The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

Mr Grumpy said:
Streamed from YTM via headphones(HD650)/amp/dac.

"Is this it?"

Such an apt title for the album.

I vaguely remember "Last night" from a few decades ago. This song and the band disappeared from my lugholes not long after they appeared. On startup of the album and the lead track, i was instantly transported back, Which was my 1st disappointment. I didn't expect Song 1 to be a facsimile of song 7 and not so obviously as I'd last heard "Last night" yonks ago.

As i got through track 1, i had to pause and check my equipment. Was a cable loose? Were my headphones broken? No, the track is recorded in low resolution on purpose. Ah well, lets see what happens on track two...

Track 2, more of the same. In fact the whole album is recorded in the same manner.
I say "recorded", and i know it was likely on purpose to give it a grunge edge, but fuck me, this is the worst sounding recording I've ever heard. Demo tapes would put it to shame. It is a mastering that is only fit for a greasy cafe transistor radio.
On completion of song 1, it is obvious why this has been recorded in this way. The band is crap and the singer can't sing. It is a 2K version of autotune.

I put that to one side, and tried to move on however the shit recording just ruined everything about this album. Really, it is an album to hear, not to listen to. The side effect of this sonic massacring is that everything sounds the same and the words get lost in a fuzz of microphone overdrive and deadspace. The second track "modern age" tried to mix it up by doing the beetles mono-mike thing but just ruined that with as much professionalism as it was doing to the recording.

Driving forward, straining for something to pull its foot out of this audio mudbath, "Barely legal" pops up. The 1st song that actually got my attention but as quick as it rose out of the quagmire, it was pulled back in again. Shame, i think this one had potential.

"Last night" drove past, belching its audio smoke and smog in exactly the same way the other previous songs had. It all began to meld into a soup of sameness.

"hard to explain" woke me up, finally a bass drum you could pick out from the rock n roll droning. But then that two was sucked into the grey fuzz of mastering tragedy.

Not much else to report on the way to the end of the album. rinse repeat.

Personally, this album should have been left in its grave to rest in peace.
What little promise it had (Some rhythms, verses, etc) were just drowned out by the mastering, which in itself was a consequence of the band just not being very good.

It is a recording fit only for the Saturday market £4.99p single speaker transistor radio that your grandad would have used for listening to the city commentary in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It would be lost an onything of more merit. It is genuinely, the worst sounding recording I've ever listened to.

I can just hear the album's record exec putting this on in his car stereo cassette player, on the way home, to listen to the final cut before its release.

"Is this it?"

2/10.

1 point for being short
1 point for being so bad i had to listen to it all.
Click to expand...

Off with a bang, and Bimbo (when he returns) might have himself a rival.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Streamed from YTM via headphones(HD650)/amp/dac.

"Is this it?"

Such an apt title for the album.

I vaguely remember "Last night" from a few decades ago. This song and the band disappeared from my lugholes not long after they appeared. On startup of the album and the lead track, i was instantly transported back, Which was my 1st disappointment. I didn't expect Song 1 to be a facsimile of song 7 and not so obviously as I'd last heard "Last night" yonks ago.

As i got through track 1, i had to pause and check my equipment. Was a cable loose? Were my headphones broken? No, the track is recorded in low resolution on purpose. Ah well, lets see what happens on track two...

Track 2, more of the same. In fact the whole album is recorded in the same manner.
I say "recorded", and i know it was likely on purpose to give it a grunge edge, but fuck me, this is the worst sounding recording I've ever heard. Demo tapes would put it to shame. It is a mastering that is only fit for a greasy cafe transistor radio.
On completion of song 1, it is obvious why this has been recorded in this way. The band is crap and the singer can't sing. It is a 2K version of autotune.

I put that to one side, and tried to move on however the shit recording just ruined everything about this album. Really, it is an album to hear, not to listen to. The side effect of this sonic massacring is that everything sounds the same and the words get lost in a fuzz of microphone overdrive and deadspace. The second track "modern age" tried to mix it up by doing the beetles mono-mike thing but just ruined that with as much professionalism as it was doing to the recording.

Driving forward, straining for something to pull its foot out of this audio mudbath, "Barely legal" pops up. The 1st song that actually got my attention but as quick as it rose out of the quagmire, it was pulled back in again. Shame, i think this one had potential.

"Last night" drove past, belching its audio smoke and smog in exactly the same way the other previous songs had. It all began to meld into a soup of sameness.

"hard to explain" woke me up, finally a bass drum you could pick out from the rock n roll droning. But then that two was sucked into the grey fuzz of mastering tragedy.

Not much else to report on the way to the end of the album. rinse repeat.

Personally, this album should have been left in its grave to rest in peace.
What little promise it had (Some rhythms, verses, etc) were just drowned out by the mastering, which in itself was a consequence of the band just not being very good.

It is a recording fit only for the Saturday market £4.99p single speaker transistor radio that your grandad would have used for listening to the city commentary in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It would be lost an onything of more merit. It is genuinely, the worst sounding recording I've ever listened to.

I can just hear the album's record exec putting this on in his car stereo cassette player, on the way home, to listen to the final cut before its release.

"Is this it?"

2/10.

1 point for being short
1 point for being so bad i had to listen to it all.
Click to expand...
Wow, now that's an entrance!

Regardless of whether I or others agree with your view, you've articulated it well and explain what you don't like about it. And you've managed to inject a bit of humour as well. It's a review that Foggy would be proud of ..... if he wasn't on the receiving end :)

Coatigan said:
Off with a bang, and Bimbo (when he returns) might have himself a rival.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I was beginning to think that everybody else had missed this review and it certainly deserved comment.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Streamed from YTM via headphones(HD650)/amp/dac.

"Is this it?"

Such an apt title for the album.

I vaguely remember "Last night" from a few decades ago. This song and the band disappeared from my lugholes not long after they appeared. On startup of the album and the lead track, i was instantly transported back, Which was my 1st disappointment. I didn't expect Song 1 to be a facsimile of song 7 and not so obviously as I'd last heard "Last night" yonks ago.

As i got through track 1, i had to pause and check my equipment. Was a cable loose? Were my headphones broken? No, the track is recorded in low resolution on purpose. Ah well, lets see what happens on track two...

Track 2, more of the same. In fact the whole album is recorded in the same manner.
I say "recorded", and i know it was likely on purpose to give it a grunge edge, but fuck me, this is the worst sounding recording I've ever heard. Demo tapes would put it to shame. It is a mastering that is only fit for a greasy cafe transistor radio.
On completion of song 1, it is obvious why this has been recorded in this way. The band is crap and the singer can't sing. It is a 2K version of autotune.

I put that to one side, and tried to move on however the shit recording just ruined everything about this album. Really, it is an album to hear, not to listen to. The side effect of this sonic massacring is that everything sounds the same and the words get lost in a fuzz of microphone overdrive and deadspace. The second track "modern age" tried to mix it up by doing the beetles mono-mike thing but just ruined that with as much professionalism as it was doing to the recording.

Driving forward, straining for something to pull its foot out of this audio mudbath, "Barely legal" pops up. The 1st song that actually got my attention but as quick as it rose out of the quagmire, it was pulled back in again. Shame, i think this one had potential.

"Last night" drove past, belching its audio smoke and smog in exactly the same way the other previous songs had. It all began to meld into a soup of sameness.

"hard to explain" woke me up, finally a bass drum you could pick out from the rock n roll droning. But then that two was sucked into the grey fuzz of mastering tragedy.

Not much else to report on the way to the end of the album. rinse repeat.

Personally, this album should have been left in its grave to rest in peace.
What little promise it had (Some rhythms, verses, etc) were just drowned out by the mastering, which in itself was a consequence of the band just not being very good.

It is a recording fit only for the Saturday market £4.99p single speaker transistor radio that your grandad would have used for listening to the city commentary in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It would be lost an onything of more merit. It is genuinely, the worst sounding recording I've ever listened to.

I can just hear the album's record exec putting this on in his car stereo cassette player, on the way home, to listen to the final cut before its release.

"Is this it?"

2/10.

1 point for being short
1 point for being so bad i had to listen to it all.
Click to expand...
Ha you've described some of the things I like about it :) It's intentionally not hifi. The vocals were recorded through a small cheap amp (Arcade Fire did a similar thing I believe). I'm sure the the record exec would have been delighted by the sales figures :)

You've made me want to listen again with a more critical ear particularly to the drums
 
Coatigan said:
Off with a bang, and Bimbo (when he returns) might have himself a rival.
Click to expand...
Maybe i'm being a little harsh but under the spotlight of a highly revealing pair of headphones, the album just sinks because of the recording which is (honestly) a shame.
I'd have forgiven it a little if i was not in the habit of listening to this style of music with headphones (which can bring out the worst in a recording) but I've been walking around this planet with headphones plugged in pretty much since i got my first Walkman when i was a spotty adolescent. Most albums stand up to it. (Why wouldn't they). Rumours, recorded in the 70's is a joy on headphones. It isn't difficult.

If you are going to run this album on your van stereo, doing 80 on the M6 whilst going to your latest plumbing/plastering job, then i think you'd give it a better score. probably a 5-6. I dunno.

Music is a personal experience, so i think the reviews should be as well and this was my experience so i'm leaving the score at 2.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Streamed from YTM via headphones(HD650)/amp/dac.

"Is this it?"

Such an apt title for the album.

I vaguely remember "Last night" from a few decades ago. This song and the band disappeared from my lugholes not long after they appeared. On startup of the album and the lead track, i was instantly transported back, Which was my 1st disappointment. I didn't expect Song 1 to be a facsimile of song 7 and not so obviously as I'd last heard "Last night" yonks ago.

As i got through track 1, i had to pause and check my equipment. Was a cable loose? Were my headphones broken? No, the track is recorded in low resolution on purpose. Ah well, lets see what happens on track two...

Track 2, more of the same. In fact the whole album is recorded in the same manner.
I say "recorded", and i know it was likely on purpose to give it a grunge edge, but fuck me, this is the worst sounding recording I've ever heard. Demo tapes would put it to shame. It is a mastering that is only fit for a greasy cafe transistor radio.
On completion of song 1, it is obvious why this has been recorded in this way. The band is crap and the singer can't sing. It is a 2K version of autotune.

I put that to one side, and tried to move on however the shit recording just ruined everything about this album. Really, it is an album to hear, not to listen to. The side effect of this sonic massacring is that everything sounds the same and the words get lost in a fuzz of microphone overdrive and deadspace. The second track "modern age" tried to mix it up by doing the beetles mono-mike thing but just ruined that with as much professionalism as it was doing to the recording.

Driving forward, straining for something to pull its foot out of this audio mudbath, "Barely legal" pops up. The 1st song that actually got my attention but as quick as it rose out of the quagmire, it was pulled back in again. Shame, i think this one had potential.

"Last night" drove past, belching its audio smoke and smog in exactly the same way the other previous songs had. It all began to meld into a soup of sameness.

"hard to explain" woke me up, finally a bass drum you could pick out from the rock n roll droning. But then that two was sucked into the grey fuzz of mastering tragedy.

Not much else to report on the way to the end of the album. rinse repeat.

Personally, this album should have been left in its grave to rest in peace.
What little promise it had (Some rhythms, verses, etc) were just drowned out by the mastering, which in itself was a consequence of the band just not being very good.

It is a recording fit only for the Saturday market £4.99p single speaker transistor radio that your grandad would have used for listening to the city commentary in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It would be lost an onything of more merit. It is genuinely, the worst sounding recording I've ever listened to.

I can just hear the album's record exec putting this on in his car stereo cassette player, on the way home, to listen to the final cut before its release.

"Is this it?"

2/10.

1 point for being short
1 point for being so bad i had to listen to it all.
Click to expand...
Very grumpy review! But still a good one despite how wrong it is :)
 
A 9 and 2 thus far — do we have another Moving Pictures on our hands?

Incidentally, my rather elementary perspective on why critics loved this is that they sound like the Velvets, and critics love bands that sound like the Velvets, just as they love black and white films when a director could use color.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Maybe i'm being a little harsh but under the spotlight of a highly revealing pair of headphones, the album just sinks because of the recording which is (honestly) a shame.
I'd have forgiven it a little if i was not in the habit of listening to this style of music with headphones (which can bring out the worst in a recording) but I've been walking around this planet with headphones plugged in pretty much since i got my first Walkman when i was a spotty adolescent. Most albums stand up to it. (Why wouldn't they). Rumours, recorded in the 70's is a joy on headphones. It isn't difficult.

If you are going to run this album on your van stereo, doing 80 on the M6 whilst going to your latest plumbing/plastering job, then i think you'd give it a better score. probably a 5-6. I dunno.

Music is a personal experience, so i think the reviews should be as well and this was my experience so i'm leaving the score at 2.
Click to expand...
I will take a listen to Rumours to hear what you are comparing it to. A lot of people consider that late 70's period particularly noteworthy in terms of the quality of the recording and mixing and it is pretty hard :) it's also not this albums intent

Never apologise for your score. Youre listening on some expensive gear which will allow some insight we dont have. Just dont try and give something two scores
 
mrbelfry said:
I will take a listen to Rumours to hear what you are comparing it to. A lot of people consider that late 70's period particularly noteworthy in terms of the quality of the recording and mixing and it is pretty hard :) it's also not this albums intent
Click to expand...
I can forgive the artist putting the music behind a lace curtain. It absolutely works on some records.
The Biggles: Radio star being one such example where Trevor Horn mastered his voice to sound like it was coming out of that Saturday market transistor radio i was talking about, but the rest of the track and instrumentation, mastering, etc is spot on (as is Horn's trademark).
I can also buy into a rough-cut recording approach. Led Zep is infamous for this. a few takes only so that the sharp edges (and bonhams squeaky pedals) are not lost in over production, but again, the final product is good quality.

But here with "is This It"*, i think they just missed the goal by hitting the ball too hard.

I liked the words and basic structure of "barely legal" I wonder if there has been a cover version?.......hmmm might go rummaging around YT.
 
mrbelfry said:
There is not a song i dislike on it and even if you might argue they all sound similar it's a quick listen. I can't remember what score I gave OK Computer and although this in someway feels opposite in terms of effort I enjoy them both so it gets a 9 (assuming that's what I gave the Radiohead classic).
Click to expand...
Sorry, I'm very behind on reading the thread from yesterday, but before this golden moment is gone, I did want to sincerely say that mrbelfry would get extra bonus points for throwing a Radiohead reference into a Foggy selected album, but I see there is not much room to go up from 9.

But I still enjoyed it and it has made my day - bravo!
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
A 9 and 2 thus far — do we have another Moving Pictures on our hands?

Incidentally, my rather elementary perspective on why critics loved this is that they sound like the Velvets, and critics love bands that sound like the Velvets, just as they love black and white films when a director could use color.
Click to expand...
I won’t be giving it a 2….
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
Sorry, I'm very behind on reading the thread from yesterday, but before this golden moment is gone, I did want to sincerely say that mrbelfry would get extra bonus points for throwing a Radiohead reference into a Foggy selected album, but I see there is not much room to go up from 9.

But I still enjoyed it and it has made my day - bravo!
Click to expand...
Haha my next pick is two weeks and the album I'm nominating has a small seasoning of Radiohead - I'm interested to see what he thinks seeing as he never got round to reviewing my last pick. The upcoming album is much more straightforward than that last pick though
 
mrbelfry said:
Haha my next pick is two weeks and the album I'm nominating has a small seasoning of Radiohead - I'm interested to see what he thinks seeing as he never got round to reviewing my last pick. The upcoming album is much more straightforward than that last pick though
Click to expand...
The Eraser?
Would be a great pick :)
 
RobMCFC said:
Correct. I might as well post the full info now because it's a compilation album.

Here's what @LGWIO wrote.

View attachment 103192

APHEX TWIN SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92
Click to expand...
I missed this (Sadly).
It's sat about fourth from bottom in the chart which is an absolute tragedy.
It's up there with the most important albums of the modern post R&R era.

"We are the music makers" is my personal favorite. Absolute banger when played through a gutsy HIFI.

Nice to see a break from the mass of pop music in the thread.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
I missed this (Sadly).
It's sat about fourth from bottom in the chart which is an absolute tragedy.
It's up there with the most important albums of the modern post R&R era.

"We are the music makers" is my personal favorite. Absolute banger when played through a gutsy HIFI.

Nice to see a break from the mass of pop music in the thread.
Click to expand...
Ah yes, The Aphex Twin. I wrote that:-

"this sounds like somebody has got a CASIO keyboard for Christmas."

I sincerely hope you won't be nominating anything like this, but if you do, I suspect that I'll be sharpening my pen.
 
RobMCFC said:
Ah yes, The Aphex Twin. I wrote that:-

"this sounds like somebody has got a CASIO keyboard for Christmas."

I sincerely hope you won't be nominating anything like this, but if you do, I suspect that I'll be sharpening my pen.
Click to expand...
IIRC, Richard recorded this on tapes in his bedroom. This shows through in the recording obviously, but, doesn't detract from it, rather, it kinda adds to its charm (i'm bordering on hypocrisy here but blurred lines and all that).

I'm glad i have a few months to wait for my turn, looking at the picks so far, i'm going to need that long to figure out where i will be throwing my dart.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
IIRC, Richard recorded this on tapes in his bedroom. This shows through in the recording obviously, but, doesn't detract from it, rather, it kinda adds to its charm (i'm bordering on hypocrisy here but blurred lines and all that).

I'm glad i have a few months to wait for my turn, looking at the picks so far, i'm going to need that long to figure out where i will be throwing my dart.
Click to expand...
Something with banjos and fiddles on it - at least a third of us love that stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top