Transient Thoughts 006 - ll nøthing ll - Sacrifice

-

Transient Thoughts is a series of shorter reviews that capture my thoughts on a given album at a given time.  Most of these reviews have not had nearly as in depth of a look at my full reviews.  These thoughts are often formulated while walking through my neighborhood, and reflect how the album impacted me in those moments.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

Where am I? Is this hell? Is this heaven? What is this place? What are these strange sounds that threaten to tear me limb from limb? What is even real anymore?

All these questions and more are likely to pass through a listener's mind while listening to Sacrifice.  When I first heard it, I wasn’t sure if the album was a total waste of my time or the work of a mad genius.  I listened to it baffled, not knowing what I had just experienced.  The only thing I knew was that I had to listen again… and again.

The music truly sounds otherworldly, like nothing I have ever heard before… or since.  The sound present on Sacrifice takes highly syncopated beats, seemingly random melodies and soundscapes and weaves them all together.  The result is jarring at first, and is as inaccessible as nearly anything I have ever heard in my lifetime.. And I’ve heard a lot.

After the initial shock -should you consider venturing back into ll nothing ll’s album - things make a tiny bit more sense.  Mayhap you’ll catch a buried melody that was washed out by the distortion or beats the first time through.  Maybe the album will unfold just a little bit more on repeated listens.  Perhaps there is some method to this madness after all.

In my own experience I had to listen to this album nearly a dozen times before I was able to dissect the album in any discernible manner.  I found the album deep, complex, and ultimately rewarding.  Though that conclusion was not arrived at lightly, there is still this shadow of doubt in my mind that I have been duped by an elaborate ruse.  

I cannot emphasize this enough, this album will not be for everyone.  It is a chaotic mess of samples, beats, and melodies that sound like they have been stitched together haphazardly. But that is the beauty of this album, they haven’t.  All of this is intentional.

Returning back to my initial thoughts, I still don’t know fully what this is.  It could very much just be a crazy mess of an album that was never meant to be understood.  Or maybe, just maybe this album does border on genius once you break through.  After countless listens my inclination is towards the latter. 

Nothing is real, sacrifice thyself.

------

For anyone interested, the album is currently undergoing a Qrates record campaign: 

https://qrates.com/projects/24538-sacrifice



 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

019.5 - The Deep Dive - Wushimi Complex - The Anon Database Notes and Interviews

-
Image
  The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. The Anon Database by The Wushimi Complex Notes Lost in Neon - Oh man the intro to this thing is something else.  The album starts out with feedback and resonant noise that transitions beautifully into a slow brooding melody.  Immediately grabs the listeners attention and gives just a hint of what is going to be coming.  The resonance in the background never fully goes away either, giving a sense of tension to the music.   The end of the introductory period is punctuated by a strong mechanical kick drum.  Subtle percussion drives the song into its main phase, the mechanical angle still going strong.  Gives the sense that we are in some sort of industrial complex.  The noise from the beginning continues to tease us in the background and at points it's the main driver of the song.  This balance or ba
Read more

021.5 - The Deep Dive - Macroblank - 絶望に負けた Notes and Interview

-
Image
  The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. 絶望に負けた by Macroblank Notes 1 - Right off the bat you know where this is going.  Chill piano, a shaker, and bongos.  The piano just has the right amount of reverb on it, you know this is gonna be groovy as hell and chilled to the max.  It's after the first few chords that the first surprise hit me.  I was not expecting a guitar.  This may be one of the first times I’ve heard a Santana like guitar used in vaporwave. Whenever this song is on I can't help but either tap my foot or sway my body to the groove, it's that demanding of your attention.  The way that the bass interplays with everything gives this a nice fat bottom end too.   So breaking this down, there is the shaker, the bongos, but also a drumset on percussion.  The guitars are actually the lead instrument for a majority of the son
Read more

021 - Macroblank - 絶望に負けた

-
Image
    I’ve made a repeated point of how much I dislike much of vaporwave.  So much so that people are probably tired of me talking about it.  But it bears mentioning here once again to drive home a point.  For an album to come out of that genre that and not only sounds good, but ultimately makes it on to my best albums of the year list, it has to be truly exceptional.  It is this very scenario that has happened with Macroblank and his vaporwave masterpiece, 絶望に負けた . Macroblank came screaming into the vaprowave scene out of nowhere in mid 2020, and quickly releasing two albums and EP’s. These albums specialize in groovy, chilled out acoustic music with just a hint of reverb on it.  To those familiar with vaporwave this should ring a bell.  “ It’s no surprise when I say that the main influence behind my music and style is Haircuts for Men’s work.  I have always been a fan of chillout music, and this style of vaporwave represents one of the best ways to put it out ther e,” Macro explains. W
Read more