August 4, 201212 yr Emails? What is this? 1998? Has some sort of telepathy been invenyed where one can transmit information from one mind to another without traditional media being involved? I still use email :(
August 4, 201212 yr Author I'm so into e-mails, real talk I think sending cute emails is really romantic zHnn4zxrAjI
August 4, 201212 yr I use my e-mail for notifications (like from Facebook, Twitter, etc.), also for artist newsletters (you know, where you sign up on someone and you get stuff from him/her/them like new single, tour, etc.). Not for sending though, unless needed. :D Edited August 4, 201212 yr by FM11
August 5, 201212 yr Eine Kleine Nachtmusik When I first opened this file my first impressions were not that good, one file coming in at just under an hour put together like a mix-tape rather than the usual collection of individual mp3s, it would be a bit of a ballache to separate them into individual songs or download them. Then I opened up the notepad file to find the following instructions: The mp3 is one file intended to be played as a whole. Best played at night. So I added it to my iPod intrigued and decided to only play it at night. Unfortunately I haven't played it anywhere near as much as I'd like to have due to a spell of warm weather and the Olympics but it's unlikely I'll play it again before the deadline. As it is one piece I shall review it as such. It starts off with a rather excellent piece of fairly minimal electronic music which goes well to set the tone for the rest of the album. Next up is a longer piece of music which starts with a spoken word before the music begins. Again it's electronic and again it's good, and here I realise why it came with the instruction 'best played at night', sat in darkness doing not very much, just listening, the distorted vocal sounds absolutely epic, a truly brilliant piece of music. It flows well into the third piece but it's something I find far less interesting than the 8 1/2 minutes that went before it, but it's certainly not bad. The next piece is again a much more minimal affair and is something else which sounds brilliant given how it's being listened, it sounds like The Chemical Brothers doing chillout at their best. It's 14 minutes until I hear some music that I recognise and it's the turn of a rare vocal, 'Two Planets' by Bat For Lashes. Although I'm a fan of hers it's not something that I've ever considered to be amongst my favourite tracks, the end of 'Two Suns' not being anywhere near as strong as the beginning. But hearing it in this context I begin to love it, the percussion is a piece of brilliance I've never noticed before. Next up is a song taken from one of my favourite albums of all time, 'Talisman' by Air, there are stronger Air songs but it's still great and fits in very well with the context of this CD. Reaching the halfway point the next track fits in well after 'Talisman', there's not a great deal happening but it's a great way to slow it down and it's a beautiful piece of music. The next song is the first I'm not really fussed with, it goes on far too long and I find it quite dull, the first time listening that I haven't really been enjoying it, but that soon changes, the next track doesn't do a lot but it's rather wonderful nonetheless, it then moves into something which sounds like Massive Attack, certainly from that era anyway, it's ok but is something I think could be a little shorter, it's certainly better in the context of this album as a whole than it is individually anyway. The next track is the one I've liked most on it's own for a while, it's a good vocal and the instrumentation is really great, 'Heart Skipped A Beat' from The xx is next, definitely one of my favourites of theirs and a great choice in the context of this album, and now we have Massive Attack, with I believe 'Mezzanine', not one of theirs I consider their best but good nevertheless and something which fits perfectly given the context. Unfortunately the album ends at its weakest point, a track by Antony & The Johnsons, as much as I've tried I only consider 'Hope There's Someone' and 'Cripple And The Starfish' to have any real merit. Overall I've absolutely loved this and it's something I will keep and listen to fairly regularly when the mood is right, I don't think I have any doubts in saying this is my favourite of the 6(?) of these I've received over the last few years, a lot of really interesting music I wouldn't ever have heard and some which I've found new love for upon hearing in a different context. I would be very surprised if this wasn't Tony's CD based on some of the things he's said. I don't think the likes of Bat For Lashes, Massive Attack etc. are inclusions he'll think are inspired and it is mixed and sequenced superbly. If I were to rate each of the 10 tracks out of 10: 01 - 8/10 02 - 10/10 03 - 6/10 04 - 9/10 05 - 9/10 ['Two Planets'] 06 - 9/10 ['Talisman'] 07 - 8/10 08 - 5/10 09 - 7/10 10 - 6/10 11 - 9/10 12 - 10/10 ['Heart Skipped A Beat' 13 - 7/10 ['Mezzanine'] 14 - 2/10
August 5, 201212 yr That sounds like a potentially decent cd, will be interested to see the full tracklist.
August 6, 201212 yr It is indeed my cd. I am surprised you only know 5 of the tracks. I realised after I submitted it that it included tracks from 3 Mercury Prize winning albums and further 4 from nominees. I'll post the track list later. I'm on my phone at the mo. Glad you liked it. Some of the tracks you didn't like may grow on you.
August 6, 201212 yr 1 Daft Punk - Solar Sailor I discovered this by searching for Daft Punk mash-ups and I found this mashed up with Bruno Mars' Grenade. 2 Burial - Etched Headplate I discovered this last year when Tyron mentioned them in a thread. I went straight to Archangel and I loved it. When I downloaded the album Etched Headplate stood out as being the most amazing track on a great album. 3 Chequerboard - 20th Century Artillery - every chance I get I promote this guy. He's wonderful at mizing acoustics and electronics. 4 Deadmau5 - Strobe (edit) I heard about this on youtube. I didn't like anything else I heard from him but this is good - the second half of the track is danicer so I edited it. 5 Bat for Lashes - Two Planets - this is not the most accessible song from her but I love the music of it. 6 Air - Talisman - I was going to include Le Soleil est Pres de Moi but went for this instead. 7 Blank and Jones - Lullaby (edit) - I heard this while searching for relaxing music on youtube. They are a trance act as far as I know. 8 Stina Nordenastam - Crime - I've had this for years and it's my favourite song from her album And She Closed Her Eyes 9 Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place - I've also had this for years and it's one of the best instrumentals I've ever heard. 10 Portishead - Roads - a classic track from a classic album. 11 Tricky - Overcome - opening track on my second favourite trip-hop album (after Mezzanine). 12 The XX - Heart Skips a Beat - many tracks on XX are beautiful but this one is magical and the final chorus is the pinnacle of the whole album for me. 13 Massive Attack - Mezzanine - my favourite track on the album of the same name. 14 Antony and the Johnsons - My Lady Story - I too felt that this act had nothing much to offer apart from Hope There's Someone but I was wrong. The parent album of that track is enchanting once it all sinks in. Edited August 7, 201212 yr by tonyttt31
August 6, 201212 yr That's the Way We Spell success I'll review this one track at a time and then as a whole at the end. 1 Perfect start. I’ve been playing this loads since I got this mix. Her voice is a thing of beauty and the lyrics have an air of mystery. A song sung with some sort of heart ache on the agenda and the layers of instrumentation are understated without being obvious or commonplace. 10/10 2 A chorus that is kind of camp and reminds me of Magnetic Fields or Divine Comedy but less baritone. The repetitive lyrics do grate but I guess they intended to play on the sounds of the words “intricate” and “delicate” rather than the meaning of them. But it does have a great lift as part of the middle eight. 6/10 3 Imagine a muted verse from Bat for Lashes and jaunty chorus from the Carpenters – that is what this is. It is sumptuously orchestrated and the percussion is energetic. I like this a lot. 7/10 4 This is quite mannered and the opening bars are kinda irritating for me – then it goes all funky with admirably nimble vocals. If this wasn’t a single it should have been. It is indie-pop in the way that Lush might have done if they found some synths and wanted to write a song about holding up a bank or a shop. Mentions if murdering and casinos lead me to think that it would make the most perverse Bond theme ever (if lots of strings were added) 6/10 5 Another track with an awfully mannered intro – it works well following the previous track – trouble is I don’t like either very much. But both have their moments. This does bring into a riotous techy synth break around the minute mark which is light relief. 5/10 6 This is something I can see arriving into my life from Unknown Pleasures and getting top marks. I’m a sucker for mildly nasal vocals that, I’m sure, would annoy someone else. Like a less whiney Mansun with an FM sheen. The chorus is a sudden uplifting experience and it’s quite addictive. 10/10 7 This is a curious thing. A trip-hop vocal for the verse and a big band or cabaret chorus backed with a razor sharp modern pop production for a chorus. Somehow I’m reminded of Garbage and Portishead but it sounds nothing like those bands 7/10 8 Haha….I actually purchased the 12” of this from a bargain bin based on the cover alone – a dead ringer for New Order’s Substance cover. It’s a sort of looped house, filtered disco thing that I never really took to when I bought it but it’s much mess one-dimensional that it seemed at first. 7/10 9 This is the Presets with This Boy is In Love and despite it being from a genre I like I never really liked it or them - the mid to late 00s spate of dark indie bands with vocalists in thrall to Joy Division and sundry other early 80s bands that were influenced by them. The chorus is a lot more dynamic than I ever give it credit for. 7/10 10 More male vocals. This grew on me slowly. At first it sounded bland an anonymous but the constant jangle is quite catchy when you’ve heard it a few time. I can’t place who this is at all but it does sounds very mid-00s. 7/10 11This has a house riff at that start that is intriguing. This is wonderful and has good vocal effects going on. It’s hypnotic. 7/10 12 Dubstar or St Etienne with a funky old 70s flute and guitar and then some DJ Shadow drums. This is very very mid-90s and would be the kind of thing to be found at the end of a Shine compilation. The drums add a level that brings the whole thing from ok to good. 7/10 13 Now this is amazing. I have to say, I’m ashamed that I didn’t know this was Siobhan Donaghy doing the vocals until I looked it up. The music is trip-pop and I can’t get enough of it. I will be checking out her other stuff. 10/10 14 Is this Keane going all electro? It’s glorious and quite unexpectedly good. That sort of arpegiated riff gets very old very quickly but this somehow doesn’t. It’s vaguely Active Child with more overtly electro music. 9/10 15 I can’t really get into this no matter how I try. Given I’ve already found many gems I don’t think I have the motivation to put the work in. It’s not awful. The vocals sound like A-ha and there’s plenty of syth to suggest an 80s fixation. As the chorus goes – It’s all right. 6/10 16 This is a strange thing. It has a disco bassline but isn’t really a disco track – as far as I can tell. The vocals sound distinctly Beyonce. It’s trying hard to be funky and on a good day I would forgive it for that. Just when I think that it’s gone on too long it comes to life around the 5 min mark. Pleasant enough. 6/10 17 Another track that would fit right in in Unknown Pleasures and the sort of thing that would win to my puzzlement. Edgy syths? Check! Live drums? Check! Edgey female vocals? Check! It’s also one that I wouldn’t play much after a few listens. 6/10 18 An instrumental piece that already has my attention because of the harp usage. Then the flute type instrument summons images of middle-ages English folk. Pastoral is a word I would use to describe this. That is until electric guitar comes in to a somewhat jarring effect. I’m not sure the guitar works but at least it’s unexpected – which I much prefer to predictability. 8/10 19 This starts with a folky voice that is the right side of twee. This sounds like it was released in the 1970s and is right up my street. I love the feedback guitar in it and it brings it a level up from folk. Something about it reminds me of Tracey Chapman. 10/10 That's the Way We Spell Success is the work of someone who has a good knowledge of modern left-field pop music. There's nothing too out there or bizarre and is perfect for a pop and indie/alternative audience that takes part in this activity. There's also nothing rubbish in it. I've found some amazing new music and will be investigating further when I find out who they are by. Over all I'd give it 8/10 Edited August 6, 201212 yr by tonyttt31
August 6, 201212 yr That's mine, Tony - I'm so glad you liked it! I was pleased from the moment you posted your enthusiasm for the opening track as it's from one of my absolute favourite artists and she's nowhere close to being well known enough. That's The Way We Spell Success 1. Vienna Teng - As I said, Vienna is one of my most treasured artists - she's released four albums so far and they're all absolute gems. 2004's Warm Strangers is an impeccable album and I wished I'd had room for 'My Medea' from it on this disc too. 'Blue Caravan' is from 2006's Dreaming Through The Noise and I've been playing it regularly again since compiling this disc. I urge EVERYONE to check her out if you like this song, so many beautiful tracks. 2. Apollo - Rope I included this less as a great song (which I think it borders on) and more as a promise of greatness to come - @thisisapollo is a longtime Twitter acquaintance and I think he's begun a really intriguing career with this. 3. Gemma Ray - Runaway Briefly considered as an entry into BJSC a few months ago, and I didn't really want to let it go unsung so threw it in here. 4. Modernaire - Faites vos Jeux A few years old now but I do like to revisit its funky synths every so often. I can see why it might be slightly irritating, it did take a while for me to really love it. 5. LCMDF - I happened to see this band live a few months ago and this track was explosive live - sadly it doesn't quite come across on record but I thought I'd see what people thought. I think they're The Go! Team without whatever mysterious magic makes The Go! Team not annoying. 6. Dan Black - Wonder He had a bit of hype a couple of years ago (possibly because one of his songs borrowed Rihanna's Umbrella) but it never really 'happened' - shame because his album Un was very good. This was my runaway favourite from it so I'm delighted it gets a 10 from you, the production on it is gorgeous. I put his album cover in my round of the Album Cover Puzzle and I recall Dandy* endorsing the album... Apparently this track was on the FIFA11 soundtrack which is something I suppose! 7. Antigone - Back in 2009 again - Antigone's album Antigoneland was one of my favourite albums of the year and it always saddens me to see how few listeners she has on last.fm. I went with the lead single but the album is full of instant and interestingly constructed pop songs so do investigate! 8. Lifelike - Ha, as you mentioned, artwork stolen from New Order, though music with less depth than theirs! It came down to a choice between this and Eric Prdz for my 'dance epic' inclusion so perhaps be thankful? This is also where the title of the whole disc is taken from, not that it has any overarching meaning for the rest of the tracks. There's no theme here except 'slightly obscure music I love'! 9. The Presets - This Boy's In Love Not much to say here - The Presets never captured my adoration like fellow Aussies Cut Copy, but I do adore this track. 10. Datarock - Molly 2009, so a bit behind the times if you think it's mid-00s! I think it is going for that sound though. Not my favourite from their album Red but I thought the love for Molly Ringwald might appeal to someone. 11. When Saints Go Machine - I heard this playing before a gig a year or so back and desperately asked my friend to use that Shazam app and miraculously it came good for once! Apparently it's a cover of a 1988 rave classic by someone called Kariya which I'm not familiar with at all. 12. Saint Etienne - Goodnight Jack (St Et tracks are NEVER on YT!) Saint Etienne are another of my favourite acts and though they're not that unknown I fell for this afresh on a tube platform and couldn't resist including it. I'm surprised you don't like it more really but I guess I can't quite read you yet. 13. Square1 feat. Siobhan Donaghy - Styfling After Ghosts I would have followed Siobhan into a David Guetta collaboration and I'm really surprised this never received more attention. The low-key instrumentation really lets her vocals fly. 14. Thomas Azier - Another song considered for BJSC, but no one would've gone for the anguished male vocals. Good comparison points, I love Active Child and it definitely takes similar instruments in a more dramatic, operatic direction. 15. Melody Club - I think because they like guitars a bit, this Swedish band don't get that much love but they have a fair amount of good songs. As usual, I favour the darker, more dramatic ones. I can see the vocals being an acquired taste though. 16. Beat Connection - What Yours Truly is I don't know, but after In the Water flopped in BJSC last year (because I couldn't vote, you see), I checked out their EP and fell for this. It took me far too long to realise it samples Beyonce. 17. The Sounds - A friend tried to get me into this group and I didn't really bite but I did take away this track. Again, I favour the dramatic. 18. The Planets - Grassland Theme Ten years ago, I asked my parents to get me The Planets on CD - meaning Holst's classical pieces. I got a CD by this short-lived group instead. Mostly waste, but an obsession quickly developed with this track that continues to this day. 19. Natalie Merchant - Thick as Thieves I can't recall how I came across this track and appallingly I've still failed to venture further into her discography but this really is superb and I'm glad you agree. 1998, though I see the '70s feel for sure. I did set out to try and make a disc anyone could find something to enjoy within, so I'm glad it had such a strong hit-rate with you! Oh and my own review will be along sooooooooooon.
August 9, 201212 yr Looks like this is the second time I'll not get a review, I won't bother again :/
August 9, 201212 yr Looks like this is the second time I'll not get a review, I won't bother again :/ If you don't get one by tomorrow, forward your one on to me and I'll happily review it for you. I discovered the wonderful Beautiful Small Machines the last time I got yours. :wub: Edited August 9, 201212 yr by Brett-Butler
August 9, 201212 yr I intended on reviewing my cd tomorrow, but my laptop just DIED so I shall do my best.
August 9, 201212 yr Finally feel I have a good overview of my cd. It's very alt-pop'ish, not a genre I dabble in a lot. Initially I found very few songs that I thought I’d ever end up liking, but given time I’ve come to like quite a few of them. The playlist hasn’t been a revelation, but it has added some good songs to my music library. I’m a bit unsure about the name of the album, The Journey, as it suggests that there is a theme and sort of narrative to the album, I must admit I have been unable to find this, this could however be my fault. I don’t use a 1-10 system for rating, but just write down the ratings I’ve given them in my iTunes library, basically it means all the bad ratings are collapsed into the rating 1, while a rating of 2 or more means it’s a good song. Thus: 1 = Song I’m unlikely to listen to in the future. (1-5) 2 = Songs that will enter into my shuffle playlist, but are unlikely to be actively selected by me for playing in the future. (6-7) 3= Good songs, that will actively feature in my future playlists or already do. (7-8) 4= Really good songs that I will likely listen to a lot and for a long time. (9-10) 5= All time favourites, rarely use this category. (9-10) 1. I’m fairly confident this is Kent, and I absolutely love Kent, although I don’t know this track. I have to say I find it to be far from their best track, although not a bad track as such (2/5) 2. I have no idea who made this, it’s pretty decent though. Very hard to describe the sound, sort of brooding and dark female vocal, yet fairly uptempo (3/5) 3. Female singer again, a slightly repetitive track, which would probably be good if I liked the parts it repeats. (1/5 4. And another Female vocal, I get the feeling it’s Swedish, from the way the lyrics are pronounced, not a bad track, but not really my taste. (1-2/5) 5. Back to male vocals, yet another track that really doesn’t fall into my taste. Electronic repetitive track, with a guy saying “I wanna make you move your body”, I’d imagine people into this type of music would like it though. (1/5) 6. Female singer that I don’t know, while I like the sort of loud and bombastic sound in parts of the song, overall it’s not something I’m gonna listen to again. This does however finish the initial tsunami of songs that I don’t like. (1/5) 7. More female alt-pop, not entirely sure how to describe it, actually I guess I’m just truly horrible at describing the genre in general. Anyways it’s a good song. (2-3/5) 8. Very electric/instrumental and slightly progressive track, where the vocal is not necessarily the focus of the song, I quite like it. (2-3/5) 9. Very very poppy love song loaded with clichés, I usually hate these songs…usually, this one has quite built on me, as it has some sort of quality that I can’t really describe, in the end it’s actually one of my favourites. (3/5) 10. Another love song with male vocal a bit more downbeat and way less poppy, and the background voice performing as instrument (not sure of the correct term) works out quite well. (2-3) 11. Up tempo female pop, got a feeling this would have done decent in Unknown Pleasures. Not really my usual style, but I quite like it, very catchy. (3-4/5) 12. Male lead alt pop, bordering powerpop at times, I must admit that I don’t like it. (1/5) 13. Down tempo pop song with female singer accompanied by piano, I imagine a few of the users on the forum would like it, I have however always been slightly bored with this sort music. (1/5) 14. This was the first song that struck me, as I knew I had heard the bocal before somewhere. It’s alt/indie rock, and definitely more my style, probably my favourite of the bunch. I googled the lyrics, and turns out it’s East Harlem by Beirut. (4/5) 15. Very dramatic and sort of epic female vocal, not sure what genre to put it in, probably alt poprock. This is quite a good track and I certainly haven’t listened to it for the last time. (3/5) 16. This track reminds me a bit of Blue Gowns, which was entered in UP5, not because of the sound, but because of the similarity in theme lyrically, similar use of a very female vocal and vivid imagery (Finishes with “Can I spend my life trying to climb you”). 17. Very electronic alt pop, it’s decent, but other people would probably enjoy it more than me. (2/5) 18. As I absolutely love a good dreamy or pompous album finisher, I was obviously hoping for this here. The album creator instead went with a very bombastic and staccato-filled song, which was not really my taste, regardless of where on the album it would have been placed. (1/5) I do feel slightly sorry for the creator of the album, as it could hardly have been more of a mismatch between sound and genres of the album, and musical taste of the receiver. I have however been very happy to listen to the album, as I’ve found some good songs out of the genres I normally listen to. Overall score: 6/10 I’m not really familiar with the taste of a lot of people in here, so I’ll take a blind guess and say Gooddelta made this one. If somebody doesn't receive a review, I'll be more than happy to review another album.
August 9, 201212 yr Haha, I did suspect you wouldn't like it AT ALL Horatio. I'm glad you gave it a good go though and ended with a couple of worthy tracks. I'm on my phone right now, but I'll get on a computer tomorrow and post the tracklist. (plus hopefully do my review at that time) As for the title, there was originally a concept, but I got bored halfway through and it sort of just ended up being a collection of amazing songs I love muchly.
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