Quick Hits Vol. 32 (Joseph, Modest Mouse, Madonna, OG Maco)

Joseph - Native Dreamer Kin.  Absolutely lovely music.  Beautiful female voices.  Very simple arrangements, but the harmonies are killer.  Here is "Lifted Away"

Live version, but you get what they have going on here.  Their band name leaves something to be desired, but I'd love to go see these ladies live.

Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves.  I was never on board with MM in the past all that much. I will entirely agree with people who say that "Float On" is a great tune, but I've just never really gotten into their catalog before.  But this disc has some good tunes.  I think they are best when the bass kicks in and they get funky with their indie-ness.  "Lampshades on Fire" is the current hit, I am also digging on "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box."   "Coyotes" and "The Best Room" are also pretty good.  But I won't say the whole thing hits that same way - "Pistol" is kind of annoying, and after a while the yelp-y tone of the lead singer gets on my nerves.  But still, some of these are fun songs.

Madonna - Rebel Heart.  Old school Madonna was amazing.  I've had this internal debate over the past few months about realizing that pop music is actually pretty cool, and doesn't need to be shredded for being popcorn/bubblegum.  The thing is, in the mid-80's, I thought stuff like Madonna, Prince, Bon Jovi, and Huey Lewis and the News were the end-all-be-all of musical expression.  And then I discovered R.E.M. and U2.  But I still think "Into the Groove" is amazing, and Holiday, Lucky Star, Borderline, Material Girl, etc. all work well after 25-30 years.

But now we have the 60-something year old Madonna still doing her thing.  And while I don't hear unstoppable classics on here, its still a fine album.  She still has a beautiful voice and can make it shine.  Unfortunately, her sound has been cribbed by so many other people that this feels derivative, watered down.  And then she tries for her mid-career shock value garbage (S.E.X. or Holy Water), which is just unfortunate.  But some of these are new sounding and pretty fun, like the reggae/dancehall-ish "Unapologetic Bitch."  Sticking with the theme of unfortunately named songs, I also kind of liked "Bitch I'm Madonna," which features a slick verse from Nicki Minaj.  But overall, I'm not keeping this album around.

OG Maco - OG Maco EP.  Rapper who sounds truly unbalanced.

I bet it sucked to be staying at that Holiday Inn Express the day he shot that video.  "Um, excuse me, sir?  I don't, uh, want any trouble here, uh.  Could you fellas please stop making scary gun shooting noises with your mouth and cavorting on the carpet in front of my room?  My kids are asleep in here. Thanks buddy."  But, kind of a boss song though, right?  His other songs have a similar barking, staccato vibe to them - lots of yelling and BUCKEMBUCKEMBUCKEM sounding hollers.  I think the best is "U Guessed It," with "Want More" right behind that.  I'm interested enough to want to hear his next album to see what it is like.