music blog ♪ #17

heyyyyy ily. let me know if you like anything or if I was Pol Pot in a past life like my OCD basically tells me. I live this life like I'm trying to atone for those sins.

diagram brothers - some marvels of modern science + singles (1980)
genre: post punk, art punk
FFO: dow jones & the industrials, the dancing cigarettes
rating: 10/10

I would call this collection conscious but not too political like some hardcore punk can be. the offbeat humor really reminds me of gulcher records garage/synth punk outfit dow jones & the industrials, one of my favorites OAT... however diagram brothers lean more true to form of post-punk with their atonal almost no wave guitars and driving percussion. they were signed to New Hormones, a label founded by buzzcocks which I looked into and didn't find a whole bunch to my liking. that is to say it was not bad, just didn't excite me. songs I would recommend: words from major, bikers, my bad chest feels much better, neutron bombs

addison rae - addison (2025)
genre: dance pop, hypnagogic pop
FFO: true blue, FKA Twigs
rating: 8/10

it's like if lana del rey had a go at hypnagogic pop- kind of lukewarm one way or another but you can still see the vision and her style shows through on every song. there was a clear vision here. it's also like if ashlee simpson had a baby with imogen heap, like they really took the dido thing and ran with it in terms of production, but with a 2000's pop diva twist. whoever worked on "X" by kylie could have done something here, and I think that's what they were  going for. so clearly they achieved their artistic vision. it's lacking texture at times compared to the artists she derives influence from, but you can't expect a lot of experimentalism on a record like this. in this economy?! ;o; also I compared her to lana earlier, she definitely adopts that style of whisper singing that was popularized by lana del rey in the tumblr days, like the selena gomez release from earlier this year. (that one kind of sucked, that's why I didn't review it). I am excited to experience more of addison's vision and I hope they go in a new direction musically, however I felt like the 2000's pop thing was poignant for its position on the timeline of modern releases. one more thing I will say is that indie musicians have been doing this for about a decade so it's kind of old to me, but whatever. songs I would recommend: all the singles for sure... times like these, high fashion, money is everything

sneaker pimps - becoming X (1996)
genre: trip hop, alternative dance
FFO: massive attack, portishead
rating: 8/10

reminiscent of other trip hop acts of the 90's with its lonesome barren west trippy sound that hops along in a chill manner, with the added bonus of a strong female lead. I don't have much to say as I'm not super familiar with many acts in this genre aside from the hits, but it feels like chilling in an airport lounge/cafe. or that geico commercial with the caveman and the royksopp song hehe. songs I would recommend: 6 underground, roll on, walking zero, post-modern sleaze.

scorpions - taken by force (1977)
genre: heavy metal, rock
FFO: thin lizzy, black sabbath, motorhead
rating: 7/10

I am reviewing this album because it was one of the top rated heavy metal albums from the 1970's as catalogued on rateyourmusic, and because I really REALLY love thin lizzy and was looking for more similar to that. again, this is not a genre I'm super acquainted with however there are some heavy hitters I've encountered in my time diving into music. I get why, but it feels kind of silly to call music like this "heavy metal" if you are not familiar with the genre. obviously what they were doing at the time was groundbreaking and gave the ladies the vapors, but it just tends to be melodic with rocking rolling guitars. but they did dress the part as pointed out by someone on here on one of my bulletins, lmfao. love that shit. there are two ballads on the album which get a thumbs down from me, just not my tempo. songs I would recommend: the riot of your time, he's a woman-- she's a man, midnight blues.

lololol hehe just dicking around this week. I found some stuff came out of me as I was transcribing this... and that was fun. I need to get back to writing poetry and shit cause I feel like I'm losing it creatively - too much phone time x.o thanks for reading and if you liked anything about this or even me please let me know because I am very very lonely <3