Customer Reviews

Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've gone back to an online e-card of this album a friend sent me months ago for several listens while wishing I could buy some of it online, so thank goodness this work is finally available here. Musically Astro's all over the place but I don't care because he knows what he's doing. I get the idea he's a rapper first and foremost, which he's certainly good at, but I'm here primarily for the moody indie-rock stylings such as Short Term Memory Loss or Love Song for Gary Numan, which flow along quite smoothly. Heck even though they gave away the latter track with the aforementioned e-card, I'm going to buy it anyway because I enjoy it so much. Here's to hoping he continues to produce new and interesting stuff in the future.

Astronautilus blends hip-hop with all sorts of other musical genres. He does it gracefully and with an inspirational degree of skill. There's some country music to be found here, as well as traditional rock, piano-bar stuff, and just plain wierdo music. I'd say he's as informed by Tom Waits and Beck as he is by Jay-Z or Eminem. He's got his own thing going on completely, though, so it's tough to make comparisons.

The lyrics themselves defy hip-hop conventions completely. For example, on one song he talks about being stabbed over dinner for spilling a glass of wine. It's killer good, bizarre, and fresh.

His flow is solid and his delivery spot on. I have no doubt he can stand up against any MC and do himself justice.

While Beck makes his living off of Dadaist ramblings, Astronautalis's lyrics in this album are clever- not Isaac Brock brilliant, but similar in their style and intent, and smart enough to make you smile and see things from a different angle. He does not lean on cliches, that much I can promise you.

Astronautalis not only uses multiple instruments (pretty well, I might add) he also uses the studio production as a separate instrument. He balances out riffs and chord progressions with well-made beats, ambient sounds, and field recordings of rain and some sort of stand-up routine stuck in there.

I lost my first copy, and am thrilled to see this is online so I can get it again.

So pleased to see Astronautalis is getting a little recognition here. I lived in Jacksonville, Fl, his hometown, for a few years and was introduced to his music there. He is a brilliant lyricist, with beats that match. I suggest trying to catch a live show...even better live.

Astronautalis, wow, never fails to impress. I bought this product anticipating greatness and received a superb piece of art. Comparable only to his previous works, "Pomegranate", "You and Your Good Ideas", "Dang". He blends different genres of music so well, from banjos, in Xmas in July, to piano, in Lost at Sea. Rap, phs, that will never be sufficient enough to describe Astronautalis. Truly amazing. I hope you like it as much as i do.

Sometimes I get the feeling I'm the only one who's actually heard of this guy, which is unfortunate. What you have hear is probably one of the strangest "rap" albums you'll ever hear. Strange, because it's only barely still a rap album. It'll leave you with the impression that this guy's CD player sees a lot of early Modest Mouse and Luna (his delivery, especially on the sung parts, is often really reminiscent of Dean Wareham's).

There are a couple kinda forgettable tracks on here, hence the 4-star rating. But when he's on his game (which is on most of this CD), the result is some of the best recent music you're not listening to.