Fun Stuff > BAND

Winter Mixtape Exchange: Feedback Thread

<< < (7/7)

Radiowar:
Still haven't received mine yet...

jariku:
I still haven't received my CD from lastclearchance. Also, I've no idea if theenginedriver got the CD I sent can't-remember-when.

Valrus:
Ok, Outshined has been bugging me to send him some feedback, so I'm obliging right now with a track-by-track. S/he (probably the latter, just based on who tends to frequent the music threads) calls it the "Hot & Cold mix," so I'll try to keep that in mind as I write my, um, review.

1. The Mars Volta, "Roulette Dares (This is the Haunt)" - OS likes TMV and I told him I like them too, so this was kind of a gimme. I hadn't realized that this would be a good mixtape first track, but it is. Sounds like a Hot song to me. Because of, you know, all the Hot latin riffs. And such.

2. Children of the Monkey Machine, "Super Metroid Brothers (Dreams In Red)" - Oh, man. Super Metroid. One of the best fucking SNES games ever. I don't suppose there's any way OS could have known how I love this game, but there you go. I haven't played it in a while, but this music sounds like Maridia to me.

Ok, I just checked. It's Brinstar. Man, Super Metroid had the most incredibly atmospheric music of any SNES game, hands down. Wow. Anyway, good choice. This made me want to play Super Metroid all over again.

Oh, and, uh, sounds like it could be a "cold" song.

3. Rootaka, "The Chemical Imps" - Starts out sounding like it could be another track from Super Metroid, really, but that doesn't last long and it turns into a hoppin' electronic dealy. Nice beats, good melodies, nothing spectacular but it's quality. Kind of abrasive and, um, hot-sounding.

4. Tangerine Dream, "Sequent c'" - Definitely a cold song. Another electronic-sounding thing, this one tame, slow-moving, subdued, the soundtrack to the inside of a glacier. Very effective and atmospheric.

5. Yann Tiersen, "La Valse d'Amélie" - I hadn't really appreciated this tune for its own merits before; although it's certainly effective and appropriate in the titular film, it stands very well on its own.

6. Chris Cornell, "Moonchild" - Whoa, lyrics. I'm not crazy about this guy's voice, never was, and the melody doesn't grab me. Still, the lyrics are decent and there's some good guitar in there.

7. Citizen Cope, "Hurricane Waters" - This song is hella chill, and I like it a lot, even though the lead singer somehow pronounces "hurricane" like it has only two syllables. Kinda dumb lyrics too. But it sounds good, and that's the important thing, dammit!

8. Tool, "The Patient" - I never really warmed up (if you will) to Tool, probably because although the time signatures sure are interesting, the melodies tend to be either all the same or nonexistent. This song is no exception, although it does have its moments.

9. Esem, "~ pt. 2 (8,0ºE  30,51ºZ)" - Um, I'm not sure if I got that name right. This track is all warm strings and synths, light drums and very little melody. It's nothing amazingly special but it sure is pleasant to listen to. It doesn't change a whole lot, so it's good that it's not that long.

10. Opeth, "The Drapery Falls" - Nice acoustic opening leads directly into some rawk with very sweet and understated guitar melodies underneath it. This is a long song (over 10 minutes), so by necessity it's got a few different parts to it. The voice is quality when he's actually singing, confident and well suited to the music and lyrics. But I guess I have to admit that I can't stand the tuneless growling "metal voice" in the middle part of the song; it can be all right when used in moderation, but four verses of it in a row is just too much for me. The dissonant guitar in the middle section is pretty awesome, though, and the track goes back to normal singing before the end, so I'd say it comes out ahead. The contrast between the acoustic and harder parts is also very effective.

11. Aphex Twin, "Lichen" - I know this one, it's from Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II. Not my favorite Aphex album except as background music, but this is a good track from it: not too long or dissonant or repetitive.

12. Pinback, "Rousseau" - I don't know who these guys are, but they have some quintessential indie vocals in this song. I like the staccato piano and the melody in the verses; the chorus is considerably less interesting. The lyrics are pretty good too. Too bad I can't understand what anyone's saying. Good song, but flawed enough that I think it wears out its welcome before its 5 minutes is up.

13. Yann Tiersen, "Sur le Fil" - Much more somber than the Amélie theme, but arguably just as good. Nothing fancy, just darn good piano music with a great melody.

14. Opeth, "Hours of Wealth" - After "The Drapery Falls," this song makes it clear to me why Opeth is kind of difficult to categorize. No rawk, no metal voice (mercifully), just low-key guitar, keyboard and somber vocals. I don't find the melody particularly compelling, but it's a good song and a better album closer.

In short: Nice mix. The instrumentals, in particular, are basically unimpeachable. A few songs I'm not crazy about, but they're outweighed by far. Thanks!

Outshined:
Glad to hear you liked it =).  I had a heck of a time trying to cram all those different genres in a way that would make sense, but I wanted to add a lot of variety so you would at least find something to latch on to.  Hence the wierd juxtapositions between mellowed out indie and death metal the next track, haha.  Did I write Super Metroid Brothers for track 3?  Oops!  Must have been thinking of another snes game, lol.  It's actually  "Super Metroid Brinstar" but you figured that out on your own.  If you are interested, I found two other remix variations on this theme, both of which are radically different from all the other takes.  Pretty cool.  

I also got my mix from El Opium, thanks a ton!  I really enjoyed it!  There is a lot of really good "music to zone out to" on here.  It's great as a chill out mix.  You really have to listen to this album with headphones on, there a lot of subtle, delicate sounds in there.  

Here is what I thought of individual tracks:

1)  Blowin Cool - Swervedriver: A nice, jangly, upbeat indie track to start the album.  I really enjoyed his voice.  The skill of the drummer in this song is kind of understated, but he's actually really good.  I didn't notice that on the first listen.  
2)  A Street Scene - Bark Psychosis: A more laid back song.  It has some nice atmospheric synth in the background and an understated, but funky, bassline going for it.  I'm still trying to figure out all the lyrics, but I like what I hear.  The outtro, with it's decrescendo of a very minimal guitar melody, struck me as very emotive.  
3) Sunday - Sonic Youth: This was actually my introduction to the much-talked-about Sonic Youth.  Noisy, dissonant guitars that seem to be the definition of this area of indie rock.  Quality stuff.
4) Morningrise - Slowdive: The first time I heard this track, I didn't really like it.  But after a few listens, it really does kind of develop a pleasant, almost lullabye kind of quality to it.  The lyrics and melody kind of drone on, and after a while this kind of lulls you into a pleasant state of numbness.  This band kind of reminds me of a more ambient Pinback with less emphasis on vocals, especially how the song had to grow on me, too.  
5) (Lets Do The) Empty House - The Comsat Angels: This song was a pleasant breather from the mellower tracks before it.  A little more upbeat and poppy, this song has lyrics and melodies that are catchy as hell.  I like the guy's voice a lot.  The kind of remind me of another, less sassy and more melodic take on the 80's revival type sound that you hear in The Faint and Franz Ferdinand.  I liked this song a lot in general.
6) Driving With Bert - Neil Halstead:  A meloncholy song, kind of in the same vein as Iron & Wine.  A nice folky feel to it.
7 & 8) October Part I & II - Tim Hecker:  An interesting change from the earlier more indie tracks.  This composition goes althogether ambient (drone?).  It was interesting, but didn't really pull me in like other ambient tracks have.
9)Rebuilt Passage - This Empty Flow:   This track had a lot of different influences, and an interestingly balanced composition.  It started out very mellow, and towards the middle had a string section that reminded me a little of M83, and finally there was a dissonant guitar section at the end.  The intro felt a little long, though.  
10) Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten - Arvo Part: A very delicate and emotional string composition.  I wonder if there is a background event to this song, as the title suggests.  
11) I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull - Swans: This track was just plain -wierd-.  Soon after the beginning, a really dissonant section comes in, that was decidedly unpleasant to listen to.  After that, a strange, nonsensical vocal loop comes in, and finally, a really strange monologue continues on and on, as some guy rants on and on about how "you are more fucked up than I am".  This one is just waaay out there.  I'm not really much for speaking or monologueing in music, and between that and the earlier dissonance, I didn't really like this track so much.  
12) Antartica Download - Seht: Pure drone.  It establishes a loop, and then elaborates it in extremely subtle ways over the course of 10 minutes.  It his kind of undulating feel, with the volume growing alternately louder and softer.  At some points, it reminds me a little of the sound of air flowing over a rotating fan.  At first I thought it was boring, but if you listen to it long enough, it just kind of draws you in and wraps all around you, lulling you into this sort of nirvanic state of numbness.  I actually kind of liked the hypnotic effect.  

After hearing the album through, I really get the feeling that you enjoy very mellow, sedated tracks.  If you haven't heard them already, I'd highly recommend checking out Pinback.  I have a feeling they'd be right up your alley.  They hay be a little upbeat compared to the music on this disc though, as a caution.  Worth a check out, at least.  Thanks again for the disk, good stuff overall!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page