The TV Tropes Album Exchange Club

It's only been a day. That said, maybe it's time for the next album?

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."

Yeah, seems like it.

Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.

@Wicked - Thanks!

Also, I've decided to throw an album into this round. The album is Restored to One by Sabbath Assembly.

Funnily enough, that album's been on my radar for a (short) while now. It'll be good to finally hear it.

last.fm | RYM

Hey dudes, I went and re-read the entire thread and made a chart of the results on my sandbox page. Some conclusions: We don't like punk rock (or at least not the punk rock that's been suggested so far), and Local Broadcast by Zagar was the best-reviewed album.

And we seem reluctant to call other people's nominations bad. We'll comment directly on the album quality to say that it's mediocre, but we switch over to describing our reactions when we want to express outright negativity, i.e. "I didn't like it" rather than "This is bad".

Also this album recommendation back in round 1 somehow fell through the cracks. Granted, the guy who posted it disappeared soon afterwards, but the same can be said of several other people whose albums we listened to.

edited 26th Jan '11 9:30:25 PM by MetaFour

Wow, Local Broadcast received 9 positives, 0 negatives and 0 mehs? Just wow.

I'm very glad that you guys liked it this much.

For next round, I nominate Cannot Walk Fly Instead by Zagar. Let's see what you will think about the second Zagar album

"We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty." - Malcolm Reynolds

I'm very pleased that Quadrophenia is the most popular album of this round so far. Also, listening to Salty Dog as I type, title track is awesome so far, so its looking good!

A Salty Dog: Lovely track, but not too distinctive, the piano and the vocals are both as smooth as syrup. Drum intro was awesome, handled in much the same way as the best power ballads in the world.

The Milk of Human Kindness: Kinda meh, nice fuzz guitar though.

Too Much Between Us: Eww, not really fond of the vocals, which is a shame cause the backing instrument were pretty sweet.

The devil Came From Kansas: This song says the line "Theres a monkey on my back", thus it is awesome. Great drumming, this album is making me really want more Procul Harum in Rock Band. They weren't very good at harmonies though sadly, every time they try it just sounds messy... Decent guitar solo, but Harum weren't well known for their guitar for a reason...

Boredom: Now this is more like it, loved it! Especially that.....whatever it is solo (xylophone?). Nothing more to say really, i just really liked it.

Juicy John Pink: Simple but badass. Love the bluesy guitar and the harmonica, it sounds like a Roadhouse Blues ripoff, cept this came first! Vocals fit the blues style surprisingly well, only problem? TOO SHORT. Barely 2 minutes for one of my fav songs?! Feh.

Basically, I quite liked it a bit.

edited 1st Feb '11 5:32:49 PM by Drpepperfan

Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross Noble

Yeah, looks like I missed that one. Huh. Not sure if I should put it on the list or not.

If you're willing to do more work, it might be interesting to see reviews by member.

I don't think people saying "I don't like it" is too bad. It's a little bit weaker, but it still gets the idea across. A few people have said "I don't like it" and then haven't given a reason, which I've said before is much more insulting than just bashing the album.

Anyways, to continue. Random number generator says "1", which is Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson's self-titled album. Go ahead, Zudak.

Video Game Census. Please contribute.

Yeah, it's generally good to keep some subjectivity in album reviewing.

Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.

Well.

I listened to A Salty Dog yesterday, and other than "Boredom" it was a very mediocre album. I hesitate to say bad, because the playing was competent, and it was a very good blues-rockish album. Just not anything particularly innovative, except for that one song, which I really liked.

It was certainly very nautical, that's for sure.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

Oh, I don't either, I just thought it was interesting. I know I've done it plenty; I'm not really comfortable arguing my musical opinions, because I don't know enough music theory or music history to back most of them up. (Unless it's one of my few Guilty Pleasure albums, or a sub-par album by a band I really love {for example}, for some reason.) So it's partly fear of looking like some kind of idiot for being the only person in the room criticizing, say, Radiohead; and partly desire to be diplomatic.

Also, I guess it bears out Fast Eddie's observation that excessive positivity ticks people off less than excessive negativity does.

HAHA dearsweetzombieAnubisNO

Although I would be willing to add an overview of my own reviewing history, and you lot are welcome to add your own reviewing histories. It is a wiki page, after all.

edited 8th Jan '12 8:17:21 PM by MetaFour

I'd be interested in joining this.

Album recommendation: Pelican - What We All Come To Need

Underneath the bridge The tarp has sprung a leak And the animals I've trapped have all become my pets

You could have picked any Pelican album, and you picked that one? @__@

Eh, whatevs.

Now where did I put those links...

Ah, here they are.

edited 27th Jan '11 6:39:20 PM by Zudak

It's the only one I have >.>

edited 8th Jan '12 8:17:46 PM by MetaFour

Underneath the bridge The tarp has sprung a leak And the animals I've trapped have all become my pets

OIC. Actually, the only thing of theirs I actually own is their self-titled debut EP, but I've listened to all their albums at some point or another. I find What We All Come To Need a bit bland in comparison to their other stuff, personally. You should give their other albums a listen.

EDIT: Not seeing anything other than .rars, sorry.

edited 27th Jan '11 7:04:30 PM by Zudak

Damn.

EDIT: Okay, it looks like I found something that will let me open this on a mac.

EDIT 2: In that case, I'd like to change my suggestion to Rock And Roll Station by Nurse With Wound

edited 27th Jan '11 7:14:13 PM by LolipodDistortion

Underneath the bridge The tarp has sprung a leak And the animals I've trapped have all become my pets

I just completed my first listen of the album, and it's fairly standard third wave post-rock. Repetitive melodies, slow beginnings culminating in large crescendos, fairly good as background music and not all that much else. It's entertaining, though.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

Well, after a longer absence than was planned, I'm now back to this. Just listened to Youth Pictures, and it's...well, I can appreciate it, but I don't really like it per se. The biggest criticism I'd say is that the songs don't seem to be very different from one another at all. I couldn't really tell where one ended and the next began. It's nice to have running in the background, and at times even almost soothing, but there doesn't seem to really be any life in the music.

I'm gonna keep it, probably as something to have playing when I read, but I don't think I'll ever be able to really get into it.

edit: My suggestion for this round is "Lungs" by Florence & The Machine

edited 28th Jan '11 9:10:40 AM by balrog1911

That's a problem I have with post-rock in general.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

Hmm, interesting. I actually find Youth Pictures' melodies a lot more catchy and memorable than most. The riff from the first part of "He Can't Be Dead, I Got His Autograph Last Week" gets stuck in my head for days at a time.

edited 28th Jan '11 10:03:01 AM by Zudak

Listening to the album right now; I'm not even halfway through yet, but what I've heard so far is surprisingly awesome. Probably some of the best post-rock I've heard, actually, though that's not saying much considering my lack of expertise in the genre.

Will provide a more in-depth description when I've finished it, and possibly listened to it more.

last.fm | RYM

Yeah, I was definitely more easily impressed by stuff when I first discovered post-rock. But I think Youth Pictures are still really good in comparison to a lot of the other stuff out there. In my opinion, they manage to avoid getting too repetitive. I also like their use of vocals. While having vocals in post-rock is not unheard of (Sigur Ros, Jeniferever, and The Appleseed Cast come to mind) they're few and far between. They're tastefully applied here, I think, it suits post-rock not to bring the vocals out to the foreground but just to leave them back there with everything else. Non-intrusive, but it enhances the experience nicely.

This is rather good. Some way above the average third-wave post-rock stuff ("crescendocore"?). It's no Godspeed, not quite, but it is definitely good. I'll echo Zudak in saying that these guys are catchier than most. It's not an immediate kind of catchy, but I can definitely see a few bits of these songs getting stuck in my head after a few listens. I can tell that this is the kind of album I'll grow to like more, the more I listen to it. I Think E.T. Is Involved in My Family is my favourite of the album. It's a great example of how to do noisy post-rock very well. The League Will Never Let the Albino Kid Win is good too, that riff in He Can't Be Dead, I Got His Autograph is definitely catchier than most, and the climax in Scientists Now Think This City Is Overdue is pretty spectacular. It's a very neat way to end the album.

It doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but what it does do it does well, and better than most of the other third wave post-rock bands I've heard. I reckon I'll be giving it a few more listens for sure. I can only see it getting better.

So, uh, enlighten me here - what is "third-wave" post rock? I've never heard that term used before.

[1]

I understand that it refers to the kind of post-rock pioneered by Sigur Ròs and Explosions In The Sky.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!