Non-Prog Album Reviews

Charles M. Bogert - Sounds of North American Frogs (1958)

Genres: Animal Sounds, Nature Recordings, Lectures, Spoken Word

Rating: 3/5

The funny thing is this is my most listened to album of all time. I don’t even know how it happened. I have listened to this album more than Frances the Mute and Self-ish. An album with nothing but frog sounds.

On that note, this is a pretty interesting record to experience, especially for a first time. Usually I do music reviews, but this isn’t music, at least not in a traditional sense. This is a lecture that showcases the sounds of various frogs, with the late Charles M. Bogert, a herpetologist from Colorado, providing information upon the various frog calls and choruses that go throughout the state of Florida, from the barking tree frogs, to that of a southern toad.

While this isn’t music, in which I cannot really say what I really like about this album, or exactly what I dislike, I do admit I am quite surprised with how well made the production and mixing this record has. Obviously, even in 1958, we had been getting albums with pretty well rounded production, like Blue Train by John Coltrane, or Relaxin' With the Miles Davis Quintet. However, I didn’t expect an album filled with frog sounds, broken up by the occasional educational elements, to have a production value that is honestly superb. Whenever the frogs make their mating calls, I sometimes feel as if I am really there, in the swamps of the Floridian trees under the harsh, moisturized sun. It has honestly become the only album that I think one should listen to with just headphones, to really feel these natural songs that these amphibians are resonating deep within the bog.

Other than that, though, there really isn’t much else to say I like, or even dislike about this album. It is certainly a neat little record though, and I think for what it is worth it does make me a bit more interested in frogs and toads. Also the southern leopard frog screaming is oddly cute, so there is that too.

Best track: Scream of the Southern Leopard Frog (Rana Utricularia), Mixed Chorus

Worst track: N/A

Charly García - Yendo de la cama al living (1982)

Genres: Art Pop, Pop Rock, Progressive Pop, Synthpop, New Wave, Sophisti-Pop

Rating 4.5/5

Charly García is one of the most popular musicians to come from the woodwork in Argentina. Not only was he quite the huge figurehead of the Latin American progressive rock scene with his involvement in Sui Generis, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and Serú Girán, but also the pop scene, at the very least from his first three records. While Clics modernos and Piano Bar are his more popular works, I will be instead reviewing his debut solo record, Yendo de la cama al living.

This record came out a good year after the disbandment of Serú Girán, after the more pop oriented Peperina. A lot of sound traits from Serú Girán arrive on this album, like the bouncy progressive pop sound, and the more jazzy swing a lot of the music has. As a fan of Serú Girán, it was quite enjoyable hearing these sounds, especially when they’re put in a more new wave oriented context. Obviously Charly abandoned the trademark progressive rock sound he had been using in the 70s, but I can see why he did so since he probably wanted to try out some brand spanking new synths, and or probably wanted to go on to newer genres, which I can respect.

Though the more Serú Girán-ish sound design does kind of make it feel less original than what he would make afterwards. While the only other album I heard from Charly is Clics modernos, I find that record’s more original sounds give it a bit of an edge against Yendo de la cama al living. Other than that though, the record is extremely great!

Every song, in my opinion, all has this very satisfying drive and rhythm with the reverberated drums, and those amazing synths. I’d say the moment where such drives arrive at their peak is with my favorite track of No bombardeen Buenos Aires, a song that has a more jazzy swing to it, with Charly almost rapping his verses in a fun and stylish way! It is all so quirky and fun, and even though I do not know a lick of Spanish, I can certainly understand how much fun he must’ve had while recording the track.

His vocals too are a treat. They have been, and from small dashes of his stuff from today his voice seems to have aged quite well. He is like the Ian Anderson of Argentina, just without the nonsensical flute playing (though with Charley being a multi-instrumentalist I bet he can at least deliver a few wind solos if he wanted too).

Nothing more left to say other than that this is a great and fun record to check out. Charly takes the best bits of the early 80s new wave sound, and adds in his own twists and turns into it, creating a very stylish art pop vinyl. Definitely an album to check out, especially if you like Serú Girán.

Best track: No bombardeen Buenos Aires

Worst track: N/A

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God (2024)

Genres: Singer-Songwriter, Art Rock, Gospel, Baroque Pop

Rating: 4.5/5

This year’s pop music has been very stellar in probably most, if not all facets! Of course we’ve gotten Kyros’ Mannequin and Joanna Wang’s Hotel La Rut, but also some rather unique approaches to the genre like Mahōgakkō by Hakushi Hasegawa, 毛布’in by pppppfffffuuuuuiiiii, Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay, and probably one of the most vibrant pop releases so far, Wild God by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Despite their massive influence and popularity, my love for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is more of a recent kind of thing for me, all starting with this album. However, I have been loving this rather enigmatic art rock band, and just how good Nick Cave’s voice is. My favorite from this group so far probably has to be their debut of From Her to Eternity. It is so experimental yet such a fun listen, sounding kinda like if no wave era Sonic Youth made a David Bowie album. Their eclectic mix of records proves them to be a new favorite of mine, and I cannot wait to listen to more of this kinda music in the future! However, that is for a different time, because we need to talk about Wild God.

With an incredible voice that Nick Cave has, I am very surprised he hasn’t made a gospel record yet in his entire career, but I guess better late than never, right? In fact, that’s probably one of the best things about this album for me, the vocals. They feel incredibly emotional, tender, and vibrant that I cannot help but just feel the energy deep within my soul as Nick Cave pours his heart out. Joy, probably the best track of this album, shows this off in spades, focusing on his beautiful vocals and range in an impressive display of piano lead beauty. It feels like I entered into a church from an alternate universe whenever this song plays, and I absolutely love the feeling.

Another thing I really enjoy is how the subject matter of the album does feel religious, but not in an overtly pretentious way. The album definitely has themes of God and love, but they are presented in the usual Nick Cave style of vibrancy and coolness, and not like in the usual shorthanded exhibition that a lot of Christian rock and pop stuff delivers. As a Christian myself, I often get tired of a lot of media distributed for my religion since they’re either the same old bible studies that everyone already knows of, or radicalized propaganda hidden under a Jesus shaped blanket. Wild God is a breath of fresh air for me for that reason, as it does its own complete thing.

Though this record isn’t quite the masterpiece as I hoped it could be. It is still absolutely amazing, but some tracks on here certainly are stronger than others. Tracks like Frogs, Final Rescue Attempt, and As the Waters Cover the Sea are fine, good tracks that I do quite like a decent amount, but they never quite wowed me to the same extent as stuff like Joy or Cinnamon Horses. They made me abandon my masterpiece status that I originally thought this album had during my first listen, and a part of me feels like they should’ve been reworked a tiny bit to fit a bit closer with the consistently great tracks all around them. As the Waters Cover the Sea especially feels like the weakest of the bunch. It's pretty, but I think the big and loud chorus overdone it quite a lot, and the song feels just a bit too short for my liking.

Despite that one, admittedly more minor complaint, Wild God proves to be a stand out album of this year! It is a beautiful art rock and baroque pop endeavor from quite a long standing band, and it is clear that Nick Cave’s range and creativity hasn’t aged a day. Certainly a must listen from me, and a great highlight for this year’s stream of consistently good pop music.

Best tracks: Wild God, Joy, Cinammon Horses

Worst tracks: Frogs, Final Rescue Attempt, As The Waters Cover The Sea

The Microphones - Mount Eerie (2003)

Genres: Avant-Folk, Psychedelic Folk, Drone, Tribal Ambient, Field Recordings, Musique concrète, Experimental

Rating: 4/5

One man bands have become a lot more realized with the advent of new technology and recording techniques within the late 20th century, to the point of finding a “band” that has only one member has become a lot more common nowadays. One of the more popular of these single artist bands comes in the form of The Microphones, helmed by Phil Elverum. While Microphones has had past members, they were mostly for backup vocals, whereas Phil practically does all the work. The project would stop in 2003, being sort of replaced by Mount Eerie as Phil’s main project, though he would go back to the Microphones name in 2020 with the apply titled ‘Microphones in 2020’.
I do quite like this project honestly. It may not be my favorite of the whole indie folk scene, as Sufjan Stevens takes more of the cake in that regard, but Microphones do have quite a lot going for Phil and his musical output that I enjoy, with most of my enjoyment stemming from his, before 2020, last record under the Microphones name, that being Mount Eerie.

So, for starters, this is an album I’d classify as a “dark side” which means it is an album that is practically one big track, but split into multiple songs, just like Dark Side of the Moon. Now don’t be mistaken as this isn’t a prog rock or prog folk record. In fact, it is a stark departure from the other works Phil has made before this. Comparing this to his other big record of The Glow Pt. 2 is like night and day. It is a very unique record in all facets, still primarily folk, but it does have more roots in genres like drone, musique concrète, ambient, and krautrock to name a few. This uniqueness does make it stand out from the other stuff Microphones has put out, and possibly from other records in the indie folk scene. I really like this, if you haven’t guessed. It feels like a proper last hooray for The Microphones project. It is a reconstruction into a completely new project, while still containing the familiar beats and movements that made The Microphones into a well renowned musical escapade.

I feel like the musical elements here work quite wondrous within the more lo-fi soundscape that Mount Eerie offers. While Microphones have always been shown to have a lot more lo-fi textures and elements, especially with his debut of Don't Wake Me Up, Mount Eerie showcases a realization of his musical odyssey, using the noisy lo-fi textures into account when making the music. The starting track, the 17 minute The Sun is a good example of this fact, blending pops and crackles of the audio recordings, as well as ambience with flavors of Faust-like krautrock, and a very cryptic ending monologue at the tail end showcases a level of understanding within the more disorienting world of avant-garde techniques. Another example of this is the title track of the record, which has moments where Phil’s vocals seem to dissolve into the underlying static.

However, I feel like Phil doesn’t quite put these soundscapes to their full power. Aside from the examples I have told, the album feels barren, but not too empty to encapsulate the melancholic energy, which I think is a very missed opportunity. While I may not really like albums that feel too depressing, like Kid A or Closer, I think Mount Eerie would actually benefit greatly from the desolation those records provide. It feels too warm in a lot of ways, especially with Solar System and the first Universe. They’re not bad songs, but they feel like a stretch where the album doesn’t quite know whether it should be cold and lifeless, or be filled with a strange sense of energy. Perhaps it's the inherent uniqueness of the album that is its double edged sword, stabbing itself occasionally when it has nothing else to fight for.

As well as this, I find the finale of the album to be quite lacking, as the second Universe track just doesn’t excite me all too much. Perhaps it is because of me being spoiled with other “dark side” records having quite amazing endings, but I find the second Universe track to be a lacking ordeal that doesn’t quite end the album on a strong note. While listening to the record I was sure I would get a very strong closing track that’d blow my socks off, much like how Eclipse or Louise Louisa did for me, but all I got was a good, but not stellar closing.

While I wouldn’t call this record a masterpiece in any way, I think it is up there with my favorites of The Microphones’ discography. There is quite a lot to love about it, and even the songs I had complaints towards are still quite good. I definitely suggest checking this one out if you can, especially if you enjoy a good mix of avant-garde folk with droning krautrock stylings.

Best tracks: The Sun, Mount Eerie

Worst track: Universe (2)     

Joanna Wang - Hotel La Rut (2024)

Genres: Progressive Pop, Geek Rock, Art Pop, Cabaret, Zolo, Twee Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Power Pop, Progressive Rock

Score: 4.5/5

Going through new releases that 2024 has given way too, one could not prepare themselves for being thrown into the equivalent of a collage art piece in musical form, however my curious brain saw this very flashy, very funky album cover and knew I just had to check it out. Honestly, glad I did, because this is certainly one of the more fun records this year has to offer.

Joanna Wang is a Taiwanese pop artist, starting her career in 2008 with the conveniently titled Start From Here. Ever since, she has slowly progressed her artistic sensibilities into an interesting direction, at least that is how it seems. The only other album I have heard from her is House of Bullies, which is also pretty fun, so this is mostly just based on what RYM says. That being said, she must’ve really gone to some surreal art exhibition that she really liked when creating this album as it is seriously some wild stuff!

Let’s play a drinking game. Take a shot every time a completely new genre pops up. Actually, on second thought, scratch that, you’d probably get alcohol poisoning by track 14. I kid, but really this album has so many shifts in genres that I feel like I just entered into a completely new album each time. This is not a diss on the record mind you, because what is on here is seriously some impressive stuff most of the time. You obviously get more pop rooted songs here, especially with the shorter lengths, but you also get They Might Be Giants-esque geek rock, cabaret, a singer-songwriter styled method to it all, some fun bits of various progressive rock and pop styles, vocal jazz, goofy zolo and power pop mixes, and so much more that listing it all would make this paragraph longer than any of my other reviews.

You’d be surprised, probably just as much as me when I first heard this album, on how spectacular everything fits together. With the shorter song lengths you get a good dose on everything Joanna wanted to put into this cartoon of a record. I absolutely love what she deploys here, evidently, and I think every song shown here can be my all time favorite if I am gonna be totally honest. Maybe a few are a tad weaker than some, but I think with how eclectic this whole thing is you cannot go wrong with anything this album throws your way.

Right now, as of writing this review, my favorite tracks are He's Given Us the Freedom to Do What's Right, Tina's Hausu, and Strange Beast.

He's Given Us the Freedom to Do What's Right feels like a classic progressive rock track, though with an almost Oingo Boingo charm to it all. I love the keyboard work here, especially since it almost feels akin to something out of the Italian prog scene. The lyrics feel almost like a mishmash of elements from Yes and ELP. Very weird and trippy, but with a sensibility that makes it weirdly understandable. I love it.

Tina's Hausu is straight up a scene from a cartoon. Like, the intro to the song gives me Ed, Edd, ‘N Eddy vibes. Also, I really do like more Halloween themed music, so this kind of song was immediately up my alley. It honestly sounds as if Cardiacs made a Halloween-themed song and it was covered by The Cardigans. If that doesn’t make you intrigued, I have no idea what to tell you.

Lastly is Strange Beast, the longest song this record has to offer, being four minutes in length. I guess this does lead me to some critiques on this album, as I do wish the songs here were a bit longer. I am not really asking for massive, 10 minute suites on each track, as even I think that is very excessive, but maybe bump a good most of them up by another minute. Maybe that extra minute can make them even better? What we have now is still really amazing, but they feel a lot more like snack sized candies at the gas station than the king sized candy bars that I crave more of. That said, Strange Beast is very cool! It is another more progressive rock track off this record, but they really go full throttle on it. The quiet, almost folksy opening that weaves through an emotional spectrum of a hushed sadness that slowly goes into an atmospheric keyboard solo, one that could even challenge the greats like Richard Wright. It goes back to the more softer elements introduced, but instead of leading to another keyboard solo, Joanna checks a mark on a prog to-do-list and gives an absolutely killer guitar solo. When I first heard this song, my mind was blown away. I was so used to the quick moving tracks from before that this more slow ladenned song honestly shook me to the core. This song alone honestly made me debate whether or not to call this record a masterpiece. I decided not too, but truth be told it was a close one.

Honestly speaking, this record is incredible in most facets. This, and Kyros’ Mannequin feels like how more pop music should be, though with their own takes on such an idea. Mannequin explored more of the longer, more experimental side of the pop coin, while Hotel La Rut is the opposite, exploring the faster, more hooky side. Both do an amazing job though, and I think both do hold a special place in my heart in their amazing and fun music. Hotel La Rut is an album I couldn’t recommend more of! If you like groups like Cardiacs, They Might Be Giants, Oingo Boingo, and Alvvays, you are sure to enjoy this one a lot. Heck I’d say give this one a shot no matter what you like, since it is an experience and a half.

Best tracks: He's Given Us the Freedom to Do What's Right, Tina's Hausu, Strange Beast

Worst track: The Wish I

Abriction - Banshee (2024)

Genres: Blackgaze, Electronicore, Post-Rock, Witch House, Shoegaze

Score: 4.5/5

With the advent of the internet, people have been able to find both new and old music much more easily. That is something I probably said a few times before, and really, it is a mere fact in the grand scheme of things. We constantly and consistently find new albums and artists to sink our teeth into, whether it be a new top album we saw on a chart, or by happenstance from a friend online. We see things, we hear things, and we find things 100 times quicker than 50 years ago. This can obviously lead to some interesting finds, which is kinda how I found my way to reviewing Abriction’s Banshee.

I haven’t actually quite heard much from the blackgaze genre, or even reviewed anything relating to it. The closest I have gotten was Sorni Nai by Kauan, but even then that is kinda reaching on my part. In fact I have not heard much from the blackgaze genre, aside from one or two Alcest and Trhä records. I really should listen to more of the genre, cause as evident with Banshee, Abriction shows a fun, very intense recording that does make me highly interested for more.

This record is a trip. Even just going through the first track feels like a whole ‘nother experience entirely. You get all the best flavors of shoegaze, black metal, post-rock, and even some slight twiddling of house music here. You get the loud screams that I think works wonderfully for the entire record, the appropriately lo-fi mixing of shoegaze, the long drones and timbres of post-rock/metal, and the electronic elements of house, all mashed together within a single song, with the ones afterwards taking bits of this ideal and working something new. It all works together very well in my book, with each of these genre defining elements capturing an interesting picture of what Meredith Salvatori has been doing ever since she made her first record under the Abriction name.

What I also really enjoy about this album is that it has this certain vibe that I really resonate with. It feels very cold and desolate, but also weirdly robotic (not in a bad way mind you). The music sounds like a robot or a rogue AI, in a cold winter landscape, trying to escape from a bunch of humans who desire to use it for spare parts for some war machine. It has tension, drama, and a thrill that makes me want to dive into it more. If this is what blackgaze is like then I am more than willing to go through a lot more of it.

If there is an issue I have with this album, it may be the amount of tracks here. I kinda steer wary of records that have more than 10 tracks, mostly since it makes albums feel a little bloated with no real purpose. This is sadly one of those albums, where I feel like 13 tracks in an hour is a bit much. It makes everything feel longer than it may need to be. Even their last record of Interstates from last year kinda had it better in this regard, being only 9 tracks long, and from my last listening experience it did make that album feel a lot smoother despite it being a bit longer than this one. I don't really know how one could fix this, after all I think every song here is pretty great, but maybe make the last three or four tracks into some kind of melody of sorts. That way the album doesn’t feel too bloated, and it could allow for some interesting progressions from one part to another.

This is an album that intrigues me upon a genre I never explored much of, and it does things quite amazingly. Sure it may have a fault or two, but I think it is a really enjoyable experience in the long run, and may be one of the better metal releases from this year. Certainly recommend to those who enjoy this sort of music, or even regulars of black metal and shoegaze scenes. May not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it is worth a shot.

Best tracks: Pale Morning Horizon, No One Cares, Redshift

Worst tracks: N/A

But Here We Are - Foo Fighters (2023)

Genres: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Post-Grunge, Shoegaze

It’s not easy to lose anyone, especially a friend you had in such a tight knit group. It is certainly a gross feeling whenever a loved one passes, and it’s an even worse feeling having to endure through the grief. However, when grief comes, so can strength, and with strength coming through for Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters after the loss of their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, they managed to create one of their best, and most thrilling releases since Echoes Silence Patience & Grace.

This record is one built around the grief of Taylor’s death, which comes into play through the honestly pretty great lyricism, and rawness this album brings. Each song feels like a funeral speech for a singular body, giving this album a very ghost-like feel to me, almost in the same vein to I Should Have Known off of Wasting Light. This feeling persists until the two finale tracks, The Teacher and Rest, which is where the band goes full throttle into their moods, creating some brilliant pieces of music.

I was kinda surprised The Teacher is this good of a song. They aren’t a band I’d expect to make a long song such as this, but the direction they chose for it fits extremely well. It’s moody, it has elements that feel like a love letter to the classic hard rock scene of Rush and Deep Purple, and the more modern alt scenes of groups like Coheed & Cambria and My Chemical Romance. It does feel like a cross between 21:13, Speed King, and Welcome to the Black Parade. It is a sound that I don’t think Foo Fighters could ever replicate again, especially due to the emotional weight the song has, but I sort of wanna see this type of song executed more since it’s very fun.

Really there is no bad track on here, since all of them are just quality written all over them in terms of instrumentation and writing...but not production wise. When I say this album is raw, it’s definitely raw–for modern standards at least. This certainly doesn’t come close to their debut, but here’s the thing. With their debut, the almost punk nature of it all offers a unique blending of their grunge roots with the popular, more shoegaze oriented alternative rock that was big in the early to mid 90s, so the sharpness was warranted. And do not get me wrong, the messy production does give this album some charm, but also I kinda wished most of the songs didn’t sound so lofi and rough. It is kinda distracting for me, and ends up making all the songs, while still absolutely stellar, not reach the same masterpiece levels as I wish they could be.

However there is one song that actually benefits from this very messy production, and that is Rest. Like The Teacher, I did not expect this kind of low ladenned, post rock-esque track on a Foo Fighters album, but it simply delivers. It is quiet and a bit slow in the first half, but it absolutely goes hard in the second half, with an almost Mogwai wall of noise, though still with that Foo Fighters charm and attitude to not make it sound too foreign. It absolutely benefits the production in all facets, and it makes for one of the best tracks in pretty much all of Foo Fighters history.

I really like this record. While I didn’t think of it as a late career masterpiece, I can certainly see why many say it is. It has nothing but banger after banger, with some very stellar song writing to boot, and an aura unmatched by any of their releases before. 101% check this record out, even if you aren’t particularly a fan of Foo Fighters I bet you’ll have a fun time with this one. If this is the band moving forward, consider me curious for what may come.

Best tracks: The Teacher, Rest

Worst tracks: N/A    

Rating: 4.5/5

Edited by Dapper~Blueberries - June 16 2024 at 09:15

DamoXt7942 wrote: ... Anthem Of The Sun (1968) - The GRATEFUL DEAD ...

^ Nice read, thanks! I'm also one who is difficult to convince by solo (or one-instrument) works, but sometimes it works out quite well (e.g. Pärt...). Of the minimalists I've always preferred Reich over Glass - he seems to me a bit more adventurous/intriguing in his music. Glass is generally a good listen, though.

I sugesting the Brazilian singers, Beto Guedes, Lô Borges and Milton Nascimento... And The Slip Band from Massachusetts, EUA. I think too in a 14 Bis keyboardist, flávio Venturini, but he makes a pop álbuns after 1993, without Prog references. Only a one-off songs in your albums.