Review of TheGovernor's "Self-Titled" CD

Headline is: Could have easily been one of mine!

Artists I've featured on my previous swap CDs

Goldfrapp, Royksopp, Roy Budd (the Get Carter remix isn't bad, which I was pleasantly surprised with)

Artists I have considered featuring in future swap discs:
Gil Scott-Heron, Divine Comedy, Elvis Costello

Artists who other people have sent tracks by, on other swaps:
Green Day (kitty), Franz Ferdinand (kramer), Graham Coxon (kramer), Philip Glass (umfum), Ennio Morricone (umfum)

My favourite tracks were Led Zepplin (rocks), Divine Comedy ("She wears black and a big wooden cross, but she's a happy goth") and Tomoyasu Hotei (good memories of watching Kill Bill)

On top of that I've used a very similar HeroMachine picture of myself in the past, and I use the kaddar-blue character when I'm writing about myself in strips. It's like we're twins or something, which makes you a half-twin of mmyers.

This is like a compilation I could have made for myself - not what I initially look for in a SC CD swap, but the vibe of the whole disc is so damn near what I put on my first ever swap CD it's like looking in some kind of mirror.

Cheers, Gov.

---
Please replace the handset, and try again.

We finally had a cold, black night here in East TN, so I took some time to listen to...

Zegota's Into The Cold Black Winter:

01) Nargaroth / Introduction - Herbstleyd. I love that noisy intro part; I'm waiting for the stormtroopers to kick my ass (or destroy me for using the wrong credit card--sorry American advertisement humor), then, ladies start chanting! Then...Vikings? Later...Goats? A little later...this track is awesome! More later...damn, it's still going! Hey, now it sort of sounds like a slower "Creeping Death." Now the vocals are scaring me, but the rest is kick-ass. Finally...it's over already?
02) Tristania / December Elegy. Stately, serene--RARRRRGGHHHH!--passionate even. Very good.
03) Burzum / Erblicket die Töchter des Firmaments. Ah, there's the cold black winter! This one sounds like NIN met a fuzzbox and turned even darker than usual. Cool.
04) Amortis / Summoned by Astral Fires. Music closer to what I prefer when it comes to Metal. Circus-type organ sound is a bit distracting, but it ultimately works.
05) Darkthrone / A blaze in the northern sky. Pretty good.
06) Haggard / Eppur Si Muove. Kicks...epic...ass.
07) Nargaroth / Nargaroth. I liked the first track better, but they sound like a band I could get into.
08) After Forever / Follow in the cry. More croonchy goodness!
09) Judas Iscariot / Benevolent whore dethroned for eternity. The title is longer than the song! Wicked.
10) Graveland / White Beasts of Wuotan. Here's another one I really like--the music is great. I'm not crazy about screaming-sledgehammer-in-your-brain vocals now that I'm older, but I can't overlook a band with a great sound.
11) Marduk / Fistfucking God's planet. I think I had been drained by the energy of the previous tracks; I didn't write anything down in my notes about this track. I think that was because it didn't sound much different than the others.

[hr]

[u]Grade: B+[/u]
I don't dig this genre as much as I did in my High School/College years. Still, I appreciate the artistry and aggression of these bands. I know I will find more to like the more I listen to the disc. RAAARRGH!

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

Recieved your cds umfum, cheers, review pending, although still got to do zegotas and Jes's, Ive listened to both just havent had any chance to write anything lately.

Also received umfum's CD.

---
Please replace the handset, and try again.

I have also aswell me too received the cd's from subject umfum

---
And you know what Hell is, folks. It's Andy Gibb, singing 'Shadowdancing' for aeons and aeons...

Zegota's Belgian Bands from Belgium:

First, I don't know from where else these bands would hail, but your title cracked me up. Second, it's late, and I'm too tired to go back and find the tracklist. Sorry.

01) Nice--not too heavy.
02) Sounds like Bjork; tastes like pork.
03) Holy shit! My organ is burning.
04) Cool. Reminds me of carnival music, but this is slower, better.
05) Smooth. Sounds like it would have been at home in Cabaret.
06) Okay.
07) Awesome beginning, but the last part sort of
08) faded into this song, but they're both very good.
09) Sound of C-.
10) I really like the sound and vibe of this band. Wait, aren't sounds just vibrations? Nevermind.
11) You had me at the kick-ass drums. You had me at the kick-ass drums.
12) Just crazy enough to work.
13) Don't know what they're rhyming, but it sounds dope.
14) Even though the singer sort of sounds like Leo Sayer, I enjoyed this track; it's oddly endearing.
15) Where the hell have I heard this song?
16) More refreshing than a chilled Mimosa.
17) Lyrics are insanely catchy. I'd like an English translation.
18) Very good. I like this band also.
19) Starting to wind down, now, but all these songs are high quality.
20) & 21) Sounded a bit too similar to #19 or else I was tired that night, too.

[hr]

[u]Grade: A-[/u]
Great variety and track selection kept my interest level up until the slower end sequence. Now I'm wondering if Zegota likes all these songs or if he only included them to give us a taste of Belgian music. Either way, it's a great collection.

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

TheGovernor presents Something for Everyone:

01) Ralph Myerz - A Special Morning. Pleasant jaunt through morning dew.
02) Oi Va Voi - Refugee. Didn't make an immediate impact, but the vocals are efective.
03) Morrissey - First of the Gang to Die. No matter his image, Morrissey's voice exudes a dertain confident charm. I enjoy hearing it.
04) The Zutons - Dirty Dancehall. Reminds me of Brian Setzer, but sounds much better. Jolly jumpy jam!
05) The Bees - No Atmosphere. C'mon, you couldn't have put a Byrds track before this one? Also, is this song leftover from the 60s? If not, then I just got high from squishing a ladybug between my fingers. Wild and weird.
06) Bouthby Graffoe - Head On. Aces.
07) PJ Harvey - Big Exit. I've never heard a PJ Harvey song that I've really liked or really hated. I think that's strange.
08) Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething. The title reminded me of that horrible boomer show thirtysomething. However, the actual song could have been my theme song a few years back. Excellent.
09) John Otway - Cor Baby, That's Really Free. Okay.
10) Experimental Pop Band - Hippies Don't Know. Makes me sway.
11) Paul McCartney - Lie and Let Die. Live and let rock. Too bad Paul died years ago. ;)
12) Divine Comedy. Wistful and winsome.
13) CB & The Magic Band - I Love You, You Big Dummy. Sorry, I don't eat Beefheart.
14) Belle & Sebastian - I Fought in a War. B & S. BS? I'm still trying to decide about this band.
15) Supergrass - Prophet 15. Ha ha! Super.
16) Goldfrapp - Lovely Head. I bought this CD a few weeks ago, and I'm enchanted by Alison's vocals and the sparse constructions. Great track.
17) Muse - Apocalypse Please. Sounds like RADIOHEAD to me--which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[hr]

[u]Grade: A[/u]
Super group of songs here. The artist selection is based on bands that TheGov heard/saw at Glastonbury. The experience of seeing these bands live is transmitted pretty well by the CD (minus the crowds and weather, of course). It's an inspired idea, and I'm glad to have been the beneficiary.

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

I was on the fence for a long time about Belle & Sebastian. There is still a lot of earlier B&S that is too orchestral for me that I don't care for, but their pop songs from any era are incredible.

A related band is Looper, fronted by the former B&S bass player--also some great music.

TheGovernor presents Self Titled:

01) Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song. Pleasant romp of warring Vikings (sorry, had to do that). When a mix CD starts out with "Immigrant Song," you know it means business.
02) Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Classic. Thanks, I needed a good digital copy of this song.
03) Elvis Costello - Beyond Belief. When Elvis is on, he's unmatched. When Elvis is off, he's still pretty damn good. I'd list my favorite E.C. songs here, but I'd take up the rest of the space.
04) Goldfrapp - Human. (see #16 above)
05) OST - Theme from Get Carter. I've never seen the movie, but this music makes me want to do so. Did jes mean that Harold Budd composed or contributed to the soundtrack?
06) The Bees - These Are the Ghosts. Awesome, buzzing sound to this group.
07) XTC - I'd Like That. More people should listen to XTC--especially the early stuff, eh, Nigel?
08) Barry Adamson - The Big Bamboozle. More instrumental spiffosity. Where have I heard Adamson's name before?
09) Divine Comedy - The Happy Goth. Fun.
10) Tomoyasu Hotei - Battle Without Honor or Humanity. Like the dwarf beauty pageant--short and sexy.
11) Green Day - Panic Song. Started out pretty well, but then I realized it was Green Day.
12) Cardiacs - Victory Egg. I kept waiting for this song to take off, but it didn't. Still, it taxies pretty damn well.
13) Royksopp - So Easy. They make music so easy to listen to.
14) Franz Ferdinand - Michael. Like Belle & Sebastian above, I'm still forming my opinion about FF. This song fit well with the others, but it isn't a favorite.
15) Yann Tiersen - Les Jours Tristes. The Sad Days? Sounds pretty upbeat to me. Also reminds me of Philip Glass (see below).
16) Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - The Telescope and the Bonfire. The Gorky track you sent on the previous swap was a wild tangle. This is mostly opposite that. Makes me want to hear even more Gorky.
17) Graham Coxon - Freakin' Out. Freakin' Cool!
18) Philip Glass - Living Waters. Oddly, this doesn't sound like Philip Glass (see above), but I haven't heard a ton of his stuff, anyway.
19) Pulp - Common People. Too common for this people.
20) Ennio Morricone - Ecstasy of Gold. As jes mentioned, I put this on my first swap CD. The Good the Bad and the Ugly is one of those films where I'll stop what I'm doing and watch it whenever it's on the telly.
21) T-Rex - Children of the Revolution. Does the earlier song mean that these children won't be televised? This song is only the third one I've ever heard by T-Rex, and it's pretty damn good. RIP, Mark Bolan.

[hr]

[u]Grade: A[/u]
By "Self Titled," I assume that TheGov means these are songs very close to his heart or at least important to who he is musically. If so, then it's a revealing look at his past influences and current favorites. And as a compilation, the songs are quite cohesive. I'll take that to mean that TheGov is pretty well put together, too!

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

Roy Budd composed the soundtrack. There were other 60's pop-type songs on the OST as well as the orchestral and jazz stuff, but I think he wrote the lot. Harold Budd is an experimental composer, isn't he?

Also I hate to cop out and give a mini-review of the second disc but - it really made me feel like I was at Glastonbury - I didn't like all of them but I appreciated all of them and the whole listening experience was great.

Looking forward to swap 6.

---
Please replace the handset, and try again.

To be honest there were tracks on the glastonbury one that I added simply because at the time the live set was fantastic, jamie cullum for example played a blinder on the jazz stage, then when it came to picking a track from his album I found it mainly quite bland, yeah the boy sings well enough, it was just too by the numbers, live however and he kicks ass.

Anyway onto the reviewing.

Zegotas Into the Cold Black Winter

To be honest heavy coarse vocals like that have never really appealed to me, but I found certain tracks on the album to be a joy, track one for instance, I found both interesting and entertaining, the mix between ethnic/gothic and rock worked well, and there were others on the album that definately caught my interest, I really liked track 8, the egyption undertones hooked me, as a whole however I thought the album was great, I found the lively pace, consistant style and melodic lead guitar on some of the tracks certainly held my interest.

Jolly good show, pip pip and all that.

Belgian Bands from Belgium was great, I loved track 10, and on a whole Id say there are tunes on there that simply wont leave my playlist for quite some time. It was very intersting mix of styles and compliments into the cold black winter nicely, It highlights exactly why I love these cd swaps, its so easy to get boxed in by the familiar, or certain types of music that its refreshing and comforting to know theres a lot of variety out there in the world to discover still. Great stuff.

I finally emailed the tracklist and notes as I promised long ago--sort of forgot about it over the holidays.

I used hotmail for jes and zeg, gmail for dcom, and Gov's spodrum.

dcom, don't look at the attachment's last page if you want the mystery disc to remain a mystery. I'll likely make it to the post office on Friday to resend your package.

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

sittin on a toilet
waitin for my bowels to move
i got a doo doo rap
i got a doo doo

I wrote stuff for Jes' and Zegota's I think over two months ago, but then I moved and forgot where I put them. I don't know why I haven't re-done them yet but expect reviews sometime soon. Gov too.

I will just not read the email at all yet.

---
Batman created by Bob Kane

jes_lawson's Compilation of Extraordinary Magnitude:

01) *Magnitude!*. Where's my seatbelt (or at least a safety harness)?
02) Snow Patrol - As Me How I Am. Sounds BECKish--not JOE BECK, BECK BECK. Great start.
03) Screamager - Therapy?. Okay, this tracklist is confusing me. This is a song titled Therapy? not the band THERAPY?. Got it. Lyrics are appealing, music is decent.
04) Korn - Did My Time. KORN always seems to have two decent songs per CD. This must me 1/2 of them.
05) Deceiver - Napalm Death. I thought this was an ending reprise of the KORN song. Another song name masquerading as a group name.
06) Christy Moore - Carrickfergus. An appropriate introduction. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country because I can listen to music like this all day. It prods the ol' romantic soul in me.
07) Autechre - Eutow. Very into this song, but I'd like to hear more of the group. Great in the context of the mix, too.
08) Tortoise - TNT. Even better than the last track. Reminds me of MMW but more sophisticated.
09) Bomb The Bass - Megablast. Bass in yo face!
10) Corneilius - Seashore And Horizon. Pretty pretty.
11) Prefuse 73 - Blacklist. Very nice.
12) Brothomstates - Qtio. A bit too schizo for me.
13) Elgar - Nimrod. So this isn't a cover of GREEN DAY? :) Noble, egalitarian--almost REGAL, even.
14) Global Communication - 14:31. (see 19 below).
15) Optical - To Shape The Future. Shaping the future of my ears.
16) Roy Budd - Cassette Jazz. Doesn't matter which Budd you send, I love 'em both!
17) The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton. Sit back and enjoy.
18) The Who - Behind Blue Eyes. When I was a younger, angrier young man (instead of currently being old and disgusted), I felt a personal connection to this song.
19) Orbital - Impact (USA Mix). It's not easy for me to give this song and "14:31" above my full attention while reviewing. I like long songs, but I need more time to explore the intricacies of each. I know I'll enjoy them down the road.
20) IRFU - Ireland's Call. ROIGHT!!!!!

[hr]

[u]Grade: A-[/u]
I only give a minus here because this disc didn't connect with me as greatly as jes' previous efforts; however, I don't think it was meant to do so. In fact, this compilation lives up to the several definitions of "magnitude" by providing a wide palette of sounds upon an extended disc whose brightness surpasses that of ordinary compilations. Superb job as usual, Mr. Lawson.

---
Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

well ive ben meaning to catch up on this reviewing lark,and as we're now half way through swap 6 I figure I should really finish up on them cds I recieved in swap 5. Its been more down to a severe lack of time than anything else really, its sad really I never seem to have the time to 'Strip' these days let alone anything else, and theres so much new art and cool features Ive yet to tinker with, feh, anyway. The Compilation of Extraordinary Magnitude by Jes Lawson, first off, its 90 minutes long! Or at least its on a 90 minute CD, and well thats just too cool, 90 minutes are what mixes are all about as anyone whos had a tape player will attest. Jes' Mix is a blend of the classic and the sublime, With a hint of irish charm, and tasty guitar. Ive got to say there are songs on here that I havent heard for yonks and when you hear them again it brings back all that was good about why you liked them in the first place, a bit like walking past a bakers and smelling a batch of freshly cooked loaves wafting out of the extractor fans. Megablast by Bomb the Bass is a case in point. What a tune! And Ive not heard Behind Blue Eyes for so long, its like saying hello to an old friend. Ive got to say however it was the tunes on here that I have to admit never hearing before that make this compilation special (or even extraordinary) Casette Jazz for instance, which has to be a favourite, and Id never heard Seashore and Horizon before but it presses all the right buttons for me, as does Global Communications 14:31, and have inspired me to check out some more of their catalogue. In all Ive really enjoyed this cd, and the CD's from Dcom and Zegota so thanks again guys, and my appologies to Jes for taking this long to give my two cents worth on his CD. Again cheers guys, its been a good swap.