WEEKLY ALBUM RECAP #16 -- like and subscribe if you crode

YOU'VE BEEN INVITED TO THE TOWN PLAY!

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TOMODACHI LIFE LIVING THE DREAM #LIKEANDSUBSCRIBE IF THIS MADE YOU CRY

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going through my backlog yeah yeah u know the drill. sowwy this one's late i was away all weekend

the tom waits-ing continues and this is wrapping up the early era

as a refresher - italicized tracks are interludes, bolded tracks are my standouts (a.k.a. a 4.5 or higher),  a ★ indicates my favorite song, and an × indicates my least favorite song

(p.s. clicking on an album cover it'll take you to some more info about the album on rateyourmusic)

i present my rating system, THE SANDWICH SCALE

★★★★★ - toasted meatball sub / all-timer

★★★★½ - taylor ham egg and cheese / love

★★★★ - loaded with toppings / great

★★★½ - a nice flatbread / might order again if i'm in the mood

★★★ - a little soggy / average + good moments

★★½ - a little dry / average + boring

★★ - untoasted subway flatbread / pretty bad, mediocre at best

★½ - where are my toppings / quite bad

★ - finding an onion when i ordered no onion / all-time stinker

½ - peppers / i really fucking hate peppers

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DA WEEK Was I Good Enough? - The Body & Intensive Care | 2025

industrial metal | drone metal | death industrial

★★★★

i'm not a big metal guy but i find that i enjoy pretty much anything industrial and i did enjoy this. Was I Good Enough? trudges along at its own pace while feeling like it's caving in on you, giving you very little room to breathe. it's unapologetic and dense, especially the closer Mandelbrot Anamnesis, a 10 minute masterpiece that turns into a massive unwavering wall of sound before coming to a halt and ending on one droning note.

for the one guy who's listened to gy!be or something and wished they made metal

      tracklist

1. Mistakes Have Been Made
2. Swallowed by the God
3. The Misunderstanding
4. At Death's Door
5. The Riderless Mount ×
6. Cartography of Suffering
7. Unwanted
8. Mandelbrot Anamnesis ★

Long Play - Enon | 1998

indietronica | downtempo | plunderphonics

★★★

enon is one of my favorite bands ever and yet their two albums not on streaming have continued to escape me. Long Play was the first enon album, from when enon was still just a john schmersal solo project. it's pretty much just instrumentals, but they're solid enough. Rubber Car ended up getting finished and used on Believo!, but that's the worst enon album so. being that this is from that same era, these are in the more avant-garde noisy sound of Believo!, meaning i think they're Alright and you aren't missing anything by skipping this one. some of these are neat though, i actually quite liked a few of these.

for people who only use mp3 players

      tracklist

1. Refreshment Pavilion Theme ★
2. The Hatching ×
3. Inches
4. Rougher 'N Hell
5. Rubber Car
6. In the Bay
7. Much Sorrow
8. Tender Villains
9. Return to the Planet or the Apes
10. Bear Bear
11. Detective Goono Czech Theme
12. Tile Basin
13. Midnight Rambler

God's Trashmen Sent Right to the Mess - Fievel Is Glaque | 2021

jazz pop | progressive pop

★★★

this is 20 tracks and only 34 minutes. you can probably see where i'm going with this

all of these songs fly by, mostly due to the fact they're all like a minute and a half long. while i didn't actively dislike anything i heard, it's all actually very cute and charming, but i had a hard time just keeping track of where i was. there wasn't enough variation between songs for me to be like Ah yes this is a new song that I'm listening to, and so they all kind of blend together. there is a time and place and audience for albums like this that are just like "blink and you'll miss it" but i really would've liked to hear these songs be longer because like i said i really was charmed

for people who have an etsy shop

      tracklist

1. "The Perfect Idiot"
2. "Bring Me to Silence"
3. "Decoy"
4. "Hit Me Now"
   
5. "Simple Affairs"
6. "Sweet Tooth" ×
7. "We're Lost"
8. "The Dream Team"
9. "The Ancient Cause"
10. "Stormy Weather"
11. "No Writing"
    
12. "Rain Down"
13. "Unfinding"
14. "About Face"
15. "Go Down Softly"
16. "Goodbye"
17. "Crooks Like Children" ★
18. "Past Life"
19. "Mr. Nice"
    
20. "No Title"

Shinbagumi - Ginger Root | 2024

hypnagogic pop | synth funk

★★★½

i'm not entirely sure why i never got to this when it came out, but my friend has just discovered and is in love with ginger root and i figured i might as well. immediately what i noticed was just the amount of personality and passion oozing out of this. Shinbagumi is incredibly charming and quite frankly adorable, you can really feel the amount of love put into it. there's nothing necessarily astounding or mindblowing to be heard, but this is the epitome of "turn it on and just groove" music

for a white boy looking to catch a vibe

 

      tracklist

1. Welcome
2. No Problems ★
3. Better Than Monday ×
4. There Was a Time
5. All Night
6. CM
7. Only You
8. Kaze
9. Giddy Up
10. Think Cool
11. Show 10
12. Take Me Back (Owakare no jikan)

Everything Harmony - The Lemon Twigs | 2023

soft rock | pop rock | baroque pop

★★★

my biggest worry was that this was gonna be a snoozefest and i'm glad to have been wrong (for the most part). the lemon twigs wear their 60s/70s influences on their sleeve, creating such a warm and inviting atmosphere. this album is the sonic equivalent of like. being a little kid and your mom comforting you after you trip and scrape your knee. that being said, there are still some really boring songs that felt like a chore to get through. Everything Harmony starts off pretty strong but progressively loses the touch that made the beginning good. while there's a few good songs sprinkled in the middle (mostly just What Happens to a Heart), it doesn't make up for the boring moments.

for a chill guy who lowkey dgaf

      tracklist

1. When Winter Comes Around
2. In My Head
3. Corner of My Mind
4. Any Time of Day
   
5. What You Were Doing
6. I Don't Belong to Me
7. Every Day Is the Worst Day of My Life ×
8. What Happens to a Heart ★
9. Still It's Not Enough
10. Born to Be Lonely
11. Ghost Run Free
12. Everything Harmony
13. New to Me

Showbiz! - MIKE | 2025

abstract hip hop

★★★½

i had every intention of listening to this when it came out and then I Didn't. Showbiz! does right what i felt like God's Trashmen Sent Right to the Mess didn't. both albums are a collection of very short songs, but God's Trashmen had pretty much no variation in its songs, making it sort of melt together in to one... thing. on the other hand, Showbiz! does an excellent job at keeping each song distinct, which makes it a much more appealing and enjoyable album experience. i really like mike's voice, he glides over these beats, they compliment each other well and it's very satisfying to listen to. speaking of the beats, they're mostly just short loops that keep it fairly minimalist. but for what this album is, they work perfectly. naturally any album that's 24 songs isn't gonna be incredible 100% throughout, there were a few that i thought were kinda boring, but the overwhelming majority of these tracks are quality stuff which for the amount of them there is is quite an achievement

NOT for playing chess in the pit

      tracklist

1. Bear Trap
2. Clown of the Class (Work Harder)
3. Then We Could Be Free..
4. Watered Down
5. Man in the Mirror
6. Artist of the Century
7. What U Bouta Do? / A Star Was Born
8. Belly 1
9. Da Roc
10. The Weight (2k20)
11. Lost Scribe
12. You're the Only One Watching
13. Lucky
14. #82
15. Too Hot (Interlude)
    
16. Pieces of a Dream
17. Strange Feeling ★
18. Zombie Pt. 2
19. Burning House
20. Showbiz! (Intro)
21. Spun Out ×
22. Miss U
    
23. When It Rains
24. Diamond Dancing (Broke)

He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms... - A Silver Mt. Zion | 2000

post-rock | modern classical | chamber music

★★★★

for how much i enjoy godspeed you black emperor, i'm surprised it took me this long to listen to this. and i'm mad that it took me this long because this album is hauntingly beautiful. it's unfortunate that 13 Angels... has been turned into Look At This Creepy Video background music because it is legitimately one of the beautiful things to come from gy!be in any proximity. albums like this are what make me understand why people love classical. For Wanda being a dedication to efrim's dog that died while gy!be was on tour really got me. what the hell man

for Creepy.org

 

      tracklist

1. Broken Chords Can Sing a Little ×
2. Sit in the Middle of Three Galloping Dogs
3. Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning ★
4. Movie (Never Made)
5. 13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed
6. Long March Rocket or Doomed Airliner
7. Blown-Out Joy From Heaven's Mercied Hole
8. For Wanda

Here's Where the Strings Come In - Superchunk | 1995

slacker rock | indie rock | noise pop

★★½

my dad sent this to me and i was bored and went yeah why not. the vocals are REALLY annoying, not always in a good way, but they are fitting. otherwise it's fairly standard 90s slacker rock/noise pop. serviceable, the instrumentals are well done and catchy, but it doesn't really have anything to make it stand out. it never reaches the energy that it feels like it should, and i really cannot stress enough how annoying the vocals are at times. Here's Where the Strings Come In doesn't quite hold up to the test of time. while it probably would've been more enjoyable if it was 30 years ago, unfortunately it's 2025 and this album feels really dated and bland. it does still have its moments though, most notably the run of Sunshine State, Detroit Has a Skyline, and Eastern Terminal is pretty good

for dads

      tracklist

1. Hyper Enough
2. Silverleaf and Snowy Tears
3. Yeah, It's Beautiful Here Too ×
4. Iron On
5. Sunshine State ★
6. Detroit Has a Skyline
7. Eastern Terminal
8. Animated Airplanes Over Germany
9. Green Flowers, Blue Fish
10. Here's Where the Strings Come In
11. Certain Stars

0 - 青葉市子 [Ichiko Aoba] | 2013

contemporary folk | singer-songwriter

★★★★

i was motivated to finally listen to ichiko aoba thanks to her releasing a new album... she's another one that i'm not really sure why i never got to but i'm glad i finally did. 0 is a very charming and captivating album. while i obviously can't speak on the lyricism, ichiko aoba does a masterful job at creating a lovely and intimate atmosphere with little more than just a guitar and her voice as she wanders aimlessly from one melody to the next. saw someone describe it as one big ballad and i think that's a perfect description. this album feels so human - the perfect example of less is more, it's deceptively simple at first.

for wallowing in your own sorrow

      tracklist

1. いきのこり●ぼくら
2. i am POD (0%)
3. Mars 2027 ★
4. いりぐちでぐち
5. うたのけはい ×
6. 機械仕掛乃宇宙
7. 四月の支度
8. はるなつあきふゆ

Luminescent Creatures - 青葉市子 [Ichiko Aoba] | 2025

singer-songwriter | chamber folk

★★★½

immediately, quite a different atmosphere from 0. still just as minimal in its instrumentation, but Luminescent Creatures takes on a more glittery and immediately beautiful atmosphere, which compliments aoba's still soft vocals nicely. i wasn't as instantly captivated and i didn't find it as interesting as 0, but i think they encapsulate two different vibes. Luminescent Creatures i think is much more of a meditative experience, very peaceful and calming, a vibe that is in part brought on by the fact that these tracks are much more piano and string driven. it's also much shorter and more tightly structured, which does it favors in terms of pacing but in my opinion in doing so loses some of the intimacy factor and diy feel that made 0 so special. 0 is aoba sitting in an empty field with a guitar, Luminescent Creatures is aoba sinking into the ocean surrounded by the aforementioned luminescent creatues.

for staring out of a train window

      tracklist

1. Coloratura
2. 24°3′27.0″N, 123°47′7.5″E
3. Mazamun ×
4. Tower
5. Aurora
6. Flag
7. Cochlea
8. Luciférine ★
9. Pirsomnia
10. Sonar
11. 惑星の泪

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I FUCKING LOVE TOM WAITS (cont.)

Foreign Affairs - Tom Waits | 1977

singer-songwriter

★★★

the lowest rated (non soundtrack) tom waits album, but hey man it's still tom waits. basically just a more boring version of Small Change, which is to say it's really not that bad but it's missing the oomph that his first 3 albums had that made them stand out.

just listen to Small Changes

      tracklist

1. Cinny's Waltz
2. Muriel
3. I Never Talk to Strangers
4. Medley: Jack & Neal / California, Here I Come ×
5. A Sight for Sore Eyes
6. Potter's Field ★
7. Burma-Shave
8. Barber Shop
9. Foreign Affair

Blue Valentine - Tom Waits | 1978

singer-songwriter

★★★★

Blue Valentine takes the step of introducing more electric instruments into the mix, with the guitars adding a nice extra flavor. otherwise, we're still in the jazzy era, and this is just more of that with some extras. but it's more of a great thing, so i'm not complaining.

can you tell i'm running out of things to say about the jazz albums

      tracklist

1. Somewhere (From "West Side Story") ×
   
2. Red Shoes by the Drug Store
3. Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
4. Romeo Is Bleeding ★
5. $29.00
6. Wrong Side of the Road
7. Whistlin' Past the Graveyard
8. Kentucky Avenue
9. A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun
10. Blue Valentines

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remember that if you have any suggestions for albums i should check out, you can leave them here!

thanks for reading (´ ω `♡)