I have three problems with this album. 1.) There's really no flow to it. It's just an endless barrage of stuff happening. That's good - Iglooghost's use of maximalism is good - but there's no particular order to it so the result seems rushed. It's almost like Iglooghost was just trying to fit as many ideas in there as possible at all costs. One of the things I loved about Chinese Nu Yr was the fact that it's sort of like a roller-coaster; it has up and down moments, build ups, drops, etc. There's a sort of coherent story to it. Neo Wax Bloom is just a collage of sounds. It's a roller-coaster with no hills or loops. It's too linear. 2.) He keeps using the same samples over and over and it gets a little monotonous and predictable sometimes. There are a few elements on NWB that have appeared on at least 4 other songs on other releases. To hear an artist keep rehashing the same things over and over is kind of stale. 3.) Real instruments don't belong in the Iglooghost universe. It's weird to keep hearing watery flutes, saxophones, frantic pianos and noodly guitars where they don't fit. It breaks the "interdimensional" atmosphere of the songs to hear something so familiar.
Generally, Iglooghost's sound just doesn't translate to LP form quite as well as I expected it to and it was a little disappointing. It's still a great album, though.
1 is the only one i agree with you on. I found the reoccurring samples as a way of showing familiarity in all the chaos, and since the samples were so sweet and beautiful it just made things even better and climactic. I'm also a huge fan of the real instruments, they give the project a natural angle and make it feel more alive.
IMO Neo Wax Bloom is Iglooghosts most accurate representation of his visual style in musical form, and it's really all I hoped for it to be.
Jason Ross
i'm slowly starting to warm up to the album but overall it's nothing i find terribly interesting. i'd say that his use of maximalism serves to distract given that music itself isn't particularly amazing
would either of you be interested in joining my slack channel for serious music discussion? i like the cut of your jib
Carter Perry
Good album, shit cover.
Carter Price
OP here. I would be very interested, user.
Noah Barnes
I like the cover. I think Iglooghost's sense of visual design parallels his taste in sound design. If anybody else designed his visuals, the entire project would fall flat.
Adam Rodriguez
100% agree on #1, i was super excited for this album and actually had a kind of hard time getting through it. there is so much stuff being thrown at you that it's a little bit tiring, i think i kind of liked the slower tracks more than the "bangers" because of that. really really loved the peanut choker & chinese nu yr eps though i hope that for his next project he gets a bit better at pacing himself, if that makes any sense.
Aaron Williams
I swear this album is the death of music. And not even because its that revolutionary; at least I don't think so even though I liked it. I say this because you can plainly see how this guy pulled out all the stops to produce something totally unique but it just sounds like marginally more busy IDM that we heard even back in the 2000s. There's nowhere else to go and this album demonstrates what kind of musical crisis we are in.
Dominic Ramirez
I kindly disagree with you
1) I don't find his introduction of ideas to be random. There's definitely a flow, a lot of the tracks have very slight variations on the first or first two measures of new ideas being introduced to accommodate transition . Not to mention I don't get how you can say this album doesn't have up/down moments when it has an intro track that starts off much slower than the rest of the album with how things fade in or the vocal tracks which also offer a slow down and stuff like White Gum or Peanut Choker which is 40 seconds of build before those high pitched modded vocal samples come in and Purity shards which has barely anything for a percussion or more that isn't coming to mind.
2) This one's more your opinion, though I don't mind if electronic artists do use some similar sounds from before into the next record. It's not like we lambast non-electronic musicians who do that. Though I would like it if they do introduce new sounds which he does here.
3) See to me, the aesthetic is far more about being colorful than being "interdimensional". This was apparent in his other works as well. His choice of sounds like saxes, flutes, mallets, etc. are all very bright and fit his aesthetic of already bright, colorful tones.
I personally really enjoyed this album. It had a lot to uncover, and I am only looking forward to what he does next.
Logan Bailey
>pacing Good choice of word. That's the problem with Neo Wax Bloom: pacing, or the lack thereof.
Is it OK if I save this invite for later? I can't join right this minute.
Logan Gutierrez
i think its fine. all the creative decisions that ur talking about like structure are conscious decisions
Elijah Jenkins
aye. you aren't missing any conversation right now lol
Charles Jackson
Though I disagree with your opinions I fully respect them. Have a nice day and thank you for being so polite today.
Nathan Richardson
someone @ iglooghost and tell him there is an ongoing discussion about him right now. who knows? he might respond. he used to come here often, you know.
Michael Richardson
People have been saying that forever.
Joshua Brooks
Yeah the thing about that is its necessarily eventually true at some point.
Aaron Green
But 2000s IDM that was anywhere close to this busy was 1. far more repetitive in structure and 2. nowhere near as colorful
I swear to god like I didn't wanna say it cuz OP was being really nice about his opinion but how the fuck do you guys listen to jazz or classical that's even more erratic in its structures?
Brandon Thompson
>classical >more erratic
Chase Russell
A typical Bach piece can easily have more happening at once with less repetition
Jace Young
*in a perfectly organized and structured design*
Dominic Bennett
his visuals are just third rate julian glander mate
Xavier Scott
This is organized, too, nigga. You aren't listening to free jazz or Trout Mask Replica here, dude. The album's full of traditional tension/release, too. Like a lot of classical or jazz, it's super fast in your face so you gotta give it repeat listens and REALLY pay attention.
Brayden Kelly
If you think this is as organized as Bach I have a bridge chorus and verse to sell you.
Nicholas Thomas
There's been periods in time where music played a way less significant role than it does now. That's where we're headed.
Lincoln Martinez
fuck off, just discuss shit on mu
Aiden Jackson
I hate this album because I want it to be good, and it's just not
as other posters have said it just sounds too much like generic EDM and it kills the weird, alien vibes he's going for. Like somebody who only ever listened to and produced EDM took DMT and tried to make something out of this world, but in reality they're still caged by their limited scope of existing music to draw inspiration from
there are a few soundcloud artists that I think pull off this kind of thing well, but have no ambition to make a fully produced album like this
Hunter Butler
>all the stops
Does it even utilize microtones structurally? Does it modulate microtonally? No? Then shut the fuck up
Jeremiah Lee
How is one more organized than the other? Like yeah, Bach's music has certain rules to it that it follows to get its certain sound, and it's certainly a lot more complex from a melodic/harmonic perspective, but we aren't here to talk about that don't get autistic with specifics here you're missing the point. We are here to talk accessibility and ease of digestion of content, in which case Bach's music, or other classical or jazz musician's or anything else with complex structures is far tougher to fully grasp than this record is. It's ridiculous that people are complaining about how hard it is to digest rather than realizing it is something that requires time and repeated listens to do so. If you don't like that, that's up to you, not an inherent fault of the music.
