Hello, everyone! So, just to give you a quick update on my Top 100 Favourite Songs of 2022 … I was confident it would get posted in August and now it still hasn’t been … but with that being said, I would be shocked if I don’t get it posted this month. It’s very close. It might even be out in the next week.

Anyway, I decided to do something different with this mini review post; I think the biggest inspiration for these mini review posts was On The Pulse, a YouTube series on Spectrum Pulse by one of my favourite music reviewers, Mark Grondin. The series has evolved quite a bit since Mark launched it a few years ago, but it’s always featured Mark reviewing multiple albums in shorter reviews—and one thing that he sometimes does with those videos is episodes where the albums are all in the same genre, or at least similar genres.

That inspired me to do something similar here, where for this post I’m only reviewing instrumental albums. Now, that’s not to say these albums are all 100% entirely instrumental, but I think they’re close enough.

As always, this is all just based on my own personal feelings about these albums, and if I give something a negative review it isn’t me trying to be mean or anything, I’m just sharing how I feel about the album. Music is subjective.

And now, let’s start the reviews!

1138 by .seth.:

This might be the shortest album I’ve ever reviewed. Or at least it’s up there. It’s a little over twelve minutes long, and while I’m pretty sure it’s officially an album, it feels more like an EP—and the funny thing is .seth. released an EP last year (which I haven’t listened to yet) that’s slightly longer than this album, although that EP only has five tracks, and this album has seven.

Anyway, this is a pretty pleasant album with some nice melodies. It’s kind of got a bit of an alternative rock sound to it, and the production is pretty good if you ask me.

But something feels missing … and I can confidently say that part of that is the length of the album. I mean, at least this album’s length makes it easier to review, but I still wish it was longer; I’m really curious what this would have been like as a thirty or forty minute album.

But even aside from that, there’s something else about this that isn’t quite clicking for me as much as I want, and maybe it’s the lack of variety in the sound. If you hear a few tracks, you mostly know what you’re getting for the whole album.

Also, none of these songs are really amazing or anything if you ask me, they’re just mostly pleasant. So, overall, I’m going to give it a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Trial”, “Exclude”, “Lost”, “Away”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Grey”

Balance by Macaque Sauna:

This album was released on the first day of 2023, although it doesn’t count as a throwback review for me … if it had been released one day earlier and I reviewed it, then I’d call it a throwback review because it would have been from last year.

Anyway, I only came across this album recently, and it’s an ambient drone album that’s slightly over forty minutes. And, like with a lot of albums in this style, it doesn’t give me much to say … but that’s not always a bad thing. And in this case, I think the simplicity of the album helps it a lot, although there’s also a lot of creativity.

This isn’t anything too out of the ordinary for this style, but it’s still very creative, with a lot of small details really standing out, even though it’s hard for me to really explain. The album slowly changes throughout the forty minutes, and the production sounds gorgeous!

There are only two tracks on this album, although both are quite long, and I’m not really sure which one I like more … if I had to choose a favourite, I think I might be leaning toward the second song, but honestly I think this works because of the album experience—I think these songs would both feel really out of place on any of my playlists.

I will say that some parts of this album drag on a little longer than I would have liked—and as much as I like a lot of the small details in the arrangements, I feel like it could have used a bit more detail in some spots, but this is still a really strong album! For me it’s getting a strong 7/10, and I highly recommend giving this a chance!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Askew”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Aligned”

102131125 142113251819 by 19 4 3 12 6:

I’m not sure who 19 4 3 12 6 is, but 19 4 3 12 6 has released three albums this year, the third of which I just did a mini review of recently. And even though I didn’t really like that album, I found it interesting enough that I decided to check out the first of those three albums, and … well, I think I like this one a little bit more.

But with that being said, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this album, either. There are moments that I really like, but as a whole it doesn’t fully click for me.

This album is mostly quite mellow, and I’d probably call it an ambient album, but there are some very unexpected moments where the genre totally changes. And at points, like the ending of the second track—which, by the way, is also the last track (both tracks are over ten minutes)—it really works for me … but there are also some parts of the album that don’t do much for me at all, and sometimes those sections drag on for a while.

But it’s a very creative album, and I like that there’s a lot of variety here. I also quite like the production, so I’ll give this album a light 6.5/10, and I think it’s worth giving a chance. I mean, it’s not totally for me, but it’s very interesting!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “1611820 202315”
Least Favourite Tracks: “1611820 15145”

Boxes For Missing Cats by catstem:

This is an album that is mostly instrumental—of the eleven tracks here, there are two with some lyrics, but I’m not sure if they’re samples or not.

This is a very short ambient album that almost feels like an EP—but I’m pretty sure it’s officially an album, so I’m treating it like a regular album review, not an EP review … although EP reviews are something I’m planning to do at some point. But on the topic of this album, do I like it?

Well, it’s not an album that gives me a lot to say, but … I mean, it’s mostly pleasant while it’s on, I guess. But this just isn’t really my cup of tea.

There are some nice-sounding synths on this album, and I like some other moments, like the stormy percussion of “Rainfall Watching Area”, but to me this mostly feels like background music.

But at least it’s good background music, so I’ll give it a strong 6/10. It’s a debut album that leaves me intrigued to hear more. I’d recommend giving it a listen.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Rainbow Trout Zone”, “Visual Processing Center”, “Apricot Tree Area”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Colossal Doorway”

Its so Much Brighter over Here by bliss3three:

So, this is a very short album, short enough that it feels more like an EP … but I’m pretty sure it’s officially a studio album, so it’s eligible for this post.

And also, there are some vocals here—but it’s mostly instrumental, and the vocals might be samples. I know there are samples on this album, but I’m not sure what they are. Also, it’s worth mentioning that I can’t hear most of the lyrics, and I couldn’t find them when I looked them up.

Overall, it’s mostly pleasant. I mean, it’s easy to recommend considering how short it is, and the production is quite impressive … but something about it just isn’t quite clicking for me. Again, it feels more like an EP, but I actually think the short length works well for this kind of album … so, I’m not really sure what’s holding me back from liking it more.

But I guess I’ve just heard similar sounds done in ways I personally find more interesting, and overall the melodies here don’t click for me as much as I’d like. So, for me, this is getting a 6/10. I definitely recommend hearing it, but it just didn’t really click for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “In Search of Where the Sun Shines”, “1,000,000 Yellow Butterflies”, “To Be Real”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Feel More (April Edit)”

The Ceiling Reposes by Lia Kohl:

Okay, so before I talk about my feelings on the album, I want to mention that there are some samples of the radio on here, so it’s another album you could argue isn’t an ‘instrumental album’, but I think it counts for this kind of post.

Anyway, this album came out in March of this year, and it’s the first Lia Kohl album I’ve ever listened to … and what a great first impression!

This is another one of those albums I’d probably describe as a sound collage, and it’s an absolutely gorgeous one! There are so many twinkling keys that sound excellent, and the production gives this a ton of great atmosphere!

I love so many of the small details here, like the very subtle effect on the piano in “when glass is there, and water,”, the pretty much perfect drum tone at the start of “or things maybe dropping” (especially with how the song builds with more drums!), the combination of those bright synth melodies with the incredibly well-mixed staticky sounds on the closing track, and much more!

When I recently reviewed Chthonic by Lawrence English & Lea Bertucci, I mentioned that, compared to a lot of other sound collage albums I’d reviewed this year, that one pulled me into its world more … and there’s a part of me that wants to say the same thing about this album, but honestly I feel like this album got pulled into this world for me—maybe that made no sense, so I’ll use a different wording: this album is enchanting, but not in a way where I feel like I’ve been pulled into the album.

Hopefully you get what I’m saying, but either way … I mean, it’s a great album experience that lasts a little over thirty minutes, which I think is a fitting length for this album. I don’t think the magic is quite there to the point where this would be among the absolute top tier of albums for me this year, but it’s still pretty much a lock for my year-end list—I’m giving this a 9/10! This is great, and I highly recommend you listen to it!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “when glass is there, and water,”, “or things maybe dropping”, “the moment a zipper”, “became daily today”, “like time (pretending it had a human body)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “sit on the floor and wait for storms”

Sardodactylus by Tryptacobithicus:

Here’s a very mellow, eerie album that I came across when I was looking for instrumental albums to review, and it’s quite an obscure album.

And while it’s kind of interesting, it’s not my thing at all. I just personally found it mostly boring, and I personally didn’t hear a lot of variety in the album—although there are some small details that make for an album I can understand the appeal of.

I’m all for supporting smaller acts, so I’m not reviewing this to try to stop people from listening to this—and I hope that by reviewing albums by smaller acts it will inspire people to listen to those albums, even if my review is negative … and this is one of those cases, because I just couldn’t get into this at all.

The album doesn’t really give me much to say, honestly … and for me it’s a 4.5/10. I’ve heard much worse albums this year, but I’ve also heard much better … but, of course, this is just my opinion, and I recommend giving this a chance if you’re looking for a haunting, eerie album; I can see why it might click for some people.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4.5/10
Favourite Tracks: ???
Least Favourite Tracks: “War Cry of the Sardodactylus”, “Wicked Laugh of the Sardodactylus”