Ryus
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Reviews 26
Approval 87%

Soundoffs 16
Album Ratings 3933
Objectivity 78%

Last Active 07-13-22 3:27 am
Joined 11-02-13

Review Comments 30,963

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04.06.23 quarantine albums03.31.23 APRIL: REC ME RYUS EDITION ♦
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02.16.23 who wanna write a review for the new ke02.09.23 what are you listening to today?
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kayo dot ranked

my latest discog run has revealed these truths to me
10Kayo Dot
Blasphemy

2.5/5 highlights: ...

their most forgettable release with little of note. for a group as imaginative as driver and co. that's pretty difficult to do so this album is almost impressive lol. there's nothing truly offensive about "blasphemy," but it almost feels like driver is holding back the entire time.
9Kayo Dot
Plastic House on Base of Sky

2.5/5 highlights: rings of earth

this is just such a strange album to me. it builds on the sound the group cultivated on "coffins," but i'm not really sure if "builds" is the right word; it's more of an addendum that i didn't ask for nor care to hear. the band has never shied away from lengthy songs, but the first three here really feel like a slog. "rings of earth" brings some much needed weightiness to the album's floaty sound, with its more tangible melody in the first half and its dark conclusion.
8Kayo Dot
Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike

3.5/5 highlights: the knight errant, the necklace

tbf this is their album that i'm least familiar with so it could easily move up (almost certainly not down) in the near future. "moss" feels like a good mixture of the myriad sounds they've toyed with over the years–synth backed, yet guitar-driven, with some screams that were sorely missed from their previous two. good stuff
7Kayo Dot
Gamma Knife

3.5/5 highlights: lethe, gamma knife

the grainy production on "gamma knife" makes this a unique entry in the band's catalog, and they mostly put it to good use. bookended by two lovely contemplative, acoustic pieces, the middle section of the album isn't the band's most riveting work, but the shrieking woodwinds, death growls, and lo-fi guitars are interesting enough.
6Kayo Dot
Coffins on Io

3.5/5 highlights: the mortality of doves, offramp cycle pattern 22

the only kayo dot album i'd feel comfortable with playing in a car with my friends. "the mortality of doves," a hazy synth-prog expedition, is one of the band's crowning achievements–unfortunately, it's the only time where they use this sound to the best of their abilities. "offramp cycle" is a fun jaunt, if any kato dot song could be described in that sense, but the album starts to lose me after that.
5Kayo Dot
Coyote

4/5 highlights: calonyction girl, whisper ineffable

"coyote" really carries itself on the strength of its opening one-two punch, which might be the strongest in their discography. this one took me a while to come around to but it was well worth it in the end. "calonyction girl" and "whisper ineffable" are dark, haunting, and progress wonderfully–all traits of (most) good kayo dot tunes.
4Kayo Dot
Hubardo

4/5 highlights: the black stone, thief, zlida caosgi, the second operation, the wait of the world

i think i could spend another 10 listens with this one and still not really get what it's all about lol. that doesn't preclude me from enjoying the shit out of it though. "the black stone" throws you right into the deep end, but it has one of my favorite climaxes of theirs "the second operation" has some of the most gorgeous music toby's written. there's really too much to talk about with this album but so many individual lovely parts stand out. not quite in the top tier of their works as a whole, but damn it if this doesn't have some of the most powerful, heavy, and beautiful moments in their discog.
3Kayo Dot
Choirs of the Eye

4.5/5 highlights: marathon, the manifold curiosity, the antique

yall already know this slaps. difficult for me to place this in third as magical as it is, but that's a testament to kayo dot's amazing body of work.
2Kayo Dot
Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue

4.5/5 highlights: gemini becoming the tripod, aura on an asylum wall, amaranth the peddler

it's very close, but pound-for-pound i'd take "dowsing" over "choirs." i love both albums for similar reasons, and they have a similar sort of progression to them, but there's something about the quiet moments here that make it ever so slightly more enjoyable than "choirs." the loud moments aren't half-bad either–the end of "aura" and most of "gemini" are titanic.
1Kayo Dot
Blue Lambency Downward

4.5/5 highlights: t/t, clelia walking, the awkward wind wheel, symmetrical arizona

for all its greatness, kayo dot's music is often frustrating and impenetrable–yet somehow, their album that perhaps best exemplifies these qualities finds itself at the top of my list. i'm not sure when i realized that this was their defining work for me, but it certainly wasn't overnight. i wrote this one off at first for lacking some of the obvious traits that i love about their first two albums. repeated listens revealed an album that was, yes, those two aforementioned adjectives, but simultaneously gorgeous, expressive, and impactful. what was previously meandering and difficult became subtle and deftly composed. slaps ahrd
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