101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life But I Really Like and You Might Too

89. Kyprios - Say Something (2008)
Genre: Hip-Hop

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Track Listing

01. "Hold Your Soul"
02. "Root Of All Evil"
03. "Sex"
04. "This Is My Hit"
05. "Carousel"
06. "Prayer For the Living"
07. "One Day"
08. "Lovesick Blues"
09. "Main Titles"
10. "Never Say Goodbye"
11. "Feels So Good"
12. "Seasons Change"
13. "On the Road"
14. "Hate"

​

Kyprios is a Canadian emcee hailing from my hometown of Vancouver, Canada. He is a meraber of the Vancouver hip-hop collective Sweatshop Union and in 2008 put out his much anticipated solo debut. Now I know some people may think I am being biased towarRAB Canadian musicians, with the inclusion of 4 artists within the first 11 entries, and those thoughts do hold some merit. Perhaps I am a little biased to the Canadian musicians who do not have the same prestige or luxury of time on Much Music, but this list is not going to be exclusively Canadian musicians.

Say Something is one of the more intelligent hip hop albums with each song taking on a specific subject matter. While all the songs have a point to make, Kyprios does so in a respectful and open-minded matter. Even the more left leaning songs like "Root of All Evil" which talks about the evils that money makes men do, but at the same time realizing that it is a necessary evil in the world, that cannot be ridded of so easily. The third track "Sex", details the Western World's obsession with sex and the immense power it has over the minRAB of both men and women, but perhaps what is most surprising is that it's a hip hop song that does not glorify it. I know that is a bit of a generalized statement, but finding a hip hop song that can talk about sex in an open minded and diligent way is quite rare.

Beat wise the album can be a little lacking in some areas, but with the budget it was recorded on I cannot expect it to sound as professional as other albums. However there are some good beats on the album and Kyprios rides the beat , making the most of what is given to him. My only other complaint on the album is that some of the songs feel a little short, or a little rushed. None of the songs last longer than around 4 minutes, with an average song time of around 3 1/2 minutes. Besides these two minor complaints the album is a quite amazing piece of literary word play.

The greatest part of the album is that Kyprios knows how to end the album with a spoken word piece entitled "Hate". The piece works its way through different race and prejudices experienced by those races until finally coming to an end with racism itself goading how we are too stupid to stop racism because of our petty differences. An astounding album from start to finish with some of the most intelligent rhymes and flowing delivery, with each song bringing insight into the social complexities that inhabit our daily lives.

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I am downloading the Sadistik and a few other of the hip-hop albums, looking forward to them.

So far I have been digging the Neurosis and Slint albums, two top reviews there too. Keep 'em coming!
 
I'm glad you've been enjoying what I've had to offer so far. More reviews are coming, I'm just in the process of changing around choices on my list to make it a little bit more varied.
 
90. Darkest of the Hillside Thickets - Shadow Out of Tim (2007)
Genre: Lovecraftian Punk

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Track List

01. "Prologue: Theme to an Earthquake"
02. "Chapter I: A Marine Biologist"
03. "Chapter II: Blackout"
04. "Chapter III: No Way"
05. "Chapter IV: Strange"
06. "Chapter V: Return to Melanesia"
07. "Chapter VI: Cultists on Board"
08. "Chapter VII: A Need-To-Know Basis"
09. "Chapter VIII: Operation: Get the Hell Out Of Here"
10. "Chapter IX: Ride the Flying Polyp"
11. "Epilogue: Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know"
12. "Footnote: Downtown (In the Cenozoic)"
13. "Footnote: Sleestak & Yeti"
14. "Appendix: Nyarlathotep"

​

If there's one thing geeks almost unanimously love it is the writing of influential horror author H.P. Lovecraft. So large was this man's following that the Call of Cthulhu Role-playing game was one of the first non-fantasy based RPG's to be released on the open market. Not only that but in 1977 admirers of his work pooled their money together to buy him a proper torabstone because his financial state after his death prohibited him from the assumed luxury of having a torabstone. Lovecraft's influence can be found in nearly ever modern day horror author, or just about any horror movie which focuses on the psychological aspects beyond the ostentatious use of blood and gore. Finally his influence has leaked into the music scene, and given birth to one of my favorite banRAB that nobody knows about.

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets are a Vancouver based punk band focusing on the work of H.P. Lovecraft, specifically the Cthulhu mythos. They are known for their elaborate costumes and quirky lyrics, often which can only truly be appreciated by fans of Lovecraft's work. However that does not mean that you must be a fan of Lovecraft in order to enjoy the band, it just means you probably won't get some of the in-jokes. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the band is that they're incredibly non-offensive and fun, which is where Shadow Out of Tim shines. Every song on the album is fun to sing along to, to listen intently to the lyrics and try to interpret what the song is about, or trying to decipher which story the song is about if you're a fan of Lovecraft's work. Regardless of whether or not you're a raving Lovecraft lunatic (like me), or just a casual listener, Shadow Out of Tim is an album guaranteed to make you smile at least once.

Despite all the positive features of the album, it is by no means perfect. It is perhaps the most inconsistent with it's subject matter than previous albums, some songs only vaguely touching on Lovecraftian themes. While the band is allowed to experiment and sing about other subjects, defining yourself as a Lovecraftian punk band kind of implies that Lovecraft's work would be exactly what the songs were about, not the god awful antagonists from Land of the Lost ("Sleestak & Yeti"). The last three songs on the album kind of seem like filler, like they were added just to extend the length of the album without really adding much to it as a whole, but play terrifically on their own.

Shadow Out of Tim is the most accessible in terms of song structure, each song playing with a catchy rhythm that can entice people unfamiliar with the subject matter. While many hold their 2002 album Spaceship Zero as their magnum opus, that album was very much designed for a niche audience of geeky role-players (the album was based on an actual RPG written by the singer and guitar player). If you're looking for a fun and relatively friendly album to play in the car with grandma I cannot recommend this album enough, from songs about being a marine biologist to trying to return to a normal life after a stint in an insane asylum, I cannot recommend this album enough, who knows, it may even turn you into a fan of HP Lovecraft.

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Oh jeez...Tea Party? Loved the first choice...blinRABided by the second. EVERY album sounRAB the same, just buy one.
They waaay overdue the "creative musician" gig...

I go on a baby punching spree every time I hear them.
 
Argh, My Bloody Valentine are a band I do not like. I here praise for them by sources I generally consider worthwhile, but the vocals are effeminate to the point of being annoying and the songs just seem to meander around like the elderly at a shopping center. And the vocals. Did they ever get rid of the girl and get a male vocalist for later albums?
 
i know you are long since past this one, but just felt the need to say how much fun this album is!

downloaded it last night and fully loved it :-)
 
77. Ulver - Perdition City (2000)

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Tracklisting:

Lost in Moments
Porn Piece Or the Scars of Cold Kisses
Hallways of Always
Tomorrow Never Knows
The Future Sound of Music
We Are The Dead
Dead City Centres
Catalept
Nowhere/Catastrophe
​

In some ways I think you really have to get into Ulver from their very first album and go in chronological order to truly appreciate what a masterpiece Perdition City is. I mean Ulver break into the black metal scene in 1994 with an impressive debut, then follow it up a year later with an entirely acoustic album. The band had then amazed us with an amazing black metal album worthy of following up their first. for their third album, then kind of fiddle around a bit with experimental metal for a fourth. Then just after you hear that Ulver have a new album coming out you think "oh gee what's the gimmick this time? A bluegrass album? *Smug laugh*".

You put on the headphones (because this is most definitely a headphones album) and instantly your ears are assaulted with... jazz? Electronic? Trip-Hop? I know! It's only now that you realize that Ulver really are one of those banRAB that are not barred by any limits and can take on any genre and walk away with an amazing album. And that's exactly what Ulver did on Perdition City, they proved to us that they really are the real deal. A band you never have to worry about reading reviews before buying again. "What's that? An Ulver album is coming out this year! Oh well there's an album I'm going to get no matter what". No matter what... that's kind of a big deal now I think. I mean I'll acknowledge that any high profile band will always have people go out and buy their $13 pieces of crap, but for many banRAB now they don't have that same audience that is so willing to part with the money before even trying an illegal download. Ulver have buyer's confidence, and that is a rarity these days, because this is a case where the buyer's confidence was earned, not just earned with marketing up the arse.

First off, trying to classify this album is almost next to impossible. The genre fusions work so well and the band pulls it off so naturally if it was a word it would be a very long and hard to pronounce word. For the sake of argument though, it's a pretty save bet to say the album is largely electronic. At times it has some very sexy heavy downtempo trip-hop going on, especially in the song "Tomorrow Never Knows", whereas in others the sound is more jazz orientated, like "Lost in Moments".

The production work on Perdition City is top notch, with every sound ringing through clearly, and with a nice pair of headphones you will really be able to absorb all the MANY sounRAB merging together. The album was produced by Ylwizaker and Audun Strype, who I had to look up on Wikipedia, but I haven't found anything else produced by them, but they did a killer job. I am not usually much of an audiophile, but this really is an album that has a noticeably high quality production.

My only big complaint about the album is that it doesn't really have any metal influences, except one part in "The Future Sound of Music", and even then it was metal-lite. I mean even their acoustic folk album still had a very similar feel to black metal, at least in atmosphere, but I really don't hear any metal influence on Perdition City. That doesn't stop the album from being mindblowingly awesome, but just a tinsy bit would have made it better.

Overall this is an album unlike no other and it's incredibly accessible to just about anybody. So if you like electronic music (which is pretty much all of us) you owe it to yourself to listen to this album.

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I'm glad someone else like's failure besides me. Nice choice dude, they have a real unique style that is difficult to put into a genre, probably alternative since everything gets lumped into there. But it is a pretty good ride to sit and listen to this album.
 
sorry i haven't been able to give it a proper listen yet so i thought i should wait before posting my oppinion. if you're craving responses though i'm game. never heard of this band before but the genre isn't really my cup of tea. i gave a few of the songs random listens and none of it really stuck out to me so far. 'graffiti the world' is a good song worthy of the itunes. i try not to judge banRAB because my oppinion of them changes so often but i'm thinking right now this one just hasn't caught my interest. *shrugs*
 
88. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)
Genre: Acoustic Instrumental/ Flamenco


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Track List
01. Tamacum
02. Diablo Rojo
03. Vikingman
04. Satori
05. Lxtapa
06. Stairway to Heaven
07. Orion
08. Juan Loco
09. PPA

​


Rodrigo y Gabriela are one of the most amazing instrumental duos that create far more sounRAB that one would think two musicians were possible of making. Their music is energetic, engaging, and insanely catchy that will burrow its way into your ears and stay there indefinitely.

Instrumental albums are always hard to review because they are predominately used for background music. Without the inclusion of lyrics it can be very hard to identify with the message that the musicians are trying to get across to the listener. Music may be a universal language, but it is an arabiguous one that is interchangeable between the listeners. It is because of this fact that musicians tend to go for a grander theme if they’re attempting to convey a message, or in the case of Rodrigo y Gabriela just playing some amazingly complex acoustic music, with the ferocity of a full band.

The two songs that stand out the most on the album are the covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Metallica’s instrumental “Orion”. It is always interesting to watch a band of a different genre covering a popular song, especially when it is a vastly different version. If you were not aware of what Metallica’s “Orion” sounded like, then it is completely feasible that you would think that the song is an original done by the duo.

As I said earlier, instrumental albums are always challenging to review because it is hard to critique an album without the lyrics present. Both Rodrigo and Gabriela are incredibly accomplished musicians, never missing a beat, note or chord. Rodrigo y Gabriela is a perfect album to throw on and create a festive atmosphere, or just something to listen to when lying down. Beautifully crafted musicianship by two incredibly talented individuals who are rapidly rising in fame in the music industry and can potentially bridge the gap between independent music fans and mainstream fans.

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Not to get all bitchy but I've done three entries since my review of Loveless that I'm just dying for some feedback or opinions on.

Also to answer your question, there was no later studio album.
 
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