Unknown Pleasures: João Gustavo - Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') [Single]
 

João's lo-fi, low-energy approach gives the song not just a refreshingly raw sound in our world of sparklingly sanitized productions, it also makes the recording session seem spontaneous and organic rather than rehearsed and mechanical. Add to this the field recording of birds twittering away in the background and such idiosyncrasies effortlessly overwhelm any feelings of over-familiarity the listener may have with his classic Folk set-up of guitar, vocals and harmonica.

Quote:

"...humming grows in my ears it is racket time, it is time to disturb the neighborhood" from 'Tempo de Barulho' (online translation from the original Brazilian)

His lyrics, according to the rough (i.e. possibly completely unreliable) online translation I made of them, refer to feeling disgusted by one's humanity, to joining "the choir of the untuned ones... I do not have feet, I have hooves." Performed with a voice and guitar that often hit "untuned" notes in the tradition of such alt./indie/lo-fi luminaries as Beat Happening and Daniel Johnston, João shares with these musicians the ability to present familiar lyrical and musical themes (the beauty of nature, a 'verse-chorus-verse' structure, the instrumentation, etc.) in effortlessly unfamiliar ways.

Admittedly the aforementioned qualities mean this song will only appeal to a minority, but for this few this is perhaps yet another reason to swoon. Not for any elitist "My tastes are more obscure than yours" reasons but simply because it adds an extra feeling of intimacy to what is already a profoundly solitary work.

'Tempo de barulho' and many other fine songs by João Gustavo can be found at João Gustavo on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Re: UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') by João Gustavo [Single]
 

91%?? Are you sure??

Re: UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') by João Gustavo [Single]
 

All of this is fine but the song has to great too surely to warrant 91%? I mean you can't give that score based on his approach to recording.

I think there is some potential with that song, but for me it's very far from warranting that kind of score.

Nice review though on the whole, I just don't agree with the score.

Re: UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') by João Gustavo [Single]
 

I'm rating the 'Production' on a) what the musician intended and how well he fulfilled this intention and b) whether I think the intention was worthy. For example, if I was reviewing a raw Rock-style song that was over-produced I'd probably give it a '5' for production because a) the musician/musicians fulfilled their intention but b) I think Rock music should sound like 'Raw Power' by The Stooges, not Mariah Carey.

I think João intended this to be lo-fi and I think it's a good intention.

However, as I wrote in the last paragraph, such qualities are not to everyone's liking, hence the "Reviewers Tilt" (by the way, shouldn't it be 'Reviewer's Tilt'?), which I assume to be bias or individual preference, being '10'.

But that's enough about the recording, because I gave everything else a '9' for the following reasons:

Vocals/Lyrics: I think the theme of animal/bird sounds disturbing the narrator, possibly causing psychological disturbance rather than irritation, is very interesting and I also like his laidback vocal style.

Musicianship: I like the guitar chords, I like that he plays what may be the wrong chords but makes them sound right and I like the improvised feeling of the performance.

Creativity: See above, as well as the song's structure (it's essentially verse-chorus-verse, but effortlessly and organically so).

Lastability: It's non-generic and it isn't tied to a particular period in time, so '9'.

I get the impression you think these points aren't explicit enough in the review and are needed, so I've now included them, along with a reference to Beat Happening and Daniel Johnston who also divide music fans, in a new paragraph after the one mentioning performance and production.

Is it now clearer why I rated this song so highly?

By the way, does anyone who isn't Altsounds staff ever comment on articles, reviews, etc? All I seem to see are comments left by staff members.

Not really no. Your rating shows a near to perfect track which I don't
agree with at all. But it is your review so you can rate it whatever you
want. The problem is that it appears that you may be reviewing things from
personal opinion only which gives for a jaded review. You like gritty
sounding rock so if a gritty sounding track comes in your gonna rate it
high. If a polished pop punk track came in you would potentially slate it
because it's not your taste.

You need to be able to review it from the perspective of it's qualities
regardless of your personal opinion which in this case I don't think you
have done. I trust my musical judgement and I trust Heron's, so the fact
that we both question it means there might be a little mismatch going on
here.

Re: UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') by João Gustavo [Single]
 

The only non-staff members whoever comment are idiots who can't take criticism of bands/acts they like, so they create an account just to come on and flame the reviewer.

When it happens to you, you will have officially arrived. I was quite pleased when it first happended to me not so long ago.

Re: UNKNOWN PLEASURES: Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') by João Gustavo [Single]
 

Firstly, no, I don't like gritty sounding Rock; I would just rate the production higher than I would for over-produced Bon Jovi-esque Rock just as another reviewer might hate the sound of lo-fi Rock and prefer a professional sheen. I would still rate the lyrics, creativity, etc, based on their individual merits rather than because the production was to my liking (i.e. The Black Lips. Not over-produced but extremely - EXTREMELY - retro and generic).

Secondly, what are the song's qualities? Its lyrics, musicianship, etc? Yes, I rated them based on my personal opinions because reviewing art of any kind is a subjective exercise. Altsounds' number-based system seems to suggest music can be assessed as if it's a maths test or something objective in which there are clear right and wrong answers (e.g. 2 + 2 = 4, "You got 9 out of 10 answers right").

The song received 91% not because I felt the need to ascribe it this number but because Altsounds required me to rate it numerically.

To give you another example: the recent Metallica review gives their show 96%, far closer to "perfect" than my 91%. Not only do I question whether Metallica are "alternative to the mainstream" (aren't they a million-selling, MTV band? I can remember them doing radio ads in 'Some Kind Of Monster' for money) and dislike their music, I would hate to see any band in a huge space. In short, pretty much everything the writer loved about the show I would hate.

To me it's a highly subjective review but I understand that all reviews are and that some people like large spectacle, pyrotechnics, etc, just as I like small scale, "alternative to the mainstream" music.

If you disagree with my assertion of subjectivity then read classic critic Lester Bangs' classic review of 'Metal Machine Music' (http://www.rocknroll.net/loureed/articles/mmmbangs.html) and then listen to the recording if you have never heard it before (http://www.last.fm/music/Lou+Reed/Metal+Machine+Music).

The fact that you can back up our curiosities means that this score is
fair. Just checking you truly loved the song as much as you said and as
long a response as yours highlights that you do. Sweet work.

Re: Unknown Pleasures: João Gustavo - Tempo de Barulho ('Racket Time') [Single]
 

For the record, I only wanted to see how it was rated, simply because I disagreed so highly. This isn't a bad track, it's just not even close to that rating for me - but hey personal opinion and all that (I love The Black Lips, as generic as I know they WOULD HAVE BEEN back in 1950's and 60's).

I never actually doubted you had good reasons for the score though, I was just interested to read them. I think you have explained your points well.