Fantano's meme review aside, is it good?

how good can ambient REALLY be?

>>74790116
better than your favorite album
it's usually a lot worse though

it's pretty good, fantano got it all wrong

Just listen and see, ambient is so subjective

I thought it was awesome, still an AOTY contender. He's a great artist and this was an excellent exploration of all his previous styles as Gas, with far better mixing.
This album was the final straw for RYM for me, it was at 4+ and AOTY for days, then dropped to being not even bolded after Fantano's review (with dozens of longtime reviewers changing their ratings from 4 or 5 to 1 or 2, which someone on here proved with screencaps from before and after).
Fantano's been getting more and more smug and contrarian lately. He says less and less about the actual quality of the albums, just says meaningless shit like (in this case) "it's booooring"

Great record. It's nice to hear something this textural. Really puts you in space.

>>74790038
can anybody explain why Fantano went full meme on this one?

>>74790038
>>74790355
>>74790552
I have my own opinions you fucking losers

>>74790552
Not enough queer black womxn and lit trap beats

Seriously though he made it sound like he had never listened to techno or drone music before. Complaining about a techno album being repetitive and minimal then smugly calling it one of the worst albums of the year made him look like a retard.

>>74790552
there was percussion on an ambient album
the horror

>>74790038
No, Fantano doesn't like it, therefore we shouldn't like it. Those are the rules

>>74790552
I don't really think he understands the mix of ambient + techno. He even says in his review he's never listened to a Gas album before and if he did he'd hate every single one.

The RYM reviews of this album reflect this sentiment.

>>74790588
>>74790599
>>74790631
lol so much vitriol
like why are any of you familiar with the video in the first place if you think he's so dumb?
it just doesn't make any sense
or rather, it does, and it's sad

>>74790679
anthony i don't always think you're dumb, your review for this album specifically just sounded ill-informed and contrarian

>>74790755
contrarian to what? the tiny amount of buzz a gas album would generate compared to the kind of stuff he usually reviews?
ill-informed maybe (entirely arguable if you can be just a little reasonable) but he's literally giving an opinion, it's not wrong for that, it's different from yours

just think about what you're saying for like 10 seconds
such a silly thing to complain about

>>74790939
It works both ways. You complaining about someone's subjective opinion of someone's else's subjective opinion is also facile and "silly." Why are you so defensive?

>>74790939
Wolfgang Voigt is one of the most influential artists in dance music and just because it had no "buzz" in the circles you follow doesn't mean it wasn't elsewhere. There was a lot of hype from the publications/people I subscribe to and interact with, esp here in Deutschland

>>74790939
Of course it's his opinion, I don't care what he thinks about the album-- but discussion isn't off limits just because "it's his opinion m8".

Some of the things he complains about in Narkopop are literally just characteristics of the genre that Narkopop (and Wolfgang as an artist) operate in.

>He complains about the album feeling skeletal even though it's minimal techno
>He complains about the 4/4 kick drum being mind numbing even though it's an ambient/minimal techno album, techno is defined by its 4/4 drum

>>74790038
Honestly if you're going to watch the melon, you can safely completely ignore his opinions on jazz and ambient.

>>74791003
i don't think it's silly to defend the subjectivity of a music review in light of you simply disagreeing with it
arguably any post made on this board is silly though

"so" defensive is a little bit exaggerated, i just think it's dumb to fuel your dislike of a critic with their diverging opinions. you can be mature enough to disagree and still respect

>>74791050
>Wolfgang Voigt is one of the most influential artists in dance music
factually incorrect, one of the most influential artists in ambient music MAYBE but that's a tiny genre by comparison
fantano doesn't live in deutschland friend
why are you holding him to the same standards as yourself? think

>>74791061
those are both totally valid complaints dude. minimal techno can be too minimal, and gas usually uses the 4/4 beats sparingly enough and subtly enough to not become grating. pop, his most acclaimed album as i'm sure you know, only utilizes them for less than half of the runtime

>>74791074
Or dance/club music. Zomby's a huge cunt but he was right in that regard t b h

>>74791138
>Gas uses them sparingly and subtly enough to not become grating

And so what if he didn't? Then it would just completely be Ambient Techno. This is exactly what I'm getting it, complaining that the 4/4 is grating or "bad" even though that's literally a symptom of the genre. Most Ambient Techno releases don't have the drum subtly hang in the back.

You're even making it sound like you don't enjoy Techno by saying you only enjoy Gas' albums because the drum is so far back in the mix.

>>74791138
And Gas' brand of minimal techno isn't even very minimal by the genre's normal conventions.

>>74791243
>You're even making it sound like you don't enjoy Techno by saying you only enjoy Gas' albums because the drum is so far back in the mix.
i'm sorry, did i say that? or even remotely fucking imply it? no. in fact i've never even claimed to enjoy or not enjoy gas once. i've never stated a personal opinion on the artist once. so please, try to think about what you're saying before you post it.

regardless of what the staples of the genre are, which by the way do not include a repetitive 4/4 kickdrum beat implemented in the same, very singular way voigt implements, the album is notably different from his previous works in that aspect, making it COMPLETELY fair for a critic to remark upon and potentially dislike.
not to mention gas is a primarily ambient or ambient techno artists, not minimal techno. his work is quite different from other staples of the genre, and you can't exempt entire aspects of the sound of the album from discussion simply because they exist in other releases under a similar genre tag

or isn't that fucking obvious already?

>>74790679
I normally like his insight and respect his opinions even if I disagree. This one was different because he just shit all over a universally-acclaimed album with literally no meaningful input, clearly to fuel his cringey "smug asshole" image

>>74791419
>gas usually uses the 4/4 beats sparingly enough and subtly enough to not become grating

This, to me, implied if Gas had not used them subtly, then you would find them grating. This is you inserting your own opinion into the discussion. Please read what you are posting.

And Fantano does use points I won't argue with since they are merely his opinion (talking about the string sections being "syrupy" or not punctuated, his critique of texture, etc), but him complaining about the album for the genre conventions is what throws me off.

>not to mention gas is a primarily ambient or ambient techno artists, not minimal techno. his work is quite different from other staples of the genre, and you can't exempt entire aspects of the sound of the album from discussion simply because they exist in other releases under a similar genre tag

I understand you can't, but he makes literally no points of this. He only simply complains that the album is "too skeletal" even though it's the least skeletal minimal techno album I've ever heard. He doesn't make any points about how the album isn't complimentary to this style of music, that Gas doesn't use minimal techno effectively-- just that it's minimal.

>regardless of what the staples of the genre are, which by the way do not include a repetitive 4/4 kickdrum beat implemented in the same, very singular way voigt implements

Explain this point, because techno's defining characteristic literally is its 4/4 repetitive kick drum.

Why is the lengthiest and brawling conversations on /mu/ always about the dumbest shit?