Arcturus - Star Crossed

I like the moody intro with the spiralling piano melodies...it's very classically influenced. There are some background effects that sound like the wind. Suddenly it becomes mid-slow paced metal with theatric vocals...the piano continues. The singer starts to sing in a higher pitch. In the second verse the piano melody simplyfied a bit. Another part comes in with very technical drums and a guitar solo. Then it goes into a part with keyboard melodies...and spoken vocals. This band sounds a bit like Tourniquet...another technical eclectic metal group. I liked how the song started out...the parts with the piano are interesting...but I don't like the metalish parts too much. Good musicians though.

6/10

My picks:

Aphex Twin - Outside Kickass Violin Solo (electronica)
Mastodon - March Of The Fire Ants (prog metal)
Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks (alternative dance)
The Avalanches - Flight Tonight (alternative)
dEUS - Instant Street (alternative rock)
The Swans - Children Of God (unclassifiable)
Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy (wtf??)
Wilco - Wishful Thinking (alternative/acoustic)

Can I get a whoo-whoo*?

*dib-dib

I simply managed to secure an mp3 called 'March Of The Fire Ants'. No name. So I hope it's the right one.

[B]Mastodon - March Of The Fire Ants[/B]

The intro is pretty sludgy and heavy. I can't help but feel I've heard it before.

When the vocals come in, they sound how I'd imagine Jamey Jasta sounds in his own mind. They remind me, somewhat, of Heaven Shall Burn.

The music is pretty proggy. There's elements of several different genres of metal thrown in there - picking individual sections out of the music, I can hear black, death, power, prog, and even nu-metal.

On a negative tip, it gets pretty repetitive - though this feeling disippates the more densely you listen. Such is the nature of prog. More melody would be much appreciated - a lead guitar break at around 2.30 is very welcome, not just for the melody, but from the sludgy mallcore-ish tone of the guitars.

I've heard great things about Mastodon, mainly from br3ad_man. This isn't what I was expecting, though I can see why people would love this band so much. It feels kind of wrong to judge a prog song on only a handful of listens, but never mind. I can see Mastodon growing on me very nicely.

[B]7/10.[/B]

My recommendations -
KanYe West, Common, Talib Kweli - Get Em High (hip-hop)
Bilal - Sometimes (woozy, jazzy, soul)
Asian Dub Foundation feat. Sinead O'Conner - 1000 Mirrors (long-winded to classify)
Miles Davis - Song Of Our Country (jazz)

Dibs.

Heh.

That was bloody quick.

Yep. I'm just glad your recommendations turned out to include things I've not heard.

I've got something of an idea of what to expect, thanks to that FA, but I still haven't heard them.
[b]Kanye West, Talib Kweli & Common - Get 'Em High[/b] - 4:49

Since this is hip-hop, I can't really go play-by-play as I usually do. So you're just getting something of an overall review.

Well, in short, I like this. Most of it, anyway. The guy who raps in the first verse has some interesting rhythms, which is good. I like the way the idea of "throw your hands up" keeps popping up throughout the song.

Yeah, sorry about this. I just don't have a clue what to say for these kinds of songs. It's good, but it doesn't seem to be something really special. Just solid. On a side note, I wasn't expecting this much swearing. I don't mind it, I just wasn't expecting it.

Also noticed there was no variation throughout the song, apart from different people rapping.

6.5/10

Songs;
Skindred - [i]Set it Off[/i], [i]Nobody[/i], [i]Babylon[/i], [i]Selector[/i] or [i]Pressure[/i] (Ragga)
Miocene - [i]State of Flux[/i] (er. alternative?)
Einsturzende Neubauten - [i]Ende Neu[/i] (preferably live) or [i]Salamandrina[/i] (experimental)
Frank Klepacki - [i]Just Do It Up[/i] or [i]Full Stop[/i] (video game music)
Gordian Knot - [i]Reflections[/i] (progressive instrumental metal)

Dibs

That Gordian Knot song owns, I recommend it highly

Shux...it's taking too long, man...UNDIBS...but that Miocene song was promising...if only I was able to download the whole thing.

I already heard that Gordian Knot track once when Coypu was still around...it's ok.

Shockingly, I'm still awake at the moment. If you can add me to Soulseek, AIM or MSN, I could send it to you.

[b]Einstürzende Neubauten - Salamandrina[/b]

I've heard some pretty good and interesting things from this band before. Can they do it again? Well there were at least 3 different versions so I got the Strategies Against Architecture 3 version.


A few whispery male vocals singing "Salamandrina na na na na" a couple of times, only a single bass note at the start of each bar. Reminds me of a traditional dance from somewhere, not sure where.. in German... and slow...

One guy starts singing in german, while the other voices just go "ahh" to cover the relative silence. The bass is also doing one note at the start of each bar. Heh, one bit sounds like he's saying "cunt". After a bit it goes back to the "Salamandrina na na na na" chorus.

Repeats the above paragraph probably with different words.

A kettle whistle or someone screeching breaks up the middle of the song, very strange as it does sound like a voice at the end.

More words in german, some lines are double or triple voiced.

Salamandrina na na na na. 4 times. Then... some foot stampings and claps come in on the first beat of each bar like the bass note was.


Well... it was certainly different to most songs, not nearly as captivating as other EN songs I've heard though. It could grow on me though.

6.8/10



______________
[b]Anathema - Alternative 4[/b] - creepy ambient goth rock

[b]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbeki Westerns[/b] - dark experimental hip-hop.

[b]Rocket Science - One Robot[/b] - garage-ish rock with a bit of electronic

Dibs

[b]Anathema - Alternative 4[/b]

Sorry I took so long, I kinda forgot about it.
Now, the only other Anathema song I've heard is 'are you there' which is quite lovely, I think Blueser suggested that to me as well. Onwards :smash:

It starts with some great ambience type stuff, then the vocals come in, they are quite loud, I don't really like them much. It gets heavier, I like the bass, it's very audible. Then back to the verse. After a while, his voice changes a bit, it sounds like it's coming through a microphone or something. This is quite a cool piece, but hard to review, because there's not really that much going on. It's a nice mix, the ambience and the heavy bits, they interchange very well. So yeah. I didn't like it as much as 'Are you there' but oh well.

6/10

Spastic Ink - To Counter and Groove in E Minor (Fusion/metal/cool)
Lightning Bolt - Forcefield (Instrumental noise)
Vanden Plas - Nightwalker (Prog metal) *Highly recommended*

dibs

revokes


sorry can't find any :confused:

dc++ isn't highlife atm

I'll bump this with an extra song

Television - Marquee Moon (punk rock)

Have fun

[img]http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~mtg22/IZimages/Dib.jpg[/img]

**** that ones big

[b]Spastic Ink - To Counter And Groove In E Minor[/b]

Distorted guitar lead opens it, it sounds like an arabic scale for a bit.. but obviously it's E minor. Bass comes in and it sounds like a cello doing some fast classical runs. It sounds like a classical piece for a band. They don't really interplay too well thoguh.

Now they stopped, drums start up, kind of simple, bass starts up again playing in a stop-start fashion. Guitar isn't playing very much yet, only some small runs at the end of every 8 bars or so.

Now its doing more, kind of funk style guitar, the bass is going more technical here. It is groovy as the name says. Some synth strings are popping in for a chat.

Another classical sounding guitar riff comes in, descending, it sounds familiar. Ooh it harmonizes too, pretty cool sounding.

Funk guitar takes a backseat for the bass solo, sadly it's not that loud, still it's not that hard to hear.

Guitar comes back doing some sea-shanty type runs, which reminds me of a midi I heard once. Synth strings come back to compliment it very well. It's great.

Short breakdown with bass and guitar going pretty wild. Then back to the descending classical riff from before. With some more technical variations added to it in the later parts of it. Cool ending too, kind of typical, typcial for classical music that is, not metal.


That was pretty cool, I liked the guitar work lots. And the sea-shanty bit was fun as they usually are. What I didn't like was the guitar and bass playing too independently of each other. Drums weren't much of a part of it either, but this was mainly a guitar driven piece of metal-classical.

9.5/10

________________________________________
[URL=http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caracarol/Curse%20Ov%20Dialect%20-%20Lost%20In%20The%20Real%20Sky%20-%2016%20-%20Uzbeki%20Westerns.mp3]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbeki Westerns[/URL] - dark experimental hip hop

The Dresden Dolls - Truce - indie piano ballad

ja-dibs

[B]Curse Ov Dialect - Uzbeki Westerns[/B]

'Been meaning to check out some stuff from these guys for awhile, but the qeues are too long in slsk! Thanks for the link.:)

Some guy with a high-level intelligence aura comes speaking to open the song. Some low folk-ish guitar strumming to get things going, then a rather trip-hoppy beat welcomes you in on the action.

The beat is pretty dark(mainly because of the guitar), but not so much dreary as it is brooding. The vocalist add to the atmosphere too, with the "aahhs" and the wailing in the background. I have no idea what he's talking about though. Nice.

It progresses with generous doses of bluesy horns and strings nearing 2 minutes
In many ways this song is very strange and a bit out of this world at times, but it also feels somehow familiar, which keeps me from getting alienated from the sound.

Overall, a very interesting listen. I'm watching out for these guys more from now on.

[B]8.5/10[/B]

Liquid Tension Experiment - Acid Rain(instrumental prog)

The Mass - Mostly Michael Schenker(hardcore/indie with saxophone)
[url]http://www.themass.us/releases.php[/url]

Lovage - Stroker's Ace(trip-hop)

Two Ton Shoe - [url=http://www.espew.com/cgi-bin/spew/1514656/TWO166b_PAPER.mp3]Paper Bag[/url](pop funk)

[QUOTE=blueyxd][img]http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~mtg22/IZimages/Dib.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

Best dibs ever. You need a prize of some kind.

Rep ++?

Invader Zim owns me :cool:

Dibs, maybe undibs if I can't be bothered, but dibs for now

[url]http://tinypic.com/m6dn6[/url]


Well I'll be :smash:

Yeah, I repped him too.

*reps him again*

Do you get unlimited reps? :cool:

edit: no wonder we get so many posts in here, they are all spam!! :smash:

No, I got that message too :(



Spam :smash:

Undibs sorry, I really can't be bothered, if it's still undibbed tomorrow I will do it


[size=7]:smash:[/size][size=1]:smash:[/size][size=7]:smash:[/size][size=1]:smash:[/size][size=7]:smash:[/size][size=1]:smash:[/size]

I'll take dibs then.

Haven't heard anything before, but I've seen you talking about them, so I have something of an idea what to expect.
[b]The Mass - Mostly Michael Schenker[/b] - 5:51

Starts off with a nice riff, nothing spectacular, but good. Reminds me of stoner rock, actually; fairly heavy, and catchy. Vocals come in with a raucous "come on!". The vocals are weird. On the one hand, they're also nothing special; not sung, and just rocky/hardcore style. Occasionally the guy yelps or holds a note though, which gives it a bit of an 80s hair metal feel. I like it.

"Guitar! Drums!" Stylish. And now we get a much more relaxed section. The instruments have all slowed down, and the promised saxophone comes in. Just soothing sounds at the moment.

The song changes tack again, and we get what can only really be described as creepy noises; occasional guitar squeaks and off-beat percussion, always still with the soothing sax over it.

Around 3:00, it changes yet again - more or less discordant bashing on drums (and other instruments), with saxophone squeaks and honks, too. I think around here I'll temporarily give up describing what happens - it's just all out strange.

Wow. Now we're back in the middle of a Gerry Rafferty song. Occasional drum wankery and a nice sax solo over the top. Oh. Gerry takes some crack, and the sax sounds almost violin-esque - squeaky and fast. All hell is breaking loose, I'm not sure what's going on :(

And that's more or less how it ends. A more incoherent review I have never seen, but it fits the character of the song. Very strange. And it didn't remind me at all of Michael Schenker.

7.5/10 I liked it. I'm just not sure why.

Songs;
Skindred - [i]Set it Off[/i], [i]Nobody[/i], [i]Babylon[/i], [i]Selector[/i] or [i]Pressure[/i] (Ragga)
Miocene - [i]State of Flux[/i] (er. alternative?)
Einsturzende Neubauten - [i]Ende Neu[/i] (live)
Frank Klepacki - [i]Just Do It Up[/i] or [i]C&C Thang[/i] (video game music)
Gordian Knot - [i]Reflections[/i] (progressive instrumental metal)
Sean Malone - [i]The Big Idea[/i] (instrumental jazz fusion. Largely bass/Stick oriented)

All available from me (Soultender on Soulseek). I'm going to bed now for a while, but I'll leave Soulseek on. A couple of them (Frank Klepacki, Sean Malone) you'd probably have to get from me anyway. With EN, it's probably best to be sure which version you're getting.

If you're having trouble browsing my files, you could try going to [url]www.slsknet.org[/url], going to News, and downloading the alpha test version that I have (Soulseek 154). If not, wait for me to come online and contact me on AIM/MSN.

/landmark

[QUOTE=Bartender]Yeah, I repped him too.

*reps him again*[/QUOTE]
Thanks man, it went up like 350 points from that, or so it seems.

I think that may well have been all mine and manuscript's together. I doubt mine are worth that much.

Bump.

[QUOTE=Bartender]I think that may well have been all mine and manuscript's together. I doubt mine are worth that much.[/QUOTE]

They are, your repping me gave me something like 400 points. I would dibs but there is an error browsing your files, Bartender.

Sorry. I've added you to a few different things, maybe it'll work now.

You're not online now, but next time.

[b]Skindred - Set It Off[/b]

Quick jungly drum intro.. then Jamaican guy with kind of strange voice, singing in one of those Jamaican styles. theres also a guitar note with a whammy bar drop each bar.

The next bit has distorted chunky guitar and the vocalists high bits sound kind of bad.. wrong, he sounds like he is really straining to do it... the drums are going between fastish jungle loops and some more simple beats.

Theres an even heavier guitar riff with some nu-metal growls of "set it off" and some other lines.

It repeats those sections again..

At about 2:05 it goes more mellow, much nicer on the ears. There's some high vocal bits here and sound a lot better, nice harmonies too. Pretty soon it goes back to the previous line of high singing, and it just sounds all wrong again.

Back to the old heavier bits again, and I'm not enjoying this. There's a kind of choir aah-ing along with the "set it off" bit. Still it sounds weird. Ending comes soon after


Well... it was a strange mix of jamaican, jungle beats, and metal-ish guitar. An interesting musical mix, but it didn't work for me at all.

I think if it was more melodic like that bit in the middle, and without the heavier bits, it could have worked. The mixing and matching seemed pretty wild, and those high vocals really bugged me outside of the mellow bit.

4/10 - sorry, I just didnt like this one.

____________________________________
[b]Eluveitie - Lament[/b] - celtic metal, maybe even get Orô too, it’s the intro piece to Lament

[b]The Dresden Dolls - Truce[/b] - dramatic indie piano ballad, 8 mins.

[b]Alchemist - Worlds Within Worlds[/b] - really weird "gypsy-space" metal, 8 minutes

if you can't find them... (last resort only)
[b]Kylie Minogue - Confide In Me[/b] - kind of dark pop

Bump. I can't find any of them (except the Dresden Dolls one, but I already had that one).

Should I be getting into Sigur Ros?

I'm not sure what you mean, but whatever it is, that isn't how this thread works.

buuup

with another song+link
[b]Antimatter - The Art Of Soft Landing[/b] - soft electronic goth? - [url]http://antimatter.free.fr/lights_out/The_Art_of_a_Soft_%20Landing.mp3[/url]