ZIZ - GIFT

[Jigsaw9 6783]

So how do you guys like the album so far? Here are my thoughts, song-by-song:

Ö: The album starts out with a rather monotonous, pointless intro. It could've at least used a bit more variation, lol.

RayD5: Cool energetic first song, kinda noisy rock'n'roll tune, reminds me of the sound of Közi's 2nd solo album. I love the overall dirty sound, and somehow even the synths fit right into it. Nice playful mood. 8/10

Ill: Whoah, this one's pretty crazy and dissonant in the beginning, switching to almost spoken vocals, then to weird filtered singing (kinda Eastern-sounding?). Pretty wild and hectic song, not sure what to think of it yet. It has its memorable parts though (mainly the chorus). 6/10

Besque: Kinda suppressed atmosphere, laid back but a bit crazy at the same time. It's a slowly burning tune with a catchy chorus. I like it~ 7/10

Kosmostill: A more ethereal song, with more prominent synths and electronics. I love the whole hypnotic vibe the vocals create, and how it builds and "blooms" so nicely in the chorus. The "watery" sounding little guitar riffs are awesome too. One of my favorite songs from the album. 9/10

Night Creature: An interesting slow/jazzy version of a Közi song. Personally I like the original tons better (much more quirky and unique-sounding) but this one's not bad either I guess. It's cool to hear a different take on the original material. 7/10

Super Naked Disko: Well this one's different, lol. I guess the title perfectly implies how crazy and nonsensical this whole track is. I suspect this one will be the obligatory "everybody go crazy and party your asses off!" type of song at gigs, haha. A bit repetitive, but all in good fun. 7/10

Sanityman: This has gotta be my favorite song on here. It stars out as a kind of melancholic Közified take on reggae (?), then goes into a stomping riff, switching back to lighter guitars and synths, then exploding into an amazingly catchy chorus with an upped tempo. Awesome! 10/10

With Fu: An awesome slower closing track with a typical Közi atmosphere, nostalgic melodies merging with loud synths and delicate guitars. 9/10

All in all, I'm really pleased with how the album turned out. It might be a bit too short but it's really packed with cool stuff at least. I like how you can hear that this is kinda like a new Közi solo album but also a bit of an expansion on his sound, thanks to the other musicians (all of whom took part in writing music for the album, to some extent). A cool and refreshing listen among the "usual" faces of VK and J-rock. I give the album an 8/10.

[madygrain 515]

Pretty awesome album. I was surprised by how Közi's vocals were handled, they sound much better that in his old solo cd's. I liked the overall sound of the album, it has more "whole band" elements to it mixed with Közi's very own electro catchyness. I also thought that the instruments had really interesting parts, almost avant garde-ish. I liked all the songs, but specially Sanityman, With Fu, and Kosmostill. Besque was really nice too.

I give it a 8/10, looking forward to more stuff by this guys.

[Kaito-sama 1]

I've been excited for this ever since I first heard of this band forming it sounds like a mix of ..similar synths to xa-vat, less raw, if that makes sense. Also it combines the sounds of his earlier work to sound catchy and experimental, which pleased me a lot. Ray d5 and super naked disco are some of my favs