For those of you who don't know, umfum and I did a side swap, so I'm writing this review of umfum's CD here. Note that I'm writing this without looking at the track or artist list, so you'll have to forgive me if I say anything ignorant.
Track 1: I found this pretty amusing. I love word plays like this. "Eyes dry with tears," etc. The music itself of course was just a vehicle for the lyrics, but it was catchy enough, anyway. I like this track a lot.
Track 2: I still don't like James Taylor. I find his voice to lack both soul and passion, and his guitar parts all sound exactly the same. (Not to mention my distaste for acousting guitars in general.) The lyrics weren't as clever as he thought they were.
Track 3: I like this one a lot, too. Well-formed nonsense, but with more focus on the music than track #1. The vocals were a little whiney, and I don't think I could take a whole CD of these guys, but for the one track in the middle of a mix CD, it's great.
Track 4: My opinion of this is the same as for #5, although this one had different instrumentation and vocals. I liked it moderately better than #5.
Track 5: I started to get really sad when I heard this track, because I was looking forward to this CD a lot, and this particular track epitomizes the type of stuff I can't stand. I don't know what you'd call it. Jazz? (There's a radio show of this stuff here that calls itself "lounge-core.") It strikes me as a musical version of a circle-jerk: a bunch of guys playing whatever they want, just fucking around on instruments. While it's probably fun to play that way, it sounds awful, in my opinion -- tabla and sitar and all.
Track 6: I found this track catchy and fun for the most part. Kind of your standard rock track. Great way to break the horror of track 5.
Track 7: This is the kind of song which, if I heard it on the radio, I might not turn it off. Your standard top 40 stuff.
Track 8: Now we're back into the swing of things. A faster beat, and you can really get into this. The lyrics weren't much, but they fit the song perfectly. The vocals were sung with just the right amount of extra emphasis. I like this one a lot.
Track 9: You can always hedge your bets by writing a song dedicated to tits -- especially specific ones. You're guarenteed to come up with something amusing, and these guys did it well. Nevertheless, after the jist of the song is realized, it's kind of predictable. (It was still fun to hear them sing "big and soft and round," though.
Track 10: This was just annoying. I understand the contrast was supposed to be amusing, and it was for about 10 seconds. But that left the track being 1:48 too long.
Track 11: I've liked this track since I was a freshman in college. It's still great.
Track 12: I like the initial metalic percussion and the use of different sounds that you don't normally hear as music. This track definitely got my attention in a good way. I'm going to look into whoever did this one further.
Track 13: Old songs like this always make me smile, even though this one had a disturbingly Disney-like quality. I like that you can actually hear the singer smiling. Good times.
Track 14: I thought this one was fun to listen to. The horns weren't overpowering, and the singer did a pretty good job.
Track 15: More lounge-core. Get it away!
Track 16: I found this one more tolerable than the others like it on the CD, probably because it's less in-your-face. It's good for background music, but I didn't find it engaging enough to actively listen.
Track 17: Nice piano. Made me want to put on a white linen suit and sip martinis or margaritas on a terrace.
Track 18: Shakuhachi has to be pretty specical for me to appreciate it, and I have to be in the right mindset. This didn't quite make it. It might've been the mood set by the other tracks, or it might've been something else... but this track just seemed kind of sleepy.
Track 19: Kind of slow and nondescript. Good music if you're getting a massage.
Track 20: Reminds me of the soundtrack of the softcore porn movies they used to show on Showtime when I was in high school. Not much to it that interests me.
Track 21: Musically, this was a nice segue from the last two tracks. The song started out pretty clever, but it ended up being just annoying. The vocals were grating and the lyrics were pretty boring. I was wondering if this was from an after school TV special.
Track 22: I love a nice Cajun waltz. I wanted to dance when I listened to this track, but I doubt if the guy in the cube next to me would agree to follow my lead. I didn't catch any bagpipes, though!
All-in all, I'd say this was a very enjoyable CD -- excluding of course the parts that weren't. But I'm glad to have heard it. Thanks, umfum!