[xasop]

Boudewijn de Groot - Het Eiland in de Verte (2004)

Well, this was a lot better than the past three albums. It dragged on a bit at times, but overall it had quite a lot of charcater, owing mainly to Boudewijn's foray into traditional pop and show tune-style pieces. From the sprawling intro "Berlijn" ("Berlin") to the Sinatraesque closing number "Het Einddoel" ("The End Goal" or "The Final Destination", I'm not sure which fits better), this album could do with a little flab being culled, but otherwise is a very enjoyable listen. I will be coming back to this one for sure.

[xasop]

Lenteman en de Boogie Man - Kaas (2013)

A Dutch language album I found on Jamendo, the title means "cheese", and the content is anything but. This is a fantastic collection of varied songs, from the opening "Lekker" ("Tasty"), which is just a conversation mainly consisting of people repeating the words "kaas" and "lekker", to the incredibly juvenile "Ik Denk de Hele Dag Aan Sex" ("I Think About Sex All Day"), which consists mainly of the same lyric repeated over and over for 2 minutes.

There are some more conventional songs in between the bizarre here, with "Een Stijve Lul" ("A Stiff Cock") and "Beffen Met een Baard" (which has a couple of possible translations, though "Cunnilingus With a Beard" seems most likely on this album) being highlights. The whole thing was very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to understanding more of these lyrics, because this seems like a great way to learn the parts of the language that Duolingo doesn't teach.

I also noticed that the people who made this seem to have a different accent compared to what I'm used to hearing. It was particularly noticeable in the "ei" in "meisje" and the "oe" in "schoenen", although it's possible they were actually singing different words I don't know yet and I misheard. In any case, it's nice to have exposure to more than Duolingo's robotic voice and Boudewijn de Groot.

I'll probably listen again at some point soon and write a proper review on Jamendo, because this is great stuff.

[xasop]

Soep en Broodjes - Kootje (2009)

This was a tricky one to find a translation for. Apparently it means something like "small bone", referring to bones in the fingers and toes. I have no idea why someone would write a song about bones, but it isn't very interesting anyway.

[xasop]

Richel Bilderbeek - Vijf Jaar Richel (2011)

This is the most boring music I've ever heard. I got up to track 7 of 24 before I couldn't take it anymore and hit stop.

[xasop]

Boudewijn de Groot - Lage Landen (2007)

This wasn't bad, but aside from "Achter de Hemelpoort" ("Beyond Heaven's Gate"), a nice uptempo blues number, there's not much here that isn't rehashing the same old style from his previous albums. I probably won't be listening again.

[xasop]

Boudewijn de Groot - Curiosa (2009)

A collection of odds and ends that is actually a lot more interesting than the previous few albums I listened to, including some live radio segments and alternate takes of older songs. Well worth listening to.


Het Gloren - Glorie 123 (2010)

This was okay. It had some good songs (I liked "De Overzeeballade" in particular), but I probably wouldn't listen to the whole thing again. Jamendo tends to be very hit-and-miss like that.

[Crudblud]

Grimes - Visions

Starts off well enough with Infinite Love Without Fulfillment, a nice short track with some reasonably harmonically interesting vocal lines. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t seem to so much as reach even that fairly basic level again, Symphonia IX being a single exception to this rule. The remaining tracks feature Grimes going through the motions with tired vocal lines while the background changes only on a superficial level, the album being an essentially static collection of vaguely different variations on the same basic idea. It isn’t unpleasant (most of it is perfectly serviceable toe-tapping fare) and while it might go on a little too long it ends before it can transgress the border between slightly awkward lingering and annoyingly hanging around, unfortunately I just don’t find it very interesting to listen to. That said, I feel like if Grimes can get past the redundancy factor that overwhelms what interesting material might otherwise be on offer here, there is an interesting mature artist waiting to come out somewhere down the line.

[garygreen]

Marmalade; I like marmalade.

[xasop]

Marmalade; I like marmalade.

Still the best Pink Floyd album, although The Endless River was the best attempt at stealing that title in over 40 years.

[garygreen]

couldn't agree more about atom heart mother, but my command of the pink floyd library is very poor.  APB is my favorite song to wake up to.

i'll check out the endless river at my next opportunity

[Foxbox]

[beardo]

[M-Bone99]

[Jura-Glenlivet]

I think the new planet they have found should be called Claire!

[M-Bone99]

Currently enjoying Red's Release the Panic album.

It's a pretty solid record. The band has their usual features: gritty guitar tones, a few ballads and a few hard rockers, high and low dynamics, clean vocals with moments of screaming, et cetera. However, the band takes a more straightforward approach in creating songs, utilizing shorter song structures which keeps the album moving along at a relatively quick clip. They also experiment with electronic elements, ditching their former keyboard accompaniment in favor of atmospheric sounds that tie directly into the vocals and guitars. These changes they've implemented, along with the album being their fourth, make the record feel like a more mature and well-rounded effort.

[beardo]

Borknagar - Cold Runs The River


From the album: Winter Thrice (2016)
First listen.

[beardo]

Ahab - The Isle


From the album: The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" (2015)
First listen.

[rooster]

In honor of my beebs finishing another song last night and getting closer to recording their new album, here's one of my favorites.

https://www.reverbnation.com/hitdoghollar/song/13600991-new-orleans-1891

[Deffenderfer]

[beardo]

Ahab - The Light In the Weed (Mary Madison)


From the album: The Boats of the Glen Carrig (2015)