More general fodder for the thread; caught this pleasant number on the radio today whilst at work, which sounds to me like Bon Iver by way of The Police:
Westerman - ConfirmationJoy Evangelion wrote:What'd'ya think of
Rainbow Mirror?
As a massive Prurient fan, I'm still posing the same question to myself. I've only managed to get through the whole three-hour plus ordeal once, and that was in two separate sittings, effectively splitting the album in half. Some bits and pieces jumped out at me, and it's doubtless a great ambient album, incredibly polished (what with having the guy from Lussuria on staff as well), but it just lacks definition. I think for Prurient, Fernow's vocals, lyrics and spoken word are such a large part of the character and charm, and their absence just leaves a massive void.
To be honest, Dom put out a better couple of ambient albums the same year, last year, in the form of his Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement moniker;
Green Graves and
Ambient Black Magic, which I've enjoyed immensely.
'Watery Grave' specifically strikes me a cozy, equatorial Silent Hill-like fever dream. As ambient music I think they actually achieve their endgame, whereas I'm still struggling to find that, or haven't quite found more time, for
Rainbow Mirror.
I will definitely give it another shot though, as response to it has been mostly positive and it may just need to click with me. Weekly, however, I just end up listening to other Prurient which means more to me, sonically and emotionally; stuff like
Rose Pillar,
Unknown Rains,
Frozen Niagara Falls,
Cocaine Death and
Still, Wanting. If I can speak to one element of the album; the cover, imagery, motifs, story and track titles lend it some serious allure and beauty, which is another reason why I want to keep trying with it.
Joy Evangelion wrote:Touche Amore's
Stage Four
Oh wow, didn't know you listened to TA. Sadly, this one didn't do it for me, and I think it may have even put a bit of a damper on my appreciation on the band as a whole. I loved
Is Survived By heaps, the songwriting was rather phenomenal, really dynamic. On
Stage Four, the instrumentals, band and songwriting took backstage to Jeremy's soapbox vocals. I get that his mum passed away, and that it was a traumatic blow for the guy, but listening to him screech and moan about it for the entire album really tried my patience. It left me with a bad taste. I haven't gone back to it even for a second go-around. Really disappointing. I still think their first three records are dope, though.
Not really much to report in from my end from last year. I liked the new Glassjaw album, which is kind of dense and lacks a lot of overt melody and hooks, but it grows on you as you scratch away at it (
'My Conscience Weighs A Ton' is my favourite track, easily). The new Converge, still probably my favourite aggressive/abrasive band after all these years, hasn't clicked for me yet, although there are a couple tracks that are killer (namely the opener,
'A Single Tear'). Been listening to a lot of Deafheaven and other post-black bands like Bosse-de-Nage and Sannhet. Heaps and heaps of techno, electronic and ambient shit.
Oh, I've fallen in love with Future Islands too