacophanous with a highly annoying vocal track. Bitte - den Mund halten!
Seguro en los dosmiles esto fue muy revolucionario, pero creo que el tiempo no fue generoso con el Bitte Orca. Algo fastidioso, también forzado, y en general una de esas experiencias indie con ruiditos y aullidos que no disfruto mucho.
I tried to get into this album back when it first had buzz because I liked "Stillness Is the Move," but it's too fussy and uptight, and mostly seemed too pleased with its own cleverness
I had never heard of this artist and, when the first track started, fully expected to hate this. Which, for the most part I did, but there were a couple of tracks I found tolerable. Really it’s 1.5* because of that.
I am actually tired of the amount of 2's already spent on this project.
Quirky for the sake of quirky (5.5) ★★½
I can see why the Orca was bitter. This is just a load of herky jerky, angular, twee Pitchfork indie nonsense with the same twiddly insubstantial razor wire guitar lick lashing through nearly every song. The male vocals are as grating as Sam Smith being fed through a cheese grater and the female vocals apart from a few nice spots on Stillness Is The Move and Two Doves were pretty annoying as well. Very nice album cover though.
I didn’t even notice as it went by
Just boring, didn’t grab my attention
dziwne idk 2 a 3
Help me. After this album, I’m confused as to the difference between good musicians playing shitty music and shitty musicians playing good music… And, I think there should be a rule that, in order to be eligible for this list, the vocalist must be required to listen, at least once, to the accompaniment before recording or vice versa, a practice that clearly never happened here.
It feels like a messy album. Some parts sound good, and some just feel weird to me.
No es de mi gusto.
I like it as much as I did in 2009. A little too off-kilter/off-beat to be a pleasant listen, but I guess it's a good challenging listen.
Not bad, but not especially noteworthy. Sounded like a dozen other indie artists
I wish the 00s picks didn’t also have to sound so 60s inspired, but I don’t expect anything more from this list. Even for bands that sounded like this, this is not memorable.
wikipedia has this quote: "Someone was asking me about what I was listening to and I was saying "Oh, Dirty Projectors, I love the new album," and they were like, "Well what kind of music is it?" and I just stopped dead in my tracks and literally didn't know how to describe it. At first I was embarrassed because I didn't know how to describe it, but then I was like, this is what's so amazing about a lot of music now. There are so many different things and there's so much going on and Bitte Orca is so distinctly Dirty Projectors that I didn't even know how to begin to describe what genre it is, you know? " - Ed Droste and some of the reviews on this site are taking the same angle. Confused by that. This is clearly a poppier version of a lot of prog rock acts - you can hear Yes, Jethro Tull, Triumph, so on but heavily mixed with what indie rock / pop was doing at the time like Bon Iver or Tune-Yards. Anybody doing this list might have also been unlucky enough to be inflicted with a Prefab Sprout album and what they were doing isn't terribly far from what Dirty Projectors is doing. It's not nearly so incomprehensible, on either the Good or Bad end of the scale, as people are making it out to be. So is it good? Well, sometimes. The falsetto works for me on a song like Cannibal Resource and is godawful on something like Temecula Sunrise, but that song cold sucks. On The Bride there are sections of the song where it works and sections of the song where you consider devoting your life to damaging the dude's vocal cords. Same deal with relegating Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman to the sort of backing vocals thing they're doing. Both are better singers than lead dude but sometimes they are a fantastic accompaniment. Stillness is the Move and Two Doves are by by by far the best songs on the album and even then they make some weird choices I don't think entirely work Right, but is it good? I think overall it falls just short, but I went into this album expecting to absolutely hate it based on the description and kind of liked it instead. if this gets a three it's because I'm rounding up, if this gets a two it's because I get bad vibes from Longstreth
Slop
Vocals ruined this for me, which is sad because I liked some of the guitar work a lot.
Quirky w its own style, some glimmers of interesting composition, but overall a bit too precious for its own good
Listen, I get trying to make something artsy and fun. But by the second song, with his sarcastic(?) yeahs I really just wanted to throw the singer out with the garbage. I like ideas on this but the execution is so poor.
Not nearly as bad as people here are making it out to be. But also not nearly as good as people are trying to make it sound. It IS in fact elitest hipster art pop. At a time when this music was celebrated. Yet this one remained some obscurity. I don't like that much of the layering and panning sounds like someone's first time producing an album. But also do not like how the contents of the songs sound almost improvised. I wish I could appreciate and understand what's going on here. My zany music comes from Animal Collective, Postal Service, Arcade Fire and other genremates who also had releases in this era.
Pretty pretentious, feels like this album thinks it’s better than it is
Not in my edition of the book! 2009. 2.5 stars. Inoffensive US alt-rock with one or two half decent tunes. Ok but not memorable in any way. Not sure why this is on the list?
far too indie for me. too creative or something like that
Cada dia me arrepiento más de hacer esto
I feel like this group just wants to be weird for weird's sake. Like...it's not bad but also not good? There's nothing wrong with using complex time signatures, or uncommon chord sequences and stuff like that. But I don't know...it's just bizarre in an irritating way. At least it's much more interesting than another of the many 60/70s classic rock bands on this list.
So I put this on and my immediate reaction was "Oh, fuck off." But then I guess my brain recalibrated to the weird syncopated rhythms and off kilter harmonies, because then the album was almost over and I kind of forgot I was listening to it. Which I guess is not exactly a ringing endorsement. So yeah, annoying at first, then it turned kinda bland once I got used to it. But then I paid attention it again and came full circle. So, "oh, fuck off."
A 2 - as Ian Smith would say - by the barest of margins. Those first 3 songs were absolutely atrocious. It got better with Stillness Is The Move - being the best song on the album - and the one after that was OK. If that bloke never sang again the world would be a better place for it.
Petty bad
Unnecessary.
i'm so sorry i don't mean to come off as disrespectful but this album is just... a trainwreck. that's the best way i can think to describe this listening experience, genuinely. peace and love. not giving a 1 star rating only because it did not physically pain me to listen.
Not all bad but a lot of this just feels quirky for quirky's sake. It strikes me as a record that would probably grow on you after more listens but sadly I don't really have the desire to do that right now.
There were a couple tracks where temu Mariah carey was on point that I didn't hate but overall a struggle. Is this like Trout Mask Replica where I have to listen 7.3 times before it clicks and I think it is the greatest album ever?
Songs are ambitious and interesting, but I can’t say I plan to listen again.
Not really what I was hoping for.
Not good.
Some beautiful noises and novelties sprinkled throughout. Fundamentally though this is still a collection of dull pop songs over unsatisfyingly complex compositions
Hipster Indie pop, had moments I liked but mostly just can't get into it. I'm sure I would like this more seeing live on stage, but as an album on its own, really not my thing.
Simply ok. Not particularly impressed, doubt I'll come back to this album or this group in the future.
I wanted to like this album. I really did. And while I can acknowledge its immense creativity and interesting musical choices, I honestly didn’t really enjoy it. I get its experimental. But I feel like sometimes “experimental” is code for “hipster experimental music the artists think is really clever and makes them look smart.” The song titles don’t help with that. “Cannibal Resource”? “Useful Chamber”? “Fluorescent Half Dome”? What do these mean? And that’s what this felt like to me. I hate to reduce an album to that. But I just couldn’t really jive with this album. There’s things to like, but I just didn’t get it overall. I don’t really know what else more I can say. It felt like Vampire Weekend’s first album if that album took like, a step further and discarded some of the common conventions of song structure and rhythm. I will not be relistening and I will not seek more of them out. Not bad by any means, but not worth the listen . 3 stars. Did I need to hear this before I die? I could live without it.
Є певні цікаві елементи, але загалом мені якось не сподобалось.
with all the multiple time changes per song, it has a very jerky feeling to it. no flow. once you start liking the song, BANG!, here come the time changes. it's safe to say i will never listen to this album again. silence and alone in my thoughts might be a better choice.
Ok to listen for exposure to it but something i am a fan of.
Album #1,066 I appreciate the effort of wanting to sound different. They accomplished that for sure. Does it always work out? Definitely not, sometimes coming off as Shaggs-inspired with the ever-changing time signatures and the band playing out of time with each other. I thought one song was decent, was Stillness Is the Move, which may also be the most normal sounding one. Useful Chamber is awful (I think I heard the dreaded auto-tune in this one), as is Remade Horizon. Most of it just didn't work for me. The female singers sounded good. The male singer sounded like he wanted to be John Lennon pretty badly.
Very different with some really good guitar in here. I liked the unconventional effects used. The songwriting is creative. The album is ahead of it's time, that's for sure, but it's not for me. I didn’t find the songs that interesting. So while I can appreciate the creative decisions, I didn’t really enjoy them. No favorite track off of this one.
This album is from the New York indie rock group Dirty Projectors. The sound is somewhat unique. I enjoyed the harmonies and the orchestral accompaniment, but I didn’t care for the music. Overall 2.5 out of 5 stars.
I'm just pasting my notes in as I wrote them down during my listen. For such a weird album, I feel like not organizing or cleaning up this review is what Dirty Projectors would have wanted: This is a weird discordant album. Bitte Orca is a dumb name that doesn't mean anything and I irrationally hate it even though lots of bands do it. I can't help it. "Temecula Sunrise" is just chaos, and not necessarily in a good way. "Everyone do your own thing!" doesn't work for a reason. This theme persists throughout the album but to a lesser degree. The male singer started to piss me off pretty quickly. But a lot of the lyrics are at least interesting. Harmonies are nice but off-putting sometimes. Seems like a band trying to do too much, or cram too much into each song. Could stand to tone it back a little. It's at least unique, I'll give them that. There's something to be said about at least standing out in a sea of the same old shit. Standout tracks were "Temecula Sunrise" - it kinda bothered me so much that I keep thinking about it, so it definitely stood out. Dammit they got me.... and "No Intention" - really liked that little guitar theme throughout the song. I dont know quite how to rate this, but it's got me thinking. It's an interesting listen, but one I'd probably not do again. Enough on the album kinda bothered me that it's probably a 2 out of 5, maybe a 2.5.
Too off-the-wall for me. Wouldn't listen again
Todd Rundgrenesque (I don't get it)
The songs are mostly bland and whatever. Good background music. Best song: Stillness Is The Move
Just enough shades of Fleet Foxes to keep me engaged
i feel like i should like it more but it's kinda eh. like i guess they tried to do a bunch of different styles but none of them really work fav song: Temecula Sunrise
Unas de cal y unas de arena. Vibra tipo Foals o LCD Soundsystem, pero ya pasados de efusividad. Escuchable en una caminada tranqui de domingo
This album came across as a self-indulgent, hipster-leaning art statement that felt more concerned with being eccentric than being listenable. It's an overload of sonic experimentation that rarely settles into anything cohesive. Bitte Orca is tolerable at its absolute peak, but at its lowest points it’s a chore to get through. It didn’t resonate with me at all. In all honestly, it feels like another example of why the original 1001-album list didn’t need to be expanded.
This is music for people who want everyone to know how edgy and different they are. In other words, this isn't even remotely likeable music as it never settles into a normal cadence that could be enjoyed. People who give this a 5 want to watch the world burn.
Didn't enjoy this
I liked a few songs. Mainly the ones sang by the female member of the group. The male vocalist just didn’t do it for me. Also there were a few songs that had good parts and then completely changed to a different vibe and killed my enjoyment. A few also had strange time signatures that I couldn’t get into
it sounds like when that one guy with a beanie in a rich "hippie" group threatens to pull out a guitar and suddenly every mf around is jolly and one with nature
Very restless beats with male falsetto....it was interesting to listen to, but I won't listen again. And "Bitte Orca" is such a fucking stupid name.
Certainly not the worst album on this list, but i found this quite forgettable. Not much to hold on to in the listen, even if it wasn’t too bad to listen to.
A little bit too pretentious for me at times and overall kind of boring. But every kind of music has it's own time and place. This album's place and time is when I'm in retirement home however.
o famoso “mais genérico que paracetamol de 5 na farmácia”, não é ruim, mas é ruim
DEFINITIVAMENTE um album de indie rock de 2009. esse album FEDE a millennial puta merda eh meia boca. nao curti mto nao....
Some interesting sounds can be found on Bitte Orca but you have to go through a lot of mediocre to flat out bad junk to find them & to me it's just not worth it. An overall bad experience with brief moments of interesting, inspired music. The vocals are annoying above all else. There goes my 5/5 streak!
The title of this album is very much a harbinger for the music it contains. Two words that don’t fit and are nonsensical together, just because the band thinks it can sounds good. This record is filled with exactly that; the band trying things to be different. But different isn’t always good. Have you ever heard the phrase, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while?” That’s this album in a nutshell (pun not intended). Sure, in trying to be unique they very sporadically stumble into something good, but way more often than not it’s just strange and not good at all.
Two Doves was really the only song on the album I enjoyed. The rest though very unique, just didn't hit for me.
Bitte no more
Ok 2/5
Overall, pretty nice album. Again though, nothing that hit me more than anything else. Favorite Song: Two Doves - beautiful lyrics, love the instrumental melody, the “call on me” almost sounds like a bird call
Feels very Coldplay derivative. Like they're trying to do something artsy and unique here but it just doesn't sound good. All the sounds kind of blend into one big ball of meh.
Mannered, proggy, hints of Squeeze, of Beach Boys, plenty of herky-jerky beats and fiddly guitar lines, but not much in the way of melody or hooks or interest. All very insubstantial. If you asked "Alexa, play an audio example of 'clever-clever' ", then this album would be what Alexa played.
I didn’t really enjoy listening to this album. It’s not as bad as a one star album, but it isn’t worth three stars, either. It’s just not my cup of tea. The vocals are kinda shrill and none of the songs really stands out, neither lyrically, nor melody-wise.
Likte da ikkje
Couple songs were ok but some I couldn’t even finish.
Overall that was really bad. The male vocal was terrible and the guitar playing wasn’t any better. I don’t need to hear that ever again.
stfu
no pude pasar de la primera canción, tal vez en otro momento le de otra oportunidad
While listening to this album, the word that came to mind was hodgepodge as that is what the music seemed to me. Most of the songs were like a collection of snippets of music strung together with little rhyme or reason and titled and that was the song. I didn't hate it, but for me, it was just mediocre.
'Stillness is the Move' is a great track that I played a couple of times. Seemed out of place with much of the rest of the album. Actually quite disliked the first couple of tracks. Last half of the album was a bit better and enough to stop a 1/5.
Kinda wack tbh
Yo soy la jurado y si no me gustó, no me gustó!
50 seconds into the first song girl what is this this band def went to coachella with flower crowns in 2014 is there gonna be someone yelling in the back of all these songs favorite song: two doves
I think that yankee foxtrot hotel ruined any other 2000s indie folky style type albums for me. None of the others standup to it. And this album though maybe not the exact same genre still isn’t as good. I don’t love this album and it’s just kinda annoying me tbh. The violin and drums sound good though and I like the length of the album. That’s perfect!