Music Review: Symbols and Numbers
Too busy to make a playlist for my long workday (yesterday), I decided to listen to everything on the server I've never heard before, in alphabetical order by artist, whether I like it or not. Then I felt the need to share my experience.
Watch me disparage your favorite one-hit wonder and make insupportable claims about entire genres!
(hed)p.e. A hip hop iteration of the "If I scream everything, they won't notice that I can't sing" philosophy. Angry, vulgar, crass, and unimaginitive... maybe that's too harsh. Ahh... he shows great stamina and certitude in his use of the same two rhythms and the same three synthed instruments for the entire album, producing a dependably homogenous sound, regardless of which track a listener might choose to sample.
Every so often he overcomes his need to scream profanities and rises to the level of utterly forgettable.
F+
.38 Special "Close enough for rock and roll." Naughty as... dancing... or the phrase: "'Oh, bother,' said Pooh." A slice in the core sample of 80's pop.
As a side note, they belong to the set of bands that use "little girl" as a form of address, along with Mr. Big and, quite possibly, Soup Dragons.
C+
13 Hertz Throwaway music playing on the juke box in Scene 17, when the hero walks into the bar. Sounds like professional studio musicians imitating Spinal Tap covering an overheard collaborative session between Tool and Pearl Jam.
C
2 Days in the Valley (Soundtrack) Mild and soulful.
Passing
2Pac Finely produced rap & hop, more intelligent than (hed)p.e. Less crass and vulgar, mostly by dint of actually having something to say. Generally too street to be meaningful to me (except as sick humor). Witness such soulful ballads as:
[I swear I'll] Never Call U Bitch Again
or
[There U] There U Go [/ actin' like a ho.]
And then he's suddenly being relevant anyhow. Still, probably not something I'd listen to much.
B7th minor
3 Doors Down "White guys with guitars," AKA "band music." This music happens whether you're listening or not. Also, they had those three hits on the radio.
C+
311 Harmonious rock dreaming of reggae. Oh, they did that song on the radio... and... Oh, God! They did that Amber song that I can't stand. Oh, and... that other song.
Huhn.
3rd Bass Remarkably cogent and sometimes subtle. The Sesame Street track set the tone for this album, and I enjoyed most of their tunes, even when they weren't really saying anything.
A-
90 Day Men Someone with a piano and a love of late 70's synths heard Radiohead's Amnesiac, but didn't get it. Then they forgot all about it, lost themselves in a keyboard-induced fugue, and cut an album called Panda Park, which is surprisingly groovy.
B+
And I just made it to Aaron Neville, but I've heard his music before. I think there may be country today.
Watch me disparage your favorite one-hit wonder and make insupportable claims about entire genres!
(hed)p.e. A hip hop iteration of the "If I scream everything, they won't notice that I can't sing" philosophy. Angry, vulgar, crass, and unimaginitive... maybe that's too harsh. Ahh... he shows great stamina and certitude in his use of the same two rhythms and the same three synthed instruments for the entire album, producing a dependably homogenous sound, regardless of which track a listener might choose to sample.
Every so often he overcomes his need to scream profanities and rises to the level of utterly forgettable.
F+
.38 Special "Close enough for rock and roll." Naughty as... dancing... or the phrase: "'Oh, bother,' said Pooh." A slice in the core sample of 80's pop.
As a side note, they belong to the set of bands that use "little girl" as a form of address, along with Mr. Big and, quite possibly, Soup Dragons.
C+
13 Hertz Throwaway music playing on the juke box in Scene 17, when the hero walks into the bar. Sounds like professional studio musicians imitating Spinal Tap covering an overheard collaborative session between Tool and Pearl Jam.
C
2 Days in the Valley (Soundtrack) Mild and soulful.
Passing
2Pac Finely produced rap & hop, more intelligent than (hed)p.e. Less crass and vulgar, mostly by dint of actually having something to say. Generally too street to be meaningful to me (except as sick humor). Witness such soulful ballads as:
[I swear I'll] Never Call U Bitch Again
or
[There U] There U Go [/ actin' like a ho.]
And then he's suddenly being relevant anyhow. Still, probably not something I'd listen to much.
B7th minor
3 Doors Down "White guys with guitars," AKA "band music." This music happens whether you're listening or not. Also, they had those three hits on the radio.
C+
311 Harmonious rock dreaming of reggae. Oh, they did that song on the radio... and... Oh, God! They did that Amber song that I can't stand. Oh, and... that other song.
Huhn.
3rd Bass Remarkably cogent and sometimes subtle. The Sesame Street track set the tone for this album, and I enjoyed most of their tunes, even when they weren't really saying anything.
A-
90 Day Men Someone with a piano and a love of late 70's synths heard Radiohead's Amnesiac, but didn't get it. Then they forgot all about it, lost themselves in a keyboard-induced fugue, and cut an album called Panda Park, which is surprisingly groovy.
B+
And I just made it to Aaron Neville, but I've heard his music before. I think there may be country today.