Red Mosquito

Kaius wrote:I haven't had time to listen to a mix since the last one I reviewed, which was one of the first three. I plan on jumping back in as soon as possible.

Me too. I've been working through the 90s playlists and have been remiss here. I will be listenning to fuzz and snc's mixes over the next few days. I've tried to avoid looking at their respective tracklists but I have a fair idea what to expect. Scanning the previous page Eddy Current Suppression Ring's name jumped out at me though. I love ECSR.

First one down. I did listen to this back in May/June but didn't get around to a review.

Spoiler: show

1 - I think this is Terry Reid. I like it and should check out more of his stuff.
2 - Kinks. Cool.
3 - Band of Horses. Liked their first album. Saw me live in 2010 and they phoned it in. Really lacklustre. Meh.
4 - loved sea change but haven't listened to it in a while. Must do so.
5 - no idea and don't really care for this.
6 - maybe Jay Farrar. I've tried but I can't really get into his stuff. Bought a couple of albums too. This is okay but not enough.
7 - I like this.
8 - Nebraska The Cash Brothers. Got this on an Uncut Cd. Nice track but I never delved deeper. May YouTube them tomorrow.
9 - Neil but not essential Neil for me. Nice.
10 - Floyd Fearless. Good stuff
11 - pretty sure this is George Harrison. Maybe still Beatles era. Nice one.
12 - meh. No idea who this is. It's a bit syrupy.
13 - Shins. Like em.
14 - Blind Faith. Great album. I was obsessed with this album around 2000. Top shelf.

Typed on a phone sorry. Good mix with a few surprises and a pretty good flow. My old man would love this.

Turns out it's from Bada. Good mix man.

Mix 2 - Due to the almost unhinged nature of some of these tracks, plus the presence of an Aroma Of Man in Grinderman, I'm guessing Varis here.

Spoiler: show

1. Interesting instrumentation but not really for me overall. Vocalist kinda grates as he reaches for some Buckley-esque moments.
2. Grinderman - Honey Bee. Haven't heard this for years. Must remedy that. Good stuff.
3. Reminds me of British Sea Power and Electrelane at times. Better without the vocals. No idea who this is.
4. Kinda nice. I feel I know this or have heard other stuff of theirs. Is this War On Drugs?
5. Indie pop. Shins meets Wilco.
6. Nice moments but quite repetitive. Need some beer and to this live and it could click. Man I miss beer.
7. So many tracks are ruined by the singers. I feel jaded but this was promising. Oh well.
8. see #7.
9. Love the intro. This is more like it. Maybe I'm more forgiving with female vox.
10. Nice atmosphere to this one.
11. I didn't skip it. That's worth something, isn't it?
12. Perhaps I'm in the mood for some mellower stuff as I enjoyed this a lot.
13. Lucinda Williams here. Must be a recent one as I fell out with her around World Without Tears, the orange cover one. I didn't find much in that album to interest me. This track is okay. I might just dig out Car Wheels or Essence later.
14. 20mins what. Change of pace here. It isn't Curtis Mayfield? No. Like this groove and the percussion. I've heard this before, I know it. Good stuff anyway.

Thanks mixmaster (Varis). Some very interesting stuff that I'll check out for sure. Plus I'll give this another listen as it may have been my mood.

edit: Ha. It was Varis.

LetMeSleep wrote:Mix 2 - Due to the almost unhinged nature of some of these tracks...I'm guessing Varis here.

Okay, gonna brave a review of Mix 9. Let me start out with the huge caveat that stylistically this just clashes with my music sensibilities in a pretty huge way, so this is almost certainly a better set of songs than I'm probably gonna think it is.

Track 1: I actually really liked the slow pounding and ringing cadence in the music, until the singer opens his mouth and makes this horrible. As long as he kept his mouth shut this was good.

Track 2: I was predicting this was going to be terrible after the first 10 seconds. It was. This kind of sloppy low fi whiny punk is just incredibly unappealing to me. This singer is also awful.

Somewhere someone heard this band and thought 'get them a record deal, asap!' and I don't understand how that happened. Music shouldn't be like little league where everyone gets a trophy

This song was irredeemably awful. And it keeps almost stopping and then starting again. Fuck you, track 2.

Track 3: Big chunky bass and a riff that feels a little generic, but not bad. A vaguely unpleasent singer, but still better than the first two. Boring chorus, although there was a neat little twist right at the end of the song that i liked.

This one had a pretty cool little pair of bridges, though.

Track 4: nice lazy vibe to this one. Oh hey, this is Courtney Barret. Figures that it would be one of the songs I liked the least from her album. The chorus is pretty good in her lazy way, but the affected way she holds certain words in the verses is a little annoying. Actually the song overall is good, it's just that one tick that annoys me.

Track 5: Sigh. Another irritating singer layered on top of an inoffensive but uncompelling piece of music. This guy has some pretty good screaming moments, though.

Track 6: More discordant out of tune crap, but not deliberate in the way that speaks to artistic choices. They just sound like they can't play their instruments.

This is another abysmally awful singer. Where do you find these people? This may be more irritating than track 2.

Track 7: this wasn't awful. I liked the tone on one of the guitars, and there were moments where the singer sounded okay

Track 8: the music has some fun 1970s imagines the music of the future sounds in it. Too bad the singer is unremarkable. At least he doesn't suck. this music starts to lose some of its charm by the end of the song, unfortunately

Track 9: I like the barroom blues feel at the start of this one. This wasn't bad

Track 10: Ahh, this is more like it. It is an accomplishment that some of these songs can make me utterly despise them within seconds of starting. See track 2 and 6. Although the riff in this one is likeable, and would be pretty good if the singer didn't make me want to hate everything he touches.

Track 11: And somehow the bar gets lower still. Actually, this does have a fun little solo in it, but it is preceded by a guy with an exceptionally annoying voice deciding that what this song needs is the sound of him moaning for a while.



I'm halfway through what is shaping up to be the longest 80 minutes of my life. I'd like to withdraw my initial caveat.

Varis wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:Mix 2 - Due to the almost unhinged nature of some of these tracks...I'm guessing Varis here.

Oh this was certainly a positive and not a slight. I know you like Grinderman and JSBE and The Drones. I'm guessing some Rocket From The Crypt too and maybe some Fat Possum blues guys (as well as RL). and instead of unhinged I could have said 'let's get loaded and set shit on fire'.

Musically this was a winner but a few of the vox didn't quite gel with me.

Track 12: I hope this guy does get stabbed at the liquor store. Hopefully before this song is over. This sounds like a high school punk band's first song.

Track 13: I just kinda threw my hands up in exasperation.

Track 14: This starts out with someone calling this take 2. What the fuck did take 1 sound like?

At this point I can only hope these people are paying SNC to publicize their music for them.

Hah, turns out this is track 15. I wonder which of these two songs blended together.


Track 16: I didn't mind this as much as some of the other stuff because I just learned I was one step closer to the end. And in fairness, this is actually a decent piece of music with another atrocious singer caterwauling over it.

Track 17: At least this one sounds a bit different. This sounds like a song Beck would have written while he was learning to write songs. It's actually kinda cathcy and is probably the second best song on the mix thus far (although...)

Track 18: and we're back. After an offputting beginning this actually has some pretty cool rolling bass and drums. The singer isn't any good, obviously

Track 19: a somewhat interesting piece of music with an oddly catchy discordant bounce to it ruined by another shitty singer doing a vaguely spoken word thing over the music. It sucks.


are you kidding me? This song is 10 fucking minutes long. Why?

Track 20: This was one of the best tracks on here. The singer (a female) has a weak voice (in the sense that it strains and has no power) but it worked well for the song, which was charming in a way that felt like a spring that lingered long enough to make some mistakes, but none too serious.

Track 21: And then track 21 comes along to punish me for almost enjoying myself for a moment. This sucks in pretty much all the profoundly irritating ways almost everything prior has sucked. Bonus points for ending in as irritating a fashion as possible.

Track 22: Heavy song, sounds like a poor man's mid early 90s tool, but I like early 90s tool so lets see where this goes.

It went to the singer, who sounds like James Maynard Keenan if James Maynard Keenan didn't have very much talent. but to be fair, the band wasn't very good either.

well, overall (with a handful of exceptions) this was maybe the worst thing I've ever listened to. I wonder if this is how Heathen feels all the time.

I learned a few things from this mix, though.


1. I really hate the low-fi garage punk genre (or however you classify this stuff)

2. SNC has what may very well be the worst taste in vocalists of all time.




Thank you for sharing the mix. Hopefully you also take the time to comment on other people's stuff going forward.

I also do really hope some other people review this. I obviously despised it, but anything deserves a second opinion, especially since I knew going in this was not going to sit well with me. I'm quite curious to hear what some people may like about this stuff. Obviously there's an audience out there for this, or it wouldn't exist.

stip wrote:And somehow the bar gets lower still. Actually, this does have a fun little solo in it, but it is preceded by a guy with an exceptionally annoying voice deciding that what this song needs is the sound of him moaning for a while.

Are you sure you aren't listening to Ten?

I kid, I kid.

stip wrote:Where do you find these people?

Six out of the first eight were Australian.

I loved reading that review Stip, thanks for taking the time to stick with it.

When everyone is done I'd (honestly) really love to read why you chose those songs. You're obviously a very serious music fan, and I know the sheer volume of stuff you consume is staggering, so I'd like to see what I'm missing here.

I was about to listen to mix 3 today but fuck it, I'm heading straight to Mix 9. I'm intrigued.

For what it's worth, I'd try and stay current, and then catch up as you can.

Yep, good plan. There's one I know I'll be flying through....

Mix 9 snc
I'm at work so this isn't a deep review. It's hard not to check Stip's write up as I listen.

Spoiler: show

1 was nice. I want to hear more of these guys.
2 pretty awful though it has the charm of really pissing Stip off.
3 heard this in the 2014 thread. the vocals aren't my cuppa but this is a good tune.
4 nice enough but not for me.
5 good solid tune. I'll check out more of these guys.
6 I'd be interested to hear more of these guys just to confirm they chose to play this way. no thanks.
7 another lazy drawl aussie delivery. nice.
8 bit of a jesus and mary chain vibe in here, plus some great fuzzed keys. drags a bit.
9

damn work in the way brb sometime soon

I guess I don't have to guess on a mixmaker for this one, as SNC revealed himself.

Track one: Thee Oh Sees, whom I've heard of, but have never bothered to really check out. This is an alright tune, with a nice little drowsy, swaying vibe to it. I like the chiming single note guitar line that forms the song's backbone, and meshes so well with the tambourine-heavy backbeat. I don't mind the vocals, either, though they're not particularly strong.

Track two: The instrumental arrangements in this one aren't bad, but nothing to write home about, either. They're simply competent enough to get the job done, and not fuck anything up. Can't quite say the same about the singing, but this kind of garage punk is usually led by guys who either can't sing, or purposely refuse to (perhaps more likely, in a misguided attempt to be authentic). The repeating start-stop thing is pretty amusing, though. Like the band feels bad for the singer, and they keep trying to give him a break, but he won't give up.

Track three: This one's got a cool chugging rhythm and strong melody. Appropriately enough, we've got a deep-voiced singer who's doing a pretty passable homage to Ian Curtis, sounding quite a bit like Interpol's singer. Pretty good stuff that fits right in on a mix, playlist, or radio show.

Track four: Another one of RM's weird little lovefest's with barely competent female singers and/or the bands they front (sorry, I just don't quite get the appeal). At least this lady makes up for a lack in musical ability with a wonderful gift for witty, verbose lyricism.

Track five: An energetic indie rock tune that does nothing to really present itself with an interesting identity, but, again, fits in pretty well when shuffled in amongst a mix of other songs. I do like the unhinged screaming parts that are scattered about, though. A rare bit of passion in an otherwise okay tune.

Track six: I love oddly-tuned or de-tuned guitars, so there's a point in this one's favor. Another weaker vocalist, but it's not subtracting from the song. Nice touch at the end with the squalling violin, too. Very apropos. Not a bad song, by any means.

Track seven: Slowing things back down a bit for a slightly bluesy fuzz-rock song. It takes the lo-fi thing maybe a bit too far, but that could just be cheap recording. I guess my biggest criticism is that it could have been a shorter tune, which I only say when I really mean it. Otherwise, an alright effort.

Track eight: This one starts out with a synthesizer drone backed up by a simple beat and some detached vocals. The vocals are too repetitive, which gets annoying, but I do like the little MIDI melodies that turn up here and there. A murkey post-punk homage that's not terrible, but not remarkable either.

Track nine: Changing things up a bit by mostly abandoning any hint of a punk-rock style or ethos. Bluesy swagger is the rule of the day, on this one, with an appropriately gritty vocalist. Funny how Stip's got nothing bad to say about this guy, when his voice is on par with a number of singers presented so far, barring the fact that he sings in a more melodic style than many of the others.

Track ten: The Drunken Ramones? Joking aside, I see this one's a German band, which certainly explains why the vocals are indecipherable aside from the mush-mouth singing. Nothing to write home about here, as it's a pretty straight-up style piece.

Track eleven: Digging deeper down into the dirt with a blistering little bit of noisy punk that was probably recorded on a Walkman. There's shrill guitar feedback, and vocals that are too close to the mic, and nothing that catches my attention for the most part. A weak song on an otherwise okay mix so far.

Track twelve: This one's one of the Aussie bands, yeah? It sounds kind of like a whiny AC/DC mashed up with The Ramones or something. Is he singing about Space Ghost, or am I totally mishearing that? I do like the echo effects that start up halfway through. Beyond that, this one's disposable.

Track thirteen: The shortest song on the mix, which is good, 'cause it doesn't really do much of anything. Sort of thrashy, speedy garage punk that may have a female vocalist, though it's diffiuclt to tell.

Track fourteen: Here's where Stip failed to realize a new song had started, because this one sounds sort of like a variation on the prior tune. "Mummy, I'm Ugly," indeed. Again, nothing to note here, for me.

Track fifteen: This one's got an okay sense of melody to it that clashes with some of the production choices, like mixing the cymbals so high, or doing the vocals kind of like Brian Chippendale without Lightning Bolt's spastic sense of self.

Track sixteen: A rolling, rollicking straight-ahead rocker that is somewhat sabotaged by the vocalist. His vocals actually work okay in the verses, where his pitch is off, but the screechy, straining bits are kinda cringe-inducing at times. I like the jangly guitar tone; probably the best part of the song.

Track seventeen: And now we go to the beach, stylistically speaking. This one's a bit of a shocker, not so much because of the island pop style (it totally makes sense in context), but because it's actually pretty high fidelity. I think I like this one the most so far, since it hews closest to my own preferences.

Track eighteen: This one's pretty neat. I like the tape-warp-like effect that starts out the intro, and the rhythm section is really cool. I also find myself somewhat drawn to the singer's laid-back mumble, which makes the lyrics slightly more intriguing. Another highlight, here, I think.

Track nineteen: The Fall, eh? These guys are pretty iconic, I know that, but the whole atmosphere surrounding them, and especially Mark E. Smith is pretty off-putting, so I 'd never be able to pick them out without the track-listing already being given. Anyway, this isn't too bad. Again, the rhythm section is the strongest part of this group. The song itself is a kind of lazy, swaying piece that doesn't justify its length.

Track twenty: This one's a bit different. We've got a sleepy little indie-folk type song with a mumbly female vocalist, a prominent bass guitar, and some little chiming keyboard notes. It's kind of pretty, and I like how it fully accepts its lethargic style and doesn't try to front as something more ambitious.

Track twenty-one: Another one for the road. Is this song about moving to a new apartment? If so, that's absolutely awesome. Ah, nope, there's someone getting hit by a bus, so not as funny as I had hoped. Ah, well. I liked the idea of totally mundane lyrics contrasted against a discordant punk tune.

Track twenty-two: Here we are at the end of the mix. Stip compares this to Tool, and then fails to properly name Tool's singer, which is funny, because weren't they his favorite band for a while? Anyway, I like the slow heavy style present in this one. A little Googling shows me this band were once on Hydra Head, which totally makes sense, because they sound like a band that fits in with Isis and their ilk.

Overall, it's a difficult mix to sit through because of its length and focus on a slice of the musical pie that I don't particularly enjoy. Clearly, I got more out of this thing than Stip, though, which is nice. I'm not sure if I'll check out anything on here, though I am intrigued by Ovens. Good job, SNC.

god i love RM

OK, I owe a review or two. Gonna start with snc's. Gotta say up front that I have always found a lot to like in snc's tastes. Not that I get everything, but I've def. discovered a lot of good tunes at his recommendation. Of course that he's a champion of Aussie Indie doesn't hurt either.

I am also similar to him, as compared to a majority of this board, in my enjoyment of a vocal that's a bit left field. I often really enjoy vocalists that many straight out dislike. Song's gotta have chops of course, but a howler at the mic here and there is fine. I certainly usually prefer a singer with an interesting voice over one with a beautiful voice.

Track 1. I'm a fan of Thee Oh Sees, I included a track of theirs on my own mix. Nice.

Track 2 is Eddy Current Suppression Ring, a personal favourite. Here's a case in point to what I was just saying, I love Brendan Suppression as a front man. His vocals suit perfectly, and to me there's great joy in their stuff just as it is. I have a mix I made of these guys that is on regular rotation.

Here's a song that he 'sings' a little bit more, and the vid is cool, and yes, "the West is the best"



Track 3 - I like the bass to start, another distinctive voice. I like the vibe this has going on, a nice bit of pop. I like the mild sludginess of the guitars and the pacing just the right side of rockin'. This is great.

Track 4 - Courtney Barnett. I'm a fan, I like her double ep. I like Brett's phrase "wonderful gift for witty verbose lyricism". High praise indeed. Track 5 - change of pace here, this is ok. Fun song. Track 6 is a bit more into the garage punk thing we have going on over here. This isn't quite my thing. And fwiw this isn't a voice that I particularly enjoy, well, not on that song anyways.

Track 7 has a great guitar intro, and that bass is hell cool. 20 seconds in and I'm sold. Oh yeah - I have this album, can't remember the name though...just peeked - Scott and Charlene's Wedding. Named after arguably Australia's most iconic moment in our home grown tv. This is cool enough, I like what I've heard of these guys.

Track 8 fits the mix ongoing theme well enough, not a truck load going on but the beats are enough to keep me tapping my foot along. I'm fine with a bit of repetition when you're in a groove. By the end I was pretty into this, actually. Did you know that these are not the last days, by the way?

Track 9 - is off for a bit of down home Americana. This is OK. Inspired by Let Me Sleeps review of my own mix I stopped this tune a minute in and went and grabbed a beer. Sitting here now the tune absolutely does go better with a cold lager in hand. What wouldn't though? These guys would sit OK alongside Endless Boogie on a mixtape, and believe me that is strong praise from me.

Track 10 has sped it up again and we are in Germany! No doubt a current song celebrating the joy and national pride that comes from kicking Brasil's arse all over the soccer pitch! Track 11 is low fi. I can take this stuff in small doses but repeated listens aren't for me. I can however imagine my 15 year old self thinking it was awesome though. I like the start of Track 12, until the dude starts singing...this isn't a voice I can get behind. The guitar solo is alright but. Track 13 is also totally not my thing, music and lyrics both a miss. Nice and short though. Track 14 is almost exactly the same. Thankfully same length too.

I've always been partial to a bit of 'studio detritus' making its way onto recordings, so the "Take 2" to start Track 15 raised a smile. The vocals are way too muddy for my tastes though, and he steals an Ed Ved line there doesn't he? "Make me cry"? Track 16 is more along the same lines in that I have to work a bit to hard to get the vocal, and the music isn't enough by itself to elevate the song for me. Track 17 goes back to the more twee end of indie vocals. Unfortunately this is also not a vocal styling that I'm overly fond of. The previous vocal comments have been more production complaints, this is a style complaint though. The music's alright but overall this is forgetable.

Track 18 and this one I know from the vocalist - it's Protomartyr with the dude who sounds like Ian Curtis. Theirs is one of my favourite albums of the year so far, but this isn't from it I don't think. Great song though. Track 19 starts from somewhere totally different, but again has me drawn in from the very start. This vocalist actually really reminds me of an old West Aussie singer named Dave Warner who had a band "From the Suburbs". He was iconic in Perth in the 70's. Yeah, I like this a lot, vocal and music, and the nostalgia trip is a nice added bonus. This may be my favourite thing on the mix so far - that beat is just awesome. Oh I just realised - this must be the Fall song that Brett mentioned. I have always meant to look more into these guys, and now I shall. Seriously, that drum beat throughout this song is the best thing I've heard since hearing Skee Lo's I Wish when it was picked in the 90's tourney. Brilliant.

Track 20 is a strange transition, very clear and precise all of a sudden. Vocalist sounds familiar, but I've been listenning to a fair few Americana ladies lately. This is nice enough but nothing spectacular for me. Not certain how it sits on this mix, but I guess there's no rules about changing pace/style, perhaps it's more that the change is so late in the mix. No matter. Track 21 is jarringly back to where we were earlier in garage punk land. Not my thing this one. And on to Track 22, the final track. Off the bat I don't think this one is gonna grab me so much. Brett and stip both talked of the Tool comparisons and I've never been a fan of Tool or this style of music at all, although I will admit to being quite fond of Puscifer's Cuntry Boner, but I don't think that really even counts, does it? Anyways, for me this was a disappointing note to end the mix on, mainly because I'd enjoyed the mix so much and was hoping for a more satisfying closer.

I loved this mix - cheers snc. There's a few things I def. want to check out and will. This one will be going onto the car usb for the next month's rotation (so my wife will be able to provide a review that I'd guess would have much the same sentiment as stip's).

I think this is my favourite mix so far.

Brett wrote: Track twenty-two: Here we are at the end of the mix. Stip compares this to Tool, and then fails to properly name Tool's singer, which is funny, because weren't they his favorite band for a while?

I wasn't really sure where I was by the end