Rate The Song Above You

7/10 The metal vocals and style of music clashed too much, but it definitely had energy and I liked it more as it went along.

blink-182 - Ghost on the Dance Floor

7.8/10 The percussion and synths were quite interesting, I just wish it built to something more interesting than just your typical pop punk stuff.

Sigur Rós - "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur"

Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust came off as eleven attempts by Sigur Rós to reverse engineer the fluke international mainstream success of "Hoppípolla". They'd fortunately figure out that wasn't a sustainable career model and revert to ambient soundscapes with cello-bowed guitars soon enough, but there are a few tracks on the album which actually recapture "Hoppípolla"'s sense of pure, childlike wonder and joy; this is one of them. Love the way it feels, much like its predecessor I've mentioned too much already, like it's swelling to a euphoric climax throughout the entire song, with the final crescendo merely a fitting capstone. 8/10

black midi - Slow

WARNING: This song's music video contains a few flashing images, among other things.

65/100 - That's it? I had heard a lot about this band as this insane, ultra creative, out there avant-prog act. I can hear some of that; the unusually detached singing and energetic rhythm section alone are a pretty good baseline to base a song around but it's delivered in a fairly stringent, careful manner. Maybe a little too much; the tension and release of subdued verses and moments of mounting energy is a reliable way to structure a song but it feels lacking a certain intensity and lunacy to it. A band capable of many things but of which this song at least only reveals a few tidbits of it. Some parts remind me of a much better version of what Seven Impale were going through after their excellent debut but it's not particularly less tame even if it is more spirited as a whole.

Aterrima - The Vulture of Your Wound

the swung, kinda jazzy intro really caught my ear but the rest of the song seriously lost me. it has intensity and ferocity, it's just that all the shredded riffs and blast beats feel thrown together; things just kinda happen and its a little hard to follow, leading to a pretty unmemorable, meandering 6 minutes. 4/10.

brainiac - hands of the genius

Edited by Routeferret on Dec 21st 2023 at 7:32:02 PM

I generally prefer Smack Bunny Baby, but Brainiac's albums are all great, I love this very neurotic dissonant style of indie. This song could have been longer, but it still manages to be catchy and memorable. (8/10)

Glassjaw - Pretty Lush

6/10. It's quite awesome rock with the guitars and vocals, but the ending is kind of underwhelming.

Juks J - DECIMATE

7/10. An electrifying dystopian piece that sounds like the background of a new Doom game. It really captures a feeling of hopeless determination and a war-torn battleground. It makes you come up with a setting just from its thumping machine beeps and some needed organic instruments. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it, but it’s a solid harrowing track.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Christmas at Ground Zero"

60/100 - This feels like it should be on the Fallout soundtrack. It has that same exact mocking tone of black humour and satirized 50's American culture. It's funny but humor tends to have a fairly short shelf life in most cases and unfortunately its humor isn't enough to make up for Al's otherwise annoyingly nasal voice.

Dirge of Dionysus - Christ Returns

A bunch of excellent riffs and crunchy production do this song a lot of good, and even when it does go back to the obligatory black metal tremolo at some point, it quickly gets exciting again not long after ticking that box. (7/10)

Low Gear - Breaking You In (song starts at 6:00)

3/10

I really can't stand that style of screaming singing, it just makes it harder to understand the lyrics. The music wasn't much to write home about either, it sounds like generic metal.

David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

9/10. It's quite groovy and awesome. A David Bowie classic with great guitar riffs and vocals.

Limbo Slice - Lethargy

30/100 - The first half of it sounds like a synthwave (zzz) attempt at capturing the vibe of the new Doom games (zzz x2) coupled with what sounds like syncopated electronic farts at the end (strangely amusing). If this is the future cyberpunk envisions, I'm going to turn into an anprim.

Animalize - Esprit de l'Asile

"A dizzying yet addicting blend of 70s and 80s inspired metal from the UK and France"? Couldn't really put it better than that myself. These guys are hardly reinventing the wheel, but damn if this isn't a well-made wheel. Riffs for days. 8/10

David Bowie - TVC15

5.8/10 The jauntiness of the piano, steady pace and Bowie's rather monotonous delivery made this an odd listen. Kind of like "Werewolves of London" but less lyrically compelling. Kind of too long for its own good too.

Laura Veirs - "Sun Song"

9/10

Quite soothing. I like how it starts with just the acoustic guitar and the percussion and starts adding gentle touches of fuzzy electric guitar and string as it goes on, and it fits the naturalism in the lyrics very well.

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros - "Hipercandombe"

Edited by Angry_Clown on Dec 29th 2023 at 2:48:55 PM

10/10. It's incredibly fast-paced and has rapid energetic guitar riffs and percussion, as well as great vocals. It's a bursting ball of energy that works extremely well.

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears

60/100 - I can't think of as many bands as "nobody would care if not for the name attached" as Ozzy Osbourne's solo material. I don't even dislike his voice with its strange, nasally charisma but it has never felt like the right fit for this sort of grooving pseudo biker bro sounding hard rocking metal-ish material. His more malevolent characteristics are made to play in a more straightforward role that was never truly the domain he dominated in, as if he's a far more technically capable singer than he never was. The riffing itself isn't much to write home about either; the sort of plain, ambling rhythm meant to nod your head rather than damn the soul, mostly being there to usher Ozzy's contextually somewhat lethargic sounding voice along. It's a good example of why star power and recognition very rarely translates to much beyond padding out the legacy with oodles of mediocrity.

Arkitekture - Impetus

Much is made of the idea that prog rock is an attempt to add some of the artistry of classical music and long-form jazz to rock, but very rarely do you hear a group who take that idea a step further and drop the guitar entirely. What we have here is a piece that instead focuses on the interplay of strings, woodwinds and some really lovely sinuous melodic basslines, and it works a charm - the lack of guitar, more than a gimmick, is used as an effective complement to the way the piece is arranged, letting orchestral flourishes that would likely otherwise be buried under distorted riffs take centre stage and fully unfold. Melodramatic in the most delicious way, like the theme of an iconic video game final boss that never was. 9/10

Peter Gabriel - Four Kinds of Horses (Bright-Side Mix)

8.5/10 Cool and unique sound befitting of an artist in the game for so long. Gabriel's vocals are definitely the standout here.

the bird and the bee - "Polite Dance Song"

Edited by FirstSnow on Jan 9th 2024 at 10:56:43 AM

6/10. bird and the bee are a band I really like in small doses with their savvy, indie folk, and while I think the song works, it feels like it’s missing something. It’s an anthem, but it doesn’t have much of hard-hitting beats or lyrics. The vocals are really good and carry the song, and I like the homemade style of it, so it’s still an alright tune.

Rascalz - “Northern Touch”

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Jan 16th 2024 at 8:26:24 AM

70/100 - I can't say I'm a hip-hop listener but there's what feels like an undercurrent of jazziness in the percussion that while subtle, changes the context a lot of this takes place in a lot. The atonal rapping feels almost like soloing in a strange sense and the ways they syncopate with that drumming while not absurdly complex, adds a very particular sense of groove I can't help but nod along to figuratively or otherwise. I particularly like the cymbal accents even if they feel dangerously close at times to being ran over by the vocals within the mix.

Worm - Rotting Spheres of Sentient Blackness (Remastered)

4/10 Just not into the atmosphere or vocals at all, too drudgy and slow. Doesn't work for me at all.

Hippo Campus - "Buttercup"

9/10

I really like the vibe of the song and the singers have a wonderful voice!

SoraMafuUraSaka-Role-Playing Game

Edited by Masterofchaos on Jan 21st 2024 at 5:07:21 AM

3/10

The lyrics were kind of amusing, but the music felt like a constant assault on the ears.

The Beach Boys - Let's Go Away For Awhile