Seems my opinions on those last few artists were well aligned with the people who sent them. Good times!
Today is actually a full year since this roulette started.
I had a feeling this would happen but I'm glad I've been digging into all these artists because I've discovered some real gems and even with those I haven't got into, they've not (individually) taken much of my time and I'm still glad I gave them a try.
Anyway, extra surprise update only a day after the last one! :O
Katzenjammer (sent by soupy)What a wonderfully entertaining band. You only included one song on your EP as a sort of novelty, but it was a great one and I was always looking forward to this and they didn’t disappoint. Their debut album Le Pop is probably the best one, just so dynamic and pulling in an odd range of influences from various types of folk music, indie pop and theatrical cabaret stylings. Great compositions and performances. The other albums are really good too though. A Kiss Before You Go is quite similar and nearly as good, and then Rockland is a little more straightforward stylistically but still a really good pop album with enough quirk to make it feel fresh and distinctive.
Kendrik Lamar/various artists - Black Panther The Album (sent by faizoff)Ok so I already checked out Kendrick from one of the earlier rounds, but didn’t think to include this album when doing so. I gather he had varying degrees of involvement in each track but wasn’t actually the main artist in many of them. And yeah, it’s quite a mixed bag. Generally those where he’s actually credited are the most interesting, though there are a couple of other tracks that are decent too (like Jorja Smith’s “I Am”). I also quite enjoy the collaboration with The Weeknd. But really the only great song on the album is the SZA collaboration All the Stars, which you included on your EP and which I still love.
Kyuss (sent by Sacul)Wasn’t hugely awed by this band within your EP (better than Boris but not as interesting as Sleep) but I did quite enjoy the songs so I decided to give some listens to Welcome to Sky Valley. It’s not entirely my thing, but it’s pretty cool and I’ve been enjoying it more than I thought I might. I don’t find the melodic hooks that strong and so I sort of expected to find the stoner rock sound to wear a bit thin over a whole album, but actually it does have an oddly immersive vibe to it. Not something I feel particularly compelled to come back to, but still something I’ve enjoyed listening to.
Leonard Cohen (sent by seneca)As you know from my EP write-up, I wasn’t especially interested in diving into his earlier work (based both on what I’ve heard before as well as the older song you included) but was very intrigued by his later, darker-toned output. You Want it Darker is quite a unique album. I’m sort of torn on it. On one hand, the mood it creates is amazing - I heard it on Steer Your Way from your EP but it absolutely permeates the whole album. On the other hand, a whole album of it gets… a bit much? After a while, his gravelly mumbling loses its novelty. The few songs that have more of a melodic richness to them - Treaty (and its Reprise), Travelling Light and Steer Your Way - have stuck with me and I find them quite captivating, but the rest all blend together and don't hold my interest quite so well.
Li-sa-X Band (sent by lonestar)Well this band didn’t take very long to check out - they only made four songs and you included three of them on your EP.
For the avoidance of doubt, those three songs are still fantastic and the fourth is really good too, though the least good of the four so you made the right choice. That said, I figured I might as well check out a bit of her solo instrumental stuff too, to see what it was like, and the full-length she did (Will) was a pleasant surprise. As I may have mentioned one or eight times, I don’t tend to go for instrumental rock and metal often as it rarely has enough variety of sound or strength of melodic hooks. But, in the same way as Andy Gillion and Nuclear Power Trio, Li-sa-X bucks the trend with a really fun and enjoyable album full of great playing and catchy melodies.
Topic: ariich's DARK TO LIGHT roulette (v8) - Post-roulette updates (ongoing) (Read 95127 times)