What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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One could laud 2814's musical trajectory and their ability to distance themselves from the deluge of Vaporwave projects drowning the genre of whatever life pulse it had left. However, like most Vaporwave producers, 2814 has struggled outside of that realm, and that shows on the 77-minute Ambient project Lost Fragments. Here, Vaporwave only appears aesthetically, and most notably on the cover itself. The rest of Lost Fragments drifts between dimensional rifts, occasionally picking up rhythms that form nice Ambient Techno sections ('Arcadia,' 'Impact'), although a few overstay their welcome with an overindulgence of Drone ('遠い将来で失,' '終わりと始まり').
However, by and by, this is an Ambient project and the crux of Lost Fragments abides by that idea. Reminds me of Tangerine Dream and some of those other Space Ambient projects, although there's a tactile addition of ethereal Field Recordings to help personify it. As if we're landing on an alien planet brimming with life. Still, as Ambient projects typically go, this doesn't offer anything substantial outside of background material for, I suppose, a night in an unknown place.
D+
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2019 | Ambient Pop | Listen
SWIMMING IN THE MELTING POT OF MUSIC & CULTURE
If there's ever something music critics can universally agree on, it's Helado Negro's vocals must've descended from the heavens themselves. English, Spanish, doesn't matter, they're the gleaming beacon of This Is How You Smile. But there's more to this record, even though one can fully enjoy it casually through Negro's vocals and tonality alone.
Impressively so, the production borrows from a stockpile of arresting styles, all of which fit together so seamlessly that one doesn't question how Ambient Pop, Bossa Nova, and Folktronica even intermingle. Similarities can be prescribed to bits of Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, Mount Eerie, and How To Dress Well, but only acutely. This is certainly Negro's own design, fitting his diverse upbringing to a tee.
That being said, I'm not fully won over with the Spanish songs (excluding 'Pais Nublado,' which is a fascinatingly modern take on Bossa Nova), only because they seem to be the most introvert and personal which, regrettably, I can't associate with. With 'Pais Nublado' in tow, there's a song that exemplifies Negro's production talents with each respective genre. The aforementioned Bossa Nova, 'Running' with its melodically mellow take on Indietronica, 'Two Lucky' on the reassuring waves of Dream Pop, and lastly 'Please Won't Please' with its gorgeous assembly of Ambient Pop pieces. The latter, which is the opener, is easily my favorite track on This Is How You Smile, and one of 2019's best.
C+
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