Continuing my trend of reviewing most of these on a second or third listen through, here's my thoughts on Mix #7.
The artwork and title give away early on what this mix is going to be like, and the dancey synth lines that open track one don't disappoint. More chilly piano and synths get layered in with drum machine beats as the song progresses, while a female singer taking the lead. I don't mind this one, overall. The aesthetic is nice and cool, with just the right amount of arrangements to sound filled out during the chorus, but not overwhelming.
The second song has a far more lively atmosphere, with a grainy bassline opening that leads into some sort of 80s-esque soundtrack world with keyboards, guitars and drums of both the acoustic and electric persuasion making an appearance. It actually makes me think of something that might be present in a late 90s-early 00s video game, in a way. I like that this is instrumental, because I can only imagine that any vocal contribution would probably be awful. It's good for what it appears to be.
I can tell from the get-go, I'm not going to particularly like song 3. The opening beats grate, and then the vocalist enters and I kinda want to reach for the skip button. I just googled a bit of the lyrics, 'cause I was thinking this was Bloc Party or something similar, but I was wrong. Instead, it's
- Spoiler: show
- The Wombats
, who actually have a few tunes I enjoy in a somewhat humorous fashion, but this one's not one of them.
Track four is another big "meh." It does a lot of stuff that I don't particularly like, but it's that one drum-machine fill that first enters in the first chorus that sound like a vocal line that really pulls me out of the song. I also have no affection for the vocal stylings present here, either.
Song five is a bit of an improvement over the previous two songs. The underlying beats and rhythms are somewhat compelling, and I think they could make a more interesting song than what actually comes out. There's a staccato guitar bit that keeps popping up that's a little odd in context, and, again, I can't abide the vocals, as there's far too much "distance" for my taste. I do, however like the arrpegiated synth lines that open the song, and continue to occasionally put an appearance in throughout, as well as the new beat that joins near the end.
Okay, maybe it was track six that I thought was Bloc Party on the first listen through? Anyway, Google to the rescue again, and it tells me this is
- Spoiler: show
- Saul Williams.
I find his schtick intriguing, but I can't get into the music. This one's very minimalist, with a driving rhythm overtopped with vocals, and an interlude that's mostly spoken-word.
Oy, another annoyingly British, or faux-British vocalist. I think he's doing some form of rapping, though I can't be sure, because it kinda sounds like an attempt at singing as well. The supporting music is okay, but nothing particularly interesting. I do like some of the guitars that are used for texture and color, and the dubby breakdown is very welcome after the grating first section.
Number 8: Please, can we turn down the high-pitched backing vocals on this one? The blown-out beats don't interest me, and if you mention an iPhone in your song, that warrants an almost immediate dismissal in my eyes. Something else I just don't see the appeal behind, but hey, it's all subjective, so what can I say? Thankfully, it's pretty short.
Song nine seems slightly out of place after the relentless pace of the previous eight tunes. It begins as a solo piano song with a female singer who goes from the usual vapid lead, to a deeper, more "soulful" sound for various bits of the song. The arrangement fills out a bit more as the song continues with drum machine beats, synth lines, lots of backing vocals. Surprisingly missing is a string section, which probably would have been requisite if this was an older song. Is this one Adele?
Another piano intro, but you can tell right away that this one's going for more of the club crowd due to the quick tempo. And sure enough, here comes that vaguely dubstep beat to prove me right. This singer doesn't have the power of the previous, and because of that she sounds even more generic. Why is it that so many vocalists doing this type of contemporary pop music have voices that are so lacking in character? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
Track eleven gives another change of pace that's somewhat unexpected. I think this is the first song to feature almost entirely a full "band" performance, which contrasts with the aesthetic presented so far. I can't work out how this song fits in, or if it even does. The verses are bright, and kind of chipper, while the choruses hint towards a slightly darker sound, but never really go far with it. The breakdown is kinda neat, but not very noteworthy overall. There's a bit of this that reminds me of a lighter variation on some of The Flaming Lips' music.
What's this, more rock music? There's a more danceable rhythm to this one, though. The intro sounds like a more updated version of some of REM's more pop-oriented tunes, but that's pretty quickly subverted when the singer comes in. I don't know that her vocal style quite gels with the rest of the band, in truth. She's a little too ethereal where more grit would be appropriate.
Okay, by this point the shift into more rock stylings was clearly intentional, though I'm not quite sure to what end, yet. This one's a straight-ahead pop-punk song with a girl taking the mic instead of a boy. There's also some swirly space rock effects going on in the background that gives it more of a "glittery" feel than the usual dirty aesthetic that's commonplace in this style. Not a terrible song, but not remarkable, either.
And now we continue to trend further from the initial feel of this mix into a sort of jangly indie-pop style. I can almost say with certainty that I've heard this artist before, but I don't know who it is. Honestly, it's just more music that doesn't appeal to me, but at least with this one I can see what people might enjoy about some of it.
The mix closes with song fifteen, the longest song, clocking in at just over seven-and-a-half minutes long. A looped piano line that almost sounds like something Steve Reich would compose opens the proceedings, and gives the song that kind of "epic" feeling that works pretty well for a closing song on a mixtape. The slow build lends further support to that purpose. Somehow I could guess that this was
- Spoiler: show
- LCD Soundsystem
without actually being familiar with their music in any way at all. Anyway, this is pretty "generic" in my opinion, and seven minutes is far too long for a song of this type that doesn't really appear to do anything to warrant that length. It doesn't really develop, nor does it try to numb the senses.
So, that's Mix #7. I can definitely chart a sort of progression over the tracklisting; there's a definite arc going on. With the closing song, I suppose it's supposed to be chronicling a night of debauchery and dancing, with everybody passing out at the end. I see it slightly different, though; track one is already late at night, and everybody passes out around the middle point, and then wakes up, hungover, which is evidenced by the "brighter" stylistic trappings of the more rock-oriented second half of the mix. This one might be Lament, what with the prevalence of female singers, but I think it's more aimed at him, since it seems to have less "soul" than something he would put together.
Yeah, this mix isn't me, though I don't think Stip was actually fielding a guess at that point. I'm listening to the mix right now, so I'm not ready to put up a review, yet. It's stylistically consistent, that's for sure. Definitely not really something that I find enjoyable, though, unfortunately.
you.