it's so surprising to me honestly that after so many different noise and otherwise chaotic requests your tolerance for repetition and dissonance is so low. Perhaps it's impossible for you to get things that seem to come so naturally to people like me perhaps. Anyway, this is like one of 3 albums I consider flawless, peak musicianship. Strong, honed in aesthetic, incredible instrumental interplay and just perfect album flow that makes it go by in a blink of an eye, perfect transmission of emotional states.
i really appreciate the care and consideration you put into the analysis of this even though it clearly wasn’t clicking for you. this album is definitely flawed in terms of a lot of its musical fundamentals but what i think it’s important to mention, as i’ve seen some comment bring up, is how young these guys were. masked dancers was thrown together by literal highschoolers fucking around in cubase. adam demirjian, the singer, guitarist and drummer has gone on record saying they were just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall, trying to find some way to express the complicated transition he was going through in life. if you’re intrigued by the band I would highly recommend you listen to their last album “just got back from the discomfort” which funnels a lot of the creative and experimental aspects of this album into a much tighter package. the band has admitted themselves that masked dancers was almost more of a trial run and that just got back serves as a more matured and seasoned form of their unique sonic and emotional palate. the droning and repetition is downplayed in favour of much more focused songwriting that elaborates a lot on the use of reoccurring themes and motifs. still though, great video man! love when you cover this kind of stuff
I screamed with excitement when I got this notification holy shit Edit: I think the reason they seperated Return and Through Hallways is because Returns lyrics are practically a summary of Hallways and since they were seperated, on the CD release they would get their own area on the lyric sheet.
That puts a lot of this in perspective. At one point I had mentioned that I didn't know their age but that the music did a great job of encompassing both teenage awkwardness and a coming of age story well so them being in high school makes a lot of sense.
Glad you listened to this. Hope you get to their second album at some point, I personally like it much better than this album (although I like a lot of the stuff in this album). Their second album is still very rough, but I think that its put together much better.
One of my all time favorite albums. vocals and drones are something that you can sorta relate to spicy or sour food. Some ppl like it and some ppl dont, and if you dont like it then you can deeply enjoy foods that stick to universal salty, sweet, and savory flavors. But if you do like it, then food that lacks spicy or sour flavors feels bland or limited. I love dissonance and drones more than most people, and so albums that lack those elements completely feel safe and uninspiring while albums like this that (intentionally or otherwise) incorporate it end up appealing so strongly to me in a way that a "clean" album simply couldn't. I appreciate your time and active engagement with the music even if it wasn't to your taste! great work as always
dude!! the rush of dopamine i just felt seeing a 3-hour long brave little abacus reaction pop up in my recommendation feed. INSTANT SUB!!!! edit: i just checked your page and saw reactions of FISHMANS, SUFJAN STEVENS, XIU XIU, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE AND BORIS TOO!!! AHHHH HOW DIDN'T I DISCOVER THIS CHANNEL EARLIER??? I'M GONNA BE BINGE WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to the community! We have an eclectic bunch here so the requests are all over the spectrum but what's fairly consistent is that I cover bands that most channels don't. And it sounds like you're gonna fit in just fine :)
it's so surprising to me honestly that after so many different noise and otherwise chaotic requests your tolerance for repetition and dissonance is so low. Perhaps it's impossible for you to get things that seem to come so naturally to people like me perhaps. Anyway, this is like one of 3 albums I consider flawless, peak musicianship. Strong, honed in aesthetic, incredible instrumental interplay and just perfect album flow that makes it go by in a blink of an eye, perfect transmission of emotional states.
i really appreciate the care and consideration you put into the analysis of this even though it clearly wasn’t clicking for you. this album is definitely flawed in terms of a lot of its musical fundamentals but what i think it’s important to mention, as i’ve seen some comment bring up, is how young these guys were. masked dancers was thrown together by literal highschoolers fucking around in cubase. adam demirjian, the singer, guitarist and drummer has gone on record saying they were just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall, trying to find some way to express the complicated transition he was going through in life. if you’re intrigued by the band I would highly recommend you listen to their last album “just got back from the discomfort” which funnels a lot of the creative and experimental aspects of this album into a much tighter package. the band has admitted themselves that masked dancers was almost more of a trial run and that just got back serves as a more matured and seasoned form of their unique sonic and emotional palate. the droning and repetition is downplayed in favour of much more focused songwriting that elaborates a lot on the use of reoccurring themes and motifs. still though, great video man! love when you cover this kind of stuff
I screamed with excitement when I got this notification holy shit
Edit: I think the reason they seperated Return and Through Hallways is because Returns lyrics are practically a summary of Hallways and since they were seperated, on the CD release they would get their own area on the lyric sheet.
Also wanted to mention, these guys were in high school when they wrote and recorded this. High school kids.
Yep, and Adam not only recorded vocals but all guitar parts and drums. Genuinely insane.
That puts a lot of this in perspective. At one point I had mentioned that I didn't know their age but that the music did a great job of encompassing both teenage awkwardness and a coming of age story well so them being in high school makes a lot of sense.
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO this is one of my favourite albums ever. Map of the Stars is magical.
The singer is actually also the drummer and guitarist!
Oh wow! I was not expecting a full album review of this, what a treat 🎉
Glad you listened to this. Hope you get to their second album at some point, I personally like it much better than this album (although I like a lot of the stuff in this album). Their second album is still very rough, but I think that its put together much better.
One of my all time favorite albums. vocals and drones are something that you can sorta relate to spicy or sour food. Some ppl like it and some ppl dont, and if you dont like it then you can deeply enjoy foods that stick to universal salty, sweet, and savory flavors. But if you do like it, then food that lacks spicy or sour flavors feels bland or limited. I love dissonance and drones more than most people, and so albums that lack those elements completely feel safe and uninspiring while albums like this that (intentionally or otherwise) incorporate it end up appealing so strongly to me in a way that a "clean" album simply couldn't.
I appreciate your time and active engagement with the music even if it wasn't to your taste! great work as always
The best emo album of all time.
hey now the album after this exists
dude!! the rush of dopamine i just felt seeing a 3-hour long brave little abacus reaction pop up in my recommendation feed. INSTANT SUB!!!!
edit: i just checked your page and saw reactions of FISHMANS, SUFJAN STEVENS, XIU XIU, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE AND BORIS TOO!!! AHHHH HOW DIDN'T I DISCOVER THIS CHANNEL EARLIER??? I'M GONNA BE BINGE WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to the community! We have an eclectic bunch here so the requests are all over the spectrum but what's fairly consistent is that I cover bands that most channels don't. And it sounds like you're gonna fit in just fine :)
I jumped in my chair
no wayy
:)