7/10
Air - Talkie Walkie
CD + DVD. My dad actually owned this copy for a while, but he didn't like it very much.
Apparently, he heard it playing in a store and bought it thinking it was quite a bit more ambient because the
speakers in the store weren't playing it very loudly. At some point I just asked if I could have it and he said sure
so now it's mine. It's a great album too, though I can understand why it's not exactly his taste. There are some
parts where their voices don't really work and they're a little bit pretentious (particularly on the track
"Run" and "Universal Traveller") but some of these tracks are just full on amazing. Venus, Cherry Blossom Girl, Surfing
on a Rocket, and Biological are must-hear tracks. As for the bonus DVD... (it might be a while until I actually get
to reviewing the DVDs that go along with these things, but I assure you, it eventually WILL happen).
Alrighty, I just went and watched the DVD (about 8 or 9 months [an entire pregnancy] after reviewing the
album) and it's ok. It keeps cutting between live show and bts footage, but it's edited in a really annoying way with
lots of shitty effects and transitions. Like there was a time where they were about to do an interview, they did the
introduction to the interview and everything, then they just cut back to live footage and never went back to the
interview! Like I wanted to see that. For some reason Beck's there the whole time. There was a pretty hilarious
moment where Beck and one of the Air guys are playing the game where you slap the other side of your opponents'
hands and then it cuts to a different clip of Beck saying "we're like the rolling stones, we're crazy back stage".
Some cool stuff but I wish it were a lot more focused.
8/10
Alec Empire - Low On Ice (The Iceland Sessions)
Found this in the big flagship Half-Price Books in Dallas I think about a year ago during an all-region
performance. There was a pretty sizeable break in between the practice and performance so I guess I just decided to
drive to Dallas. I also found the End CDs in my collection as well as a copy of Yona Kit LP (which I didn't get
because my dad already owns one). Probably the worst Alec Empire CD to start with as I've never heard any before this
lol, but I mean, I like ambient music so that's nice. Eh, this album was just ok. Feels pretty aimless and doesn't
really do much for me, the beat-based sections in particular felt pretty soulless. Really cool disc design though.
6/10
Aleph Empire -
Playback Device Confusion Volume One
Turntable shaped CD with a hidden track 0. This has to be one of my favorite items in my
collection. I "found" it at Recycled Books in Denton
("found" in quotes because I saw they had it on Discogs before going). On a sidenote, that store is definitely the
best place to go if you have taste similar to mine. Also, there are quite a few *big* names apparently featured on
this disc. Stunt Rock, Doormouse, K2, the Tiefpunk Crew featuring Yamataka Eye, a LOT of crazy names listed as
special guests, so you know this CD is gonna be insane. Although one time I asked Stunt Rock about this on
Instagram, said "it's my understanding this was a mix CD from some event (that I did not attend). But it was formally
released with my credit and Doormouse's credit." so maybe none of them are actually featured on here? Hard to tell,
I've listened to this many times and still can't point out any Doormouse or Stunt Rock tracks in here, other than
just breaks being used in general. Either way, this thing is incredibly noisy, kinda goofy, and batshit insane. Very
recommended.
8/10
Anal Absurd - NWNWO
Anal Absurd is a duo between aciv and Snailmouth (who I also have a CD each of) - these are
the guys I saw play together at Rubber Gloves a few days ago, wild set, very Incapacitants (two people playing the
harshest, craziest stuff on as small of a table as possible). Also one of my favorite tabletop noise shows I've seen
ever. Now, this is a cool harsh noise album (better than the aciv CD) (probably better seeing them live tbh), but why
are like 2 minutes of the last song entirely in the right ear? Makes me think it might be fun though to have a noise
duo but each person gets to control one ear of the track. Maybe that's what they did here, who knows. It seems I'm
also one of the first people to ever listen to this album because there's *nothing* about it online, and it seems
they were going on tour (probably a small one) FOR this album?
7/10
Andrew Liles - Black Panther
I think I picked this up in Recycled Books as well, but I don't totally remember. I don't
really understand this album. Parts of it have cool noises, I like the parts like
that. I hated it on first listen, but its grown up to a 6/10 "just okay" rating. The bad parts are the parts with
lyrics, the parts that try (and fail) to be all cinematic and poetic. Roast beef for monkey mouth, hell yeah.
Impossible to take all that seriously.
6/10
Angelspit - Krankhaus
Recieved this as part of a massive care package from someone I don't really keep in touch
with anymore. This was the present I recieved for the EMCD Secret Santa I hosted a few years ago. With it, I also
recieved the other Angelspit CD, the two Asa-Chang & Junray CDs, and a 3xCDr mix. This album didn't come with the
case, just the CD in a paper sleeve, as pictured. I ended up liking this much more than I have ANY right to. I
really didn't expect to, because even though I'm listening to this for the first time NOW, I actually heard a little
bit of this when I randomly skimmed through it once. In particular, I heard the beginning of "100%" which contains
quite possibly the worst lyrics I've ever heard (and ended up later sampling in Tsunoda Bouncing Ball Buy Them From The Michael Gumball Machine)
The lyrics are God-awful, GOD-awful, but the instrumentals are genuinely great and at a certain point you can just
stop paying attention to the
words altogether. Parts of this even reach into avant-garde and minimalist territory, notably "Flesh Stitched onto a
Frame" and "Black Wine". I thought I really didn't care for EBM, but parts of this were surprisingly fun.
7/10
Angelspit - The Product
Also received this in the aforementioned EMCD Secret Santa care package. This album is less
unabashedly ridiculous than the last one. This time it's kinda just average EBM with expectedly bad lyrics. Like RYM
user yatiso says, "the songs where the girl speaks the most are the only listenable ones but the beats r cool".
Pretty much describes why this album doesn't work really well. Also most of the interesting avant-garde approaching
sounds from the previous album are removed, so this is just boring. The last track was genuinely good though.
5/10
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
Picked this up at Recycled Books I think, not sure though. I mean it's Animal Collective, so it
can only be pretty good, but idk, this one's pretty generic for them and doesn't really have any memorable moments for me outside of the first minute. My dad used to
listen to this a lot for whatever reason though.
7/10
Animal Collective - Feels
Apparently picked it up at Half-Price Books, but I'll be honest, I don't even remember
buying it. I used to be able to pin-point where I got everything and all the little happenstances, but now I
guess its been too long and I have over 600 CDs. Starts off a little bit generic, but Purple Bottle onwards,
this album is fantastic. There are less overt standout moments than others because this one is more of a constant
vibe all the way through. Only giving it an 8/10 because I think it still needs some time to grow on me.
8/10
Animal Collective - Isn't it Now?
Picked this up at my most recent record store trip: Waterloo Records in Austin on the way home from college
for Thanksgiving Break. A copy actually later came into KVRX and I think still remains unclaimed, so there is a
reality where I got this one for free... eh, I love this band, I'm willing to support them. Hopefully that statement
doesn't come back to haunt me like it did for some other artists we'll get to later. This project was my first time
listening to this album, though it hasn't been that long. I picked it up less than a month ago, so I'm not exactly
*late* to listening to it like I am with some of my other albums... anyways, I really liked it! Probably needs some
time to grow on me (though I didn't totally like it as much as Feels in the same regards. Again, even less overtly
memorable moments, but part of that may have been rushing my final essay that I had due tonight and submitted at the
VERY last minute). It's crazy how they made a 20 minute track and it ended up just totally sounding normal.
8/10
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Picked this up at the flagship Half-Price Books during my second Record Store Day
birthday outing, I think I turned 15? Maybe 16? Not sure, I do know that I picked up a LOT on this trip
though... probably more than justifiable. I had a picture on Reddit from back when I regularly used Reddit, I'll see
if I can find it. Jesus I listened to a lot of music today. Yes, today is STILL the start date of this project, I
listened to 10 of my CDs! Anyways, this is the first Animal Collective album on the list that I've actually listened
to MANY times and already know the rating going into it. Yeah, even though I much prefer the experimental stuff,
something just WORKS about this album. The melodies and choruses are impeccably catchy and the whole atmosphere and
timbre of this album is something they never really replicated on any other of their psych-pop releases. There's this
immensely satisfying reverb-drenched and treble-heavy sound on the whole record that just makes this thing so fun to
listen to start to back. And the way that some of their crazy out-there sounds are still being used in a way in
which they're NOT just in the background sometimes (IE: Lion in a Coma) is a real testament to the fact that noise
ideas aren't ENTIRELY inaccessible. Seriously, the way Lion in a Coma manages to utilize noise and still be a
pretty accessible AND amazing jam by MY standards (which are usually a little contrarian) makes it one of the most
perfect songs ever. Love this album to death.
9/10
Animal Collective - The Painters
Picked this up not at my local Half-Price Books, but
the one in Frisco over by Stonebriar mall. I was there picking up Whiplash on Blu-ray as per someone's secret
santa wishes in band, and I found this. Usually that place doesn't really have anything I'm interested in, but
Animal Collective is pretty popular. 11 CDs, victory lap! Though I really need to go to sleep after this... Wow,
this EP is great! I particularly LOVE the song Jimmy Mack. Such a nice and upbeat melody and the vocals are unlike
anything the band has ever done. Such a weird but welcome change in pace after listening to 5 Animal Collective
albums in a row. The other tracks are a little less notable, but still good, they're just more along the lines of
normal Animal Collective, but with some nice digital sample manipulation in there which I'm always a huge fan of. This
was my first time listening to this despite having it for about a year now, but I will definitely be returning to it.
8/10
Animal Collective - Painting With
DAY 2 - I don't remember AT ALL where I got this. Maybe Waterloo? No, apparently this was
when I went
to Landlocked Music in Bloomington while taking
care of
my grandfather over a spring break. This is the one thing I don't remember getting there, but that place is amazing,
it's pretty similar to the kinds of things I find at Recycled. Anyways, this album is one of their more unique
albums. I mean, it's not a completely different sound like the pre-MPP stuff, but this is noticably more...
electronic? I don't know, it's sort of the same style as their modern music, but a lot less "psych-pop" and more
bouncy electronic gaggles, if you know what I mean. Floridada is an amazing track, but the rest of the album
doesn't really do as much for me. It's good, don't get me wrong, and it's nice to hear something different, but I'm
not 100% sure it works this time around? You know, it sounds just a *little* bit like I could hear this in an
Amazon ad. It's not at all bad, but it just didn't leave as much of an impression on me as their other albums.
7/10
Animal Collective - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished
Bought this at Waterloo, not my most recent trip, but the one after orientation in the
summer. The recent reissue of this album with an entire bonus CD of outtakes. Man, this is one of Animal Collective's
best. The amount of harsh noise on this thing is so fun. The way that it meshes with the beautiful melodies, the
soft singing, the strange Sung-Tongs esque vocal motifs... everything is done so well and in such a way that they've
never really done since. Alvin Row is a near perfect song. And the bonus CD of outtakes? Man, that disc is equally
amazing. Two of the tracks are alternate takes of La Rapet, but there's so much additional weirdness, it's like
completely uncanny versions of familiar tracks. Fantastic album with a fantastic deluxe bonus.
9/10
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
Picked this up at the Half-Price Books in Mesquite when I was asked to fill in as a percussionist for the
Mesquite Symphony Orchestra (not sure how official of a symphony orchestra they are, I'm pretty sure
it's mostly made up of volunteers). Similar to the all-region story with the Alec Empire and End CDs
(though I might've bought those during the OTHER time I was asked to go to Mesquite and I'm just
misremembering... yeah I think now that this is the same story, I just went to a different Half-Price
Books both times), this was bought during a notably long break between the rehearsal and performance
time so I was just looking for something to do in middle-of-nowhere Mesquite, TX. I've seen this CD a
few times in person, but I finally bought it this time because I figured 5$ was about the cheapest I'd
find it. I passed up on it before because my dad had already bought it digitally and every other time I
found it, it was in the realm of 10$ or so. Anyhow, this album is easily my favorite Animal Collective
album and it is damn near perfect. The atmosphere of this album is completely unparalleled. On one hand,
you have this cozy kitchen-sink acoustic-guitar vibe similar to that of Campfire Songs (which I need to
get on CD eventually) combined with this totally uncanny and unexplainable creepiness. Maybe it's the
way all the vocals on the album seem to be manipulated, or it's the haphazard strumming that gives off
a stutter-like effect, but there's something utterly deranged and scary about this album. Also, do
people really hate Mouth Wooed Her? I love that track, it's the exact type of hypnotic vocal motif
and general weirdness that makes this album's whole vibe uncomparably unique. The ACTUAL part of this
album I don't really understand is the inclusion of Leaf House and Who Could Win A Rabbit. In my
opinion, both of those tracks are far more upbeat and poppy and structured than the rest of this album
and don't really fit. They're still great songs though. Amazing album, my favorite from them.
9+/10
Animal Collective - Tangerine Reef
DAY 3, yeah I only listened to three albums yesterday, but I had final exams and also
had to watch my friend get banned for a month on Hypixel. Purchased this on my trip to the UK, God knows what store. The only place I actually
remember the name of was Reckless and this wasn't from there. This is another CD I'm listening to for the first time
and wow, I didn't expect it to be so... goth? idk, that's probably not the right word to describe it, but there's
near-zero percussion, there's a lot of dissonant and industrial-esque atmospheres combined with a vocal style that's
a bit darker than it's been before. Parts of this, especially Coral Understanding, sound like something I've heard
before but I can't exactly place my finger on it? Maybe I'm thinking of Keiji Haino? Not sure, something seems
distinctly amateur-recording-style-avant-garde about this, not that this OR Keiji Haino is amateur, but they utilize
this weird amateur sound to them... I'm not sure if I like all of it, but it is mad interesting and a weird footnote
in Animal Collective's discography, though admittedly I can't see myself going back to this that often.
7/10
Animal Collective - Time Skiffs
Also bought this at Landlocked along with Painting With (though I much more remember buying
this one for whatever reason). Idk, maybe I'm getting a little tired of listening to so much Animal Collective, but I
found this one to be not that impressionable. It's pretty generic psych-pop coming from them, and while I did like a
couple of the tracks (particularly Royal And Desire), I felt it faded into the background easily and didn't really
have all that much going for it. I think when I saw them live on tour, this album had just come out and I remember
specifically being kinda disappointed that all they seemed to play were their most boring psych-pop songs. People
at that show also offered to give me drugs twice, maybe I would've appreciated these tracks more under shrooms.
6/10
Animal Collective - Water Curses
Also bought this in the UK, again, don't really remember the store. It was mad cheap though,
only 3 pounds! Also a CD I haven't listened to until just now, and wow this EP is great. Yeah, it's like some of
their more normal psych-pop, but it REALLY works here. The melodies they use, the warm atmosphere, everything is
great on this one. The ambience near the end of this actually feels a little like the slower parts of Sung Tongs.
Title track Water Curses is also just an amazing Animal Collective track overall. Probably needs a little time to
grow on me and catch ALL the details, but I'll be returning to this for sure. 8/10 but it might increase later.
8/10
AFX - Analogue Bubblebath
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). My dad owned this one before I asked for it and then got it in my
collection right when I first started my collection. This is one of the FIRST CDs I owned, along with two other
Aphex Twin albums from my dad's collection and a bunch of free stuff I got from one of the previous owners of the
School of Rock giving away a bunch of free CDs I guess he got from a radio station or something? Not sure, I have
quite a few stories about that place, and particularly that guy because that guy was WEIRD. Also, look at this
CD! The front and back cover look just a little corporate (seems to be a pattern with the TVT Records CDs in my
collection), but that disc design is impeccable. Anyhow, what a start to Aphex Twin's career! He made this at 16,
and it still holds up as pretty good. Analogue Bubblebath is a fantastic
track! The rest are just pretty good, not totally notable, but are still great tracks. The rest of them are
considerably less melodic and more focused on hardcore techno which is generally what the more forgettable Aphex
Twin tracks end up being. Isopropophlex has that little tune sample that appears in the Come To Daddy music video
though.
7/10
AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 3
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). Ordered this from Discogs, one of my first online orders. Despite
how unorganized, disjointed, and generally weird it is (or
perhaps, *because* of all that), this is really an underrated gem in Aphex Twin's discography and I can't help but
love it. It has this unmatched charm to it. On no other record of his (other than Smojphace I guess) does it feel
like Richard just doing whatever he wants without a care in the world, and it massively works here. Even if some of
these tracks are the more forgettable hardcore techno ones (like I mentioned earlier) or acid (which I also don't
really care for), this just has an amazing aesthetic to it all that I love being in. Plus I am in love with the
minimalist CD packaging. The first two tracks are some of the best in his career.
8/10
AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 4
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). People don't really like this one, and I can't blame them. It's
all pretty forgettable hardcore techno plus Cuckoo which is a genuinely great track and plus Kneivel which is Evil
Kneivel talking with a weird effect over him for about 20 seconds. But you know, the hardcore techno tracks
genuinely go pretty hard, even if they are a bit long, and the pretty short length of the EP kinda makes the whole
experience pretty fun. It's not great, but idk, I kinda like it. Oh, and don't
ever call the Sky-Cycle a bike again.
6/10
Aphex Twin - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / In a Room7 F760
Bought this off the Aphex Twin website immediately when it came out, got four bonus tracks
which are nearly identical alternate takes of the tracks on the actual EP. Wow, people really didn't like this. It's a
shame too, and I don't really understand why.
People are saying that if any other artist came out with this, nobody would care, but since it was Aphex Twin, it was
a big deal. I have to massively disagree however. While this certainly isn't the best thing he's ever done, it's
still a great selection of tracks with fantastic beatwork and an insane amount of warmth in the melodies. The first
title track is definitely better than the rest, and the rest do sound quite similar in places to Collapse, but I
still think this is a fantastic EP. If any other artist came out with this, I would probably become a fan of them.
Idk, I guess people don't really like breaks anymore.
8/10
Aphex Twin - Cheetah
Picked this up in New York City babey, Village Music World. I bought this and Drukqs. Place was a little overpriced and when I bought
them, the guy working there took me over to his copy of Come To Daddy which I already had. Yet again me loving an Aphex
Twin release that wasn't really recieved well. To be honest, I
didn't receive it well either when it first came out, but I was also in elementary school and I just wanted more
breakcore or I don't know, maybe dubstep, I was really into Geometry Dash back then. This is by far Aphex Twin's most
chill release, and it's just constant analogue warmth and brilliant melodies. Yes, I developed a kick for melodies
and MAN does this album fill it. Seriously brilliant melodies. Do not talk bad about this album it has impeccable
melodic design ALL the way through. The last track is just ok though. Also the two tracks that are under a minute long
are fun noise interludes.
8/10
AFX - Chosen Lords
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). I got this for a christmas upon asking for an entry from the
Analord series without knowing much about physical media yet or that vinyl would be an absolute pain to play and I
would come to hate it. I was probably in 5th grade because I'm pretty sure I bought this before I bought any vinyl
(and I know I bought my first vinyl record in 6th grade). My dad explained that the Analord vinyls were mad expensive
and that this CD is pretty rare too. He then took the plastic sleeve off one of his other albums and put it on this
one and said it was a good idea to try to keep this in good condition. He then ripped the disc onto his computer and
left a huge thumbprint on it, though it's not that hard to do, this CD is weirdly much more reflective than normal?
Eventually I wiped off the thumbprint (also wasn't that hard to do) and years and years later (maybe 8 now? It's
nearing Christmas, so it's either nearing 7 or 8) it's still in fantastic near-mint condition, thanks dad. This
was one of the FIRST three CDs I had in my collection, though it depends on if I got this before or after the
summer trip to Los Angeles where we went to Amoeba Records. I also can't really remember if getting this CD
happened before or after that. I know that trip is the concrete event that started me wanting a CD collection, but
if I'm remembering correctly, I just had this CD as a cool rare Aphex Twin album before I actually wanted to
collect, which would mean it IS my first CD. Well, the bad part about that is to this day, I haven't really given
this a proper listen... well until now at least, but idk, I always kinda dismissed acid techno as something I
just wasn't that into, but wow, the melodies on here are near perfect and the way everything's mastered is
immensely satisfying. I quite like it, didn't exactly think I would, but maybe that's a symptom of too much
mediocre CDR acid (we'll uhh... talk about that later). Apparently it's missing some of the best tracks from the
Analord series, but maybe it's better I hear this first so I'm not pissed off by that fact. The tracks here are
great! I can't help but pinpoint the similarity between these tracks and Aphex Twin's modern output (Collapse
and Blackbox Life Recorder). Maybe that's why people are more critical of his new work, because he already put
out 5 hours of this stuff. It's all super intricate analogue drums with the most satisfying and warm melodies
possible. Tracks like Crying in Your Face and Batine Acid are nice poppy surprises along the lines of the
DXM Krew remix from 26 Mixes For Cash. A super nice little hidden gem release. No clue why the Analord 10
tracks are marked as "Aphex Twin" while the rest are simply "AFX" though. I think they're marked like that
on the proper Analord releases themselves too for some reason.
8/10
Aphex Twin - Collapse
DAY 4 - I've thought about it and done some very simple math; I originally called this a
winter break project (keep in mind that now that I'm in college, winter break lasts a little over a month) but I have
over 600 albums. If I do 10 a day (which I'm NOT going to be able to do), it will still take 60 days, 2 months
straight. This project is going to be lasting a few months for sure... ~~~ I bought this CD directly upon release
from Aphex Twin's website, same as Blackbox Life Recorder. This came with two stickers which is nice. I like to keep
the stickers I get with the release unless I get a duplicate, so those are staying in there forever. I think I've
fallen out of love with this release. Back when it came out, I still didn't really have my tastes developed (and
was still in middle school) so I didn't really like Syro that much. When this came out, I thought it was the
melodies of Syro combined with the breakbeats of Drukqs, and it was JUST what I was waiting for. Now however, I'm
not so sure. The beatwork is cool, but it certainly gets a bit dull. None of the tracks really have anything going
for them in terms of melody other than Abundance (which I also actually heard playing before a Tool concert fun
fact). I don't mean to only talk negative about this release, I'm just kinda trying to justify rating it lower than
others. It is a really fun EP and a nice addition to the catalogue, just not something to come back to that often
if I'm being honest. Sidenote, I remember there was a time where pthex was supposed to be a bonus track, but now
it's just on every version of the release. You get an extended cut of T69 Collapse on buying it from the website
though.
7/10
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
Found this at my local Half Price Books. Good find too, this is one of my favorite looking CDs in my collection.
Can't say the same about the music, this is a HUGE mixed bag. Some amazing tracks (Pappy Mix, Bucephalus Bouncing
Ball), some
really boring tracks
(Funny
Little Man, IZ-US) and then a bunch of in-between stuff. Not at all an essential, but definitely some tracks you
should check out. Everything on this is a constant surprise, none of it fits together, and to be honest that does
work in its favor a little bit.
7/10
Caustic Window - Compilation
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). I got this for Christmas one year. Forgot what year, all the
Christmas CDs just sorta blend together now. A compilation of some of the Caustic Window material, available for the
first time on CD! It's fun stuff, Idk I never cared so much for the Caustic Window hardcore techno stuff, but maybe
it's growing on me a little. It is a very fun album, just obviously massively disjointed. Absolutely not an
essential, but definitely fun. I love the random 20 second Pigeon Street. Clayhill Dub is an amazing track as well.
7/10
Aphex Twin - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2
Bought this off Amazon with a gift card I think. Was waiting to find it somewhere in
stores but never did so I gave in. Arguably Aphex Twin's "coolest"
release. Sometimes it feels like such
an
anomaly. It was
released at a time where Aphex was releasing SO much new music after so much silence and this one feels kinda
throwaway to a degree on the surface? Though it totally isn't, this thing received a Warp physical release after all
(and made it into the Better Call Saul soundtrack???). Idk, the ultra-minimalist packaging (which again, sucker for
minimalist packaging, I LOVE) and short nature of a lot of the tracks make it a little easy to ignore. I love how
this isn't just a normal digipak, it has extra panels, and they're all just black without anything on them. Don't
do that
though, this album is great and almost essential for the Aphex Twin experience. It's kinda similar to Drukqs in its
weirdness (and being entirely acoustic, like half of Drukqs). All the piano is sustained, creating this immense drone
that permeates throughout the entire release. It is fantastically mind-bending. piano un10 it happened is one of his
most beautiful songs.
8/10
Aphex Twin - Drukqs
Bought this with Cheetah in New York City. Was really fun to finally have those two, not sure
if I've ever come across this in stores a second time. I have seen Cheetah around at least once more though. I don't
need to explain why Drukqs is a masterpiece, you already know it is. Taking Control is also underrated.
9/10
AFX - Hangable Auto Bulb
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). I think I bought this off of Amazon because for some reason it
was cheaper. Also I've never seen anywhere else a jewel case version of this album, everyone else seems to have a
digipak version of it. It also misspells "Bulb" as "Blub" on the insert. It's definitely not a bootleg, there's this Discogs entry for
it. No way Hangable Auto Bulb comes alphabetically RIGHT after Drukqs
(at least out of the CDs I actually have) because this is the OTHER masterpiece. Though unlike Drukqs, this is less
of a universally agreed upon masterpiece and much much more of a personal favorite, so I'll explain why. First off,
Children Talking is a great start to the EP. Gotta love the wacky children talking samples and the percussion here
is wild and fun. Next track, Hangable Auto Bulb, is
like an upgraded version of Bucephalus Bouncing Ball. It has that same structure where it starts out fairly normal
and then goes through this weird, extended breakdown in the middle. This time though, it's a lot more subtle, the
percussion is much more satisfying, and the melodies are impeccable. One of my favorite tracks from the man.
Laughable Butane Bob has an absolutely iconic beat to it, though it's honestly probably the weakest track here, it's
short and doesn't go that far, but it is still a great track for sure. Custodian Discount is more of that
impressively intricate percussion along with mysterious and amazing melodies that we heard in Hangable Auto Bulb.
They're fairly similar tracks and even though the title track is better, this track is still fantastic. Next track,
Wabby Legs is a little weak at the beginning and end, but it has this really fun melodic motif to it. The middle
part is by far the best part of the track, where it has that amazing wood block percussion breakdown where the
drums themselves turn into a melody. Every Day and Arched Maid Via RDJ have some of the best melodies Richard has
ever put in a track, they are genuinely the best possible tracks to close out this album. This album is insanely
good and I actually used to like it more than Drukqs. Now I'm not so sure, I think I like them both about the
same. That bonus track that got put out on the Aphex Twin website, choirDrilll, is also insanely good and I wish
it made it on the album proper.
9+/10
Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do
Flagship Half-Price Books on a Record Store Day / Birthday expedition. They had two of
these, this one had the yellow sticker on it, but the other one had a broken case. This album's been growing on me a
little. Was always probably one of my least favorite Aphex Twin albums because it's just such a mixed bag. Icct
Hedral and Ventolin are some of my favorite Aphex Twin tracks of
all time, and Acrid Avid Jam Shred, Alberto Balsalm, and Next Heap With are great too... and that's about it. The rest
of this is
just tracks I don't really care for all that much. But I don't know, on this listen, it's doing a little more for
me. The more chill tracks like Mookid and Wet Tip Hen Ax are 'clicking' for me. Even the hardcore techno track Come
On You Slags is working for some reason. Maybe it's because I've listened to these tracks quite a few times and I'm
biased because I recognize them. Maybe it's because it's two in the morning. I don't know, I think I just like more
music overall.
7/10
Aphex Twin - On
Day 5, we're back, I'm still taking photos, I'm on the letter U. I listened to music
practically all day yesterday
and still only got through 7 albums, so this project is going to take a WHILE. Not sure if I'll buy any CDs while
doing it (I probably will, but regardless). Picked this one up at CD Warehouse in Arlington some time
within this year, probably around my birthday after a long long time of waiting to find this album in a store. Gotta
love the nice little keep-case it's packaged in as well. On is obviously an amazing track. For some reason the
Reload mix is included on both CDs, and it's decent too. The other two songs are pretty mediocre hardcore
techno. Mixed bag, but you gotta love On.
6/10
Aphex Twin - On (Remixes)
Bought this off Discogs a while back. I think I like this just a little more than the On EP. Not
all of the tracks are really that
notable, but the µ-Ziq track is great, the D-Scape track is a really interesting take, and the ambient 28 Mix is a
nice touch. It's a bit more varied, interesting, and generally weird than the other one. Still not too notable, but a
fun little side piece.
7/10
AFX - Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-08
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). I think I also found this in CD Warehouse, but on a different
day. I've only been there twice, so it was the first time. Also I have to talk a little about how much I LOVE this CD
design. The colors and fonts are so sleek, love that classic Warp design. The die-cut hole in the middle for the CD
is fun, the CD itself being an all-black CD is awesome, and the disc art itself looks so cool, how it takes up
basically the entire disc. Also, not pictured, even though this is just a card-wallet CD, on the spine it says "AFX"
just super thin and stretched out so it's a little hard to notice. As for the album's content, this is kinda like
Chosen Lords but without (mostly) the melody... so you would think I would hate this album, but no, for some reason
this is really fun and satisfying to listen to. Definitely not anything notable, but it's a nice little release.
And there ARE hints of melodies here and there, tracks 3, 5, and 6 for example. Track 6 is arguably entirely
melody, just a weird and dissonant one. The consensus on this one seems to be that this should not at all work but
for some reason it does. I have to agree. Goes on way too long though, even if it is mad short, this is really a
slog to sit through.
6/10
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album
Also picked up from CD Warehouse. This album is absolutely legendary! It's like a more
polished version of the Come To Daddy EP (and just about as long too -- this thing is *short*). There are a couple
weak tracks here and there (Cornish Acid, Peek 824545201, Corn Mouth) but it is generally a pretty amazing album with
a lot of really great tracks on it. This might be partially because this is how I listened to it as a child, but I
feel like this is one of those rare instances where the tracks are a little better as standalone tracks than on the
album itself, this doesn't really feel like it has a track order, other than Logan Rock Witch being the best closing
track. Sidenote, I bought this album I think actually before elementary school on iTunes and back then, for some
reason Aphex Twin's discography had a MASSIVE amount of typos, this album being one of the worst instances. "Corn
Mouth" became "Carn Marth", "Logan Rock Witch" became "Logl Rock Witch", and "Girl/Boy (£18 Snare Rush Mix)" (this
was the bonus tracks version) became "Girl/Boy (L18 Snore Rush Mix)". I don't know why I remember all of this, but
I still get the track names confused to this day. At least it didn't get hit as hard as Donkey Rhubarb though,
that was BAD. Donkey Rhubarb was completely removed from the album, "Vaz Deferenz" became track 1 and was also
mistakenly called "Donkey Rhubarb", the Philip Glass cover of Icct Heedral became track 2 and was also renamed to
"Vaz Deferenz", and the real Icct Heedral was added to the album as track 3. Pancake Lizard wasn't affected though.
8/10
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
It is a good album, in fact, a great album. It is my first album. But this isn't the first
copy, the original copy I had was my dad's and as a toddler, I drew on it of course. Few years ago I picked up this
extra copy at CD Warehouse, look at it in all its Super Jewel Case glory. Gave the old one to a friend, I much prefer
the clean one (and SUPER JEWEL CASE). This was quite literally the first album I ever heard though. My dad made a
playlist on iTunes for me when I was really little and Ptolemy was probably the song I played most on it. Sooner or
later, I listened to the entire album. I feel like normally these tracks would be nostalgic, but there was no point
in time where I took a break from Aphex Twin or even this album and rediscovered it later, its always just kinda
been here. Still great music, the only flaws are that it gets a bit boring and repetitive at points, especially in
that last run of tracks. This album is so weird because it doesn't sound like Aphex Twin at all. It's also his most
popular and wasn't even released on Warp, it was on R&S which is equally strange since he's like the face of Warp
now. I don't think a single version of this album was EVER released on Warp as a matter of fact. It kinda sounds
like Aphex trying to make something that he knows will be considered a masterpiece in the future, because this thing
just sounds futuristic, calm, crisp. It is completely unlike anything he has ever made and for that it stands as a
weird anomaly. All these tracks just kind of exist in their own universe but are also somehow the first things
people think of when they think of Aphex Twin.
EDIT: i have moved this down to a 7/10 because the last few tracks just aren't it
7/10
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
(Sorted after 85-92 because it's part of a series) I ALSO had a second copy of this one from
my dad, but ALSO gave that to a friend because this new one I bought has an extra track. Not sure why there are three
different versions of this one each with a different amount of tracks (why can't stone in focus be on CD :( ). This
album is strange, I love parts of it, I get really bored during other parts of it. Tracks like Cliffs, Rhubarb, and
Lichen would make the best Stars of the Lid tracks. I know I'm just picking the easy and accessible tracks, but
seriously, tracks like Radiator, Grass, and even Shiny Metal Rods get pretty boring. It's weirdly a huge mixed bag
even though this is one of those albums that exists entirely in its own universe, just like the last entry in this
series. Almost everything on here doesn't sound like Aphex Twin at all (save for Hexagon and Shiny Metal Rods and
some of the darker ambient tracks like Tree and Spots which sound close to those ambient moments on the Caustic
Window albums and Analogue Bubblebath 3).
7/10
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition)
As a massive Aphex Twin fanatic and completionist collector, how could I not grab the 3xCD
expanded edition reissue of an album I think is good, but pretty overrated? This thing has beautiful packaging,
beautiful music (for the most part), and it pretty cool to own. Uhhhhh it sounds good, but not perfect yet, there are
still parts where it's clipping (not in the actual audio, but like the original recordings were clipping a bit), but I
mean, it's clipping on the original master tapes anyways, so what are you gonna do (in the year of our lord 2024,
does Warp Records really not yet know about iZotope RX?). Anyways, I still share most of my thoughts about the
original album. This version is definitely better, because I actually like the three bonus tracks more than a vast
majority of the original material (save for like Cliffs and Blue Calx). I've listened to this a few times now and it
still hasn't totally grown on me, so idk, I just think this album is overrated and there are much better ambient
albums out there (see: And Their Refinement of the Decline). It's still good tho whatever.
7/10
AFX - smojphace ep
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). DAY 6 ~~ chugging on through, soon it'll be a whole week of doing
this! (really? that can't be right, I've only been home for a week... No, I've been home for two weeks actually,
wow). This album is like the best case scenario of Aphex Twin just doing whatever he wants for a release. Some of
the hardest breakcore he's done and then two harsh noise no input tracks. It's great. And gotta love that amazing
minimalist packaging, all black CD and everything.
9/10
Polygon Window - Surfing On Sine Waves
(Filed under "Aphex Twin"). Oh, got this at my very first record store trip at Amoeba in Hollywood .
Thought it was rare back then. One time I saw it again at Academy Records in New York (will link that later in a CD
that I actually got from there). This is a perfectly serviceable album. It's kinda pre-Aphex so it doesn't totally
sound like him. Highlights of this are Quoth, If It Really Is Me, and Ut1-Dot. The rest of this is pretty mediocre,
nothing really stands out as bad or anything.
EDIT: I've come around to this just a little, raising it to a 7/10
7/10
Aphex Twin - Syro
Found this once sitting at my local Half Price Books. It had been pretty recently since I
last checked too, so this was NEW new. Wasn't mint condition, didn't come with the release sticker sadly. This CD is
funny because it's like a digipak but with 10 panels or something crazy, it's a big roll-out receipt. There's that
Disc At Register sticker you can see in the photo. I got to see that joke actually play out in real life when the
clerk went to put the disc in the cage and kept getting surprised that there were more and more digipak panels. This
album truly is magical. It takes a few listens for it all to really click with you, but the vast amount of detail,
the hidden complexity of the beats, the absolute perfection of melodies, and the impossibly warm and crisp analog
sound to it all really makes this one of his best albums. First two tracks are the best and a little hard not to hear
a bit of sadness in them despite other people not really hearing that. XMAS_EVET10 in particular sounds like the end
of a really nice movie.
9/10
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Bought this off Amazon a long time ago because it was also cheaper than the ones on Discogs
for whatever reason. Obviously, this EP's fantastic. Title track Windowlicker is justifiably amazing, maybe not
deserving the title of his BEST and most popular track (well, pre-TikTok I guess, people don't even really talk about
Windowlicker anymore). The real highlight of this EP is the second track, colloquially titled "Equation". Some of
the most abstract noises he's put into a song and it's not even inaccessible, it's all to this pretty crazy and fun
IDM beat. The entire second half of the track though is just droning nonsense and musique-concrete, followed by the
famous spectrogram picture. I love that stuff though, so it's my jam and one of my all-time Aphex favs. Nannou is
also a great track, but pretty justifiably forgotten about when compared to the other two behemoths.
8/10
Aphex Twin - 26 Mixes For Cash
DAY 7 ~~ yeah, these are already getting slower -- OOOH, also one of my first CDs from Amoeba
in Hollywood.
Look, you have every right to hate
this album and think it's a disjointed mess and that half the tracks are garbage... but this album was made for me. I
refuse to call it a compilation because for some reason the track order works so well and it genuinely feels like an
album experience. It is definitely very long, but every time I listen to this, I feel like I find something new to
love about it. This is genuinely one of the most challenging, but rewarding single Aphex Twin experiences possible.
Gonna be even more of a contrarian, this is my favorite version of Heroes. Also I love Let My Fish Loose. Least
favorite track is probably the original version of Radiator, but I think Radiator is an incredibly boring track to
begin with. First three tracks are near perfect and segue into each other unbelievably well. Triachus is a little
bit forgettable, but still a track that *feels* like it's supposed to be there and works decently well. Also
love the high pitched chiptune melodies on Change. On disc 2, Falling Free is an immediate highlight as one of
the most Aphex-Twin-sounding songs ever, it really might just be the most Aphex Twin Aphex Twin song. At The
Heart Of It All is so dramatic and atmospheric. The drum n bass chops on Krieger are an amazing start to the
disc. You Can't Hide Your Love has way more charm and heart to it than it has any right to, and finally, Debase
(Soft Pallate) feels like victory. This thing is really an underrated gem in my eyes. And NOW we are finally
done with all of the Aphex Twin CDs, that took a while.
9/10
Appliance - D4
DAY 8 ~~ also very little progress yesterday (and today), sorry about that, been tired :(.
Found
this at Red Zeppelin Records, a new (within the past 2 or 3
years) record store that opened up in my city which is always nice. They're a primarily new vinyl store, but they
have a section of CDs for whatever reason, though they're all priced at 5$. They also have zero quality control, I
found the most hilarious bootleg of Chance The Rapper's Big day, in a slimline case with a squished jpeg in black and
white with text on it on printer paper in the case, and for some reason it was sealed. They also had Autoditacker,
but it was far past the time I already had that album. I don't know who Appliance are, I got this album because it
had Pole on it and also was a cool minimax CD. It's alright, it kinda sounds like early Mouse on Mars at parts. For
the most part, these tracks are fairly generic and unremarkable IDM tracks, but I do like a lot of the ideas thrown
around, and I mean I do like IDM, so this was still a fun listen. Probably not gonna come back to it, but it still
shows a lot of technical skill, just fails to really leave an impression.
6/10
Arab On Radar - The Stolen Singles
Day 9 ~~ don't really remember where I got this, probably Recycled again, just on a different
day than the other two albums. It's some neat and funky nosie rock, I like it! Idk, these reviews aren't gonna be
nearly as in-depth as some of my others, I'm really just trying to listen to and rate all of these.
7/10
Arab On Radar - Soak The Saddle
This one I DID get at Recycled Books, I know that for sure. Was also my first record store
day. More noisy rock, this time it's a lot noisier and less "funky" like I described the last one. I'm sure the last
one had equally stupid lyrics, but on this one you can actually hear them. Still rocks though.
7/10
Arab On Radar - Yaweh Or The Highway
Got this during my first record store day, mint condition at Good Records' old location on Greenville I
think during that location's last year of operation and back when they still sold CDs. This is sorta like a
hi-fi version of Soak The Saddle, but this time I find the vocals really annoying and I'm starting to get
tired of the crude lyrics. This time ALL they talk about is masturbation. At least the last one had funny
lines like "have you ever seen a teenager with a package quite like that?". They're delivered kinda like
Captain Beefheart which is weird cause it sounds like they're taking the words they're saying almost
seriously, which there's no way they're doing that.
5/10
Arcologies - Attempt No Landing There
They were giving these out for free on Bandcamp a while back, so obviously I had to get one
(love random free CDs). Idk, I got really tired of this style of jungle so long ago. Obviously some of this music is
cool and the production is on point (love The Amulet), but this style of jungle is just SO boring.
6/10
Asa-Chang & Junray - Jun Ray Song Chang
Another one I got in that secret santa bundle, plus I've never listened to this! It sorta
makes me think of a weird combination of Oneohtrix Point Never and Muslimgauze, but using Japanese vocals like
percussion. It's interesting, maybe goes on a little long. I like parts of it, but it'll definitely take time for me
to really get it, if I ever do.
7/10
Asa-Chang & Junray - Tsu Gi Ne Pu
Day 10 ~~~ doing something a little stupid, pulling an all nighter. I do not feel tired at
all and I'm on an awful sleep schedule, so the idea is that hopefully being up all day today will force me to go to
sleep at something like 8 PM tomorrow, ideally waking me up around 8 AM, thereby getting me back on a normal
schedule. I'm on a month long break where I don't have to do anything, so now is probably the best time in my entire
life to try that out. Listening to more CDs. Again, got this in that secret santa bundle. The inside jewel case
though doesn't have any of the art, although according to Discogs, that's just how it's packaged? Cool! In other
news, I think I'm really starting to *get* this, though this album is quite a bit more dramatic and varied than the
last one. I'm starting to really love this. Either way, it's nice to have the weird odds and ends of my collection
break up the monotony of what's about to be 18 Autechre albums in a row, some of which are multiple discs. I love
Autechre, but maybe not that much... though I haven't really gotten tired of the artists I've been playing so much of
yet, though Animal Collective was a little challenging.
8/10
Autechre - Amber
Got this at a weird place I discovered in Carrolton called CD Universe which, you guessed it,
primarily sells CDs. The weird thing about this place is it looks straight out of the 90s. Sometimes Google still has
closed places left as open because somebody forgot to mark it though, so I had my suspicions about this place. Nope.
Still very much open, even though a place like this absolutely should not be. I guess the rent in Carrolton must be
dirt cheap. Bit of a drive, but a really fun place to go to if you want an authentic 90's flashback location and
not just one of those cheap nostalgia bait places. They had a weird amount of Autechre
CDs there for a city that I would think had zero listeners in it. A little expensive for one of (in my opinion)
Autechre's weakest albums (sorta, on relisten I really love particular moments of this album. It's a weird mix of
amazing tracks and honestly kinda bad tracks, it's so weird), but hey, it's
an
import I
guess.
Idk, I really like parts of this, but I can
kinda hear
the cheesy and slower parts that Rob and Sean don't really like in other parts of it. The highlights of this
album, Montreal, Slip, Piezo, Further, and Teartear are amazing tracks, but for the most part, the rest are
honestly pretty skippable. Some of these tracks, Yulquen especially, don't even feel like they're part of the
same album.
EDIT: Relistening to this, the great tracks on this are really that good. Moved from 7/10 to 8/10
8/10
Autechre - Chiastic Slide
Ok, that all-nighter thing didn't really last long, I fell asleep around 6 in the morning.
It's now only 10:30 though, so hopefully the rest of the plan works out and I go to sleep somewhat early tonight. I
got this at Recycled Books in 8th grade. I used to love this album, but for whatever reason, its been a while and I
found today's listen to be quite boring and unfulfilling. A lot of these tracks seem to not go anywhere and I don't
really like the sounds they throw down, however weird it is to say? I like the melodies on Nuane and the beat of
Cipater is classic, but that track too was a bit ruined for me because for the first time, I heard how compressed the
main sound on Cipater sounded and I thought my headphones were broken. I don't really know, for some reason I didn't
really like this album this time around. Which is weird, I went into this thinking I would give it maybe a 9/10.
I'd give it a 6, but I do remember this being much better. Weird.
7/10
Autechre - Confield
Got this for Christmas a while back. In contrast to Chiastic Slide, this album I used to not
really understand very much, but its been growing on me a bit. The track order still doesn't really make any sense
though.
8/10
Autechre - Draft 7.30
Also a Christmas present. Used on Discogs, not sure where that sticker comes from, though I
could probably look it up. This album is super trippy. I played it while driving to and from Six Flags in San Antonio
with a few friends and they said this album forced them to zone out in a bad way lol. Idk, I like it, though I'm a
bigger fan of later Autechre. Surripere is an outstanding track.
8/10
Autechre - ep7
Got this for Christmas as well. It's the Nothing version though, so I'm missing the pregap
track 0 :(. Maybe one day... I'm not sure if I've ever actually listened to this in full before now, and though it's
pretty obvious why they consider this an EP despite the run time, it's their more wacky and self-contained ideas
without really an intentional start and end, for some reason it works magnificently well here. My first thought upon
finishing the album was "damn, this thing is underrated". Arguably their best EP, it really does feel like its own
contiguous experience though. I think the thing I would describe it as most similar to is PLUS because they both try
out these weird ideas that wouldn't really work for a full album, but get to be fleshed out on individual tracks
nicely, though I think this one does it MUCH better than PLUS. Maphive 6.1 is a personal favorite for its impressive
construction of beauty out of generic synth presets.
9/10
Autechre - Gantz Graf
Day 11, right? I'll probably just go all the way to NTS Sessions today and try to grind that
one out tomorrow, though absolutely no promises on actually being able to do that. Also got this for Christmas,
though I probably should've asked for the DVD version (as you can tell, I added these to my Christmas list without
really checking the version which was an awful idea... now I need to get 3 alternate versions of CDs I already have).
It's a good EP, not much more to say, really fun stuff, doesn't leave so much of an impression on
me however. Idk, I've always been indoctrinated with this type of music so it's not really as mindblowing to me as
it is to other people. Love Dial though.
7/10
Autechre - Incunabula
Day 12, yeah I didn't do the goal I had yesterday. Idk, been depressed or something,
that's just how it is on a month long break. Watched a lot of movies and youtube yesterday and got basically
nothing else done despite waking up at around 8 in the morning. Today though for some reason I woke up at nearly 3 PM
and now I'm feeling productive. I guess I was missing sleep, but I hate sleep so much. I got like 14 or 15 hours of
it last night or something insane. ~~~
Think I
found this at
CD Warehouse in Arlington on my most recent trip
there.
An Autechre
album I was looking for on CD for a long time, can't believe it took so long to find it actually. Now I just need
Exai and a bunch of EPs. Probably my least favorite Autechre album (2nd least favorite actually I forgot about PLUS),
but it's still pretty good. I don't know, it's
very obviously not Autechre for most of the album and sounds like your average old school Warp techno material. The
last two tracks on this album though are amazing, it would've really been cool if the whole album was like that.
7/10
Autechre - LP5
ALSO a Christmas present that I (my fault) have the lesser version of. I forget this album has
some of
the all-time classic Autechre melodies in it. For some reason whenever I finish the album, I can't recall much about
it (this is the case with EVERY time I've listened to this album), but during listening to it, it's so warm and fresh
and has all the iconic melodic moments from Autechre's discography. Idk... something about this album...
9/10
Autechre - Move Of Ten
Also purchased this one at CD Universe, mint condition too, though they mostly sold used
stuff. Despite the artwork, it sounds nothing like Oversteps save for iris was a pupil and ylm0 I guess, but even that's
melodically pretty different. It's honestly like a more ambient Exai? Or more bassy? Idk it's some weird bridge
between NTS Sessions material and LP5 stuff. It actually sounds like the most Autechre Autechre album if you know
what I mean. Super fun stuff, I forgot about it.
8/10
Autechre - NTS Sessions 1-4
Day 13/14, my 5th time listening to this in full, yep. Not to count all the times I've
listened to a bunch of the tracks as well, though it's probably only my 5th time listening through all end (it's a
good drone track, but not one of my favorites tbh, and probably my least favorite track on the album). This probably
takes the cake as my favorite XL album (at least 4 hours long) of all time, as well as being one of my favorite
Autechre albums, though definitely not my MOST favorite. This is one of the most satisfying front to back listens you
can do, so I definitely recommend it. Constant bangers all 8 hours. Favorites are elyc9 7hres and splesh.
9+/10
Autechre - Oversteps
Day 15 ~~ also a Christmas present, mint condition so I still have the little promo sticker.
THIS is it. THIS is my favorite Autechre album, as well as being in my top 5 albums of all time in general. I've also
noticed a lot of weird discourse about this album. I've met a few people that call it their favorite Autechre album,
but if they don't, most people I've met generally think it's their weakest (including Fantano and The Wonky Angle),
which I
cannot possibly understand. This album is so atmospheric, melancholic, emotive, cavernous, and more. I'm not gonna
say you never hear Autechre display any heart, but this living computer of an album just resonates with me so much.
The atmospheres are cold, lonely, and unforgiving, like a lot of their work, but there are just enough warm and
lush moments here and there that really make this something special. Each time I listen to this, I fall in love
with another track. Each time I really sit down to think if the album could do without one of the tracks, I decide
not, and I fall in love with it. That's what happened to known(1), r ess, and krYlon. This album is damn near
perfect and easily my favorite Autechre album.
EDIT: You know, I've been thinking about my 10/10 albums and whether I REALLY think they're completely
flawless... and I removed Enduring the American Dream from my 10/10s. And I thought about it even more and you know
what, this album IS perfect. This is in my top 3 now, I also might graduate Yanqui U.X.O. to 10/10 status. I need to
relisten to Go Plastic to see if I REALLY think it deserves the status, but I'm pretty sure it won't change.
10/10
Autechre - Peel Session
Heyyyy, just (yesterday) went to the Half Price Books in Austin again (so I'm reviewing this
like two months ahead of when I did Oversteps and Peel Session 2). Super hard to find Autechre CDs in American stores
so this was awesome. And a promo copy too nonetheless. They also had Tri Repetae++ there, but I already have that.
Milk DX and Drane are great. Milk DX has this really weird melody (kinda? not really a melody, it more of sounds
like the way Charlie Brown adults talk) that's super interesting and fun to listen to. Drane progresses in a super
interesting way and basically just has this drone/noise track building up in the background this whole time. Inhake
2 is pretty forgettable. Still, I like this more than the other Peel Session EP because a majority of this one is
great.
8/10
Autechre - Peel Session 2
At some point a few years ago I came into a little money or had a burst in EMCD sales or had
a gift card or something and I just decided to buy the cheapest Autechre CD that I didn't already have on Discogs,
and this was it. And that's fairly reasonable, this CD isn't much to look at. It's good, though absolutely
non-essential. Every time I go back to listen to it though, I realize I love it a little. First track has such a nice
charming little melody in a minor key, and the last two tracks are surprising drill and bass-like tunes. Second
track is a pretty unremarkable track tbh. Some of this can also pretty easily fall into the backround like a lot of
their less memorable works. Still good tho.
7/10
Autechre - PLUS
Day 16, I almost forgot to do one today. I spent all day helping my dad finally sort out all
the music equipment he inherited so now it's 10 pm and I'm on 5 hours of sleep Boyeeeee. Idk, these day markers are
kinda pointless, probably gonna stop doing them at this point. Christmas is just two days away. Need to start
studying Japanese again. Oh yeah, PLUS. I didn't really like this on release, I'll be honest. Eh, it still didn't
leave too much of an impression on me. It's not like it's really too experimental or inaccessible or anything, most
of it is just kinda generic Autechre noises in the form of slush. It's still good, but there's nothing really
memorable about it other than Marhide which sounds NOTHING like Autechre at all and is insane that it's even on this
album (good or bad thing, I can't really decide) and ii.pre esc which is a nice melodic moment ripped from SIGN I
guess. RYM and Discogs classify this as an album but I feel like this is probably more of an EP7 deal where this is
just random stuff they made in the background of SIGN and probably should be classified as an EP. And speaking of
marhide, some of these tracks randomly sound really amateur. Idk, it's such a weird album that I don't really like
revisiting. Definitely the weakest Autechre project.
6/10
Autechre - Quaristice
Day 17, Christmas Eve everyone! I woke up at 4 am and couldn't go back to sleep so here I am
listening to more of my CDs. Maybe today I'll finish Autechre??? Maybe not, idk, I have 4 albums left to get through
(technically 6 because Tri Repetae++ contains 3). Listening to nothing but Autechre for over a week straight really
is... something. Once I finish all these and then listen to ONE Ayane Fukumi album, I'll be done with the letter A
which is by far the hardest part of the entire collection. First off I have way more letter As than any other letter,
second off, there are three huge chunks within the same letter: Animal Collective, Aphex Twin, Autechre. There
aren't even too many big chunks left, I think it's just CDR (probably gonna disable my Last.fm when I get to that),
Cheer-Accident, id m theft able, Sigur Rós, Squarepusher, and Venetian Snares, and Sigur Rós is the only REAL huge
chunk left. As for Quaristice, idk, I think I'm in a vast minority when I say I personally believe this is one of
their weakest albums (I know I've said that about like four of their albums now, but they have a LOT of material). Not
bad at all, it's just SUPER disjointed. While there are some cool moments, it
has a
similar problem to PLUS where a lot of the more forgettable moments kinda sound like the generic Autechre slush
sound, but to a lesser extent here. Idk, it fades in the background really easily. Highlights are The Plc, IO, fwzE,
WNSN, and chenc9. The other thing is that a LOT of these tracks feel pretty empty, like they're missing a layer or
two. I get that
these were mostly improvised (I think) as they were pulling out gear, but ehhhh I'm not sure how much it works as
an album. It is good, don't get me wrong, but it's not great. Definitely not something I come back to often, though
some of these tracks are. Another factor might be that they crammed a LOT of tracks into a relatively short amount
of space, so very few ideas are given proper time (by Autechre standards) to really develop. In that case, maybe
Quaristice.Quadrange.ep is worth listening to (obviously though I plan on listening to all of Autechre's works
eventually).
EDIT: April 19th, 2024. Listened to this a couple more times and I gotta bump it up to an 8. Yeah there are
a few tracks that don't totally work, but the tracks that do are awesome (The Plc, IO, 90101-5l-l, chec9
especially). And a lot of the tracks that don't work *as* well as those ones are still pretty cool, it's a pretty
nice listen overall tbh. Similar experience to Exai, but a bit lesser, though I still love it for the most part.
8/10
Autechre - SIGN
Yeah I'm getting just a little tired of listening to Autechre and only Autechre. The end is
nowhere in sight. I love SIGN, although I'm not sure whether I should call it underrated or not. Autechre fans I've
observed don't really think that highly of this one, but it is one of their most popular releases in terms of
numbers, probably because it was mentioned in the New York Times. I've seen a lot of copies of this on vinyl in
stores as well. For the way Autechre fans talk about it though, it's better than it has been recieved. People compare
it to Oversteps because it's another melodic album, but the timbres are completely different and I'm not sure if the
comparison totally fits. The melodies here are also distinctly more simple. Overall, I would give this a 9/10 if it
weren't for just the intro which I don't really care for. It's an excellent album, maybe doesn't flow the *best*,
but you know what, I love revisiting this album a lot, and the melodies are awesome.
8/10
Autechre - Tri Repetae++
Day 18 - oh hey, merry christmas (or should I say, MTS Christmass). Today we are (hopefully
[probably not]) finishing the Autechre binge. This album was also a Christmas present on the first Christmas I
actually asked for CDs (not counting the one I got Chosen Lords). Tri Repetae is just such a trippy listen,
especially if you're fighting sleep or abnormally aware of your own body. It's similar to Oversteps in that it's this
cold and mechanical outer shell with these secret moments of heart in it. Eutow has especially grown on me quite a
bit. Also an extremely satisfying listen front to back cause this thing just sounds insanely crisp. Anvil Vapre is
kinda cool, but not really something I revisit often. I like the second half more than the first. The first half is
actually pretty unusual for Autechre, it's like sorta industrial drum n bass material. Garbage on the other hand is
a lot like Amber (hence the artwork), but I think I overall like Garbage a little more than I overall like Amber.
Amber does have tracks that I like more than Garbage, but again, Amber is a huge mixed bag. Garbage is a fairly
awesome front to back listen, and that ambient closer is one of the best moments in Autechre history. Track 3 is a
little forgettable and some of the others can be a little long, but if you're feeling like the trippy atmospheres of
Tri Repetae didn't last long enough, put this one on immediately after. Definitely much more fitting with Tri
Repetae than Anvil Vapre (even if it's objectively more similar to Amber, I don't care though).
Tri Repetae: 9/10
Anvil Vapre: 7/10
Garbage: 8/10
Autechre - Untilted
Day 19, no I did not finish Autechre yesterday, I will today (this is the last one! Though I
did listen to Anvil Vapre and Garbage today as well, I just don't like stretching the days over the same album). Also
one of my first Discogs orders during the beginning of a summer break (so I associate this album heavily with
summertime, as well as Windowlicker). This was the first Autechre album I heard in full, though not the first I
heard from them. My dad had Amber and Exai on iTunes for a pretty long time, though I never really listened to much
of them aside from a couple odd tracks once or twice. When I started my collection though and I was getting really
into Aphex Twin, I also wanted to get into the other Warp Records greats and someone on Reddit said that if you
liked Drukqs, then this would be a good entry point (it was). This is the closest Autechre's ever got to breakcore,
so that's the album I also suggested xerbie start with who before though Autechre was boring and now is somewhat
into them (to the extent, I'm not really sure). Sorry if I'm rambling a bit, I did the thing last night where I woke
up early and couldn't go back to sleep and so I'm running on not very much of it and my writing is really weird
right now. For a while, this was my favorite Autechre album, but it has since been replaced with Oversteps and this
has actually kinda fallen down in the rankings a little since my recent Autechre obsession. Always been a fan of
them, but really recently, I've started to listen to them a LOT, to the point where I think I can safely consider
them my favorite multi-person "band". For some reason I haven't listened to this album in a long while, and I'm
suddently remembering how good it is, I'll probably have to give it a 9+ as well. Well, maybe, the thing is, in my
opinion, there are two huge standout tracks on here and the rest don't really reach the same ecstatic highs as
them. They're still amazing tracks, I mean the album is a 9/10 for a reason, but Ipacial Section and Sublimit
manage to be actually perfect. Oh, and we're finally done with Autechre, that took so long wow.
9/10
Ayane Fukumi - 2020 Promo CD
As of now, the last album of the letter As, which is as mentioned, by far the longest letter
in my collection. Ayane Fukumi is a bit of a strange character. They were popular in the lolicore scene back when
that was big in like 2020 I think, before that as well, I think I was a little late to the party (and I don't really
want anything to do with lolicore lately). Can still respect some of the music because I think a lot of it was about
harsh noise + anime + breakcore and not completely focused on sexualization of little girls... you have to remember
this genre came from 4chan and was originally started as a shitpost until people started taking the harsh noise and
YTP aspects of it all seriously. And then there's Himeko Katagiri's approach to lolicore which I don't totally agree
with but I'm not gonna get into that now, I just mention that because they basically run the modern version of the
genre. This CD in particular anyways was like an annual compilation of Ayane's remixes made that year and you could
email them and receive ten of them, completely free of charge, with the expectation that you help out a little with
promotion by giving the duplicates away yourself (which I did with EMCD sales). I'm a big fan of this, I love free
CDs. I kept two of them though cause I like keeping one extra just in case. Ayane went on hiatus for a long time
though due to personal life problems so I think this 2020 one is still the most recent one. The tracks are very very
similar to each other. Take a pop song, add breaks, skip it around a little bit. They still sound super fun for what
they are (I mean, lolicore tracks were basically that, but with anime songs instead of pop songs [and a couple of
these ARE anime songs]). My
one big qualm
with this is I really don't like the sound of Ayane's breaks, and it's the same for all of them. They just lack ANY
punch at all. Every once in a while she makes up for this by adding some nice gabber kick drum on top of it all and
the breakwork is consistently impressive, but for the most part, it's a little annoying and hard to get used to. Even
if a lot of these sound the same, it's still a bit of a mixed bag, mostly down to whether I like the sampled song or
not. It's also a LOT to get through and gets a little boring easily, but the tracks on their own are pretty fun
generally. Nice breakcore release (don't care if I'm misusing the genre tag). The Cybersei tracks are more along the
lines of uptempo house, but still with the pop remixes.
7/10
Ayane Fukumi - 2020 Promo CD
Same CD as before braz.
7/10
Babel - Heurter
Day 20, this is the only album I'm gonna get to listen to today because for the rest of the
day, I'll be on a road trip (and I'm not doing this project on the road). I bought this CD off of Discogs as part of
an idea I had to buy a bunch of the cheapest CDs under the "noise" genre tag I could find. For like 20$ I got 10 or
so CDs, though I don't think I really listened to any of them yet... today, that changes. This is also one of two CDs
I have with the Einstürzende Neubauten logo on it without being related to the band at all. Also, as the disc art
implies, this is ENTIRELY guitar noise. Guitar strums that build into shoegaze-esque feedback symphonies, quite
melodic (or his 'harmonic' the word?) too. About halfway through the first track, after building up this nice drone
out of a couple guitar strums, the pitch starts suddenly changing and some deeper, dark ambient sounds come in. Now,
suddenly, the piece is much more varied, the original drone occasionally coming in as well. Track 2 has this
looping mellow metallic percussive sound which is somehow sourced from a guitar, probably a favorite noise of mine
on the album. That might be the only real "percussion" on this album, just clangs sourced from hitting the guitar
in a weird way. The last track is focused on a really nice ethereal drone, similar to all end, but much less
digital sounding and more Brian Eno-esque pleasant harmonies. This one's probably my favorite track. You know, it
might need some time to grow on me, and the use of guitar can sound a bit generic at points, but I do like this
album. It is definitely a GOOD album.
7/10
Beck - Odelay
Obviously I skipped yesterday because I was on a giant road trip and I think I'm just gonna
stop doing this "day __" thing, it's probably not gonna be that fun to look back at like I thought it would be. So
this was one of the first CDs I bought at Half-Price Books in 6th grade, one of the early ones I bought before I had
any taste (and I really don't mean to say that pretentiously, I just mean to say that it was 6th grade, I knew I
wanted to collect CDs, but I didn't really know what music I liked, I was just picking out stuff I recognized). We
played Devil's Haircut on a one-off day at School of Rock (and also Beck was in Futurama so) and idk, I thought I liked
it, but I'm not so sure... That
being said, I never listened to this album in full either, so now's the time to decide whether I ACTUALLY like this
thing or not. I don't really expect to. So first off, it's noisier than I expected. Parts of this (especially the
usage of breakbeats) can sometimes sound like a combination of Can and Deerhoof. There's also a lot of obvious
Beastie Boys influence everywhere. It's disjointed and goes into jam sections. My biggest qualm about it is that it
sounds very obviously
meant to listen to while high. While I do respect all the nice experimental sections, it seems to serve more of a
psychedelic purpose than a love of the art. Oh, Where It's At was the one in Futurama, nice. Overall, this thing is a
bit of a mixed bag. Parts I really liked about it (mostly when it would turn to noise at points, and some of the
more Beatie Boys inspired parts) and some parts I really didn't like (Lord Only Knows and tracks more similar to
that one). Can't see myself coming back to this, but it was pretty fun tbh. Reading ozzystylez'
review on RYM while listening to Ramshackle is such a weird vibe. I can't tell if this is racist or not. But
yeah, this was such a product of its time, but I gotta admit, it's pretty fun.
6/10
Bird Show - Green Inferno
Bought this at Recycled Books in Denton. It was on the Kranky label which is one of my
all-time favorite labels and I've never heard of it before. It's cool, it's a lot more noisy than most of the stuff
on Kranky, but I guess it's more like acoustic / musique-concrete noise? Hard to describe, the vocals when there are
any (on a couple tracks) make it sound like Animal Collective. Lots of Kalimbas, bagpipes, that sorta stuff. Good album.
7/10
Bird Show - Third Record
Purchased at the same place at the same time. I like this one better than the other one, it's
a lot more ambient (though still not really). I guess it's a lot more focused? As the song titles suggest, they
focus on using only set instruments in songs. Not sure how else to describe it, it sounds exactly like the cover art.
7/10
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There (Deluxe Edition)
Bought this online pretty much immediately after listening to it. I had been recommended it
for a while after it first came out, but I saw it on a lot of Fantano-core charts and just assumed it was a rap album
or something I didn't really care about (I mean rap can be good, I just personally don't like to listen to a lot of
it... yet). And now, this has become one of my favorite albums of all time. I don't care if you think it's
pretentious or don't like the lyrics or Isaac's singing or think it's too dramatic, no. This was written for high
school me and will always be just a portal to that time in my life. Especially the Band Disneyworld trip, I listened
to
this a LOT on that trip. Me and my friend would synchronize listening to this in line for the rides with longer
lines. That might've been the best time of my life. For as much of an anti-capitalist loser I can be and for how
much I hate big corporations like Disney, even I have to admit, Disneyworld got me. This is also the only album ever
that I've been able to overlisten the hell out of and not get tired of it at all (this has also happened a little
with Dhorimviskha and Oversteps though). The live album is a nice bonus even if I don't revisit it nearly as often.
I haven't listened to a lot of these original tracks, I still haven't listened to For The First Time...
Ants From Up There: 9+/10
Live From the Queen Elizabeth Hall: 7/10
Black Country, New Road - For The First Time
Yep, I'm listening to For The First Time for the first time. I found this at Rough Trade in
England the one time I went. I mean I guess I've heard most of these tracks from the live album on AFUT deluxe
though. For some reason, I didn't really think I would like this album very much? Yeah I know, just like I thought
with AFUT, though I still don't really care for Science Fair (actually that's not true, I really started to like it
by the end, this is just one that comes off as overly pretentious for a little while though... maybe, I'm still not
sure exactly how I feel about it. It's much better than the live version I'm used to). It's like, the instrumentals
are in part similar to AFUT, but the lyric writing is more like Brave Little Abacus in the way that sometimes he just
sorta rambles? I've done a poor job at describing my feelings on the album, it's fantastic for the most part.
8/10
Black MIDI - Cavalcade
Picked this up at Rough Trade in England! Mint condition too, so I've kept all the hype
stickers and stuff (as per usual). I've only listened to this in full once, but damn it's fantastic. It is a very
very similar album to Hellfire in both sound and structure (and it's kinda obvious given the album artwork as well),
though this isn't really a bad thing. Is Hellfire supposed to be a sequel actually? Not sure, I don't really know
much about this band, I just have the albums because I thought they were good. This album in particular though sounds
SUPER similar to King Crimson. Like a combination of Lizard, Discipline, and hella theatrics. Wow, the theatrics on
this album really do it. On the first listen, I hated Ascending Forth because I thought the lyrics were stupid, but
this time I don't really! Yeah no, I love this.
9/10
Black MIDI - Hellfire
Unlike the other two (because this one hadn't come out yet when I found the others), I found
this at Landlocked. For some reason used? So someone bought this and pretty much immediately brought it to that shop
I guess. Hype sticker was gone too. They had a mint version, but this one was significantly cheaper, and the missing
hype sticker (which to be honest, is a REALLY cool hype sticker) was the only thing wrong with it. I normally
wouldn't care very much, but the Black MIDI hype stickers are INSANE and you're actually crazy if you don't keep
those. Me however, I always cut out the sealing around the hype stickers and save them in the case, they don't take
up any extra space and they're fun to have. Please ignore my copy of NTS Sessions, that was before I knew to do that.
Also unlike the other two albums, I've already listened to this three or four times, so I already know what I'm
rating this pretty much, though I haven't revisited it in a good while. On second thought though, the theatrics
aren't nearly as ecstatic as they are on Cavalcade (save for Sugar/Tzu) and there's no track like Diamond Stuff
here. So 8/10 instead of 9, but this album's still great.
8/10
Black MIDI - Schlagenheim
Ok, so despite owning this since I bought Cavalcade (I bought them both at the same store),
I've never actually listened to this for some reason. First off, what a decision to put an album in a CD single case,
that's super fun. Second off, they packaged this so that there's this huge thick booklet with all the lyrics and
stuff OUTSIDE the case. It was only affixed to the case via shrinkwrap, so when storing it in my collection, I had
to shove the thick booklet just in this super thin case and it only barely shuts, so maybe the CD single case isn't
that good of a design for this one, but whatever, it still does look insanely cool. And I kept all the hype stickers
and stuff which, in Black MIDI fashion, also look insanely cool. As for the album, wow these just keep getting
better as they get older? This one's much more noisy than the other two and I find a lot more similarities with Don
Caballero in the drum and guitar styles. The vocal style I believe is much more effective than it ever has been.
It's used for more noise and instrumentation than it is used for being overtly poetic. It doesn't have the same
theatric highs as other albums have had, but the noise and intricacy more than makes up for it, wow. This is
probably my favorite Black MIDI album.
9/10
"Blue" Gene Tyranny - Out of the Blue
This is a recent favorite of mine. After going very slightly down the Lovely Music Ltd.
rabbit hole from a little bit of interest in Robert Ashley, Blue's piano work on Perfect Lives seriously impressed me
and I decided to check out some more of his work. Well, this is by far his most popular album, mostly because it has
by far his most popular song on it (and you know what, it's a DAMN good song). It's a very strange album. You get
three pretty long tracks which are all super different from each other, followed by the massive fourth track
(again, completely different from the previous three) which
takes up
the entire second side of the original LP version.
Next Time Might
Be Your Time is a super
intricate and reflective pop song with layers of warmth that just make me smile. It's not perfect, but its quickly
made it into my regular rotation and was a song I was pretty obsessed with for a brief while (and that period
hasn't totally ended either). At times, it can sound a bit dated (reverb saxophone), but overall, the brilliant
construction and composition of this piece combined with its accessibilty (and hell, length) is really something of a
marvel (not to mention the absolutely beautiful vocal performance from Patrice Manget). For an 8 minute pop song,
it's really saying
something
that not a single second of it is boring.
Second
track, for David K. is a funk/disco jam primarily featuring saxophone solos. It's a bit of what is pretty clearly
dated
on the first track extended to fit an entire 6 minute track and while that might not sound like the best idea on
paper (keep in mind, this is the late 70s), it actually somewhat works. It's still probably my least favorite track
on the LP, but while I don't totally care for it musically, the composition and displays of skill are seriously
respectable. Third track, Leading a Double Life is a magnificently beautiful ballad which feels like a little bit
of a precursor to the massive fourth track, a Letter From Home. I listened to this album on my most recent road
trip to Indiana and as the sun set, this track really felt like a beginning of things to come. The fourth track, A
Letter From Home, at a staggering 26 minutes long, is much more akin to one of Ashley's escapades. Over the
chords and romantic backing vocals that loop throughout the entire song, psychedelic improvisation backs a
reflective and comforting 'letter from home' which is read spoken-word style throughout the track. It's really
interesting though, I do quite like it, though it can obviously be a little long-winded at times. My biggest
problem with the track is that every once in a while, the track will take a break from the letter and focus
solely on the music, which I don't really care for so much, I care much more about the letter. It's a good track
though, closes out the album really nicely even if I listen to this track the least out of the four. Overall,
it's a great album, though I usually just listen to Next Time Might Be Your Time and *occasionally* Leading a
Double Life on their own.
8/10
Blue Man Group - Audio
Found this at Josey Records and while it does technically fall into the category of me being
in middle school and knowing I want to collect CDs but not exactly knowing what music I'm into yet, I don't care, I
like Blue Man Group, sue me. I kinda hate broadway musicals so when I went to see these guys in New York, it was a
breath of fresh air. Also, they're just awesome. I know the whole act is mainstream, but like nothing's gonna change
the fact that they utilize experimental and avant-garde ideas REALLY well. Oh, and even though I got this at Josey
Records, I found out AT that show that they were selling these on Broadway, WITH an o-case I didn't even know about.
So I guess I'm technically missing part of the package but whatever. Well, let's get into the record, shall we? A lot
of the percussion can sound pretty samey I've found (and that's also a commonality with their shows). With how much
cool percussive ideas they throw around, over half of it is the same PVC pipe sound. And don't get me wrong, that is
an AMAZING sound (Einstürzende Neubauten proved that on Alles Wieder Offen). This album has a really nice post-rock
sound throughout it though and while sometimes it can sound a little disingenuine, I don't know, sometimes it
really works. I kinda am biased to hate this thing because you know mainstream whatever, but no, I genuinely love
it. Somehow it genuinely reminds me of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, especially with the persistent southern twang
of that guitar like in parts of F#A#∞. There's no reason for this album to be this good and there's no reason for
the song titled "Cat Video" to be the best one.
8/10
Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Bought this in England as well, probably Rough Trade. I got it mint so I don't know why
there's already a couple cracks in the case... maybe I pack these things a little too tight in my shelf jeez. You
know, I'm starting to think Boards of Canada just really doesn't do it for me a majority of the time. Geogaddi is an
absolute masterpiece, but that's about it. Idk, I just don't totally get it. All these tracks sound pretty samey and
cheesily simple. It's good for the most part, just not really something I would listen to that often.
6/10
Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi
Many a time, I've come across this in stores and been like "you know, I can probably find
this cheaper somewhere else". Never found it cheaper. ALWAYS mint condition, $15-$20. Well, Recycled Books, you won
me over this Thanksgiving post-first-paycheck. $15 for the good Boards of Canada album it is.
You know, there was a time where I much preferred this album to Music Has The Right To Children because it's
darker but also sunnier and maybe more chilled out? I don't totally know how to describe it, but it's a bit more
mystical and weird. Music Has The Right To Children is plenty weird though, but in different ways, in much more
frantic ways (see: Pete Standing Alone). These days though I think I've evolved to prefer the latter (see: Pete
Standing Alone again). Don't get me
wrong, this album's still great and I'm DEFINITELY in the mood to chill out to it right now (after a day of riding
the train to Dallas and coming back home for a couple days of the Thanksgiving break). It's an awesome album, but it
doesn't have any of those crazy euphoric moments like the "I love you" in An Eagle In Your Mind or for the third damn
time, Pete Standing Alone. I love music :)
8/10
Boards Of Canada - HiScores
Its been a couple days and you know, I'm not really making as much progress on this list as I
wanted to (remember on that first day when I listened to 11 albums? Yeah, I REALLY haven't kept up with that rate
lol. But at least I'm significantly through the letter B and am close to being done with my first shelf of CDs
(though I don't have these webpages organized by shelf, just by letters that seemingly have similar numbers of CDs
[though A-C is far bigger than any other set of letters]). Right now, my first shelf ends at Boris - Love / Evol,
though that will certainly change in the future when I recieve another CD that comes alphabetically before (and
"Blue" Gene Tyranny - Out of the Blue was a RECENT addition, so it moved something else down a shelf). So I got this
one in England (maybe Scotland) as well, though something's telling me it wasn't Rough Trade? Maybe it was an HMV I
went to a couple
of those (HMVs are still everywhere in the UK and they actually serve as fully functional CD stores somehow). Also
look at this CD, it's so sleek and clean and it even has braile on the back for whatever reason, isn't that so
cool? I carried my CDs on that trip in a black drawstring bag that for some reason (I didn't know what the time)
had the inner lining of chipping away and as a result got little black flakes on everything in there, so that
kinda ruined the packaging of this a little. I don't think you can really see them, I for the most part got rid
of them. Anyways anyways, I like this much more than Campfire Headphase. I do get *this* music, Campfire
Headphase I guess just seems a bit 'faux' to me. I mean, this album isn't totally great and flawless, it's just
pretty good. Has that IDM / trip-hop goodness I like about Boards of Canada and not really much else. Turqouise
Hexagon Sun is the best song here.
7/10
Boards Of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country
Haha, got this in New York at Academy Records & CDs. Pretty good music, sounds like Geogaddi material. I know I've listened to
this before, but its been quite a few years, so I was surprised to still be able to recognize each track. Zoetrope
sounds like Portal music, as well as also being probably my favorite song here. The title track isn't that good tbh,
but the rest of the tracks are good and this last one is great.
7/10
Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Probably from England? Don't exactly remember where though (that trip was a blur thanks to
some unfortunate family events). My favorite of the Boards of Canada CDs I actually own (remember, I don't own
Geogaddi yet [I only put this message here because I plan to get Geogaddi in the future and don't want to edit this
message. I've seen it in stores before, but its always been like 17$ mint and I swear I can find it cheaper if I look
hard enough]). Still not great, but parts of this are really well done. Will only fondly remeber some tracks,
including Jacquard Causeway, Nothing Is Real, and New Seeds.
7/10
Boards Of Canada - Trans Canada Highway
Also Academy Records! I guess you can tell by the sticker, but either way. Look at this CD
design, regardless of the album quality, this is one hell of an awesome looking CD. More Campfire Headphase material,
but with a little less fluff. Still kinda hard to listen to it without it all just flying by, but whatever. It's
alright, that Odd Nosdam remix of Davyan Cowboy is great though. Idk, if I'm giving it a 7/10, it's a weak 7/10, but
I'm tempted to give it a 6. Yeah, to hell with it.
6/10
Bogdan Raczynski - Boku Mo Wakaran
Been a little while since I properly listened to this, though I am definitely familiar with
its contents. Aside from myloveilove (which has garnered a weird amount of popularity lately), I haven't really
listened to Bogdan Raczynski at all lately. Well, I did listen to Samurai Math Beats again on the Christmas road
trip. On the road trip back to Austin (I'm back at college now guys), I listened to a Doormouse album and I was
realizing how much I don't like a lot of that older breakcore anymore, you know, my taste has either matured or I've
become much more picky. I sorta thought this might fall into the same boat, but no, this thing's awesome. It is
filled with either great moments or pretty good moments and it's an all-around blast that makes its 71 minute length
fly by extremely fast. The last track is the only one that feels slow and it's an oddly appropriate outro. So take
the sped up and awkward vocals of Samurai Math Beats, add in actual breakcore, and make an entire album out of 2
minute songs. Not the best contiguous project, but I still love it.
8/10
Bogdan Raczynski - Samurai Math Beats
Oh, this album holds an extremely special place in my heart. Got this for Christmas one year
(as well as Boku Mo Wakaran) without ever actually hearing it, just hearing around that it was good. I listened to it
that day and wow, some of these songs were the best I've heard. Such a unique sound, I'm sure you've heard people
say that before. Imagine like super low quality low fidelity sound, awkward drum n bass beats everywhere, beautiful
and vulnerable chiptune melodies, and weird sped up vocal samples sometimes from movies, sometimes from Bogdan
himself. It sounds so amateur but in the absolute best way possible. It's almost genius like that. Favorite tracks
are the melodic ones, especially Kimi.
9+/10
Bogdan Raczynski - Thinking Of You
This is a really weird one. It's somewhere sorta between Samurai Math Beats and Boku Mo
Wakaran where Samurai Math Beats is 100% heart and Boku Mo Wakaran is 100% stupid fun. That being said, all the
"heart" in this album is in its melodies, because this album rather than just having vocal samples has actual lyrics
and they're... honestly derranged. I can't completely tell if they're played seriously or not (God, I hope they're
not), but they're a really particular brand of atrocious that somehow works. In some cases. Bogdan is really good at
making things
that definitely shouldn't work somehow work. Sometimes though this goes just a little too far and it's hard to take
something like Domesticated Violence even as a joke. The melodies and beats everywhere in this album are perfect,
it's really hard to rate this one.
8/10
Boredoms - Super Roots 6
My first Boredoms CD I got, and hopefully not the last. In the Half Price Books in Austin, I
found Vision Creation Newsun, but I didn't want to get it since it was the single disc version and was also 30$ and I
didn't have much money at the time. Hopefully sooner or later I can find ways to get more money (hopefully a job,
but what with college being a much bigger workload this year, I'm not so sure how practical that is). I got this one
at my local Half Price Books, but this time in the clearance section! It was the first time I ever checked the
clearance section too, so that was a fun find. And this is an accordingly fun album. From my understanding, it's
just a bunch of weird one-off outtakes and yep, that's about what it sounds like. In a really nice way though,
while this album can definitely get boring, there's a lot of fun and memorable moments, especially near the beginning.
7/10
Boredoms - Wow 2
First OBI Strip CD? No, that's not true because of the Aleph Empire one. However, this is one
of the coolest OBI strips I have (big fan of those things). Boredoms are already pretty accustomed to amazing CD
design, even if I don't actually have many of them (I wish to have more). Got this for Christmas a couple years ago.
It's decent, not my favorite thing I've heard, but it's good. Sounds distinctly more arena rock than the other
Boredoms album I have (which is really all I have to compare it to). This one also has its silliness to it though,
especially the use of a dog toy in multiple tracks. Sounds like a live recording for some reason.
7/10
Boris - Absolutego
Picked this up at my *second* time at CD Warehouse. I love this back panel, I wish people
did more interesting things like this with their CD designs. Isn't that cool, a back panel that's only a third of
the size? Wow, this is
my first time hearing this
and I
think it's my favorite Boris project so far.
MOST of it is noise drone, which I don't really think Boris does all that well, but for some reason on this one they
absolutely nailed it. Instead of it sounding like aimless guitar noodling, it actually creates quite the interesting
noise and for so long too. I love it. Then when the drums kick in, they sound more raw and visceral than I've ever
heard from the band. For sure will revisit.
9/10
Boris - Akuma No Uta
Oh hell yeah. For my first Boris record (a while back, I listened to this pretty much
immediately after I picked it up at Landlocked), I was actually kinda surprised that this is what they sounded like
and it took me a little while to get used to. You know what though, Naki Kyoku hit incredibly hard on first listen
and opened up the doors to the rest of this album. A few of the heavier moments are still hard to get through, but I
love a majority of this.
8/10
Boris - Boris At Last -Feedbacker-
Got this two Christmasses ago, with just the other Boris with Merzbow CD because I didn't ask
for anything that year (or this year). Not the life changing post rock experience it has been for others, but still
great nonetheless.
8/10
Boris - Heavy Rocks (2002)
Ok, so I know I said I would cool it on the CD purchases, but my friends were in town for the
Black Country, New Road concert and wanted to see one of the local record stores, Waterloo Records, so you know, why
not. Got a few things from there. Maybe spent a little too much... (not that much, but still in today's economy,
$65 is nothing to scoff at). It's not even that many CDs, that's just what happens when you buy NEW albums as
opposed to used ones. Anyways this was good, high production, metal stuff, idk. Didn't seem all that special to me,
more like the most average Boris record ever. Really like the fluorescent orange cover art though.
7/10
Boris - Heavy Rocks (2022)
Bought this right when it came out, along with the shirt. Yeah hell yeah, this thing's
awesome. Falters a little in the middle, but the first and last parts are some of the most energetic and envigorating
music ever. Bonus points for gabber kick drum on Ghostly Imagination (no but seriously, that's the best track here)
8/10
Boris - Love / Evol
A Lot of stuff from 2R0I2P0 came from this album, so you know I'm about to love this. And
rightly so, this thing is so apocalyptic and crushingly beautiful. Boris doesn't really do this style that often that
I've noticed other than here, Gensho, and part of Tears. This is probably my favorite style of Boris.
9/10
Boris - Pink
You know, this is great, but I've for sure listened to it too many times. Bonus points for
the back of the CD misspelling the last track title.
8/10
Boris - W
I remember when this came out, people were saying they were disappointed by it. I don't
really understand that mindset at all, this is easily one of my favorite Boris records. Although I guess part of that
is because it's sonically pretty similar to Love / Evol except a bit more tiny and afraid and with some really fun
amateur sounding experimental post-production (amateur in a good way, Greenways Trajectory style). This is the Boris
album for me. Super melodic, super fragile, melancholic, and with lots of post-production. I love this so much.
Icelina is a near perfect track.
9/10
Brent Gutzeit - Drugmoney
Picked this up from CD Warehouse although I found it once at Reckless in Chicago before.
For some reason I didn't pick it up (think I picked up too many things and felt compelled to put it down for
whatever reason) and always regretted it, so it was nice to come across it again. It's a pretty nice drone album.
Apparently the story behind this is that he used
to sell
copies of this (before it got picked up by Kranky) whenever he needed extra money for... well, you know. Brent
Gutzeit is a personal favorite of mine, I need more of his works. I love his titles, he really likes to use this
motif of art for money as a lifestyle and it really resonates with me. Take for example TV Pow's "Busking for Gas
Money", one of my favorite project titles ever. Inspired the title "I Work in Data Entry" out of me that I'll
hopefully eventually use for something. My dad has the CDr of Springtime is For Lovers which is a really funny
one since it's just this totally unassuming selfie of Brent printed out and in a little soft case and it's some of
the best and most beautiful harsh noise I've ever heard.
Anyways, this is one of his
less interesting albums in my opinion. They're
decent drones, just most of them are quiet as hell and not as interesting as other drones he's created before or
would go on to create. For the most part, good.
6/10
Broadcast - Microtronics Volumes 1 & 2
Yep, the title intrigued me for this one. Well, I sorta knew of Broadcast beforehand. My dad
bought a couple of their albums on iTunes when I was still in preschool and I think I listened to parts of them, but
I do not remember at all what they sounded like. I should revisit them some time. This one's a little collection of
short experiments and like most of those, it's a pretty decent 7/10 with some really good moments and some more
forgettable moments. I particularly liked 07, 08, and 21. There's very little direction to this but that's expected.
Some of the sound design is super impressive.
7/10
Bruce Gilbert - Insiding
Oh, ok this is another one of those noise CDs I bought for cheap off of Discogs along with
the Babel CD. This was cool, a little bit not what I was expecting. The CD itself looks weirdly corporate, so it
being tagged with only noise and/or experimental from what I remember was kinda jarring. Sounds like tape loop stuff,
it's pretty good. Super atmospheric, not exactly notable, but hey, this was like 2$ or something crazy like that.
7/10
Burdent - Pseudoflowers
Album from my friend's label, Welcome to Clydebank. You're gonna be seeing a lot of these. Idk,
it's alright. It's fairly boring for a majority of the runtime up until the last couple tracks. Idk, some nice noise
nonsense if you're into that. Which I am but I can never find myself in the mood forthis one.
6/10
The B-52's - The B-52's
Another one of those really early CDs I bought before I had developed my taste much. It's
good though, for some reason it gives me Residents vibes. Grew up with Rock Lobster. Rock Lobster's still the best
song here.
7/10
The B-52's - Live In The Studio January '78
One of the earliest CDs in my collection. Picked this up on my first trip to my local
Half-Price Books. Well, my first trip where I was actively looking for CDs, I've been there before because it's just
a convenient place for books in general. This is weird cause it's like a bootleg CD of a live radio broadcast. It's
mostly just stuff from their self-titled album, but you know what, it's pretty good, I might like it more than the
album itself. The B-52's have that same pet peeve that I picked up on the last one though where I get that their
songwriting isn't supposed to be taken seriously, but I still really don't like a lot of it. Not BECAUSE it's not
serious, but because I really just don't like the way they word things, you know what I mean? Not totally sure how to
describe it but it sounds like something that would come out of an old high school. And also Rock Lobster is still
the best track, it has so many more layers than every other track, it's crazy. Ends really awkwardly
7/10
Can - Ege Bamyasi
Rest in Piece to the great Damo Suzuki, you absolutely will be missed. Classic album, has
been in my listening rotation for a long long time ever since I heard my dad play Vitamin C while running on the
treadmill at some point in elementary school. Spoon is also an amazing track. The rest of the tracks I initially
didn't care as much about, but they've definitely grown on me over the years. Not the best album in the world, but an
absolute classic for a reason. I got this at Half Price Books? Hmm, I don't remember doing that. I don't really
remember where I got this though to be honest.
8/10
Can - The Lost Tapes 1968-1975
Ok so I used to have a cheap external CD drive that up until pretty recently worked just fine
until it started having lots of problems burning, then much later on, lots of problems reading. When I got to
college, I took the opportunity to get a new drive and keep the old one for mini / shaped CDs since the new one
can't play those. Anyways, this is a fairly recent CD acquisition, got it in England, but not so recent that I
ripped it with my new drive. No, this was when the old drive was first starting to show problems, so I got to Oscura
Primavera and about halfway through, the CD skipped and just started playing a random part of Waiting for the
Streetcar. Now this is my first listen-through of the album, so I thought they were maybe doing like a cool Sigur
Rós thing and including a track where the master totally just crapped out, but nope, that's just my CD drive. So
idk, I'll have to skip this for now and listen to it when I get back home since I didn't bring my CDs to college
with me.
ANYWAYS that was a stupid road block, but I finally just listened to it on Spotify anyways and... yeah no I
wanted to like this so bad, but this was either laughably bad or boring, with some good parts in the second half.
Nice hearing a longer version of that suite from Vitamin C and Oscura Primavera is an awesome track and that's about
it. These ideas are REALLY half baked and the more memorable ones are the particularly awful ones. Waiting for the
Streetcar, Deadly Doris, and Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore respectively. Yeah, you'll notice that these lyrics
are also a lot more sexually charged for whatever reason? Idk, it's nice to have these bonus things but I genuinely
don't want to listen to it.
4/10
Can - The Singles
And, just so you know I don't just suddenly hate Can, this one was really good. Of course it
has some of the best parts from Ege Bamyasi and a couple awesome parts from Tago Mago (though Halleluwah deserves the
full 18 minutes). Even some of the more gimmicky tracks like Silent Night and Hoolah Hoolah went unreasonably hard. A
couple iffy tracks here and there but there's 20 of them and it's a fantastic listen. Last night when I listened to
this it was a really nice temperature outside and I tried to fall asleep in a chair at night to it.
8/10
Can - Soon Over Babaluma
Continues a bit of the tropical vibe off of Future Days but sans Damo Suzuki for the first
time (if you don't count Monster Movie... or Delay). Still super quiet and super subtle, but I think I might like it
a little more actually... Idk, I grew up with Future Days but I recently relistened to it and thought it didn't hold
up nearly as well as I remember it. Feels a bit like it's trying too hard to be this very specific thing. This album
however has none of that and it's just straight niceness. The one big problem is that it fades into the background
extremely easily.
7/10
Can - Soundtracks
Not sure what these are soundtracks for, could probably do with some research on my part but
eh. I like this one, not the best thing in the world, but some solid jams. Gets a little generic classic rock / psych
rock at parts, but you know what, it's good.
7/10
Caroliner Rainbow Susans And Bruisins - The Cooking Stove Beast
(Filed under "Caroliner"). Oh, it's been a long time since I listened to this one in
particular. Bought this CD off of Discogs and came to a bit of a surprise at the package I got. Notice how it's a
slab of cardboard with the lyrics sheet glued on the back and a couple things glued on the front including a generic
CD sleeve. It's definitely something Caroliner WOULD do, but it looks a lot different from other pictures of this CD
I've seen online. Most notably, the one I have is for some reason painted in their bright neon day-glo colors while
pictures online I've seen are all white and blue like the disc art. I mean look, this is
obviously pretty different and arguably a lesser package. Maybe I should get another one? Maybe someone made this
themselves but I have no clue why anyone would do that? Either way, it still makes for a fine package I guess.
Anyways, I heard about this band from my dad who owns three of their vinyl records: Rise of the Common
Woodpile, I'm Armed with Quarts of Blood, and Sell Heal Holler. He's missing the outer sleeve for Sell Heal Holler
though because one time his mom came over and started cleaning and thought it was trash. Funny. Later on on our trip
to Chicago, he found Transcontinental Pinecone Collector at Reckless. I still need a few of their CDs myself, namely
Rise of the Common Woodpile, Rings on the Awkward Shadow Sides 3 and 4 (for some reason??), and Wine Can't Do It, Wife
Won't Do!. Actually, not that many! Though that last one is super hard to find and for some equally strange reason to
Rings on the Awkward Shadow, the one on Bandcamp is one of the two vinyl records and one of the two CDs. Their whole
thing is crazy uncanny music combined with arguably the best packaging of all time, I am absolutely in love with
their handcrafted vinyl sleeves and CD packaging. Especially since I began my collection watching Gozer's Den's videos on unique CD packaging (you'll
see I have acquired a few of those he showed in this video series later on). Also, while I revisit home in a couple
days for Spring Break (yes, it's been that long since I started this project and I'm only beginning the letter C),
I should make a video about my favorite CDs. Expect that to come soon...
As for the music on the CD, it's literally just a recording of the vinyl which is awesome. I think I manually
split apart the tracks in Audacity. It's not two tracks either, it's just one 50 minute track. Complete with a
minute of silence with record pops at the end. The album is also really awesome. Huge Gunset might be their best
track it's actually kinda close to post rock. Couple tracks I don't like as much here and there like Ballad of
Hamdrags but I remember listening to this all the time a few years ago when I got it.
8/10
Caroliner Rainbow Fingers Of The Underground & Their Unbreakable Bones - The Sabre Waving Saracen Wall
(Filed under "Caroliner"). Without a doubt the coolest CD in my collection in terms of
packaging, look at this damn thing. For some reason I didn't like this too much when I first heard it, but upon
relisten, yeah it's awesome. It's a lot different from their albums in the sense that it doesn't have that insane
lofi filter over it the whole time, so it's the only one of their albums that actually properly sounds good. Other
than that though, compositionally it's the same stuff, if not a bit more room for noise (akin to Sell Heal Holler or
Transcontinental Pinecone Collector) than before here. Love it.
8/10
Caroliner - Toodoos
Oh yeah, I bought all these Caroliner albums second-hand online if that wasn't obvious (which
it no longer is since Grux started selling some overstock copies on Bandcamp recently actually). Maybe the 2nd
coolest CD I own in terms of packaging, it's hand-painted and huge and everything! Really is like owning a piece of
art. And what makes this album different from the others it's almost entirely organ and vocals with some guitar and
drums only rarely making an appearance. This one's also super lofi so all the organ wails end up sounding like
Ramleh more than anything. And that's awesome because I love Ramleh. And I love Caroliner. So therefore it's awesome.
8/10
Caroliner - An 1800s Affectuant In An Instrumental Revue
From the title you can guess, it's an all instrumental album! Well, for the most part,
there's still a couple vocal shouts / hollers in the mix here and there, but no lyrics sheet or anything attached so
for all you know, they're just really good at replicating vocals with industrial sounds. Also Caroliner's only
CD-only release, there's no vinyl counterpart to this! Sonically, it's pretty similar to Toodoos with lots of organs
and more Ramleh-esque melodic noise stuff. Way more drums and guitars than Toodoos though. Also there's a lot less
distinct songs on here. Every track is Untitled and they'll often just abruptly start and end in the middle of a
recording. The keen ear will also notice a couple recordings are just alternate takes from pre-existing albums. Good
album, but nothing transcendent you know?
7/10
DJ Banana Peel - Katajungle Megamix
(Filed under "Carrion"). Given to me in a package of other WTC stuff, probably for our
annual birthday trade. This one looks cool but I don't listen to it often. It's a DJ
Mix, it's decent. Idk, I don't totally care
for
DJ mixes
that much.
6/10
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker - Koksofen
So weird story right, I'm on my way to pre-school which is about a 20 minute drive from where
I lived. I'm picking music on my dad's iPod touch in the car and because I had asked him what this is before, I put
on his copy of Fuck De Boere by Peter Brötzmann (who if you didn't know, is the father of Caspar). I don't know, I
think I
thought it was
funny, but I also
liked it,
though upon relisten, I don't think I actually remember listening to it? I just remember playing it, you know how it
is. I was a weird kid anyways, I put on stuff my dad just had, I found out about Kevin Drumm the same way (but I
specifically thought Sheer Hellish Miasma was funny cause it sounded like a really long fart [I was four okay?]).
In the same spirit, I also got obsessed with Einstürzende Neubauten and they were my far my favorite band at that
time. I would watch all their live videos on YouTube and eventually I got to this one that's no longer completely
on YouTube (but snippets of it are) with
Einstürzende Neubauten, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker, and Wire. It was a really cool performance too because they did
this thing where all three bands were set up on three different stages at once and they would SEAMLESSLY transition
between bands like they were part of the same song. Really something you need to see to believe, I'll try to do
some digging for that full performance later. Anyways, I found it crazy impressive (in the clip I linked above)
that Caspar Brötzmann was just doing this rock thing and then in the middle of it he just stops everything and
starts banging on his guitar for a few minutes. Not my first introduction to noise, but my first real introduction
to noise performance and boy was I hooked. I never really looked further into Caspar Brötzmann, but I kept my
name in the back of my mind until fast forward many years later, I found The Tribe on my trip to London and this
one a little later (Recycled Books maybe?).
Pretty good stuff too. I'm not so into drone metal so the closest thing I can compare it to is like Boris but
German, but I liked it. Particularly the last track for being the strangest.
7/10
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker - The Tribe
Yes... the Reckless Records in London. I completely forgot that's a place I went to until I
saw the little info sheet I kept with it. This one's better than the last one by a little bit, I found parts of this
to be way more memorable.
8/10
Cathode Ray Mission - Cathode Ray Mission
Also in the annual birthday trade with WTC! And a lot more where that came from cause I have
30 of these or something. This one is Stockport Swimming Team + Deep Fried Ice. It's alright, nothing too special,
it's kinda an average noise album. The little squeals on the last track remind me of Kevin Drumm's Earrach. It's nice
to have, but not really an album I'm too fond of.
6/10
Cathode Ray Mission - Digital Datura
For the most part, much less interesting than the previous release, though there are some
cool standout moments here and there UNLIKE the previous release. Notably small sections where a melody shines or
they do something more like vaporwave or even like Oval (such as in Dada Color). Still overall just kinda decent
though.
6/10
CDR - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I know he's quite the controversial figure right now, and rightfully so. I don't like the
guy, I'm not going to buy any more of his music, but these CDs, the ones I already have, aren't his anymore, they're
mine.
Well, now that I'm here, I should take some time to approach this subject with nuance. I feel like it should
just immediately go without saying that listening to an artist doesn't automatically mean I support them, but then I
have to weigh things like whether I want to scrobble this on last.fm or not. At the end of the day, if I want to
claim that I use last.fm for statistics first and not as a social media, then obviously it would be hypocritical not to
count these just because I think it would make me look bad. And yes, I am worried about how I look to others, I
never said I don't have issues to work out. Part of me believes I wouldn't have to say the same things if I were
listening to say Car Seat Headrest or Sweet Trip or Sewerslvt or Kanye West even, but people nowadays have much more
awareness about the content they consume and I think it would be hard for me to listen to those albums without thinking deeply
about the personal connections to them. But the reason I'm approaching this one in particular with so much care is
because I and people I know KNEW the guy you know what I mean? Like especially by the point this information came
out, I was starting to talk with him semi-regularly online, my record label released one of his albums, he was on
my big compilation, Happiness Doesn't Exist was being discussed as releasing on RDC Records... Hell, I ran a list
on rateyourmusic where I tried to listen to and rank EVERYTHING he's released, and I got about 200 releases in! It's
definitely a much more direct betrayal than just finding out some artist you liked was a bad person. Either way
though, at the end of the day, music is music. Don't
get it twisted, I absolutely do not encourage supporting the guy financially or giving him a platform (if you haven't
listened to this yet, probably a good idea not to, it's not like there's not other good music out there), but I grew
up with this stuff, I still get this shit stuck in my head. Another part that makes it a little different is this
guy's whole aesthetic was the 'lolicore' thing, and that actually did play a role in the grooming incident (see
quote "i am a lolicon and you are a nice teen and have beautiful legs. lately ppl dislike lolicon person , mostly
some usa breakcore ppl hates them") so it does really call into question whether or not endulging in this genre is
totally harmless. I DO think you could reasonably justify Japanese people having a different idea of what a 'loli'
is given that the 'lolita' aesthetic (which is even MORE of a direct reference to the book) has taken on a whole new
meaning over there (see Lazhward's music not really having anything to do with CDR's version of a lolicore
aesthetic and more just being anime-sthized [i'm not describing this well, but you know Lazhward's shit is not
borderline pedophilia in any way]). And idk, I did believe along with many others in the community that you could
make music about borderline pedophilia if you approached the topic with nuance and used it more as a metaphor or
for clever shock value (see Goreshit). Idk, I've had to have this debate a thousand times by now. Ultimately it
doesn't affect me.
As for the album... well, what do you want me to say, I love it. I'm not going to listen to it nearly as
often as I once did because nowadays it does give me a bit of a sick feeling, but that doesn't really change the
album. The pure lolicore tracks aren't AS good as I remember, but I'm genuinely mad that upon relisten, the live set
is still one of the best things I've ever heard. And Enyakore still goes unreasonably hard.
9/10
GUNSLINGER-R - The Best Of GUNSLINGER-R
(Filed under "CDR"). [BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Now more than ever does this music raise a lot of questions (please excuse the following personal rant, these
entries aren't supposed to be completely serious reviews as I'm sure you've already gathered, see the comment on one
of my rateyourmusic lists "this page is an absolute disaster of a mix of actual useful info, unhinged and unrelated
rants no one asked for, and album reviews. Please stick to one, preferably the first one.") I have to ask now,
what is the obsession with anime girls? Is it just as simple as men are monsters? Is that really just it? Do we as
a society have to just tell people men are inherently different, because that just seems unfair, but by God if
the market for anime girls doesn't prove it to some extent... there's a lot of things I will never understand.
Every day for me, the phrase "all heterosexual sex is illogical" seems more correct. Not that I identify as
homosexual or even asexual, I don't, I'm fairly heterosexual (minus a couple odd things I'm not going to go
into specifics about which you can consider 'copium', whatever). I'll never really understand the obsession our
society has with gender, I'll never really understand how someone can care about something so boring and trivial.
And I guess that shows my privilege a bit since it's obvious I've never had to deal with gender dysphoria.
Someone once described dysphoria to me as if you think you'd be happier as the opposite gender, that's probably
a sign you should transition. And while I do think I would be happier as a girl, it's not because I would be
inherently at peace with myself because I feel I am in the right body, no; the only reason I think I would be
happier as a girl is because I notice girls have really tight-knit support systems for each other and feel way
more comfortable approaching each other for conversation than they do with guys (for good reason) or guys do
with each other and I am intensely lonely so I think that would help me out. It could also be a 'grass is
greener' situation where it turns out it's just the fact that I'm bad at talking to people and look inherently
standoffish is why people don't talk to me though. I don't like the way I look, but that's more dysmorphia than
dysphoria. I don't have any answers as to how I could improve the way I look to myself, it's just I inherently
get grossed out when looking in the mirror, I think it's a fairly normal thing? Same thing as I don't like
hearing my own name and it always throws me off when people say it. Not that any other name wouldn't do that, I
just have a natural aversion towards myself.
What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, this album is all anime girls. And it is probably the best version
of that there could possibly be, but I have to raise the questions now because God almighty what have you done. I
don't understand CDR. He is good at music and that's just that. He's not special. He's in fact less than special
cause he grooms kids, but you can still be good at something. Idk I'm being overdramatic, I've justified myself like
a thousand times already, I just have bad anxiety issues and am worried somebody is going to be mad at me for
listening to this again. And also I just want to take some time to organize my thoughts, kinda like I'm journaling
(but it's public, oh no.) FUTURE JOB RECRUITERS PLEASE LOOK AWAY.
9/10
CDR - Imachigacchatteru
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Yes, this is a really good noise album. Kinda reminds me of the Hanatarash 5 CD I also have as well as some
obvious Merzbow influence. A lot of crazy digital sample manipulation just thrown in there as well so it creates this
super weird digital-analogue juxtaposition you don't hear often. This one came in an art edition where unique copies
were spray painted by a separate artist who I forgot the name of (and whose existence is now no longer archived on
the Bandcamp page).
8/10
CDR - Maximum Japanese Acid House Rave Shit Vol.1
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
This one had really cool packaging, it was like this really cool looking art plastered onto a 12" record
sleeve with the CD just taped on a jewel case tray inside. He also gave me a massive folder just filled with random
papers, as seen on the back. Ok so we've
listened to all the really good
ones now. This one's
just alright
(and it looks like I have like
7 more just alright ones). At least I have to skip over some for now. I think some of the production on this was really
good but it lasted for a pretty long time which wouldn't have been so much of a problem if you didn't have to listen to basically every song twice.
last.fm people are crazy
6/10
CDR - Punie Trax 2019-2021
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
This one's sorta a Various Artists compilation, but it's under just the CDR album artist name, so I'm not
gonna count it. (And I guess it's more like a remix album, but instead of remixing CDR's songs, they're all remixing
the same anime song, save for the last two which are a different anime song, one which I actually recognize (only
because its been sampled in a LOT of songs including Purple Drank by Kola Kid) and I *think* is from Lucky Star?). All
of them are super loud, noisy, and
chaotic, just
as God
intended. When I said
"we've listened to all the really good ones now," I forgot about this one. wUB.Man69's remix is the best.
I should also mention I really don't understand the appeal of Lucky Star. Or for that matter, any of its sister
shows (minus
Nichijou, I like Nichijou).
8/10
CDR - 名称未設定
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Came with a T-Shirt with the same artwork on it. Of course, I don't wear the shirt anymore. CD-only so this
isn't anywhere online
except maybe soulseek. I have to skip this one for now
because I don't have this downloaded and I'm not home right now (at college).
Give me like 6 weeks or so?
EDIT: Ok, I listened to it now that I'm home for (one month of) the summer. Pretty mid album, though I can't
help but like some parts of it. It is *really* haphazardly shoved together and some of the tracks have a bit of charm
in that sense, I don't know.
6/10
CDR - 治療
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
I remember I bought this one specifically because it looked different from everything else he made. I
remember particularly liking the messy packaging. This
is a much more
experimental release. I guess you can compare it
more
to
modern classical music, but
there are still a couple acid improvisations on here? I much more like the modern classical side of it, track 3 is a
wonderful standout. A huge chunk of this album is very boring though.
6/10
CDR - 2020.12.5 Demo
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Some hard-hitters here. Didn't feel nearly as forced together as the previous album did and was pretty
consistent in quality. Something really satisfying about the way these are mixed.
7/10
CDR - 2021.1.12 Demo
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
I mean like the last one, the mixing is still really satisfying, but this was a maddeningly boring release.
5/10
CDR - 2021.1.25 Demo
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Kinda like the first demo on this list, except less consistent. Tracks 7-9 and 12 are all great while the
rest can be a bit forgettable and fatiguing (in the vein of the demo right before this one). It's pretty good I suppose.
7/10
CDR - 2022.10
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
Decent album with tracks that are here and there in terms of quality. There's a few tracks you have to listen
to twice because Tomato Pasta is on there twice whereas one of them's only a slight variation of the other, and the
live set has a bunch of tracks from the album. The screaming in that live set is kinda cool but gets annoying really
fast.
6/10
CDR - 2022.12
[BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE REVIEW OF CDR's ALBUM
ENTITLED 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT].
This one rocks a bit. I really like the last track.
7/10
Cement Tea - Papayacaviar
This is one of the coolest packaged CDs in my collection. First CD from Reactionary Records
(alphabetically, I got other CDs from them before this). They usually do these crazy spray-painted mini CDrs in
Biohazard bags (as you'll see later), but for this one they did this crazy cool mini-CD plastic digipak thing that
I've never seen before, it's actually crazy cool. PLUS they packaged a huge fold-out poster with it and a bunch of
stickers. The EP is good, it's high-production dark drum'n'bass tracks. The first and last tracks sounds like pretty
average CDR tracks, but the middle two are great. I like it.
7/10
Charlemagne Palestine - Karenina
Found this on my most recent CD trip to End of an Ear Records in Austin! Had to walk like 15
minutes from the bus to the place next to the highway though. My first time actually walking directly next to a
highway for that long and wow, the road is deafening. I now know what they mean by "noise pollution". Anyhow, was
excited to finally find my first Charlemagne Palestine CD because I had known about this guy for a while and really
liked his art and some of his minimalist piano philosophies. This album in particular however is incredibly annoying.
It starts out with this harmonium drone, and then he starts off-key singing along to it and I'm like "haha, that's
awesome, I can't wait to see how this builds up" because I've liked this sort of off-key singing before and thought
it could really work if built up into something greater... and no it does not build up at all. He sings more than
one note, but damn does his singing-in-tongues get annoying over the course of two hours. Nothing changes except for
the incredibly boring and cyclical meandering of the singing and harmonium notes. Hope to hear something better
from him one of these days but damn, I don't like this. I mean I don't have my problems with unchanging things, but
this is a sound that lasts for like two minutes at most.
3/10
PREMATURE ᐖ DODO ⌼ CASINO - .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,
(Filed under "CHAOS//BARISTA"). Also incredibly cool packaging! Packaged in a napkin that
you're supposed to "throw away" (no, why would I do that???) and it's the craziest, grimiest thing of all time.
Really fits the music too. Extremely loud, EXTREMELY dense glitch/breakcore music. It's actually so dense that it's
hard to pay attention to a single thing that goes on and it gets super muddy super easily and just sorta fades into
the background as a result. Probably requires multiple listens to truly understand, but for now, 7/10.
Oh also, this was on WTC as well! Though just the digital version, this CD was made by Caybee, not by
Stockport Swimming Team.
7/10
Cheer-Accident - Babies Shouldn't Smoke
Aah, Cheer-Accident, the next sizable chunk in my CD collection. I should own more of their
stuff, but they tend to be a little expensive (and not always the greatest packaging either). Quite literally been
with me my entire life, the first band I ever knew about (alongside Aphex Twin) from putting King Cheezamin on that
playlist from when I was 2 or 3 years old. I thought that song was funny cause they go "Wahhh" at the end. It still
is funny actually, such a stupid but genius song. Needless to say, they're one of my favorite bands of all time and
while I didn't exactly grow up with this album in particular, it is insanely good. Complex, hilarious, filled to the
brim with the weirdest production choices (see 1:06 in "When Clowns Go Bad") and somehow also managing to create the
most insanely catchy tunes. I love Chicago. I love Cheer-Accident. This album is a must-listen.
9+/10
Cheer-Accident - Chicago XX
YET ANOTHER BRILLIANT CHEER-ACCIDENT RECORD NEED I SAY MORE. Cheer-Accident has certainly
*changed* through its nearly 40 years of activity, though that's to be expected. None of their recent stuff is nearly
as bombastic or ambitious as their earliest material (listening to this immediately after Babies Shouldn't Smoke is
so jarring), but part of that's because everyone's in their 60s at this point. But for their 2020 release, Chicago
XX, Cheer-Accident shows that what they're missing in math rock crazanity, they can make up for (well, for the most
part) in brilliant songwriting and actually good production this time. And of course, the instrumentation is still
hella impressive.
Also sounds like a This Heat record so...
9/10
Cheer-Accident - Fades
Hmmm... You know, Cheer-Accident has had an INCREDIBLE 40 year run. And while their new music
is certainly different, a lot of it still massively holds up. This album though is what I believe to be the ONE dud
in the mainline Cheer-Accident discography (I mean there are a couple early albums I also don't like as much like
Sever Roots Tree Dies or Dumb Ask or Salad Days (blasphemous opinion, I know), but still, both of those are 7/10s). I
guess sonically, it's
pretty similar to the
instrumentation and
writing of Chicago XX, but you know, noticably worse. There are quite a few songs on here that sound like a fairly
generic indie rock band (see I'm Just Afraid and Trying to Comfort Mary). There's still some good here, especially
the first couple tracks start the whole thing off really strong. But there's just so much they don't do on this
album. It's not stripped back in a creative way like The Why Album, it feels more like boring, meandering
songwriting excercises. And Trying to Comfort Mary has the worst lyrics I've ever heard from the group (though I
guess it is just a CD bonus track). Still not BAD, but just nothing compared to anything else they've released.
6/10
Cheer-Accident - Fear Draws Misfortune
Ok, so for some reason I had these WAY out of order, so I'm actually listening to this AFTER
Gumballhead the Cat, but whatever. Comes with an OBI strip which I think is a first for a Cheer-Accident CD (if you
don't count Riddler EP by their offshoot band, You Fantastic!). If you told me this was your favorite Cheer-Accident
album, I would understand, but I would certainly disagree (even if Introducing Lemon wasn't the obvious correct
choice). A modern Cheer-Accident album (Cuneiform
Records!)
that is
actually a return to the crazy complex prog rock they're known for on albums like Introducing Lemon. But idk, this
one doesn't do it for me as easily. Don't get this wrong, the great moments are great, but they're nothing like the
beginning of Find or anything.
EDIT: I figured out what it is that modern Cheer-Accident doesn't have that older Cheer-Accident does: Tape
manipulation. Older Cheer-Accident does all this stupid, but genius production stuff like putting a voicemail
critical of their band before blast beats, or the "Yo!" in When Clowns Go Bad, or having an entire track on Enduring
the American Dream in the left ear, or chopping in pieces of other tracks in Driving a Nail with a Clock or A Hate
Which Grows... the only example of modern Cheer-Accident doing anything close to that is the last portion of Language
Is off Putting Off Death, and even that's only to a certain extent. I miss that. I want more of that weird stuff
Thymme!
8/10
Cheer-Accident - Fringements 01
A series of old recordings... they've been putting out a lot of these lately. Is that guy on
the first track the same guy who was talking about Gene Krupa at the end of Babies Shouldn't Smoke? Hey, track 3 is
also from that album, The Butterfly Effect to be specific! Also some obvious outtakes from Not A Food, Enduring the
American Dream, the White Album, Introducing Lemon, probably others I missed. I think there's even parts of
Chicago XX on that last track? That's about the whole album, random clips
sometimes from
other stuff, sometimes not. Also some really funny improvisational jams like Smokeshake (which unlike the Can ones
are ACTUALLY funny). Tainted Love on track 23 for some reason lol.
7/10
Cheer-Accident - Gumballhead The Cat
So this one comes in a 7-inch-sized comic book, like the ones that came with the label's
singles. The album is conceptually supposed to be a soundtrack for said comic book, but it seems like mostly
improvised stuff (though there are obvious alternate takes on a few of their archival albums). Despite that, the
material on this album is AMAZING. Melodically awesome and with some really nice through lines. Definitely worth a
listen.
9/10
Cheer-Accident - Logic Is An Infant
Fun thing about this one, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be cassette only. At least, that's
how it appeared to be advertised. I noticed later on that the label, Haha, was offering a CD version of it too! Part
of me wants to believe the band doesn't even know about this... It took a little while to get here because
apparently they ran out of supplies and make this stuff made-to-order. The album itself is a "DJ
Mix" (or I guess two mixes) of old unreleased stuff, Fringements style. Although these ones sound a lot more
intentionally-recorded. Also part of me believes this is during the Gumballhead the Cat recording sessions (though I
know Cheer-Accident has ideas they'll work with for years before they actually make it onto an album, at least in
their old days). Some good stuff here and there, that's usually how these types of releases go. Nothing really
special about it other than use of the same synth sound in You're It Motherfucker from Gumballhead the Cat (which
also made an appearance in Fringements 01).
7/10
Cheer-Accident - No Ifs, Ands, Or Dogs
Got this as a Christmas present one year a while back. I was supposed to also get a copy of
What Sequel? but they just sent us two of these, one of which my dad holds because he's totally gonna send it back
any day now (it's been years). Funny enough, that one had an equally large crack across the middle. I don't think
this one came with the crack though, I think it did that from me squishing my collection too hard (I have them packed
in the shelf like sardines, I'm running out of space, I need to be more careful). Another time, I actually found a
copy of this at the big Dallas Half-Price Books. Same time, I found Zoviet France's Collusion, though my dad
already owns it so I didn't get it. And then a couple years
later at the same location, I found Yona-Kit LP, though again,
my dad already owns it. What a crazy Half-Price Books, though my most recent trip there was notably boring and all I
found was John Zorn.
Couple other fun (not fun) stories about getting the wrong CD.
Was supposed to get a
Zoviet France CD for Christmas, don't know which one (might've been the Fossil Aerosol Mining split which would've
been insanely cool, but alas) and instead my dad got sent a Mexican classical guitarist solo album. In a Super jewel
case tho which is a little neat. Also apparently he ordered a CD (also for a Christmas) from Ø (Mika Vanio solo
project) and just... straight up lost it? Still haven't found it years later so... maybe he got confused and THAT was
the one that got the classical guitar CD sent by mistake. This one time I also ordered a Locust CD and just got a
Calexico one instead. Not only that, but they shipped it the worst possible way I've ever seen. Not just a paper
envelope, but the jewel case was just wrapped in one layer of paper. Needless to say, each of the four corners were
their share of smashed-in. You'll get to see that CD later on in the list (in the splits section because I found out
there was another artist on it too).
Despite me owning this one for so long, I've never actually properly listened to it all the way through. A
few tracks here and there, but that's about it. I thought this was gonna be their most accessible album and basically
just sound like Fades, but a little older, but no, this thing is awesome. It's really silly and goofy (see track 2)
and just has a lot of weirdo instrumentation in it. Ranging from their classic setup to probably the only time
they've used electronic everything for a track. Some really cool moments here and there as well. Post-somnia sounds
like Don Caballero. Cynical Girl could really pass as a sitcom theme song. Not my favorite thing in the world yet,
but I could see my thoughts on this rising in the future with more listens
8/10
Cheer-Accident - Putting Off Death
Found this at Reckless Records on my one trip to Chicago. Usually finding Cheer-Accident in a
record store would be a huge deal, but this is Reckless Records, they're basically required to have one in stock at
all times. Also, this is by and large the best modern Cheer-Accident album. Fantastic instrumentation, fantastic
performance, fantastic lyricism. It doesn't 100% sound like Cheer-Accident, especially when they do things like
prominently use marimba and saxophone on More and Less, but trust me, this thing is incredible. Just a smidge of a
point off for lyrics that are just a wee bit "look how deep we are", but other than that, a must-listen album of
theirs.
9/10
Cheer-Accident - Trading Balloons
And with that, I'm done with my partial Cheer-Accident binge, what a fun one. This one's
probably their weirdest release. Originally, it came in the Gene Krupa 12 inch sleeve shown on the cover, but it was
an unlabelled CDr packaged with a random LP. I thought that version was only given out with shows but I might be
Mandela-effecting myself since the Discogs page appears to not say that AND there's three copies for sale??? They're
all a tad expensive, but still, might have to get one in the future... this is another one where I could understand
if you told me it was your favorite, it's this huge long track with a bunch of guest stars but... no. It's good, but
nothing really happens. And the entire last 20 minutes are a loop fadeout. It's a good loop, but still, definitely
not their best work. I like it enough.
7/10
The Chemical Brothers - Push The Button
About a year before my trip to Amoeba that "started" my collection, there was this CD. There
were a few others as well, but I gave those away because I didn't really like them, no regrets on that part. I went
to School of Rock for drum lessons for a while in elementary and middle school. The one I went to changed owners a
few times and this one owner was particularly terrible. Not like he was a bad person (kinda), but he was just
terrible at owning the place. For this annual Halloween party, he brought over a bunch of CDs for us to just take for
free. I think he worked at a radio station? Anyways, this was one of the few I got, and one of the three I kept. The
other two I've been using for CD skipping, so they don't actually show up in this collection. This is it! I have
some mad mixed feelings on this one too. Reminds me of Radical Connector era Mouse on Mars. Some of the lyrics are
really stupid, but usually in a fun way (see "My finger is on the button"). Surface to Air though is genuinely an
amazing track.
7/10
Chevelle - This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In)
PRE-THANKSGIVING 2024 RECYCLED BOOKS PICKUP -- Chevelle was the VERY first band I ever found
on my own; when I was like 3 or so, I was looking up my favorite color, "Red", on YouTube (as you do) and found
Chevelle's The Red, a music video I quickly became obsessed with. Along with this, I also found christian band Red's
Breathe Into Me and somehow
Incubus' Warning, a music video
I vaguely remember the liminal imagery of and couldn't for the life of me remember the name of for quite literally my
entire life up until now until I just looked it up and someone thankfully answered this Reddit post
incorrectly (even though to be completely honest, the song itself isn't that great). But yes, music videos from when
I was a very young kid... watched a lot of them with my mostly unrestricted internet access, and as a result, got
really into both Red and Chevelle as a kid. But uhhhhhh my alt-metal phase ended pretty quickly in middle school
(coincidentally when I started *actually* getting into music with the discovery of Venetian Snares). Last year at
UT, on a whim, I decided to revisit Chevelle with the album Sci Fi Crimes, and DAMN it actually went incredibly
hard! Great album! So I picked up this one now that I'm "back into" Chevelle and it's mostly great as well with a
couple flaws - one: I don't like track 7, Another Know It All. two: I'm really not in love with the mastering of
this album; it's kinda muddy and unclear, and for some reason the last track is way louder than the rest of them
(or maybe it APPEARS louder because they matched audio levels with the rest of the tracks, but this is supposed to
be a quiet acoustic track so it sounds way louder than it should, a common trap mixing engineers fall into). And
this acoustic track is kinda boring, nowhere near as good as Sci Fi Crimes' one.
Still a good album though, fuck everyone who says otherwise.
7/10
Chicago Underground Duo - Synesthesia
Second most recent record store trip, and the most recent Half-Price Books trip in Austin.
Really nice free jazz record, but like a more chill version of free jazz. Not too familiar on jazz terminology, so
excuse me if that's not the exact correct term for this style of music. Lots of electroacoustic stuff in there too
which is really nice, the way the electronic melodies and percussion culminate on Labyrinth are immensely
fascinating, that being the clear standout track. I think it would need a few more listens to really *click* with me
though as aside from the first track and Labyrinth, everything on here went in one ear and out the other. 7 for now,
but I could see it rising to an 8 eventually.
7/10
chris††† - deep dark trench complete
A little three-in-one set of albums, just like Tri Repetae++. Also I love this one, it's not
exactly perfect (or that close really), but the high bass and high end timbre of it all is really uncomparable.
Nothing has ever been THIS satisfying to listen to. It's a beautiful project, a little bit of a mess, but I really
love revisiting it from time to time (even if no lives matter is better). And the other two EPs are pretty much just
as good, though sacrificial lamb is a bit weird how offbeat and haphazard some of the material gets, and of course
the bsides album is pretty unfocused.
deep dark trench: 8/10
sacrificial lamb: 7/10
deep dark trench bside: 7/10
Clark - Clark
Hey, here's another one I have to re-rip! Apparently my old CD ripper didn't like this one
either and it's basically just as unlistenable as the Can Lost Tapes. For now, I'll just be listening on Spotify
like I did with that one, I'll make a note that I have to rerip this on my google doc. When looking through
Warp
Records'
catalogue, this
guy
caught my eye and when I
found him
in the record store (Half Price Books, don't remember which one or when exactly I got this though), I decided to
try it out. It's good, but it's not exactly my cup of tea. It's a lot more dubby and wubby than I usually like my
electronics. Respect it though.
7/10
Cock E.S.P. - Cassetteworks 2 2005-2012
Sometimes, it's a shame that I never properly dated WHEN I got my hands on a CD, because I
have to awkwardly insert new CDs alphabetically in the middle of a bunch of older reviews. And when I say something
like "yesterday", I doubt any of you will have any frame of reference on when that is. Anyways, yesterday I went to
an all power-electronics show at Rubber Gloves, was fantastic. 6 acts, I don't think I single person played for over 15
minutes, very short night. This guy there, Glasgow Smiles, apparently runs his own harsh noise label, Burial
Recordings, and was selling some of their CDs there. So now I finally have a Cock E.S.P. CD in my collection. Was
selling this for only 5$ and he gave me two other CDs for free too, along with two stickers and a pin, so I call that a
win. Someone on Discogs is currently trying to sell this CD for $40 which is funny because it's so obviously a Kunaki
CDr and you can still buy them on Burial Recordings' website I think.
I have said this before and will say it again, I don't like the analog cassette tape sound, it makes me
sleepy. No, I can't really explain it further than that, I think it has something to do with the way the audio tends
to sound more muddy and mushy. This album has some pretty cool noises, you can definitely hear how Sam Fauchon was
inspired, that's for sure. Some funny titles with references that only I would get. Symphony #3 (Gloryhole) is
definitely a Glenn Branca reference. It's a good album.
7/10
Cody Brant - Just between you, me and the wall
From the most recent birthday trade with Stockport Swimming Team's label, Welcome to
Clydebank! My birthday's in a few days, we actually did this early (in the first portion of March) to account for the
Christmas that we missed. Maybe I'll do another big secret santa next year though, who knows. I surprisingly liked
this a lot. I know I've been not the most kind to this label's catalogue just yet. Part of that is I sat through
about 50 hours of the label's material a while back, most of which has since been privated, and a lot of it has the
same styles as the new material; cut-up, lofi, muddy sound collage. That's all well and good, I'm just very very
tired of that sound and probably will never hear it the same way. This though, while it does very much fit the
label's aesthetic, it has an unprecedented amount of melody and heart to it that I can't really describe. Part of me
wants to compare this to nondi_'s Flood City Trax, but without the beats. It's a really weird atmosphere that's
heightened by the sound collage elements like CD Skipping I easily fall for. Will for sure return to this one.
8/10
Continuum Percussion Quartet - Percussion Works By Cage, Harrison, Rouse, Kurtz, Bazelon, Verplanck
Hmm... I like percussion, I like John Cage... figured I would like this. Plus the little
library stamp thing in the booklet is fun. Yeah, this is just alright. It's mostly the same anvil and bass drum and
snare drum sounds the whole time without much interesting going on. Sounds a bit like watching one of the more
forgettable
songs from my high school percussion concerts on a loop.
6/10
Cosmos - Tears
Recent Discogs buy with Christmas money -- Really interesting piece with some pretty
unparallelled performance gimmicks (and you know I love me some unparallelled performance gimmicks). I think it's
definitely a worthwhile experience, though not exactly something I'd return to often. Maybe I'd have to re-evaluate
this with more listens...
7/10
Cracked Dome - Contemplation And Despair
Woah, this is one of the better harsh noise wall releases I've heard. I got this CD in the
'cheap Discogs noise CDs' experiment, and this one, while the packaging is a little lackluster (not a fan of the
ultra-thin, ultra-tiny mini CDr PVC sleeve) was for sure worth it. I like harsh noise wall, but I *generally* never
rate it above a 7 because it's usually just a nice experience while doing homework or something. But I really like
this texture, and love how it turns to this synthetic rain sound near the end. It's a really nice sound, will for
sure come back to it.
8/10
Crow - I Am Scat (DIY Ver)
Another WTC CD! The reason it looks so low quality actually is that by the time Christmas
rolled around and we did one of our first album trades, the real CD issue of this was already sold out, so they made
me a fun bonus edition. This version I'm pretty sure is 1/1, me being the only owner (though that's not really saying
much consider well, look at it). It's a really fun thing to have though, I love weird random CDs like this being in
my collection. So during 2021 and 2022 when EMCD was just getting off the ground (I know that technically started in
2019, but it was during those years where it REALLY started to boom), there was this artist named Crow who was
submitting a lot of releases at an impressively prolific level to all of the little netlabels in my circle. And
then they just kinda disappeared. I think they briefly came back under the name 'Butchered Soldier' and did a track
for the big EMCD compilation, then that was it. Idk, maybe people like Stockport Swimming Team who knew them
better might know if they still make music under a different name or not, but I think they were just one of those
artists who had free time during the pandemic years and then just left. There were a lot of those, art was at a
crazy level back then, I miss people just being able to produce art like that. Part of them being so prolific
though is that a lot of their music sounded like fairly basic DAW improvisations without much depth or creativity.
This album very much falls under that category. There are definitely a few things I like here, like the timbre of
the album, or some of the faster and more gabber-adjacent tracks, but it is not something special at all and
honestly feels more like a practice release.
5/10
Cube Underlord - Terror TV
Another 1/1 Bonus WTC CD! This one was a test because CDs of this album were originally going
to be made (I think), but ended up not being made? Not sure (there were a few of those in EMCD's early days as
well), but this one has no audio on it so I get to skip it...
Eh, I'll listen to the digital version of it anyways. Hmm, I don't think this was really made for me because
I didn't find it to be much more than a fairly average broken transmission release without much of a throughline or
anything to keep it interesting. It just kinda happened.
Yay, I'm done with the first page of CDs! Now, that did take like 4 months, but this first page is much
longer than any other page, just because I have a lot of large single-artists collections in these first 3 letters
for whatever reason (Animal Collective, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boris, CDR, Cheer-Accident... but the rest of them
don't have that, or at least to nearly the same extent. So while this page (at the time of April 2024) has about 150
CDs, the rest have 50-100.
6/10
Cynthia Dall - Untitled
Sorry I've been gone for a little while, I basically took a break from this project for the
entirety of my time in Tennessee. I also wasn't really buying any CDs, so I guess this WHOLE thing was on pause. I
bought this CD on my last day in Tennessee at Grimey's, not knowing at all what it was. The album art looked cool and
I saw that Jim O'Rourke was on it, so why not. I guess I would sorta describe this as freak folk? No percussion, all
strings and piano and vocals, but it's really interesting and some of these tracks, like Holland, are amazing. A
bizarre atmosphere to get lost into. Relaxing, slightly creepy.
8/10
