tag:jackkuper.com,2005:/blogs/what-i-m-listening-toWhat I'm Listening To2017-02-21T14:36:57-05:00Jack Kuperfalsetag:jackkuper.com,2005:Post/40849052016-03-12T10:02:27-05:002017-02-21T14:36:57-05:00Review: Alison Wonderland - Run<p>2/5 Stars <br> <br>Run is the debut album from Alison Wonderland. Alison Wonderland is the stage name of Alex Sholler, a DJ from Sydney, Australia. <br> <br>I found this album from a listing asking for Indie EDM songs featuring female vocals. Despite not being able to work on a song for the listing, as I don’t really have an exceptionally feminine voice, I really wanted to know what Indie EDM sounded like. The “Indie” label gets added to a significant amount of listings and always means something different. This makes all of these listings entertaining, because I get to see what “Indie” means to different people and different genres, and the only way to know what they’re talking about is to listen to the included song suggestions. Also, I noticed that the suggested song, “U Don’t Know”, featured Wayne Coyne, the singer of the Flaming Lips, so I assumed it was going to be awesome. <br> <br>I rate Run two stars out of five. <br> <br>Compared to other EDM albums I have tried to listen to… <br> <br>(Note: I have tried listening to albums in all different kinds of EDM genres. If you are not familiar with EDM, there are roughly a billion different genres. If you get them mixed up, fans of the offended genre will lynch you, and joyfully desecrate your corpse. EDM fans can get a little spirited about their chosen genre…) <br> <br>…I was exceptionally impressed with this album. Because most EDM tracks get boxed in by the rules of their particular genre, listening to a full album (for me) quickly descends into wondering whether the track has changed yet, and wears out my interest. Alison Wonderland manages to string 12 tracks together and keeps them fresh and interesting. <br> <br>In the case of this album, I think it is referred to as Indie because of the odd, entertaining, and satisfying quality of the melodies. Without a doubt, the standout tracks are the ones where Sholler sings a coherent melody. She has a beautiful voice, which is quite similar to that of Emily Haines, the lead singer of Metric. Of the twelve tracks, three fade into background music and two are annoying tracks made to be skipped, but are short enough to allow the full album to run as background music if it’s not being paid attention to. <br> <br>The highlight of the album is “U Don’t Know”, the track featuring Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. The track is the lead single off the album and the entertainment value of Wayne Coyne singing on an EDM track continues long past the time when the novelty has worn off. The melody is fresh and entertaining and her voice mixes fantastically with Wayne’s during the later choruses. So far I have found this song to be almost infinitely listenable, and have actually put it on repeat and just let it run. <br> <br>Other highlights on the album include “Take it to Reality”, “I Want You”, and “Cold”, all of which feature Sholler singing extended melodies (as opposed to some of the other, almost instrumental tracks), and “Ignore”, which is basically the electronic equivalent of someone hitting different metal pipes, but which I find inexplicably entertaining. <br> <br>The tracks to skip are “One More Hit” and “Back it Up”, both of which are too rhythmic to fade to background music, and come off as being exceptionally annoying. <br> <br>Run gets three stars out of five because it has a couple of truly standout tracks, and manages a coherent tone, without getting boring, but also has a couple truly annoying tracks and fades to background music at times.</p>Jack Kupertag:jackkuper.com,2005:Post/40816032016-03-10T07:21:51-05:002016-03-10T07:38:17-05:00What I'm Listening To:<p>As a recording musician I listen to an excessive amount of music. Some music I listen to for work, to learn the basics of a genre, or to get inspiration for writing. Frequently, when writing in a specific genre, listening to music in that genre feels like building a box, sitting inside, then closing the lid and having it nailed shut. The effect is that I start to see all of the limitations of the genre at the expense of the creativity. Listening to something different provides a fantastically important shock to the system akin to taking a sledgehammer to the box, a reminder that the rules defining a genre don’t apply to the world at large. <br> <br>(Side note: This effect makes radio very important. In almost every case, I pick the music I listen to. Radio stations play whatever they want, and frequently play songs I’ve forgotten about, or haven’t listened to in a long time, or that I’m hearing for the first time. These songs remind me why I love music or how music can be truly glorious, which is great after the mind numbing effect of listening to the same song for 12 hours straight trying to figure out what the drummer is doing…so that I can replicate it...I doesn’t know drum so good.) <br> <br>I also listen to some music exclusively for entertainment value… <br> <br>Regardless of how or why I end up listening to all this music, I inevitably form opinions about it. Just because a song or album is groundbreaking or genre defining doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good. A song or album that is derivative of another band’s body of work can be just as good, or better. These statements can be reversed. My point is that I come across music I want to share with everyone, and music that I think everyone should avoid at all costs. <br> <br>This section of my website is where I will be sharing these opinions. In each post, I’ll be reviewing a single album from a band or artist. <br> <br>I’m absolutely terrible at using normal rating conventions. If I’m telling you about it, it probably doesn’t rate 3 stars, it rates a 5 or a 1. I loved it or I’m telling you to please not listen to it, Star Wars Christmas Special-style. This made me really, really, really want to use odd rating conventions like “this album rates 4 bottles of Carnivore Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 shots of Wild Turkey Bourbon, and a can of Coca Cola.” Unfortunately, this rating system is helpful in roughly the same way that the success of the potato crop affects the flight pattern of birds. Thus, I will try to use the 5-star rating convention responsibly.<br> <br>To clarify that confusing and messy previous paragraph, I will be giving ratings out of 5 stars, but these are immaterial compared to the far more important part of the review, where I will elegantly express my opinion with words. (Read: Ignore the stars, read the article.) <br> <br>For each article I will write a little on that background of the artist and/or genre and discuss any interesting facts I picked up about the album. Then I will discuss how the album works as a whole, followed by a review of some of the individual tracks, making sure to point out anything that truly stands out. Scattered amid all of this information will be whatever else I may I feel like saying. <br> <br>I rate this article 3 cans of Spaghetti-O’s, 6 shots of El Jimador Tequila, and a solitary dancing bear.</p>Jack Kuper