I just think an album is failing regardless of genre if I am forgetting to pay any attention at all. And I’m not saying that is the case here, but I’m just saying that being background music doesn’t forgive being forgettable or unremarkable. It can be backgroundy and good.

Album Rating: 3.5

Oh yeah potsy i didn’t mean ambient i meant ambiance as in atmosphere



Not loving it is all well and good but calling something that is supposed to be soothing “unengaging” hits me funny. I personally am on a second listen of this, i found it pretty memorable and sort of like ear candy. Definitely not winning awards for most forward thinking or interesting electronic album of the year but yeah calling it “background music” is funny because it literally has narrative and movement as opposed to actual muzak

Album Rating: 3.5

Either way i think we’re all using the same terminology with slightly different meanings attached to them and i shouldn’t have come down so hard on the opinions that were different from mine

This one is memorable enough but I just think it could be improved with some minor adjustments that would dramatize the atmospheres

Album Rating: 3.5

For real though if y’all are intrigued at all by this style but want something with a little more bite go check out “smoke signals” by overlook, it falls into the same issue of becoming a hazy soup after a while but it’s dope



@potsy that’s fair

“Either way i think we’re all using the same terminology with slightly different meanings attached to them and i shouldn’t have come down so hard on the opinions that were different from mine”

Totally, I was actually going to suggest that the discussion was probably entering the territory of semantics more than anything a bit earlier

Album Rating: 4.0

"I personally am on a second listen of this, i found it pretty memorable and sort of like ear candy. Definitely not winning awards for most forward thinking or interesting electronic album of the year but yeah calling it “background music” is funny because it literally has narrative and movement as opposed to actual muzak"

this 100%

don't have much to add to that, beyond a lil engagement with the critiques themselves, lest they feel ghosted:

>Both the ambient back drops and the breaks and bass would benefit from said ambience falling off every once in a while and letting the bass and breaks drive things

not sure if i entirely agree, as the ambience is more central to this than the breaks - but i do think that going for the reverse and contrasting more decisively ambient-centred stretches of these tracks more overtly with the percussion (which is hardly ever out of view as is) would be just as effective a way to create a lil more shape

>I think there is a big difference between chilling out to ambient music but still ~listening~ and just forgetting you are listening to anything at all

as per norma's comment, this thing has sugar crystals all over the shop, especially in the vocal department; easily enough their to cushion a passive listening headspace without losing its presence entirely

Album Rating: 4.5

Yep total cotton candy album, kinda hard to like passionately defend or w/e it's just sweet

Album Rating: 3.0

As far as elaborating on my statement from earlier, I have no issue with this record or with electronic music in general and found it rather pleasant as background music but just not something that I could personally latch onto. As for my comment regarding hype, my main source of that was found in the release of the month thread for June where a lot of people were choosing this record as their favorite and singing positive things about it so I decided to check it purely from that. Also, in terms of my comment on calling this "mundane," I don't necessarily mean that in bad way because like I said, it is pleasant as background music but for my personal tastes when it comes to electronic/ethereal styles of music, I just wasn't about to find substance that would keep me coming back. Obviously didn't mean to upset anyone with my comments or come off as standoffish. Peace and love my friends

Album Rating: 3.5

Oh you’re good mr mkmusic you didn’t come off as standoffish at all, i knew what you meant and i was mostly trying to razz you a bit but it probably came off a bit pointier than necessary : )

Album Rating: 3.5

See? We all can be pleasantly disagreeable nerds

“ not sure if i entirely agree, as the ambience is more central to this than the breaks - but i do think that going for the reverse and contrasting more decisively ambient-centred stretches of these tracks more overtly with the percussion (which is hardly ever out of view as is) would be just as effective a way to create a lil more shape”

That note is entirely preferential of course. The ambience is more central to this than the breaks, sure, but I’m personally far more interested in the breaks, and the pervasiveness of the ambience in it’s given capacity makes it feel smothering at times. I’d appreciate the ambience more if it gave way to powerful “MMMPH” moments because then it would be building to something instead of just kind of drowning in it.

“as per norma's comment, this thing has sugar crystals all over the shop, especially in the vocal department; easily enough their to cushion a passive listening headspace without losing its presence entirely”

AS PER (lol) my own comments that was a general statement, not particularly geared towards this. I agreed that this is memorable enough.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think that what we can all agree on is that this is ultimately an ambient pop album and that the breaks are mainly here to lubricate things

which is fine, other than that they're so prominently utilised that they set a false expectation of other, more momentous things happening (probably compounded by the most robust track coming right at the start, even if it's the furthest thing from straight breaks here)

but it do be some sweet ambipop

tl;dr i blame jesper

Also can we set the record straight that there is a crucial difference between something that is ~made as and intended as background music~ and something that ~simply becomes background music~? Because I agree about the narrative and movement of this but for the sake of argument say I did find this to be background music. In that case it would be the latter, which is much worse than the former because it never intended to fall into the background. In that usage it’s more of a criticism than in the former usage where it’s just kind of a matter of fact.

“ which is fine, other than that they're so prominently utilised that they set a false expectation of other, more momentous things happening”

Exactly

Album Rating: 4.0

"tl;dr i blame jesper"

works for me i like this album bc it sounds nice when i walk in the sun and have no thoughts it nice

Album Rating: 4.0

Literally laying on a beach in the Dominican Republic jamming this rn and it’s absolutely cathartic and lovely.

Album Rating: 3.5

“but it do be some sweet ambipop”



That’s my other prob it doesn’t pop hard lols

Album Rating: 3.0

@normaloctagon - All love my friend :D



@vult - I can imagine that's probably the best setting for listening to this!