The Cynic’s Cache

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I need to give respect to a song that made me laugh before I even heard it. A song about all music being terrible? Oh, just delicious.

Normally I’d complain about the fact that recoding job is iffy at times and the beat basic, but it actually fits the subject matter perfectly. I’m also going to cut some slack based on the fact that the rapping is spot-on and solid. This just reeks of effort but perhaps a money-caused lack of fancy gear.

Of course, the effort also shows in the effects applied at just the right times. Pitch shifting your voice down when you complain about others doing it? Ironic and wonderful.

I imagine the people behind this song are spectacularly entertaining. Toxie approved!

Available here.

There are few things that can compared to well-played string instruments. There’s just something about the mournful sound of a minor-keyed cello song that makes me close my eyes, lean back, and just get lost in the sounds.

That right there is really the pure essence of this song. This is downright emotional modern classical stuff, which makes it more impressive. This is an original cello/piano composition (as I’ve been told), played with skill and grace.

The dynamics flow with the music and everything just flows around the song’s structure amazingly.

I wanted to write something more complex, but this song is just pure and simple awesome. Toxie approved!

Available here.

When this song first started, I could only focus on the damaged rhythm of the song, which was comparable to a broken record. Then a sound like a broken record kicked in, then some damaged rhythms.

Needless to say, I liked it from the very beginning.

To make matters more interesting, this is actually rap. That’s right; rapping that had something damaged leading in. That got my attention faster than the fact that it was rapping that I didn’t find utterly intolerable.

I like it when bands do something different. This is different enough to really snag my interest. In fact, the funny, strange, and terrible things done to the beat, the vocals, and the song in general are absolutely fabulous.

After more listens, more and more interesting little noises kept coming out of the background. Sounds like this was a custom beat, which is something uncommon enough that it matters.

Quality rap. Definitely Toxie Approved!

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

Now here is something that I could really take a deep liking to. This song has a steady beat that isn’t hurried, a nice variation that keeps things interesting and fresh, and nothing that really reaches out and grab your attention. This is the kind of thing I’d listen to while I was working on some project or another and didn’t want my music to distract me or make me work too fast.

What I like most about this song is the weird mix of distorted noise and strings. I can’t explain it, but it just works.

Really, not much else to say other than “Toxie approved.”

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

This isn’t your granddad’s song about death. This is much, much more goofy.

One Kid’s Lunch are one of those bands that I wish I could remember to check on periodically. The fact is, I lik them. They’re rocky, they get goofy, and do all sorts of interesting things.

In this case, OKL’s Dave tells me that it’s pre-OKL, weirder than usual, and thrashy. Really, this hits the nail on the head. This is a nice little rocky-sounding song that reminds me of bands like the Ramones. This I especially hear in the vocals, the lyrics, and the song’s subject matter.

I can’t help but love a song based on Death coming during a really inopportune moment. The lyrics talk about him showing up while in the middle of an ice cream sandwich. Hence the name of the song, I guess.

It took me quite some time to notice that the song is otherwise pretty standard rock fare. That isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but I find it most interesting that it wasn’t something OKL tried to hide. Rather, it sounds like it was deliberate to fit the goofy lyrics. Sounds like they didn’t want to distract you from the vocals.

Normally, I’d complain about the recording job, which is imperfect. However, Dave specifically said that it’s a “rough version,” so I’ll let it slide.

This song is lovable, goofy, and sounds nice. This gets a “Toxie Approved.”

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

So, after being buried in bad alt rock, I finally have been given something much closer to what I listen to when I’m not reviewing songs. Yes, this is…electronic.

I have a real soft spot for anything different. This, of course, is different. There are a lot of wonderful electronic musicians on Soundclick, which I’m going to include this guy in. This is a great song with a nice beat and enough weirdness going on to make me just love it.

Of course, pop musicians are likely to have an ear-bleeding, convulsive fit from listening to this. Far as I’m concerned, that’s bonus points. I like music that freaks my neighbors out.

More seriously, this song has enough variety in the sounds and melody that it really lives up to the claims that it is for fans of bands like Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. Not an easy thing to accomplish, really, as these bands set a very high bar of quality.

The sounds used in this one bounce around from simple sounds I would expect out of really old hardware to fat pads to highly modern noises in this weird blend that just kind of makes sense. No idea what inspired that idea, but it isn’t like I care. It works.

Really, my only gripe is that it isn’t longer. For some reason, when the ending comes, it just sounds like three minutes too short. I expected more, but it just ended.

Despite that, this one clocks in at “Toxie Approved.”

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

Goddamn this guy has an amazing voice. Just…damn.

And what he does with it. All I have to say is “wow.”

Listening to this song just plain hurts. This guy seems to be singing from the heart. The lyrics get their point across perfectly. All about the pain of loss and betrayal.

I can’t say a single negative thing of this song. I’d rather not spoil it by rambling, because I can sum it up in one word: wow.

If you dig R&B or, really, music at all, this song is an absolute must have.

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

The first thing that struck me about this song was the chill groove of it all. It’s laid back. It’s the kind of song that I’d play if I was sitting on my back porch on a sunny day, sipping lemonade. It’s the kind of song I’d listen to when I finally got sick of brutal music, high activity, and the energetic lifestyle. Yes, even Toxie has his moments of absolute chill.

The second thing that struck me was the harmonica. Why are there no bands with harmonicas in them these days?

The third thing that struck me was the vocal harmony. The song is well-sung, the harmony done tremendously well. Very nice, says me.

The fourth thing was the lyrics. My first thought was “This song is about God,” but after listening to it, it could be about any number of things. It could simply be deeply metaphoric. Really, it can be about whatever you want it to be about. That, right there, is just awesome.

This track is a MUST HAVE for anybody that likes their music chilled with a side of thought.

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

Ah yes, the Captain. Mentioning him in the introduction is important for those of you who have no idea he is. Cam is a fellow music reviewer, but mostly sticks to publishing reviews on the Soundclick forums. He also happens to be a good musician and an all-around swell guy.

My first thought on this song was “Wow…this is Cam?” This deviates from what I usually hear come out of the guy. While Cam usually focuses on folky, rock-ish stuff, this song is downright dissonant and has a certain experimental edge to it. It’s as if Cam wanted to do something different.

I think I first knew why when I started paying attention to the lyrics. With lines like “What can be done for a people, who have clawed out their own eyes?” what else could this song be?

Of course that makes me like this one quite a bit. I’m a huge nut for music that doesn’t sound quite right. This song doesn’t sound quite at all. This tells me that Cam really understand precisely what is and what is not music.

What interests me the most is the extremely simple drum beat in the background. At first, I thought it not worth mentioning, but then realized that it actually adds the song. In this case, paying too much attention to the drums would be a bad thing, as the beat is most certainly not the focus of the song and, in fact, unimportant. A complex drum beat would have taken away from it, I think.

Really good stuff. Toxie approved.

Discuss on the forums.

Available here.

The first thing I’m going to tell you is that I normally hate rap. Why I say this will make sense after I write the rest of the review.

From the very beginning, Please Stop the Struggle is obviously a rap song. There is a simple, repeating background piano in a minor key, with a short intro of “shout-outs.” My first thoughts were horribly negative, as I really hate when shout-outs are in a song. On the beginning of an album I can barely tolerate. Leave it out.

I do need to give credit where credit is due. In this case, I’m impressed that shout-out was short and there wasn’t a minute of “Hey, hear me rapping? I’m going to rap soon, hear me rapping it’s almost time to rap!”

Of course, from there on, I was actually pleasantly surprised again. This song actually sounded like the guy was rapping about things bothering him, rather than the things that seem to sell rap albums these days. I found myself thinking “Yeah, man…I dig it.” The lyrics sounded terribly honest, which is something I have heard very little of these days. Perhaps I’m only looking in the wrong place.

The important thing is, I like this song. Despite anything I can say negative about it, listening to it enough to give it a good review never bothered me at all. It’s well-written, well-produced, and seems like it got a decent recording job. Sounds like there was either multiple takes or he got it perfect the first try. Given that it’s a recording, I can’t care which it was so long as it sounds nice.

The thing that amazed me the most is the fact that the beat in the background sounds like it was tailored for the song. Either it was, or it was a pre-canned beat that was edited enough to sound like it was fit to it. Though it’s entirely possible that the song was simply written to fit a beat, it feels like this isn’t the case.

The fact is, that kind of effort does impress me.

I’m starting to wonder what else Minimack has to offer. Recommended.

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