I am experiencing some problems at the moment, which is why there is such a gap between reviews. Sorry.
However, it should all be good again soon, and! And! And! The new site should be up soon!
Exciting times people!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Review #72: Chilly Gonzales - The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales
Okay, the lyrics are witty, and the tunes are catchy enough. But that is literally all there is to say about 'The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales'.
I could give you quotes of the lyrics, but that would spoil it wouldn't it? Just listen to it. It's good while it lasts, I guess...
Best Tracks: 'Supervillain Music', 'Different Kind Of Prostitute', 'Rap Race'
5/10
Next Review: Liam Finn - FOMO
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I could give you quotes of the lyrics, but that would spoil it wouldn't it? Just listen to it. It's good while it lasts, I guess...
Best Tracks: 'Supervillain Music', 'Different Kind Of Prostitute', 'Rap Race'
5/10
Next Review: Liam Finn - FOMO
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Monday, 12 September 2011
Review #71: Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album
I'm sorry but what the hell is this? It really is boring. Give me good music! No offense, but the best thing about the album is the artwork, and that's just some kid...
Best Tracks: You choose. I don't have favorites.
4/10
Next Review: Chilly Gonzales - The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales
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Best Tracks: You choose. I don't have favorites.
4/10
Next Review: Chilly Gonzales - The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales
Follow @pancccake
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Review #70: Foster The People - Torches
It's all well and good having 'Pumped Up Kicks' on an album. Because, after all, it is a darn good song. However the rest of the album just doesn't really cut it.
What 'Foster The People' are doing just isn't fresh enough. They just seem so subdued. 'Torches' is as if you are being led away by the music, finally thinking that it is taking you to a special place, and then the track stops. It just rolls the tracks on and on. All sounding so familiar that it would be hard to tell the songs apart without a good read of the track listings, and quite a few independent listens to the album.
Maybe I am being to harsh. 'Foster The People' have a good sound. It's refreshing and mellow, and they have broken to places indie bands have found hard in recent years. I just feel they could have put more effort into the album. It doesn't feel complete.
Best Tracks: 'Waste', 'Houdini', 'Miss You'.
6/10
Next Review: Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album
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What 'Foster The People' are doing just isn't fresh enough. They just seem so subdued. 'Torches' is as if you are being led away by the music, finally thinking that it is taking you to a special place, and then the track stops. It just rolls the tracks on and on. All sounding so familiar that it would be hard to tell the songs apart without a good read of the track listings, and quite a few independent listens to the album.
Maybe I am being to harsh. 'Foster The People' have a good sound. It's refreshing and mellow, and they have broken to places indie bands have found hard in recent years. I just feel they could have put more effort into the album. It doesn't feel complete.
Best Tracks: 'Waste', 'Houdini', 'Miss You'.
6/10
Next Review: Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album
Follow @pancccake
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Review #69: The Victorian English Gentlemens Club - Bag Of Meat
Yes, okay, this album is a bit bloody weird. But that's not all bad. It gives the album a flavour and a texture that has really been built upon since their debut in 2006.
Their early work was very experimental. Nothing could be taken from the albums. They sounded more like a mash of sounds, that was almost music. 'Bag Of Meat' has refined their sound to a more mature level, yet I can't help but think that they have quite a long way to go if they are ever to make a record which is worth credit.
It may be usual for a band to mature on their second album, but 'The Victorian English Gentlemens Club' have changed this to later on in their musical careers, thus showing that they are already different from other bands who are relatively new to the scene like them. So a very good album in the future is not out of the question! But 'Bag Of Meat' is average at best.
Plus, they need to put an apostrophe in their name. It's annoying.
Best Tracks: ' Lost My Face In A Fast Car Race', 'As Jungle Drums Rang Across The Amazon (We Held Our Heads And Screamed)', ' John Denver’s Wife'.
5/10
Next Review: Torches - Foster The People
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Their early work was very experimental. Nothing could be taken from the albums. They sounded more like a mash of sounds, that was almost music. 'Bag Of Meat' has refined their sound to a more mature level, yet I can't help but think that they have quite a long way to go if they are ever to make a record which is worth credit.
It may be usual for a band to mature on their second album, but 'The Victorian English Gentlemens Club' have changed this to later on in their musical careers, thus showing that they are already different from other bands who are relatively new to the scene like them. So a very good album in the future is not out of the question! But 'Bag Of Meat' is average at best.
Plus, they need to put an apostrophe in their name. It's annoying.
Best Tracks: ' Lost My Face In A Fast Car Race', 'As Jungle Drums Rang Across The Amazon (We Held Our Heads And Screamed)', ' John Denver’s Wife'.
5/10
Next Review: Torches - Foster The People
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Sunday, 4 September 2011
Review #68: The Feeling - Together We Were Made
If I am to be completely and utterly honest, and am not to tell any shape or form of a lie, as much as I like 'The Feeling', 'Together We Were Made' is actually shit. It sounds like they have decided to to take the piss out of themselves, by creating a parody album. Of themselves.
Their lyrics they produced before weren't exactly Shakespeare, but now they sound like they played 'Yahtzee' and have written down the opposite of what the dice might have said if they could spell. Or were they just playing Klingon 'Boggle'?
Whatever board game it was, it certainly was not 'Scrabble'!
You give credit where credit is due, but with lyrics like 'So build a home/Put pictures on the wall/Choose a colour for the door/And let me in', something tells me credit is not due.
They have added in techno beats and slightly less interesting guitar riffs than the attempts that appeared on their previous albums, which immediately drags the album nearer the 'Pile of Poppycock', and by the time track eight ('Mr.Grin') was reached the band had securely positioned a place there.
Perhaps it's the added vocals of 'Sophie Ellis-Bextor' which brings the album to become the catastrophe it is, after her recent album was also a complete shambles. However, the song she appears in is one of the better tracks! Maybe 'The Feeling' have just formed into a crap band like many others before them. Whatever it is, it is safe to say 'Together We Were Made' is one of the worst albums of 2011.
Best Tracks (At A Push): 'Leave Me Out Of It', 'Build A Home', 'Say No'.
3/10
Next Review: The Victorian English Gentlemens Club - Bag Of Meat
Follow @pancccake
Their lyrics they produced before weren't exactly Shakespeare, but now they sound like they played 'Yahtzee' and have written down the opposite of what the dice might have said if they could spell. Or were they just playing Klingon 'Boggle'?
Whatever board game it was, it certainly was not 'Scrabble'!
You give credit where credit is due, but with lyrics like 'So build a home/Put pictures on the wall/Choose a colour for the door/And let me in', something tells me credit is not due.
They have added in techno beats and slightly less interesting guitar riffs than the attempts that appeared on their previous albums, which immediately drags the album nearer the 'Pile of Poppycock', and by the time track eight ('Mr.Grin') was reached the band had securely positioned a place there.
Perhaps it's the added vocals of 'Sophie Ellis-Bextor' which brings the album to become the catastrophe it is, after her recent album was also a complete shambles. However, the song she appears in is one of the better tracks! Maybe 'The Feeling' have just formed into a crap band like many others before them. Whatever it is, it is safe to say 'Together We Were Made' is one of the worst albums of 2011.
Best Tracks (At A Push): 'Leave Me Out Of It', 'Build A Home', 'Say No'.
3/10
Next Review: The Victorian English Gentlemens Club - Bag Of Meat
Follow @pancccake
Friday, 2 September 2011
Review #67: Dananananaykroyd - There Is A Way
Some music is just too serious. It puts a grimace on your face and gives you a surly attitude for at least 10 minutes. Some people merely acknowledge the musicality the said band has, and gets on with his/her life. Others think about what they have just heard and try to relate it to their lives and perhaps let it reflect on their lives. However, there is a third kind, who suck up all the dread and anguish that seethes out of an album so glum that it could have been a page ripped out of Kerry Katona's handbook for rearing children.
They sit there for hours thinking about how bad their life is, with the one reconciling memento being that at least someone else was feeling worse than they were due to the fact that they felt the need to write an album about it.
I fall under this third category.
But, on the other hand 'Dananananaykroyd' don't really do serious. It's not in their thesaurus. They sort of just... Shout?
They are a confusing bunch of characters. Wearing a tracksuit whilst playing indie riffs, shouting and screaming, isn't your everyday mixture. But they seem to make it work.
'There Is A Way' is definitely a step up from 'Hey Everyone'. They take their shouting to a level of maturity, if that makes any sense. They don't faff about with lyrics. They hit the nail on the head. 'E-Numbers' and 'Muscle Memory' are fine examples of how the band have matured. Still essentially 'Dananananaykroyd' yet it is this new developed version of the group which stretches your imagination and their achievements, creating a fine example of a record which is really rather mental.
Best Tracks: 'Muscle Memory', 'Time Capsule', 'Apostrophe'.
7/10
Next Review: The Feeling - Together We Were Made
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They sit there for hours thinking about how bad their life is, with the one reconciling memento being that at least someone else was feeling worse than they were due to the fact that they felt the need to write an album about it.
I fall under this third category.
But, on the other hand 'Dananananaykroyd' don't really do serious. It's not in their thesaurus. They sort of just... Shout?
They are a confusing bunch of characters. Wearing a tracksuit whilst playing indie riffs, shouting and screaming, isn't your everyday mixture. But they seem to make it work.
'There Is A Way' is definitely a step up from 'Hey Everyone'. They take their shouting to a level of maturity, if that makes any sense. They don't faff about with lyrics. They hit the nail on the head. 'E-Numbers' and 'Muscle Memory' are fine examples of how the band have matured. Still essentially 'Dananananaykroyd' yet it is this new developed version of the group which stretches your imagination and their achievements, creating a fine example of a record which is really rather mental.
Best Tracks: 'Muscle Memory', 'Time Capsule', 'Apostrophe'.
7/10
Next Review: The Feeling - Together We Were Made
Follow @pancccake
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Review #66: Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia
'Lupercalia' for me, is just an album. It doesn't advance Patrick in any way, it just rectifies where he went wrong on 'The Bachelor'. It is almost a new beginning. As always there are hidden messages in what he is singing about, but for me it's the shiny outer shell that 'Lupercalia' possesses that brightens my view of the Londoner.
Yes, his previous albums are good, very good in fact, however this latest outing almost seems like he is hatching from a new egg and taking his music to an area where he hasn't ventured before. But, being the adventurer he is, he seems to have perfected switching between genres as if he was 16th century Sir Francis Drake encountering new lands.
It really shows how good music can be when someone lets their heart pave the way for their music, and not being restricted by their fans!
Best Tracks: 'The City', 'The Future', 'Together'.
8/10
Next Review: Dananananaykroyd - There Is A Way
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Yes, his previous albums are good, very good in fact, however this latest outing almost seems like he is hatching from a new egg and taking his music to an area where he hasn't ventured before. But, being the adventurer he is, he seems to have perfected switching between genres as if he was 16th century Sir Francis Drake encountering new lands.
It really shows how good music can be when someone lets their heart pave the way for their music, and not being restricted by their fans!
Best Tracks: 'The City', 'The Future', 'Together'.
8/10
Next Review: Dananananaykroyd - There Is A Way
Follow @pancccake
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