Crow's Overdue Roulette v8 - FINAL RESULTS!!!

[Crow]

hmm, see, yeah, the issue i had with awaken is kinda present all over this album - the mix is so overstuffed with sound at all times, every instrument and voice fighting for dominance that no real melodies or grooves can really emerge from it - it's most prevalent on the title track and parallels but even the quieter tracks have some degree of this which kinda baffles me. like there might be some good tunes here but the songs are so swampy and chaotic that they don't really get the chance to shine  i actually went back to compare to the older yes records that i do know and yeah no it's just something about the way this one sounds, fragile and close to the edge sound perfectly fine and even kinda tight in their mix. maybe i should listen to those records more instead 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

hmm, see, yeah, the issue i had with awaken is kinda present all over this album - the mix is so overstuffed with sound at all times, every instrument and voice fighting for dominance that no real melodies or grooves can really emerge from it - it's most prevalent on the title track and parallels but even the quieter tracks have some degree of this which kinda baffles me. like there might be some good tunes here but the songs are so swampy and chaotic that they don't really get the chance to shine  i actually went back to compare to the older yes records that i do know and yeah no it's just something about the way this one sounds, fragile and close to the edge sound perfectly fine and even kinda tight in their mix. maybe i should listen to those records more instead 

I'd give Tales from Topographic Oceans a spin as well. It's much more atmospheric and spacious. Top 3 Yes album for me.

[Crow]

...what the hell? this album has existed for years and nobody told me?? this is like. purest crowcore  i wanna say this is like, the exact midpoint between arcane roots and the hirsch effekt? a lot closer to the prog style of the former and w/ some of the same synth integration at times but the riffing & intensity of the latter (and even some blackgaze-y moments? it's got a lotta stuff going on). it's not as... weird as the weirdest hirsch effekt moments but i'll be damned if this isn't just 45 straight minutes of really goddamn cool music and it all flows together start to finish just the way i like it. might be my new favorite discovery of the roulette, honestly  this rules!

[TAC]

Nice!

[Crow]

(boygenius - The Record)

ngl i almost skipped this one bcuz i kinda already knew how it was gonna play out - this type of music lives or dies on its lyrics and generally speaking i come to music more for the, well, music. and i was kinda trying to pay attention to the lyrics too - not as well as when i was listening to the leonard cohen album, of course - and there's probably... something, here, it all sounds nice, all three ladies are good singers, i just. i've heard it before  not bad, probably even pretty good, but just kinda inessential as far as my tastes are concerned

[Crow]

in a wholly unsurprising turn of events, the only song off this i particularly cared for was the one i sent, the rest are exactly what i expected that song to sound like ie the less good half of the long one and eyup that sure is some death metal alright. i dunno what else to say, this was a longshot to begin with and it did not land but i'm fine with that 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Damn, oh well.  I'd have hoped you'd at least like some of the title track, "Intractable", or "Verdelet".  Those in particular have more of the stuff you seemed to like from the second half of "Shelter". 

[Crow]

(Grimes - Miss Anthropocene)

listened to a bjork album yesterday so figured, hey, might as well follow that up with "artist who really wants to follow in bjork's footsteps" but aside from that i am not really sure what to do with this, honestly? it's got a pleasant enough sound to it but individual moments don't, really, stick out? and the pitched up vocals get kinda tiresome in such a large dose, too. there were... some cool ideas here, but i feel like i'd have trouble remembering most of this even given another few listens - even the one song i did know i'd kinda forgotten how it went until it came on again  solid but not exciting me

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I didn't send that but could have.  I don't think that's her best work, though the particular track is close to my favorite on it.  Visions and Art Angels in particular I think are better as albums. 

[Crow]

much like SOHN this is exactly what i expected it to be in the most whelming way possible - very pleasant, low-key synthpop that doesn't have a ton of punch or flavor to it but is nice enough to listen to if you need some music to listen to. i liked it fine but nothing about it screams "must-listen" to me.

[Crow]

I've both listened to this before in a previous roulette (I think?) and have the same general issue with it I do the band they eventually became... there's a lot of nice sounds, a lot of neat ideas, but it's missing a certain... something, that keeps it from ever fully clicking for me. Maybe it's a bit too much of a pretty, rather edgeless sound, maybe it's a lack of energy throughout, maybe it's just. Not quite what I look for in this sphere of music? I feel kinda bad because part of me knows I would've been all over this ten years ago and I might give it another shot even now 'cause I do like it but I'm frustrated I don't like it more 

[Crow]

not sure why i put this on my list tbh because it is exactly what i'd expect it to be: perfectly serviceable melodeath with a slight prog edge. i've never had a particular need for much of this sound, it's fine for what it is and i liked this fine enough but it's. it is what it is. yep

[Crow]

i think i said it before, but a big part of TYS's appeal to me is their poppiness, and the instrumentals tend to be among my less favorite tracks from 'em - this does have vocals sometimes but it's not really poppy in the same way, way more focused on the instrumentation, and it's absolutely a jam on that front - though not much stands out as particularly unique either, it's just. really solid but it's not exactly something that speaks to me? tho to be fair if i were just discovering TYS today i probably would not like them as much either so, what do you know

[Crow]

that was the last one on my list but i did a double-check and there's a few more i kinda wanna check out anyways so i'm gonna add them and burn thru them real quick, any albums here i feel like i have something to say about will probably end up in my next albumpressions video, too

[Buddyhunter1]

that was the last one on my list but i did a double-check and there's a few more i kinda wanna check out anyways so i'm gonna add them and burn thru them real quick

Do the Greet Death album please

[Crow]

not on my list and from what i heard it doesn't really seem like an album i'd enjoy tbh? maybe ig but you'll have to bribe me

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Litho: Ram-Zet – R.I.P.

I see this labelled as “avant-garde” metal and I go… yeah, in the sense that they’re not necessarily doing all the “right” things, but the amount of things they’re doing at the very least makes it interesting in the short term. I kinda get “slightly less weird DSO” vibes from this, actually? It definitely makes me want to at least check out the album – which even some of the better songs here don’t do, so.

I need to find out how much current Crow is disappointed with past Crow. 

[Crow]

i considered that one but in hindsight i already know i wouldn't like the album so i didn't bother lol

[twosuitsluke]

i think i said it before, but a big part of TYS's appeal to me is their poppiness, and the instrumentals tend to be among my less favorite tracks from 'em - this does have vocals sometimes but it's not really poppy in the same way, way more focused on the instrumentation, and it's absolutely a jam on that front - though not much stands out as particularly unique either, it's just. really solid but it's not exactly something that speaks to me? tho to be fair if i were just discovering TYS today i probably would not like them as much either so, what do you know

Yea you’re not really wrong with any of this. It’s a solid album, but doesn’t come close to reaching any of the highs that every single TYS album does.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

i considered that one but in hindsight i already know i wouldn't like the album so i didn't bother lol

I would say they are less DsO and more the "extreme prog metal" you sometimes say you're looking for, though of course that doesn't guarantee anything, but in case you change your mind sometime.

[SoundscapeMN]

this reminds me a LOT of TDH's Act IV, that blend of indie rock and power pop with a ton of theatrical flair and even traces of 70's/80's hard rock thrown into the mix for good measure. except this album came out first i don't think the vocals are as good as casey's but there's some pretty fun songs here and it keeps itself pretty interesting across its relatively trim runtime (something TDH doesn't do, so). i liked it, dunno if i'll love it but i at least liked it enough to warrant another spin

interesting. You might enjoy some of their other records more. Unsure. Animals is a reasonable gauge on their sound, although it's not as poppy as some of their others overall.

[Crow]

yeah i figured this was a longshot but tbh this doesn't even sound that different from a lot of modern metalcore i've heard. like what makes this deathcore, even? i'm not actually sure. it's not even that heavy  it's fine for what it is but nothing about it rlly stands out to me and it's not what i look for in hardcore/metalcore

gonna be a bit less patient with these later picks anywho since i am getting a little burnt out, did not quite finish this one but it's fine

[Crow]

i still don't get it

idk i respect this and understand the place where it comes from but the specific instrumental palette paired with this kind of intensity doesn't do it for me hhhh. i feel bad for not getting this but i'm also not obligated to enjoy it so whatever.

there. now i've listened to a round 4 album, kind of 

[Crow]

this was pretty enjoyable! i kinda expected it would be, but it also didn't really surprise me in any way either, it's exactly the album i expected it to be and i've heard a lot of this sound so it doesn't really stand out to me? but yeah, i mean, nice music

[Crow]

when the kyros album comes out i'll put my first impressions here too but that is not a released album yet sooo

i do wanna listen to it though

other than that uuhhh i think i'm good. i think i've checked out enough albums for one roulette 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

this was pretty enjoyable! i kinda expected it would be, but it also didn't really surprise me in any way either, it's exactly the album i expected it to be and i've heard a lot of this sound so it doesn't really stand out to me? but yeah, i mean, nice music

Given your other album writeups, this is like a 9, so yeah, I'll take it!

[Sacul]

i still don't get it

idk i respect this and understand the place where it comes from but the specific instrumental palette paired with this kind of intensity doesn't do it for me hhhh. i feel bad for not getting this but i'm also not obligated to enjoy it so whatever.

there. now i've listened to a round 4 album, kind of 

Yeah it's a tough album, and I'm definitely more into her debut, which is a bit noisier.

[Crow]

hey look i talked about some of these albums in video woah (the image is a URL)

[TAC]

It was an honor to contribute!

[King Postwhore]

I'll check it out!  Awesome!

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I'm still not sure about lumping KANGA in with synthwave since it feels so different and has more influence from the 90s industrial sound palette than the 80s, but it's cool to see that it's probably my biggest hit from the roulette.  Definitely curious to see if you'll check out the new album when it comes out next month, a few singles are already out now. 

[Crow]

genres are fake anyways who really cares

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I feel like Kanga is more Darkwave than Synthwave.

I'm of two minds when it comes to genres. On the one hand, I feel like it helps direct people to new music that they may be looking for in a specific style. On the other hand, I think it can stop people from branching out into other genres and finding new music they may like by having a predisposed notion towards certain genres, as well as confining themselves to certain genres which they have decided are the only ones they like without having tried anything outside their comfort zone.

Personally, I like genres because they help me neatly categorize my music library and since I have no problem trying new things I don't think I'm preventing myself from finding new enjoyable music.