2013-11-02 0:41:03 ¶ ●

RATING: 12 / 13 – like a bow of ribbone on a beiuetuifiul ponny

The Universe A album concentrated on the trolls, and each troll (both ancestors and troll kids) had a song. On this album, it’s the human kids’ turn: each of the 8 kids (Beta and Alpha) get a song, and that leaves plenty of extra room for some more varied subjects afterwards as well.

In the original contest, much more music than could be used was submitted, and both coloUrs and mayhem albums are packed with quality music that covers the entire genre (which is basically ‘all possible music’).

I imagine, though, that the first eight full tracks got the most contest attention, because it’s as solid a stretch of music as exists in the Homestuck library. Just stellar. That’s not to take away from the remainder of the album: a lot of familiar motifs appear, and the second half has great, catchy songs too. One of the songs was written by a ten-year-old (Cupcake Girl). Ten! If only I had such talent at that age (or ever, to be frank).

Click here for individual song reviews for coloUrs and mayhem: Universe B.

2013-11-07 4:20:51 ¶ ●

RATING: 6 / 13 – It’s goddamn bedlam down here.

The very first theme album. If the Midnight Crew formed a band, what would it sound like? Since they originate from the hard-boiled, ‘two steak dinners’ world of Problem Sleuth, jazz and noir rules the day. The whole album has a very listenable quality to it, and there’s a few great songs (Three in the Morning, Ace of Trump) scattered throughout as well. Lots of jazz piano, bass, and drums. But there’s one thing that holds me back a bit.

Saxophone must be one of the toughest instruments to produce samples for. On some of the songs where the sax leads the charge, I have a hard time ‘suspending my disbelief,’ so to speak. It’s got that throaty, growly tenor sax voice, but it just feels a little bit off in tone and cadence. Compare Liquid Negrocity to the saxophone lead in Blue Atom, which was a live alto sax player. The transitions in the latter are crisp but much more natural (especially near the end when the part gets busy).

And jazz is one of the most organic forms of music there is. When I think of jazz, I think of Miles Davis wailing away on the trumpet, or Blind Willie Buttermilk Stubbs usin’ his twiddlin’ fingers.

All that being said, it’s a good collection of neo-jazz-noir, one that works on its own level throughout (there’s not much in the way of dead spots).

Click here for individual song reviews for Midnight Crew: Drawing Dead.

2013-11-13 1:41:00 ¶ ●

RATING: 6 / 13 – could enjoy it on a nostalgic level

Alternia is the first ‘solo’ album that I’ve reviewed. These albums are created primarily by a single musician (in this case, Toby “Radiation” Fox). It wasn’t widely featured in Homestuck proper: in fact, the closest it comes to factoring into the comic is a link to Showdown on this page.

The music was written immediately before and during Hivebent: for reference purposes, this was where Homestuck was when the album was released. We had only just met many of the trolls. Yet in one fell swoop, Radiation has composed memorable, recurring themes for many characters (neo-Baroque harpsichord for Terezi, Western for Tavros, uh, crabby for Karkat, and so forth). It’s impressive how these motifs have persisted in future albums.

In part, that helps to explain the rating, too. Once again, hindsight and access to future material unavoidably skews how things are perceived. There’s some good music on this album, but many of the songs are released in superior form on a follow-up (AlterniaBound). Alternia itself is brief but wide-ranging in genre, and it feels a little rough around the edges in comparison. It contains the seeds of some great tracks (and a few very strong, stand-alone ones like The Lemonsnout Turnabout), to be further explored and refined.

Click here for individual song reviews for Alternia.

2013-11-22 4:20:57 ¶ ●

RATING: 8 / 13 – Ill, dog. I’m basically titillated here

A lot of fan-created music has been made over the years, and fortunately there have been efforts to collect it into an organized form. This is one of the early ‘fan music greatest hits’ compilations.

It’s a great deal of music, and it’s a little patchy as one long play-through. But it’s comparable in quality to the Homestuck volume albums. It most definitely carries that ‘Homestuck’ vibe: it has the same smattering of remixes, the same genre-bending variation, and the same general feel as the official material. Small wonder, I suppose: all of the artists were inspired by the comic, and many tracks on this album were written by members of the official music team.

Of course, the best part about this album is that it is completely, utterly free. The entire album (one ZIP file, all in MP3 format) can be downloaded from skaia.net. Give it a whirl.

Click here for individual song reviews for Land of Fans and Music.

2013-11-25 4:20:00 ¶ ●

RATING: 10 / 13 – FR3SH L1K3 R3C3NTLY L34V3N3D GRUBLO4F

A solo effort by Mark Hadley, whose contributions to the catalog tend not to be prolific, but always high in quality. The album is short – it’s more like a single release with an A and a B side than an album. But taken together, it’s a strong eleven minutes of music.

All three tracks run with the musical theme first established in Skies of Skaia. None of the songs could be called remixes, though: that would be unjust. The album is symphonic, atmospheric, and very much new-age (if you draw a blank on that genre, think Enya). And I can’t help but be reminded of the soundtrack for the first couple of Lord of the Rings movies – and the Elvish-looking script in the album cover title (and, as it turns out, Elvish lyrics) only reinforces that presumption.

The transitions between songs are a little abrupt for a single concept in three songs, but that does little to detract from its vibe. It’s good stuff.

Click here for individual song reviews for Song of Skaia.

2013-11-29 1:41:00 ¶ ●

RATING: 8 / 13 – ripping sonnets of STRONGNESS

A solo effort from Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri, and with a coherent (if bifurcated) theme to boot. The album’s broken into two distinct halves (representing the eponymous planets in the comic). There are four bright, triumphant tunes for Prospit, and four darker, more aggressive songs for the Derse dreamers.

I found the second half to be stronger than the first. Maybe it’s more due to personal taste than anything else, but the Derse tunes tend to have better hooks, while the Prospit ones are a little more old-fashioned and stodgy.

Click here for individual song reviews for Prospit & Derse.