The TV Tropes Album Exchange Club

Yup, I think it's time.

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

Apologies for not joining in on this album, but I really have nothing constructive to say about rap in any way. Don't know anything about it, don't really like it.

Alright, next up is 151a by Kishi Bashi. Bandcamp link.

edited 7th Apr '12 12:27:15 PM by Wicked223

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

Partway through the first track, and I think this is right up my alley.

EDIT: Oh, they've got a lead singer. He's not bad but I really liked those ethereal crowd vocals more than him.

EDIT 2, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: I feel like Kishi Bashi compiled some sort of checklist of Baroque Pop stereotypes, then deliberately crammed every single one of them into this album.

edited 7th Apr '12 1:24:35 PM by MetaFour

Hm, let's see what their page says.

Oh, my.

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

Ha, the band is a solo project of a guy named K Ishibashi. That's great.

Bookmarked for later listening.

Okay round 2. To save myself some trouble I've typed out the track names before listening. Hopefully my seething hatred of Pimp Abra will not poorly influence whether or not I like this.

321 GO.

Intro / Pathos, Pathos: Okay this is pretty okay. A little grating at times, but okay. String arrangements, huh. What sort of nonsense is this. This song is too long for me to type out all my brilliant thoughts. I'll wait until the end. Oh okay. Huh. That song was okay, it was kinda like every other "baroque pop" song I've heard. Not bad but hardly interesting.

Manchester: These lyrics make me roll my eyes so hard I'm getting dizzy. Maybe it's too deep for me but it's mad corny. Why does this guy rhyme words with itself? He's like the Waka Flocka Flame of baroque pop. As usual, the music is nice and I like the string arrangements.

Bright Whites: Man, I'm not sure what to do. I want to keep this interesting but I can't keep posting "oh this is nice" after each song. Now my damn review is gonna be more about my internal struggles and less about the music. Any way this was nice, I guess. I can't really find anything to really like about this song or really anything to hate.

It All Began With a Burst: Huh this song reminds me of animal collective. But like MPP animal collective so it's not that great of a compliment. I'm getting tired of all the clapping in these songs. I guess this song is okay.

Wonder Woman, Wonder Me: The singing and plucking in this song isn't doing me any favours. Even though the songs are certainly varied I feel as if I've heard the same song 5 times in a row. It's like these songs are poppy without being catchy. Hmm.

Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons: Well, I like the strings on this (also I can now type "i like strings" with my eyes closed) I like how spacey it gets at the end. This song might be my favourite. (Maybe because it's the shortest)

Atticus, In the Desert: I have almost nothing to say about this song. it just kinda bored me.

I Am the Antichrist to You: This is less interesting than the name implies. I forgot the song was playing at one point. This album is falling fast. I hope it at least finishes okay.

Beat the Bright Out of Me: A passable but ultimately forgettable.

Ugh. I feel like i'm being too hard on this album. It's hardly unpleasant but, it's just too poppy and boring for me. I can take one, but not both. This is not an album for me. But I understand how someone could really, really like it.

I'll be crossing my fingers that the next round doesn't feature anymore fairy music.

I'm listening to the album for the fourth time now.

Many of the vocal stylings remind me of the Beach Boys, and a few of them remind me of the Beatles. And some of them (like in "Manchester") sound like the "I'm too cool to give a damn about anything" monotone that I've come to associate with "indie" rock. "Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons" almost could have been a pre-Discovery ELO song.

I honest to goodness think I've heard everything in this album before in other albums, but it's so well-executed and put-together I don't care. If I call 151a clichéd, it's only because I like the album so much that I think it can take a little ribbing.

There's a mix of strings and synthesizers so that I can't always tell where the acoustic instruments end and the electronic ones begin.

Mr. Ishibashi does an excellent job averting both inconsistency and monotony. There's catchy, fast songs with strong beats, and there's slower, meandering songs (which struck me as tuneless on first listen, but have since grown on me). And even within those two categories, there's variety: "Manchester" is a very different beast from "Wonder Woman, Wonder Me"; ditto for "Pathos, Pathos" and "Bright Whites".

edited 9th Apr '12 11:45:11 AM by MetaFour

I wonder why he name-drops "Mr. Crowley" in the last song.

time for listenings

Oh wait this is that album you kept trying to make me listen to but I forgot to. oops.

Intro / Pathos, Pathos: Lush opening. So over produced buuuuut in a good way. They seem to have tried to include every instrument possible, it's crazy. I think they could probably have tried to pull back on the crazy production style a bit, but it's okay as it is.Especially fond of the synthy instruments and excited chorus vocals. Reminds me slightly of lighthearted 60s records like The Beatles. Wall of sound style.

Manchester: Man those are some nice string sections there. Very rich in sound. Sounds like music Cameron Crowe would be a fan of. Nice use of ukelele (bloody ukelele! that an automatic plus in my books). Nice sound.

Bright whites: Weird sampled vocals? Big acoustic guitat sounds? Drums consisting mostly of a big thumping bass? I can see why you like this so much Abra. It's totally up your aisle. On this track I'm getting more of an opinion on the singers voice. Although I wouldn't say he's paticularily good, not really a amazing voice or anything, it's perfectly fitting for the style of music, and I can hear the emotions behind it. Oooo that keyboard solo is lovely. It sure moves a lot doesnt it? It doesn't rarely stay put in one tune for too long before moving onto something else. that's nice, it has energy. Man the production is just crazy. So much going at once....

It All Began With a Burst: Not fond of this one. The bass is nice and the aye aye aye vocals remind me of Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. To be honest I wanna listen to billy Joel right now. Is this song over yet?

Wonder Woman, Wonder Me: Is that the THX sound? It certainly sounded like it. Nice electric guitar. I like that chunk chunk chunk sound. Or is that a harp. I dunno but it's nice. I'm noticing a lack of drumming on this album, most of the percussion seems to be done accapella style or with thumping bass drums. Interesting style. Nice use of harmonies and acapella vocals. I can certianly see the Beach Boys influence Meta Four mentions.

Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons: And suddenly drums. THANKS FOR PROVING ME WRONG. Well one thing can be said for this album. While it has an overall style of music, it doesn't really do anything the same twice. And suddenly HITCHHIKERS STYLE SYNTH SOLO. Has anyone played the game The dig before? Cause it has the exact same stlye of music this does. that was nice. Short but sweet.

Atticus, In the Desert: Some lovely beatles style harmonies here. Are all these harmonies done with himself? I get the feeling they are. lovely chinga changa style guitar. More acapella percussion. More lovely string backing. Oh and drums. What more can be said? Very nice. Also I should point out I haven't understoof any of the lyrics so far so if I'm missing some DEEP lyrics here I guess I'll have to listen again. Nice whistling this is all very uplifting. And those sampled string sections which once again bring to mind the Beatles.

I Am the Antichrist to You: And suddenly Enya. Not fond of this. The weird backwardish string solo at the end is nice though. And the vocals reminds me too much of Just Can't Get Enough by the Black Eyed Peas.

Beat the Bright Out of Me: Nice vocal harmonies as always. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice I can't think of much else to say sorry. Beatles style keyboards? Why of course. Reminds me of the Magical Mystery Tour/ Sgt Pepper albums. This whole album gives me beatles vibes (but that may be cause I like the beatles too much). BIG DRONE ENDING BIG DRAMATIC and things are gettign weird. Chipmunks and Soprano opera solo? why why why.

Kind of a let down of an ending but the whole thing was really nice, sorry for not believing you and listening early. Big bombastic production styley, so good. I'll probably have a listen through again listenign to the lyrics otherwise I'll get forced into doing sooooo yeah. But i Liked it. Not really my usual thing (i prefer more traditional rock/pop style setups rather than this indie rock stuff) but it was very pleasing. Wonderful harmonies and string sections which were definitely the highlights throughout.

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

Time to listen to this. I'll review as I listen on:

• Intro / Pathos, Pathos: This is interesting. I'm not familiar with true baroque pop/rock, but this has an unusual structure, starting with strings, then switching vocals more than once. The main vocals part has this indie rock feel to it, but I'm not sure if it sticks. It's very... detached. Some of the song is entrancing, but mostly the intro and outro.
• Manchester: Okay, so this is probably the typical sound of the album...probably. Not really anything I had heard. He has a soft voice. On the other hand, the strings are interesting to listen to. Now, listening closer to lyrics more. Problem is, they aren't really clear. They're not hard to listen to, it's just the singer's voice makes it difficult to make them stick in my mind. On the other hand, when things pick up in the end, I get this uplifting Coldplay vibe that is much better to listen to.
• Bright Whites: Yes, it sounds so indie, but with more strings. This has more of a folk feel, like a song I would listen to in a commercial. Hmm...the chorus can be better. But that whizzy electronic sounds in the middle are a great flourish. I couldn't focus on the lyrics, but I sense Lyrical Dissonance going on.
• It All Began With a Burst: What does the singer's voice remind me of? Along with the backing vocals. Nevertheless, I love the clapping. It adds oomph to the music. "Put your hand in the blender"? Yep, Lyrical Dissonance. There's also more of a sunrise Oriental feel in this track.
• Wonder Woman, Wonder Me: Now I'm starting to sense Wizard Of Oz in these tracks. However, I don't really like this voice more. Hmm...perhaps this is calling back to a previous era. The snapping sounds good, but...who made that little Sandman song in that Superbowl commercial? I'm getting a space feel from the lyrics that I pay attention to.
• Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons: Ooo! A fast song. It comes blazing in like a bullet tree. While those backing vocals sound to familiar, I like the fiddle-like strings. However, the song completely shifts toward more of a retro-gothic sound near the end. While that part would make good video game music...
• Atticus, In the Desert: Hmm...perhaps "Queen"? Perhaps they're baroque? Still, the chorus here is better. However, listening into the lyrics, this album is good at evoking the kind of mood the titles suggest. Nice guitar. Hmm...if I focus real hard, I can sort of melt into the music, but it's hard to maintain it. Those "oo" sounds are a bit distracting.
• I Am the Antichrist to You: Yep, Lyrical Dissonance. It's a down-beat song, but it lacks dramatics. It lures me into a mood, but the whimsiness of it all...the chorus with the title drop and the guitar almost has the dramatics.
• Beat the Bright Out of Me: Hmm...the wooden xylophone sound is interesting. Now the guitar is bouncing across my earbuds. It's building up...The chorus kicks in with force. The echo effect is cool. Now, when the vocals fade away...atomospheric music. Creepy...hmm, it's going to be a slow fade-out? Or not? Vocals fading back in. Moaning? Hmm...slow fade-out after all. Perhaps my brother would like to listen to this track, but...actually, it's calming. Just rightly so.

---

Okay, verdict:

• String instruments good.
• Lead singing interesting, familiar, but hard to listen to.
• Few lyrical moments I was able to catch were mixed. Some gold, some a bit off.
• Backing vocals are cheesy at times.
• Overall, it invites me into a mood, but it's hard to maintain that, probably because it seems too...period music.

It was an interesting experience. I might go back to listen to it, since it could grow onto me. Some of the tracks, like "Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons", I liked. But it seems too distracted at times to really get into all the way. Perhaps I should shut off my critic's mind and listen carefully when I have another chance, and then this could be a buy.

On the other hand, I am developing this feeling...

Perhaps I'm being too hard on it...

I'm not sure.

edited 11th Apr '12 7:49:38 PM by chihuahua0

I want to give this a second listen sometime soon, because I think I said too little about the first album, but first impressions: I can understand Somtt re: "fairy music" and metafour re: checklist of Baroque Pop tropes, but overall I did find it an interesting listen. To me some of the Animal Collective-ish sonic weirdness in the background keeps it from feeling too period, and the arrangements are generally very pretty without being overbearing about it. There are times where it gets entirely too fey even for me though, especially on tracks where the falsetto gets more prevalent, like "Wonder Woman Wonder Me" and "I Am The Antichrist To You". Oh, and I'd fully expect something like "Bright Whites" to start getting some airplay on my local indie-leaning rock station, but I would like it if such a thing occurred.

I actually enjoyed this album quite a lot - when I wasn't listening all too closely. For some reason, it worked a whole lot better as background music than it did as something to concentrate on. It's got a very smooth feeling to it, and a very relaxed one. It's perhaps not something I'd buy for myself, but it was enjoyable and I might give it another listen sometime.

Thumbs up.

Yeah, Tropes Are Not Bad, so even though this isn't the most original album I've heard, I like it very much. I'm planning to buy it as soon as I have sufficient cash.

Man, I can't do song-by-song reviews.

151a is an album I'd heard previously and I really, really liked it, so it's good to hear it hold up so well upon repeated listens. It uses a lot of indie-pop conventions, sure, and it can be pretty accurately described by picking any combination of Jonsi/of Montreal/The Flaming Lips/Owen Pallett/Vampire Weekend and mashing them together.

BUT WHO CARES?! This is a great, great album. Very melodically strong and with lots of little genius hooks liberally sprinkled about everywhere. "Intro / Pathos, Pathos" and "It All Began With a Burst" are particular highlights. "Manchester" seems to be near the top of everybody's list but I find it really dull. That's okay, though, because "Bright Whites" comes after it, and that's my favorite song on the album!

So, great album, not very original and pretty frontloaded but a standout from this year so far.

http://www.last.fm/user/TRILLHOUSE_

Just a heads-up, I'm going to be moving so I won't be able to participate until May.

K, I think we've hung on this album long enough. anyone object to moving on?

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

Pimp Abra says he's busy at the moment, but he does plan on talking about his thoughts on the album at some point. But he's fine with us moving onto the next album.

So yes. Let's move on.

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

HOKAY

Next album is Another Green World by Brian Eno. It's a Mediafire link, so send me a PM whenever you need the link

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

By the way the big list on my sandbox page has been updated. If someone wants to keep the list updated while I'm away for the next two+ weeks, that would be cool.

Ooh, my album. In the future I'll try and find things that are streamable if that's easier on everyone, I've just had this one in mind for a while.

edited 19th Apr '12 7:53:22 PM by MikeK

Man, I love Brian Eno. He's been involved in so much good stuff and made so much good stuff over the course of his career. Definitely one of my favorite musicians and songwriters and the music world would be a lot more boring without him.

Another Green World is about as close as anyone's going to get to a consensus favorite Eno album, being as it adeptly combines his tendencies for arty pop songs, ambient tunes and electronic instrumentals. Kind of like a middle ground between almost everything he'd done and would go on to do.

I generally prefer ambient Eno because he's an absolute master of the form but everything on this album is good-to-great. My favorite song is "The Big Ship"... absolutely beautiful instrumental song, but not an ambient tune, it's almost like the climax of an electronic post-rock song.

Great album, not my favorite of his but probably the best way to get into him and see what he's all about. Classic, no doubt.

http://www.last.fm/user/TRILLHOUSE_

I'm a lot more familiar with Eno as a producer (and also the Roxy Music stuff) than a solo artist, but someone somewhere pointed me towards Another Green World as a gateway album and I like it a lot, though I still haven't gotten to anything else. What I particularly like are the "sound painting" kind of tracks - I can very clearly imagine a large ship very slowly coming in over the horizon to "The Big Ship", or a school of fish swimming about to "Little Fish".

It's been almost a week and there have only been 2 reviews? Ouch. Well, I guess people must have school work or something to do.

I've actually listened to this album before and I guess I'm due for another listen. I'm a big fan of side 1 of "Before and After Science" and I like his ambient works, but not that much. All right. Let's go.

I felt like the last song by song review was an unfunny train wreck so I'll keep it succinct.

Songs I loved N/A

Songs I liked - St. Elmo's Fire - The Big Ship - Sombre Reptiles - Golden Hours

Songs I didn't really like as much - Sky Saw - Over Fire Island - In Dark Trees - I'll Come Running - Another Green World - Little Fishes - Becalmed - Zawinul/Lava - Everything Merges With the Night - Spirit Drifting

Songs I hated N/A

Funny observations - What is the deal with airline food? - Men and women are different in funny ways! - Jews control the media! - A humourous joke set-up consisting of three statements, in which the third statement does not match the first two!

Closing statements

This album was okay, not as good as B&AS but not bad. My favourite album we listened to so far. Golden Hours was my favourite track.

I hope people aren't giving up on this because believe it or not, I am having a lot of fun doing this.

EDIT: oh god this post does not look like i wanted it to. why am i so bad at tvtropes markup?

edited 25th Apr '12 1:34:59 PM by Somtt