[b]Richard Wright - Night of a Thousand Furry Toys[/b] 6:39

Starts with a simple, short synthy intro (might well be the end of the last track, really), before it starts properly with a menacing bassline very reminiscent of "Clubbed to Death" (only less menacing) and a really catchy little repeating motif. Said motif is joined a couple of bars in by some quiet acousticy strumming, and then a few bars further in by the new agey synths I was expecting from the start. I really like this so far, is all sounding good together.

Oh yes, that little (I assume) bass note played at the nadir of the synth riff (if something this slow and dreamy can be termed a riff) was just gorgeous. It happens again a couple of beats later, and again just as the vocals start. The vocals aren't really singing, just providing lyrics. I suppose the voice isn't annoying, however much of a compliment that is.

As the vocals get going, the the beat changes, to a different drum and bass pattern. Samples(?) of what sounds like a crowd of children bustling around are faint in the background. Really good, short liquid solo when the vocals take a break.

Pattern pretty much repeats over the next couple of minutes; vocals for a bit (different than before, though) and then another little solo, again different from before but again really good. Song ends a little earlier than I was expecting it to then, after a very brief return for the vocals, as everything fades out and into disjointed nursery rhyme-like sounds (glockenspiels and bells and whatever).

It was pretty good, overall. At the start it was really promising, with the catchiness and build of sounds, and the little solo bits throughout were great, but the other stuff wasn't so welcome. I think might have preferred it as an instrumental, for one. Not that the vocals were particularly bad, they just distracted from how good and relaxing the first minute or so of the song was.

7/10 Still pretty good, though.

[b]Songs;[/b]
Cardiacs - "Dive" or "Dog Like Sparky" *
Seer's Tear - "Pressures" or "The 2nd Man on the Sun" (prog metal)
Halfway to Gone - Thee Song (A Slight Return) (rock instrumental)
Skyscraper - Never Again (rock)
Alabama 3 - "Up Above My Head" (faster) or "Keep Your Shades On" (slower)
H.E.R.R. - "Of Angels and Men" (neoclassical, long)

*Just rock, if slightly eccentric rock, if you're sensible; "pronk" if you're not.

Yeah, I'm indecisive. And feel free to ask me, as always.

[b]Cardiacs - Dive[/b]

Hello
Punkish guitar intro, it instantly reminds me of Soundgarden's Ty Cobb but not as fast. The Young Ones also come to mind. Vocals confirm this Young Ones thought very quickly, they sound pretty thick british punky singng style, but it's not singing.

It's also keeping that punk feel, but it's not punk, and there's keyboard/organ going on the upbeats, a bit like ska, but not. I can even hear trumpets, some weird little fills break up the music. It's 70s punk meets Mr Bungle. I'm not a sensible person so "pronk" is a good description. Man, these weird fills are almost classically influenced. I can imagine parts of this as being a theme song to a long forgotten kid's tv show. They've even thrown in some electronic effects on the vocals.. I can't help but like it...

Then there is this key riff repeated many times throughout, it's like a silly rodent and I like it too. It's obviously rather eccentric, with a stable base of non-punk and non-rock. It's easier to say what it is not like that what it is like. maybe Polka?

It was kind of like bad music, except not bad. I could listen to more if I was in the right mood.
7/10

_________________________________________________

[b]Season - Throw Me To The Sky[/b] .. post-post rock - see [url]http://www.last.fm/music/Season[/url] to download or stream the song

[b]Dead Letter Circus - Alien[/b] .. a rolling sphere of ethereal energy gathers no moss/like Deftones but less heavy and more trip and prog

[b]Orphaned Land - Birth Of The Three (The Unification)[/b] .. prog\folk\death metal

[b]The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow[/b] .. post rock/electronic

[b]Azure Ray - If You Fall[/b] .. bouncy indie pop

Season - Throw Me To The Sky [7:10]
 

Well, I know Sam's a good source of Aussie music, so I was expecting big things. A quick look at their last.fm showed me that this song was quite laid back, and that's what the first two minutes or so gave me.

The song opens with some background distortion, and eventually a few notes become discernible, as they loop in their rather slow beat, slowly getting louder. At about 1:50, the vocals come in, a soft female voice, almost whispering her lyrics, which I'm afraid were somewhat indiscernible, on the first listen at least.

The song continues in this fashion for a good few minutes more, but I'm not upset, as it's very enjoyable. At about 3:46, the mood changes slightly, the music seeming more mournful than peaceful, with a new variation of the original melody, and a second female voice appearing. The harmonies are very, very relaxing, and it's hard not to enjoy the song.

The intensity builds, the distortion and female vocals swelling around the instruments, somehow managing to make this slow beat feel urgent. At about 6:40, the vocals stop, quickly followed by the instruments, as even the distortion fades away to the sound of sampled wind blowing against a flag, perhaps? A rather fitting way to end the song, I suppose, though maybe more of a traditional resolution would have been better.

I'm giving it 9/10, since I really did enjoy it, but I did feel the too-quick ending marred it a bit.

------------------------
My picks:

Savatage - Anymore (Power Metal/Rock Opera)
The Wildhearts - Just In Lust (Hard Rock)
Polar Bear - Your Eyes The Sea (Jazz/Indie)
Marvelous 3 - Supernatural Blonde (Pop Rock)

No fu[font=verdana]c[/font]k you and the glam rock horse you rode in on, colonial.

[SIZE=3][B]USER WAS BANNED FOR BEING A FAGGOT[/B][/SIZE]

haha, that reminds me of this line from Return of the Living Dead, which I saw last night.
A black guy wanted to drive a car to try and get help, but another guy said "no, I'll drive", then the black guy goes "HEY, FU CK YOU MAN"... a classic and unnecessary outburst

I'm glad someone bumped this, I was going to but I didn't think that it would catch on.

Maximo park: books from boxes

first off i've never heard this band before nor have i listened to the genre. i wasn't expecting much. the song starts off with a nice and typical acoustic intro that fit the song well. then the singer comes in and at first really disapoints me but throughout the sonbg he gets less and less annoying and by the end seems very listenable. i didn't like it enough to continue to listen to the band but if you're into this style of music it's pretty good for what it is. i would rate it a 7/10

my recomendation is

Angra - bleeding heart (power metal ballad)

Don't suppose anyone can send me that so we can get this thing moving again?

Sorry Bartender,

[b]Angra - Bleeding Heart[/b]

Nature intro, by that I mean it is soft, melodic, picnic by the stream in the woods type music on guitar and piano. The bird sounds are missing. It reminds me slightly of Dream Theater. A soft male voice starts, tenor, not whiny, that's good.

After the first soft minute it builds up into . . . . a slow ballad. I thought it would get heavy and fast, but the drums and guitar just power up slightly.. maybe only +1 or 2. Synth strings adorn this emotional, love-lost song. It feels really cheesy, which is usually the case for power love songs. It reminds me more of Bon Jovi now than any metal bands.

I can't listen to the lyrics too much, I know I'll be laughing on the floor. They aren't bad, but I just don't go for these kind of lyrics. Just think of those poses Creed did in their videos, down on one knee, looking to the sky with arms out... The keyboardist must be really crying and playing his chords with such emotional force, they sound pretty loud.

There's a bit of lead guitar in the second half, but it doesn't really break into major soloing. It follows basic song structures and is over in about 4 minutes.


Written well music... but too cheesy for me. It never even got heavy, which I thought it might. That could almost get on top 40 charts. Not the kind of thing I'd really listen to often.

6.5/10

_________________________________________________

The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow .. post rock/electronic

Dead Letter Circus - Alien .. new wave of aussie melodic rock/trippy (edit: lost the link, but check DU in the next few days)

Al Di Meola - Mercy Street .. jazzy/contemporary

Azure Ray - No Signs Of Pain .. hard ambient indie

HORSE The Band - Hyperborea .. technical hardcore

Orphaned Land - Birth Of The Three (The Unification) .. prog\folk\death metal

[b]Orphaned Land[/b] - Birth of the Three (The Unification)

The song begins with the voice of a girl (or woman) chanting something in a foreign language, something that wouldn't sound out of place on a street corner in a packed market in the Middle East. Some guitars/drums burst in, and the song takes off. The vocalist joins in with some growled vocals, but then reverts to clean vocals, and is soon followed by what sounds like a sitar (I'm probably wrong about this). The combination of the sitar, clean vocals, electric guitars and drums create a pretty epic mood as the chorus starts and ends, followed by another growled verse.

After another chorus, there's a nice little part with a tinkling piano, a combination of growled and clean vocals and some squealing guitars, which leads the way to a solo, a pretty slick affair. The 'bridge' consists of some great guitar riffs, and some more singing/growling with the drums constantly keeping the beat. Soon after a Sitar joins back in, along with some bells (I think) which again create an epic, powerful sort of atmosphere. The singer then starts a chant, which is followed by some nice acoustic picking and then an almost choir like section of women singing. Some more riffing and picking close out the song.

Powerful track, 9/10

--------------------------------
Reccs:

Blind Guardian - And Then There Was Silence (Power Metal)

Protest The Hero - Turn Soonest To The Sea (Metal/Punk)

Gamma Ray - Rebellion In Dreamland (Power Metal)

Arsis - The Face of My Innocence (Melodic Death Metal)

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.