Quick Hits, Vol. 52 (Rich Homie Quan, Muse, Titus Andronicus, Tech N9ne)

Rich Homie Quan - Summer Sampler.  Another Atlanta guy who appears to have a million mixtapes instead of proper albums (with Young Thug on 98% of all songs), but the opening track from this EP is a sweet little head-bobber.  "Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)" is made for pumping in the car or by the pool during summer.

I mean, the lyrics are idiotic, but if it doesn't make you bounce a little then you've got deeper problems than I can fix.  And I like that car with 8 speakers in the wall.  I need to go pimp my ride like that.  Also seems like it would be very difficult to get much work done with a full bear pelt on your desktop.  Maybe that's just me.  The rest of the album is fine, nothing as enjoyable as this one.

Muse - Drones.  Ah, Muse.  In general terms, I like Muse.  The Resistance and Black Holes and Absolution were all pretty exciting albums with some good rock and roll under falsetto action.  I can't get behind the Second Law because "Madness" bugs so much.  But this one is solid power prog rock in the same vein as their good stuff.  Solid album.  My only beef would be the same-ness - the luster continues to fade as each album sounds just like its predecessor.  If this one didn't have a theme about evil drones destroying our life as we know it, you'd never know that any individual song was from this and not another album. Not much of a gripe, because otherwise this one rocks out nicely.  I dig it.

Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy.  At first, I thought I was liking this, but the more I listen to it the less it sounds like something I liked (maybe the Hives?) and more like an hour and a half of whining and bashing on instruments.  29 flipping songs.  Shut up.  No thanks.

Tech N9ne - Special Effects.  This is not especially good rap music.  I remember liking some old Tech Nine and thinking that he had some good stuff on a few Eminem tracks, but this is kind of annoying.  He can have a bit of good flow for a sec, but then his tone will get unnecessarily angry sounding when the lyrics don't seem to support that change in tone.  "I went for A WALK ON THE BEACH!"  "My favorite type of BLOOMING TREE IS THE MAGNOLIA!!!"  I just don't think I get it. There's also a Nickelback song in the middle of the album - well, actually Corey Taylor (Slipknot), but it is not good.  
BUT then "Hood Go Crazy" comes on, with 2 Chainz and B.o.B., and you understand why the rest of the album was made.  He had a hot single, but needed some other stuff to release with it.  This song has a sticky sweet beat and playful (read: idiotic) lyrics that make for a fun ass song.

That video is funny, in that homie is chilling on the side of the hot tub in a big old ratty robe, and keeps making the sign of holding a joint up to his lips to make it clear what he is talking about.  We get it man.  The track right after that one is the next best song on the album, with Lil Wayne and Yo Gotti and this sweet backward-slurping beat - "Bass Akwards."  Too bad you have to wade through 10 other songs to get to these.  Half of this sounds like the filler songs on the Fast & the Furious 19 soundtrack.  Oh, and did I mention there are 24 FREAKING SONGS on this thing?  Holy Hannah.  Keep "Hood Go Crazy" and let the rest of it go.