I have decided to start reviewing music. Why? The answer is simple: I enjoy music. Music is my antidrug™. I don't follow trends. I like what I like because it appeases my ears. I'm not a scenester nor a world-music snob (Ironic... keep reading). I hate trends, but I'm not anti-conformist. For example: I hate emo because it sucks and Record companies are exploiting the silly little emo kid's lack-o-taste (yet again). I appreciate music that has some sort of context/meaning in it. This is probably why I find most electronica to be a pattern of beats arranged in an inane order.
I will review both new and old albums. I will try not to focus on one specific genre or sub-genre of music, but I will never try too hard to be "Eclectic."
I will obtain the records legally (via iTunes, of course. My ethics and strong believe in Jesus prevent me from using bittorrent) and load them onto my iPod. Each album will be subject of two tests: the "Walking" test and the "Couch" test.
The Walking test is nothing more than me walking along a 2.1 mile route I mapped out, in and around the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. This test is designed to get the feel of the album as a whole. The noise level of the route does not allow me to concentrate on individual songs. This test used to be called the "Driving" test, but due to the fact that most records are 40+ minutes long and Gas is simply too fucking expensive I decided it would be wiser to just walk (plus my fat ass could use the exercises). For this test I use my Sony MDR-E828 Earphones, because walking alone on Pico Blvd at 8ish PM while wearing white ear-buds is not really wise. On various occasions I might actually do a "drive" test since I will be driving 60 miles per day to school. For this test I do not take notes, simply because walking around with a notepad is just weird.
The second test, simply named "the couch test" is where I get down and dirty into each individual track. I take lots and lots of notes. For this test I basically sit in my couch, relax, and listen to each individual track carefully. I pay close attention to the musical and lyrical (if the album is no instrumental of course) quality of each track.
The basic template for each review is as follows:
- Intro - Background on artist and album
- Walk test- Nice wordy paragraph about the walk test result
- Couch test overall - Nice paragraph explaining the overall result in the couch test
- Track Paragraph - each track gets one paragraph with a rating (out of 4 stars)
- Overall paragraph/Conclusion - A paragraph containing the overall review and opinion of the album.
For my first review I have chosen Sigur Ros' upcoming album Takk. It will be posted tomorrow.