July 15, 201213 yr I have to be honest but I really didn't enjoy my CD much the first listen through. A couple of good tracks (which I had heard before) but I will listen again! I promise to whoever's CD this is!
July 15, 201213 yr http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/DandyHighwayman/GoLeftOrRightDownTheMiddle.png Go Left or Right Down the Middle one Well we begin with a German piano/strings ballad which, unsurprisingly, is not something I would usually be found flocking towards. I hated this on the first play but I’ve mellowed towards it rather over subsequent plays, it’s quite a pleasant little song and sounds quite anthemic in it’s own way. No idea what it is at all, I had assumed it was a Eurovision entry but it’s too long for that... Best bit: 1:16 where the lovely little piano and strings bit comes in between chorus and the second verse. two This one intrigues me from the off as it’s really quite unusual. Again this wouldn’t sound totally out of place in Eurovision but in a good way as it’s like the more quirky entries. The chorus is really beefed up and sticks in your head rather successfully. Absolutely no idea who this is again but I like it a great deal more than I feel I should do. Best bit: 2:15 when the drum beat enters your right headphone before gradually disappearing out of the left one. three Another new track to me... we take a turn from disco to a sultry filmic track. I assume it’s called ‘Rogue Dancer’ as it’s the most prominent line. Another nice enough track, I approve of the more indie approach to this one... feel like I recognise the vocalist but it’s just not coming to me at all. Best bit: 0:35 the three clap noises that come out of the blue while everything else momentarily disappears. four Prominent drums to begin this one before a nice acoustic guitar comes in... oh it’s another foreign language track... My knowledge of foreign languages is rather limited so I have absolutely no idea what this is about, I do like it though as it’s got a very pretty tune to it and is quite strong melodically. Best bit: 2:19 when the chorus comes in for the second time with sparse backing. five Oh dear lord. I’m not going to lie, I absolutely despise this one. It reminds me of a Romanian folk cover of The Ketchup Song. This made me extremely fearful for where this CD was going to go... I just can’t imagine anyone listening to this out of choice. You must have first heard it as in restaurant entertainment somewhere on the continent while extremely pissed for it to have any sort of positive association, surely? Best bit: 3:30... the one second of silence at the end of the mp3. six This one reminds me of The Levellers, not something I was expecting. Following on from the last one, I’m still in the slightly scared period where it felt like this CD was going to be full on jigs and polkas or something. I can’t imagine me ever choosing to listen to this but it’s not quite as horrific as the last one. Best bit: 1:52 I guess as I could imagine it being quite the hoot while drunk out with friends. seven The first one I actually know! Well, I say know, what I mean is that I know what it is. It’s that weird song from this year’s Eurovision that had a video set in a circus or something. I actually quite like this up until 0:53 and then it just falls apart for me. The chorus is irritatingly catchy, despite me not actually knowing what it says, I could NOT shift it all day on Friday and I found myself humming it in the middle of meetings. Probably not a good sound to be making and I just pray that nobody else in the room knew what it was! Best bit: everything before 0:53 eight Jaunty/jazzy piano up next and French lyrics. My fear factor increased for the first few seconds... and then it gradually begins to build and I completely changed my mind on it, in fact I rather like this one. I can imagine this being played in a trendy French wine bar and I’d be happily supping on a glass of champagne whilst making polite and ever so slightly witty conversation with French film stars. Yes, this one puts me in good places. A keeper. Best bit: 1:04 when the beat continues to build a little bit nine A shocker! Something quite indietastic up next... it sounds like Mew but I don’t think it is. This is comfortably my favourite track so far and I’m most intrigued to find out who it is. Actually, it’s like Mew crossed with Arcade Fire, yep really liking this. Best bit: 2:49 where everything goes a bit Arcade Fire-esque at their very best. ten More synths and guitars! Yay! This is like a Killers or Bravery track from when the era when they were actually good. Very bouncy and singalong... Oh, an unexpected female vocal in the second verse too. No idea who this is at all but it’s another decent discovery. Best bit: 0:13 when the guitars kick in for the first time. eleven Oh it’s the first one I really do know well... this is Vanbot’s ‘Got To Get Out’. This was the other track of hers I was considering when I sent ‘Lost Without You’ to BJSC a couple of months ago. As it’s Vanbot, this obviously sounds like Robyn. And as this is me, obviously sounding like Robyn is a very very very good thing indeed. Best bit: 2:27 when everything kicks in after that squiggly noise! twelve Heading further into dance pop here... or are we as a drum n bass style beat kicks in rather unexpectedly. This is very listenable and continues the run of songs I like to five. Again I feel like I should know who this is, it’s ever so slightly into La Roux remix territory. Argh, I’m crap at describing music! Oh and then it’s gone, I could have listened to this for longer... Best bit: 2:47 when the beat thuds back in. thirteen A change of direction here, we’re off into ska/reggae territory with a track that reminds me of Morcheeba. I didn’t like this at all first time around but it’s probably one of the highlights of the CD now - I may check out the album when you tell me who it is. Best bit: 0:58 the way she pronounces ‘myself’ (and other vocals like that bit!) fourteen I recognise this girl too but it’s another that I just can’t place! Another pleasant little pop song, I particularly like the way there are little vocal parts and harmonies in the background which are very underplayed. This sounded particularly good in the car on Friday as the sun came out literally the moment it began playing and myself and Mr Dandy* swayed and doo-wopped along. Best bit: 1:13 when said harmonies first begin fifteen It took me ages to suss this one as I kept thinking I recognised it and it’s literally just clicked that this is a cover of SBTKRT’s excellent ‘Hold On’. No idea who it is but I approve, especially the percussion elements. Lovely. Best bit: 0:17 with the wailing and beat coming along together sixteen Another that I have no idea about... sounds like a John Lewis advert or something. I’m 50/50 on this one, sometimes I think it’s quite nice but other times it just passes me by completely. I think it probably suffers due to being immediately after the Hold On cover... Best bit: 3:26 and the way the track gently breaks down bit by bit before departing... seventeen Ah! This is Katzenjammer and ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ which is the surest sign so far that this is likely to be Ghosty’s compilation. If The Corrs ever did Eurovision then this is basically the song that I’d expect them to come up with! (Apologies, you may be horrified by that comparison?) Best bit: 2:00 and the instrumental bit and the da-dum-dum bits. eighteen This sounds like a track that should close the most recent Saint Etienne album, an acoustic type of number that is kinda sweet but at the same time a little bit too tacky lyrically. After a few listens unfortunately I think the latter observation overpowers the former. Best bit: 1:09 when the singer sounds at their most Sarah Cracknell-esque. nineteen Mr Dandy* liked this more than I did, but then he liked Spice Girls album track ballads. I think that’s the best I can do for this one I’m afraid! (although I suspect you’ll already know that this one was never going to be my sort of thing!) Best bit: Seeing Mr Dandy* enjoying it! twenty ...and we end a BJ compilation with, yes, you guessed it... Loreen. This track is that one that Tyrren won BJSC with and, if I recall correctly, I was practically the only person not to vote for it in the final! Ah well! Best bit: Listening to it without thinking, oh crap, Tyrren’s going to win and he’ll be unbearable. Finally... well I’m convinced this is Ghosty’s compilation. It contains Eurovision, Katzenjammer, Loreen and a cover that’s saved as a bitmap file so I can’t see who else it would be. After a very shaky start, I did end up enjoying most of the CD (although first play through I was actually scared until the end of track 8 - and, assuming this is Ghosty, I shall take that as your revenge on me for giving you an instrumental cd one year!)... the ones I am most interested in finding out more about are sandwiched between #8 and #15 so that’s actually quite a high proportion of the disc. So, whether it is Ghosty or someone else, thank you very much for making it for me. ^_^ Yep, that was indeed my compilation! The tracks were as follows: 01. Eisblume - Für Immer It samples "River Flows In You" by Jasper Forks to wonderful effect imo. Had I known you would get the compilation, then it probably wouldn't have been included so I'm glad you did mellow towards it! 02. Iiris - Melyse Iiris is one of Estonia's emerging talents, Melyse is taken from her debut album released earlier this year. It is indeed quite "Eurovision" sounding, and Iiris has tried for Eurovision twice before, but not with this particular track. 03. Geike - Rope Dancer I guess her enunciation isn't brilliant, but it is dancing of the gymnastics sort she is singing about here :heehee:. Geike was the lead singer of Belgian trip hop group, Hooverphonic 04. Carolina Wallin Pérez - Sanningen This is a Swedish track, and one which competed in this year's Melodifestivalen. I adored it, but sadly it went out in the heats. The song title means "Truth". 05. Värttinä - Tuuterin Tyttäret :lol:, I can't say I'm at all surprised you didn't like this one. Värttinä are a Finnish folk group, two of their members entered Eurovision in 2010 as Kuunkuiskaajat. I love it, but can see why it's an aquired taste! 06. 3 Daft Monkeys - Days Of The Dance A bit of frantic Cornish folk music. I've loved this act for a number of years now, I think I included one of their songs on a CD Swap back on ChC once! This is a track from their most recent album. 07. Izabo - Time Yep, you're right, this is Israel's Eurovision entry and one which I was most disappointed didn't reach the final. The chorus is indeed very catchy, but it's the instrumentation on this track that I like the most! 08. Pupkulies & Rebecca - Ici I don't really know much about this act, I just happened to stumble across this track on Amazon and instantly loved it! 09. Team Me - Show Me Team Me are basically the Norwegian Arcade Fire, if a little bit more Scandi sounding. I highly recommend their album, To The Treetops. 10. Map Of Moscow - Sleep Alone Map Of Moscow are Swedish and remind me of Shiny Toy Guns a bit. I do prefer the female vocalist to the male, but this is a really strong track I think! 11. Vanbot - Got To Get Out Indeed it is very Robyn! It's a shame it wasn't included on her debut album, but it makes me look forward to hearing what her next album will sound like! 12. High Contrast feat. Selah Corbin - The Agony & The Ecstasy I agree that this ends a bit too quickly, but it's one of the best drum & bass tracks I've come across in recent times. And it's from Wales too. Cymru am byth etc. 13. The Skints - Ratatat A friend of a friend is the female singer in this band, and although it's not a genre of music I avidly listen to, I've liked a lot of their previous tracks. The new album, Part & Parcel is really rather good! 14. Amanda Mair - Sense One of the more well known tracks on the compilation, but I do love it. It's my favourite track from her really superb self titled album. 15. Sol Heilo - Hold On The first of a triology of Katzenjammer related songs. Sol is the blonde haired member of the group and her cover of the SBTRKT track was her debut single from her solo side project earlier this year. 16. Dandylion - Significant Other Dandylion is the stage name of Marianne sveen who is the lead vocalist of Katzenjammer. Significant Other is taken from her debut solo EP, Images Under Construction - Part 1. 17. Katzenjammer - Rock-Paper-Scissors And after the two solo efforts comes the group themselves. Rock Paper Scissors was the second single from the groups sophomore album and is a lovely bit of folk music. You are far from the first person to say that this sounds Irish as many other people have told me that in the past, but I don't see it myself oddly! 18. Hafdis Huld - Pop Song Lyrically, it's a bit Eurovision, but it honestly isn't anything to do with the contest. It kind of reminds me of Sixpence None The Richer or The Cardigans slightly. I was hoping you'd like this a bit more than you seem to, but I can see why the lyrics might be a bit off-putting. 19. Lisa Miskovsky - Why Start A Fire :lol:, well this is another Melodifestivalen entry from this years contest and one which I adored. It qualified directly to the final to a lot of people's surprise, but then ended up coming last in the televoting which was very undeserved :( . Mr Dandy* has good taste though! :P 20. Loreen - Sober (Absolute Dance Mix) Yep, it is indeed Sober, but a slightly different version to that entered into BJSC. I'm not quite sure what the name of this mix is, but it randomly appeared on an Absolute Dance compilation in Sweden, so I just call it the Absolute Dance Mix :D. It could well be the album version for all I know! I'm glad you liked a fair amount of songs on the disc, had I known you would be the recipient then a lot of the Eurovision and wacky folk tracks would have been removed in favour of something more electrotastic, but I thought I'd include a little bit of everything in the hope that whoever got the album would like at least one track on there. Got to love a bit of bitmap imagery too! :P
July 15, 201213 yr That certainly does look like Ghosty's. And it looks a very good compilation too, not that I'd expect anything less. Ok, let's tackle this: Track 1 - Alyssa Reid - Without You It is Alyssa Reid you are listening to, a track on her debut album that I really like. I put this on because I wanted to show what she could do with songs that aren't ripping off classics (and without anyone knowing it was Alyssa), it's a lovely midtempo. It took an age for me to notice it, I've had this track since October but I've only really began to like it a couple of months ago. Her emotion on this is really quite convincing. Track 2 - Emmon - Ghost Dance I should explain at this point that approximately half of this CD is me going through my past BJSC entrants, selecting another good song from their back catalogue and putting it on the CD. I didn't mean for it to end up like that, they were just the best of the 50 or so that I started with. Ghost Dance is therefore indeed Scandinavian, but quite a chilled-out track, very different to the song I entered her with. I love the undercurrent of production. Track 3 - Da Buzz - Wonder Where You Are Yeah, one of the tracks I knew you'd get. I've taken a liking to Da Buzz a lot recently, but this is my favourite, some very convincing early 00s dance. And strangely emotional for dance as well, probably why I love it so much. Track 4 - Alexz Johnson - Look At Those Eyes A track I discovered when looking up Alexz Johnson after being made aware of her and enjoying some of her material, I think she was giving it away as a free download. I love the buildup in this song, it's really quite cute. It's quite different to the rest of her material and I think it might be my favourite song by her. Like you said, I love the different elements in the backing track, particularly that climax. Track 5 - LIGHTS - The Last Thing On Your Mind It is LIGHTS, one of my favourite artists, from her first album The Listening, and one of my favourite Lights tracks after the glorious Ice. I go for emotion, and that's really the strength of this track (and the lovely blending of vocals with production), it is admittedly a little basic beyond that. Track 6 - Epica - Storm The Sorrow I included this one to have some symphonic metal that wasn't Nightwish, and while Epica have nothing on Nightwish, it is a rather captivating track. It's their lead single from their newest album, it's a little dragging but one of the best non-Nightwish offerings that I've found in this genre. Track 7 - Bearcat - Crazy Fishes I found this track on a blog a while ago, I did like the retro sound of it and marked it down as a keeper. She has some amazing vocals, and I was playing it for quite a while when I first heard it. I can't tell you any more about the singer though, so I don't know where you could have heard it before. Track 8 - Swimming With Dolphins ft. Breanne Duren - Silhouettes You are half correct with that guess of Owl City, Swimming With Dolphins is/was one of Adam Young's many side projects, a collaboration between him and Austin Toffe before he left for better things with Owl City. This is from their first EP and is quite easily their best song, it also features his backup singer Breanne Duren. The production on this is really quite stunning, and I've listened to it a LOT of late. Besides, I get so overwhelmed by Young's work, having a brother who's really into him and his work that I couldn't help but include something of it on this CD. Track 9 - Shell Perris - The La La Song I'm quite certain you didn't know this, (unless you checked her out more after I entered her into BJSC). It's one of her... less serious songs, and it's fairly good sugary pop for what it is, I suspect if any of the really indie folk had got this CD, they would have hated this. :lol: Track 10 - fLO - Platinum Love A really interesting little track I discovered a month ago, despite it being a couple of years old. fLO is a fairly standard pop/RnB singer with a limited fanbase (from her other songs that I checked out) but this track has some rather unique production. I think the title helps, you get a feel for platinum or metallicness from her voice, but it's not standard autotune, it's quite hard to explain. The lyrical matter is fairly basic, but the ambient sound produced from it is quite something for me. Track 11 - Ruby Frost - Porcupine If I remember correctly, you weren't really taken by Water To Ice, but despite that, I wasn't surprised to see you liking this. It does feel a lot more like the sort of thing you'd like. I think Porcupine was Ruby's second single (WtI was the third), but these are the only two songs I've heard from her. I've tried finding a link to check out Volition (her album) but I've been looking in the wrong places. It is out though, it's on Amazon (but it's really rather expensive for me atm :(). Anyway, Porcupine I think is actually more into Frost's comfort zone, Water To Ice felt like an effort to be more commercial. I love the descent into the chorus on this particularly. Track 12 - 30 Seconds To Mars - The Fantasy One track I thought might be a little mainstream, but it's just my favourite track from A Beautiful Lie so I thought I'd give it a bit of exposure. The opening instrumental and the pace of the song is better than a lot of their other songs, I find them very hit and miss but this is one of their hits. Track 13 - Charlotte Thorstvedt ft. Margaret Berger - Arrythmia I'm not surprised you know this, but I definitely think it's the better Arrythmia! :D The production is just so interesting and chilled-out. It does get a little slow, but definitely a Scandinavian success of the past few months. Track 14 - Years Away - Eraserhead In another 'Séyetana BJSC entrant' shocker, we come to my current act, Years Away. This is their other song, Eraserhead, it's a little bit more uptempo, but Starting Fires is more beautiful. It's still a very lovely Lights-lite track though. I do love that kind of sound. Track 15 - Elsiane - Underhelped This is actually the lead single from Elsiane's new album, Mechanics Of Emotion. It's definitely the sort of thing I'd think of as typical Elsiane, it's nowhere near as good as Vaporous though. That still does mean it is good, it's just that Vaporous is a masterpiece. The etherealness is part of what attracts me to this one though. Track 16 - Laura Narhi - Hetken Tie On Kevyt From what I've gathered from watching the Finnish charts, this seems to be their 2012 Someone Like You/Somebody That I Used To Know. It's been hanging around near the top since the start of this year and is still in the upper echelons of the chart last I checked. It's a lovely little ballad, I considered it for BJSC but thought it a little TOO risky, I wasn't sure there would be many that would get it. There is a very lovely buildup towards the end, the Finnish language is beautiful, and overall, I'm really quite glad you liked this. Track 17 - Rachel Platten - Work Of Art Yep, it's Rachel Platten. I've bought her album off the back of her appearance in BJSC and while this isn't on the album, it's the second strongest track of hers after 1000 Ships that I've come across. I think she did this for a TV theme in America or something. It is a real pop stomper though, really love it, and the best place I thought for album name inspiration. :D Track 18 - Nightwish - End Of All Hope When I saw you'd got my CD, I knew this would be the track that would make you twig (if you hadn't already, I wonder if you would have got me if I hadn't included this). But I was always going to include a Nightwish song, and what better song than the first one I heard. It's from the early part of Nightwish, I think I remember saying to you when Storytime turned up that this was the only one I'd heard before that, and it's still one of my favourite Nightwish tracks, a really lovely rousing tempo on it and a very epic feel throughout the whole track. Track 19 - Pepe Deluxe - Go Supersonic I half suspected that whoever got this wouldn't particularly like this, it's my least favourite track on the compilation as well. I included it for the absolute mess it is. So many different sections, some of them great, some of them rather awful. It does remind me of the Scissor Sisters in places though. There's a lot of energy there but not much focus. Track 20 - Maria Mena - This Too Shall Pass I had this set out as my closer from the beginning of creating my CD. I first discovered it last year when I was faced with the task of finding an unknown song for a song contest, and if I'm honest, I wish I had entered it then. It's beautiful and maybe one of my favourite (relatively) unknown song discoveries. From what I've heard of Maria Mena's work, she is pretty incredible and this is probably the best I have heard. I knew you would know this one but I'm still glad I included it, much love to it. I tried to make it as varied as possible but yes, my Lights/Owl City/dreamy electronica thing did show through quite a bit. Like you said though, there are a decent amount of other genres on there. A lot of the artists are American/Canadian, but about the same number are Scandinavian (although you got most of those). It seems you WERE one of the best people to get this compilation, although also probably THE best person to figure out who it was that made it. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it, and I'd better think about reviewing the CD I've got now. Wow, quite a few names there I'm familiar with but didn't link the songs to at all! Emmon is an artist I've liked for a while too, so I'm shocked I didn't spot that! I guess it's the retro vibe of Bearcat that gave me the impression I'd heard it before - It'd make for a really good Pipettes track! I don't think I've heard the Shell Perris song before either - maybe it just sounds like something else I've heard before. Either way, both tracks were really good! I'll definitely check out Ruby Frost's album. I wasn't all that keen on the BJSC entry I don't think, but the track you included on this was awesome! Ahh, Elsiane! I knew I had heard the voice before, but couldn't quite put me finger on where I'd heard it. The song is quite similar to Vaporous actually, might have to check out more songs by them! Laura Narhi is another brilliant discovery then as I was almost certain it was a Jenni Vartiainen album track I couldn't quite identify! Thanks again for making a great playlist! :D
July 16, 201213 yr Listened to mine in full now, and on first listen, I really liked it! its a very melancholy mix of songs, which I assume from the blurb reflected the emotional experience for whoever this is at the time and it came through very well. I'll need to listen to it again before I form a review, but it should be up soon.
July 17, 201213 yr Yep, that was indeed my compilation! The tracks were as follows: 01. Eisblume - Für Immer It samples "River Flows In You" by Jasper Forks to wonderful effect imo. Had I known you would get the compilation, then it probably wouldn't have been included so I'm glad you did mellow towards it! 02. Iiris - Melyse Iiris is one of Estonia's emerging talents, Melyse is taken from her debut album released earlier this year. It is indeed quite "Eurovision" sounding, and Iiris has tried for Eurovision twice before, but not with this particular track. 03. Geike - Rope Dancer I guess her enunciation isn't brilliant, but it is dancing of the gymnastics sort she is singing about here :heehee:. Geike was the lead singer of Belgian trip hop group, Hooverphonic 04. Carolina Wallin Pérez - Sanningen This is a Swedish track, and one which competed in this year's Melodifestivalen. I adored it, but sadly it went out in the heats. The song title means "Truth". 05. Värttinä - Tuuterin Tyttäret :lol:, I can't say I'm at all surprised you didn't like this one. Värttinä are a Finnish folk group, two of their members entered Eurovision in 2010 as Kuunkuiskaajat. I love it, but can see why it's an aquired taste! 06. 3 Daft Monkeys - Days Of The Dance A bit of frantic Cornish folk music. I've loved this act for a number of years now, I think I included one of their songs on a CD Swap back on ChC once! This is a track from their most recent album. 07. Izabo - Time Yep, you're right, this is Israel's Eurovision entry and one which I was most disappointed didn't reach the final. The chorus is indeed very catchy, but it's the instrumentation on this track that I like the most! 08. Pupkulies & Rebecca - Ici I don't really know much about this act, I just happened to stumble across this track on Amazon and instantly loved it! 09. Team Me - Show Me Team Me are basically the Norwegian Arcade Fire, if a little bit more Scandi sounding. I highly recommend their album, To The Treetops. 10. Map Of Moscow - Sleep Alone Map Of Moscow are Swedish and remind me of Shiny Toy Guns a bit. I do prefer the female vocalist to the male, but this is a really strong track I think! 11. Vanbot - Got To Get Out Indeed it is very Robyn! It's a shame it wasn't included on her debut album, but it makes me look forward to hearing what her next album will sound like! 12. High Contrast feat. Selah Corbin - The Agony & The Ecstasy I agree that this ends a bit too quickly, but it's one of the best drum & bass tracks I've come across in recent times. And it's from Wales too. Cymru am byth etc. 13. The Skints - Ratatat A friend of a friend is the female singer in this band, and although it's not a genre of music I avidly listen to, I've liked a lot of their previous tracks. The new album, Part & Parcel is really rather good! 14. Amanda Mair - Sense One of the more well known tracks on the compilation, but I do love it. It's my favourite track from her really superb self titled album. 15. Sol Heilo - Hold On The first of a triology of Katzenjammer related songs. Sol is the blonde haired member of the group and her cover of the SBTRKT track was her debut single from her solo side project earlier this year. 16. Dandylion - Significant Other Dandylion is the stage name of Marianne sveen who is the lead vocalist of Katzenjammer. Significant Other is taken from her debut solo EP, Images Under Construction - Part 1. 17. Katzenjammer - Rock-Paper-Scissors And after the two solo efforts comes the group themselves. Rock Paper Scissors was the second single from the groups sophomore album and is a lovely bit of folk music. You are far from the first person to say that this sounds Irish as many other people have told me that in the past, but I don't see it myself oddly! 18. Hafdis Huld - Pop Song Lyrically, it's a bit Eurovision, but it honestly isn't anything to do with the contest. It kind of reminds me of Sixpence None The Richer or The Cardigans slightly. I was hoping you'd like this a bit more than you seem to, but I can see why the lyrics might be a bit off-putting. 19. Lisa Miskovsky - Why Start A Fire :lol:, well this is another Melodifestivalen entry from this years contest and one which I adored. It qualified directly to the final to a lot of people's surprise, but then ended up coming last in the televoting which was very undeserved :( . Mr Dandy* has good taste though! :P 20. Loreen - Sober (Absolute Dance Mix) Yep, it is indeed Sober, but a slightly different version to that entered into BJSC. I'm not quite sure what the name of this mix is, but it randomly appeared on an Absolute Dance compilation in Sweden, so I just call it the Absolute Dance Mix :D. It could well be the album version for all I know! I'm glad you liked a fair amount of songs on the disc, had I known you would be the recipient then a lot of the Eurovision and wacky folk tracks would have been removed in favour of something more electrotastic, but I thought I'd include a little bit of everything in the hope that whoever got the album would like at least one track on there. Got to love a bit of bitmap imagery too! :P I enjoyed the compilation, it was fun - even the ones I didn't actually like still made me smile somewhat! :D There are several keepers among it which is all I could ask for really, especially when they were acts that I've never even heard of before. I've decided that, in particular, Team Me could be rather special and am downloading their album from itunes as I'm typing this, it really sounds very interesting and theatrical from the clips, a combination I most definitely approve of! I'll let you know what I think of it... edit: They have a song that name checks Patrick Wolf! *.*
July 19, 201212 yr The Night Is Just Another Day Track 1 – First off we have what sounds like operatic dubstep. Seems like an odd way to start off the compilation. There’s interesting things going on in it, but not enough to really grab my attention. 5/10 Track 2 – Some more electronic noodling. Sounds like it could be Delilah or an Ellie Goulding Remix. Like the subtle guitar lines running through it. 7/10 Track 3 – Ooh, I know this song. It’s ‘Sunday’ by Crocodiles. Absolutely brilliant indie-rock in a POBPAH mould. 9/10 Track 4 – And more guitar. Fantastic. Some weird psychedelic stuff going on the vocals, very dreamy rock here. I really like this one it’s really my sort of thing. Interested to find out who it’s by. 8/10 Track 5 – And back to the electronic noodling. This sounds suspiciously like Take That-gone-dub. Not my cup of tea, unfortunately. 3/10 Track 6 – This sounds like someone stuck a Theremin on a Starsailor song. I think I know this from somewhere, was it used on an American TV show? A decent enough song. 6/10 Track 7 – Of course I’m going to love this song! It’s ‘Goldstar’ by one of my favourite bands, Cashier No.9. It was odd hearing this track halfway through the compilation, given that it’s the first track on their album ‘To The Death of Fun’. Fabulous. 10/10 Track 8 – Now I see where you got the title for the compilation from. It’s a great summery acoustic track. It’s either by Fleet Foxes or one of their many spin-off bands. Could easily be made 3 minutes shorter though. 7/10 Track 9 – Ooh, lovely deep drums. It’s a British rap song, although it’s better by at least 95% of rap songs I’m familiar with. Is this Ghostpoet by any chance? 7/10 Track 10 – This sounds like it could by Grimes, it’s got the same type of electronic vibe going for it. It’s okay, but it’s no ‘Genesis’. 6/10 Track 11 – Ooh, Django Django. This is a song that probably makes more sense within the context of its parent album than in a compilation like this. It’s a good song, I’ve always had a love of their quirkyness. 8/10 Track 12 – This sounds like it’s by The Divine Comedy, although unfortunately I can’t put my finger on what track it is exactly. Wonderfully intelligent adult-pop music. Just the way I like it. 9/10 Track 13 – Another acoustic-led song. It takes about 2 minutes to get moving, but when it does it’s a decent song. 6/10. Track 14 – Scuzzy lo-fi punk with a female singer. Perhaps a little bit too lo-fi for my tastes, but it’s a passable song. 5/10 Track 15 – And finishing of with the wonderful School of Seven Bells (I think). I haven’t really paid that much attention to their new material, but this is a lovely song. Will have to look into this one. 9/10 BONUS TRACK – And finishing with a bonus track, lovely! It’s an acapella track, which sounds like it’s by The Futureheads, as that Geordie accent is incredibly recognisable. It’s a short track (only 100 seconds), but it’s a rather good one. 9/10 In all, it’s a very good compilation, and although I had heard a few of the songs before, it only confirms by belief that I was most definitely the right person to receive this CD. I’m guessing that is was none other than RabbitFurCoat responsible for this compilation, as I know he likes some of the artists featured on this compilation.
July 19, 201212 yr Okay, here goes my review. Not a lot of text because I'm rubbish at writing very detailed stuff about each track and I was able to kind of do that a bit last year. They were also short though so anyway, let's get started. Title: BJcdswap The tracks have their own titles (obviously not their song titles) so I'll put them in the review for a bit of fun. 1. Fine Song - Quite a slow-paced start. Not a bad track, it's good. It works as a opener. Some weird lyrics here like "when I wake up, I'm gonna do a somersault" 8/10 2. Almost as fine Favourite - The 2nd track follows with a rocking indie/guitar music with a bit of electronic beats for a short time for added coolness. It's just 2 minues long and actually the most upbeat track in the CD. It's quite a jam! 9/10 3. Oooh this one is good - Yeah... it's good. It's a bit noughties Depeche Mode with a Fenech-Soler-like singer. The synths are very good on this one. I like the danciness of this. 8.5/10 4. This one too - This track suddenly starts after the last one (like they connect with each other). It's a nice folky ballady track. 7/10 5. And this - This is very very very long (over 16 minutes to be specific!). I feel like I'm hearing a short film or a track inspired by it or something. The first 4 to 6 and a half minutes filled me with dread because of some male old timer (sounds like it) talking negative stuff (the reason for the overall score for this song). But actually the rest of it are fine. Take off the first 6 and a half minutes (up to before the sound of the train!) and I'll find it more likeable overall. 6/10 6. You get the gist.. I like that this is about at the middle of the CD. It's like a track that you can take a break on or can be used as background music on a documentary. So yeah, I get the gist. It's pretty long but it's not boring. 8/10 7. Not shabby either It's not shabby indeed. Sounds like Charli XCX is in this track. Maybe it's her with a male singer. Enjoying it a lot. 8/10 8. Mash it up baby! - I first thought this is gonna be that Rihanna track that samples 'Intro' by The xx, just with added rapper or singer. Seems that it's something else. I should've believed the title "Mash it up baby!". This is now the third track I heard that uses 'Intro' (one of them is a mash-up). It's just decent. 7/10 9. Float away 2nd favourite - This was a bit familiar for some reason. (long story but I'll make it shorter:) Then I listened carefully and eventually I've just realised this is 'Comforting Sounds'. I knew Birdy's version last year which was a bonus track from her self-titled album. Liking the 2nd half of this a lot. And actually, I prefer this version and this isn't the first version I've heard! 8.5/10 10. Or dont - Not bad but... not good either... I just don't enjoy it as much as many other tracks. Too much usage of the ukulele (?) perhaps and/or they are a little bit too loud. 6/10 11. The end is near - Kind of reminds me of Death Cab For Cutie, the dark-ish indie/alternative sound. It's good. I'm liking it a lot. 8/10 12. And getting nearer 3rd favourite - Also, a track that becomes very good at about the 2nd half. It was a grower, I wasn't sure at first. Maybe I was just a bit exhausted. 8.5/10 13. :( - Indeed a sad face. This is good. A bit The Horrors on the vocals. Also a grower, like the previous track. 8/10 Good CD/playlist/compilation. There are no truly bad tracks and I didn't know any of them before. I enjoyed the CD in general even though it's not the type of music I listen to or I focus on most of the time. I feel it sounds better on nighttime than on daytime. I imagine it's not supposed to be played on daytime unless I'm into these sort of music the most. I'm not sure about the theme of this CD, but it's quite a list appealing to many indie fans and newcomers. My rating - 8 Average (total score divided by 13) - 7.73 (estimate) Now, who made this? I don't really know. My guess is randomfurlong because I downloaded it from Dropbox and he mentioned about it. But there's a chance there are also a few more who used Dropbox. In comparison to the CD last year The CD I received last year (by shakilover) is an interesting list of pop music outside UK and US. I believe I was saying about vocal or lyrical delivery on the few songs not my thing or something, it doesn't seem to be the problem in this CD. I can't really say much anymore. LOL
July 19, 201212 yr You are quite right, it is indeed mine :D The Night Is Just Another Day Track 1 – First off we have what sounds like operatic dubstep. Seems like an odd way to start off the compilation. There’s interesting things going on in it, but not enough to really grab my attention. 5/10 Blackmill 'Evil Beauty' - I really wanted to include this as I love it but it doesn't exactly 'fit' anywhere with the rest of the songs on here so it had to go either at the beginning or the end. I can't abide dubstep, I only really like the first couple of mainstream hits (Katy B/Magnetic Man) but this made me sit up and listen, it's almost acoustic dubstep, proving there's far more to it than the usual hideous mess. Track 2 – Some more electronic noodling. Sounds like it could be Delilah or an Ellie Goulding Remix. Like the subtle guitar lines running through it. 7/10 Alpines 'Gold' - Alpines are one of my favourite acts to have emerged in the past 12 months or so and I seem to like each single more than then next which is a good sign, love the power in here voice. Track 3 – Ooh, I know this song. It’s ‘Sunday’ by Crocodiles. Absolutely brilliant indie-rock in a POBPAH mould. 9/10 Crocodiles 'Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)' - Their song 'Mirrors' is one of my top 5 songs entered to Unknown Pleasures and I think this is very much in the same mould as it, definitely the highlight of their recent album. Track 4 – And more guitar. Fantastic. Some weird psychedelic stuff going on the vocals, very dreamy rock here. I really like this one it’s really my sort of thing. Interested to find out who it’s by. 8/10 Dive 'Geist' - This was going to be my entry for the last UP but I couldn't find a version better than this 128kbs one, so had to enter something else. It's one of my favourite songs this year but unfortunately they aren't the easiest to find songs by as the name is too short and too common amongst little known bands. There are a couple of singles on iTunes though, 'Human' and 'Sometimes' which sound like they're by the same Dive, although neither are as good. Track 5 – And back to the electronic noodling. This sounds suspiciously like Take That-gone-dub. Not my cup of tea, unfortunately. 3/10 Apparat 'Song of Los' - Another act that have been sent to Unknown Pleasures, although I knew of Apparat before they were sent. This was definitely a slow burner for me, thought it was ok at first but slowly worked its way up in my affections. Track 6 – This sounds like someone stuck a Theremin on a Starsailor song. I think I know this from somewhere, was it used on an American TV show? A decent enough song. 6/10 Doves 'The Man Who Told Everything' - Doves are one of my favourite and most consistent bands of the last 10 years or so, and they remain highly underrated. This is my favourite song from their debut album. Track 7 – Of course I’m going to love this song! It’s ‘Goldstar’ by one of my favourite bands, Cashier No.9. It was odd hearing this track halfway through the compilation, given that it’s the first track on their album ‘To The Death of Fun’. Fabulous. 10/10 Cashier No. 9 'Goldstar' - Bizarre that probably the only other person to know this song is the one that receives it! I really like their album, this is my favourite song on it, closely followed by 'Oh Pity' and 'The Lighthouse Will Lead You Out'. Track 8 – Now I see where you got the title for the compilation from. It’s a great summery acoustic track. It’s either by Fleet Foxes or one of their many spin-off bands. Could easily be made 3 minutes shorter though. 7/10 Real Estate 'All The Same' - I've only just realised how much of a UP 'who's who' this is starting to look like. I didn't get their album until the beginning of this year but I absolutely adore it, so beautiful and relaxing. I do think it's an album that works better as a whole than the majority of the tracks do individually but this I really like this, love the way it's in two halves with the instrumental at the end, I do love songs like that. Track 9 – Ooh, lovely deep drums. It’s a British rap song, although it’s better by at least 95% of rap songs I’m familiar with. Is this Ghostpoet by any chance? 7/10 The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels' - Not a bad guess I suppose, I think these are two of the most underrated British acts of the last 10 years in their respective genres, it seemed an odd collaboration at the time and still does in a way but it definitely works. It's based around The Maccabees single with the rap added instead of the verses. Track 10 – This sounds like it could by Grimes, it’s got the same type of electronic vibe going for it. It’s okay, but it’s no ‘Genesis’. 6/10 Poliça 'Violent Games' - Again it's not a bad guess, it does have the same feel to it as some of Grimes stuff does. An American duo, their album has grown on me to become one of my favourites this year so, her vocal is great and it has some brilliant instrumentation and drumming on it. Track 11 – Ooh, Django Django. This is a song that probably makes more sense within the context of its parent album than in a compilation like this. It’s a good song, I’ve always had a love of their quirkyness. 8/10 Django Django '???' I'm not sure which track I included, I think it was either 'Hali Bop' (4:04 length) or 'Zumm Zumm' (5:19), but you're probably right. Like Real Estate's album, it's one that works best as a body of work. Track 12 – This sounds like it’s by The Divine Comedy, although unfortunately I can’t put my finger on what track it is exactly. Wonderfully intelligent adult-pop music. Just the way I like it. 9/10 James Levy & The Blood Red Rose 'Sneak Into My Room' - This was the track I included that I was least hopeful anyone would like so I'm really pleased you do! I first heard this listening to 6 music and it stood out straight away, the kind of folky-pop music I really love. Track 13 – Another acoustic-led song. It takes about 2 minutes to get moving, but when it does it’s a decent song. 6/10. Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourner's of St. Pauls' - This is a few years old now, took a long while before it really clicked with me. Think it's beautiful and he's very underrated. Track 14 – Scuzzy lo-fi punk with a female singer. Perhaps a little bit too lo-fi for my tastes, but it’s a passable song. 5/10 Male Bonding 'Year's Not Long' - Female?! Erm... Maybe it's how low-fi and distorted the vocal is and I can't really say a great deal given I mixed up Alabama Shakes for months! Track 15 – And finishing of with the wonderful School of Seven Bells (I think). I haven’t really paid that much attention to their new material, but this is a lovely song. Will have to look into this one. 9/10 School of Seven Bells 'Lafaye' - You are right, I do think they're quite distinctive. This was one of their singles from their current album, I don't think it's as good as 'Disconnect From Desire' but this is in my top 3/5 singles of the year. BONUS TRACK – And finishing with a bonus track, lovely! It’s an acapella track, which sounds like it’s by The Futureheads, as that Geordie accent is incredibly recognisable. It’s a short track (only 100 seconds), but it’s a rather good one. 9/10 The Futureheads 'The Keeper' - Hard to get this one wrong I guess, really thought their acapella album would be something I took a vague interest in for a short while but nearly 4 months later I still keep coming back to it and love it. It's really refreshing, although I can't say I have any time for their covers now, the ones I love most are the new tracks, although they're all covers too I guess, just of much older and more traditional songs, this 'The Old Dun Cow' and 'Sumer Is Icumen In'. In all, it’s a very good compilation, and although I had heard a few of the songs before, it only confirms by belief that I was most definitely the right person to receive this CD. I’m guessing that is was none other than RabbitFurCoat responsible for this compilation, as I know he likes some of the artists featured on this compilation. I'm delighted you liked it so much, and I'm glad you discovered so much of it. I was quite worried it would land in the hands of someone who knew the majority of it, so 3 or 4 tracks with a few artist guesses has pleased me no end! :D Tracklist: Blackmill 'Evil Beauty' Alpines 'Gold' Crocodiles 'Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)' Dive 'Geist' Apparat 'Song of Los' Doves 'The Man Who Told Everything' Cashier No. 9 'Goldstar' Real Estate 'All The Same' The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels' Poliça 'Violent Games' Django Django 'Zumm Zumm' / 'Hali Bop' James Levy & The Blood Red Rose 'Sneak Into My Room' Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourners of St. Pauls' Male Bonding 'Year's Not Long' School of Seven Bells 'Lafaye' The Futureheads 'The Keeper'
July 19, 201212 yr Now, who made this? I don't really know. My guess is randomfurlong because I downloaded it from Dropbox and he mentioned about it. But there's a chance there are also a few more who used Dropbox. I can confirm that this is... not mine.
July 19, 201212 yr You are quite right, it is indeed mine :D The Night Is Just Another Day Track 1 – First off we have what sounds like operatic dubstep. Seems like an odd way to start off the compilation. There’s interesting things going on in it, but not enough to really grab my attention. 5/10 Blackmill 'Evil Beauty' - I really wanted to include this as I love it but it doesn't exactly 'fit' anywhere with the rest of the songs on here so it had to go either at the beginning or the end. I can't abide dubstep, I only really like the first couple of mainstream hits (Katy B/Magnetic Man) but this made me sit up and listen, it's almost acoustic dubstep, proving there's far more to it than the usual hideous mess. Track 2 – Some more electronic noodling. Sounds like it could be Delilah or an Ellie Goulding Remix. Like the subtle guitar lines running through it. 7/10 Alpines 'Gold' - Alpines are one of my favourite acts to have emerged in the past 12 months or so and I seem to like each single more than then next which is a good sign, love the power in here voice. Track 3 – Ooh, I know this song. It’s ‘Sunday’ by Crocodiles. Absolutely brilliant indie-rock in a POBPAH mould. 9/10 Crocodiles 'Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)' - Their song 'Mirrors' is one of my top 5 songs entered to Unknown Pleasures and I think this is very much in the same mould as it, definitely the highlight of their recent album. Track 4 – And more guitar. Fantastic. Some weird psychedelic stuff going on the vocals, very dreamy rock here. I really like this one it’s really my sort of thing. Interested to find out who it’s by. 8/10 Dive 'Geist' - This was going to be my entry for the last UP but I couldn't find a version better than this 128kbs one, so had to enter something else. It's one of my favourite songs this year but unfortunately they aren't the easiest to find songs by as the name is too short and too common amongst little known bands. There are a couple of singles on iTunes though, 'Human' and 'Sometimes' which sound like they're by the same Dive, although neither are as good. Track 5 – And back to the electronic noodling. This sounds suspiciously like Take That-gone-dub. Not my cup of tea, unfortunately. 3/10 Apparat 'Song of Los' - Another act that have been sent to Unknown Pleasures, although I knew of Apparat before they were sent. This was definitely a slow burner for me, thought it was ok at first but slowly worked its way up in my affections. Track 6 – This sounds like someone stuck a Theremin on a Starsailor song. I think I know this from somewhere, was it used on an American TV show? A decent enough song. 6/10 Doves 'The Man Who Told Everything' - Doves are one of my favourite and most consistent bands of the last 10 years or so, and they remain highly underrated. This is my favourite song from their debut album. Track 7 – Of course I’m going to love this song! It’s ‘Goldstar’ by one of my favourite bands, Cashier No.9. It was odd hearing this track halfway through the compilation, given that it’s the first track on their album ‘To The Death of Fun’. Fabulous. 10/10 Cashier No. 9 'Goldstar' - Bizarre that probably the only other person to know this song is the one that receives it! I really like their album, this is my favourite song on it, closely followed by 'Oh Pity' and 'The Lighthouse Will Lead You Out'. Track 8 – Now I see where you got the title for the compilation from. It’s a great summery acoustic track. It’s either by Fleet Foxes or one of their many spin-off bands. Could easily be made 3 minutes shorter though. 7/10 Real Estate 'All The Same' - I've only just realised how much of a UP 'who's who' this is starting to look like. I didn't get their album until the beginning of this year but I absolutely adore it, so beautiful and relaxing. I do think it's an album that works better as a whole than the majority of the tracks do individually but this I really like this, love the way it's in two halves with the instrumental at the end, I do love songs like that. Track 9 – Ooh, lovely deep drums. It’s a British rap song, although it’s better by at least 95% of rap songs I’m familiar with. Is this Ghostpoet by any chance? 7/10 The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels' - Not a bad guess I suppose, I think these are two of the most underrated British acts of the last 10 years in their respective genres, it seemed an odd collaboration at the time and still does in a way but it definitely works. It's based around The Maccabees single with the rap added instead of the verses. Track 10 – This sounds like it could by Grimes, it’s got the same type of electronic vibe going for it. It’s okay, but it’s no ‘Genesis’. 6/10 Poliça 'Violent Games' - Again it's not a bad guess, it does have the same feel to it as some of Grimes stuff does. An American duo, their album has grown on me to become one of my favourites this year so, her vocal is great and it has some brilliant instrumentation and drumming on it. Track 11 – Ooh, Django Django. This is a song that probably makes more sense within the context of its parent album than in a compilation like this. It’s a good song, I’ve always had a love of their quirkyness. 8/10 Django Django '???' I'm not sure which track I included, I think it was either 'Hali Bop' (4:04 length) or 'Zumm Zumm' (5:19), but you're probably right. Like Real Estate's album, it's one that works best as a body of work. Track 12 – This sounds like it’s by The Divine Comedy, although unfortunately I can’t put my finger on what track it is exactly. Wonderfully intelligent adult-pop music. Just the way I like it. 9/10 James Levy & The Blood Red Rose 'Sneak Into My Room' - This was the track I included that I was least hopeful anyone would like so I'm really pleased you do! I first heard this listening to 6 music and it stood out straight away, the kind of folky-pop music I really love. Track 13 – Another acoustic-led song. It takes about 2 minutes to get moving, but when it does it’s a decent song. 6/10. Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourner's of St. Pauls' - This is a few years old now, took a long while before it really clicked with me. Think it's beautiful and he's very underrated. Track 14 – Scuzzy lo-fi punk with a female singer. Perhaps a little bit too lo-fi for my tastes, but it’s a passable song. 5/10 Male Bonding 'Year's Not Long' - Female?! Erm... Maybe it's how low-fi and distorted the vocal is and I can't really say a great deal given I mixed up Alabama Shakes for months! Track 15 – And finishing of with the wonderful School of Seven Bells (I think). I haven’t really paid that much attention to their new material, but this is a lovely song. Will have to look into this one. 9/10 School of Seven Bells 'Lafaye' - You are right, I do think they're quite distinctive. This was one of their singles from their current album, I don't think it's as good as 'Disconnect From Desire' but this is in my top 3/5 singles of the year. BONUS TRACK – And finishing with a bonus track, lovely! It’s an acapella track, which sounds like it’s by The Futureheads, as that Geordie accent is incredibly recognisable. It’s a short track (only 100 seconds), but it’s a rather good one. 9/10 The Futureheads 'The Keeper' - Hard to get this one wrong I guess, really thought their acapella album would be something I took a vague interest in for a short while but nearly 4 months later I still keep coming back to it and love it. It's really refreshing, although I can't say I have any time for their covers now, the ones I love most are the new tracks, although they're all covers too I guess, just of much older and more traditional songs, this 'The Old Dun Cow' and 'Sumer Is Icumen In'. In all, it’s a very good compilation, and although I had heard a few of the songs before, it only confirms by belief that I was most definitely the right person to receive this CD. I’m guessing that is was none other than RabbitFurCoat responsible for this compilation, as I know he likes some of the artists featured on this compilation. I'm delighted you liked it so much, and I'm glad you discovered so much of it. I was quite worried it would land in the hands of someone who knew the majority of it, so 3 or 4 tracks with a few artist guesses has pleased me no end! :D Tracklist: Blackmill 'Evil Beauty' Alpines 'Gold' Crocodiles 'Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)' Dive 'Geist' Apparat 'Song of Los' Doves 'The Man Who Told Everything' Cashier No. 9 'Goldstar' Real Estate 'All The Same' The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva 'Empty Vessels' Poliça 'Violent Games' Django Django 'Zumm Zumm' / 'Hali Bop' James Levy & The Blood Red Rose 'Sneak Into My Room' Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourners of St. Pauls' Male Bonding 'Year's Not Long' School of Seven Bells 'Lafaye' The Futureheads 'The Keeper' Thanks for making this compilation. I'm going to have to investigate a few of these artists further, including James Levy, who's probably by favourite find from this. By the way, I did a little bit of searching, and it turns out that Dive changed their name to Diiv (pronounced the same) and released an album last month, 'Oshin'. Might have to pick that one up too. Edited July 19, 201212 yr by Brett-Butler
July 19, 201212 yr Okay, here goes my review. Not a lot of text because I'm rubbish at writing very detailed stuff about each track and I was able to kind of do that a bit last year. They were also short though so anyway, let's get started. Title: BJcdswap The tracks have their own titles (obviously not their song titles) so I'll put them in the review for a bit of fun. 1. Fine Song - Quite a slow-paced start. Not a bad track, it's good. It works as a opener. Some weird lyrics here like "when I wake up, I'm gonna do a somersault" 8/10 2. Almost as fine Favourite - The 2nd track follows with a rocking indie/guitar music with a bit of electronic beats for a short time for added coolness. It's just 2 minues long and actually the most upbeat track in the CD. It's quite a jam! 9/10 3. Oooh this one is good - Yeah... it's good. It's a bit noughties Depeche Mode with a Fenech-Soler-like singer. The synths are very good on this one. I like the danciness of this. 8.5/10 4. This one too - This track suddenly starts after the last one (like they connect with each other). It's a nice folky ballady track. 7/10 5. And this - This is very very very long (over 16 minutes to be specific!). I feel like I'm hearing a short film or a track inspired by it or something. The first 4 to 6 and a half minutes filled me with dread because of some male old timer (sounds like it) talking negative stuff (the reason for the overall score for this song). But actually the rest of it are fine. Take off the first 6 and a half minutes (up to before the sound of the train!) and I'll find it more likeable overall. 6/10 6. You get the gist.. I like that this is about at the middle of the CD. It's like a track that you can take a break on or can be used as background music on a documentary. So yeah, I get the gist. It's pretty long but it's not boring. 8/10 7. Not shabby either It's not shabby indeed. Sounds like Charli XCX is in this track. Maybe it's her with a male singer. Enjoying it a lot. 8/10 8. Mash it up baby! - I first thought this is gonna be that Rihanna track that samples 'Intro' by The xx, just with added rapper or singer. Seems that it's something else. I should've believed the title "Mash it up baby!". This is now the third track I heard that uses 'Intro' (one of them is a mash-up). It's just decent. 7/10 9. Float away 2nd favourite - This was a bit familiar for some reason. (long story but I'll make it shorter:) Then I listened carefully and eventually I've just realised this is 'Comforting Sounds'. I knew Birdy's version last year which was a bonus track from her self-titled album. Liking the 2nd half of this a lot. And actually, I prefer this version and this isn't the first version I've heard! 8.5/10 10. Or dont - Not bad but... not good either... I just don't enjoy it as much as many other tracks. Too much usage of the ukulele (?) perhaps and/or they are a little bit too loud. 6/10 11. The end is near - Kind of reminds me of Death Cab For Cutie, the dark-ish indie/alternative sound. It's good. I'm liking it a lot. 8/10 12. And getting nearer 3rd favourite - Also, a track that becomes very good at about the 2nd half. It was a grower, I wasn't sure at first. Maybe I was just a bit exhausted. 8.5/10 13. :( - Indeed a sad face. This is good. A bit The Horrors on the vocals. Also a grower, like the previous track. 8/10 Good CD/playlist/compilation. There are no truly bad tracks and I didn't know any of them before. I enjoyed the CD in general even though it's not the type of music I listen to or I focus on most of the time. I feel it sounds better on nighttime than on daytime. I imagine it's not supposed to be played on daytime unless I'm into these sort of music the most. I'm not sure about the theme of this CD, but it's quite a list appealing to many indie fans and newcomers. My rating - 8 Average (total score divided by 13) - 7.73 (estimate) Now, who made this? I don't really know. My guess is randomfurlong because I downloaded it from Dropbox and he mentioned about it. But there's a chance there are also a few more who used Dropbox. In comparison to the CD last year The CD I received last year (by shakilover) is an interesting list of pop music outside UK and US. I believe I was saying about vocal or lyrical delivery on the few songs not my thing or something, it doesn't seem to be the problem in this CD. I can't really say much anymore. LOL This is mine. I'm really really pleased you liked it. When I first saw you received it, I checked your previous posts and found your charts loaded with upbeat music. I was horrified. I tried to make sure there was a bit of everything, but as you've noticed, there's a tendency towards slow tracks, thus deciding on the album ender was probably the hardest part, as so many of the tracks could have worked. 1. I Got You on Tape 'Somersault' - Thought it'd work as a nice moodsetting intro 2. The Floor is Made of Lava 'Told her I'm from Compton' - A track from the debut of this Danish rock group. Their first album had a true f***itall attitude with lyrics mainly revolving around picking up girls, this probably came from not intending for the songs to ever end up on an album in the first place. Check out 'Do your sister' and 'Happy Monday' for songs similar to this one in sound and quality. 3. Spleen United 'Groundspeed' - It's a bit of a shame I didn't go with one of their more upbeat tracks, but this is my favourite on their recent album, so decided to go with it. 4. Dry the River 'Bible Belt' - I really like Dry the River, and would probably have entered this one in UP if they hadn't started becoming a bit too well known. This one was really a grower for me, and I absolutely love the climax. 5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'The Dead Flag Blues' - Probably the most odd track in the compilation. It's post-rock, and as opposed to you I sort of like the post-apocalyptic and very moodsetting monologue that starts the track accompanied by light strings. I could easily see people rating this much lower than you did though, as it really is a strange track. 6. Trentemøller 'Take me into your skin' - Not much to say here, glad you like it. 7. The Knife 'Marble House' - Actually not the biggest fan of this duo's sound in general, but I like the sort of somber lyrics together with the energetic music, and this song is quite nice along with Neverland from the same album. If the female vocal sounds familiar, it could be because she also features in 'What else is there' by Röyksopp 8. 'Wolf the the XX' - I have no idea who made this track, Thomsen just linked to its youtube video a while ago. It's a mashup of TV on the Radio's 'Wolf like me' and Intro by The XX. Both tracks can easily stand on their own, but I do feel that the sum of the product is greater than the sum of the parts here. 9. Mew 'Comforting Sounds' - The original long album version of 'Comforting Sounds'. Probably my own favourite of the compilation, just such a truly epic and moodsetting piece. Just listened to Birdy's version, but must say I very much prefer the dreaminess of Mew's more minimalistic original. 10. Silversun Pickups 'Growing old is getting old' - I can understand why this isn't your favourite. I like the slow buildup and the climax, although the noiserock part of it annoys me. 11. Beach House 'Myth' - Feared you'd know this one, as it's the debut single of their new album. 12. The Antlers 'Two' - Went with the perhaps most upbeat track from the utterly and stunningly brilliant 'Hospice' album, and probably also the most easily accesible one, seems it turned out to be a good choice. 13. Magenta Skycode 'This Empty Crow' - This really just had to end the compilation. The way the last 2 minutes of the track just sort of make you disappear into a cloud of sound has made me play this over and over again. If The Horrors are anything like this, I'll have to go listen to them. Thanks for the fine review, really nice to see that the compilation was appreciated. Edited July 19, 201212 yr by Horatio
July 20, 201212 yr Author Finally got around to sending out IN HEAVEN w/ hopefully the correct tracklist. Let me know if it's missing any tracks tho y'all, it should be 22 long. Going to try and sit down and review mine this weekend. (:
July 20, 201212 yr My cd is bookended by the best tracks - both 10/10. In the middle never gets less than interesting. Nothing really below 6/10.
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