This Rodox Thread

[rodox_head]

Awww the cutest little box climbing darlings

They're precious little things. I've gotten most of my immediate coworkers on my side about them.

[NTFMTS]

Absurdly cute

[rodox_head]

So pretty much all of my immediate coworkers are either on my side, or indifferent to the opossums hanging around, with the last one being the one to want to trap them and release them into a park. I still can't shake the feeling that I'm in the wrong for looking out for them, like it really isn't any business of mine in the first place.

[rodox_head]

I think this is a litter of 3 girls and 1 boy, since one seems to be a bit more separate from the others and more assertive towards the food I leave out. They absolutely pig out on apple slices, but that can't be the only thing they get from me. I'm at a point where I inherently respect animals more than people, except for pigeons.

[rodox_head]

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[Orbited insanitarium]

Been finding lots of rodox adjacent muzak recently and wanted to list what I bought to ya:

The Police - Reggatta De Blanc -
My first full length exposure to the Police and a cool sound with the tropical touches, nothing really slapped me in the face but Walking on the Moon and Deathwish were snazzy and slick. I wasn't expecting On Any Other Day to sound like that, it was surprisingly comedic.
Would really like to go forward with their discography as I have Syncronicity and wish to check out Zenyatta Mondatta.

Bôa - Twilight -
First time this has been reissued on cd in a long long time and I snagged an imported copy at the local store. Beyond Duvet which will always have a special place as a S.E.Lain fan, and the acoustic version, I am pleasantly surprised by it's consistency and while not many new ideas along with the time it was released, the songs are very individual. Track 9 Welcome is so overlooked, it's got a Björks Debut instrumental rhythmic pallete, very relaxed with reggae guitar licks and touches.

Killing Joke - Brighter Than A Thousand Suns -
Yet to hear. TBC.

The Cure - Friday I'm In Love - CD single
Such a sweet song, since I found it only this morning I have listened a dozen times over, lush as hell! (The B-Side Halo is also an amazing addendum)
Wish could be for me.

Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded
This had such an effect on me late at night, I remember the Omni Trio remix at the end of the album as a little treat, and a treat it was too. Succulent DnB with angelic vocals. Nocturnal perfection. So much of this feels just like the Silent Hill soundtracks and some game OSTs you have recommended. Equally brooding and emotional in the same sense.

[rodox_head]

Been finding lots of rodox adjacent muzak recently and wanted to list what I bought to ya:

The Police - Reggatta De Blanc -
My first full length exposure to the Police and a cool sound with the tropical touches, nothing really slapped me in the face but Walking on the Moon and Deathwish were snazzy and slick. I wasn't expecting On Any Other Day to sound like that, it was surprisingly comedic.
Would really like to go forward with their discography as I have Syncronicity and wish to check out Zenyatta Mondatta.

Bôa - Twilight -
First time this has been reissued on cd in a long long time and I snagged an imported copy at the local store. Beyond Duvet which will always have a special place as a S.E.Lain fan, and the acoustic version, I am pleasantly surprised by it's consistency and while not many new ideas along with the time it was released, the songs are very individual. Track 9 Welcome is so overlooked, it's got a Björks Debut instrumental rhythmic pallete, very relaxed with reggae guitar licks and touches.

Killing Joke - Brighter Than A Thousand Suns -
Yet to hear. TBC.

The Cure - Friday I'm In Love - CD single
Such a sweet song, since I found it only this morning I have listened a dozen times over, lush as hell! (The B-Side Halo is also an amazing addendum)
Wish could be for me.

Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded
This had such an effect on me late at night, I remember the Omni Trio remix at the end of the album as a little treat, and a treat it was too. Succulent DnB with angelic vocals. Nocturnal perfection. So much of this feels just like the Silent Hill soundtracks and some game OSTs you have recommended. Equally brooding and emotional in the same sense.

"Regatta De Blanc" and "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" rest near the bottom of their respective discographies for me, so it's only uphill from there . Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost in the Machine are The Police at their peak. "Brighter..." has Killing Joke leaning heavily into their gothic aesthetic but lacking a lot of the punch that made its predecessor "Night Time" so great. Certainly not unlistenable since you still get Geordie's signature riffs and Jaz's moody synth work. I've never really been a fan of "Friday I'm in Love", and it kinda kept me from listening to the whole "Wish" album, which is a shame since that album is largely great. Ironically, I'd say the worst songs on that album are the ones they released as singles. "Apart", "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea", and "Cut" are my personal favorites.

Been a while since I listened to "Twilight" and "Walking Wounded", although "Fool" found itself in my rotation frequently earlier in the year. Speaking of Omni Trio, have you listened to his most recent release "Above the Treeline"? It's made up of old unreleased tracks, but they're all still solid on their own.

[rodox_head]

It's difficult to feel any sort of holiday festive-ness when there's a presidential election just around the corner, and from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like much of the internet really cares either.

[Orbited insanitarium]

It's difficult to feel any sort of holiday festive-ness when there's a presidential election just around the corner, and from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like much of the internet really cares either.

I feel you on the election. I have been following it very closely as if it was my own country's. If the orange fascist fart-face gets in power, I think I will have second hand embarrassment for the people who voted him in, and I'll be devastated on all y'alls behalf.

On Halloween, I haven't had Trick or Treaters at my door in 7 years, I hardly notice the holiday now really
(The lack of Trick and Treaters aren't because I chop up children and serve flesh soup to my local kitchen, no, my area just has a lot of holiday houses, so the real locals don't bother.)

[Orbited insanitarium]

The Cure - Songs of a Lost World (Initial thoughts) [SPOILERED !!! ALERT !!! ALERT !!!]

[DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T LISTENED RODOX!]

Spoiler: show

So I just got finished listening to this and I'm confident in what Robert and the band were going for here. A couple shining standout moments here that I'm really in love with, but at least on my stereo, something is up.

I like the production choices across this album, the album artwork of my edition reflects what I hear nicely, but it is a bit overwhelming at points, and for lack of better words, it needed some clarity here and there. The mastering made me uncomfortable a little on the closing song. (Hey I'm no audio engineer.) It's not the amount of bass that's the problem, what Matt Colton has done is hard to pinpoint right now.
But some of these songs are really interesting experiments!!!!

- "Drone:Nodrone" in particular is what was needed in the middle of this behemoth, it grabbed my attention and the hook is insanely replayable. I had a ball.
("Down, Down, Down, yeah I'm pretty much done, staring down the barrel of the same warm gun.")

- I had some time to get used to "A Fragile Thing", and it holds up as a solid single and even solider album moment in context.

- So much yet to say, "Warsong" felt strange and queasy, at least to me. It's a good cut.

Throughout I thought Roberts words marry perfectly with the instrumentation, as they mostly do, and his vocals are phenomenal at his age, I agree with the critics thoughts on that, saying that even prematurely after the release of the first single "Alone".
Another thing is, does this feel like a 15 year in-the-making album to me? Well it arrives and announces itself as massive and gloriously lush, demonstrates the bands raw tight knit precision and then exits, leaving me wanting a little more. And that's what I hoped to get out of it really. (Brownie points to the perfected sound design across the board, even with my Matt Colton mastering issues aside, big thumbs up for that.)

Okay now I'll talk about the elephant in the room, the only thing I'm firmly ticked off about. Lost World's closing song, "Endsong". Why oh why oh why does it take 6 drawn out minutes to finally hear Smith sing? I can pinpoint so many opportunities in the song to introduce our man but it goes on.... and on..... and on.... AND ON.
I really liked how Robert arrived at the perfect moment in each respective song until this point, and I undestand that this is the final song (ever?), the closer to the album, but there are too many seconds squandered on repeated notes and refrains from moments earlier.

I'm gonna really enjoy digging into this in full again, and taking songs like "Drone:Nodrone" for a ride. A new Cure album was a welcome one and despite it being the "last" one, I hear they say that every time?

If this is the last time, it's quite a way to go out on.

[rodox_head]

The Cure's "Songs of a Lost World" feels like a melding of the dreamlike angst of "Disintegration" and the sobering lulls of "Bloodflowers". Clocking in at 49 minutes, I feel like I expected more after such a long wait, at least an hour maybe.

"Alone" opens with harsh and rude awakening that "this is the end" and all you can do is look back and reflect or celebrate. Look back on all the love and dreams we felt along those many years as the spirits from another world call to us. All that time, where did it go? "And Nothing is Forever" is a bittersweet bookend to "Lovesong", making "A Fragile Thing" feel almost like an anti-"Lovesong". Fitting as a song from a lost world, perhaps. The lingering death march of "Warsong" bitterly calls to focus on the insecurities within ourselves and "Drone:Nodrone" responds with the self-awareness that one may just really not know what to do about it. Do I just drone on about it, keep it all inside, or something else entirely? "I Can Never Say Goodbye" hits with the realization that death may loom all around us just beyond the horizon. Things move so rapidly for us to say goodbye to all around us, and we never get any sense of closure. "All I Ever Am" is a song of lamenting regret. All those mistakes we made and the consequenses we paid aftwerward. All those times we tried and failed to love. All these memories are immortalized within our minds and sometimes we're just to afraid to look at them for fear of reminding ourselves that we'll never be enough, or rather, we never were enough. My favorite track coming in a the end, "Endsong" opens with a 6 minute lull of gothic guitar riffs and dreamy synths that call to mind something like "Disintegration". As the first half plays out, I couldn't help but think what a ballsy and beautiful move it would have been to close the final Cure album with an instrumental. After all the sadness, the anger, and the denial, we're left to sit by ourselves and wonder where all the good times have gone. All the innocent dreams of a child, all the loved ones we may have taken for granted, and the world we used to so effortlessly fit in with. Where did it go? It's all gone!

[Orbited insanitarium]

A contrasting, agreeable review. I hadn't unpacked the emotionality (perhaps I need the ups and downs that come with life experience for that), refrains and callbacks quite like you have, and I don't think I ever will, but with subsequent listens it revealed to be a very detailed and hard worked Cure sound that might have been cumbersome to pull off with the huge gap and expectation. The live versions I saw on BBC Two also cleared a path for a new perspective on the songs, so check that out if you can. (Hah, I did also think "Endsong" was going to be instrumental at first as well, I have come to really like it during the week, also the "surround sound" mix alleviated most of my mastering and production grievances.)
Why did this album's release time so strangely? Anyways you have inspired another listen.

[rodox_head]

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It's difficult to put into words the feeling I get from looking at Henry's apartment. It's like I'm looking backwards into a vision of what to look forward to in what is now the present. A peaceful vision of what adulthood would look like; coming back to a space where every corner had its purpose, as opposed to just a big room with a mattress, fridge, and computer I visit between shifts. Every day I feel further atomized and isolated from the outer collective. I just live in my head where more chains are added to the front door over time without me realizing to keep others from coming in. This is my life now, this is life now, damned to exist in this reality.

[Josh]

A contrasting, agreeable review. I hadn't unpacked the emotionality (perhaps I need the ups and downs that come with life experience for that), refrains and callbacks quite like you have, and I don't think I ever will, but with subsequent listens it revealed to be a very detailed and hard worked Cure sound that might have been cumbersome to pull off with the huge gap and expectation. The live versions I saw on BBC Two also cleared a path for a new perspective on the songs, so check that out if you can. (Hah, I did also think "Endsong" was going to be instrumental at first as well, I have come to really like it during the week, also the "surround sound" mix alleviated most of my mastering and production grievances.)
Why did this album's release time so strangely? Anyways you have inspired another listen.

I'm a casual Cure fan at best, so I can't really compare it to the rest of their discography with any authority, but I do like this quite a bit. It's got a nice mix of gloom, drone and prettiness that works for me.

[Orbited insanitarium]

"Brighter..." has Killing Joke leaning heavily into their gothic aesthetic but lacking a lot of the punch that made its predecessor "Night Time" so great. Certainly not unlistenable since you still get Geordie's signature riffs and Jaz's moody synth work.

Yeah no, I have just got off a listen of it and I didn't like "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" really. It felt stuffy and by far the strangest parts were the lyrics, full of this bizarre fantasy immortal leaning wank. If the band would have thrown this music at the film Highlander I'm sure I would be more pleased, "Twilight of the Mortal" is tied for cheesiness as is "Victory".
The album started out well but as it went on I couldn't shake this nagging feeling of 80's anime theme tunes/openings and overproduced film soundtracks! I found it less gothic and more medieval. (I wonder if you see what I mean retrospectively)
The guitar work will be my reason for returning, you are absolutely right, but I can't stomach a majority of the rest it offers.

Aside what I think really made this such a negative shocker to me is that I played "Brighter" straight after my new CD of "What's THIS for...!" and I was in awe of it. A band presenting itself so rhythmic, bombastically tribal and the insanely low mixed ghostly tones from Mr. Jaz Coleman, the difference was like night and day. I took his words to heart WAYYYYYY more, full of excitement upon a new band to me.
- "Butcher the womb and expect her to bear"
(I was not ready for that fuck no.)

I will be spending a lot more time with my first propelling exposure......

"Night Time" is a good 'un you say?

[rodox_head]

"Brighter..." has Killing Joke leaning heavily into their gothic aesthetic but lacking a lot of the punch that made its predecessor "Night Time" so great. Certainly not unlistenable since you still get Geordie's signature riffs and Jaz's moody synth work.

Yeah no, I have just got off a listen of it and I didn't like "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" really. It felt stuffy and by far the strangest parts were the lyrics, full of this bizarre fantasy immortal leaning wank. If the band would have thrown this music at the film Highlander I'm sure I would be more pleased, "Twilight of the Mortal" is tied for cheesiness as is "Victory".
The album started out well but as it went on I couldn't shake this nagging feeling of 80's anime theme tunes/openings and overproduced film soundtracks! I found it less gothic and more medieval. (I wonder if you see what I mean retrospectively)
The guitar work will be my reason for returning, you are absolutely right, but I can't stomach a majority of the rest it offers.

Aside what I think really made this such a negative shocker to me is that I played "Brighter" straight after my new CD of "What's THIS for...!" and I was in awe of it. A band presenting itself so rhythmic, bombastically tribal and the insanely low mixed ghostly tones from Mr. Jaz Coleman, the difference was like night and day. I took his words to heart WAYYYYYY more, full of excitement upon a new band to me.
- "Butcher the womb and expect her to bear"
(I was not ready for that fuck no.)

I will be spending a lot more time with my first propelling exposure......

"Night Time" is a good 'un you say?

Much better. It still has that heavy post punk sound to it without falling into Arena rock territory like BTATS. "Not unlistenable" is the best praise I can give BTATS, honestly . Just stay away from Outside the Gate and you're good. If BTATS is a black sheep OTG is the garbage fire that the late Paul Raven hated working on so much he had his name taken off the credits.

It's been a bit, but I recall Revelations, Fire Dances, and Democracy being forgettable spots. Once they fixed themselves after OTG they went straight into Ministry style industrial rock, so a much needed improvement with some greats like Pandemonium, Hossanas..., and Absolute Dissent.

[Jonse]

Constants are Changing.

[rodox_head]

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[Orbited insanitarium]

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Now THIS is what I initially subscribed for.

[rodox_head]

I realize this saying has been thrown around so easily for ages, but without really knowing how to explain it, I mean this plain and simple:

I've lost my faith in humankind.