Album Reviews

Lewis Watson – The Morning

July 8, 2014

Lewis Watson may have millions of views as a YouTube star and a rising social media presence at only 21 years old, but he’s unlike many of his other youthful counterparts on the cusps of fame. Instead of spiraling out of control since he’s gotten famous, Watson has preserved a down-to-earth authenticity that’s kept him grounded and even helped to maintain his uniqueness while others his age have sacrificed creativity for mainstream trends. In the vein of other singer-songwriting guitarists like Jake Bugg and Ed Sheeran, Watson’s debut album, The Morning, delivers maturity far beyond his age and a distinct musical style that will without a doubt find its niche somewhere in the alternative market. Over the last two years, fans of Lewis Watson have gotten a plethora of insights on what his debut album would sound like due to five highly successful EPs that featured a mix of originals and[...]

Robin Thicke – Paula

July 1, 2014

It’s been almost a year since Robin Thicke released his most successful, self-titled album to date, which notably scored him countless radio airplay, Grammy nominations, and multiple Billboard Music Awards. Now, he’s back at it, eying up the top of the charts by following up last year’s summer hit “Blurred Lines” and “Give It 2 U” with an album so entirely consumed by heartache over his estrangement with actress wife Paula Patton that he went along and titled the whole project Paula. Whether you believe the album is a heartfelt plea to win her back or another marketing scheme to garner interest, one thing is for sure, Paula is a misguided collection of remorse and humility that certainly misses the mark in almost every way possible. If this is indeed a charade, Thicke is  pulling out all of the stops to keep it alive including: a very public acknowledgement of[...]

Ab-Soul – These Days

June 27, 2014

Towards the end of 2012, Kendrick Lamar brought him and his crew into the mainstream with the masterpiece Good Kid, Maad City. Kendrick, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock had been releasing high quality free projects and independents albums for the last few years as the collective Black Hippy, and after Kendrick’s success, it became a waiting game to see who was going to follow him into the spotlight. ScHoolboy released his first major album, the well received Oxymoron a few months back, and saw some notoriety with singles like “Studio” and a feature on one of Macklemore’s singles. Ab-Soul has been looked at as perhaps the best lyricist in the crew, and his previous project, Control System, lets listeners into his warped thoughts and conspiracy theories, while demonstrating great technical ability. He’s proven time and time again that he has the talent to be one of the best rappers on the planet, so[...]

RIFF RAFF – NEON iCON

June 26, 2014

Gonzo internet rapper RiFF RAFF has achieved the kind of success that is uniquely 21st century; his distinctive look, humorous Twitter account, and cartoonish brand of materialism have made him something of an absurdist icon within the rap community, despite his remaining unsigned for the majority of his career. In this way and others, he is similar to Lil B – both have become popular through Twitter, developed a distinct lexicon (RiFF RAFF with his constant Versace references, and Lil B with his Based terminology), and been given beats by Mac Miller. Another thing the two have in common is the skepticism with which they have been greeted by rap traditionalists. Neither have much in the way of technical skills, and volley between serious rapping and humorous swag rap. But while Lil B has a clearly defined personality in his music, RiFF RAFF has always been harder to peg –[...]

Lone – Reality Testing

June 25, 2014

British producer Matt Cutler began recording as Lone in 2007 and has since been responsible for the some of the most inventive, dynamic tracks in dance music in recent years, layering hip hop drums with 90’s rave-inspired synths  to create a maximalist sound that feels equally suited for a solitary headphone trip as it does for the club. Reality Testing, Cutler’s fifth full length and second LP for the esteemed, rehashed dance label R&S Records, delivers much of the same kaleidoscopic bliss as 2012’s Galaxy Garden, but with more concision and emphasis on texture and reflective atmospherics than its’ predecessor. As a result, the album presents itself as synthesis of 90’s hip hop grooves and jazzy, melodic house, two genre’s that share both a common past and formative purpose. When last year’s J-Dilla referencing single “Airglow Fires” was released along with the ethereal b-side “Begin To Begin,” it was apparent Lone’s return would be marked[...]

Pogo – Younghood

June 25, 2014

Mostly everyone understands the idea of a sample or snipped included in a piece of music. The point, if the musician gets it right, is to relate the clip to the thematic vibe of the music or lyrics. Many hip-hop artists do this successfully (Wu-Tang Clan, Aesop Rock) as do electronic musicians (Ratatat, Ott). One unique thing about Australian electronic artist Pogo is his usage of strictly taking samples from movies, television shows, and film scores to create a new composition. He is certainly a master at collage, and perhaps a Pop artist. A few years back, he created a famous mash-up of the score of Alice In Wonderland simply titled “Alice.” The YouTube hits skyrocketed, and I even remember stumbling upon the shocking goodness of the piece. With his latest release, Younghood, he doesn’t stray too far from his down-right trippy instrumentals. First track “Kermit Clouds” samples the voice of Kermit The[...]

Total Control – Typical System

June 24, 2014

Just when the world thought it had enough modern 80’s synth-rock reincarnations to sort through, Australia’s Total Control releases Typical System, an album that churns out all the goth-rock nuances in all the right places. But with any genre-replicating album, it matters more what the band does to update the style, rather than what they do to pay homage to it. With that being said, Typical System is a good listen, however hampered by a lack of innovation. Speaking of what Total Control does to sway from their 80’s inspirations, the most prominent difference is in the album’s production. Instead of toting reverb soaked drums and overly compressed instruments, the band utilizes a more modern mix style, bringing the vocals and guitar to the forefront while keeping the backbeat and groove more secondary. This results in making the songs sound more present and reminiscent of Depeche Mode’s more plug-and-play records.[...]

Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence

June 18, 2014

Even if you aren’t a fan of the mega-pop star Lana Del Rey from small town Lake Placid, New York, you’ve heard her hits–“Young & Beautiful,” “Blue Jeans,” or “Summertime Sadness” rolling through the speakers of bars, clubs, and beaches (I can assume, some of her favorite spots). Her mesmerizing, grandiose voice is what sets her out from the overproduced run of the mill pop stars, much like Gwen Stefani did when her solo album dropped. The release of 2014, Ultraviolence, still feels like Ms. Del Rey, with a turn in musical accompaniment and the inclusion of longer ballads that she is prone to record. Throughout the record, Lana Del Rey opens up her locations, citing Brooklyn, the West Coast, Florida, and perhaps Texas in the Western-inspired song “Black Beauty.” Thematically, the content is driven much like her former albums, focusing on money, sex, cheating, and fame. More so than ever cheating[...]

Street Eaters – Blood::Muscles::Bones

June 17, 2014

Blood::Muscles::Bones, the second full length release by Bay area band Street Eaters, reads like an ominous autobiography for the Berkley duo. How long can they withstand this experimental jet set lifestyle? A global tour schedule that has taken the band around the world at whiplash speeds. However, don’t romanticize their demise just quite yet, because Blood::Muscles::Bones may be the rawest, post-punk record to come from the West Coast in some time. Let me put it this way: this is the record that Kathleen Hanna and Dave Grohl got to never make. It was a project they always talked about before they both started believing their own legends. Blood::Muscles::Bones is juvenile in the sense that it is uncompromising and idealistic. You won’t find any unnecessary bridges, extra verses, or choruses. They’ve cut all of the fat, lacerated the gizzards, smothered them in hot sauce, and gobbled them up, just to wash it[...]

How to Dress Well – What Is This Heart?

June 17, 2014

In sharpening his craft, Tom Krell has ventured out on a journey of self-reflection on his alter ego How to Dress Well’s third studio album. Condensed within the album’s twelve songs, Krell has set out to answer the very question that the albums title asks: What is this heart? It turns out this question can’t be objectively answered, but does surround the predominant element of human nature’s continued exploration for love. Staggering and affirmative, What Is This Heart? is a record that stands as his most fearless, risk-filled collection yet. Starting with single “Words I Don’t Remember,” Krell challenges the senses in a way unlike that of his previous releases by taking of the mask to his inner thoughts and revealing full-hearted, personal inhibitions. Although the song itself is approached with the same type of recognizable chord progressions and lo-fi fuzziness, there’s something unmistakably visceral about the overall combination. Almost[...]

clipping. – CLPPNG

June 13, 2014

Before I start this review I just wanna touch on one thing real quick. The whole phenomenon of bands/music groups,  cutting out vowels in song/album/artist names or replacing them with Vs, is so played out. I can’t stand the name of this album, just make it a self-titled. It would’ve been cool like two years ago, but now it looks like the name of a random soundcloud artist. I digress. Clipping. is a trio consisting of rapper Daveed Diggs, and producers Wiliam Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. Hutson and Snipes both hold industrial-electronic roots with other bands and projects, and they craft the noisey in-your-face music that the band is known for. Diggs provides the raw, violent imagery to accompany the music, and he truly is a great technical rapper. Their Facebook page sums up their sound as “music for the club you wish you hadn’t gone to, the car you don’t[...]

The Antlers – Familiars

June 12, 2014

Since Hospice emerged as a narrative record of tremendous emotional force in 2009, The Antlers have consistently defined themselves through their weightiness. There is no hip posturing, no casual cleverness, and very little pop sensibility to the music they spin forth from what Isaac Brock might call “the dark center of the universe.” Although Burst Apart, The Antlers’ more contained follow-up to Hospice, found the band exploring tight song structures and stepping away from the glorious concept album fullness of their previous release, Familiars, the act’s fifth record, returns to the musical looseness of Hospice while applying a vague conceptual framework. Familiars lacks the immediate thrust and devastating intimacy of Hospice’s tales of cancer, regret, and trauma. It also lacks Burst Apart‘s comparative accessibility. And yet Familiars is as gorgeous a flutter of genuine feeling as one can wish for from Brooklyn’s most cathartic conveyors of human desperation. Frontman Peter Silberman’s vocals remain extraordinary[...]

First Aid Kit – Stay Gold

June 11, 2014

First Aid Kit, composed of the elven-queens Klara and Johanna Soderberg, hit an Internet nerve after they placed their cover of hit Fleet Foxes song “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” on YouTube back in the year of 2008. Shortly before that, they had already re-recorded their first EP, Drunken Trees, with the help of their school-friend’s father, Karin Dreijer Andersson, who is one half of The Knife. At this milestone, the young ladies were the age of fourteen years old. Fourteen is a pinnacle year, especially from a developmental standpoint. You’ve survived the castrating year of thirteen of endless questioning and doubt and latched onto a form, an outlet–whether that’s singing, sports, writing, etc. You see glimmers of your passion. You swim this sea without the poisoned expectation of achievement. Perhaps, this is the best blessing. Continuing on this vein of relinquished expectations is a good way to be. First Aid[...]

Fucked Up – Glass Boys

June 10, 2014

In their new release, Glass Boys, Canadian hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up demonstrates their knack for tasteful anthemic punk rock, albeit in a more modest way than usual. This time around, the band looked to more self-reflective and moody elements to join their usual philosophically charged aggression. One thing listeners need to know before listening to Glass Boys is that, conceptually speaking, it is not anything close to David Comes to Life, their complex, punk rock opera that explores a love story through multiple perspectives and meta-narratives. In comparison, this record is the proverbial sidekick or henchman murmuring, “Yeah, what he said!,” echoing the previous record’s ideas of frustration with apprehension against society’s ills. However, this album should be praised through its particular use of song structure and instrumentation, which give it a brooding yet deeply energetic style. Whereas most hardcore punk music thrives off of bursts of high energy[...]

Glass Animals – Zaba

June 10, 2014

It was just this past April that the promising Oxford-based quartet Glass Animals cemented themselves a tight little niche in the psychedelic indie-pop market with their beaming EP Gooey. Now they’ve returned with their debut album, Zaba, to prove that beyond the Radiohead reminiscent grooves or the minimalist pop production, they are in fact an inimitable, contemporary pop creation. It’s only fitting that they hit the mark right out of the gate even with a ton of pressure riding on this up-and-coming group’s premiere effort. Glass Animals’ sonically forecasting Gooey EP brought about one of the quartet’s most unrestrained singles in “Gooey,” again found on Zaba. Oozing basslines all on top of Dave Bayley’s smooth, sleek falsettos make it one of their most authentic feeling cuts to date. The track isn’t without its fair share of sexual innuendos as unorthodox uses of pet names get that across, especially when referencing Winnie the[...]