GF music review club

[Carvalho Diablo]

Okay fellas, Zonko's latest AOW - Exit Calm - The Future's Not What It Used To Be

 

 

The GF Music Club Youtube channel

 

Exit Calm - The Future's Not What It Used To Be on Spotify

 

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

[Carvalho Diablo]

The GF Music Collective on Spotify

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

Next man up to pick his AOW is RedTalisker, due around 26th October. Give it a little more time to allow club members to catch up with their reviews.

 

Following on from RT in the rotation are our new members, Clarence and BabbsBurstNad. Looking forward to seeing what you lads pick.

 

Good day gentlemen.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

I’m hoping to be back to some sort of normality next week. Fuck ever doing a house renovation again. Buy brand new kids.

 

what do I owe in terms of reviews, really lost track. Gun Club was the last one I remember.

 

 

[TheHowieLama]

5 hours ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

 

 

Following on from RT in the rotation are our new members, Clarence and BabbsBurstNad. Looking forward to seeing what you lads pick.

 

 

 

THE BENCH!!

[Guest]

Adore by Smashing Pumpkins

 

I'm turning this album on now after a hectic week so kind of hoping it might be a relaxing end to the week/weekend. Let's see how we get on (this review will have to be in two parts as I can only listen to the first half this evening)...

 

Having not heard any of this band I have no idea what to expect to starting this album with no experience of them. I am writing this as I am listening to the album for the first time so it's an organic review, if you like...

 

(I'm slightly concerned by this album as I seem to have found the super deluxe version and it has maybe 60 tracks on it!) I think I will find the normal version.

 

To Sheila...

 

Very laid back, almost acoustic sound here. Promising start as I am feeling the need for some relaxation and this is doing the job. Good musicianship here and it reminds me a little of one of my favourite American solo acts, Ryan Adams. 7/10 to start with. 

 

Ava Adore...

 

Quite an unusual backing track here after the acoustics of the opener. I think I read somewhere on one of the other reviews that there are U2 influences here. Well, I agree listening to this track. Not quite in the same vein as the opener but still quite good. Perhaps 6/10 as it's catchy but a bit samey and long.

 

Perfect...

 

Definitely U2 influences here with catchy riffs and easy to listen to but not quite grabbing. It's quite good. It does make me wonder what their other albums sound like. 6/10

 

Daphne Descends...

 

From U2 to Radiohead. Certainly this album seems to be extremely varied so far and it's hard to work out what kind of band they are. Radiohead had some great tracks and some filler material too. This is more like the filler unfortunately. Not great for me, hopefully the next track will get back on track? 5/10

 

Once Upon A Time...

 

Nice melodies here, acoustic sounding and certainly more like the opening track than the others so far. Nice and relaxing sound with good musicianship and quite happy to hear this. Back on track a little...Lead vocals are definitely reminiscent of Thom Yorke. 7/10

 

Tear...

 

Am I actually listening to a Radiohead album now? This could easily come off one of their albums, although it wouldn't be one of their strongest tracks. But it's definitely got something about it which makes it quite enjoyable, if a little dark. 6/10

 

Crestfallen...

 

Slows right down here but the vocal delivery kind of lets it down for me personally. Maybe a bit too slow as I am not really engaging with this as much as the acoustic styles on show here. 5/10

 

Apples + Oranjes...

 

And we jump on to another style of music altogether. The track listing seems a little all over the place. Is this common with this band? This sounds very much like a synth band from the 90s. It's a decent track but it's really hard to engage as it's very different to the other tracks so far. 7/10

 

Pug...

 

TBC

 

The Tale Of Dusty And Pistol Pete...

 

TBC

 

Annie-Dog...

 

TBC

 

Shame...

 

TBC

 

Behold! The Night Mare...

 

TBC

 

For Martha...

 

TBC

 

Blank Page...

 

TBC

[REDTALISKER]

Adore by Smashing Pumpkins

 

Having once liberated an album of their from my brother's collection - not this one by the way- I was at least aware of these before listening to this week's album. If I remember rightly I was looking for one song in particular - didn't find it - as well as wanting to get a feel of what their other stuff was like - bafflement and disappointment my abiding memories of the experience. Rightly or wrongly in my mind they were just another typical, for the time, American Alt rock band that I just couldn't get my head round as to their appeal. I think it is safe to say I wasn't looking forward to reviewing this one. 

 

Let's start with the obvious. Corgan is never going to win any awards for his singing ability. To intents and purposes it's a nasal whine and there is nothing here that is going to drastically change my opinion on this. Having said that, while it certainly doesn't helps matters, it's not necessarily enough to condemn this album outright.

 

Next up was the realization that this album wasn't what panning out as I was expecting. Not so much rock as a stripped down acoustic sound coupled with a bit of industrial electro. It's certainly different. Perhaps not in the sense that it was a original sound but a case could be made that for a rock group to abandon the usual loud guitars for synths and drum machine was a radical departure for the time. I rather liked it. There are some good songs on here. At some point I even forgot how much I don't like his voice which is always a good sign.

 

If I do have a problem with the album it's that come the mid point the songs become less memorable. There is almost a feeling of drifting. None of the later songs are necessarily bad but they don't have quite the strength the first half of the album had. Perhaps if there had been a little bit quality control and the number of songs reduced it would not have been so obvious.

 

Overall this was a pretty good but not perfect album for me. Ava Adore, Daphne Descends, Tear being some of the stand out moments for me. More than happy to have listened and to have given the Pumpkins another go.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Review : The Future Isn't What It Used To Be by Exit Calm

 

And once again here's another album I've never heard by another band that I've never even heard of. The album cover smacks of The Stone Roses though. We shall see...

 

[presses play]

 

The Rapture opens the album with spaced out bass and guitars, a nice laid back riff. I like.

"You think that you've figured it out, I think your time's ran out". Definitely a Browny / Liam vocal style, not necessarily a bad thing. The Rapture gives me U2 / Kasabian vibes, again not necessarily a bad thing.

Good song, enjoyed it.

 

Albion starts all hi-hats and rim shots, another very spacey guitar line, getting his money's worth from that Neunaber Wet reverb pedal.

Where are these guys from? Manchester? Up North?

I like this, spacey, trippy, I could imagine this might be what the Roses 3rd album might have sounded like if they hadn't disappeared up their own hoops. Crying out for a killer hook or solo though.

I like the mix, another solid track.

 

Fiction - Big beats, another Unforgetable Fire era Edge riff. A nice progressive chorus leads back into a lovely bass driven verse. A good pissed up / stoned dancey track. For me this is the best song yet.

 

When They Rise - More reverb and delayed guitars, clearly "their sound". I like the dry drums, a plodding riff gives way to a really nice chorus. I can't quite catch what he's singing but that big Roses style chorus saves this song. Good stuff.

 

Higher Bound - Acoustic guitar and snareless drums, musically this isn't aaa million miles away from my own previous AOW Adore. One criticism is perhaps this album is a bit one paced and plodding. It would benefit from some up tempo stormers.

 

Holy War is a bass lead plodder. The chorus again provides the colour to the shoegazey and reverbed out riffage. The solo is simple but welcome.

Reminds me very much of Afghan Whigs' Demon In Profile this track, but just nowhere near as good. Not bad, not great.

 

Promise - Rim shots and reverb, the cymbals sound lovely. "I am the voice between your eyes and in your mind". More U2 / Roses / shoegaze. It's not at all bad but not at all original or exciting. Unremarkable is the word I'd choose, although far better in the quicker sections.

 

Glass House - Lovely bass line kicks this track off, seriously it could be Ian Brown singing that 1st verse. "Heart of stone" ? Hmm.

Again some nice jangly guitars, with all the effects. I like the feedback backing loop, again very reminiscent of the Pumpkins' For Martha. Really like this one.

 

Open Your Sky - Last song rolls in with a dulled snare beat and delayed guitar jangle. "I was falling like the rain...", the vocalist is limited but has done a decent job throughout, staying in the pocket, aware of his limitations, instead just easily complementing the music.

Another nice riff, another nice song.

 

Okay, thoughts ? Enjoyed this album, didn't love it, it was nice without ever getting my pulse racing or without ever giving me goosebumps. Reminded me of several other bands and definitely of a time and place, of a scene where I only ever had one foot present.

Not bad, nice, inoffensive. 6.5 or 7 outta 10 for me Clive.

 

 

 

 

[Carvalho Diablo]

On 10/5/2018 at 5:29 PM, Skidfingers McGonical said:

I’m hoping to be back to some sort of normality next week. Fuck ever doing a house renovation again. Buy brand new kids.

 

what do I owe in terms of reviews, really lost track. Gun Club was the last one I remember.

 

 

You've got a few to catch up with Skids :

 

Bad Brains - Yellow

The Fall - Infortainment Scan

Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

 

and this weeks' AOW, The Future Isn't What It Used To Be by Exit Calm.

 

Whenever you have the time mate.

[ZonkoVille77]

Fair review. It's definitely one for the shoe gazing fan or at least fans of heavy reverb/echo guitar parts. It's pretty straight forward in terms of style and the simplicity attracts me to it. 

 

I feel fans of early Verve (A Northern Soul) era and the Stone Roses Second Coming would be more accepting of it. 

[Lee909]

Not quite sure what to make of this one

 

Hear loads of early U2 and Stone Roses in it.

I like the first track but by about halfway through i started feeling every track was starting to meld into one long track. I need to listen to it again and its one i would probably pick the odd track from to listen too, maybe check out any other albums and see what else there is. I'm not sure it is varied enough for me to like the album but i definitely do not dislike it. At the moment i would probably give it a 6.5/7 out of 10.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

After a hectic week or so, I'm going to get back to this, thanks to some fancy new earphones and a lazy weekend.

 

AOW - Adore - Smashing Pumpkins

 

I feel I should preface this by stating I've never been a fan of the band. It's not that I actively dislike them, more they've passed me by, perhaps with the odd song that piques my interest, but never really making enough of an impact to force me to pick up an album. Thankfully, a Spotify subscription and the good people of the GF Music Review Club are rectifying that. Preamble bollocks over with, onto the album:

 

To Shiela - Nice soft acoustic guitar. Billy Corgan’s voice is delicate, it has a soporific effect but doesn’t progress into anything, remaining relaxed and dream-like. Strange opener, an atmosphere I associate more with an ending track to bring the tempo down.

 

Ava Adore - This has a bit more of an industrial edge. “Pull your crooked teeth, you’ll be perfect just like me” is a great line, though I'm not finding Corgan’s voice has the gravitas to hold a punchy moment without the guitar crunching in at the same time to do most of the heavy lifting.

 

Perfect - I'm hearing an air of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven. If anything, the thought helps me get into the album a bit more; get out of the rock mindset, and more into a Cure mood.

 

Daphne Descends - I like the rhythm of the drums, a good beat to nod along to. Once again, the floaty vocals - elongating the words - lends an ethereal feel to things. 

 

Once Upon A Time - A fairytale tune cements that sense. Lyrically this is my cup of tea, more story-like. A lovely little track, definitely the high point thus far. If I had any criticism it’d be that it goes on a shade too long, but that feels like quibbling.

 

Tear - Talking of too long, this is a shade under six minutes and I'm not sure it does anything to justify that. If anything gets in my way of like SP, it’s that everything is delivered by Corgan in such a long fashion as to mean I’m itching for that climax to a track that never materialises. 

 

Crestfallen - Back to the fairytale feel. I feel harsh saying it's just filler, but straight away I'm expecting the next track to be more uptempo.

 

Appels + Oranjes - As if on cue, the faster paced, slightly dance inspired track enters, though it leaves me thoroughly cold.

 

Pug - The album’s definitely taking a more experimental turn here; more dance-influenced, industrial, electro, maybe proto-post-punk (is that even a term?). Interesting, but not enough to get its hooks into me.

 

The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete - This is more me. It feels like a pleasant murder ballad, with the juxtaposition of darker lyrics ("Disaster and love, vengeance and dust") that could've been penned by Nick cave, against the backdrop of light guitar strums.

 

Annie-Dog - Probably the first track where Corgan's mixed up his vocal delivery style. Very low key, no straining to pull the most from every vowel. I prefer this, it gives more weight to the lyrics in my view. Very intimate, like a bedroom demo.

 

Shame - 6:38 - Back to Corgan’s usual style, and no surprise it makes it the longest track thus far. My issue is it never goes anywhere.

 

Behold! The Night Mare - Some interesting sounds layered on one another, very experimental. The change-up at 2:10 of acoustic guitar and harmony is simply beautiful, I’d really like to hear more of that.

 

For Martha - A nice piano instrumental intro, leading into a decent track. The slow pace hints that the album's coming to a close now, but at over eight minutes it's certainly not going out fast.

 

Blank Page - The piano is clearly the preferred instrument of the album's exit. One of my favourite tracks, the lyrics may be a touch trite in places but it hits the right notes for a melancholic farewell.

 

17 - Ooh, the hiss of an aged recording. I've no idea what’s going on, I assumed it might have only been 17 seconds long, but according to Spotify the track’s 19 seconds.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

I'm glad I was forced to give some Smashing Pumpkins a go, but sadly I'm no closer to really "getting" them. I come away with the sense that this is an album where, to fully appreciate it, you have to know what came before, to give it some context. 

 

It strikes me that, key to the band's success, is Corgan's distinctive delivery style, something which irks me slightly. I could easily get past that were the tracks to culminate in some kind of crescendo, but I usually end up hearing the outro with a sense of disappointment, as the tracks never progress into something that has a clear climax moment; like a sneeze that tickles the nose, but never arrives to give you that sense of momentary satisfaction. 

 

I didn't dislike it though, so I feel a slightly apathetic 6/10 is apt from me.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Great review. Repped for the sneeze analogy.

[Guest]

Adore by Smashing Pumpkins

 

I'm turning this album on now after a hectic week so kind of hoping it might be a relaxing end to the week/weekend. Let's see how we get on (this review will have to be in two parts as I can only listen to the first half this evening)...

 

Having not heard any of this band I have no idea what to expect to starting this album with no experience of them. I am writing this as I am listening to the album for the first time so it's an organic review, if you like...

 

(I'm slightly concerned by this album as I seem to have found the super deluxe version and it has maybe 60 tracks on it!) I think I will find the normal version.

 

To Sheila...

 

Very laid back, almost acoustic sound here. Promising start as I am feeling the need for some relaxation and this is doing the job. Good musicianship here and it reminds me a little of one of my favourite American solo acts, Ryan Adams. 7/10 to start with. 

 

Ava Adore...

 

Quite an unusual backing track here after the acoustics of the opener. I think I read somewhere on one of the other reviews that there are U2 influences here. Well, I agree listening to this track. Not quite in the same vein as the opener but still quite good. Perhaps 6/10 as it's catchy but a bit samey and long.

 

Perfect...

 

Definitely U2 influences here with catchy riffs and easy to listen to but not quite grabbing. It's quite good. It does make me wonder what their other albums sound like. 6/10

 

Daphne Descends...

 

From U2 to Radiohead. Certainly this album seems to be extremely varied so far and it's hard to work out what kind of band they are. Radiohead had some great tracks and some filler material too. This is more like the filler unfortunately. Not great for me, hopefully the next track will get back on track? 5/10

 

Once Upon A Time...

 

Nice melodies here, acoustic sounding and certainly more like the opening track than the others so far. Nice and relaxing sound with good musicianship and quite happy to hear this. Back on track a little...Lead vocals are definitely reminiscent of Thom Yorke. 7/10

 

Tear...

 

Am I actually listening to a Radiohead album now? This could easily come off one of their albums, although it wouldn't be one of their strongest tracks. But it's definitely got something about it which makes it quite enjoyable, if a little dark. 6/10

 

Crestfallen...

 

Slows right down here but the vocal delivery kind of lets it down for me personally. Maybe a bit too slow as I am not really engaging with this as much as the acoustic styles on show here. 5/10

 

Apples + Oranjes...

 

And we jump on to another style of music altogether. The track listing seems a little all over the place. Is this common with this band? This sounds very much like a synth band from the 90s. It's a decent track but it's really hard to engage as it's very different to the other tracks so far. 7/10

 

Pug...

 

Electronica plus rock edge gives this track a 'Moby' style, I do enjoy the musical style of this album but as has been said the vocal delivery doesn't pack a punch. 7/10 for the melodies and production.

 

The Tale Of Dusty And Pistol Pete...

 

Very laid back track here with some nice twangs and some subtle electronica to support it. This track suffers again for the whispery vocal delivery 6/10

 

Annie-Dog...

 

This album slows down, then speeds up and now it's slowed down again for this track. Keyboards seem to reign here, musically it's nice to listen to. Again not too punchy vocally and for this kind of track I feel it needs to be 5/10

 

Shame...

 

Definitely a darker tone to this particular track and I get the feeling this is where this band likes to exist as it kind of suits them. The second half of the album feels like a different one to the first half. Maybe that's their point with this album? 6/10  

 

Behold! The Night Mare...

 

Saying that, some nice sounds going on here. This may just be my favourite track so far as even the vocals fit in with the flying production. The second half of the track introduces a ZX Spectrum loading sound which grates - 8/10 (7/10 for the annoying sounds...)

 

For Martha...

 

The longest track on the album, although I'm not convinced it is justified. Vocals seem to have disappeared into the background but it does have a prog rock sound that hasn't been heard on this album. Are they actually a prog rock band? 6/10 because of the nice keyboard playing through the track.

 

Blank Page...

 

And the last track is the slowest of all I feel. Not quite leaving a positive exit (5/10)

 

but all in all a decent album that I would never have listened to but for it being selected here. It has it's moments and it has it's falls but overall it's worth a 6.5/10.

[ZonkoVille77]

I had the playlist on rotation on the way into work. Amazing mix of styles and genres.

Listening again to Elton John's "Madman Across the Water" - what a song that is. I don't think I really appreciated it the first time I listened to it but it's a belter.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Any more reviews incoming fellas ? Seems to have gone very quiet, any more for any more ?

 

RedTalisker up next in a day or two...

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

Any more reviews incoming fellas ? Seems to have gone very quiet, any more for any more ?

 

RedTalisker up next in a day or two...

Loads on recently but I will be listening this evening to the last selection after the obvious distraction later this evening.

[Bjornebye]

Can I join back in CD? 

[Carvalho Diablo]

25 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Can I join back in CD? 

 

Oof, dunno like. What do you guys reckon ?

[Bjornebye]

4 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

 

Oof, dunno like. What do you guys reckon ?

Arr ffs 

 

 

[ZonkoVille77]

57 minutes ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

 

Oof, dunno like. What do you guys reckon ?

 

Let him in!

He's already done Oasis so will Kasabian or Jeff Buckley get a run out? 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

 

Oof, dunno like. What do you guys reckon ?

If he confirms he's an anti-beaner, I say let him in.

[Lee909]

It'll probably be another Oasis one, or Noel's solo stuff

[Bjornebye]

28 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

If he confirms he's an anti-beaner, I say let him in.

Of course I am where have you been on the brekkie thread for the last how ever many years.