24 hour-ish bump.

Gomez - Get Miles


A rhythmic fuzz is opening proceedings, followed by some reverby tribal percussion and bluesy wah'd guitars. That's interesting ey?

Shakers come join in, adds a laid back feel. The singer starts.. hard grainy blues voice, very prominent in the mix. He sounds a bit like the singer from Powderfinger, but much manlier in a chainsaw kind of way. So far, not really moving me much.. but we shall see. It's a really bluesy sound, much more blues than indie. He sings bout how he doesn't like sticking around in one place and how he's going to travel.

Drums are building up slowly slowly and subtly. More and more tom hits sneaking in there. Same verse thingy again, more of the same theme. The vocal harmony is a bit of a surprise, even if it last for just a few words.

About half way through, a piano starts having a slow jam, same with does a wah-enhanced guitar. Sounds like there could even be a synth in there as well, not sure what that is.

Verse thingo as before. Slow and plodding, not really exciting me much. After a bit the singing stops and the guitar and piano improv a bit while some other stuff like trombones happen. The drums drop off for a bit, then come back with more of the laid back rhythm. The song pretty much ends about here with a fade out.


These first listens didn't impress all that much, I found it to be a rather slow, go nowhere song. Perhaps that's intended as an irony for the lyrical theme. The 5 minutes seemed to take much longer than 5 minutes. Basically, it's mood music for a mood I'll never be in.
4/10

___________
Anathema - Shroud Of Frost .. doom metal
Ayreon - Day Three: Pain .. prog rock/metal
Bush - Swallowed .. grunge/pop
[url=http://www.clannzu.com/media/baddubh.mp3]Clann Zú - An Bád Dubh[/url] .. Celtic post-rock
Decoder Ring - Music Box .. like snow
Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095 .. 80's synth rock
Katatonia - Evidence .. catchy depressing rock
Midnight Oil - My Country .. aus rock
Seascapes Of The Interior - Moving .. 20 minute post-rock masterpiece
The National - Daughters Of The Soho Riots .. soft indie
Tommy Emmanuel - The Journey .. instrumental rock, cool guitaring

I'll take dibs on the Clann Zu. Sounds interesting.

I'm currently writing my English final right now, so I'll get to it this evening.

bump added the Clann Zu link

Alright, will listen in a few minutes.

(sorry for the double post, just how it happened)

[B]Clann Zu - An Bad Dubh[/B]

Begins with some nice acoustic guitar playing, before heading into some pitiful vocals. I really dislike the vocals, reminds me too much of Coldplay. It's a shame too, once the violin sets in, and the drums later on, there's some really good music to be heard here. Typical of the genre, this song starts off slowly, before building to a crescendo, and then dying back down. The violin parts near the end are incredibly well done.

It's a fairly short and simple song, not much to say about it. The guitar and violin were excellent, the rhythm did it's part, and the vocals really brought it all down. I enjoy Sigur Ros' vocals, but I just really couldn't like these. All in all, very good music, bad vocals. I'd highly recommend this to fans of Sigur Ros, as it's very close musically.

Overall: [B]7/10[/B]
The vocals just ruin an 8 or 9.

-----------------------
We Followed Tigers - Forest Skyline/Lost In It: Hard hitting Post Rock (Think Explosions In The Sky, but more aggresive) 4:50
Perunwit - Kumele Vineto: Folky Dark Ambient 4:13
In Flames - Lord Hypnos: Melodic Death Metal done right 4:02
Gandalf - Just A Heartbeat Away: New Age 6:46
Windir - Svartesmeden Og Lundamyrstrollet (The Blacksmith And The Troll Of Lundamyri): Viking Metal 9:01
Skyforger - Saullekts Par Sveto Mezu: Blackened Folk Metal 5:24
Nokturnal Mortum - Autumn Opposition: Melodic Blackened Folk Metal 9:55

If anyone needs help getting any of the songs, let me know.

I'll dibs

In Flames - Lord Hypnos
 

The songs intro is pretty catchy. Well done duo guitars, and catchy melody. The vocals are nothing better than decent IMO. He's better than most growling screamers, but I can't get very into his voice otherwise. During the chorus, I'm not a fan of the lead guitar part. It fits the song fine, but it turns me off. However, the short part after the chorus contains the catchy melody, which I like.

There's a lenghty segment at about the 1:30 mark, which lasts till about 3:00 (the bridge). It's pretty boring IMO. Nothing too special, just a few solid riffs, and some melodies. Then at 3:00 it goes back into the intro riff, which is still my favorite part of the song. The verse and chorus then repeat themselves, and the song diminishes with it's intro....

Overall the songs mediocre, [B]6/10[/B]. Melodic Death Metal is a lesser-liked style of mine, so I wasn't expecting this to get a much better rating anyways. My most favored part of the song was the intro, where there's that catchy melody. I liekd that :)


_________________

-Carcass: Pyosisified (Still Rotten To the Gore) - Gore Grind/Old School Death
-Vintersorg: Algol - Folk/Viking Metal w/ a little prog influence
-Mr. Bungle: Slowly Growing Deaf - Heavy Rock / Metal and Funk influences
-Captain Beefhart & His Magic Band: Yellow Brick Road - Classic Rock w/ a catchy feel
-Frank Zappa: Nanook Rubs It - Fusion/Classic Rock w/ a funny story
-Genesis: Firth of Filth - Awesome Classic Prog
-Skyclad: When God Logs Off - Folk Metal
-Einherjer: Conquerer - Folk/Viking Metal
-Tom Waits: Black Wings - Very Dark Creepy sounding song. Soft and Quiet

I'll dibs on the Mr. Bungle. I have the album with that song on my comp, but I've never listened to it.

[B]Mr. Bungle - Slowly Growing Deaf[/B]

Starts off with a pretty cool funky little into before heading into an atmospheric part with some decent singing over it. About a minute in some chugging palm mutes and drums come in, and the singing gets a bit better (Mike Patton correct?). The chorus (I'm assuming) is a bit underwhelming, just some decent synthy things over some chords. It gets funky after this, with a little of that Patton-esque weirdness rearing it's head 2:20 in, with a Nintendo-like interlude, and then the atmospheric part is played in the back of the chugs and vocals, and it is almost epic in sound. Very good part. A screechy solo and some chanted vocals arrive almost 3 minutes in. 4 minutes in the speed picks up a bit, and Patton starts screaming, just before it abruptly reverts back to the atmospheric bit from the beginning. It starts to get a bit jazzy at 5:00, with a short burst of noise 20 seconds later, then back to the jazz. At 6 minutes everything abruptly ends, and for the remainder of the 6:59 track, there's some sort of piggish noises and random talking.

Very Patton indeed. I can't say I'm his biggest fan, but I do enjoy his music occasionally. I prefer Faith No More over this band, going by this song, but I will probably give this one a listen sometime in the near future. [B]7/10[/B]

---------------
We Followed Tigers - Forest Skyline/Lost In It: Hard hitting Post Rock (Think Explosions In The Sky, but more aggresive) 4:50
Perunwit - Kumele Vineto: Folky Dark Ambient 4:13
Summoning - The Loud Music Of The Sky: Tolkienesque Symphonic, slightly Black Metal, greatness 6:47
Gandalf - Just A Heartbeat Away: New Age 6:46
Windir - Svartesmeden Og Lundamyrstrollet (The Blacksmith And The Troll Of Lundamyri): Viking Metal 9:01
Skyforger - Saullekts Par Sveto Mezu: Blackened Folk Metal 5:24
Nokturnal Mortum - Autumn Opposition: Melodic Blackened Folk Metal 9:55

Once again, if help is needed obtaining any of these, let me know.

Mr. Dibbins.

Skyforger - Saullekts Par Sveto Mezu [5:24]
 

Starts off with bird noises, reminiscent of the rainforest, though suppose they are actually European woodland birds. Next we have a simple pipe playing a very folksy tune. Pounding drums beat out a steady, almost Celtic beat, and after a minute, we have just the birds again. I'm waiting for the song to go heavy, and as the suspense builds up, I'm wondering if perhaps the band has tried something new.

However, not soon after the song comes back in full force. The guitars are heavy, chugging out several standard black metal riffs. The drummer is a beast, I have to say that for him. However, the vocalist is... unique, but not exactly what I'd call forceful, or haunting, or even all that harsh. Another complaint is that the mixing seems to force the music down below the vocals, which is somewhat annoying.

Overall I'm enjoying this song, but I feel that the latter part is far better than the beginning. For at 4.25 or thereabouts I'm treated to a nice little interlude, and then a new song structure and melody comes into play. Perhaps I'm getting used to his vocals, but it appears like the vocalist is sounding a lot better, or perhaps blending better at this part of the song.

One minute later, and the song stops, suddenly.

I quite enjoyed this song, so I think I will check out more of them. I suppose with some time I will start to enjoy the vocalist, as well. Good band, with some good ideas. I'll give it 8/10.

[B]My picks:[/B]

Therion - Midgard (Symphonic Power Metal)
Mike Oldfield - The Bell (Ambient New Age)

I'll take dibs on Therion. Another band whose material I have on my comp, but that just hasn't been given a listen yet.

I'll be able to get the review up in about an hour. I forgot I have to add quotes in that paper :rolleyes:

Argh, just finished the paper, and I'm wayyy too tired for anything else tonight. The dibs is anybody's for now. If it's not taken by tomorrow, I'll still handle it.

Therion - Midgard

A band that's been somewhere on my "to check out" list for years.

For the intro, it's got a cool driving drum rhythm in 6/8 and simple melodic lead guitar. It just goes for a few bars, the lead guitar is replaced by some basic power chords.

Oh god, the vocals... operatic and choirful... it's probably all guys too. I guess this isn't as cheesy as some high pitched male PM singing stuff, but it's close on my cringeometer. The music isn't bad though, a bit basic, but it has ambience, which I like.

I can't make out what they are signing. Maybe a good thing since the fantasy vocals also put me off.

There's a bit of easy lead between the singing. It sounds pretty easy, I reckon I could play this song without too much effort. After the 2nd round of chanting, the intro lead returns for a bit, then it changes, opting for a more In Flames guitar harmony sound. At 3:30 just at the buildup to the guitar solo, it actually reminds me of a midi I wrote years ago. I had a dramatic emotional build up that sounded so much like this one.

The music had been rather basic (not necessarily bad) until this point, but the guitar solo brings forth the musical ability I had been expecting from the outset. I wish the lead guitarist had been doing more like this throughout the song, I might not have noticed the vocals so much. Once the singing stops is when I start to like the song, last minute is especially catchy. IMO, it could have gone on for longer because that ending seemed a bit sudden.

Well, I've never been a liker of power metal, only a select few songs with some similarities to PM. This song didn't change anything for me. I gave it the chance but didn't find anything I was looking for, except that final minute.
5/10

__________________________
a select few songs I like which have some similarity to PM

Ayreon - Day Three: Pain
Thyrfing - The Breaking Of Serenity
Zero Hour - The Towers Of Avarice

other choices:
Anathema - Shroud Of Frost .. doom metal
Broken Social Scene - Looks Just Like The Sun - very laid back indie
Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit - rather laid back indie
Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095 .. 80's synth rock
The National - Daughters Of The Soho Riots .. soft indie (very much worth the bother of finding)
Tommy Emmanuel - The Journey .. instrumental rock, cool guitaring

Yeah, the vocals aren't a big hit with a lot of people, my girlfriend hates them also, but I love 'em. And what about the female soprano you so conveniently forgot about? :mad::p

Meanwhile, Thyrfing, Anathema, ELO, Zero Hour and Ayreon are great!

However, I'm not too fond of Tommy Emmanuel, since when I saw him live, he basically bungee jumped this phlegm in and out of his nose, whilst playing. It kind of distracted me from the music.

I also checked out Broken Social Scene from when you recommended them in this thread. Pretty cool band. I like [I]You Forgot It In People[/I].

Basically, I'm not going to dibs because only one song there is one that I haven't heard, and I can't be bothered finding it. :p

[quote=Riva]And what about the female soprano you so conveniently forgot about?[/quote]
I've had past experiences where voices sounded like girls but were actually guys.


I'll add choces
Broken Social Scene - Looks Just Like The Sun
Broken Social Scene - Lovers Spit
going by your last fm, you'll probbly be hearing them soon anyway.

Nah, I'm going to bed. Sorry. :p

EDIT: I have time, actually.

[B]Broken Social Scene - Looks Just Like The Sun [4:23][/B]

The song starts out with some chilled out acoustic guitar work. The relaxed chords and some slow tempo drumming really sets the mood for the entire track though. The vocals come in, set in the style of so many modern surf rock bands you'd hear on a Ministry of Sound [I]Chill Out Sessions[/I] CD. This is by no means a bad thing.

The drumming is nothing special, but the guitar is. Very melodic, never intruding, it gives the song substance and verve. The lyrics, however, and by extension the vocals, tend to be somewhat insipid and repetitive. However, it's not annoying, really, just disappointing, since it really is a great song.

This structure more or less continues unabated until the very end when the song takes a pleasant twist towards the ambient, with light piano notes and a swirl of distortion that had me checking to see if a new song had started. About 3 seconds of what I suspect are aboriginal rhythm sticks, and the song is done.

Looking at the whole song, I quite liked it, and I'm giving it a 8.5/10.

[B]My recommendations:[/B]

Skyhooks - Million Dollar Riff (Aussie Pop-Rock)
Galloglass - Ancient Times (Power Metal)
Mike Oldfield - Tattoo (New Age)

Mike Oldfield - Tattoo

A ploddy start with percussive synths in major key. Bagpipes fade in and things sound quite happy and very scottish and bonnie. There are some more synths fading in, which are very melodic. I quite like it so far.

It's moving along quite slowly, but that's ok. 2 bagpipes now playing some harmonies, about 2 minutes in, the bagpipes stop and guitar starts playing similar stuff, then it plays sparse bits of lead as "choir" synth plays along. Building up, you can't tell, but it is. About 30 seconds later a quick drumroll starts and it bursts out with the bagpipes again and this is joined by fast military snare drumrolls.

It reminds me a bit of Lord Of The Rings, since there is a flute sonewhere in there playing some folky sounding parts. After the huge majestic sound dies down, the guitar plays some more sparse leads.

[quote]20 more one mores says:
is it meant to stop suddenly at 4:15
Jason (L) Eleese\\\May 25th - Do you know where your towel is? says:
yes
Jason (L) Eleese\\\May 25th - Do you know where your towel is? says:
it leads straight into Altered State[/quote]


Yeah, proof it stops suddenly at 4:15, leading into Altered State, which I reviewed a while ago on one of these forums, and still have the song because I liked it. This one I liked too, and now I can play them in sequence, which rocks.

They say experimental is 10/12 experiment if go count the number of letters, or at least I do after a few drinks. Tattoo wasn't that experimental, but it was different enough and sounded good to me. I see now that Mike Oldfield interlinks song endings and starts, so you proably often get songs that don't seem quite complete, but they successfully morph into something else in the next track. Very melodic, upbeat and uplifting feel. I did like that.

I wouldn't give it 10/10, since things have to make me really go wow or some smilar expression for that, but it was still pretty nice to listen to and I would definitely keep it.
8.5/10


____________________

Natalie Imbruglia - That Day .. chaos pop
Iggy Pop - The Endless Sea - some sort of rock
Anathema - Shroud Of Frost .. doom metal (7:30)
Derek And The Dominos - Layla .. classic rock, this is the original version of the Eric Clapton hit. 7 minutes
Gotye - A Distinctive Sound .. sample based coolness

Natalie Imbruglia - That Day [4:44]
 

I remember this song from my childhood, actually. However, at the time of downloading, I didn't realise that I did. What a trip down memory lane.

*drifts in a sea of nostalgia*

Oh right, the song...

It starts out with a standard pop guitar riff before Nat launches out her syncopated vocals. It's catchy, but not quite my cup of tea. Still I can appreciate her singing voice, it's very clear, emotional, and the fact she doesn't stick to a more standard rhythm is refreshing. The same can't be said for the guitar and drums, which are repetitive, numbing and everything that is bad about a lot of pop music.

About half way through, there's a bit of an interlude, where we get the same 5 second melody repeated over and over, whilst Natalie hums mindless nothings in the background. It's sort of a waste of space, but ah well, it stretches the song out.

Overall, Natalie carries this song on her tiny little shoulders. I can appreciate it, but I can't really enjoy it. The instruments themselves lead me to give this a 6.

------------------------------

[b]My recommendations:[/b]

Skyhooks - Million Dollar Riff (Aussie Pop-Rock)
Galloglass - Ancient Times (Power Metal)
Oysterhead - Little Faces (Psychadelic Jam Rock)
Richard Wright - Mediterranian C (Ambient Rock)

[b]Skyhooks - Million Dollar Riff[/b]

Hmm, what was I expecting from 70's rock??

It starts as fast and shuffly straightforward rock'n'roll, and I expect it to stay like this, a bit of wah work. "Million Dollar Riff" is repeated a few times over this bit. The key changes for the verse, the high pitched guy sings a line then the guitar plays a little riff, not a million dollar riff though.

The chorus comes about pretty quickly, "Million Dollar Riff" repeated over the starting music. Before I can write that sentence, it's gone back to the verse again. It's so fast paced. Lyrics seem to be about fame, and how they are going to achieve it with their Million Dollar Riff. The music is very upbeat, but it's not really exciting me.

Middle section comes in now, aaaand theres a humour element.. this middle section has all these guitar riffs from famous songs.. I hear Sunshine Of Your Love, Day Tripper, plus more I dont know. I like that, just like when SOAD put a bit of Night Rider in one of their songs, it brings a smile when you notice it.

Back to a verse again, different riffs between the singing this time. Still goes through as fast as ever, choruses too. Towards the end it's all chorus style, but all sorts of other singing and yelling. Hahaha, "Money, Money, thats what I want". No holding back there, I know to take a totally lighthearted view of this song now.


For under 4 minutes, there were a hell of a lot of verses and choruses. The music itself didn't really get me interested, but once the funny side became evident, the music didn't matter so much. Overall, it was ok, but not something I would want to listen to very often.
6.8/10

_________________________
Anathema - Shroud Of Frost .. doom metal (7:30)
[url=http://www.gotye.com/audio/Gotye-ADistinctiveSound.mp3]Gotye - A Distinctive Sound[/url] .. Sample based coolness
Katatonia - Evidence .. catchy depressing rock
Seascapes Of The Interior - Moving .. post rock. 20 minutes long
The National - Daughters Of The Soho Riots .. soft indie
Violetine - Fuzzanova .. Melodic rock

[right]Bump[/right]

[B]Goyte - A Distinctive Sound[/B]

Okay, so by "sampled based coolness," I am expecting something trip-hoppy. We'll see.

The song starts out with a sample of a man talking, then another man bust out a four-count to start the song. The drums come in playing a quick, but relatively simple beat. Some more samples of the man in the beginning of the song bounce around the drums, and soon he cues the bass which enters to play a groove while a guitar plays some muted chords.

At about 1:18 things change up a bit. The transition was kind of weird, but somehow worked. The drum beat changes again, and now some samples of a women singing and some random piano noises. Soon it goes back into the main beat.

Next it changes again, this time a little more mellow. The drums have backed down quite a bit to let some keyboard leads and some samples do their thing. Then it picks up again, this time with the bass louder and distorted, but then returns back to normal after a few measures.

Then at about 4:52 it pulls a "wtf?" on you and completely changes up for a little "cartoony" moment. It feels a little out of place, and quickly goes back into the main part, this time with the distorted bass again. Lots of samples are being played everywhere; one of them in particular is kind of annoying. The song then ends with the main guy suggesting that you play the record over again if there was "something you didn't understand."

I felt that the song was a little long and that occasionally the samples were slightly annoying and obnoxious, and some parts seemed a little out of place, most notably the "cartoony" bit. Other than that, the song was pretty decent. While I didn't like some of the sampling, I thought that a lot of them were pulled of really well. I also think that the main beat got repeated a bit too much, but at least it was good enough that it did not become tedious or unbearable. Overall, it was a cool song to listen to, but nothing that really caught my attention. 6/10


My Picks:
The Alter Boys - [URL="http://www.fracturedtransmitter.com/media/The_Alter_%20Boys-Famine_Ghost.mp3"]Famine Ghost[/URL] (Heavy Rock)
Man Man - [URL="http://www.wearemanman.com/manman.html"]I, Manface[/URL] (Piano rockish)
Clutch - 10001110101 (Stoner Rock)
Cave In - Trepanning (Alt Metal)
Adrian Belew - [URL="http://www.murple.com/media/adrianbelew-incompetenceindifference.mp3"]Incompetence & Indifference[/URL] (Experimental Guitar Rock)
Protest the Hero - Heretics and Killers

bumpcakes

[b]Man Man - I, Manface[/b]

Their site was unusual and the start of this song seems to fit what I saw.
Piano and some horns in an old sort of Tom Waits-esqe style. It's changing time sigs, or it seems to be. Theres a man singing.. indie style, he isn't really trying, but it fits very well. A minute in, drums and bass come in.. a modern touch, yet it keeps this nostalgic feel, which is really cool. I don't think I've heard stuff like this before.

Another guy is in the background, having a bit of a yell. Muted trumpets come in the perfect places. I wouldn't expect them at first, but it's not surprising when they pop up. A couple of girls add their voices to the chorus and it's adding a bar room style I guess. Again, they aren't really trying to sound like they have wonderfully beautiful voices, and that works. I'm liking this a lot.

The body of the song is just verse+chorus x 2, with some variations in yelling and singing and probably lyrics (I haven't been taking too much notice of the words). It's working so well.

At about 4 mins it gets sort of ambient with vocals going ahhh and feedback, but it's not quite the end. Now it's just a piano, a guy singing softly from close range and the other yelling from a distance. If these 2 voices were combined, it would be Isaac from Modest Mouse. I don't think this ending works that well, it's just too subdued compared to the character of the sound that came before it.


That was good, not like anything I've heard before, though I don't like it for that reason alone. I like it because it turned out so well. The ending was the only bit that didn't seem to fit, but they wrote it, so surely they have a reason. I'm impressed.. going to check out more of this band.

9/10

_____________________________________
feeling indie

[url=http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.net/mp3/bethlehemtojenin.mp3]Clann Zú - From Bethlehem To Jenin[/url] .. Irish ambience'd indie
Modest Mouse - Satin In A Coffin .. redneck'd indie
Rocket Science - Being Followed .. stalker'd indie
The National - Daughters Of The Soho Riots .. soft'd indie

dibs

I love Clann Zu, but you should recommend something from Rua, it's a much better album IMO.

Hehe, sorry about that. My life got busy about 20 minutes after posting that. Dibs revoked in the meantime.

. u
b..m..p

Clann Zu - From Bethlehem To Jenin [5:35]
 

Well, I was expecting something similar to Irish folk music mixed with Indie, but I think I misread the description. These guys are just an indie band from Ireland.

The song starts out with a keyboard part that sounds strangely like an old computer games soundtrack. It's pleasing, but nothing exciting. The vocalist, who has an amazing voice, sings a few lines, and then the song changes at about 1:51. It's not a major change, just a different structure and some ambient effects.

The entire song pretty much repeats in this way for another few minutes. It reminds me a lot of A Silver Mt. Zion, actually. Some muted acoustic guitar chords take over from the keyboards, as the vocalist pours his heart out again. Then we get the first drums of the song at 4:00 or so, and what I suspect is a violin provides some emotional melodies.

A spoken part around 5 minutes in overlays the music, and as they end, the song fades away.

Overall, I was fairly neutral about the song. The vocalist is great, with a beautiful tone. However, the music just didn't draw me in. The violin was a nice touch, but the entire track was fairly... moderate. I'm giving it 5/10.

------------------------
[b]My tracks:[/b]

(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg - Starport Blues (Folk/Traditional Power Metal)
Mike Oldfield - Quicksilver (New Age/Electronica)
Richard Claption - Girls On The Avenue (Australian Classic Rock)
Oysterhead - Little Faces (Psychadelic Jam Rock)
Richard Wright - Mediterranian C (Ambient Rock)

They shouldn't be too hard to find.