It's Brat summerrr everyone!
I feel as I might be a bit late to be reviewing this, but fuck it, everything is so fast anyways that you'll always be late no matter what.
For those who aren't chronically online or just aren't up with this part of music. BRAT is Charli XCX's sixth album, which got very popular before even being released because of its cover and all marketing over it.Last year, I heard Charli's full discography and most of songs weren't really my type since I'm usually not a fan of most things from PC Music, so I was already expecting something like that. However, because of BRAT's huge popularity and acclaim, I just decided to give a chance and it was worth it!I considered myself a hyperpop fan in the middle of the pandemic because I was listening to a lot of Dorian Electra, 100 Gecs and Slayyyter (I miss her self-titled sm); but as time passed by, I couldn't find anything that could fit my taste, and all those songs made by weird kids putting gorey themes on it and songs that couldn't last for more than two minutes and couldn't lead me to anywhere just distanced me from the genre.But well, most of BRAT's songs fit my taste! There's that big feeling of excitement on it that is well used, at the same time, giving space to calmer moments when necessary (I love when hyperpop albums can share this duality). The electronic, hyperpop and house elements made a great mix together.The lyrics also play an important part in feeling a connection to the artist while listening to it (this is something that I find extremely important that lots of artists lack!). Here, Charli exposes her thoughts on future and insecurities, such as being jealous, being the reason of jealously, grief, relationships, future decisions and expectations and her as a famous artist. Lyrics about partying weren't the majority of songs to my surprise, but wouldn't be a problem if they were.So now I got why everybody was so invested on it, BRAT is a great album that can be enjoyed not only by its instrumentals, but also by how Charli's lyrics make very clear about how she can be imperfect and confident sometimes, just like anyone. This is what is truly art, being able to expose youself to everybody for the sake of art is beautiful, and is one of the elements that make art worth being made and enjoyed.
Have you ever thought what would be like if someone decided do mix japanese idols with hyperpop? me neither, but someone else did, here's PinPonPanPon.PinPonPanPon is a japanese idol/hyperpop group composed by members Hime, Domenatsu and Miku, with STARKIDS'S (another japanese hyperpop group, but not into the idol thing) Spaceboy as their producer. The group is still very recent, having their first releases from last December. somewhere in the middle of January they popped up on my Youtube reccomendations with the music video for PinPonDash, and I immediately became a stan, I guess, I loved this song very badly and since then I started to listen to their other songs and watch their vlogs.
Besides calling themselves an idol group, they don't look and act as your average J-Idol, they don't take themselves very seriously and it makes look like they are just there having fun with their nonsense lyrics and silly vlogs, everything feels more natural.
Ok now let's talk about the music. All songs are focused on the hyperpop genre, so be prepared to handle with the use of autotune here. The first and third tracks "PinPonPanPon Youkoso!" and "Point P", the noisiest and most chaotic ones, might not be that good for a first time listener, but trust me, if you are familiar with the genre, "Point P" gets better by the time.The other tracks (SOYJOY, Bistro Magic Cooking Gyaru and PinPonDash) really have that internet sound, like if all electricity cables and wireless connection were converted to a MP3 format, they are also more accessible for those who aren't that much into noise music imo, "SOYJOY" is a silly song about really liking this specific japanese snack that goes by the same name, "Bistro Magic Cooking Gyaru" is a song that makes me kind of curious what could be about since there are no lyrics on the internet to be translated, but is still enjoyable with its slightly melancholic beat, and lastly, there's "PinPonDash", a dancing song with a music video that fits well its energy, probably my favourite one from here, it's just a shame that all songs here last less than 3 minutes.I'd like to thank everyone who read until here and went through all the mess that I wrote, It's been some months since I last wrote here, so I'm still out of shape, but thank you again.Favourite tracks: "Magic Bistro Cooking Gyaru" and "PinPonDash"
Brazil mentioned? Yes, Brazil mentioned! Well, I don't know how to start, I can't even remember how I found this band, maybe it was at a site focused on the brazilian metal/rock/alt scene, I recently have been cleaning my bookmarks on LastFM and found this single saved more than a year ago, since I didn't have anything to do, I listened to it, and it was a great experience. There are only three tracks here, so I'll be commenting each one.I couldn't find much about the band besides being an indie/post/gazer band from São Paulo, as it is said on their Spotify profile, they also haven't posted anything in their social media for months, so I have no idea if they have disbanded or are on hiatus, their works were only released in 2022 and 2020, being this single and two more singles.Track 1 - Não Há Paz
The opening track begins with a calm guitar and vocals for a minute, until the weight of the instrumentals hit us, it gets calmer again until the distorted guitars hit us once more, forming what I consider to be the best part of the song. The lyrics here talk about lost days, memories of a time that was spent with someone you are no longer with, the verses are simple and repetitive, but well written enough to be apreciated.Track 2 - Satisfez
Probably my favourite song from this single, I really enjoy this type of instrumental in shoegaze and the guitars here are pretty cool, I don't have much to say even though it's the one I liked the most. The lyrics continue talking about the passage of time and trying to not look at a past you couldn't change.Track 3 - Escuro
This is the last track and the one I liked the least, it's way calmer than the other two tracks, there isn't much to say here, but I think it was a good choice as a closing track, I also couldn't understand the lyrics.And that was it! I don't know if anyone here will listen to, but if someone does and like this single, I would also like to reccomend the EP "Nada Mais Restará" from the band Eliminadorzinho.
I'm a big fan of red Velvet's work, it wasn't my intention but I think I ended up getting too excited writing here, SM Entertainment constantly makes me think that they will disband since they don't get the promotion they deserve nowadays and the rumors are always there, so I hope you understand my happiness here in knowing that this group sometimes can get what they deserve. i hope it doesn't bother you my fangirl moment here.After a year without any releases (besides Seulgi's solo EP) we finally got something! And a full album! Can I get an amen?Red Velvet's third album "Chill Kill" is presented to us with a light horror theme, as it can be seem in the music video of the title track and a few tracks.Now talking about the title track, I hated it a lot, I can't stand this trend in recent kpop songs where it starts with a decent structure just so they can make the chorus a lazy drop. Ok, it was fun at the beginning and there are songs where this thing work, but it just became so annoying when everybody started doing it and forgot about the REAL music that was taught to us by 2nd and 3rd gen groups.
Maybe I got a bit heated here, but the thing is, Chill Kill's drop is so bad, along with all the noise that plays during it, it just became something lazy when it compares to everything that Red Velvet have released so far, at least they didn't forget about the group's unique sound while making it.But lucky me! There was only a bad track in this album. The other 9 tracks are the REAL Red Velvet. It is given to us tracks with a cuter concept, wonderful ballads and chilling moments. I'm more a fan of their upbeat songs, but I didn't even notice their lack here, every track is flawless.The only problem I can point here is how short is this album, it is only 30 minutes long and I wanted to hear so much more in this style. Their last EP was kind of meh, so it makes me glad to see that this album subverted my expectations. It was a truly enjoyable listen, one of my favourite releases of the year for sure.Favourite tracks: "Underwater", "Will I Ever See You Again?", "Iced Coffee" and "Wings"
Giving a quick thanks to my great friend Mari who recommended me PLASTICZOOMS' music, now go check her site!PLASTICZOOMS is a darkwave/gothic/post-punk band from Japan, having 2009's "CHARM" as their first album, and with half of the songs being remixes from artists from the post-punk, experimental and alternative scene. It surely became one of my favourite discoveries from this year and a very enjoyable experience.CHARM's sonority is a mix between post-punk and gothic vocals along with instrumentals that don't leave a place to rest, I was vibing all the time at my first listen! Some remixes may be seen as boring or repetitive compared to the band's original songs since it's more focused in being atmospheric, but I liked anyways.And it doesn't mean that the remixes are bad! For example, my favorite song from this album ended up being Ulterior's remix of "The Sonnets", and I had to give a special place here since I loved it so much. It's mostly industrial/electronic (I don't know how to distinguish shit) and gothic at the beginning, but when the chorus hits and the electronic parts get their spotlight, is so... satisfacting, it feels like I'm ascending haha.Favourite tracks: "The Sonnets (Ulterior Remix)", "Love" and "The Shadow"
It's funny how i quickly became obsessed with Avenged Sevenfold, I literally saw a tribute band last Saturday and know I'm devouring each album from their discography. I'm a sucker for songs with melodic choruses and keyboards/synths so I guess I found a good band to be listening to for the next few weeks!"City of Evil" is A7x's third studio album, released in 2005.
I think that the band members are really great in what they do, the instrumentals do an awesome job in providing the dramatic feel that their songs transmit. At first listen I didn't like it a lot, it sounded like a forgettable mess inspired by power metal bands, but after relistening some songs later, I can say now that I enjoy the fast guitars and melodic vocals!
M. Shadows is a good lyricist in addition! My favourite examples in this record might be "Beast and The Harlot" and "Seize The Day", it helps a lot to create the theatrical atmosphere from their compositions by telling stories, creating characters and expressing feelings; he's also a good vocalist in my opinion.
I've already listened to their next album "Avenged Sevenfold", which half of the songs weren't memorable enough for me, but I'm still curious to see what they have to offer!Favourite tracks: "Beast and the Harlot", "Bat Country", "seize the Day" and "Strength of The World"
I'm barely having enough free time to listen to an album because of studies so I decided to talk about tracks/separate songs when possible! I stumbled across this song because of Spotify's reccomendations and it caught my attention. I'm not into vtubers or anything related, specially when it comes with music because of Mori Calliope lmao, but this is a good song so I'll pass. Fuyuukan UFO is a track from Tsukino Mito's album "Moon Rabbits Dream About Virtual". Im not a specialist, but I've seen people commenting that it's a song with shoegaze elements, maybe that's why it sounds a bit dreamy, along with the J-Pop sonority, resulting in a warm and comfy track, and Tsukino's voice adds a lot on this, it sounds innocent and calm, it's very cute. From what i've read, the lyrics are about love, but comparing the feeling with an UFO that only the character can see it (idk, it takes me some time to interpretate so I might be wrong).In conclusion, it's a good song, it made me see that not every song from vtubers are bad, but I still don't want to search for more bc of how much effort it might take until I find something good haha.
I will start putting the single's/album's covers on my blog posts so it gets a bit less monotone! Hope you like it!
OMG! BRAZIL MENTIONED!!!
It's been a week since I last found something interesting to write about, I've been trying to find something to listen while enjoying my loneliness at night and used these moments to dive into Dragon Boys' discographyFor some previous context: Dragon Boys is a rap, trap, phonk and brazilian funk(I guess?) duo from São Mateus, a São Paulo district, having songs focused in mental health topics such as depression and low self-steem and the more recently in partying, but in a Brazilian way.The title "Baile do Brazil" makes reference to brazilian funk culture, having samples from brazilian tracks (most of them being from notable songs from the funk scene). The lyrics get a bit more diverse from the sad topics that they were previously singing about, there is content about driving, going to br funk parties but without getting rid of the melancoly in tracks such as "Quando Vc Não Tem Amigos" (trans.: When U Have No Friends)
It's an enjoyable album, i can imagine being listened at night while driving or before preparing yourself to hang out or go to a party. The only complain that I have to make is how it gets kind of repetitive, I was getting tired of the same beat that was playing 90% of time. But I still recommend listening to this record at least once, don't let the language barrier discourage you from finding domething new!
The singles released after get more focused in a mix between brazilian funk and phonk but it didn't catch my attention at the point of commenting, with the exception of one that I'll be mentioning below.Fav Track: "Phonk House" (but I still prefer the version w Fkbambam, I think it helps to fill a part of the song)(I also wanted to mention that this might be one of the best songs I found this year) and "Radiofone Caracol".
From the singles I think it's worth mentioning the single "LOKA FROM BRAZIL" which is a collab with producers NUEKI and TOLCHONOV, this track is more eletronic but I still think it's a good one to listen and go crazy! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Edit: I forgot to mention the song "Old Boy$" from their single "Balaclava, Vol.2", there isn't much to comment about but I like this song :)
Since I stumbled across a video about Attila, I got curious enough to dive into the discography of this band a week ago, I'm not going to write about the previous albums that I've listened from them because I couldn't write about something that I hadn't listened at the moment.
Their fifth (or sixth if you want to coun their first release) album showed that the band is getting a good and constant evolution, instrumentally and lyrically too, I couldn't stop moving while listening to this record! and franz' lyrics are starting to get a bit personal (e.g. Break My addiction) but without getting rid of the partying and "fuck you haters" themes that the band has been known for.
Very fun and enjoyable album, fav track was probably Rebel
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