Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Urgh. I can be a wankery indie hipster at the best of times but this was too much for me. There were brief flashes of something resembling a tune, but every time something interesting happened they seemed to shoot themselves in the foot straight away. Neither vocalist is as good as they think they are and it was a difficult listen.
The first song on this album gave me such severe sensory overload that I'm not sure how I feel about the rest of the album, I just wanted all sounds to stop. I'm not sure music is meant to make you feel like that. The album had some moments I didn't hate (Two Doves wasn't bad), but it was mostly kind of annoying and I did not enjoy the 40 minutes I spent on it.
This album epitomizes hipster pop, embodying its eclectic, seemingly random mix of styles. To some, it may seem like a messy art project, but to its creators, it's a masterpiece. As for me, it’s just a pile of shit, trying to be something that it’s not.
It’s not the worst album on the list. But it didn’t need to be on the list.
Well this pick is a dud. It's not unlistenable, but it was testing that line for sure
Where there is pretentiousness there is an indie opus of keyboards, acoustic guitar, fuzzed electric guitar, drum machines, with a cacophony of vocals. There are flashes of interest but it tries too hard at being avant garde.
Weird and not great
some songs when the guy wasn't singing were ok but this was not good
A difficult listen.
Indie rock standard. I guess theres production value behind it but unless you are still really into 500 Days of Summer you can skip this.
It's a tough listen, a real mixture of styles, often in the same song that is just confusing. I'm usually drawn to bands labelled alternative but this is just a mish-mash of styles, tempo and forget melody.
Never heard of the band or the album yet I come away disappointed. Theres a good album here hidden amongst a forest of disjointed guitar and captain beefheart meets Mariah Carey and mika. At no point does the guitarist simply play what the song requires preferring instead to use it as a canvas to Jackson Pollack over.
More indie. Not for me. Nourres would love this though
Not my favorite. Little too whiny to let me enjoy the melody.
Found this really irritating.
Kind of interesting but overall didn't hit
I enjoyed their more focused songs. But overall this album wasn't for me.
Meh... not that bad but too distracting.
I reserve 1 ratings for albums that I just can’t bring myself to listen all the way through. This one I was at least able to get through. I often like experimental / noise rock, but this one I just don’t see it. Odd choice for this list, IMO.
This album was weird but I don’t know if in a good way or a bad way. I’m leaning more towards bad
Some pretty moments but this really didn't resonate with me.
# Playlist track - Two Doves # Notes - The male vocals are overstretched in pretty much all the tracks. - Never ending unnecessary harmonies feel pretentious. - Boring as hell. - One star for being kind of unique sounding but that's all.
Well, I suppose we all have our limits. I honestly wanted to like this band, they had those moments where they almost seemed quite brilliant, but each and every time they went into some experimental off key or weird mixy thing that threw everything off. I was like "you had this!" why did you throw your voice off like that? What did you do with that amazing riff? Why do you feel the need to be so Brooklyn hippy?
I should like this for it's experimental tendencies but it doesn't really grab me for some reason. In fact I'm finding that it is frequently annoying me. It comes across as somewhat "lightweight" to me. Beautiful in a way but also perhaps trying a bit too hard to be so.
Too quirky and annoying
Je peux comprendre le statut de cet album dans le monde du art rock, mais j'avais vraiment de la difficulté avec les voix du chanteur principal par moments. Il faudrait que je redonne une chance à cet album. Clairement ça s'entend que beaucoup d'aristes plus expérimentaux des dernières années s'en sont inspiré. 4/10
Nice to be reminded of how great Stillness is the Move is. The rest is more clever than loveable.
meh.
Not for me
Felt too indie for me
Maybe not as bad as some make out this isn't really that groundbreaking and allied with the fact the genre isn't up my street I wouldn't rate it highly. Some interesting sounds but quite generic framework.
Why? Why is this album here? Why was this album made? Why do critics like it so much? Why did I sit through it? The first two songs are basically unlistenable. The next few tracks have areas of promise, but they inevitably devolve into noise and weirdness. At some point I kind of stopped paying attention and didn't even realize the album had ended and the streaming algorithm was playing related artists. I can appreciate the idea of playing with sound and textures to create more of an art piece (a painting, if you will) than a song, but that's just not how or why I listen to music. I listen to it for the stories and the emotional connection, and there's just not a lot of that here. There’s some interesting guitar work, I guess. Otherwise, unless you enjoy Tiny Tim trying to do Bjork and pretentious bloviating about nonsense, don’t waste your time or torture your ears. 2/5
Accomplished but ass
Struggled to enjoy much of this one.
Not really my thing
Radiohead’s biggest sin is convincing the world that polyrhythms mean it’s good
We’re gonna need a bigger boat to reel this whale of forced art rock in. Some cool production here and there gets masked by too many elements colliding leaving very little breathing room to find melody or hook. If a Jackson Pollack painting made sound I imagine this is what it would be like. I’ll find my indie art rock elsewhere with the likes of The Talking Heads, XTC, etc.
Meh.
Yea…I struggled with this one. The odd time signature on every track got to me. Could have been cool if used sparingly, but was grating after awhile. I did enjoy Stillness is the Move, but not enough to save this album from a sub-average rating. 2.25/5
never heard of them at all. Surprisingly. not awful.. some clunkers, but overall if you are trying to listen to all of the albums, there are much worse.
I'm usually into indie rock/experimental rock from the 00s, but this album wasn't chosive at all and it sounded all over the place, I didn't like the songwriting or the singing either...
Two Doves gefällt mir. Der Rest? Nun ja.
Indie pop rock with the most annoying vocals and mind-numbing guitar plucking.
Difficult to listen to at times. The best moments were fantastic, clearly bands like Vampire Weekend were inspired by this.
Some cool moments, but just can't get into this album. I enjoy Indy/garage/alternative rock, but so many of the songs feel disjointed, melodies that meander, noise at strange moments. Odd harmonies over harsh synths. Nothing here is terrible, nothing here is great. It's all fine, but largely forgetable.
Bland, disjointed, meandering, definitely not for me. I’ve listened to worse on this list.
El álbum arrancó mal al punto de pensar que le iba a dar una estrella y que iba a ser un suplicio escucharlo. La voz masculina muy chillona y los coros femeninos muy altos en cuanto a la producción. Después de un par de canciones mejoró y fue un álbum que pude disfrutar un poco más.
Really loved the intro to the first song, but it fell off a bit when the vocals came in. I can't tell if this is in a weird time signature that I just can't pick up, or if the instruments just felt discordant from the vocals the entirety of the album. A couple pluses about this album was using multiple singers and having some unique sounds in the instruments. Other than that, I never really got into a groove with this one. I was really looking forward to the album after the intro to the first song, but that seems to be the high point of the whole thing. Only about 20 seconds of a high point at the very beginning does not make for a great album.
Not really my kind of music
I liked Useful Chamber the most I think. I really enjoyed the instrumental portion of it at the end, however I will say that I think that the drums didn’t really match the guitar and other instruments and seemed to over shadow the rest. Over all, I think the issue I have with this album is the way it sounds instrumentally. I feel as if the lyrics and the instruments clash in an odd way and don’t necessarily compliment one another. I also felt overwhelmed by the music at times— it felt as though the instruments overshadowed the lyrics.
I tried to like it. And there were moments that I really did. But ultimately, it annoyed me. Definitely not for me first thing in the morning.
Standard indie fare. Nothing exciting.
Oh Dimery. *sigh* Tried. I really did. But when the Wikipedia page takes a paragraph to explain the album title, it’s as good an indication to what listening to the music will be like. Not surprised. Just disappointed.
Jeez, it's hard to know what to make of this. I know the name and cover (great cover art, BTW), but knew nothing of the band other than a vague sense of this album being a bit of a critical darling. That alone is enough to set my spidey-senses tingling; critics are often pretentious wankers who like tuneless and needlessly difficult music that is just no fun at all. For example, Paul Thompson, in his rave Pitchfork for this album (Best new release!) says that Dirty Projectors "carry with them ambitions so grandiose it's no wonder they range from wildly inventive to practically unlistenable-- occasionally in the span of the same song.... In spite of its [previous albums, but also applicable to Bitte Orca's] comparatively light tone and the band's tight clutch on melody and rhythm, it was art-damaged and, to some, impenetrable. However you sized it up, you had to admit it was intriguing, even if your interest level waned with every passing yelp. This has heretofore been the story of Dirty Projectors: a band so brainy, so good at the very particular thing they do, they can be hard to like." Where I disagree with Mr Thompson is that he goes on to claim that this record is, by way of comparison with their previous output, enjoyable and lots of fun. Sorry, I don't hear it. This reminds me of other bands in the early 2000s with a notable Afrobeat influence (Tuneyards, Vampire Weekend), but I find this incredibly obtuse and elliptical, with none of the drive or joie de vivre that makes Afrobeat so compelling. I do not find this album fun. I don't mind fresh and challenging pop music, but this takes that to an extreme. And, if this is their most accessible album, god spare us from their other output. Taking a deep breath, I suspect that if I played this a bunch more times, I'd find a way into it, and find some things to appreciate. Buit I'm too old and cranky to do the work when there are other records that fill this niche without having to put up with this twaddle. I note that this album is not included in the latest edition of 1001 albums. I think this is a subtle admission from Dimery that this album was a flavour-of-the-week, without real staying power.
Feels like a pretty bog standard indie pop album. It’s a genre I enjoy so it’s fine, but nothing special, I wouldn’t listen again.
I have a lot of thoughts about this album. Is bad musicianship actually bad musicianship if its intentional? Evidently, there are sparks of talent and decent sounding parts. I also think that this is probably one of the most polarising albums on this list. I can easily see how people can and do hate it, because it is an incoherent mess, key changes and tempo/time signature changes are for no purpose other than "because its kewl", and its somewhat of a pretentious hipster drivel that isnt going anywhere. I can see how someone can love it, because its a very unorthodox attempt at making something as far from mainstream rock/pop as it can be. Ultimately, music is art, and art is supposed to illicit emotions. But was the purpose of this album to illicit confusion and annoyance? I think, from "artsy" perspective, this can be compared to a Pollock painting. Most will say "its a mess" and question the sanity of people praising it, and people praising it will see some value in it, seeing some emotion in it, perhaps reflecting whatever they want to see from themselves. Ultimately, the question to me was "do I wanna listen to it again?", and the answer is a very confident "no Im good". Significant 30/80 yeah I think its worthwile to check out Liked 14/78 Added 4/78 YNN
Expressionismus im Vordergrund und den Künstlern deutlich wichtiger als Massentauglichkeit. Die vielen verschiedenen Musikstile und die nicht vorhandene Struktur hat es für mich sehr anstrengend gemacht, hier zuzuhören.
Ne-e, neee-e, jag tror faktiskt inte det
Not that great. Fits well in to the 2010ish Indie rock trend. Seems like it wants to be different but fails. 2 stars
As the vocalists say in Temecula Sunrise: AAAHHHH This is so hipster that it’s painful, even for this former tumblr hipster. Favorite lyrics: Your hair is like an eagle.
even as someone with i guess something of a pretentious taste in music (if you wanna call it that), this album makes me see why meatheads hated "hipsters" in the late 2000s/early 2010s. there's just something about this era of indie music. there are some cool ideas here i guess, but the more experimental moments border on parody. stillness is the move fucks though. 2.5/5
Indie sin sentido. La música va a su bola. Los cantantes, también. Un 2 porque alguna canción tiene hasta gracia.
eh
This album sounds like two cartoon characters having a fight in a ball of smoke. It's like they took some regular indie pop songs and put them in the Fuckalizinator. Songs speed up randomly, weird instruments fade in and out for no reason, the singer sounds like he's in the middle of getting crushed by a hydraulic press - what the hell is happening here. AI generated music. Not really something I enjoyed listening to while on the brink of a migraine. 2/5
I think in the right mood I would enjoy this drivel. I am not in that mood.
Ok
Ehrm muy experimental. Canciones distptivas entre sí. No le encontré ritmo
Bit of a strange album Not for me
It sounds like it was recorded by killer whales. I'm really not sure if that's a good thing or not.
Bla
If this album was a colour, it would be beige. Offensively beige.
Yeah, this just isn't for me. I can appreciate the effort but nothing I heard from this band begged for a second listen. I was happy when the album was done and I could move on.
Meh
Backing tracks are interesting: math rock guitar shreds, super odd drum beats, weird squeaks... I'm into it. The lyrics and vocal performances throw me. It is also unfortunate that this album is 14 years old, putting it squarely in that trough between nostalgia and novelty. The whole presentation and sound of this record is very "Anthropologie-core".
Man, this was a weird one for me. There were songs that I liked and songs that I hated and parts of songs that were good but other parts not so much and I think that means that this is Jazz.
Meh, a little too noisy for me.
This was the most okayest thing ever. Occasionally an interesting thing eked it's way through the noise. Production was pretty good. Other than that I don't think I'll go back to any of this. 2
A record often played at funerals for the deaf. This was the 13th time I've heard it this week and it brings me out in hives every time. A couple of perverts shitting on the milkyway.
- Never listened to a Dirty Projectors album before - Heard of them and went into it assuming I'd like it but I was quite disappointed - Thought the two songs sung by the female vocalists were far and away the best, especially Two Doves - Maybe it would grow on me if I gave it a few more listens and I'll regret this rating because it does seem like something I should like but I mostly don't - Fav songs: Two Doves, Stillness is the Move
What is this? Chamber indie? Baroque pop? Anyway, this album has some of the most annoying vocals ever. Jumping notes and climbing and descending scales at will, the lead singer is grating and has no real sense of melody. This album is also very ungroovy, which can be ok I guess, but here it is just a bit unpleasant to listen to. The beat will slow down or speed up suddenly in ways that may surprise but don’t really serve the song. There are obviously some talented musicians involved, but it’s nothing I would willingly listen to again. Oh, and I hate the particular strain of dry electric guitar tone and scribbling lines. Unpleasant. Serious theater kid energy. I’m tempted to rate this lower, but I can see why it probably hit at the time
Vähän kylmäksi jätti! En saanut otetta 2/5
Tykkään bändin joistain biiseistä, mutta ehkä nyt listan luoman perspektiivin takia ei ihan koko levynä kanna. 2/5
not my cup of tea
Not my cup of tea
Angular, kinda Mathy. Nice voice. Wouldn't be out of place on Dischord. Don't like this one. Completely falls off a cliff from track 4, just want it to end now. Urgh, started off so well. 2 / 5 stars.
It's a weird record. At times it seems completely random, off the beat and incompetent, at times it's genius. Over-all it's a mess. The male singer annoys me. He sings most of the time. It's still a good addition to the list, if only to show people what's possible. Favorite song: stillness is the move
I really don't know what any of this was supposed to be, kind of like some hipsters trying to imitate jazz or progressive rock I guess. There were some okay parts here or there, but most of it felt super disconnected and without anything really standing out
What do the orcas have to be bitter about? Is it that dolphins are more popular? Go, orca, go!
2/5 Best: Stillness Is the Move Worst: Useful Chamber
Yeah, I don't know. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't nearly as interesting as hipsters have convinced themselves that it is. Hard pass.
It was listed as experimental rock, something experiments fail as this one certainly didn't hot the mark, my brain just shut off most of the time as vocally it was just grating.
Meh.
not really my type of music
That was strange. I can't recall hearing an album so dull without being able to put my finger on as to why. I don't know what I'm meant to be getting out of it. It wasn't terrible, or offensive to my ears, just so... empty, without the music itself being bland or quiet.
Bitte Orca is just a bit too weird for me. Interesting turns to disinterested quite quickly. 2.
This is fine, but nothing more. Each individual song is quite nicely put together, but it's all a bit too gentle and doesn't have the impact that its trying to, and there's not really much coherence. As a few of you mentioned, it's in the same style/genre of a few contemporary albums we've had, and it's just not as good as them. Shouldn't be on the list really. 2/5.
meandering, odd. hmm
Too avant guard for me.
I like my noise pop albums but this was the height pretentiousness. And the male singers voice,what is going on there?
I can’t say this is good. The talent is there in all corners, but my god this is more complicated then Prog Rock, not catchy like pop or some indie, I can’t find any appeal in this. The songwriting is horrendous. Too unconventional. I can’t imagine the band enjoyed it either, hence so many former members.
It’s nice seeing modern albums on this list but usually only if they are ones that are representative of good music that people my generation enjoy. This is another album that falls short of other albums in its era that isn’t as good as similar artists/styles. It seemed like this duo could’ve done better with a stronger sound on the production. The songs felt flat and unexciting. 4.1/10
It's nice and layered but didn't amount to much. 2.5/5
Try hard late 2000’s pop.
All in all, a good album, however, not something I will be purchasing. 2/5
Rock alternatiu molt proper de vegades al que feia a l'época Animal Collective, sense arribar al seu grau de creativitat. Al seu moment se'l va reverenciar, però realment no era per tant, tal com testifica el temps que ha passat des d'aleshores
It sounds like alternative music that has a band and consistent melody and rhythm and applied and erratic, jazz structure. Quite challenging to listen to.
Boring drivel vocals. Somewhat interesting instrumentation that's constantly trying to be dissonant and disjointed and sometimes doesn't work. Although not the worst thing I've ever listened to definitely not going to come back to it.
Not particularly enjoyable or memorable.
Segue na mesma lógica na lista de mais um disco de banda indie que passa sem envolver. Nem mesmo com as músicas com vocais femininas mais interessantes.
Meh
Just not a fan of it.
Not for me.
Band and album Iv never heard of. Feels like one of those albums that too indie to be enjoyable.
Ondanks een paar goede liedjes net iets te experimenteel
weird album that i couldn’t figure out
Not interesting in any way that interests me. Some of the songs were pretty in parts and I didn't actively hate any of it, except maybe Remade Horizon. But I doubt I'll be giving it another listen. I am open to the idea it maybe possibly belongs on this list.
way too indie and drugged out
This album irked me in a way which is difficult to describe. It’s convoluted song structures, utterly pretentious lyrics (the level of thought which went into the album’s title is indicative of everything this group has to say: nothing) and general lack of melodic hooks got under my skin like no other record I have encountered on this list. A record for musicians who treat their art as nothing more than a self-contained field of theories and concepts. That being said, I’ll spare it a one star rating for the one or two flashes of intriguing sounds which threaten to grab the listener’s attention at a couple of points during the album’s run, but which are too ephemeral to ever leave an impression. Absolutely aimless, characterless, soulless pish.
Interesting, and at times even good, but I don't need to hear any more.
Some nice songs but overall too disjointed for me
As annoying as it is interesting. Excellent in some parts, excruciating in others. YMMV.
Sounds like 2009 in the worst way possible. Did not enjoy the vocals at all. Sounds uncertain, wandering, directionless but in an unnerving way, not an exciting way. Showed moments of promise but fell through.
Starts off terrible, gets better in the middle (even my foot started to wiggle), finishes like it started. The wiggle deserves an extra star :)
Both Bitte Orca and Swing Lo Magellan teceived quite a bit of hype at the time. From memory: Swing Lo Magellan is their most accessible album and I do not mind listening to it (in fact, Gun Has No Trigger is a great song).. ..whereas Bitte Orca was just a bit too much Pitchfork for me - it certainly has some good moments but can also irritate in other songs.
Too experimental for me.
Välillä tuntui ettei tätä voi kuunnella kuin jakomielitautiset. Yksittäisiä hienoja hetkiä laskematta melkosta scheissea.
Täs oli paikoin potentiaalii, mut yhden kuuntelukerran jälkeen jäi aika jalkoihin
Wasn't sure about this at first...but it grew on me later, then I realised the album finished and I was listening to random tracks vaguely linked to the album, so what I liked was not the album itself...
It was fine. I didn’t listen seriously enough to formulate a strong opinion. And maybe in the end, that’s worst than even the harshest 1 star review.
I had never heard of this band, and it was pleasant enough, but nothing that will stick with me long term.
Didn't really resonate with me at all. Am I missing something? Just kind of boring sad pop? I had high hopes since I know one other song by Dirty Projectors.
Creo que no les entendí, vaya, su concepto o el género donde se puedan catalogar. Tiene momentos interesantes pero la mayor parte del tiempo fueron ruido de fondo.
Mucho mame. Le entré con la mente abierta y ganas de conocerlos porque me daba gusto ver una banda joven en la lista; me llamó la atención la portada e incluso un poco los títulos de las canciones. Pero agh, una vez que empieza, se siente como si fuera un hipster que estudió música tratando de presumir las técnicas mamalonas que conoce para tocar instrumentos. Los primeros segundos son bonitos y muy rápido se vuelve cansado.
No thanks
kind of boring
Well this isn't awful but it sure ain't good. It seems to revel in broken melodies and dissonance, without the charm needed to carry it off.
Couldn't really find anything I liked if I'm honest
Was average.
Kept thinking I was going to really enjoy and song and then it would go off in a different direction .
Thought this would be right up my street however it got on my tits to be honest. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood. Oh well.
Not my taste
Bit weird. Wasn't surprised to see that they've collaborated with Bjork.
Best vervelend eigenlijk. Die stem van die man ook; een soort kruising tussen de zanger van Simply Red en Belle & Sebastian. Misschien komt het door de hitte, maar ik verdraag het slecht.
Pitchfork probably gave this a 12
Okay. A bit annoying at times, like a less-good White Stripes
It took 3 or 4 goes to listen to this album. TIP: They made it too complicated and it's better with only one headphone bud in. I used the right one. I don't know if the left channel is any better. The lyrics were utter bobbins.: think teenage poetry attempts. I can't go as low as one star reasonably because they clearly made an effort and have some misplaced talent.
When I tell people I usually don't like indie rock this is what i'm talking about. The music jumped around to various sounds without ever really establishing a groove and some of the falsetto vocals became really unbearable at points. I think this is somewhat technically impressive and was probably a difficult album to make, but it is not an enjoyable album to listen to. I don't feel like there was much soul in here.
High hopes. Wasn't awful but varied between tiresome & grating in some areas. "Useful Chamber" was terrible. I thought they'd accidentally mixed two songs together.
Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors (2009) With opaque, underdeveloped lyrics spiced with scattershot references without meaning (from the Song of Solomon to Bob Dylan, but why?) no one agrees on theme or message, although suggestions range from (1) gestalt, to (2) surrealism, to (3) post-structuralist interrogations of binary opposition which focus instead on a mediating third order between idea and reality. I prefer (3), and I dare you to try to prove me wrong (Turdle-Loo!). In terms of composition, well, the listener is immediately struck by studied chaos, (i.e., not randomly improvisational), punctuated with infrequent moments of rhythmic sense and serendipitous tempo variations; the jerky motion of anti-meter is disconcerting (and post-structural, see (3) above), but mildly entertaining. It certainly sounds well-rehearsed. I’d like to see what a group of kids on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand would’ve said about one of these songs (“Uh, gee, Dick, I can’t dance to it, but I’ll check with my friends to see if it’s cool and get back to ya”). The talented female backing vocals, with crisp timbre and good blend (especially on “Remade Horizon”) provide suitable counterpoint to the male lead vocal, however, all these vocal flashes are harnessed to the delivery of melody and harmony that’s disciplined but rather aimless, kind of like a university marching band doing a halftime routine of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”. The musical highlight of the album, in my view, consists of the centrally placed back-to-back tracks “Stillness Is the Move” and “Two Doves”, each featuring lead vocal by one the group’s two female singers. Cool sound. I say listen to these two tracks a few times, then listen to the rest of the album once, and then toss it. 2/5
Indie sin sentido. La música va a su bola. Los cantantes, también. Un 2 porque alguna canción tiene hasta gracia.
Okayish songs, chill for sunny Sundays but repetitive and not catchy
Ok ig
Not my vibe, from what I recall.
It's a bit too quirky for my taste. I do like some of the instrumentation here, however I find the vocals off-putting at times.
The bass sounded non-existent on this. Maybe it was my Spotify being streamed through AirPods? The production sounded very tinny. Which is a shame as there could be a decent rhythm behind the lyrics. There's perhaps a concept album trying to break through here. It felt like there was too many competing genres trying to be heard. tbh I didn't give it my full focus.
Si l'absence de talent avait un nom, ce serait sans aucun doute Dirty Projectors. J'ai de plus très peu apprécié le moment où le chanteur du groupe, en plein milieu de sa "performance", avale soudainnement le soleil, avant de nous le recracher à la figure dans un ray de lumière éblouissant. Un album à fuir donc.
can't listen to it, too experimental for me
Some interesting moments and quite musically diverse but reminded me of the worst excesses of mid 2000s "art pop" – mostly self indulgent and unlistenable. What's wrong with a melody?
No.
I wanted to like it but ultimately found the record quite boring. I was surprised to see they were American. I was guessing Finnish or Norwegian.
This is a pretty eclectic sounding album. Sophisticated pop music for the new millenia. hear a little Vampire Weekend at times also some TV on the Radio. And definitely a Beach Boys thread running through their songs. I enjoyed some songs but many son gs did not hold my attention; 2.5 stars
Beetje vage pingelmuziek. Ik kan er niet van genieten, maar het irriteert me ook niet zo heel erg.
5/10
Kannte ich nicht - nicht schlecht - aber werde ich nicht wieder hören
I think these songs will take more time to enjoy. Kind of a strange album.
This era of indie-rock/pop just annoys me.
Have never heard of this group before. As I listened to the album the first time I felt like I might be hearing something very modern what with its odd song structures and airy backing vocals. Is this some post-modern new wave or something? I kept thinking that maybe this is a little too modern for me? I did not feel comfortable listening to this album. There was something persistently alien that prevented me from enjoying this. I started listening a second time but abandoned that attempt after I started feeling annoyed. BITTE ORCA is some new kind of music to me, but I don’t see myself wanting to hear any more of this. There is real talent on display but ultimately I feel unable to relate to this… even though I kind of wish I did.
meh
Wel lekker apart, maar de gebruikte geluiden en stemmen spreken me niet aan
This was pretty good. I wasn’t a fan of some of the vocals but the rest was inoffensive
Sometimes good, mostly bad
Definitely missed this whole 2010s indie scene and can't say I regret it. Just can't wrap my head around why anyone would submit to this torture. The music is a grab bang of half finished guitar parts and weird synths, the lyrics are inane and the lead singer has one of the most annoying voices I've heard so far on this list, which is saying something. The only bright spot is when one of the women is singing and that only happens on the one single.
2/5 naaaaah
This is why i don't bother going to see the bands when i'm at ATP
A bit too experimental for my taste
Voor mij weinig boeiende zeroes rock
2.3 Welcome to Te Boelaerpark festival, hier hebben we bakfiets atracties en gratis gemberbier! GTFO absoluut geen plaat da ge MOET gehoord hebben
Vocal harmonies were interesting, but otherwise somewhat unremarkable
This album felt disjointed and none of the songs really engaged me. Not a fan.
A little boring, but an ok record
no
Está ok, prefiro o de 2017.
experimentell und teilweise sehr nervige Sounds...
meh
Нормис не заценил. На грани с неслушабельным. Какофония, которая мало того, что слух режет, да к тому же эстетикой приятной не обладает. Бездушный звук, будто нейросетью состряпанный. Тогда, когда это похоже на адекватную музыку, вроде бы радуешься, но понимаешь, что до хорошей музыки всё же не дотягивает. В качестве неплохого ухо выцепило трек Useful Chamber. Который намекает, что существует вероятность въехать и во всё остальное, хоть она и КРАЙНЕ МАЛА. Посему совсем на дно альбом опускать не стану.
Ponderei em dar 1 a este álbum. Indie Rock, pop consegue ser muito desintressante. O minimalismo é giro quando apresenta-se num formato minimalista, intimista ou algo mais obscuro. O som destes senhores enquadra-se mais numa sonoridade expansiva num contexto que é minimalista. Simplificando, estes cachopos têm um som muito aberto e relusente para a pouca quantidade de notas e instrumentação que metem, falta sumo. Grande parte da instrumentação existente passa por palmas em algumas faixas e um coro para cobrir a falta de tudo. O cantar é nauseabundo, é chato, em que não acrescenta nada. As vozes femeninas costumam fazer backing vocals com algumas aparições em papel principal pelo meio. Tendo que a instrumentação é minima temos de compensar com vozes magistrais, como as da Amy Winehouse, Adele, Freddie Mercury e outros mais... Contudo, estes senhores estão mais para cantores de bar com pouco talento, o Dave Mustaine parece cantar baladas melhor dos que eles, isto é uma afirmação grave. Novamente, é talvez uma brutalidade, eles fazem sons com as vozes, de passarinhos, de coros de outras coisas para compensar vazios de instrumentos, mas é tudo tão pouco e fraco. Nada aqui faz crer ficar, faz crer desligar e mudar de rumo. Mas voltando ao inicio, porque não dou 1? Eles nas guitarras minimalistas por vezes têm acordes e ideias interessantes, contundo sabendo sempre a pouco. Um bocado de História, estes senhores são americanos, são comparados há tantos músicos porque flertam com rock e pop. Mas sinceramente acho a arte deles má, então não levo a bem alguns comentários deles, como dizer "I Fucking Hate Frank Zappa", sendo que estes homens nem uma fração têm do talento que o Zappa tinha. Eles estão no ativo a muitos anos, desde 2002, mas eu só gostava de saber quem perde tempo a ouvir estes sons vazios e desconexos. Dou por mim a querer desistir disto. A melhor música é a Useful Chamber. Nota: 3/10 Dia: 21/06/2024
Bit weird
Too eccentric for my taste.
im not sure what that was
too clever by half for me
Some of it was ok but no idea how the hell this made it on onto any greatest album list 🤷🏼♂️
Not for me
An interesting mix of electronic, rock, pop, orchestral, etc. Creative structures. Experimental without being dissonant. Just not for me.
Not a fan of the overly clean indie-rock sound or the tight harmonies. The stranger/off-kilter tracks are the strongest (second half of 'Remade Horizon'). 4/10, would benefit from being less formulaic
Bad...
Haiku Tuesday: Rock Experiments || You know, most experiments... || They fail, like this one.
Wasn't that interested
I don't know what I was expecting, having only ever listened to a couple tracks from Dirty Projectors. They were huge with the hipsters while I was in college, so I guess I just never listened. A fine record, but forgettable.
"Bitte Orca" roughly translates to "Thank You, Whale from Free Willy." I wanted to like this but it's hipster bullshit. So much vocalizing/modulating in every fucking song. Weird inflection can be cool but not in every fucking song. I couldn't understand the lyrics so I looked them up... mistake. It sounds like experimental college kid music. I can't imagine listening to this for fun. Music for people who want to appear interesting. Spare me. No Intention raises it from a 1 to a 2 for me.
nja...
Creative, out there indie melodies, otherwise meh
I should like this for it's experimental tendencies but it doesn't really grab me for some reason. In fact I'm finding that it is frequently annoying me. It comes across as somewhat "lightweight" to me. Beautiful in a way but also perhaps trying a bit too hard to be so.
Whiny falsetto and asynchronous rhythm are not welcome, Orca. Stillness is the move is okay.
Me
Hmm, probably too experimental for my tastes. I suspect that if I were in the mood for it, it would rate more than 2 stars. As such, I'm not, and thusly: 2.
not for me.
2009. Key Songs: Stillness Is The Move, Useful Chamber
What the HELL
groan
Maar een paar nummers geluisterd, maar vond het eigenlijk net niets. Niet aan te raden. Gewoon te veel dat ik zou willen stellen: "all over the place." M.a.w. laten we dit gewoon achter liggen en nooit meer omkijken. Je zult echt niets missen als je dit gewoon de rug toekeert.
not sure how this album found its way to the list. it's bland unambitios vanilla pop with r'n'b smears all over it.
Well this was a load of nothing. When I think back to this album tomorrow, nothing will have stuck in my mind about it. Next please! 1/5
Unsure why this was included. Maybe 1 tune worthwhile
yet another experimental album i can’t bear to listen to in full. i’ve heard Stillness Is the Move so it’s the best song (out of the 5 i barely listened to). this is not for me. and the offbeat wacky time signature made me full-body cringe. i can’t
Nope
Nope. Next?
I understand what this is going for: the songs deliberately refuse to behave like songs. The problem is that the ideas keep getting in the way of the music. Every voice crosses, every meter shifts, and none of it earns its place. Clever, and exhausting. The worst record I’ve listened to so far.
No le entendí nada :(
Millennial crap
Im running out of words to describe how bad some albums on this book are. Its tiringly pretensious, the singing is so shit, the songs are a fucking mess. Nothing make sense in the worst way possible. Unique =/= good/5
Sorry to say that this didn’t find any place within me. And I tried.
I hate this. I cannot focus on anything else as it plays, so good job there guys. The mixing/levels are just horrible, sounds like seven unrelated tracks playing at the same time. Lacks musicality.
This album pissed me off for some reason
I have listened to too many of these crappy indie albums for this and so one needs to pay the price. This is just one uninteresting track after another.
What even is this genre? I only half-liked one song.
Sounds experimental. Imagine what didn’t make the track list. Remade Horizon is a good song. Thankfully, only 41 minutes long. What am I missing?
Didn't like it. I can appreciate being an experimental band, but it won't always be good.
I’m not really sure of what to do with this. Not appealing to me at all.
Disjointed noise attempting something artistic and accomplishing little more than a migraine. 1 or 2 songs with any redeeming musical quality on the entire album. Overall, this album was painful to listen to.
Unfortunately, my experience with Bitte Orca left a bitter taste in my mouth. I had honest, optimistic expectations going in. The cover looks cool. I like the whole modern indie-electronica-pop thing (even if the sound hasn't aged great in retrospect). But this one just kinda left me unimpressed. There's shades of genuine production talent across the record, but it's all drowned out by this bland hipsterism that smothers the most interesting parts of the compositions. It's disorganized pop that fails to be the sum of its parts. For one thing it's a lyrical mess all the way through: "Your hair is like an eagle/Your two eyes are like two doves/But our bed is like a failure" is an 'intelligent' biblical reference, but you don't get free points for parroting loud birds on Arabian trees. The scraps of electronica are sophomoric, the typically indie guitarwork is soporific, and the lead vocal delivery (the lyrics withstanding) leaves much to be desired. You can feel it's trying to be clever with all the changing time signatures, but the effect is less Zappa and more baffle. A lot of the tracklist is carried by the excellent harmony work on the women singing in the back, who do an excellent job with what they're offered, and also the drum-work which from a technical perspective is pretty terrific. But those standout performances just make the lack of cohesion even more stark. It end up sounding a lot like a self-indulgent ego project, a smidge too hipster-ish, which is maybe a bit mean but wholly fitting. Maybe it's a bit unfair - 'roughly twenty years old' is the worst time to be re-examining old art. It's in that awkward pubescence between fresh and classic. The indie-pop sound hasn't had the time to mature in the public conscious yet, and so it all comes across as old-hat trend-chasing. I can see myself going back and liking something similar to Dirty Projectors if they changed up the format, because there's a wealth of songwriting talent here waiting to be extracted, but here it wasn't. Disappointing. Fav tracks: Stillness Is The Move
NON SONO RIUSCITO A FINIRLO PERCHÉ MI SONO INCAZZATO. COME FA CERTA ROBA A FINIRE SULLA LISTA IO NON SO. CAPIREI SE FOSSE USCITO NEL 1950 INFLUENZANDO IL ROCK/FOLK A VENIRE, MA COS’È STO SCIACQUAMENTO COCULOSO. “TWO DOVES” CARINA DA USARE COME COLONNA SONORA DI UNA STORIA D’AMORE COME QUELLA NEL FILM “UP”. NEL RESTO CI HO TROVATO POCO, SE NON SUONI SLEGATI E NOIOSI. 1/5
💜
Guys. At some point you have to stop drinking.
Bad
24
This shit sucks ass
- DNF (1.4/5) - cannibal resource hurt to listen to - This is weird - Dirty projectors reminds me of something (quarrel) if I had to say something nice about this album… - Bad bad not good :(
A mess. Initially reminded me of Metronomy but the disjointed, disorganized structure is of most of the songs on this album becomes very annoying. Struggled to get through. 1/5
Cacophony for cacophony's sake.
What a mess this album is. There was definitely a lot of potential, but I've never heard an album that lacks cohesion quite like this one does. There's just way too much going on at any given moment, and you have absolutely no room to breathe with how the chaos is completely constant. I am definitely one to appreciate experimental music, but this is exactly how not to do it. Genuinely cool ideas on display, but they are presented in one of the worst ways possible as I'm just left trying to figure out what the hell I'm hearing.
This is just too experimental and sonically random for my taste. There are flecks of interesting songs in here, but buried for me in a lot of needless chaos and unstructured rambling. No stand out tracks. Rating: 1
Like a good hipster Xennial, I liked this when it came out. Today i found it mostly unlistenable. “Stillness is the Move” is still a bop though.
Atrocious vocals, it felt like the guitars and drums were not playing in time of each other on most tracks I’d be annoyed if I went to see some crappy band playing at my local pub on a Sunday night for free played this bad, no clue how this is on this list 1
Täyttä paskaa, oli tuskaa kuunnella. Ei-kiva paluu päivittäisten albumien kuunteluun
Aivan kamalaa musiikkia 1/5
I've seen a Temecula Sunrise before. It's beautiful. I will not be listening to this band should I ever find myself there again.
My gf asked what my album of the day was today and I described it to her as "awful 2000's hipster crap".
I've heard about this album for years and it sounds like THIS? I guess in 2010-2015 I would have been all over it but this is like all the stuff that annoys me about genres I like rolled into one album.
I like music where the musicians play the same song
Am I burned out from listening to five albums a week? Am I growing bitter with age? I respect the sparse instrumentation and enjoy the way the vocals intertwine. However, the songs themselves leave much to be desired. There is something about quirky, millennial music that doesn’t sit right with my soul
Plinky slinky rinky dinky...these words rise in my mind, almost mystically. The four most talented (and most insufferable) kids in your high school choir started a band together, and they're singing a cappella—a song you don't know and may never know—each with a hand over one ear (ie that guy from Parks & Rec). In fact, my high-school gf might love this (no disrespect intended). Impressive? Occasionally annoying? Thesaurus lyrics? Not much to cling to? Again, no disrespect intended. I know this band from before...2017...I wore out their song "Up in Hudson"...I'm listening to that one now, and you should too.
Completely non-cohesive and muddled, like they were attempting 5 different genres, time signatures and emotions in every song. Just made me angry listening to it.
Este tipo de rock experimental ya me di cuenta que no es para mi, me han tocado varios grupos y realmente no les encuentro el gusto...
Drivel, annoying at best, fucking awful at worst. I can't see a redeeming quality of this album. You can't argue that it's been influential so deserves its spot either, thus has stood out above everything to be the bottom of the list.
Just didn’t get it.
Not for me
This album could be fine if someone told the man singing in a falsetto to stop. Clearly everyone in this band thinks they are so amazing they have lost the ability to be objective about their work, because anyone who has ears should have known The Bride was garbage and should have been recorded over. Experiment, be weird that is fine, it often pushes music forward, but not every single "experimental" thing made needs to shared, sometimes it's garbage and it is ok to admit it is not good. This album severly suffers from a lack of anyone knowing how to edit the work, some of the songs are good and others make you question your decision to listen to anything on this list.
Remember kids, don't let a pesky detail like "I don't know how to write songs" stop you from writing songs.
Dette var en kjip opplevelse å tvinge seg igjennom
Irriterende artpop. Finner ingenting jeg liker ved dette.
Hurt my ears Best Song: N/A Rating: 1.0/10 Stars: 1
Day876 - 2009 was objectively the worst year for music and this only backs my claim
Disappointing, dreary and derivative, one star. Superior to Petty, The Police, RHCP etc but not by that much. Tom.
Bitte Orca was a genuinely agonizing listen but it didn't have to be this way. The instrumentation for the most part was not the worst and would have made for a decent album if not for the fact that they are paired with some of the most annoying and self-indulgent compositions ever. The sounds just come and go without any rhyme or reason and the vocals suffer from that exact same issue as well. All of this combined just leads to an album that ends up feeling directionless and annoying and trust me, those are not things you want your album to be (unless you're a troll or a sadist, i don't know). All of this leads to an album that tries to do a lot but can't do any of it competently. Best Song: Two Doves Worst Song: Useful Chamber
Wretched. It’s like the lead singer has his nuts being grabbed by the girl back up singers with one hand while they throat chop each other with the other to create this symphony of discord.
My least favorite type of music from the late 2000’s.
A deeply irritating collection of overthought art-pop that sounds like exceptionally talented people competing to avoid writing a normal song.
Annoying. This is just an irritating album. It's trying waaaaayy too hard to be clever & quirky, without ever offering anything that interesting. The songwriting and flow of the record makes no sense at all, but you can absolutely imagine the band saying you're just not quirky enough to “get it”. I think I do get it, it's shit. It gets a point for Stillness Is The Move being a semi-decent song. 3/10.
sucks ass
It's just so meh. Pointless album from a pointless band (in 1001 terms)
now this is just annoying
I should have died before hearing this album... fuck Sorry, I thought I should be 100% honest :-(
Lets record the sounds of a broken washing machine and call it music. Where are some of these dopey LPs' coming from??? This is really something we absolutely had hear on a list of 1001?
the hell
Super random, no entiendo la vibra, no le suena armónico
Ņeh. Mūzikā ir kripata kaut kā interesanta, bet vokāli ir atbaidoši. Fui pē.
536 albums in, and I was looking forward to something I had no idea about, but I was not prepared for this. It feels like the musical equivalent of Donald Trump speaking; it just has no structure, coherence or rhythm, is mostly offensive to the ear and you just want it to end as quickly as possible. I think this might be the worst album (or at least in the Top 3) we’ve had so far, and it’s had some proper competition.
It felt like a droning 41 minutes of the worst indie rock cliches ever. Most bearable of the bunch: "No Intention" I don't anticipate revisiting this album in the future.
Really had to force myself
Kept having to pause to make sure I wasn't accidentally playing audio in another tab as well
Reminder that I hate experimental music If I had a couple good things to say about this album, it’s the fact that it’s over quick and every once in a while there’ll be a cool 30 second stretch where it sounds decent enough I really really wish the dude didn’t sing with that falsetto the whole album (the woman’s got a much better voice, listenable at least). The inability for them to stay on rhythm infuriates me so much, I’m sure they’re talented enough but it sounds awful. Most of the base lines/drums sounded like they were generated by AI where none of the notes make any sense. Vocals are definitely the bigger problem though Probably a bit closer to a 1.5. I’m feeling spiteful today and I thoroughly disliked this one
Weird discordant sounds with really odd lyrics. It doesn't go together, and I think that was probably the point. But, I don't get it. This has the feel of a group that is targeted towards musicians that more casual listeners like me just don't get. Frankly it was really pretentious.
i tried. i really fucking tried. but this is too myspace indie core for me. you know the type,, 2010s hipsters with thrift store cardigans and fixed gear bikes. The vocalist and the backing vocals are straight bad. like, lord, they must be nepobabies because there's no way a label listened to this and thought "yes, let's burn studio hours on this." It's the kind of album where you can feel them trying to be genius and clever, but it just lands as annoying. the harmonies don't harmonize, the rhythms jerk around like a nervous tic, and not once did i feel any emotional honesty. Just save your ears. this ain't it. This reminds me why i dislike bjork and her so called avant-garde weirdness, because of people like this, that kind of noise gets normalized. just imagine the type of pretentious people who hear this and pretend to find it good.
Experimental music.
# Album Name: Bitte Orca # Artist: Dirty Projectors # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Absolute convoluted wank. Rubbish # Top Tunes: None # Would I listen to it again? No
Horrible noise.
Pompous and uninspired, didn't get anything from this. 1
Very puzzled by this album. Puzzled how this was made, puzzled why this was made, puzzled with what it's doing on this list. There's a noticeable lack of even basic music rhythmic structure that gives everything a slapdash and unprofessional feel that is very grating and unappealing. Even the decent parts feel almost accidental, as if there's a deep misunderstanding of basic musical ideas
Holy god that was a rough listen. I get that it's art and pushing the boundaries, but that was like those videos where they try to imitate what it's like to have a panic attack and be overstimulated at the same time. This is what I imagine a bad mushroom trip sounds like. I can't put a timestamp on any good or enjoyable moment in this album. Pretty sure I made some GarageBand music better than this when I was 8. 1/10
I think there was one track that I felt caught my attention but even at that the song felt scattered which is a word that sums up the album as a whole. Clearly that’s what they intended but it just doesn’t do it for me.
As someone who likes experimental and weird music this was excruciatingly painful to listen to. It's offbeat, but instead of creating a nice sound landscape, it just feels like I'm listening to children in a playground trying to start their own band. Favs: Actually none
the reason this is so well reviewed is because it’s so annoying
Most 2009 rock album ever. Not a good thing
Did not care for this at all. Mostly discordant to my ears. Some was listenable, but not much.
Опять рок? Сколько можно. Чё это за хор? Понимаю что это задумка что б было многое в разнобой, как ляпание и смешивание цветов, но я пока не как на это реагировать. Что с вокалом? Просто кревляние. А что с инструментами? Они как будто расстроены. Какой-то непонятный инди-хипстерский поп рок, много импровизации. Я понимаю задумку авторов, но простите я этот кал дальше слушать не намерена
Insufferably twee. The most "American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002" album imaginable. Like Arcade Fire if they had no song-writing talent. You don't even need to listen to this album to hate it; just read the frontman's quotes on the Wikipedia page.
I don't get it.
Literally no more indie-anything. I’m over it!!
Nope
This just makes me tired it's trying so hard to be important.