Weekly Album: Week of 02/19 - 02/25 - Destinations

This week I listened to Destinations by Lisa Bella Donna. Lisa Bella Donna is an artist that I have been wanting to get into for a while, since I have a fascination with synthesizers and electronic music (see my Wendy Carlos review). She is somewhat of a revered figure in electronic music from what I can gather, so I decided that I would finally give her a listen. I chose Destinations specifically based on a recommendation from a Bandcamp Daily article, which stated that it was a good starting place for listening to her music. While this is a fantastic sounding album, the style just isn't really for me. I can get along with loose structures and long-form music just fine, but I still prefer my music to be a bit more song-like instead of atmospheric which is what this album leans into. The pieces on this album are based around repeating arpeggios and droning chords which Bella Donna then solos over or builds layers of other textures on top of. It leaves the music feeling somewhat empty and not very memorable. It feels like I'm listening to documentary music. One about space or intangible mathematical concepts. It might be something good to put on in the background while you are trying to focus on something else, but that is not what I really seek out of listening to music. 6/10 album

Weekly Album: Week of 02/12 - 02/18 - Black Metal

This week I listened to Black Metal by Venom. I am not new to metal by any means. I had a pretty serious metal era back in my youth; it was basically all I would listen to. Yet somehow, this significant album slipped right by me back then, so I sought to rectify that by listening to it now. I have to say, I am sad that I didn't listen to it back then because this is a great album. It starts hard and stays hard the whole time. Great riffs the whole way through. The vocals are also great, they sit in that middle ground between singing and straight growling which I love a lot. The production is also not very good in the best way possible, I really like that in metal music. It is dirty and grimy which adds to the energy and tone of the album. Overall it's a great album and I can see how a lot of other bands that I've heard were influenced by this. 8/10

If want to suggest albums for me to listen to, leave them in the comments!

Welcome!

Hello everyone! Welcome to "Who is Stavi???" I am StaviWho or Stavi and this is going to be my blog where I talk about things! Mostly music related things but there is room for other things, usually other media I enjoy. I created this mostly to have a place for my weekly album reviews, which are a thing I started doing at the beginning of the year where I listen to an album I have never heard before every week. I also like having a space where I can just rant about things into the void! I hope you enjoy your stay!

The weekly album posts will be sometime every Tuesday night if I listen to the album on time. If I am late then I will usually post the review within a few days, or sometimes I might wait until the same day as the next review. I have all of my reviews I did previous to starting this blog posted already, so you can see what I have already listened to. If you have suggestions of something for me to listen to then please leave a comment on either this post or the latest review post!

Weekly Album: Week of 02/05 - 02/11 - The Presidents of The United States of America

This week I listened to The Presidents of The United States of America by The Presidents of The United States of America. What a fun album! These guys aren't afraid to be a little goofy and silly sometimes and it's awesome. They have a similar vibe to like They Might Be Giants, where they are singing about everything and anything, and sometimes it is funny but they sing it with such sincerity that it's hard to really find it funny or strange. The instrumentation on this album is also pretty unique. They play 3 and 2 stringed instruments, the Guitbass and the Bassitar respectively, and these restrictions lend themselves to composing in an interesting way. So combined with these strange lyrics they have somewhat strange instrumentals behind them. They aren't anything too crazy, it's still a rock album after all, but they are unique enough to where I can recognize the sound as their sound. While amazing as this album is, I have one issue with it. This is a rare time I think they need to have put the songs in a different order. They end on "Naked and Famous" which while a good song, doesn't quite have the energy of an album closer. I think ending on "We Are Not Going to Make It" or "Kick Out the Jams" makes much more sense energy-wise, especially since those are kinda like statement songs about the band themselves. "Candy" also sits in a strange spot as the penultimate track, I think having "Back Porch" take it's place and putting "Candy" more in the middle would feel better to me. It's things like this that knock the album down a a peg or two, but it is minor enough that I don't let it impact my rating too much. 8.5/10

Weekly Album: Week of 01/29 - 02/04 - Long Season

This week I listened to Long Season by Fishmans. This hits so many things that I want out of music. Long form compositions based around repetition and variations on themes. The overall sound is also fantastic, psychedelic in a calming and hypnotic way. Hypnotic is a great way to describe this album. I was so focused on this album, like it put me under a trance. The vocals were also great, both the man and woman that sing on this album have fantastic vocals. I wish I understood Japanese since they sing it in, supposedly they are singing about something very personal but I can't find any good translations (If someone finds one please link it in the comments). My only problem with this album is that it's all combined into 1 song on streaming, instead of the individual parts being separate tracks but that isn't a problem with the album itself, just a streaming thing. 10/10 album