This repo is no longer maintained as our reviews are now published at audioxide.com including those in this repo.
I review an album each week with some friends, this seemed like a good place to store things. See the summary below, or the individual files in the reviews directory.
Musical Review by Andrew Bridge, Andre Dack, Fred O'Brien is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
A short explanation of the beginnings and workings of this review group can be found in the review process information.
New Release 2015/03/29, 2015/04/12, 2015/04/26, 2015/05/17, 2015/06/01, 2015/06/14, 2015-06-28, 2015-08-02, 2015-08-23
Theme:90s Fred, Andrew, Andre
Theme:Concept Album Fred, Andrew, Andre
Theme:80s Fred, Andrew, Andre
Theme:Teen Favourite Fred, Andrew, Andre
Theme:70s Fred, Andrew, Andre
Some standout tracks, but for some of us, there were forgettable tracks sprinkled throughout.
19/30 (Me: 6/10)
Favourite Tracks: Cecilia Ann, Is She Weird, Havalina
Too repetitive for some of us, but becomes interesting towards the end.
21/30 (Me: 8/10)
Favourite Tracks: The Private Psychedelic Reel, Lost in the K-Hole, Where Do I Begin?
All in agreement that it was a great album, the middle sagged a little for some of us, but in general each track gave us a lot to talk about.
26/30 (Me: 9/10)
Favourite Tracks: Broken Heart, Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space, I Think I'm in Love
Not as much love as some albums have received, but a lot of respect from all. The instrumentation, harmonies and satire laced lyrics were all points of note, though the latter 3rd tailed off for us all.
23/30 (Me: 8/10)
Favourite Tracks: Australia, Yes Sir No Sir, Shangri-La
An iconic album in so many ways, through the concepts that run through each track, to the instrumentation and interesting melodies, there was a general tone of sheer enjoyment felt by all of us. Even if we felt the second side was stronger than the first.
27/30 (Me: 9/10)
Favourite Tracks: Money, Us and Them, Time
After the longest discusson yet, The Downward Spiral comes as close to a perfect concept album as possible. Connecting with us all and prompting a large discussion as well as a lot of reading surrounding the album and the themes that feature.
28/30 (Me: 9/10)
Favourite Tracks: Closer, Ruiner, A Warm Place
While purposeful, the chaotic effect produced by the track order worked better for some of us than others. But we all agreed Tom Waits has a distinctive voice which carries a natural, earthy and interesting album throughout.
21/30 (Me: 6/10)
Favourite Tracks: Clap Hands, 9Th & Hennepin, Tango Till They're Sore
For "To Pimp A Butterfly" to be released at this time makes it especially poignant. The themes Kendrick Lamar touches on throughout the album are hard-hitting at times, and wrapped in a well told, evocative story. To add to this, we all agreed that the album was instrumentally great, and generally enjoyable to listen to to top it off. An incredibly important album of 2015.
27/30 (Me: 9/10)
Favourite Tracks: Mortal Man, How Much A Dollar Cost, King Kunta
Without the sentimental feelings of hearing the album at the time, we were universally disappointed by 'Power, Corruption And Lies'. With robotically tight drum patterns to the point of soulessness, vocals that we didn't connect with at all, and track lengths that seemed overly long, we were all left cold by almost everything on the album.
14/30 (Me: 4/10)
Favourite Tracks: Age of Consent, Your Silent Face, Leave Me Alone
An overwhelming, crazy wall of sound, let down by its length, where the two sides could've been separate. Despite that, we thoroughly enjoyed The Powers That B, revelling in its madness, experimentation and humour, even if it did prove to be exhaustive by the end.
21/30 (Me: 7/10)
Favourite Tracks: On GP, Why A Bitch Gotta Lie, Pss Pss
Making for an interesting discussion of differing preferences, The Joshua Tree provided an enjoyable listen. With notable production from Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, innovative instrumentation and a poeticism throughout, we all found a lot to say, even if it didn't connect with everyone.
22/30 (Me: 6/10)
Favourite Tracks: With Or Without You, Bullet The Blue Sky, Exit
Damogen Furies made for a hard listen, but with all above average scores, we appreciated the sheer complexity of the album. More manic than some of Squarepusher's previous work, this latest album provided moments of euphoria and headaches simultaneously. A well-focused entry to his catalogue.
21/30 (Me: 7/10)
Favourite Tracks: Exjag Nives, Baltang Arg, Stor Eiglass
A decade on from its release, Demon Days gave us a lot to talk about and made for an enjoyable listen for all. While eclectic, nothing about the album seems incoherent, and the fact that we didn't find an "essential" track from the album only stands as testament to the strength of each track individually.
26/30 (Me: 9/10)
Favourite Tracks: Kids with Guns, Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head, Feel Good Inc
A new album from Blur had us all excited, but unfortunately the five day jam in Hong Kong that birthed most of the album didn't seem like long enough to create anything more than a pleasant listen. Between the pacing and the lifelessness of some tracks, The Magic Whip didn't inspire much more than frustration and disappointment.
18/30
Favourite Tracks: Mirrorball, Lonesome Street, My Terracotta Heart
Any output from The Beatles has had such a huge amount of coverage that there's little left to say. However, Revolver is still a great listen that packs so much into a well rounded, cohesive and varied album and left us all with a reminder of some hidden gems throughout the album.
26/30
Favourite Tracks: Eleanor Rigby, Tomorrow Never Knows, I'm Only Sleeping
An unexpected listen from an unknown artist for some of us, Jackrabbit provided a good discussion. However, between the interesting mix of instrumentation and genre, there were a few tracks that weren't as strong which ultimately let the album down to an extent.
22/30
Favourite Tracks: Emily, The Cave, Jackrabbit
An album that has a special place in all of our hearts but even objectively, we came to the conclusion that Origin of Symmetry is still worth a listen more than a decade after its release. Its variety and rawness create a memorable album, with its only faults being the slight loss of direction and occassional roughness in execution.
26/30
Favourite Tracks: Citizen Erased, Bliss, New Born
An album that aligned our opinions and caused both disappointment and elation. In the end our favourite tracks all being the same speaks far louder than a summary could. Had there been more that were similar to our favourites, Drones could've done well. Had there been more Drone Kings, we probably wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. As it is, Drones is mediocre for the most part.
17/30
Favourite Tracks: Defector, The Handler, Reapers
A week where few words were needed. On The Beach provided for a lot of enjoyment and yet none of us could quite articulate why we had enjoyed it so much. A great listen which really speaks louder in its lyrical and instrumental content than any of us were able to truly put in to words.
27/30
Favourite Tracks: On The Beach, Walk On, Ambulance Blues
Jaga Jazzist surprised us this week with their latest release. A melting pot of electronic, pop and jazz music provided for an energetic, ever-changing listen. However, with the memorable moments scattered across the live jam-like tracks, Starfire ultimately didn't move us to anything more than mild approval and a curiosity to explore their previous albums.
19/30
Favourite tracks: Shinkansen, Starfire, Big City Music
With a lot to live up to, Exodus fell just short of the classic album we were expecting, some tracks initially floating by without recognition, the album only really caught out interest in the latter half. Though we certainly all enjoyed it, and appreciate just how big an impact the album has made worldwide, over time, Exodus simply didn't make us feel a great deal.
20/30
Favourite Tracks: Jamming, One Love/People Get Ready, Exodus
We were all left intrigued at the potential of Wolf Alice after listening to their debut album. With so many genres being covered in the tracklist of My Love Is Cool, we've all enjoyed different parts of the album, and are hopeful for what comes next for Wolf Alice.
21/30
Favourite Tracks: Giant Peach, Freazy, Fluffy
Low lured us in with its first side of short and sweet glam-rock and made us stay with the second side of curious soundscapes. With us all noting its attention to detail and clarity, Low provides for a great listen and reaffirms why Bowie is still so relevant and influential today
27/30
Favourite Tracks: Sound and Vision, Speed of Life, Warszawa
Blood definitely has some interesting moments, but each of us agreed that the extra instrumentation sometimes felt a little needless and lifeless in contrast the La Havas' vocals. Nevertheless, it hasn't dampened our interest in the artist and the slightly stripped back sound from the previous album.
19/30
Favourite Tracks: Midnight, Wonderful, What You Don't Do