Jul 17 2024
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I Need to Start a Garden
Haley Heynderickx
Before getting stuck in to the user generated albums, I am going to define the scoring criteria I will use. In applying it, I'll be guided mainly by gut reaction. I might factor in some context on occasion, but largely it will just be how much I like the album and the the degree to which it connects with me.
5-MASTERPIECE
(4.5-exceptional)
4-GREAT
(3.5-very good)
3-GOOD
(2.5-average)
2-POOR
(1.5 very poor)
1-BAD
(0.5 awful)
I Need to Start a Garden, by Haley Heynderickx
A cool singer songwriter album. Minimal modern folky instrumentation, an emotive, sad and dreamy vocal with intriguing lyrics. Slightly reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and really quite lovely.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Oom Sha La La
Date listened: 16/07/24
3
Jul 18 2024
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McDonald and Giles
Ian McDonald
Gentle and proggy. Meandering and intricate, but accessible and engaging. I really liked this.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Flight of the Ibis
Date listened: 17/07/24
4
Jul 19 2024
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Control
Pedro The Lion
A miserablist gungey indie concept album album about a relationship going wrong. Objectively quite good but didn't really grab me.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Penetration
Date listened: 18/07/24
3
Jul 20 2024
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Sublime
Sublime
Ska punk plus a wide mix of genres, it's not really my thing but has good energy and some catchy melodies and hooks. Ahead of it's time in 1996 and possibly paving the way for the rock/rap crossover of the early 00s? Like many records or the CD era, it's about 20 mins too long, but that's forgiveable.
It's really sad that the singer didn't live to see the release and huge success of this album.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: What I Got
Date listened: 19/07/24
3
Jul 21 2024
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Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
SOPHIE
This was a challenge. It will be some people's favourite album, which I respect, but I personally couldn't get anything out of it and am not sure that most of it is even music.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: It's Okay to Cry
Date listened: 20/07/24
1
Jul 22 2024
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Spilt Milk
Jellyfish
Queen + Beach Boys + Beatles x 1990s = Jellyfish. To be fair, it's a very listenable equation with lovely pop melodies and harmonies.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Sabrina, Paste and Plato
Date listened: 21/07/24
4
Jul 23 2024
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Bloody Kisses
Type O Negative
This is one of the funniest albums I've ever heard. It stops just short of being a parody, but the band must have known what they were doing with the stupid lyrics and vampiric tone of the vocals.
Overall, the kitsch Halloween 'spoooooooky and ghoooooouulish' vibe (mwah ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa) is quite fun and the music is pretty accessible. It's a bit long and very, very silly. Although I basically had a fun time listening to it, it's really not very good.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Set Me on Fire
Date listened: 22/07/24
2
Jul 24 2024
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A Live One
Phish
Phish appear to be proficient musicians, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying the performances, but this did nothing for me. Lots of long, meandering jams as intros and outros to not very memorable songs.
As an example, 4 minutes into 'You Enjoy Myself' I was starting to get bored of the track, only to discover it had another 17 minutes left to run.
Fair play if you enjoy the musicianship, but as a musically-challenged person with things to do, this was not for me.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Bouncing Around the Room
Date listened: 23/07/24
1
Jul 25 2024
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Recipe for Hate
Bad Religion
Early 90s west coast punk. Energetic, catchy and pre-dates the more annoying tendencies of the genre.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: American Jesus
Date listened: 24/07/24
3
Jul 26 2024
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Carrie & Lowell
Sufjan Stevens
I love 'Illinois' from the main list. This is excellent too.
A lot more sparse and mellow than 'Illinois', with intensely personal (rather than fantastical) themes, this tells raw and specific stories of Stevens' complex relationship with his mother, who Stevens saw only intermittently through her life. It's focus is his grief at her death, and the self-destructive behaviours (mirroring his mother's) that Stevens' grief inspired.
Not an easy or comfortable listen, the record takes several listens to reveal its dark beauty. It hits peak sadness on 'Fourth of July', which closes Side 1 and recites a deathbed conversation between Stevens and his mother, tenderly revealing unconditional love and forgiveness.
The way the album describes thoughts, ideas, emotions, and events without directly speaking of them is a work of poetic genius and elevates Stevens' songwriting.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Should Have Known Better
Date listened: 29/07/24
5
Jul 27 2024
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Tomb
Angelo De Augustine
This probably suffered from being generated a day after Sufjan Stevens' 'Carrie and Lowell'. Whilst it's fine for what it is, it appears to lack the poetry or authenticity that might engage me more and encourage me to listen again or to find out more about it.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Somewhere Far Away From Home
Date listened: 30/07/24
2
Jul 28 2024
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Music For People In Trouble
Susanne Sundfør
It's a rare treat to find an album with a twist. Up to five minutes into the fourth track, 'The Sound of War', this is a really nice straight singer songwriter album. Then the listener is hit by a three minute sound collage, followed by the ambient spoken word title track. It stays brilliantly weird from there.
Atmospheric soundscapes form the basis or context of the remaining songs and enhance the emotional heft of the record, making a fascinating and affecting listen. The sounds wash over the listener, bringing them into the album's world.
A triumph of ambition, creativeness and sequencing. I can only see the record getting even more interesting with further listens.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Noone Believes in Love Anymore
Date listened: 30/07/24
5
Jul 29 2024
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Goat
The Jesus Lizard
Very much not the GOAT.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Mouth Breather
Date listened: 28/07/24
2
Jul 30 2024
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Silence Yourself
Savages
Post-punk, about 30 years after post-punk. Does that make it post-post-punk?
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Husbands
Date listened: 29/07/24
2
Jul 31 2024
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Rêver mieux
Daniel Bélanger
On dirait Bondé Maison francais. C'est bien!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Rêver mieux
Date listened: 01/08/24
3
Aug 02 2024
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Nuyorican Soul
Nuyorican Soul
Disco funk jazz. Yeah!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Runaway
Date listened: 02/08/24
4
Aug 03 2024
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Apostrophe(')
Frank Zappa
I feel like I must be missing something, but I just don't get it. I also found the Mothers of Invention records to be amongst my least favourite on the main list. Like those, this just comes across to me as someone trying too hard to be deliberately zany. Always a joke that just isn't funny.
Sorry, Frank. It's not you, it's me.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Uncle Remus
Date listened: 02/08/24
1
Aug 04 2024
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Currents
Tame Impala
A 2010s classic. A synthy psychedelic pop rock album with a MONSTER opening track and a handful of other bangers. The theme of relationship breakup runs throughout and the lyrics are pretty on-the-nose for the most part.
The record gets enjoyably weird in places, especially on 'Past Life' which includes a distorted spoken word story and a layered, ethereal chorus. It's very Flaming Lipsy, which is perhaps why I like it.
Geat album, excellent pick.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Let It Happen
Date listened: 03/08/24
4
Aug 05 2024
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Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
Primus
The user generated album list has been far more enlightening and thought provoking than I had imagined. This album is the perfect example. My initial reaction is that this is absolutely awful, and it is impossible to see how anyone could possibly like it. But lots and lots of people do, and someone clearly thinks it's brilliant.
Knowing that of all the albums that have ever been recorded, this has been picked by a person who has spent the last 3+ years doing the same thing I have somehow makes it harder to dismiss the album just as 'bad'. Instead it makes me think about how different people appreciate music. What could it be about this album that people respect or enjoy, and why don't I like it?
The musicianship seems to be good, the songs complex and the bass slaps, so perhaps musicians would appreciate it on a technical level. I have no musical talent, so just don't hear the technical things in songs that musical people might do. Also, while it's not my humour it is going for funny, and must hit with some people. Overall, though, I think the crux of the issue is that I tend to respond to records that make me feel something, or have something to say about society, the world, or the human condition that I can relate to. This is pure fantasy escapism, which just isn't my thing, but is loved my many others.
Overall, although I hated it, I'm glad I've heard it. Thanks for the selector for the pick. May I never hear a Primus album ever again.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Date listened: 04/08/24
1
Aug 06 2024
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Blue Is The Colour
The Beautiful South
Quintessentially British tales of life and society. Some really excellent songs.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Don't Marry Her
Date listened: 05/08/24
3
Aug 07 2024
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Silent Alarm
Bloc Party
Objectively quite good, but not a record or band I have been able to feel a connection with.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Helicopter
Date listened: 06/08/24
3
Aug 08 2024
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No.1 In Heaven
Sparks
Innovative synth pop with crashing drums and Russ Mael's powerful falsetto. The sound of Queen covering the Pet Shop Boys. Typically idiosyncratic, heaps of fun and well ahead of it's time in 1979.
Rating: 5
Playlist track: The Number One Song In Heaven
Date listened: 07/08/24
5
Aug 09 2024
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Re
Café Tacvba
An eclectic, complex, Latin American rock, pop, jazz, folk album. An hour long, but plenty of twists and turns to keep it high energy and interesting. Not something I would have listened to without this list, but I really enjoyed it and would absolutely revisit.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: La ingrata
Date listened: 08/08/24
4
Aug 10 2024
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A Salty Dog
Procol Harum
An extremely nautical album, with loads of slightly odd things going on. Amongst the weirdness there are moments of genuine beauty, not least the strings and soaring vocals on the opening track. One can't help but respect the creativity and commitment to the concept.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: A Salty Dog
Date listened: 09/08/24
4
Aug 11 2024
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Nonagon Infinity
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
This record only really does one thing, to the extent that songs are pretty difficult to distinguish from one another. The one thing is quite pleasant and accessible 2010s/20s rock music, so is not unenjoyable.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Robot Stop
Date listened: 10/08/24
3
Aug 12 2024
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Hammersmith Odeon, London '75
Bruce Springsteen
Initially I had a positive reaction to this. A tight live band playing rock 'n' roll music is pretty easy to enjoy.
Whilst I'm sure this is a good example of Bruce and the E-Street band at the height of their live power, there is just so much of it.
Two hours of mid-tempo rockers, which have a point of view but don't really speak to me, sung competently but with very limited range just got way, way too much by the half way point. The brass freak outs also get really grating after you've heard the first five.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Born to Run
Date listened: 11/08/24 to 15/08/24
2
Aug 13 2024
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Discosis
Bran Van 3000
I'm not sure I "liked" this, or if it's "good", but I certainly enjoyed it as an hour of well produced, eclectic, early 2000s electronic pop.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Astounded
Date listened: 20/08/24
3
Aug 14 2024
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Korn
Korn
Korn's debut album and a better record than their album on the main list. A good pick 👍.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Blind
Date listened: 20/08/24
3
Aug 15 2024
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Cleopatra
The Lumineers
A very enjoyable and incredibly pleasant 2010s indie folk album.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Cleopatera
Date listened: 20/08/24
4
Aug 16 2024
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Vedergällningen
Garmarna
Dark, broody, pagan, scandi vibes. Like walking through a misty forest at dusk, with woodland elves lurking. Super cool.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Herr Holkin
Date listened: 21/08/24
4
Aug 17 2024
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La cagaste... Burt Lancaster
Hombres G
A little ray of bouncy Iberian sunshine and good times. Great fun!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Visite nuestro bar
Date listened: 22/08/24
4
Aug 18 2024
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Game of Fools
Koritni
80s hair metal lives on down under. This is nothing particularly special but was a fun listen. The run of enjoyable albums continues.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Game of Fools
Date listened: 22/08/24
3
Aug 19 2024
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Blink-182
blink-182
Blink 182's attempt to be mature and deep. It's ok, with a few nice highlights, but in the main it doesn't really suit them.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: I Miss You
Date listened: 22/08/24
3
Aug 20 2024
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The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
Roger Waters
This brings my run of fun/enjoyable albums crashing to an end. A concept album about hitchhiking in a dream. It's a load of old bollards.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: 5:01AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking)
Date listened: 22/08/24
1
Aug 21 2024
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Carolina Confessions
The Marcus King Band
Lay this slab of soulful southern rock on me. Reminiscent of early St. Paul and the Broken Bones. I like it.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Goodbye Carolina
Date listened: 23/08/24
4
Aug 22 2024
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The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance
I was a little old for this when it came out, but enjoyed catching up today. Emo rock or punk pop aren't really my thing, but this is decent. Apparently it's a concept album.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Welcome to the Black Parade
Date listened: 28/08/24
3
Aug 23 2024
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Forced Witness
Alex Cameron
A nice easy listening 80s-esque electro pop album. Nice songs and stories. A very pleasant 40 minutes.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Stranger's Kiss
Date listened: 28/08/24
4
Aug 25 2024
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Join Us
They Might Be Giants
18 short and quirky guitar pop songs. Individually each song is at worst amusing, but together it's a bit much (even though at 47 minutes then album is a 'good length').
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Old Pine Box
Date listened: 29/08/24
3
Aug 26 2024
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Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
Mild 1960s psychedelia. Meh.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Flames
Date listened: 29/08/24
2
Aug 27 2024
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Piñata
Freddie Gibbs
I quite enjoyed this hip hop album. Like many of the genre, I'm not a fan of the skits. The music is eclectic and cool, though, and the skits can be skipped.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: High
Date listened: 29/08/24
3
Aug 28 2024
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El Circo
Maldita Vecindad Y Los Hijos Del 5to. Patio
A super-energetic Hispanic rock album. Bouncy, buoyant, brilliant fun.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Pachuco
Date listened: 03/09/24
3
Aug 29 2024
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Piledriver
Status Quo
As a child, there was a family of massive Status Quo fans that lived around the corner from us. Being mean school kids in the 1990s the Quo loving brother and sister were teased for having musical tastes outside of the boy band, and girl band norm. Really the joke was on us, as they experienced rock'n'roll shows at a young age, which must have been really exciting.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Don't Waste My Time
Date listened: 03/09/24
2
Aug 30 2024
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Squeezing Out Sparks
Graham Parker
Catchy, well written songs, but I feel like I've heard enough new wave albums to last me a lifetime. -0.5 for referring to U.F.Os and 'youfohs' like my Dad.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Local Girls
Date listened: 03/09/24
3
Aug 31 2024
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Funeral Dress
Wussy
Indie folk rock. Heavier than some of its mid 2000s contemporaries. I really like it.
Funeral Dress, the song, is just Teenage Kicks, isn't it?
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Airborne
Date listened: 04/09/24
4
Sep 01 2024
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Super Ape
The Upsetters
Dub reggae. The first half much stronger than the second.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Zion's Blood
Date listened: 04/09/24
2
Sep 02 2024
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Nail
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel
Dark and unsettling. It probably has artistic merit, but I hated listening to it. The couple of orchestral instrumental pieces are the only tolerable tracks.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: The Overture from Pigdom Come
Date listened: 04/09/24
1
Sep 03 2024
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Emotional Mugger
Ty Segall
Extremely lo-fi garage rock. I know it's not supposed to be pleasant to listen, but I had a bad time and not really in an interesting or thought provoking way, unfortunately.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Squealer
Date listened: 04/09/24
1
Sep 04 2024
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F♯ A♯ ∞
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Atmospheric post rock. Three 20-odd minute tracks that meander through your soul.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: The Dead Flag Blues
Date listened: 04/09/24
3
Sep 05 2024
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Wild Planet
The B-52's
Another B-52s album, which is pretty similar to the other one on the list, in all honesty. However, I liked the previous one and I like this too. It is maybe a little more melodic and a little less ferocious.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Private Idaho
Date listened: 04/09/24
3
Sep 06 2024
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Poesía Básica
Extrechinato y Tu
Spanish spoken word proggy rock. Niche.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Rojitas
Date listened: 05/09/24
2
Sep 07 2024
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Live in San Francisco
Thee Oh Sees
Oh, yay! A live album from a no-mark punk band, recorded more than 30 years after the genre ceased to be relevant. What an inspired pick!*
A calculated attempt to be exciting and edgy that achieves the polar opposite. Musically, despite the try-hard energy, this just sounds tired and out-of-date. And that's before you even get to the vocals, which are an embarrassing parody of Johnny Rotten.
Both annoying and dismally boring all at once (let's call it bornoying), this is an objectively awful record with no redeeming features. An utterly pointless waste of an hour of my life.
Rating: 0
Playlist track: Toe Cutter Thumb Buster
Date listened: 06/09/24
*By the way, I was being sarcastic.
1