Music: Last Album You Listened To And Rate It III

[ItsFineImFine]

Vennart - In The Dead, Dead Wood (2020) - 4/5 (I feel like the dads on this forum will like this type of album, or would have had it been an older one anyways)

Los Planetas - Un Semana En some long Spanish title (1998) - 3.5/5 (nice 90s indie that sounds close enough to Britpop for me to enjoy)

Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea (2020) - 3.5/5

 

[Shareefruck]

Kulma by Panasonic - 2.0 (Positive)
Frequencies by LFO - 1.5 (Neutral) [moderately enjoyable but feels pretty dated to me]
CD1 by Pole - 1.0 (Negative) [the sound is right up my alley, but pretty meandering and underwhelming as a whole]
SIGN by Autechre - 1.0 (Negative) [solid first half, forgettable second half-- had a similar level enjoyment to Quarastice. Nothing I found super stand-out, though]
Synthia by The Jezabels - 1.0 (Negative) [I've never been able to connect with this type of music-- There's nothing wrong with it, it's inoffensive and involves talent, but it has a familiar vibe that tends to just go in one ear and out the other for me]

 

[Shareefruck]

Draft 7.30 by Autechre - 3.0 (Very Good)
Really clicked and warmed up to this-- it's incredible. Perfectly produced, very consistent, high peaks, ambitious/innovative, fun, it's got it all. While I think Draft 7.30 is probably a tighter album, it still doesn't quite reach the heights of the first half of Untilted for me (where each of those four tracks are an all-time favorite). Especially warmed up to Xylin Room, IV VV IV VV VIII, and 6IE.CR. Relatively weaker tracks for me were Theme of Sudden Roundabout and TAPR.

Feeling tempted to dive into those super long albums now, but I don't know.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

The Flaming Lips - In A Priest Driven Ambulance - 7/10
The Flaming Lips - Hit To Death in the Future Head - 7.5/10

Maybe it's because Wayne Coyne was just interviewed by Marc Maron when they put out a new album that I'm re-listening to early - mid 90's Flaming Lips.

 

[peate]

Paul McCartney III 6/10.

I'm being generous cause it's Paul, but I didn't hear anything I'd want to hear again. Pure insignificance. He should just stop.

 

[kihei]

Paul McCartney III 2/10

Totally generic, godawful rock/pop. Deserves not a scintilla of the hype that it is getting, and this is coming from a major McCartney fan, me.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Teenage Fanclub	Man-Made	2005	3	UK
Feeder	Comfort In Sound	2002	3.5	UK
Fontaines D.C.	A Hero's Death	2020	3	Ireland
The Chameleons	What Does Anything Mean? Basically	1985	3.5	UK
Spectres	Nostalgia	2020	3.5	Canada
The Auteurs	Now I'm A Cowboy	1994	3.5	UK
Ought	Sun Coming Down	2015	3	Canada
Silverchair	Young Modern	2007	2.5	Australia
Sorry	925	2020	4	UK
Tindersticks	The Something Rain	2012	3	UK
Nothing	The Great Dismal	2020	4.5	America

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[peate]

Paul McCartney III 2/10

Totally generic, godawful rock/pop. Deserves not a scintilla of the hype that it is getting, and this is coming from a major McCartney fan, me.

You've got more guts than I do.

 

[Teemu]

Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959)
6.5 / 10

I absolutely love the American West and all of overly romanticized goodness. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Maynard Dixon, Charles M Russell, just hook all of that to my veins. So what could I possibly love more than the most famous collection of Western songs in the history of American music? Well, quite a lot it turns out.

Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a lousy album--if nothing else, "Big Iron" ranks among the great opening tracks, and this is generally a pretty solid collection of tunes. It's just that Robbins isn't really the right vessel for it. Robbins' boyish, upbeat croon is at odds with the often sombre nature of this collection. When his attitude compliments the tune it works well, such as with "A Hundred and Sixty Acres" or "Cool Water", but its hard to take Robbins too seriously on "They're Hanging Me Tonight" or "Running Gun". It's a shame, really, because there is no shortage of other Western classics that would have suited his demeanor. Better song selection would have gone a long way to make an album worthy of the accolades that this album has received. As it is, there are better collections of Western songs and I'll try to feature some alternatives.

 

[Shareefruck]

On the Corner by Miles Davis - 3.0 (Very Good)
Finally clicked with me after being underwhelmed initially. I actually largely prefer this brand of funk over its actual funk influences from groups like Sly Stone, Parliament, and Funkadelic. The second side feels a bit meandering, though.

Skylarking by XTC - 1.5 (Neutral)
XTC just doesn't click with me. I've been at a loss for why for the longest time, but I think what it is is, they're very polished and competent, but seem to build their entire sound around all of the things about Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson that I typically don't like and find annoying.

Advance by LFO - 1.5 (Neutral)
Apple Venus, Pt. 1 by XTC - 1.0 (Negative)
Nonsuch by XTC - 1.0 (Negative)
Out of Season by Beth Gibbons - 1.0 (Negative)
Beauty by Ryuichi Sakamoto - 1.0 (Negative) [I don't know-- it seems like he's thought of very highly around here, but after listening to this and BTTB, I don't really like this guy's sensibilities at all-- there's so much cheesy 80s pop in this one, specifically]
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo - 0.5 (Bad)
Another Day on Earth by Brian Eno - 0.5 (Bad)
Music Complete by New Order - 0.5 (Bad)

Highlights:

Untitled #3 by Gas
(not from one of the albums above, but I kind of fell in love with it)


On the Corner/New York Girl/Thinkin' of One Thing and Doin' Another/Vote for Miles by Miles Davis

Black Satin by Miles Davis

 

[Shareefruck]

Exai by Autechre - 3.5 (Great)
I keep expecting the worst from Autechre's modern stuff because of the horror stories I hear from listeners and keep ending up pleasantly surprised. Their sensibilities just immediately appeal to me. There wasn't an adjustment period or difficulty curve with this one at all, and while I don't find it as transcendent/memorable as Confield or Untilted, it's all very precise, tasteful, rich, carefully considered, varied/interesting, and satisfying. cloudline, Bladelores, and 1 1 is are among my all time favorite tracks now, irlite (get 0), jatevee C, T ess xi, vekoS, and YJY UX are great as well, and the only relatively weaker tracks are Flep, runrepik, and spl9, IMO.

Pretty easily the best album I've heard from this decade, personally, although it didn't have much competition for me.

Regarding the length (this one's two hours, and the next few are 4+ hours, if I'm not mistaken), I disagree with fan criticism in that I think that a manageable number of segments that an album is structured by matters a lot more than the resulting length of the album (albums with a small number of long as hell tracks works best, IMO-- I like when each idea is given room to breath, be explored, and linger), and I think that the 17 tracks here feels coherent/cohesive. However, at the same time, I also disagree with Autechre's new philosophy/statement that album constraints are antiquated/irrelevant. Albums are almost always better when they're cut down (provided that the flow is appropriate), as long as what they're cut down to is still a meaty enough slab, because quality on an album is never entirely uniform, and shortening the album to comprise of only the highest standard typically results in a better experience, IMO (I don't usually care if there's a greater abundance of strong material scattered throughout, I only about how perfect/air-tight/incredible the majority of the album is, however long it is). Exai's great as it is and feels like an album experience, but if it were hypothetically cut down to just the essential tracks, it would have been a 4.5 or 5.0 for me.

Kind of dreading the next set of albums for that reason, but they haven't really let me down so far.

Highlights:

cloudline

Bladelores

1 1 is

Favorite Albums

5.0 (Masterpiece)
1. Lick My Decals Off Baby by Captain Beefheart
2. White Light White Heat by The Velvet Underground
3. Tago Mago by Can
4. Untilted by Autechre
5. Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno
6. Confield by Autechre
7. Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt
8. Possible Musics by Jon Hassell
9. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground
10. Future Days by Can

4.5 (Brilliant)
11. The Ascension by Glenn Branca
12. Closer by Joy Division
13. B*tches Brew by Miles Davis
14. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
15. The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings by Bill Evans Trio
16. Bootleg 4: Live 1966 by Bob Dylan
17. Metal Box by Public Image Ltd.
18. The Velvet Underground (Closet Mix) by The Velvet Underground
19. Tri Repetae by Autechre
20. Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy by Brian Eno
21. Surfing on Sine Waves by Polygon Window
22. Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk
23. Point of Departure by Andrew Hill
24. In Rainbows by Radiohead
25. Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Firehouse by Augustus Pablo
26. Faust IV by Faust
27. Interstellar Space by John Coltrane
28. On Land by Brian Eno
29. Pop by Gas

4.0 (Flawless)
30. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
31. Revolver by The Beatles
32. Drukqs by Aphex Twin
33. Opposite People by Fela Kuti
34. Marquee Moon by Television
35. The Real McCoy by McCoy Tyner
36. Shiny Beast, Bat Chain Puller by Captain Beefheart
37. Mm... Food by MF Doom
38. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart
39. Another Green World by Brian Eno
40. Ege Bamyasi by Can
41. 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare by Fishmans
42. Exai by Autechre

3.5 (Great)
43. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo
44. Neu! by Neu!
45. Selected Ambient Works II by Aphex Twin
46. Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel by Miles Davis
47. The Return of The Durutti Column by The Durutti Column
48. The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski
49. Shleep by Robert Wyatt
50. Live at the It Club by Thelonious Monk

Favorite Tracks

1. Hallogallo by Neu!
2. Japan in a Dishpan by Captain Beefheart
3. LCC by Autechre
4. Krautrock by Faust
5. Oh Yeah by Can
6. Mt. Saint Michel + Saint Michael's Mount by Aphex Twin
7. Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles
8. Sister Ray by The Velvet Underground
9. Pro Radii by Autechre
10. Chemistry by Jon Hassell
11. Cock, Ver10 by Aphex Twin
12. Pinch by Can
13. Peon by Captain Beefheart
14. Ipacial Section by Autechre
15. Dedication by Andrew Hill
16. Ceremony (Heart and Soul version) by Joy Division
17. Doctor Dark by Captain Beefheart
18. Heroin by The Velvet Underground
19. Jupiter by John Coltrane
20. Memories by Public Image Ltd.
21. Untitled 3 by Gas
22. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo
23. Long Season (98.12.28 version) by Fishmans
24. Alifib by Robert Wyatt
25. Lady Godiva's Operation by The Velvet Underground
26. She Said She Said by The Beatles
27. Lonely by Ornette Coleman
28. Pyramid Song by Radiohead
29. VI Scose Poise by Autechre
30. Desolation Row (1966 Live version) by Bob Dylan
31. One Red Rose That I Mean by Captain Beefheart
32. Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground
33. Machine Gun by Jimi Hendrix
34. Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960 by Brian Eno
35. Negativland by Neu!
36. Mushroom by Can
37. Opposite People by Fela Kuti
38. Careering by Public Image Ltd.
39. Leave Me Alone by New Order
40. Tape Kebab by Can
41. Potholderz by MF Doom
42. Halleluhwah by Can
43. Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno
44. From the Side of the Machine by Tony Conrad & Faust
45. dllp 1.1 by William Basinski
46. Steps by Cecil Taylor
47. Cloudline by Autechre
48. Bladelores by Autechre
49. My Romance (The Paris Concert version) by Bill Evans
50. All Tomorrow's Parties by The Velvet Underground

Whenever threads bring up the whole "music isn't as great as it used to be sentiment" and that gets dismissed by everyone as just being a growing old and out of touch thing, I always disagree and maintain that there isn't really a Beatles-level act these past few decades, so the peaks are lower and the decades deserve to be considered inferior. While I still think that's the case overall, given that this was 2013 and they have two other albums among my absolute favorites from the past two decades, I now think that Autechre is pretty much that better-than-the-Beatles powerhouse act that I've been looking for (disagreeable as that may be for some).

 

[Saturated Fats]

@Shareefruck I think it depends on what you're looking for in music, man. You are absolutely right that there isn't a Beatles-level act in terms of combination popular-appeal and musical genius in the years since, but that is hardly to say that there haven't been countless acts whose musical genius is equivalent.

The era of the rockstar as culture-setter is over, as there are simply too many disparate priorities in music to have one act in one genre speak to the entirety of musical taste. Just take a look at those polls that we've been conducting on the Best Album from given years - you'll have posters who, thread after thread, extoll a love only for heavy metal, or only for hip-hop, or only for experimental and avant-garde music. Back when the Beatles were king, you would neither have the ubiquity of such diverse music, nor would you have the platform to offer that opinion. In that era, what made Revolver or Abbey Road better than, say, Lola Versus the Powerman, Fairport Convention, or Gal Costa? My ears say very, very little, beyond popular sentiment.

And if I'm comparing it to nowadays or recent-year acts, what makes the Beatles catalogue better than that of Bjork, MF Doom, The Cure, or Tim Hecker? I guess you could argue fewer 'misses', but the zeniths are just as creative, venturesome, and transcendent. As for Autechre - I think I need to put more effort in there, because I don't really see it. Kinda like Beefheart.

 

[Shareefruck]

@Shareefruck I think it depends on what you're looking for in music, man. You are absolutely right that there isn't a Beatles-level act in terms of combination popular-appeal and musical genius in the years since, but that is hardly to say that there haven't been countless acts whose musical genius is equivalent.

The era of the rockstar as culture-setter is over, as there are simply too many disparate priorities in music to have one act in one genre speak to the entirety of musical taste. Just take a look at those polls that we've been conducting on the Best Album from given years - you'll have posters who, thread after thread, extoll a love only for heavy metal, or only for hip-hop, or only for experimental and avant-garde music. Back when the Beatles were king, you would neither have the ubiquity of such diverse music, nor would you have the platform to offer that opinion. In that era, what made Revolver or Abbey Road better than, say, Lola Versus the Powerman, Fairport Convention, or Gal Costa? My ears say very, very little, beyond popular sentiment.

And if I'm comparing it to nowadays or recent-year acts, what makes the Beatles catalogue better than that of Bjork, MF Doom, The Cure, or Tim Hecker? I guess you could argue fewer 'misses', but the zeniths are just as creative, venturesome, and transcendent. As for Autechre - I think I need to put more effort in there, because I don't really see it. Kinda like Beefheart.

I mean, it is a subjective take-- I just happen to disagree with the people who feel differently. Personally, I don't really care about things like musical genius, technical impressiveness, cultural impact, or popularity and find them largely irrelevant to what I think is good or bad. I just care about my own perception of what's potentially most effective, rewarding, and admirable. Personally, my ears say that Revolver (and their overall body of work, which I think actually measures up to their lofty reputation decently) sounds significantly more notable/satisfying than Lola Versus the Powerman/The Kinks, Fairport Convention, or anything Bjork, The Cure (I outright don't think highly of these guys), or Tim Hecker has done (not familiar with Gal Costa)-- but that's just me, and that's what I'm basing my opinion on (I don't really love Abbey Road, but they have other albums that do feed into that). I'm just saying that I've been looking for something that personally meets that standard in the modern era, and Autechre has hit it and surpassed it for me where other acclaimed and popular bands have failed for me. I can actually agree with putting them on some Mt. Rushmore level of greatness alongside your Miles Davis/John Coltrane/Brian Eno-level talents, and they wouldn't look out of place/blasphemous for me. Before that, if I did the same thing with my favorites from the modern era (which I guess would be your Tim Heckers, Radioheads' and such), it would feel all kinds of wrong and undeserved.

MF Doom is definitely debateable for me (I agree that he might be on par or better than The Beatles, at least for a brief period), but his peak was a longer time ago. I wouldn't have said something like that about Autechre until falling in love with an album of theirs from 2013.

Autechre's output (both in terms of peak, consistency and polificness) is just insane to me. They've been around for 25+ years, and every era has consistently had worthwhile albums that feel distinct/reinvented/innovative/complete, and that different people could reasonably consider their magnum opus, with no period where they completely jump the shark, in addition to having several albums/tracks that top my absolute favorites. I thought I was super impressed by Aphex Twin/Richard D. James and he was the closest thing I found to that before, but Autechre completely dwarves him, IMO.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

only for experimental and avant-garde music

I guess that's me, but absolutely not true!!

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I know people adore Beatles lyrics but I think there might be a solid 4-5 hip-hop artists who blow them out of the water in that department (Doom and Nas being two who automatically standout in that department. Lyrics are not a go-to for me but reading texts, Doom is probably the most impressive musician that I know of).

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I know people adore Beatles lyrics but I think there might be a solid 4-5 hip-hop artists who blow them out of the water in that department (Doom and Nas being two who automatically standout in that department. Lyrics are not a go-to for me but reading texts, Doom is probably the most impressive musician that I know of).

Gainsbourg, Brel, the French have a few lyricists that are untouchable.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Ordinary Vibes (2019) and Landscape (2020) by Nawhij - Might as well review them both together. Short EPs by what I think is some Japanese guy. Excellent instrumental tracks of jazzy hip-hop. Discovered it while my wife was listening to some lofi playlist while she was working. I really enjoy EPs that run under 20 minutes. That sort of condensed style is fairly rewarding when the tracks are looped in together effectively, which is the case here. There are no low points in this, but it never goes extremely high either. I found it great for concentration, but I think it's also much more then that. Smooth, lush, with a sweet attention to detail. I don't really have a bad word to say about. Doesn't give one goosebumps, but I keep going back to it. No lyrics at all - strictly instrumentals. Each album kind of feels like one long track that's doodling along effortlessly with natural style. Some utterly cute melodies too.

Favorite tracks: Cloud Nine (Landscape), Will Be Fine (Ordinary Vibes), I Want More Time with You (Ordinary Vibes), Landscape (Landscape)





Love the Youtube backgrounds on the videos too.

 

[Shareefruck]

Chiastic Slide by Autechre - 2.5 (Good)
Growing on me some more. Doesn't quite reach the heights of some of the others but just really tight and pristine.

Elseq 1-5 by Autechre - 1.0 (Negative)
Didn't really do anything for me, felt a lot like the Analord series for Aphex Twin, but I'm not sure if that's just a matter of warming up to it more or not.

Autechre:
1. Untilted - 5.0 (Masterpiece)
2. Confield - 5.0 (Masterpiece)
3. Tri Repetae - 4.5 (Brilliant)
4. Exai - 3.5 (Great)
5. Draft 7.30 - 3.5 (Great)
6. Chiastic Slide - 2.5 (Good)
7. LP5 - 2.5 (Good)
8. Amber - 2.5 (Good)
9. Oversteps - 1.5 (Neutral)
10. Incunabula - 1.5 (Neutral)
11. Quarastice - 1.0 (Negative)
12. Elseq 1-5 - 1.0 (Negative)
13. SIGN - 0.5 (Bad)

Highlights:

Tewe

Cichli (I used to like this less because I thought the hook was the point of it, but it clicked after focusing more on the ambient stuff surrounding it)

Recury

 

[Teemu]

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis (1956)
8.5 / 10

This album is, pleasantly, probably exactly what you think it is. Take two all time music legends, toss them in a studio with a killer backup band (Oscar Peterson Trio + Buddy Rich), and have them hammer out some standards. Obviously, neither of these artists were kids at this point--Armstrong had just turned 55--and they certainly don't seem like the most natural pairing, but Fitzgerald and Armstrong generally contrast pretty well off of each other.

The biggest highlight here for me is the Gershwins' "They Can't Take That Away From Me", but "Can't We Be Friends?" and "Stars Fall on Alabama" are also excellent. The concept doesn't always work perfectly and I do sometimes find myself wishing that not all of these were true duets--Ella's solo version of "Cheek to Cheek" is far superior, for example. However, its an enjoyable record with few missteps featuring some of the best of Tin Pan Alley. The album is worth a few listens just for the historic gravitas of these two giants in a studio together, but it is also a record with some great highlights and no real missteps.

Great album cover, too.




By the way, this is now a series of pre-1964 records, henceforth Before the Beatles

Louis Prima - The Wildest! (9) [1956]
Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (6.5) [1959]
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armtrong - Ella & Louis (8.5) [1956]

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Motorpsycho - Trust Us (1998) - 2/5

I'm convinced these RYMers overrated this album because of one song. It's two discs of overly long boring songs with a few good pieces mixed in here or there. Truly one of those albums ups its own ass. What a shame because they're talented musicians, probably would've made for a good band had they gone the alt rock route rather than trying to be more sophisticated. I listen to every album several times before rating it but this was a real tedious chore.

Radio Supernova - Takaisin (2021) - 4/5

Really perfect mix of shoegaze and radio friendly alt rock by a Finnish band that is NOT metal. They never go full wall of sound and it lets the hooks shine through. The lead singer sounds utterly Nordic, works great on this sound and a handful of memorable tracks with no bad ones.

Curve - Doppelganger (1992) - 4.5/5

Been obsessed with this album, since the new year. Absolutely love the mix of shoegaze with a slightly industrial sound. The vocals are terrific and it took several listens to distinguish some songs but the hooks are there and key-changes galore. Dunno why I didn't listen to Curve before, this band is so much better than Garbage were. Toni Halliday's vocals are smooth, too bad about the awful tinny sound quality.

Curve - Cuckoo (1993) - 3.5/5

More industrial and not as radio friendly as the debut, not as many memorable tracks either but still a very very good overlooked 90s album.

Goat Girls - On All Fours (2021) - 3/5

I think it's unfortunately a bit lifeless and dull sounding at times but it's a young English band that shows they're the real stuff on a decent sophomore album. There's a lot of 'texture' to the sound and I'm confident they won't go all experimental on us and forget their indie rock sound based on this.

 

[Shareefruck]

Autechre (LP5) by Autechre - 2.5 (Good)
Listened to this one again and while it's pretty solid, I don't really get why it's considered one of the best Autechre by so many people. Rae is great, Fold4Wrap5, Under BOAC, and Corc are very good, and Vose In and 777 are pretty solid. I'm pretty lukewarm on Acroyear2, and I didn't care for Melve and the final section of the album (the four tracks from Caliper Remote onwards).

 

[Shareefruck]

Flowers of Romance by Public Image Ltd. - 2.5 (Good)
I used to struggle to get anything out of this album, but it clicked a lot more for me this time around. Feels like it's still a few adjustments away from being perfect or anything, but its aesthetic and vibe sounds cool as heck to me. Like this nihilistic, tribally cultist/voodoo, no-wave, sardonic/humorous expression of trauma or something. It kind of reminds me of Deceit by This Heat, but oddly more accessible while being a little less polished, maybe. I thought Flowers of Romance and Track 8 were fantastic tracks. I also enjoyed Another, Under the House, Four Enclosed Walls, and Go Back. Weakest tracks for me were Hymie's Him, Francis Massacre, and Home is Where the Heart is.

I don't think it's as flawless, polished, and magnum-opus-y as Metal Box, but I now find it far superior to First Issue and Nevermind the Bollocks, with the Metal Box and Flowers of Romance being by far the two most compelling things that John Lydon has ever done, in my opinion.

Highlights:

Flowers of Romance


Track 8

I also listened to a crap-load of other albums that kind of went in one ear and out the other that I didn't care much for, but I seem to have completely lost track of what they were.

 

[peate]

Evanescence - The Bitter Truth. 7/10

With Amy Lee and her band, you always know what to expect, and she doesn't disappoint here.

 

[Shareefruck]

Surprised nobody's posted in this for a while.

In a bit of a rut where I feel like I've run out of stuff that I'm compelled and interested to try to discover. Went through TheNeedleDrop's top 100 songs of the 2010s and most of it didn't really do anything for me, outside of a handful that I was already familiar with. A couple that I didn't know anything about and decided to try the albums for:

Harutosyura by Haru Nemuri - 1.0 (Negative) [found it kind of endearing but didn't feel too strongly about it or find it necessarily good]
Dataplex by Ryoji Ikeda - 1.0 (Negative) [kind of up my alley but takes like eight tracks of nothing to get going-- kind of inconsistent after that point, with a few tracks that made me worry about how safe the frequency was on the ears-- It all builds up to Data.Matrix, which is a pretty good track and probably the only thing I'll take away from this]

----

Randomly decided to do a deeper dive into the prime late 90s albums of Faye Wong instead, who maybe isn't some all time great or anything, but her voice really works for me, especially when it has a more breezy, irreverent and twee tone. For those unfamiliar, she's the manic pixie dream girl in Chungking Express and other Wong Kar Wai movies (she's excellent in them, IMO), and her music is sometimes heavily influenced by Cocteau Twins in a way that I find really satisfying (seems like not enough singers try to emulate that effectively). Nice curiosity that it's neat to see intersect in other media I'm interested in.

[1995] Di-Dar by Faye Wong - 1.0 (Negative)
Has that nice dream pop feel where you can tell she's starting to develop an identity, but kind of mediocre material.

[1996] Fuzao/Restless by Faye Wong - 2.0 or 2.5 (Positive/Good)
By far her most consistently good album, easily the most palatable/popular among Western audiences, but doesn't necessarily have the highest peaks for me. Favorite track was probably "Duoluo/Decadence", but most of it is on a pretty similar level to me. Safest recommendation.

[1997] Faye Wong (1997) by Faye Wong - 1.5 (Neutral)
Has my favorite peak tracks/vibe of hers, but it's not really consistently at that level. "Ni Kuai Le Suoyi Wo Kuai Le/You're Happy So I'm Happy" and "Men/Bored" are an infectious blast that I was entranced by, personally, and there were a handful of other okay-ish tracks. But a huge swath of the album is just kind of whatever for me.

[1998] Chang You/Sing and Play by Faye Wong - 1.0 (Negative)
Very inconsistent, but I like the overall light mood. A lot of it is fairly conventional pop music with minor flourishes of Cocteau Twins vocals. "Xiao Congming/Whimsical" was really fun, and tracks like "Fei/Fly" and "Lian/Face" had some nice moments, too. Hate when she randomly includes Cantonese versions in the track listing. The rest were just kind of whatever for me again.

[1999] Zhi Ai Moshengren/Lovers and Strangers by Faye Wong - 0.5 (Bad)
Got absolutely nothing out of this one. I didn't have hatred for it or anything, but I found it very forgettable.

[2000] Yuyan/Fable by Faye Wong - 1.5 (Neutral)
The first five tracks would be by far her most cohesive and artisticly confident work-- very opera-esque and seemingly Bjork-influenced (which isn't my favorite vibe, but still), but it kind of falls off a cliff after that. Seems like alot of people appreciate the final two tracks as well, but I didn't. Not sure which of the five I find strongest.

Favorite Tracks:
1. "Ni Kuai Le Suoyi Wo Kuai Le/You're Happy So I'm Happy"

2. "Men/Bored"

3. "Xiao Congming/Whimsical"


I'd have a much more positive opinion of simple, accessible, and straight-forward pop music if more of it felt like this, personally.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Matthew Good Band - Beautiful Midnight (1999, Canada) - 3.5/5

Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent (2017, USA) - 3.5/5

The Joy Formidable - Into The Blue (2021, UK) - 3.5/5

Civil Twilight - Civil Twilight (2009, South Africa) - 3.5/5

Iceage - Plowing Into The Field of Love (2014, Denmark) - 3/5

Iceage - Seek Shelter (2021, Denmark) - 3.5/5

Desperate Journalist - Maximum Sorrow! (2021, UK) - 3.5/5

Inhaler - It Won't Always Be Like This (2021, UK) - 2.5/5

An April March - It Goes Without Saying (1997, Canada) - 4/5

Curve - Come Clean (1998, UK) - 3/5

Breathless - Three Times and Waving (1989, UK) - 3.5/5

^ It's all fairly straightforward indie/alt rock, no metal or prog or anything. Curve album is quite industrial in parts. Inhaler album is borderline pop.