puzzle
the (ONLINE) shrine
so, who is this fletcher guy you care so much about ?
fletcher shears, also known as puzzle, one half of band the garden and of project turkey is a 30 year old (at the day im writing this hes 29 but literally tomorrow he turns 30) american musician known for mainly making punk (under tg with wyatt), experimental rap (currently under puzzle), hypnagogic pop (currently to previously under puzzle), breakbeat (under turkey with william sipos) and probably more
about why i care so much about him it is mainly because his music (and him in itself a bit wich ngl is something im embarassed of) have been my special interest for...about 3 years at this point, even if i dont listen as much to his music i still am really fixated on him and relate to his art, as to why im just making a shrine on him and not him and wyatt or him and the garden I dont like having a "favourite" because i belive that is honestly dehumanizing but my special interest leans a lot to fletcher so yeah, hope yall understand
about why i care so much about him it is mainly because his music (and him in itself a bit wich ngl is something im embarassed of) have been my special interest for...about 3 years at this point, even if i dont listen as much to his music i still am really fixated on him and relate to his art, as to why im just making a shrine on him and not him and wyatt or him and the garden I dont like having a "favourite" because i belive that is honestly dehumanizing but my special interest leans a lot to fletcher so yeah, hope yall understand
what do you think of his albums ?
well, im glad you asked !! i pretty much really love all of them however i cant get in too much detail on how much i do and what i completly think of them because i dont have enough time, in this session i will be making pretty small reviews of almost each album and ep of his under puzzle ive listened fully ! enjoy !
album mini reviews (scroll for more):
the rotten opera is...mayyyyybe my favourite album of his, i genuinely dont know because i kind of really adore everything hes ever put out at this point, it feels a lot like a logical evolution of his ep places we choose not to look (and also an improovement upon it), while still pretty dark this feels a lot more energetic and at times even angry than its predecessor, it feels a lot like a big agglomeration of every single genre fletcher makes but on a really cohesive way, my favourite tracks from it would probably be personality ransack (one of my favourite songs from his), one hundred geese, and barking at the sea
places we choose not to look is, well, another one of my favourites from his, as i implied the previous review it is kind of a predecessor to the rotten opera, and much more darker and sadder than it, it used to be my favourite ep and favourite music project in general of all time but it grew off me, altho i still really like it ! it suffers a bit from being a bit too monotone at times however when yr on the right mood that can def be a bonus if you know what i mean, my favourite tracks would be....basically all tracks from the ep except for you dont have to impress anyone and the title track, while i like them i enjoy the rest more than both tracks
xhail is....look i think ill say this about every album but this is, you guessed it, another one of my favourites from his, being much lighter in tone than both TRO and PWCNTL but still being pretty moody and dark at times, xhail feels a lot like the semi-final step into what id call the "New puzzle era" (semi final because the final step to me is the single shrug my shoulders), that being said this is a very beautiful album, not on the same way his most recnt works are but at the same time not on the same way his older records are, wich is something i also feel with tighten the reins, this and that both feel like more mature efforts of his compared to from the start of his career to laying in the sand, my favourite tracks from this record are g.a.t, dissapear, new harmony and sitting in the back of my car
tighten the reins marks the beginning of what id like to call "negative puzzle" (at least to me), while its not like his music never got sad or angrybeforehand this project is even if not a whole lot, more melancholic than most of his discography beforehand, while still being pretty fun a lot of times, while yes the record isnt a gloomfest like PWCNTL you still can feel it being more personal and darker than laying in the sand, however that doesnt mean this record lacks whimsy, in fact i believe there is a lot of it (EXPECIALLY on chicken shit), my favourite tracks from this are sigh, everyone left, chicken shit and all the best
laying in the sand is the first example here we see of "old puzzle", the most recent example from that era, the last statement of old puzzle out there, and to me one of the best, in the prettyness to sadness puzzle scale this leans almost all in on the pretty while still having more edge than soaring, to me, the "edge-ish" most this record feels a lot like how the word (not even aesthetic just the word) "solarpunk", being very bright and sunny but pretty spunky at times, while still having its soft moments (like 10, world and beyond fond of her), instead of feeling melancholic or straight up sad like the previously mentioned records this feels rebellious and energetic, even when the subgect of the songs are not that bright or happy, my favourite tracks off this record are dice, years, world, kids and excelerate
soaring is probably the most known puzzle album and i totally see why, using the pretty to sad puzzle scale again i believe this goes almost all in on the pretty end (tho the record does have some kind of melancholic moments), being just a very great and solid collection of hypnagogic pop tracks. theres not much to say about this one honestly other than that it is a pretty good album with pretty nice and angelic music while still having its spunky moments like LITD (although on a lesser extent), as much as i dont have much to say about this album it still has helped me go throught tons of rough moments on my life (expecially with the music video of memory wich used to be and still kind of is a pretty big comfort video for me), my favourite tracks from this record are mutt, truth, i saw an angel, seeing green, moneyman, the memory, fish and am i supposed to be here
the devils weapon is....something....i dont have much to say about this other than it in some way kind of break the so far "new to old puzzle sad and angry to pretty" gradual change of tone by being very energetic and in a way visceral ? its in my opinion the rawest and most violent release under puzzle out there in tone, sure TRO is very confrontational but this feels straight up like HE IS GOING TO FIGHT YOU, that all being said this is an INSANELLY underrated collection of tracks by him (seriously i havent heard almost nobody talk about it) and my favourite track of it is the title track
silver jungle is....my least favourite puzzle album (the crowd boos), but it is still very good ! its just that i dont believe it is as interesting as his other releases as much as i still like it, i also think it is like...less memorable than most of his other stuff, it has a pretty euphoric sound and i really like it and all but i dont know, it just doesnt hit as hard mostly as the rest tho that might be because i havent heard it in a while, still its a light 8 in my opinion out of 10 and it still has its highlights like greetings and heads off (wich are my favourite tracks if i even need to clarify that)
just 4 kix...the last album we are going to talk about because ive been spending more than 3 hours writing all of this....it is great ! now THIS goes all in on the pretty from the sad to pretty scale and i really like it ! while some tracks are kind of forgettable, i believe its highs def overcompensate for its lows, with two of my favourite puzzle tracks of all time (foggy euphoria and spiit on a horse) (spirit on a horse being my first puzzle song btw), if you ever want to get on a good mood or listen to some pretty nostalgic music for some reason check this out because it is pretty worth it
places we choose not to look is, well, another one of my favourites from his, as i implied the previous review it is kind of a predecessor to the rotten opera, and much more darker and sadder than it, it used to be my favourite ep and favourite music project in general of all time but it grew off me, altho i still really like it ! it suffers a bit from being a bit too monotone at times however when yr on the right mood that can def be a bonus if you know what i mean, my favourite tracks would be....basically all tracks from the ep except for you dont have to impress anyone and the title track, while i like them i enjoy the rest more than both tracks
xhail is....look i think ill say this about every album but this is, you guessed it, another one of my favourites from his, being much lighter in tone than both TRO and PWCNTL but still being pretty moody and dark at times, xhail feels a lot like the semi-final step into what id call the "New puzzle era" (semi final because the final step to me is the single shrug my shoulders), that being said this is a very beautiful album, not on the same way his most recnt works are but at the same time not on the same way his older records are, wich is something i also feel with tighten the reins, this and that both feel like more mature efforts of his compared to from the start of his career to laying in the sand, my favourite tracks from this record are g.a.t, dissapear, new harmony and sitting in the back of my car
tighten the reins marks the beginning of what id like to call "negative puzzle" (at least to me), while its not like his music never got sad or angrybeforehand this project is even if not a whole lot, more melancholic than most of his discography beforehand, while still being pretty fun a lot of times, while yes the record isnt a gloomfest like PWCNTL you still can feel it being more personal and darker than laying in the sand, however that doesnt mean this record lacks whimsy, in fact i believe there is a lot of it (EXPECIALLY on chicken shit), my favourite tracks from this are sigh, everyone left, chicken shit and all the best
laying in the sand is the first example here we see of "old puzzle", the most recent example from that era, the last statement of old puzzle out there, and to me one of the best, in the prettyness to sadness puzzle scale this leans almost all in on the pretty while still having more edge than soaring, to me, the "edge-ish" most this record feels a lot like how the word (not even aesthetic just the word) "solarpunk", being very bright and sunny but pretty spunky at times, while still having its soft moments (like 10, world and beyond fond of her), instead of feeling melancholic or straight up sad like the previously mentioned records this feels rebellious and energetic, even when the subgect of the songs are not that bright or happy, my favourite tracks off this record are dice, years, world, kids and excelerate
soaring is probably the most known puzzle album and i totally see why, using the pretty to sad puzzle scale again i believe this goes almost all in on the pretty end (tho the record does have some kind of melancholic moments), being just a very great and solid collection of hypnagogic pop tracks. theres not much to say about this one honestly other than that it is a pretty good album with pretty nice and angelic music while still having its spunky moments like LITD (although on a lesser extent), as much as i dont have much to say about this album it still has helped me go throught tons of rough moments on my life (expecially with the music video of memory wich used to be and still kind of is a pretty big comfort video for me), my favourite tracks from this record are mutt, truth, i saw an angel, seeing green, moneyman, the memory, fish and am i supposed to be here
the devils weapon is....something....i dont have much to say about this other than it in some way kind of break the so far "new to old puzzle sad and angry to pretty" gradual change of tone by being very energetic and in a way visceral ? its in my opinion the rawest and most violent release under puzzle out there in tone, sure TRO is very confrontational but this feels straight up like HE IS GOING TO FIGHT YOU, that all being said this is an INSANELLY underrated collection of tracks by him (seriously i havent heard almost nobody talk about it) and my favourite track of it is the title track
silver jungle is....my least favourite puzzle album (the crowd boos), but it is still very good ! its just that i dont believe it is as interesting as his other releases as much as i still like it, i also think it is like...less memorable than most of his other stuff, it has a pretty euphoric sound and i really like it and all but i dont know, it just doesnt hit as hard mostly as the rest tho that might be because i havent heard it in a while, still its a light 8 in my opinion out of 10 and it still has its highlights like greetings and heads off (wich are my favourite tracks if i even need to clarify that)
just 4 kix...the last album we are going to talk about because ive been spending more than 3 hours writing all of this....it is great ! now THIS goes all in on the pretty from the sad to pretty scale and i really like it ! while some tracks are kind of forgettable, i believe its highs def overcompensate for its lows, with two of my favourite puzzle tracks of all time (foggy euphoria and spiit on a horse) (spirit on a horse being my first puzzle song btw), if you ever want to get on a good mood or listen to some pretty nostalgic music for some reason check this out because it is pretty worth it
ok helvetica cool can you shut the fuck up and show me actually interesting and cool things
of course ! heres a collection of pictures of fletcher i like since you want something "interesting" SSOOOOOOO bad, enjoy !
