You have to listen to this

I first heard the term a couple of years back though I have also heard it called Weird Folk. Check out say CocoRosie, Devandra Banhart and even Joanna Newsom just as a few examples. I put this album in that category. "Freak" or "weird" it is still "odd" none the less. My first freakishly, weird and odd folk album was The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by The Incredible String Band. No one told me that it was freakishly, weird and odd even though it sounded freakishly, weird and odd.


Gees hope that all makes sense:yikes:
 
Xinlisupreme
tommorow never comes

The first thing you are going to notice with this album is that most of it contains thick walls of noise, rough samples with heavy post-production to create as much noise as possible to the point where it smothers any melody that may actually be present. This album is going to come across is almost unlistenable to some, even some fans of noise music might be turned down by it. Its not neccesarily the sound itself that might annoy some. I'm a fan of noise music, dissonance, loud feedback, and noise are nothing new to me. Its the sheer amount of layers of noise, the almost constant amount of short delay echo added to almost everything that might annoy some. To describe the sound, think of that muffled, echo-y sound that you hear when standing outside of a small, cramped bar where some band is playing. Now think of having the outside of wall of one of these buildings being put up against both of your ears, sort of like headphones, all with rapidly looped samples, synthesizers, electronic drums and tons of noise.

Now, lets get to the songs themselves. The melody being smothered by walls of sound is used throughout the album, notably in songs such as "All You Need is Love Was Not True" and "Kyoro." Some tracks such as "Suzu" sway away from this style and instead much more abstract and free sounding or "Goodbye for All" with an eeiry, odd video game-like sound.

Overall, I'm not really sure what to think of this album. I still feel undecided as I never really felt like I really enjoyed this album, yet I could see what kind of sound the musician was aiming for and can understand what he is trying to do.
 
I won't take the new one just yet but Lovage has actually been growing on me, I knew it was going to take time! With 'unusual' albums that are tough to plug into it takes me a listen in bed on the iPod to realise it's appeal; it was so with Lovage. Did anyone else notice all the 'Airplane!' samples? And I'm pretty sure that's Prince Paul on the first track, he is always good at getting into character on Dan the Automator albums. In the same vein, are HanRABome Boy Modeling School worth checking out?
 
Alexander Tucker
Old Frog​

I really had no idea what to expect going into this album. I honestly don't listen to almost any folk, let alone freak folk. Its not that I dislike the genre, from the little I've heard of it, I enjoy it, I just never really got around to getting into it. I really ended up liking this album, it has an odd, earthy feel that for some reason reminRAB me of backround music for a surreal and trippy movie about hobbits living in a village, don't ask why. The tracks drone on with the lush and beatiful acoustic work that somehow retains an odd, somewhat trippy feel, thanks to the vocals and sometimes dissonant-feeling instrumentation that set the overall mood of the album.

After the first few tracks, the vocals are sparsely used, returning only a few times where they smoothly join the full acoustic sound. Throughout the album, light touches of distortion (Hand of Reign), reverb (phantom ring) and other effects are used occasionally. These elements break up the drone-like nature of the album, which even on its own is done extremely well enough to keep me interested throughout the entire album. Like I said earlier, I never really listen to folk. This album showed me a side of folk I've never heard before and it really makes me want to further explore the genre.
 
Lovage. I am generally a fan of Trip Hop but I have to admit that I have struggled with this album. There is an obvious attempt at humour with the album but there is a lack of seamlessness in delivery and it just does not gel. Ladies Love Chest Rockwell leaRAB the way in a spoken word sex chat that comes across as not that particularly humorous. This sadly leaRAB the way. Pit Stop, the 2nd song makes a good start but is ruined mid song by the forced lyrics that is, I suppose, meant to be witty. In fact it just may be the lyrics, and vocals, that kill the entire album. The third song, Anger Management, is utterly ruined by them. Is this meant to be satire? I suppose so but it does not work. Potential ruined by poor lyrics and crass vocal delivery. Everyone Has A summer has what sounRAB like Peg Bundy sampled. Hmmm! To Catch a Thief killed by poor sampling and poorish betty boop vocal. The silly love making sounRAB on Book Of The Month. Sex (I'm A) is just awful. The supposedly witty interplay of the male and female vocal and more love making sounRAB.

I could go on. Yes I know it is meant to be satire but in the end it is all too much. Not for me this one.
 
Okay here we go, I'm writing it as I listen to it:

The Ritalin Conspiracy: It's a deadly combination of free jazz and bad metalcore. I like chaotic music, but this is awful. Stop changing the beat too. This track is pretty bad. Didn't make my stomach churn though, oddly.

Bird-Watching and Vise Versa: Cool ska-y opening. I enjoy the horns here. Then it takes a turn into that same bad metalcore we heard on the first track. It's not as bad as it was, because this time the horns are used more effectively. It's still a little too sludgy for my taste. The ska bit about halfway is nice, but when it goes back into the slow metalcore, that's when my stomach didn't feel so good. Better, but still bad.

Corpse Disposal For Dummies: Yes! They finally succeed in blending ska and metalcore. Why? Because they don't resort to awful breakdownish sections, and once again, the horns are well used. It gets real funky about a third of the way in, and I enjoyed that. Even the really slow part sounRAB good, mainly thanks to the wonderful horns.

Fear Everything: This isn't bad, but the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. I love the clean singing on this track. It sounRAB pretty bad in some parts, but it's listenable. Politicallyricfail.

The Great Red Cross Robbery: SounRAB a bit more like a straight-up ska-punk song. The metalcore isn't done too badly in this song. Check it out, yes it is. Awful breakdown alert. Oh look, let's get some more ska cred by throwing in a soft horn section. Boooooorrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnngggg. Oh look, my Bad Religion download finished, can I listen to that and forget the rest of the album?

If You Really Love Me: Okay, this sounRAB promising. I like the instrumental hooks here. The vocals are done nicely. Ooooh, this heavier part is done really nicely. It's good to hear a more ska oriented song, this is how the rest of the album should be. The lyrics have Misfits written all over them. Solid track.

The First Rule: It's got the metalcore vocals, but it's tolerable because the beat is faster. The horn instrumental bits sound great. It's decent.

Satan vs. The United States Of America: Yet again, good ska instrumental. But wait! We can't have anymore good ska punk. METALCORE. UGGHHHH. And then it does this neat punk rock thing, before going back to some annoying yelling over a ska instrumental. Stop yelling bullshit about the system, I've heard it all before.

World Of Chaos: I know how this is gonna go, soft ska, and then metalcore. Well, not quite, it's a little better than that. The intense part is pretty solid. Love the little guitar lick when it returns to the ska. This is pretty fun.

Bennett Brauer: Awesome sample at the beginning. Decent, short hardcore track.

Weaug, Teaug, Peaug (The Powder Of Life): No no no, don't bullshit around with this mellow stuff. Wait... are they actually just gonna do a full-out ska song? This could be enjoyable. It makes the transition into a pretty nice ska-punky song. This is great track.

Shit Piss Die: Oh crap, not again. There's a few nice parts to this song, but there's a lot of the same elements in other songs on here that I disliked.

This album wasn't bad, it wasn't good, and it wasn't really mediocre either. It was annoying in some parts, good in others, and I don't really know overall. I'll give it a 5/10. Most of the tracks were dislikeable, but most had at least something enjoyable about them. The concept of ska with metalcore is kinda cool, but they sound like they're trying too hard. The thing about metalcore is that it has to be done right, or else it will certainly suck. This band should just try for a ska punk sound and drop all the metal.
 
Damn, and I was determined to hate this album more than anyone else :|

I first heard Made in Mexico in the first Guitar Hero game. The track was called Farewell Myth, but you all know it as Untitled. I thought it was ok, just not my cup of tea, probably because it's the only MiM song that could ever be considered GH material. Of course in the 2nd GH game they had Yes We Can, and sounding like most of their other material, it was an awful choice for Guitar Hero (as most noise rock is). So I just wrote it off as an abysmal band and went on my way.

Fast forward 2 years, and I promised myself I would review the next album in this thread, which turned out to be Zodiac Zoo. I was saddened, but I begrudgingly asked for the upload.

It was an interesting first listen. Untitled, as I'd heard it before, was the most musical track on the album IMO, and the easiest to get into. I was expecting it to be the best on the album.

Then Infrared Eyes came on, and as most first listeners of noise rock might be, I was taken aback by all the useless noises I thought I was hearing, and the crazy vocals. Halfway through the track it clicked, and I felt that one was better than the first. I listened to the rest of the album and figured it deserved about a 5/10, but I knew I wouldn't get it fully til the 2nd listen. There's a few things I like about this album, let's start with vocals. They are very unorthodox, coming in at seemingly random times and almost never actually singing notes. I love her screams, especially at the start of Napalm Spring. They completely add to the assault on the ears the guitar is performing. The lyrics are very minimalist, at least the ones I heard, so I doubt there's any major premises to be gotten from them. I noticed that the guitar, bass, and drums all have balanced audio, it works well for the band's sound.

So after two listens, I give it a 7/10, and the higlights for me were Untitled, Infrared Eyes, Ultraviolet Arms, and Face of the Earth. Would've been 7.5 if they switched the last two tracks, Black Rabbit was not a good way to end that strong album.
 
jackhammer could you do me a good one and PM me the Zodiac Zoo album? It looks really intriguing, and judging by other people's reactions to it it should be good.

EDIT: nevermind, review coming up as soonish...
 
My review:

Alexander Tucker - Old Fog​

I like a lot of Folk music especially British, which is understandable as I can relate to the lyrics and sounRAB but a lot of Folk music recently has almost had one toe dipped in commercial waters and lacks authenticity.

Folk is not generally a commercial product and this why Old Fog is such a great album. It's a little rough around the edges and lacks the clean lines and catchy riRAB that can sometimes be found in mainstream Folk.

The use of Piano, Banjo and Mandolins on the album coupled with eerie tape loops and effects lenRAB Old Fog a surreal yet rewarding listen. This is not gentle folk or neccessarily harsh either. It's brooding and atmospheric and I could just imagine living in the forest with just candle light, a bottle of booze and this playing- it would probably freak you out!

If you are new to Folk or have an image of guy in a wooly jumper talking about sheep or some such shit as Folk music then give this a spin. You will be pleasantly surprised.
 
Yes it was...a friend of mine has been trying to get me to listen to Melt Banana for years...but I just don't know. Given the way people push it on here, I might give it a try.
 
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