Streams of Consciousness
We have another interesting mix of albums this week. Ok, it’s actually not as diverse as most shows, but one really throws everything off balance. Also, two of the other ones have been anxiously anticipated by your hosts…and one of them delivers. In the middle of these four brand new album reviews, we also start a discussion on streaming music. I say “start” because I hope this will be somewhat ongoing as you listeners get involved. Personally, I have been using Apple music more since the recording, so I will be sharing some further comments on the service shortly (either on this site or our Facebook page…which you should go like…).
Reviews:
August Burns Red – Found in Far Away Places (Fearless)
Mutoid Man – Bleeder (Sargent House)
Silent Planet – The Night God Slept (Solid State)
Wrvth – Wrvth (Unique Leader)
August Burns Red – Found In Far Away Places
Mutoid Man – Bleeder
Silent Planet – The Night God Slept
Wrvth – Wrvth
The Sideshow Podcast 
The way you guys describe Wrvth is the way I feel about a lot of tech death / Unique Leader stuff. It sounds great while I’m listening to it but inevitably a) it’s not that memorable and b) it’s too long. For me that type of stuff does tend to work when I put in on shuffle with other stuff. I recall more than one occasion where Gorguts came up on shuffle for me and I wasn’t immediately sure what it was and liked it, but when I listen to an entire album of their stuff it’s too much to take at once.
I got the new Mutoid Man. Only just started listening to it but liking it so far. If one of the guys in the band is the sound guy at Saint Vitus then I’ll see him on Thursday when I go to a show there.
As for streaming, it’s not for me for 2 reasons. The biggest is that I’m not always listening to music in a place with internet access. I listen to music on the subway and also just got back from a 7 hour plane flight. The other reason is that I want to be in control of what I want to listen to. That includes choosing the music and also having the file. Brian’s story about how Apple changed many of the tags is a reason why I don’t use any of these types of “services”. I just want files. When I do want to check out new music that I don’t own, YouTube is my go to “streaming” site.
Yeah, Apple needs to fix that cloud shit ASAP. That said – and I may post more about this on FB – I have been having some fun with Apple Music. Not the radio stations though…I haven’t really used them yet. but the curated playlists. As I mentioned, Decibel makes their own, which are pretty sweet, but the ones Apple curates are actually pretty solid once you give them more to go on. There is “love it” button, and the more of those you check off, the more streamlined the playlists get, but while maintaining diversity. Essentially, the more you use it, the better it gets.
In addition to the one list i mentioned, i listened to “Kataklysm’s Metal Influences” and two different ones meant for working out. Those latter two weren’t what i would typically use, but they were solid and a fun listen. There was also a list of new singles for 2015 that had everything from The Devil Wears Prada to Lamb of God to Bullet For My Valentine to Cattle Decapitation. There was some modern metalcore stuff i didn’t love, but i let them play because they were there and i figured “ah, what the hell…”
I’m not really discovering anything new, per se, with these playlists, but i did listen to some bands that i don’t have or normally go back to, so it’s fun that way. It’s great for those times i have no idea what i am in the mood for.