Wednesday, May 19, 2010

First half...

Just to show you I'm not slacking on this one. I've gotten through Winter Hymn. Here are my thoughts:

Track 1
I love it when an album (or song) begins and you spend a couple of seconds wondering, ‘has it started?’ ‘am I hearing something?’
1:46 song begins proper
Hi-hat a little too staccato
Awesome sounds at 4:30
5:15 wicked – that part should have gone on for at least 3 minutes longer
Reminds me of explosions in the sky
Track 2
I love it when a song (or an album) begins and you spend a couple of seconds wondering, ‘has it started?’ ‘am I hearing something?’
Oh wait, that was the whole thing
Track 3
Was really enjoying the song, less sure about the change at 3:43
Track 4
Kind of meh until about four minutes in
That stretch at 5:03 could have lasted longer
Good, but not as good as a sprawling 10 minute opus should be
Track 5
Dig the horns
Just really nice
Track 6
Bonus points for the title
Reminds me of GUH, not a bad thing
Like the funky at 4:00
Nice, understated use of the horns
Had they dissolved fully into noise, then drug it out for a looooong time, to the point where my wife asks ‘why are you listening to this?’ you would have earned an automatic pass. Too bad.
Track 7
Snapping, clapping, strings
I thought my internet connection was cutting out at the end of the song. Turns out it was just the music. Then I felt old.
Track 8
Same joke as earlier
Track 9
The organ sound takes to the next level what was already a good tune
Love all the layers by the 4:00 mark
Just keeps getting better

All said, an A- effort. A couple of the ideas I felt like could have been explored a little more, and a couple of tracks were interesting, but not really full songs, which is a problem on an album that is only 9 songs long to begin with.

I kept finding myself writing ‘I dug this’ or ‘I’m really diggin’ the …’ What is wrong with me?

By the way, zwartitude, if you haven’t sold these on amazon yet, add $6 to the tab, and I’ll take both

3 comments:

  1. An off-the-cuff comparison: I tend to reach more for Explosions in the Sky and This Will Destroy You over Do Make Say Think and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. The songs of the first two are more homogenous (even though they have big dynamic changes), and so are easier to listen to while, say, working. The songs of DMST and G!YBE, as you reminded me with your comments, have bigger change-ups, which sometimes makes them harder to listen to. I'm more likely to find a part I don't like, and remember that I don't like it, since the songs are more distinctive.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, cause you'd hate to be distictive/creative when you can be totally, yawn, boring/predictable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like button to Zwartitude's comment.

    ReplyDelete