hangth3dj
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Soundoffs 102
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Last Active 03-21-22 4:50 pm
Joined 03-04-21

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04.17.24 Sleepy Slowcore Mornings02.25.22 Top Metal Albums 2021
12.10.21 Top Metal Albums 2020

Sleepy Slowcore Mornings

A genre I've been on the outskirts of for a little while - enjoying an album here and there but never fully diving right in. With mornings often grey & dreary at this time of year (and in the UK), it seemed to be the perfect time to delve in and spin a few whilst I start my working day with emails, coffee & staring out of the window. The list contains albums I've heard recommended in various lists & threads on this site and ones I've stumbled across more randomly. Some new, some classics and nothing in any particular order. I'm not a music reviewer, but I thought I'd give each album a 'sound off' type of comment. I will update as more sleepy mornings occur.
1Red House Painters
Red House Painters

I have given this a few spins now, hoping for it to reveal its secrets to me. The first left me thinking it was decent enough, but nothing overly special. Things have slowly been warming up since then, but not to a massive extent. I feel this could definitely use a little trimming here and there but, for the most part, I like the meandering journeys. The guitar occasionally has that tone & shimmer that reminds me a little of The Smiths or perhaps The Cure. This keeps the sound of several tracks feeling a little more positive & upbeat (relatively speaking) than the sombre, longing lyrics suggest.

I do not like the seemingly never-ending 'na na nas' in the latter on both Katy Song & Funhouse (plus whatever the vocals in the last 5 or so minutes of Mother are) - it distracts me from the development of the music beneath. Good songs, don’t get me wrong, but it just drags on to their detriment. The second half of the album (New Jersey-onwards) loses some lustre for me as well.

3.1
2Idaho
Year After Year

This one is hitting the spot a little more – has a little bit of dirge and a fuzzy quality to it. Maybe a couple of grunge influences here and there? Jeff’s baritone takes a little getting used to in some songs as it occasionally creates a drone-like quality, but it really adds to the melancholic atmosphere. The songs rarely build into any sort of crescendo (although Here To Go really does explode), but they are composed & concise enough not to outstay their welcome or meander into nothingness.

4.0
3deathcrash
Return

I’ve had this playing on a few mornings now. I enjoy the soft, almost whispered vocals, which float above the meandering song structures. It’s peaceful & contemplative with just a few nicely timed metallic crashes to prevent the record from drifting away into nothingness. A little more immediacy might help in one or two places as this is a meaty album with few gear changes. I’ve heard more than a few voices say this offers the slowcore genre nothing new and faithfully copies the sound of several of the bigger names with advancing anything, but I’ve come across this with fresh ears before getting to some of the ‘big hitters’. Consequently, I really like it and just instils further anticipation for this journey.

3.8
440 Watt Sun
Perfect Light

This is the album that alerted me to the wonders of slowcore. It actually started when a first heard ‘Stages’ from their previous album on a random playlist. It stuck with me over the years and prompted me to check this album when I saw it pop up on the sput new releases page back in early 2022.

I am so glad I did – WHAT AN ALBUM. Since hearing this for the first time, 40 Watt Sun has made it into my top 5 bands on Spotify Unwrapped, I’ve seen Patrick live three times and I own two of their albums on vinyl. It’s soft, pensive and achingly beautiful – my absolute go-to if I’m looking for something stripped back and melancholic.

4.9
5Songs: Ohia
The Lioness

It's a gorgeous sunny morning and I'm weirdly full of beans, so no need for slowcore this morning. However, it gives me the perfect opportunity to discuss this album, which I've heard a hundred times. It was actually Patrick (40 Watt Sun) who did a live cover of Lioness at one of his gigs that had my partner & I frantically searching Google & YouTube for the song after the show as we missed the name & artist when he introduced it.

Anyway we found it, we loved the original song and we loved the album so much I ended up importing a vinyl copy of it from Canada for that extra fuzzy warmth only vinyl can give you (slowcore was made for vinyl). It’s melancholic, it’s sombre, it’s beautiful…it’s perfect. No further notes required.

5.0
6deathcrash
Less

In a similar vein to their debut effort, but with only 7 tracks across a 38 minute run time, it’s a more concise effort. I will say though that the opener, Pirouette, is the first track I’ve heard by these guys where I was like “hurry up with this intro and get to the good stuff already.” I don’t like it quite as much as Return, but it’s still a good one.

3.6
7Slint
Spiderland

This one definitely has a different overall vibe – very grungy in places (Nosferatu Man) and actually a little unsettling at times (Don, Aman). It’s dark in a slightly creepy, unnerving way, rather than sad & melancholic. Washer, however, is almost exactly what I’m after on these sleepy mornings – excellent track. Quite an array of influences in a short 6 track run which is difficult to pull off, with the grunge off the first two tracks not really appearing again until the end of the final track. As a whole album, it may take a little while to fully click for me (I would imagine the high praise for this album is warranted), but there’s a lot here that I enjoy.

3.7
8Duster
Stratosphere

Interesting spacey vibes going on here, which is pretty cool. Whilst hardly upbeat, the pacing of the album with shorter song lengths & interludes keeps things fairly tight & interesting. Rhythmic and hypnotic with a dirgey, lo-fi vibe at times, enhanced by the airy vocals being buried somewhat in the mix. This is what this list is about – fitted the grey, miserable morning weather, yet transported me away from it a little bit.

4.1
9Rex
C

Definitely a lot of overt folk and even country influences peppered throughout this. Vocals are quite low and a little monotone, but generally fit nicely. The title track in particular wonderful and I can see this growing on me with repeated listens. The only main complaint I had on first pass was that New Son goes on a bit too long as it doesn’t really go anywhere, evolve or add anything different with the extended runtime.

3.8
10Duster
Together
1140 Watt Sun
Wider than the Sky
12Codeine
The White Birch
13Bedhead
WhatFunLifeWas
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