I would, but I've heard all those songs before except for the Arsis one, and since every Arsis song bar Diamond For Disease is the same, I've virtually heard it too. :p

dibs brothers

[b]Protest The Hero - Turn Soonest To Sea[/b] - 6/10

First thing that strikes me is the bastardisation of several genres. An unusual rhythm section opens this song, it has a power metal quality to it with a bizarre timing i can't quite say works all that well. There are some Avenged Sevenfold style leads with the high register notes, then a very punk derived verse section which brings the power chords and breakneck drumming. There are a lot of unremarkable rhythm moments after this, the song full of a lot of different parts screaming as if the artists were trying to cram as much variety as possible into the song without actually experimenting outside of the boundaries of punk. The soft-palm muted breakdown at 3:42 is about as pop/punk emo you could get, after this we have a singalong section that fades out which you could be forgiven for singing along to as it is very catchy. All up this song sounds like it's going to be one of these odd timed power metal songs at the beginning but turns into a pop-punk song with a few strange fills for variety. It's a bizarre mix and i while i personally don't think it's anything interesting it is listenable enough.

[b]Songs[/b]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
The Mentors - List of Thirty (Punk/Metal)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk)
Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet (Rock/Punk)

[b]Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet[/b]

Hard intro with some dischordant guitar and tom drums.

It turns into a girl-Nirvana kind of simple-chord, hard, raw grungy-rock, the female vocals are harsh and spat out. It's hard to hear what she's saying, The chorus, as it is, is just the intro music with "liar" repeated a few times.. nothing special. Ok, you're angry, I don't see what am I meant to be getting out of this song.

Same again. Really, there's nothing to add to what I've already said. Then there is the middle, which has different guitar riffs, with sort of bluesy twang, but still dischordant as before. Then there's a chick scream with echo after the bridge, which actually sounds pretty cool, but that's probably the only 2 seconds in the song I will think that.


So some girls were angry and got some instruments and played out their anger through a simple song (actually probably an album's worth of songs). It wasn't special in any way, and actually bored me a bit, luckily it doesn't break 3 minutes.
4/10

________________________________________

[b]Modest Mouse - Parting Of The Sensory [/b] .. indie
[b]Dead Letter Circus - Alien [/b] .. melodic trippy rock (check the DU maybe tomorrow for this)
[b]HORSE The Band - Hyperborea [/b] .. technical hardcore
[b]The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow [/b] .. post rock/electronic
[b]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street [/b] .. jazzy/contemporary
[b]Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain [/b] .. hard ambient indie

dibs

[b]Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain[/b] - 5/10

Right up after the rolling boat drums i get this folkish kind of vibe from some simple acoustic guitar chords. This sounds almost certainly like it's going to be a song that is more focused on songwriting then technicality, it's very heavy on basic rhythm with incessant toms steadily pounding with a simple bassline. The vocals are suitable, a forlorn sounding female voice in the mix works well with the blue feeling of the song in the first verse which is about as standard in terms of songwriting as you could get. It's pretty dull so far to be honest, we have a pre-chorus then a chord change with the chorus with some make-do lyrics that work well enough amongst some subtle ambient noise welling in the background. After this the vocals drop away, leaving the plodding rhythmic section with said ambient noise becoming more prominent as a kind of bridge. Then another verse/pre-chorus/chorus section, which is the same save for some subtle electronic sounds and keys in the background. There's another repeat of the ambient noise bridge, back to the chorus after it fades out with some dark bassy ambience. I found this song pleasant enough to listen to, but very dull and uninspiring.

Best - it's a calming song with nice ambient production
Worst - it jumps back and forth between a cliche structure and some unremarkable sections of music

[b]Songs[/b]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
The Mentors - List of Thirty (Punk/Metal)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk/Rock)

[B]The Mentors - List of Thirty[/B]

The song starts out with some noisy rhythm and barely sang vocals. It reminds me of some of Frank Zappa's stuff. The lyrics are clearly pertaining to sex. Dirty sex.

About one minute into it the pace picks up, for what I assume is the chorus, but manages to still keep the same feel. So after it returns back to the verse seemingly retaining some of the energy from the chorus. About two and a half minutes in there sounds like there is a guitar solo hidden deep inside of the mix. Soon after the song comes to a messy end.

I'm not so sure that downloaded the right song, didn't notice much punk or metal there. The thing that stood out to me most was the production quality. It sucked. The whole song was very vocal and drum heavy. The guitars where completely buried, and I'm not so sure that there was any bass there. I can say, though, that despite the song really not being that enjoyable for me, the ridiculous vocal line was somewhat catchy.

3/10


The Alter Boys - Auto-Erotica (Funk/Pop/Rock)
Buck 65 - Le 65isme (Alternative Rap)
Dog Fashion Disco - Adultery (Rock-ish)
Tub Ring - No One Wants to Play (Rock/Electronic)

let me know if you need help getting any of this stuff

It's about sloppy seconds, and thirds, and fourths and so on...

That'd be the right song.

EDIT - someone else can go.

[b]Tub Ring - No One Wants To Play[/b]


It's a little retro sounding rock... a bit like a band I'm gong to see tomorrow night, but not as happy. The singer starts, and he sounds a little underpowered. Even though the music isn't really hard at all, his style is too weak. Not a great singer either, but he's not bad.

The music has this grim tone to it. Can't work out the lyrics since I'm not taking much notice, but it seems like someone becoming obsessed with work and following rules and power.

The verse to chorus transition is a bit shaky. But the chorus sounds good, more of a stop-start rhythm with a similar grim feel to it. There is a bit of a spanish feel in the second half of the chorus, and some underlying electronic whirring sound.

Similar verse and chorus to before, nothing remarkable except for some well placed electronic blips in the second verse.

After chorus2, the spanish sound continues as the main theme and turns into this mid section, which is quite subdued. It builds slowly with hand claps and maracas, some pseudo-flamenco guitar, some more singing, and then a slowish trumpet solo.

There's another chorus or two and it ends kind of suddenly.

Seems like the song was rushed a bit, the structure, transitions and the ending could have been better. Musically it was good, I think this was the best aspect, though nothing was really spectacular, it worked well. The vocals were weak, but not too bad. And the lyrics, I missed.
Could have been better, but far from bad. 7/10

______________________________

[b]The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow [/b] .. post rock/electronic
[b]Dead Letter Circus - Alien [/b] .. Deftones-y & Dredg-y trippy rock
in a recent Daily Upload, or ask me if you aren't on it and I'll link you.
[b]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street [/b] .. jazzy/contemporary
[b]HORSE The Band - Hyperborea [/b] .. technical hardcore
[b]The Cops - Call Me Anytime[/b] .. retro-ish pop rock

dibs

[B]The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow[/B] - 7/10

This song appears to be on the OC soundtrack, a tv show i know very little about and which really has no bearing over the song anyway. There's a recurring kick beat with reverb happening at the beginning, and progresses until what is either some chiming guitar arpeggios or a keyboard begins creating a slow, hypnotic rhythm.

The first part of this song is based around this rhythm, as other instruments are introduced into the mix over the progression of the song. The vocal mix is good, a nondescript male voice leads through a pleasant enough verse as we hear a subtle violin penetrating through the air. It's quite beautiful actually. The second part of the song comes after a short break in the drums, leaving some heavenly synths hanging in the air for just a second. Then back to the main rhythm, introducing some electronics and a drum pattern. The verse picks up here, and is almost the same as the first part except for a pleasing shift in the dynamics. After this the drums stop, and we have some atmospheric ambience fading out.

All up this is a pleasing enough song, it may be a little slow and plodding for some but i find the atmosphere it creates very nice.

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Tom Waits - I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You (Folk/Rock)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (Punk/Folk)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

bump

Dibs.

[b]Tom Waits - I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You[/b] (3:54)

Counts in to a nice slow, relaxed acoustic beginning. The recording seems to be unusually quiet, but when I turn it up enough it sounds good. It sounds close, like a good atmosphere for this kind of song.

Anyway, the vocals come in fairly soon, and sound like.. well, like Tom Waits. There's not much else to compare them to. It's all unhurried delivery, and just sounds really assured, which I would think is a good thing on a debut album.

To be honest, there's not all that much going on. It's a really good song, but there's little to actually say about it. The music is great - good tune, with lots of little thatched, cascading notes running through it - but it starts out the way it means to finish. I think a hint of synth or something creeps into the background at the second repetition of the title (and comes back occasionally after), but for the most part it's just the same throughout. Not that that's a bad thing, there's just not much I can say about it.

The vocals, at least on first listen, were doing things I liked, keeping me on my toes a little by skipping outside the melody (without just sounding out of place) throughout. Which is again a good thing.

A really good song, then, just not one about which I can write much, as it was all pretty much the same. I will be checking out more Tom Waits now, though.

8/10

[b]Songs;[/b]

Burning Saviours - Dark Lady (heavy metal/early doom)
Tim Minchin - Rock'n'Roll Nerd (comedy/piano rock)
Tinariwen - "Matadjem Yinmixan" or "Tamatant Tilay" (rock/Tuareg traditional)

By Tim Minchin, are you referring to the Australian comedian/songwriter? Because if you are, could you pls upload it for me?

Would be very greatful :thumb:

The very same. Sent a link to the MSN address in your profile, don't know if it's active or not.

Yeah it is, I'll download it tomorrow morning. I have to get up at 6 tomorrow and it's 11:17pm atm, so I'd best be off to bed. Night :wave:

Well if anyone else wants a track to review in the meantime, feel free to ask.

[B]Tim Minchin - Rock'n'Roll Nerd[/B]

At the beginning of the song its clearly stated that the song is going to be poking fun at metal. The song actually starts with some low key piano playing with some light jokes being half sung.

Soon the song picks up a bit for a chorus-e type section. Neither the piano playing or the singing are exceptional, but for some reason its working really well.

About halfway through it bust into a little funkier section, all while cracking jokes the whole time. Surprisingly some of the jokes are somewhat inclusive to metal heads, especially because this sounds like this guy is more of a comedy show than a performing musician.

After a little tribute to Stairway, the song comes to a close at about 5 and a half minutes. Not a whole lot to the song, it might have a been a little long winded, but it changed pace enough to keep it pretty interesting throughout. Some clever lyrics in there as well, but luckily even if some of the jokes weren't so good, the music was catchy enough to cover it up. All in all it was a good song, I may be tempted to check out more of this guy.

8/10

The Alter Boys - Auto-Erotica (Funk/Pop/Rock)
Buck 65 -Rough House Blues (Alternative Bluesy Rap)
Dog Fashion Disco - Adultery (Rock-ish)
Mushroomhead - Exploiting Your Weakness (Nu-metalish)

let me know if you need to send you something

[QUOTE=Splat Out Plath;14903459]Just get the whole album, you're almost guaranteed to love it.[/QUOTE]

Agreed.

Dibs.

[B]Mushroomhead - Exploiting Your Weakness[/B] - 7/10

Mushroomhead has always been a bit of an anomaly to me as a band, i've never really explored them because nu-metal is not my genre however they seem to be one of those bands that should be more popular and well known then they actually are. I've had a casual listen to some of their music, and can't say i've enjoyed it much but it's listenable enough.

Exploiting Your Weakness sounds exactly as i thought it would. It's a vaguely industrial sounding nu-metal track, with lots of dropped down chugging and the kind of screaming rap that is typical of several nu-metal groups. From the pounding tom intro the song is set with another nu-metal staple, the repeated phrase. The repetition of "the mind is a sponge, absorbing your secrets, the body's at one, exploiting your weakness" brings to mind the "I am the push that makes you move.", "you can't kill me cause i'm already inside you" kind of motif favoured by Slipknot lyrically. It's got a pop hook to it, and does dig into your head. It builds up to another lyrical section accompanied by some palm-muted chugs, then after this explodes into a chorus kind of section which is just some unmuted metal guitar over the same rhythm.

After this comes something unusual, a kind of keyboard led bridge which was a little out of left field and i wasn't expecting. The toms keep on rolling, then we go into a section that reminds me of "25 years" by Pantera where the guitar just kind of stop on a dime, silence between each chug with some singing over the top. The keyboard returns, then some fills to vary the mix rhythmically. After this back to the chugs, and a short bridge with something of a keyboard solo. It then fades back into the same rhythm that opened the song, and explodes back into that chorus section i mentioned before. After this, another section. It features what sounds like yelping and a palm muted riff, after this everything stops and some sweeping digital distortion fades out.

It's not a bad song, nothing great though. Someone who is mad in the head for nu-metal might like it a lot more.

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (Punk/Folk)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

so it is, never trust track tags

bump

[b]The Pogues - A Pair Of Brown Eyes[/b]

I've seen this band mentioned so many times, and finally I get to listen to them.

It starts of pretty much how I expected it would, but slow and in 6/8. For those playing at home, I mean it has a melodic mixture of accordion, banjo, guitar, drums and a guy that can shout, can't sing, but has a go anyway. There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?

The music itself has the feeling-sorry-for-itself feel, sad and fixing it with alcohol. The guy is singing about how he got drunk and wants to meet a girl with brown eyes? I can't really follow it as I'm typing this as it plays. I think he says a bomb hit the place he was in and someone who rescued him had brown eyes... as these types of songs seem to be about.

Not much changes for a while. There's a chorusy thing which could be more chanted or have rowdy backing vocals, but it doesn't. How conservative.

Another verse about something totally different, I don't see how the brown eyes bit fits in here. Maybe it's a recurring theme through his life or something. The music is nice but doesn't change much at all. I couldn't take too much of this sound at once. One song is fine, but a whole album would get to me.


This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much.
6.5/10

________________________

[b]Dead Letter Circus - Alien[/b] .. Deftones-y & Dredg-y trippy rock
in a recent Daily Upload, or ask me if you aren't on it and I'll link you.
[b]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street[/b] .. jazzy/contemporary
[b]HORSE The Band - Hyperborea[/b] .. technical hardcore
[b]Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095[/b] .. 80's synth rock

[QUOTE=blueyxd;14908930]There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?[/QUOTE]

Irish as they come.

[QUOTE=blueyxd;14908930]This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much[/QUOTE]

I really love that song atm, i find it nicely beautiful once you get used to Shane McGowan's voice. Makes me think of sitting around in the summer sun drinking beer. I can understand what you mean though, it perhaps works better in the context of it's album i'd have to say.

A couple of other songs by The Pogues i might suggest are [I]The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn[/I], [I]The Old Main Drag[/I], and [I]The Band Played Waltzing Matilda[/I] if you're looking for a better introduction. They have an engaging story to them, and are heaps of fun to listen to as the band fuses a punk influence in their themes with traditional Irish folk music ([I]The Band Played Waltzing Matilda[/I] is much more the latter though). [I]A Pistol For Paddy Garcia[/I] is an excellent instrumental as well. Hell get the whole album, [I]Rum, Sodomy & The Lash[/I].

haha are they australian????

haha are eliminator australian????

I'll check out the other tracks because faster pace seems to suit that music better.

beeyouempee

^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.

No because the point of this whole thing is that you've never heard the song

[QUOTE=PeEpHoLe_10;14915864]^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.[/QUOTE]
No way, it's my favourite, it has been since I first saw them live.

Dand is right, you already know their songs, so there is no point in you reviewing one. You are more than welcome to have a go of the others, as long as you haven't heard it before.

Could you email me mercy street blueyxd? I'm having trouble finding it (and the other songs for that matter)

[email]haz567@gmail.com[/email]

I'll try something, but on dialup at home so uploading takes a while. It reckons it'll take 30 minutes to finish.

Okay thanks m8 i got it will have it done it a bit.

[B]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street[/B]

After listening to Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy i was eager to hear this, and i'm not disappointed.

Once again it's an instrumental piece, there is not a lot of variation in sections here so it is difficult to describe it in such a manner. Right up i can say this is a beautiful song, very relaxing with a world music vibe to it. I don't know if there is only a single guitar track here, but there are some very nice choices of notes being played. A lot of the rhythm seems to be based on some quickly strummed arpeggios here and there that lead into some other instrumental part following up on it in in the same key, between the guitar and the piano track there are some truly beautiful moments. As far as i can tell there is no bass track or an indistinguishable one at least, the guitar provides all the bass the song needs. A simple drum pattern keeps the song together, and towards the end sections it becomes a little more prominent with some changes.

Once again it's a beautiful song and an excellent instrumental, but discussing it in detail is difficult because there is a simple rhythm structure to it with some guitar noodling and piano over the top. Putting it this way it sounds deceptively like there's not much to it but this is not true, the instruments being played are varied and pleasing to listen to. Good song.

9/10

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

all those songsz r gay

[QUOTE=Eliminator;14927316]all those songsz r gay[/QUOTE]

nice review

bump

all those eliminatorz r gay

There's probably a couple of guitar tracks in that song, it's beautiful music.
dee-eye-bee-ess

[b]Alcest - Tir Nan Og[/b]
I can't see any reference to it being titled in the way SOP said.
For something that was tagged black metal on last.fm, this is certainly not what I expected.

It starts with a very bouncy and melodic frenchy/celtic folk sound. I can hear butterflies, summer sunshine, rolling meadows of green grass and a stream. More-body-than-ethereal vocals float through the music, sounding a bit like Cocteau Twins. I don't know what they are saying, could be French, or just "aahhh" type non-word vocals. This continues for a while, the vocals getting more and more airy as it goes on. It's easy to get lost in and very relaxing... makes me wish it was summer here (even more than I already do, which is a lot).

2 minutes in, it changes slightly, different guitar and vocals, but still in the same bouncy feel.

At 3 minutes - about half way through, a single fingerpicked guitar, with lots of sustain starts playing a totally new theme. It sounds a bit like a middle section of a Dream Theater song, but doesn't fit in with the preceeding parts.

After a bit of this, it's back to the fields of rabbits and deers and peace. That middle section really doesn't fit as the song heads back to this part. It does break up the repetitiveness of the bookend sections, but it's just wrong.

I quite like the folk part, and I don't think it would be excessively repetitive without the intermission. However, it might need a bit of a buildup in that case.
Nice
7.5/10

__________________________________________
a mixed bag

Dead Letter Circus - Alien
Conjure One - Pilgrimage
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car
Peccatum - Black Star
Modest Mouse - Little Motel
Salmonella Dub - Problems

dibs

[B]HORSE the band - Hyperborea[/B]

After a brief moment of guitar feedback at the beginning this a straight up aural assault similar to DEP with the off timings. Most of the song is very metalcore, loud and heavy with some shouting over the top. The keyboard in this sounds a bit out of place in tone, a lot of breaks leave it hanging there in the air and it sounds weird with all the cutting guitars and screaming in between. It sort of works, it just sounds kind of like a weak industrial style electronic effect. There's lots of crazy drum fills, and really there's not much else you can say about this song about from that it's very loud and headache inducing. I didn't mind it.

6/10

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Faith No More - The Crab Song (Funk Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)