Tragedy has befallen the Sunday Jamz kingdom. Sam was afflicted with the corruption of his hard-drive and, as a result, lost all of the audio and video files for the next podcast installment. So, this week's installment will be an old-fashioned blog post.
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Moving on, if this is your first time reading our blog, me, Joe and Sam share a song with one another on a Sunday, a song which has dominated the listening-time of our weeks, and then we all comment on it.
Here is the Spotify link to the playlist which accompanies this activity. It has every song selection from the three of us from the first time we did this. The order is as follows: Joe's song, my song, Sam's song.
The playlist: sunday jamz
Without further ado, here are the songs. Complete with all the colloquialisms of our infantile Facebook Messenger writing styles.
Joe's song:
Ghost - Majesty
Joe's song:
Ghost - Majesty
Sam: "Ghost
are one of my favourite modern metal acts. Not only are they a group
that provide solid musicianship and enjoyable songwriting but I love
their campy theatrical aesthetic too, which is even better
experienced at a live show. Whilst I've described Ghost as a metal
act, one of my favourite things about them is their ability to craft
a metal track with the same catchiness and enjoyment that you might
feel whilst listening to a good pop track. Think, "Don't Fear
the Reaper", with further satanic overtones and you've got some
idea of what Ghost are. Unsurprisingly then, I like the track,
'Majesty', and the album it's off, 'Meliora', which I think is
Ghost's most consistent output to date. I like the use of organs in
the opening section of the track, it succinctly establishes the
seance-esque atmosphere which is carried on throughout the track,
mostly in part to Papa Emritus' vocals who sounds aptly menacing
whilst expressing how much his character loves Satan. This isn't the
most grandiose, in terms of spectacle, Ghost can be nor is it the
most catchy and thus it isn't one of my favourites from the album, or
from Ghost in general, but I still like it all the same."
Shak: "I
think in this song they become much more oriented on things like the
riff and the instrumentation than what you expect from old-school,
classic Ghost, which i'd say is indicative of quite a bit of the
album. They also upped the complexity; this song almost borders on
having progressive tendencies. The guitars and instruments are
soaring with power and glamour, and as a standalone element that can
be very nice and very enjoyable, but alongside the general Ghost
ethos, the vocals, the atmosphere, it doesn't suit well to me, the
elaborate solo for instance. It feels like they've gone traditional
and have sacrificed a bit of their uniqueness. So i'd like to allude
to Monstrance Clock, a song I consider to be a real masterpiece and
an apex point in Ghost's career. The instrument section is much more
under-pronounced, and isn't trying to rise above the atmosphere but
fitting perfectly into it. Even the solo in it isn't overly complex,
isn't domineering or demanding centre attention. It's here where I
think Ghost succeeds. This new spectacular, extravagant sound I think
just hinders that atmosphere they so uniquely created through
blending timid, subtle metal with the melancholic voice."
Joe: "The song features big booming classic rock riffs, accompanied with organs and rolling hi-hates to create a massive feel. Eventually the chuggy riff comes in, very headbangable - with little noodle-y tangents that it goes off on, quite similar to Opeth's riffs. The song features Ghost's signature spooky vocals, thin and sinister devilish lyrics,and a sick chorus that eventually branches into a really evil sounding solo. This is an amazing live song too, very epic when joined with all the Ghost costumes and theatrics."
Joe: "The song features big booming classic rock riffs, accompanied with organs and rolling hi-hates to create a massive feel. Eventually the chuggy riff comes in, very headbangable - with little noodle-y tangents that it goes off on, quite similar to Opeth's riffs. The song features Ghost's signature spooky vocals, thin and sinister devilish lyrics,and a sick chorus that eventually branches into a really evil sounding solo. This is an amazing live song too, very epic when joined with all the Ghost costumes and theatrics."
Joe: "Sick
crunchy drums with what sound like funky string samples - sick vocal
samples too that sound all mysterious and thin, stretched over the
tight framework of the beat. The instrumental reminds me of something
off recent Thom Yorke projects. Later on, the pitchshifting bit is
sick, deep bass drum and sharp icy highhats and the vocal acts as
part of the instrumental. Then the WUB WUB bass comes in, sounds huge
and crushing. Then the abrupt end, which definitely left me
definitely wanting more."
Sam: "I'm not huge into vaporwave, though I did like Blank Banshee's track 'Teen Pregnancy', from the same album. I'm pretty mixed on this one, though. I like the first half, I think the rhythm section is pretty funky, pretty JAMMY, and I like the way the vocals contrast to this, with their spooky reverb and distortion creating a sonic atmosphere that would easily translate to a vaporwave vid. Second half of the track is where things fall off a bit for me, I like the shift to a trap-esque drum sound and the bass modulation is cool but the sample played over the top of that kind of annoyed me."
Shak: "Incredibly infectious bass line, the drum sound compliments it. An interesting fusion actually, the bassline and vocal samples sound quite old school, funk/disco-esque, the drums on the other hand sound very much like drum loops from modern rap. Around halfway through the track it switches up with the creepy, warped, looping, echoing vocals, these non-descript moans that shift in pitch constantly. Then beneath that, the trap comes in. I think what is so appealing about this bit, and more generally with Blank Banshee 0 is that, he fuses this fascinating pheneomena of the creepy vaporwave style with something rhythmic, immediately modern and accessible, the second half of this song absolutely embodies that."
Sam's song:
Brian Eno - Sky Saw
Shak: "This is a song and album I am already a big fan of. Love the bassline in the intro, and whaling, distorted guitar over it. The intro to this song, and contextually, the intro to the album, is always something I have been a fan of. Then around the minute mark, the distortion ups and it gets really off-the-wall. The manipulated, whining vocals remind me of The Residents, I think this track must have influenced them. And then those haunting violins to take us out. This song, although not the best on the album imo, and definitely not the most accessible, is a brilliant beginning to such an interesting album. And, in and of itself, is a great piece of experimentation with sound. I'm sure one would expect no less from Eno."
Joe: "Love
the funky bassy intro, jazzy drums and bass. The organ keys and
metallic synth over the top makes for a HUGE contrast, sounds like
some kind of mecha-Godzilla m8. Then comes more abstract synth over
the top, gradually descending, that gives a kinda uneasy sound like
OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW. Sam definitely thought he'd stray away from the
safe picks this week. Vocals kinda killed the feel a bit, very out of
place - however, the instrumental from the beginning that continues
to develop kept me interested. I'm glad there wasn't much of the
vocals overall. Violin comes in towards the end and sounds really
good, cutting through everything else and adding to the kinda
abstract eclectic mix - however, maybe it got a bit too much? Wasn't
huge on it, but i liked what it was doing and i appreciate the
experimental angle."
Sam: "I first listened to Brian Eno, consciously, when I was searching for relaxing music to help me sleep and I came across his '83 album, Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks. I've returned to that album many times since, not only to help me sleep, but I think some of the tracks on that album are simply beautiful, namely "An Ending (Ascent)." His other ambient works, such as "Music for Airports" are also worth checking out. So, I thought it was finally time to explore his non-ambient works, so I decided to check out "Another Green World." The jam going on behind that omnipresent guitar is interesting enough but MAN THAT GUITAR TONE. I love the weird warped solo that Eno breaks into about a third into the track. Not sure how I feel about the lyrics, but I think the effect achieved with the simultaneous verses is certainly interesting. Following that, I love the addition of the violins following that."
Sam: "I'm not huge into vaporwave, though I did like Blank Banshee's track 'Teen Pregnancy', from the same album. I'm pretty mixed on this one, though. I like the first half, I think the rhythm section is pretty funky, pretty JAMMY, and I like the way the vocals contrast to this, with their spooky reverb and distortion creating a sonic atmosphere that would easily translate to a vaporwave vid. Second half of the track is where things fall off a bit for me, I like the shift to a trap-esque drum sound and the bass modulation is cool but the sample played over the top of that kind of annoyed me."
Shak: "Incredibly infectious bass line, the drum sound compliments it. An interesting fusion actually, the bassline and vocal samples sound quite old school, funk/disco-esque, the drums on the other hand sound very much like drum loops from modern rap. Around halfway through the track it switches up with the creepy, warped, looping, echoing vocals, these non-descript moans that shift in pitch constantly. Then beneath that, the trap comes in. I think what is so appealing about this bit, and more generally with Blank Banshee 0 is that, he fuses this fascinating pheneomena of the creepy vaporwave style with something rhythmic, immediately modern and accessible, the second half of this song absolutely embodies that."
Sam's song:
Brian Eno - Sky Saw
Shak: "This is a song and album I am already a big fan of. Love the bassline in the intro, and whaling, distorted guitar over it. The intro to this song, and contextually, the intro to the album, is always something I have been a fan of. Then around the minute mark, the distortion ups and it gets really off-the-wall. The manipulated, whining vocals remind me of The Residents, I think this track must have influenced them. And then those haunting violins to take us out. This song, although not the best on the album imo, and definitely not the most accessible, is a brilliant beginning to such an interesting album. And, in and of itself, is a great piece of experimentation with sound. I'm sure one would expect no less from Eno."
Sam: "I first listened to Brian Eno, consciously, when I was searching for relaxing music to help me sleep and I came across his '83 album, Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks. I've returned to that album many times since, not only to help me sleep, but I think some of the tracks on that album are simply beautiful, namely "An Ending (Ascent)." His other ambient works, such as "Music for Airports" are also worth checking out. So, I thought it was finally time to explore his non-ambient works, so I decided to check out "Another Green World." The jam going on behind that omnipresent guitar is interesting enough but MAN THAT GUITAR TONE. I love the weird warped solo that Eno breaks into about a third into the track. Not sure how I feel about the lyrics, but I think the effect achieved with the simultaneous verses is certainly interesting. Following that, I love the addition of the violins following that."
That's it. What did you think of the songs?
What have you been listening to this week?
Make sure to tune in next week for the return of the Podcast-Video.
Make sure to tune in next week for the return of the Podcast-Video.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Follow our listening habits in full at:
last.fm/user/DreadAlert1 - Joe
Disclaimer: We are not professional reviewers. Do not hold us to a high standard.
