Rate The Song Above You

Hawkwind are generally too slight for me, but that is also their strength in a way, as a lot of their songs are very breezy and a trippy and a relaxing way. This one is no different, sliding through space on a droning guitar with some neat bass parts. Admittedly, nowadays there are many choices for this type of music, but I gotta give credit to the originators of the style. (7/10)

Camper Van Beethoven - One Of These Days

Nice little indie rock tune, short enough to not get repetitive. Love the violin in this, 4/5.

Joey Batey - Toss a Coin to Your Witcher

95/100 - I swear this must have been an old Blind Guardian ballad that got stolen for this show. It has that kind of "bard" vibe to it with its folksy verse melodies and gently lilting vocal melodies while the orchestration, hyper-sentimental as it is, augments some already strong core melodies. It's pretty poppy at heart but in a heated D&D session kind of way. Stupidly addictive and this has already spawned a frankly concerning number of metal covers.

Chirurgia - Angelbutcher (Disconnection)

Now this is some vile nasty stuff. The production put me off at first, but it actually compliments the "grasping for last bits of sanity in a dirty basement" feel of the music rather well. The sludgy riffs with some thrash influence are very addictive, and the occasional out-of-tune note doesn't really ruin them either. There's just enough vocals to add another layer to the song, and they start to sound straight-up possessed by the end. Unexpectedly satisfying, given my general tastes. (8/10)

Cherubs - Baby Huey

Very noisy, at the same time having dynamic and clearly developed ideas. Good songwriting, 4/5.

Chelsea Wolfe - When Anger Turns to Honey

I like interplay between the vocal and guitar a lot - it's subtle enough to keep it an easy listen, but somehow feels fresh enough to keep it from coming across as a generic goth track. My only complaint is that the vocal hook feels like it could've paid off better considering how much of the song it takes. 8/10

I Won't Say I'm In Love (Hercules OST)

5/5 I love this one! The movie is fine but not my favourite, but this song is always fun. I like her attitude during it, the lyrics are kinda funny, the singing is good. No problems at all.

Alice Cooper - Last Man On Earth

7.8/10 A silly little song about the apocalypse, with a nice arrangement.

Guillemots - Trains to Brazil

Has this nice balance of energy and casualness, going bombastic towards the end, 5/5.

Lilly Wood & The Prick - Prayer In C

Throughout this track, I was like "huh, this sounds familiar, but there's something off about it". Turns out an EDM remix of this was a mega-hit in my high school years, which certainly explains why the melody was embedded in my brain, waiting for a chance to re-emerge when I heard it again. THAT SAID, based solely on my half-recollection of the dance remix I think I much prefer the stripped-down, melancholic tone of the original. Some lovely flutes, too. 7/10

Keiji Haino & Sumac - What Have I Done? (I Was Reeling In Something White And I Became Able To Do Anything I Made A Hole Imprisoned Time Within It Created Friction Stopped Listening To Warnings Ceased Fixing My Errors Made The Impossible Possible? Turned Sadness Into Joy)

I'm admittedly not sure how this is gonna go down at all

also yes i had to copypaste the title don't laugh

Gotta be honest: I have zero experience with nine-minute-long post-metal tracks, so I don't quite know how to feel about this other than that my mind started to tune out past the two-minute mark. For all the distortion and manic rhythm, it surprisingly feels like it levels out over its runtime, and I can see myself listening to it while reading a cyberpunk novel or something. 5/10

Aslan - This Is

The song started off like a Christian ballad, and, given the name of the band, I was almost certain I was dead-on with that guess, but it then progressed into something much better. Surprised to find out it's from 2014, actually, because those electronic drums and strings are such a hallmark of the late 90's. Still, the end result is a very delightful piece of folktronica, very much helped by the pleasant, slightly raspy vocals. (9/10)

Pure Reason Revolution - Bullitts Dominæ

8.4/10 Very nice and melodic, though I wasn't as much of a fan of the vocals in the chorus.

Eddy de Pretto - Grave

Edited by FirstSnow on Feb 25th 2020 at 1:16:57 PM

Really loved the overall tenderness of the song, and the instrumentation gave me early 2000s pop vibes in the best possible way. I'd draw comparisons to "Same Love", but that'd probably be a disservice to how strong the song stands on its own. The audio channel switch halfway through threw me off a bit, but other than that it's a sublime track. 9/10

Six City - Six City

Pretty run-of-the-mill rap track, but with Uighur flavor, 3/5.

Rag'n'Bone Man - Lay My Body Down

Good strong vocals. 5/5

Voice of the Beehive-Monsters and Angels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m3C1K5b5VI

A 1991 release it may be, but this track has all the trappings of a late 1980s pop machine product - which isn't too surprising, since that sound did in fact endure into the earliest part of the 90s before "Smells Like Teen Spirit" killed it off in one blow. Much like other songs of its ilk, it's competently made, if in a workmanlike way, but it's also cheesy and suffers from a bad case of reverb-drenched overproduction. Meh. 6/10

Kate Bush - Jig of Life

84/100 - This lady has one of those voices that I find immediately enjoyable but when I stop to think about it, "yeah that is pretty weird". She weaves in and out of various ranges, pitches, and styles frequently and when you combine it with that folksy trot that's going on around her it gives the whole thing this unexpectedly feverish and wild mood. It comes close to sounding frenzied and untamed but it's more content to tease and play with the edges of raw abandon rather than to actually delve into them for better or for worse.

Spirit Possession - Deity of Knives and Pointed Apparitions

Violent, crushing and yet totally boring. 3/10.

Dreamcrusher - Fever

I dont think I can properly rate noise rock. There seems to be some trance under all the feedback, but this is a genre that I cant understand.

Absu-Highland Tyrant Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqiXjauKyjU

90/100 - Classic as this album is, it's also where Absu start thrashing it up and graudally narrowing their compositional and songwriting vistas. Still, it has a ripping tenacity and weightiness to it often missed by most other black/thrash bands and avoids the "we exist only to open for better bands on large tours" issue of sounding like a bunch of leftover Venom and Destruction riffs made a little filthier with their epic, "celtic" melodic sensibility and of course, Proscriptor just doing his thing.

Fuck them for how they treated their last guitarist though.

Solipnosis - Decapitar a Helios

Fell in love within the first 30 seconds. I kind of mentally tune out screamo vocals by default, but the constant evolution of the rhythm kept me hooked throughout and the bridge is fairly well-done. All-in-all, a pretty enjoyable seven-minute listen, and this is coming from someone who's normally not into metal. 8/10

The Brothers Arntzen - Norse Boat Stomp

4/10 not a fan of this type of music

Machines of Loving Grace - If I Should Explode

2/5. Decent guitars, but the chorus kind of falls flat IMO

The Ramones-Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi9a7IdRiBI

The Ramones with production by Phil Spector initially appears to be one of the stranger combinations in popular musical history. In practice, however, it's not all that jarring - the Ramones were always a pop band beneath their punk attitude, focused on writing catchy little ditties that stuck in your head, and this song is them embracing that side of themselves wholesale by way of Spector's trademark elaborate, glitzy arrangements. Is it gaudy and cheesy? Damn right it is, but it's also undeniably a lot of fun. 7/10

Chavez - Nailed to the Blank Spot