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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
HELLO TL! i'm really happy with how this turned out, download and listen to this shit guys!!! let me know what you think, even if it's "intrigue ur stuff sounds sooo snobby and pretentious LMAO!" i don't mind, i'm always thankful because that means you actually listened!!
really though let me know! ok much love, asa
DOWNLOAD if that link doesn't work, try this mediafire link, or stream from soundcloud or last.fm
castles - Indifference:
genre: instrumental, alt/post.rock, 8bit, electropop (but not the nauseous, incessant "dance" beats i hope)
Track List: 01 you are not alone - energetic and from an old EP. explodes a minute or so in 02 nations - from an old EP, laid back. kinda like EITS or kaki king i think 03 still pretty cool - 8bit electronic pop. samples fred flintstone selling cigarettes. 04 pom pom - a more orchestral song. guitars and xylophones 05 box petals - quirky pop, almost jazzy? what is this 06 ovary montage - straight up disney sounding pop. this one mesmerizes me 07 wintermute - atmospheric glitchy tune with strings 08 k - yup 09 goat - postrock, baby. mood changes a lot throughout. haunting ending 10 panvertigo - my personal favorite. reminds me of being a kid, happy just doing stupid shit
all songs by jan z and me album art by jared tarbell (complexification.net) mastering by airbuz
you may recognize a few tracks from my old blogs =P
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I have the you are not alone EP I didn't realize I had gotten it from here. Neat I'm downloading.
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To bad the music industry is DEAD
+ Show Spoiler + jk, I'm trying to be a writer, jokes on me. My sister is a musician, stay strong! edit: yes, my family will starve.
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Album cover is pretentious, and actually a turn off in terms of thematic/intrigue/appeal to make me buy. I don't get if there is any connection to the name of CD/album cover/individual song to a central theme, type of music (other than in general, electronic), a message or anything. I like the fact that it's available for download in all kinds of formats, and I don't like that last.fm "cuts-off" the song.
Going by the track names and descriptions this seems like a hodgepodge of someone tinkering with the knobs and controls of recording/looping software. Production value is a bit better than a home recording (that's meant as a compliment). Overall theme would be, "happy just doing stupid shit," from what I am gathering.
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
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No insightful comments here, but I listened to the first two tracks so far and I think they sound great. Definitely something I wouldn't mind listening to when I'm just relaxing in my room.
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South Africa4316 Posts
On October 09 2010 08:02 ffdestiny wrote: Album cover is pretentious, and actually a turn off in terms of thematic/intrigue/appeal to make me buy. I don't get if there is any connection to the name of CD/album cover/individual song to a central theme, type of music (other than in general, electronic), a message or anything. I like the fact that it's available for download in all kinds of formats, and I don't like that last.fm "cuts-off" the song.
Going by the track names and descriptions this seems like a hodgepodge of someone tinkering with the knobs and controls of recording/looping software. Production value is a bit better than a home recording (that's meant as a compliment). Overall theme would be, "happy just doing stupid shit," from what I am gathering. Your comment seems to lack a central theme to me I'm still trying to figure out if you've actually listened to the music or not. Are you critiquing the album, or just the cover and song names?
Anyway, I like the album. I especially like the songs where you mix the 8bit/chiptune sounds with postrock. Really nice fun sound
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Sounds really nice but a lot of the random staticy sounds(simulated wind/random 8bit static/etc) you put in your songs seriously detract from them in my opinion. I think the best way to approach electronic music is to focus primarily on melody and only add sounds that support your melody rather than barraging people with them. Notice that most of the complements on soundcloud occur in the parts of your songs that most closely fit what I'm talking about.
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Nice music. It's very melodic.
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Dude! I heard 'you are not alone' on Roffles (or was it Boesethius') stream one night, and HAD to know where it came from. He linked me to your soundcloud and I downloaded every track in there. This is SERIOUSLY good stuff man, I really enjoy it and listen to it more than one time (which is more than I can say about most self-made music people post on TL). I really hope you go far with this, I know a lot of people don't get/understand this kind of music.. but I love it. Reminds me a bit of Pretty Lights/Trentemoller in some aspects.
Thanks for this album :D
edit: The sound quality/mastering could use a little touching up, and 320kbps/FLAC format download would be nice too.
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On October 09 2010 08:02 ffdestiny wrote: Album cover is pretentious, and actually a turn off in terms of thematic/intrigue/appeal to make me buy. I don't get if there is any connection to the name of CD/album cover/individual song to a central theme, type of music (other than in general, electronic), a message or anything. I like the fact that it's available for download in all kinds of formats, and I don't like that last.fm "cuts-off" the song.
Going by the track names and descriptions this seems like a hodgepodge of someone tinkering with the knobs and controls of recording/looping software. Production value is a bit better than a home recording (that's meant as a compliment). Overall theme would be, "happy just doing stupid shit," from what I am gathering.
I agree with this. That's what the songs sound like. A bit pretentious and drawn out with no real technical skill, just stuff that sorta sounds good playing with additional instruments / sounds for decoration, especially "still pretty cool". Just an honest opinion
Unlike this guy though, I love the cover. I've seen plenty of covers that are random and have little conection to the band or album (meddle, court of the crimson king, and led zeppelin 3 come to mind) and they still worked well.
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Man I've been searchin for this for months!! heard it first on Boesthius' stream, 'goat' is incredible downloading now ^^
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On October 09 2010 09:03 SubtleArt wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 08:02 ffdestiny wrote: Album cover is pretentious, and actually a turn off in terms of thematic/intrigue/appeal to make me buy. I don't get if there is any connection to the name of CD/album cover/individual song to a central theme, type of music (other than in general, electronic), a message or anything. I like the fact that it's available for download in all kinds of formats, and I don't like that last.fm "cuts-off" the song.
Going by the track names and descriptions this seems like a hodgepodge of someone tinkering with the knobs and controls of recording/looping software. Production value is a bit better than a home recording (that's meant as a compliment). Overall theme would be, "happy just doing stupid shit," from what I am gathering. I agree with this. That's what the songs sound like. A bit pretentious and drawn out with no real technical skill, just stuff that sorta sounds good playing with additional instruments / sounds for decoration, especially "still pretty cool". Just an honest opinion Unlike this guy though, I love the cover. I've seen plenty of covers that are random and have little conection to the band or album (meddle, court of the crimson king, and led zeppelin 3 come to mind) and they still worked well.
I guess I'm just not one of you fancy music people but personally I kinda like "stuff that sorta sounds good playing with additional instruments / sounds for decoration." But yeah, I would completely agree with that assessment of the songs, I just feel differently about it.
It's the kind of music you can just have quietly in the background. Just so chill.
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I was wanting to hear some sort of melody or singing voices, listening to ambient and repetitive beats gets kind of depressing for me, sorry :C
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Nice job on creating the album! I listened to some of the songs, and I feel that I enjoy certain songs over others. ^^;
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I really like them. Thank you for sharing.
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WHAT do you think this is? move along...
Seriously tho, been digging the shit out of this. I upmix the channels to 5.1 and play through dolby headphone. Sooooo lost in this. I wish Nations was longer =/
Some parts of the album remind me of old The Good Life. That's a good thing
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United States11637 Posts
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Heard several of these a few months ago, and still dig the "slidey" guitars, ambience, and beats. Congrats on finishing the album, the cover fits pretty well also. "Hoping" to finish mine in the near future (lots of tweaking and vocals still needed..) Been so lazy lately
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listened to a few songs... I like it. when did you start writing this, how long have you been working on it, what's your process, what's your music background etc?
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I like pretentious looking album covers and obscure song names.
Just listened to the first track. I love it. I personally don't care about deeper harmonics, how it may just be some guy turning some knobs on a track table, or that it isn't "deep" enough - if it sounds good I'm gonna listen. Music is about "taste" anyway, and honestly having "developed musical taste" is like the greatest scam of all time - its basically a way to affirm your superiority in the most passive way possible - listening to music. Enough of the pretentious rant.
In short, I can't write music reviews. Music reviews suck and are subjective as hell. For me, its either I like it or I don't.
For me, I like it a lot.
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"still pretty cool" is that keyed in CMajor? really relaxing sounding.
but needs more guitar solos. also.. isnt the flinstones thing copyrighted? can you get in trouble for using it.
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I listened to all the songs on soundcloud and I thought it was awesome. My favourites were 'still pretty cool', 'overy montage' and 'wintermute'. Actually goat was a little bit epic too.
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i like "indifference" pretty chill to listen to. i dont usually listen to this sort of music but it reminds me of LIMBO's ambience/music.
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Awesome stuff, pretty laid back. Been listening to it when I'm reading manga.
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I've listened to half the album now. I still like your stuff a lot, but it's very very intense because of all the sounds! To me that makes it hard (not bad) to listen to. It's a lot to take in.
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I remember listening to Wintermute in one of your blogs awhile ago. Still went back to it every once in awhile on Youtube because I liked it quite a bit.
Downloading now
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On October 09 2010 08:02 ffdestiny wrote: "happy just doing stupid shit" It's like you can see right into intrigue's soul.
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United States4126 Posts
I thought for sure this was going to be from FakeSteve when I saw the description.
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So far, so good, man. Start-up the third song on SoundCloud, and so far thinking of sticking it on my iPod
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Awesome album, reminds me of Mogwai. Freakin love it.
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So while I was browsing through boes's mediafire looking for some sweetass kpop (ok i think i was actually downloading the stuff he linked in that one blog recently but still) i came upon a file called "castles" and said "well boes and i like a lot of the same music so I GUESS I'LL GIVE IT A TRY" so i downloaded it (ok i think i just accidentally downloaded it because i was looking for castevet but still) and i liked it and now i like it more knowing that it came from TL and especially u.
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wintermute is my favorite.
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This is definitely an interesting album.
While I don't usually listen to this, I am intrigued (LOL GET IT? HAHAHAHAHAHA) by strangeness of the whole album. I'm not really convinced that these sounds are "pretentious", but they do sometimes detract from a melody in your pieces that perhaps you wanted more people to hear.
But I do like it. I write for the school newspaper, and if I'm tossed a music review for this month, I'll definitely consider doing a write up for this one, if only because I think you deserve more attention.
Pop culture sucks. >.>
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ahhh so good. a week or so ago i checked your soundcloud and was very pleased to see new tracks :D
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On October 09 2010 09:44 boesthius wrote:incoming sick hipster brag listened to intrigue before castles even existed, SICK LYFE. gonna take me a bit to catch up to the plays that fotp has gotten, though. glad to see you finally get this done and out to people! i still can't get over ovary montage, it's so good.
Why are TMG so low on plays - -? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
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AWWW YEA POST ROCK but seriously this is some great music, I'm kinda interested in how you go about making these types of songs, I want to learn real bad
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
i really appreciate the honest criticisms! and as for the compliments, you guys are too kind =]
On October 09 2010 09:03 SubtleArt wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 08:02 ffdestiny wrote: Album cover is pretentious, and actually a turn off in terms of thematic/intrigue/appeal to make me buy. I don't get if there is any connection to the name of CD/album cover/individual song to a central theme, type of music (other than in general, electronic), a message or anything. I like the fact that it's available for download in all kinds of formats, and I don't like that last.fm "cuts-off" the song.
Going by the track names and descriptions this seems like a hodgepodge of someone tinkering with the knobs and controls of recording/looping software. Production value is a bit better than a home recording (that's meant as a compliment). Overall theme would be, "happy just doing stupid shit," from what I am gathering. I agree with this. That's what the songs sound like. A bit pretentious and drawn out with no real technical skill, just stuff that sorta sounds good playing with additional instruments / sounds for decoration, especially "still pretty cool". Just an honest opinion Unlike this guy though, I love the cover. I've seen plenty of covers that are random and have little conection to the band or album (meddle, court of the crimson king, and led zeppelin 3 come to mind) and they still worked well. yeah i totally understand this point of view, i think the exact same thing of other artists sometimes so i sympathize (more than you may expect!) when it comes to this. unfortunate of course that it happens to be my stuff that people think this of, but what can i do right haha. i am very grateful you listened though, thank you
On October 09 2010 10:07 Coagulation wrote: "still pretty cool" is that keyed in CMajor? really relaxing sounding.
but needs more guitar solos. also.. isnt the flinstones thing copyrighted? can you get in trouble for using it.
yes, c major! maybe I DON'T KNOW
On October 09 2010 09:55 palanq wrote: listened to a few songs... I like it. when did you start writing this, how long have you been working on it, what's your process, what's your music background etc? tracks #1 and #2 were written and recorded about a year ago, and the rest all within the last few months. my music background is me picking up a lot of instruments, getting to the equivalent of iccup D-/D and quitting them because i have no discipline and attention span. this covers piano guitar sax and violin =[
as for process i just get really fixated around transitions from one idea to another one and just build around it - the simplest example would be in nations, when the drumline and chord progression changes at :51. i am a big fat amateur because i don't really know what i'm doing yet. still figuring stuff out!
On October 09 2010 14:26 Eroqa wrote: AWWW YEA POST ROCK but seriously this is some great music, I'm kinda interested in how you go about making these types of songs, I want to learn real bad the only way to get anywhere is to just START MAKING STUFF. this can be you strumming chords you think sound cool and humming. this can be you downloading ableton or garageband for the first time and playing with drums, finding beats you like, finding out how to layer cheap-sounding instrumentation over itself to make something sound cool. this can be you getting a bunch of friends, getting stoned and just playing one note over and over because you think the Fmaj7 chord is sooo beautiful, it sounds like angels crying LOL
you might later discover you prefer to start with bass first and then the drums, or that you like the sound of certain instruments more than other ones. this is when you kinda start to think you know what you're doing, but then...
around this point you get stuck with like 30 second loops and wonder how the fuck anyone makes a song at all. this is when you start thinking about the songs you like yourself and how they're structured, like verse chorus verse chorus hook blah blah buildup tension explode verse. you try to incorporate this elementary 'theory' into your own stuff to disastrously cheesy results, but it slowly gets better.
and eventually you'll put together a 3 minute clip of something you think is cool. you post this 3 minute clip somewhere hoping for "you're awesome!!"s, but it gets bashed. you feel stupid and stop making songs for a bit. a few months later you're bored and go through the same process again. eventually you get your first compliment, maybe from your mom or your dog and it's a FUCK YES moment.
go through this process a bunch of times and eventually you are comfortable posting your stuff and seeing the comments without cringing. confidence is everything, believe in your stuff. haters are gonna hate, but there will always be one or two people out there that inexplicably really like your stuff and it's hard to explain why you get so much validation out of it.
you want to get to where you are honestly cool with different people having different music tastes. everyone prefers something different, and criticism on your work has no reflection on you as a person. making songs is an intimate process, but don't get your ego into it and it'll stay fun!
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cool stuff, I'm no music critic- but I enjoyed the album for what it's worth :D
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listened trough your album for a good 3 hours. While its easy on the ears i prefer the fistpumping adrenaline ripping kind of music so you score very low on my list of favourites. I cant critisize it because to my ears there is nothing to critisize. Its just average, decent music. ;D
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Listened through the album, not really my kind of music, but for the genre I find it well made and enjoyable.
I have to say as well, the album cover is absolutely, stunningly, gorgeous. Where did you find it?
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some of the music reminds me of bands like Hammock, Mono or in the quieter moments, Ironomi.
nice job. Not to everyone's tastes, but enjoyable. Love the cover btw.
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Australia7069 Posts
Really liking this stuff. Some of the songs i found to be a little overwhelming, like just sooo much stuff happening, but overall really really good. Kind of reminds me of Liars-scissor without vocals.
by the way have you thought of adding some vocals? i reckon it'd work
highlight of the album for me was Goat, i love long tracks and goat was epic
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Pretty cool!
Listened to a few tracks and I can see that you put a lot of effort into it. Thumbs up!
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Cool, I liked your EP, gonna download the FLAC.zip naow!
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Not my cup of tea. I simply didn't think there was much real musical content at all in it.
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Not bad, but nothing amazing. It's background noise, doesn't really speak to me.I hear melodies and rhythms but they don't move me. I dunno why... I guess I think its a bit too random, I think you need to stick by a beat for a whole song rather than just switching it up all the time.
edit: I really liked the first part of Goat. But then you let a bunch of noisy flies in.
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I like it a lot man. This is really good work.
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In some of the click-pop ish songs on that album, I'm still trying to figure out how you got such strong melody to come out of seemingly random sounds. Nice job Intrigue. I'm diggin it.
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I was surprised how much I liked it. Nice job.
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Good work, this has a reasonable amount of freshness, don't listen to the haters. Definitely pleasant on the ears.
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Listening to ovary montage right now. Sounds great, like something out of a Sofia Coppola movie. Downloading the album - thanks for putting it out for free.
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DLing now, loved the fool on the planet stuff, looking forward to listening to this
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No one should be talking about "musical skill" in this topic, as if that's what's being shot for, or what's being demanded of the form of music that intrigue's making. It's like intrigue's playin' Backgammon and you're playing Risk.
Uhm, I have to leave in like ten minutes, but based on the first three tracks I think the addition of vocals would really help focus these songs.
I mean, I don't know if I'm a trend-hopping wiener but there's not enough polyphonic genre-hopping or reverb 'n' delay twinkling Anglo-Saxon notes against an ambient backdrop to get me listen to Tortoise or Mogwai these days. Let alone Explosions in the Sky, who are like Thomas Kinkade set to music. I only really ride for gy!be anymore and would rather a thousand Cocteau Twins c. 1987 b-sides to another Do Make Say Think album, if only because the tapestry of electronics and distorted guitars are actually draped on a vocalist.
So I guess what I mean is that this is like a wedding dress with no one inside it? And if you had a strong vocalist at the centre, you are putting someone in that dress, therefore allowing me and all others in attendance to cry and go, "gosh that's such a beautiful dress"?
If you're really committed to this instrumental style of music, which is totally okay, I would ask that you resist the urge to do the Explosions in the Sky slow-rise twinkle-twinkle distortion-pedals-at-3-minutes-in formal arrangement. It would take miracles (with a vocalist or without) to make it not sound really cheap and emotionally exploitative. Eyes roll, etc. (I actually have a friend who tries to predict when songs get loud, not kidding. He's a big xx fan if only because they thwarted him for an entire song.)
"still pretty cool" was cute if only because it reminded me of being a sad ten-year-old playing SNES by himself. The beginning of "ovary montage" reminds me of Steve Reich, but unfortunately I have to stop listening and go.
Sorry for not sucking up.
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On October 10 2010 04:28 jon arbuckle wrote: (I actually have a friend who tries to predict when songs get loud, not kidding. He's a big xx fan if only because they thwarted him for an entire song.)
That's one of the funniest things I've read in awhile.
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I just listened your album.
I like it, but I dont think it will make my music library. I agree maybe some vocals could help to make some songs memorables. Without some shine I dont know if I will remember the sounds tomorrow. Maybe you need a partner.
Ovary Montage is the best song in the album.
I think you need some more references.
Look at many of the artist of 4AD specially those in late 90's http://www.4ad.com/
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I downloaded your album and listened to a few songs. I gotta say your post rock stuff is pretty sweet. Some songs remind me of If These Trees Could Talk.
I agree with jon arbuckle about adding the vocals. It would really compliment the general mood. Also, why don't you try playing the guitar less melodic and more abstract, maybe even with distorted chords.
Anyways, thanks for the free download. I've been needing some good music lately.
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Awesome awesome album. I honestly love the entire thing this is amazing. I really like music that puts a focus on instruments especially with nice guitar shit. Some of the songs remind me of what I like about The flower kings while removing all of what I dislike about the flower kings.
great work man.
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On October 10 2010 04:28 jon arbuckle wrote: No one should be talking about "musical skill" in this topic, as if that's what's being shot for, or what's being demanded of the form of music that intrigue's making. It's like intrigue's playin' Backgammon and you're playing Risk.
Uhm, I have to leave in like ten minutes, but based on the first three tracks I think the addition of vocals would really help focus these songs.
I mean, I don't know if I'm a trend-hopping wiener but there's not enough polyphonic genre-hopping or reverb 'n' delay twinkling Anglo-Saxon notes against an ambient backdrop to get me listen to Tortoise or Mogwai these days. Let alone Explosions in the Sky, who are like Thomas Kinkade set to music. I only really ride for gy!be anymore and would rather a thousand Cocteau Twins c. 1987 b-sides to another Do Make Say Think album, if only because the tapestry of electronics and distorted guitars are actually draped on a vocalist.
So I guess what I mean is that this is like a wedding dress with no one inside it? And if you had a strong vocalist at the centre, you are putting someone in that dress, therefore allowing me and all others in attendance to cry and go, "gosh that's such a beautiful dress"?
If you're really committed to this instrumental style of music, which is totally okay, I would ask that you resist the urge to do the Explosions in the Sky slow-rise twinkle-twinkle distortion-pedals-at-3-minutes-in formal arrangement. It would take miracles (with a vocalist or without) to make it not sound really cheap and emotionally exploitative. Eyes roll, etc. (I actually have a friend who tries to predict when songs get loud, not kidding. He's a big xx fan if only because they thwarted him for an entire song.)
"still pretty cool" was cute if only because it reminded me of being a sad ten-year-old playing SNES by himself. The beginning of "ovary montage" reminds me of Steve Reich, but unfortunately I have to stop listening and go.
Sorry for not sucking up.
Adding vocals would require Intrigue to create a completely new dimension. I think the main difference between gy!be and Explosions in the Sky is gy!be has a stronger and more creative artistic voice, so that even in their most sparse tracks, the tone isn't that of detached, superficial admiration (bad word) or a pleasant and unvaried gaze like what EITS conveys. I call EITS easy listening music, which probably explains why they are much more accessible and as a result successful. No one in the Indie sphere really makes pure instrumentals like the old days anymore. Everyone with their crystal castles and chillwave has lost their sense of patience. Something has to be fellating my ears all the time if there's no one saying anything.
Most of Intrigue's album is closer to late 90s/early 00s electronica a la four tet, mum rather than post-rock anyway. I think what you identify can't really be solved by vocals. You're essentially asking for a stronger voice, which can and should only develop over time. It's like advising someone to write better by telling the writer to add more characters, what you're really asking doesn't seem to have an easy solution.
Agreed about the EITS pedals for the most part.
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I just skimmed quick, sounds a lot like Explosions in the Sky mixed in with some more electronic influences. I have work to do but I can give a better review/analysis later.
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On October 10 2010 06:01 zulu_nation8 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 10 2010 04:28 jon arbuckle wrote: No one should be talking about "musical skill" in this topic, as if that's what's being shot for, or what's being demanded of the form of music that intrigue's making. It's like intrigue's playin' Backgammon and you're playing Risk.
Uhm, I have to leave in like ten minutes, but based on the first three tracks I think the addition of vocals would really help focus these songs.
I mean, I don't know if I'm a trend-hopping wiener but there's not enough polyphonic genre-hopping or reverb 'n' delay twinkling Anglo-Saxon notes against an ambient backdrop to get me listen to Tortoise or Mogwai these days. Let alone Explosions in the Sky, who are like Thomas Kinkade set to music. I only really ride for gy!be anymore and would rather a thousand Cocteau Twins c. 1987 b-sides to another Do Make Say Think album, if only because the tapestry of electronics and distorted guitars are actually draped on a vocalist.
So I guess what I mean is that this is like a wedding dress with no one inside it? And if you had a strong vocalist at the centre, you are putting someone in that dress, therefore allowing me and all others in attendance to cry and go, "gosh that's such a beautiful dress"?
If you're really committed to this instrumental style of music, which is totally okay, I would ask that you resist the urge to do the Explosions in the Sky slow-rise twinkle-twinkle distortion-pedals-at-3-minutes-in formal arrangement. It would take miracles (with a vocalist or without) to make it not sound really cheap and emotionally exploitative. Eyes roll, etc. (I actually have a friend who tries to predict when songs get loud, not kidding. He's a big xx fan if only because they thwarted him for an entire song.)
"still pretty cool" was cute if only because it reminded me of being a sad ten-year-old playing SNES by himself. The beginning of "ovary montage" reminds me of Steve Reich, but unfortunately I have to stop listening and go.
Sorry for not sucking up. Adding vocals would require Intrigue to create a completely new dimension. I think the main difference between gy!be and Explosions in the Sky is gy!be has a stronger and more creative artistic voice, so that even in their most sparse tracks, the tone isn't that of detached, superficial admiration (bad word) or a pleasant and unvaried gaze like what EITS conveys. I call EITS easy listening music, which probably explains why they are much more accessible and as a result successful. No one in the Indie sphere really makes pure instrumentals like the old days anymore. Everyone with their crystal castles and chillwave has lost their sense of patience. Something has to be fellating my ears all the time if there's no one saying anything. Most of Intrigue's album is closer to late 90s/early 00s electronica a la four tet, mum rather than post-rock anyway. I think what you identify can't really be solved by vocals. You're essentially asking for a stronger voice, which can and should only develop over time. It's like advising someone to write better by telling the writer to add more characters, what you're really asking doesn't seem to have an easy solution. Agreed about the EITS pedals for the most part.
Well, I mean, yeah, adding vocals would change so much of intrigue's approach in terms of having him apply the tools he uses and avenues he wishes to explore (e.g. VGM/8-bit) to the pop song. I always get a kick out of musicians who attempt to impose form on the formless or to approach the medium of the pop song through unconventional methods (e.g. Animal Collective, or the disparity between Broken Social Scene's first album and You Forgot It In People, or the last two Talk Talk albums). I don't want to seem like I'm completely shitting on intrigue's work - it's very promising stuff - but I wanted to provide some constructive feedback based on what little I know about these things, as a listener.
The difference between gy!be and Explosions in the Sky is that gy!be take a lot of pains to contextualize their music. That fight between prettiness for prettiness' sake, ominousness for ominousness, drama for drama, and the applications of this toward political expression is what drives gy!be's music and makes it so tense and emotional. The time given to wayward political voices, the album artwork, the liner notes, and the live presentation - I mean, it's so heavy-handed, but gy!be just fucking went for it in a way that no one else really has. That arch seriousness makes them such an easy target, but it works for them as an enclosed system. It's what separates them from EitS and others' ersatz prettiness.
There's still a niche market for post-rock, but it's cult now because as I said it's difficult to make that music without having it sound manipulative and superficial, and even more so to have that music not touch on the same general spectrum of angst-ridden emotions. I think it's bunking with screamo nowadays, which is appropriate; at least, I know people with bands that essentially cover Circle Takes the Square, Envy, and City of Caterpillars, and similar bands who dot their respective last.fms.
(N.B. That the peak of crescendo-driven, orchestral post-rock spans from the late '90 Y2K scare [q.v. all those old reviews of f# a# infinity and Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada that keep talking about the apocalypse] and into the post-9/11 ambient music fad [e.g. William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, the whole Kranky label really, the Icelandic invasion with Mum and Sigur Ros]; like ambient music, this minor-chord twinkle-twinkle 'post-rock' stuff lacked context, and the listener could apply whatever emotions and meanings they wanted to the music they were hearing. This isn't something I thought of myself, but I find it interesting nevertheless.)
Sorry to nitpick, but I wanted to add that post-rock is definitely not opposed to electronic elements. It's a muddy term, but it's the driving force around the incorporation of jazz, krautrock, ambient, and electronic forms, methods, and sounds into rock contexts. "Post-rock" quite literally refers to anything from Slint to Stereolab to Gastr de Sol to Rachel's to Disco Inferno to Neurosis to, yes, Mum and Kieran Hebden's work (Kieran Hebden's first band Fridge first minor waves with Happiness in 2001). Associations with the linear-climax-piece chamber rock style we're talking about didn't crop up until the popularization of bands like gy!be, Mogwai, and Explosions in the Sky around 2000 - which I can live with, because "post-rock" flows off the tongue better than any and all of the terms I've used to describe the sound in this depressingly long post. Listening to a style that rigid and formal requires no greater patience than a Washed Out or Crystal Castles track.
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Yeah this album reminds me a bit of Explosions or Ratatat, pretty nice. Not quite as catchy/addictive as some of their stuff, but it is still very good I think.
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This is the best thing I've ever heard ever. You should be the next Taylor Swift, even though that's not the kind of music you do, but you could be just as popular. And attractive.
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
zulu and arbuckle i really like reading your discussion!! we really wanted to try out vocals, but honestly we flat out suck at writing them and even finding singers. what kinda stuff do you think would work? i was leaning towards heavy beats with rhythmic female vocals, like sleigh bells, or droney radio department ones (though i think that kind is a bit overdone).
my next project is completely different, almost exclusively acoustic and poppy stuff with smix, so there'll be vocals there!
On October 10 2010 08:21 geno wrote: Yeah this album reminds me a bit of Explosions or Ratatat, pretty nice. Not quite as catchy/addictive as some of their stuff, but it is still very good I think. yeah fuck i think the same thing. i don't know how to write catchy shit asdogjoasdifj aioj but i really want to!!!
On October 10 2010 08:27 Gummy wrote: This is the best thing I've ever heard ever. You should be the next Taylor Swift, even though that's not the kind of music you do, but you could be just as popular. And attractive. what?>!?? sick you know, i've always sorta wanted to be a girl too. this could work
thanks everyone for your comments. if i quote all of them personally and say "thanks!" i'm afraid i'd look like a douchebag, but really i love reading everythinggg. when osmoses pointed out that goat sounded like there were flies in it, i listened to it and agreed. but for me, they're nice flies =\?
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On October 10 2010 07:16 jon arbuckle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 10 2010 06:01 zulu_nation8 wrote:On October 10 2010 04:28 jon arbuckle wrote: No one should be talking about "musical skill" in this topic, as if that's what's being shot for, or what's being demanded of the form of music that intrigue's making. It's like intrigue's playin' Backgammon and you're playing Risk.
Uhm, I have to leave in like ten minutes, but based on the first three tracks I think the addition of vocals would really help focus these songs.
I mean, I don't know if I'm a trend-hopping wiener but there's not enough polyphonic genre-hopping or reverb 'n' delay twinkling Anglo-Saxon notes against an ambient backdrop to get me listen to Tortoise or Mogwai these days. Let alone Explosions in the Sky, who are like Thomas Kinkade set to music. I only really ride for gy!be anymore and would rather a thousand Cocteau Twins c. 1987 b-sides to another Do Make Say Think album, if only because the tapestry of electronics and distorted guitars are actually draped on a vocalist.
So I guess what I mean is that this is like a wedding dress with no one inside it? And if you had a strong vocalist at the centre, you are putting someone in that dress, therefore allowing me and all others in attendance to cry and go, "gosh that's such a beautiful dress"?
If you're really committed to this instrumental style of music, which is totally okay, I would ask that you resist the urge to do the Explosions in the Sky slow-rise twinkle-twinkle distortion-pedals-at-3-minutes-in formal arrangement. It would take miracles (with a vocalist or without) to make it not sound really cheap and emotionally exploitative. Eyes roll, etc. (I actually have a friend who tries to predict when songs get loud, not kidding. He's a big xx fan if only because they thwarted him for an entire song.)
"still pretty cool" was cute if only because it reminded me of being a sad ten-year-old playing SNES by himself. The beginning of "ovary montage" reminds me of Steve Reich, but unfortunately I have to stop listening and go.
Sorry for not sucking up. Adding vocals would require Intrigue to create a completely new dimension. I think the main difference between gy!be and Explosions in the Sky is gy!be has a stronger and more creative artistic voice, so that even in their most sparse tracks, the tone isn't that of detached, superficial admiration (bad word) or a pleasant and unvaried gaze like what EITS conveys. I call EITS easy listening music, which probably explains why they are much more accessible and as a result successful. No one in the Indie sphere really makes pure instrumentals like the old days anymore. Everyone with their crystal castles and chillwave has lost their sense of patience. Something has to be fellating my ears all the time if there's no one saying anything. Most of Intrigue's album is closer to late 90s/early 00s electronica a la four tet, mum rather than post-rock anyway. I think what you identify can't really be solved by vocals. You're essentially asking for a stronger voice, which can and should only develop over time. It's like advising someone to write better by telling the writer to add more characters, what you're really asking doesn't seem to have an easy solution. Agreed about the EITS pedals for the most part. Well, I mean, yeah, adding vocals would change so much of intrigue's approach in terms of having him apply the tools he uses and avenues he wishes to explore (e.g. VGM/8-bit) to the pop song. I always get a kick out of musicians who attempt to impose form on the formless or to approach the medium of the pop song through unconventional methods (e.g. Animal Collective, or the disparity between Broken Social Scene's first album and You Forgot It In People, or the last two Talk Talk albums). I don't want to seem like I'm completely shitting on intrigue's work - it's very promising stuff - but I wanted to provide some constructive feedback based on what little I know about these things, as a listener. The difference between gy!be and Explosions in the Sky is that gy!be take a lot of pains to contextualize their music. That fight between prettiness for prettiness' sake, ominousness for ominousness, drama for drama, and the applications of this toward political expression is what drives gy!be's music and makes it so tense and emotional. The time given to wayward political voices, the album artwork, the liner notes, and the live presentation - I mean, it's so heavy-handed, but gy!be just fucking went for it in a way that no one else really has. That arch seriousness makes them such an easy target, but it works for them as an enclosed system. It's what separates them from EitS and others' ersatz prettiness. There's still a niche market for post-rock, but it's cult now because as I said it's difficult to make that music without having it sound manipulative and superficial, and even more so to have that music not touch on the same general spectrum of angst-ridden emotions. I think it's bunking with screamo nowadays, which is appropriate; at least, I know people with bands that essentially cover Circle Takes the Square, Envy, and City of Caterpillars, and similar bands who dot their respective last.fms. (N.B. That the peak of crescendo-driven, orchestral post-rock spans from the late '90 Y2K scare [q.v. all those old reviews of f# a# infinity and Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada that keep talking about the apocalypse] and into the post-9/11 ambient music fad [e.g. William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, the whole Kranky label really, the Icelandic invasion with Mum and Sigur Ros]; like ambient music, this minor-chord twinkle-twinkle 'post-rock' stuff lacked context, and the listener could apply whatever emotions and meanings they wanted to the music they were hearing. This isn't something I thought of myself, but I find it interesting nevertheless.) Sorry to nitpick, but I wanted to add that post-rock is definitely not opposed to electronic elements. It's a muddy term, but it's the driving force around the incorporation of jazz, krautrock, ambient, and electronic forms, methods, and sounds into rock contexts. "Post-rock" quite literally refers to anything from Slint to Stereolab to Gastr de Sol to Rachel's to Disco Inferno to Neurosis to, yes, Mum and Kieran Hebdan's work (Kieran Hebdan's first band Fridge first minor waves with Happiness in 2001). Associations with the linear-climax-piece chamber rock style we're talking about didn't crop up until the popularization of bands like gy!be, Mogwai, and Explosions in the Sky around 2000 - which I can live with, because "post-rock" flows off the tongue better than any and all of the terms I've used to describe the sound in this depressingly long post. Listening to a style that rigid and formal requires no greater patience than a Washed Out or Crystal Castles track.
I'm not trying to shield Intrigue from criticism or anything, I merely wanted to point out how different the album would sound if vocals are added, similar to the difference between BSS's FGL and YFIIP like you said. Unless by vocals you mean simply an instrumental voice e.g. Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl on YFIIP. In that case I can't really disagree.
I had no idea the post-rock label extends this far, good to learn something new. I agree the orchestral kind can fall easily into the manipulative and superficial. I disagree that listening to washed out requires the same patience and aptitude as listening to most of the people you named. I would classify most of today's indie electronic stuff as easy listening.
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On October 10 2010 08:41 intrigue wrote: zulu and arbuckle i really like reading your discussion!! we really wanted to try out vocals, but honestly we flat out suck at writing them and even finding singers. what kinda stuff do you think would work? i was leaning towards heavy beats with rhythmic female vocals, like sleigh bells, or droney radio department ones (though i think that kind is a bit overdone).
my next project is completely different, almost exclusively acoustic and poppy stuff with smix, so there'll be vocals there!
I would stay away with voices on shortwave radios, yes, or any low quality samples intended for atmosphere.
I honestly haven't listened to Sleigh Bells; I've been pretty out of the loop in a real participatory sense in the past two years (i.e. I know who Toro y Moi are, but I haven't listened to them).
Remember that these are things that should happen organically (as for example Sonic Youth had two albums of noisy, droning trial-and-error before putting out EVOL, not to mention previous projects); it's better to work at your own pace and according to your own interests as unselfconsciously as possible. It's almost even a mistake for me to even sit here and type advice at you; nothing could be worse than to have you leaning over your pedals thinking how can I engage the pop song.
But uhm if you can't find a Liz Frasier to croon over your music and if your voices are mediocre, then (being that these are produced recordings) consider overdubs, reverb, and delay. The concern is not so much writing strong lyrics, but approaching, exploiting, and manipulating the pop song, either on its own terms or yours (most immediate examples include Sonic Youth again [they can't sing or write impressive lyrics most of the time], Animal Collective before Strawberry Jam [lots of unconventional vocal work, overdubs, and effects], and My Bloody Valentine [overdubs and heavy reverb whitewash lyrical content into oblivion]).
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Not my favourite genre, but a good listen none the less.
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howd you get all these names? lol pom pom is my favorite :o
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I listened to your music and i was really intrigued by your funky beats.
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listened to a few songs and being a fan of all the genres you used in your album I enjoyed it, and maybe it is a tad pretentious I did think it was surprisingly good quality then what I would have expected and Still Cool sounds awesome.
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i haven't read through the whole thread yet and I haven't yet listened to the album (it's dl'ing now) but i heard someone compare this to ratatat, if i can agree with that i will love it.
but what i wanted to say is that i recognize the album cover: it's from a screensaver on linux which randomly generates that stuff :D lol is that intentional or oyu guys didn't have anyone to make the album cover?
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Smix
United States4549 Posts
fuck the police haters gonna hate
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Like someone else said earlier, music reviews are difficult, its generally you like it or you don't. For me this falls very much into the first category, it's really good. I love the first song particularly (only halfway though the whole album listening properly though). That said, my one comment is that at times it is a little too busy. I like the guitars going in the background with almost scratchy sounds, but at points it becomes a little too much. Just a thought.
E; Shit I just remembered the tune of the first one, I have heard it before.
E2; Just finished listening to the whole thing, very nice. Love Goat specifically.
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hello, this is the other half of castles. intrigue pointed me to this thread, and i'm just overwhelmed by the feedback. i think if there's anything to be learned here it's that we/i still have a lot to learn.
the most interesting reactions are usually the ones that completely oppose my personal feelings toward the album. i think my only regret (out of many "only" regrets) is that we weren't able to realize these songs in a live setting. it was always fascinating to me how Mono on record has always been a fairly transparent and forgettable band, but when seen live, they're one of the finest acts in the industry. i think a lot of the work that intrigue and i did needed the immediacy and ambiance of a music club to reach their full potential, but that just wasn't going to happen with our constraints.
and on EITS, i find them to be borderline unlistenable at times, even though at one time in my life i was in love with everything they did. i would hope that what we're doing is more interesting if only because we've actually varied our sonic palette from song to song.
thanks for listening, and thanks for the feedback, be it positive, negative, or somewhere in between!
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i think the quality of the music is just fine, it sounds great. But for this to be an album im missing a few more down to earth-like songs, mabye some vocals and what not. I didnt listen through all of them, so mabye its already there, and my appologies then. I think this is cool buddy.
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I don't know guys, I think "you are not alone" is really catchy
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United States11637 Posts
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On October 10 2010 09:17 jon arbuckle wrote:overdubs, reverb, and delay
Ah yes, bastions of the lost art of hiding just how terrible you sing.
Don't be afraid to go there.
Are there any music schools nearby? It shouldn't be too hard to recruit a nice vocalist from one of them. Every vocal major is so starry-eyed about their future, so just butter them up about how you guys are going places.
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Sorry for posting this late, but never got the time to listen to the whole thing.
I think that the level of production is amazing. The sounds are fantastic and crossovers from simple finger picking guitar stuff to 8-bit sounds is just wow.
The stuff from previous blogs you put doesn't sound the half as good as this stuff.
congrats!
P.S. what programs and real life instruments did you use?
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Yeah, I really liked it, especially the first 2 tracks. My biggest complaint would be that most of the time I found them ending too soon for me. I was listening along to the first track and enjoying it, then suddenly it was over . Same thing happened with the a few of the others. But yeah, good stuff.
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omg this album is incredible listening 7/24
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wintermute sounds like soundtrack music to a movie dealing with drugs where the main character is walking around the city scoring shit.
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I can't get over how good 'goat' is I just can't stop listenin to it!!
Fucking good job
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I know where you stole the album art from, and I dont blame you, he has some awesome stuff there. I'm listening to the album now but after seeing the pretentious album art comments I have to post the source http://www.complexification.net/gallery/
Stuff looks a lot cooler as its being generated then as a static image imo
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
On October 12 2010 00:09 NukeTheBunnys wrote:I know where you stole the album art from, and I dont blame you, he has some awesome stuff there. I'm listening to the album now but after seeing the pretentious album art comments I have to post the source http://www.complexification.net/gallery/Stuff looks a lot cooler as its being generated then as a static image imo i linked the author and the source in my opening post.
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Wow I'm blind. After you said that I had to read the OP several times before I actually saw it.
I like what I have heard so far esp track 2, I think a few of my friends would like it as well
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I like your album, wintermute sounds a little bit too much like some old FF games... my favorites are pom pom box petals ovary montage and wintermute...
i just wanted to add 2 things : 1. next time make the songs a bit longer please?? you get into the song and then BAM its over, kinda sucks 2. Ive always wondered how the hell do you choose a song name for these... i can totally see you... yeeeeah what words do we rarely use and sound poetic?
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im downloading it ill edit my opinion later..
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Hahaha! track #4 is "pom pom" I read it as "porn porn" Guess that's a little revealing....
Great album so far. I'm really enjoying it.
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I'm enjoying the album almost as much as jon arbuckles posts!
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Marshall Islands3404 Posts
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I really dig it so far! I'm only 3-4 songs in but I really like it
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On October 12 2010 13:18 Malarkey817 wrote: Hahaha! track #4 is "pom pom" I read it as "porn porn" Guess that's a little revealing....
Great album so far. I'm really enjoying it.
You know what? I read porn pom actually and had to re-re-read to see if that m was an r and and n or just a simple boring m
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I listened to the album, and as I like electronic music anyway I think it was pretty good. Esp "you are not alone"! Thanks for sharing this!
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intrigue
Washington, D.C9931 Posts
pom·pom: –noun an automatic antiaircraft cannon.
–noun an ornamental tuft or ball of feathers, wool, or the like, used on hats, slippers, etc.
whoa i didn't know about the first definition
oh god and song names are chosen when we finish the song and have to save it as something. it's usually the most stressful moment of the entire process! =[
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I'll confess something... I have been listening to a couple of songs A LOT in the last few days
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Me too. It's my SC2 music now
I try not to listen to it on the way to work though, it makes me too relaxed
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fantastic album. thank you for the music!
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I just listened to your album (after being directed here by tofucake) and its freaking awesome! I'm putting it on repeat. This is exactly the kind of music I love. So this is a bump for awesomeness I guess.
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