Jan 7th - 13th

Jan 7th - 13th

This week was pretty packed with new records and found some phenomenal stuff, a very important week for music for me.

Started off the week with another Black Metal album, this time it was Summoning - Old Morning's Dawn, a more fantasy-themed record but still interesting and pretty enjoyable, rated (81). I then listened to their best-rated record - Stronghold, but did not enjoy that one a lot at all, instrumentals weren't as interesting and didn't get much enjoyment from it but wasn't too bad. (61)

After the enjoyment from the relisten of Paranoid last week, I was interesting in their debut record, and although I didn't feel like it really could compare since it didn't have those incredible hits but still overall a great sound and very enjoyable record and really solid debut. Rated (79).

Following the DOOM binge, I decided to check his previous work with KMD. Listened to Mr. Hood (78) and Black Bastards (73). Overall fairly enjoyable, somewhat generic 90s hip-hop atleast in the instrumentation but definitely had a unique flair to them for them to stand out from the crowd.

To break up the metal and hip-hop binge I was on, I decided to give The Weeknd's After Hours another go after casually listening to it a month or so previous but not paying enough attention to warrant rating it. Turns out I still couldn't pay much attention because it is so generic and uninteresting, bar a few decent tracks, my second-nature to block out "radio-friendly" songs came into play here again. Didn't particularly enjoy his other two albums I listened to, and certainly not this. Rated a generous (63).

After that disappointment we went back to the black metal - this time the critically acclaimed 2013 record Sunbather by Deafheaven (75), This was a bit of hit and miss, didn't particularly enjoy the first half or so, but two longer tracks in the second half really saved this from a much lower rating and actually did quite enjoy it by the end of it.

After that a quick re-listen to my personal favorite Bowie record - Hunky Dory. Just a quick reminder of how incredible this album, a practically flawless side A and just incredible overall. Slight boost from (90) to (92) in my attempts to not gatekeep Beatles too hard at the top of my lists and have some more variety as I have far too many at the 65-80 range which I don't hold a particularly strong opinion on either way.

After listening to a mid-2000s rock playlist I rediscovered a song I hadn't heard in a while belonging to The Kooks, so I checked out their debut - Inside In/Inside Out which housed that song. Simple and enjoyable record, nothing particularly incredible, some catchy tunes and fairly consistent. (77)

This was when I had a sudden interest in classic/critically acclaimed Japanese albums. It started from my piqued interest from Ichiko Aoba and her 2020 record - Windswept Adan - of which was one of my favourite releases of that year. So I listened to her most acclaimed album - 0 - which although I didn't quite prefer over Windswept, still enjoyed a great deal at a respectable (83). From that and looking up other acclaimed Japanese albums the first I discovered was Fishmans - Long Season. And boy, I was not ready for what was about to come.
A very enjoyable first listen, interest greatly piqued and thoroughly enjoyed this new genre I hadn't heard before - "Dream Pop", reminded me of Pink Floyd in a few ways, specifically their track Echoes, with its long length and ambient middle section. After listening to the studio version again the same day I researched a bit when I got home and discovered that their live show - 98.12.28 - was incredibly highly rated and many people claiming that rendition of Long Season to be not only the greatest live performance of all time, but also the greatest piece of music ever created. I didn't quite believe the hype, but it wouldn't be the first time a live version surpasses the studio original but the quality it brought I couldn't quite believe. Those people were right. After 10+ years of considering Stairway to Heaven to be peak music, everything shattered in front of my eyes - and ears. Not only did the entire performance sound better than the original, it added 2 god-tier guitar solos and a violin solo which shook me to my core. That part hit me so hard I actually cried. I was reading the youtube comments at the time and loads of people linking this timestamp of that specific part with comments like "music has peaked", and I was excited to see just how good it was, but if you told me beforehand that I would actually be witnessing and hearing the greatest music in my entire life, I would never believe you. But there it was. Something to rival the greats. A song that surpasses Stairway in quality, an album that surpasses Abbey Road. The best wasn't a mega popular english band that everyone is familiar with - it was an obscure Japanese dream pop band from the 90s, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Utter masterpiece doesn't even come close to explaining the beauty and magic of Long Season. I think I linked that performance to about 10 friend, just begging them to listen and enjoy what I had just witnessed. That was certainly an eventful day. Studio Version (97). Live version (100).

In-between that incredible experience there was another Japanese album sandwiched between them. Number Girl - School Girl Distortional Addict -  a very exciting noisy record claiming the Post-Hardcore tag, listened back to back and enjoyed a good amount. (81)
And one more for good measure - Happy End's Kazemachi Roman - apparently Japan's equivilant to our Sgt. Pepper's. Although an enjoyable record, without the context of what that album provided and changed, it was a little lost on me. Still good though. Rated (77).

For a short break inbetween my Japanese binge was a relisten to The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest on my newly purchased vinyl. I really didn't understand it when I first listened to them, I was looking for something that wasn't there, but was never meant to be, but after each subsequent lesson, Tribe just gets better and better and very enjoyable. Decent upgrade from (80) to (84).
I also found myself with some free time at home so gave Wu-Tang's Classic debut another listen as I still feel like I'm missing something with it. I just don't think the sound is perfect for me, I enjoy it and respect the influence but not my preffered hip-hop sound, much more of a Dr. Dre or Tribe guy for that era. Despite that, a small upgrade from (75) to (78) to show a little more appreciation.

Back to Japanese records - somehow the very next day I had discovered another album that I just fell in love with instantly and listened to many times that week -  Sheena Ringo's Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana. One of the strangest most chaotically stunning albums I've ever heard. Instantly captivating and mesmorizing. I've heard my fair share of strange Japanese songs but the insane combination of every genre under the sun - Alt rock, Noise rock, swing, jazz, pop, art-pop, folk all appear in this glorious record. It shouldn't work, but it does. And not only does it work but it's fucking brilliant. Rated (93)

A small detour back to America for a listen of Weezer's debut aka The Blue Album (76). Honestly I was just confused, I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be great and it just wasn't my thing or It's a huge meme I don't understand. Regardless I thought it sounded decent, good at the time, bit poor at times but nothing super notable. Wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination but wasn't a fan of their sound so won't be checking out their other stuff for a while.

Back to Japan and now for some good old City Pop, a classic as well. Taeko Ohnuki's Sunshower (79). Although I've only listened to a couple other city pop albums, this was I think slightly more consistent and enjoyable, although quite hard to distinctly identify different albums in this genre, it's enjoyable and that's all that matters at the end of the day. I probably couldn't tell much difference from a masterpiece and a dud in the genre but that's okay.

After my huge enjoyment of my first Sheena Ringo album, I went back and listened to her first record, and although I didn't expect another masterpiece like Kuri no Hana, It was enjoyable but still felt a little disappointing as It just didn't really interest me a massive amount but I probably would have enjoyed this alot if I had not bare witness to the previous one so I gave a respectable (77) to this one.

Ending off a very busy and enjoyable week of music was a record I first listened to midweek but really gave it the time of day at the end. My Blood Valentine's Loveless. Not quite understanding the hype upon first listen - understandably so - this one really grew on me. After the 2nd listen just to give it a fair chance, that's when it wormed it's way into my brain. I kinda liked it but I didn't know why. I typically don't enjoy a heavily distorted "wall of noise" but this was different. I listened to this album 4 times in a row that night. I had never done that before, even my absolute favourites usually stop at twice but this was addicting. Trying to figure out what made this so good, and on the 4th listen that day it clicked, and it just hit me, the emotion and feelings - I can't quite put it into words but I felt it inside, and wow that does not happen often, so despite it generally not having a very pleasing sound, I thoroughly enjoyed this album for feeling alone and really stands alone as a unique album. Rated (84)