"In that case make an album entirely from the sounds of sacrificing animals over an altar."
With horns.

Album Rating: 5.0

buffalo horns

After Blasphemy, Driver will eventually announce a new Kayo Dot album as the heaviest and most metal thing he has ever done, and it's going to be literally nothing but horns, horns and more horns, with fairly noticeable Stravinsky influences.

Album Rating: 5.0

Hahaha and it will be an act of revenge for everyone who chortled at the horn breakdown in They Aren't All Beautiful

Album Rating: 4.0

Hmmm, this was fine when I gave it the full listen.

Album Rating: 5.0

Y A Y ! ! !

Album Rating: 5.0

Discog binge underway (currently in the early parts of Hubardo) and Some Thoughts:



- Choirs is still the greatest album ever made but Dowsing is barely a drop in quality. Did not see this coming, but I very nearly prefer Dowsing at this point.

- Gemini Becoming The Tripod is indecently excellent

- On Limpid Form and Amaranth the Peddlar have fantastic standalone psych/prog songs wrapped up in their extended sections

- This band is unbelievably good

- I love Blue Lambency Downward but that title track is a complete chore

- Final three on BLD remain a career highlight

- I underrated Coyote even more than I suspected. Absolutely chilling stuff, sounds like Driver and Matsumiya's shared fever dream. Both their parts and performances are stunning.

- Mia Matsumiya was the band's mvp and I hadn't realised how much I've missed her on more recent albums

- The Dark Souls Great Scythe is op as hell

- Gamma Knife is definitely the weakest KD (pending reassessment of Plastic House) but still a strong listen. That title track holds up...

- Having finally listened to Deathspell Omega properly, Gamma Knife makes a lot more sense

- Fuck Xenophanes and his Coyote and Gamma Knife reviews. Absolutely awful takes that had a tragic amount of influence on Sputnik opinion on everything KD did since Dowsing for far too long

I told you Coyote was fucking good.
Also, considering you called Matsumiya the "mvp" (besides Driver I suppose), listen to the first Tartar Lamb if you haven't, it's quite good.

Album Rating: 5.0

Well yeah haha, Driver being the mvp is pretty moot. I still enjoy BLD more, but I think Coyote might actually be the stronger album...

On it rn.

Album Rating: 5.0

WORD JOHNNY!

Album Rating: 3.5

'Fuck Xenophanes and his Coyote and Gamma Knife reviews. Absolutely awful takes that had a tragic amount of influence on Sputnik opinion on everything KD did since Dowsing for far too long'

Do you genuinely believe that to be the case? I'm a little shocked one (or two) review(s) could have that much of a lasting impact, usually the community 'fights back' eventually. I could see some impressionable users that aren't comfortable in their own convictions being swayed initially, but I wouldn't have thought it'd be that influential in the long term.

I should check more of KD's discog, probably by moving forward from here.

@Alex check out Time of Orchids too.

I know them. Good stuff.

Album Rating: 5.0

@Demon the way I see it, the Coyote review was a free pass to the many people who were nonplussed by the album when it came out (and if you flick through the early part of the thread you'll see this confirmed), which in itself wouldn't be a good or bad thing (that reaction/opinion is totally understandable) if it weren't for the fact that the review inaccurately pinned these misgivings on mismanagement of the concept in the music, confused its opaque/dense tone with personal boredom, and buzzworded (*cringes*) musical relevance as a failsafe. So the problem is not so much that Xeno didn't like the album, but that he presented a very superficial analysis of its craft and gave no consideration of any potential deeper or iterative value. Short story, anyone with similar misgivings at the time could easily feel vindicated in dropping the album (as reflected in early comment thread), and a negative consensus was quickly entrenched.

The Gamma Knife review was more the icing on the cake of a wider reaction celebrating the return of metal to the KD mix (reflected in its initial reviews and comments) - my issue there is its continued invocation of 'relevance' and the way it reinforces its past-established consensus for Coyote and (to a lesser degree) BLD.

Album Rating: 3.5

Fair reasoning. I wasn't previously aware of the concept, but as I gave the review a once through it became apparent. I appreciate how the reviewer's critique and general tone would come across as a being dismissive of the concept. I did also take a cursory glance at the first couple of pages, where the user’s replies appeared to be largely in agreement with 'Xeno'.

My initial scepticism was more a product of being dumbfounded at how one reviewer could hold so much sway (no offence to you, or any other writer here); are people not strong enough to believe in their own convictions? Although some influence is inevitable, I seemed like an alien concept to me.

I'm going to make more of an effort to get into these guys moving forward, they're definitely on the 'list' - hopefully I get to those releases eventually and can actually form a solid opinion on their quality.

Album Rating: 5.0

The album rating average for Coyote is 3.5, the same as Gamma Knife and Blue Lambency Downward. Far more people rate albums on the site than comment.

I don't really buy that Xeno's review had such an influence on opinions that weren't already there in the first place. While all Kayo Dot albums could be described this way, Coyote is particularly obtuse and challenging, and it isn't surprising that people were divided on its release. Especially coming on the heels of their predecessors.

Blue Lambency Downward and Plastic House on Base of Sky got similarly polarized reactions too, despite more positive reviews.

yea at least they still have more accessible pop records such as choirs of the eye

Album Rating: 5.0

My argument isn't that those opinions weren't there in the first place, it's that the review discouraged people from giving that album the attention and reflection it required on the basis of what I consider cursive and shallow analysis of the composition and performance.

Album Rating: 5.0

I totally get people not connecting with Coyote, it's my least favorite of all of Toby's records aside from maybe Library Loft, but maybe it could also use a positive review too to offset that being the only expressed opinion for it. It definitely requires repeated listens and a lot of attention to sink in, took me a long time before I could give it a rating higher than 2.5.

Album Rating: 5.0

Coyote is the only Kayo album I don't like. Gamma Knife and Blue Lambency are way better in my books.