Grace VanderWaal - Just the Beginning. After having listened to her a lot for ACL and then seeing her magical performance there, I'm predisposed to enjoy this album. Prior to this, she just had a 5 song EP and some singles, and while this goes for a little more production and more beat-centric stuff at times, it still is very good. The pre-release singles like "Moonlight," "Sick of Being Told," and "So Much More Than This" are great. And the slightly mean "Just a Crush" is perfect for a 14 year old girl to be singing, sadly reminds me of my youth. She doesn't want to tease, so she'll say it straight, you're just a crush so quit talking about the future. oof. The top song is still "Moonlight," with almost 23 million streams, but I'll give you "So Much More Than This" because the live version was great and this one should be the bigger hit if it finds the radio.
Fun song. Has a touch of hip hop to it - in fact, on several of these songs she almost takes on a rap flavor - see "Talk Good," where an actual bass makes the bass notes and she sings the words in a tune, but the cadence of the track sounds kind of hip hop. I'll say that I got some of the old man feels watching my kids love the hell out of this song as she sang it at ACL last month. I'm definitely keeping the album around, for one because it brings back good memories, for two because I want to keep parsing the lyrics. Wu-Tang Clan - The Saga Continues. Now that is a weird juxtaposition. 14 year old girl known for jamming a ukulele, straight into kung-fu inspired, grimy rappers. Classic Wu-Tang Clan is freaking awesome. First, because they create and craft real beats - cool samples and soul strings and vocal blurbs over classic boombap thump - instead of depending on some generic Soundcloud beat of the week. Second, because they make cool grimy stories for their lyrics, instead of just stringing together mumbled stream-of-consciousness garbage about rain drops and drop tops. Third, because the weird little skits of old school kung fu movie clips are kind of a dope schtick. The Clan is made up of a bunch of dudes, and I am most definitely partial to Ghostface as my favorite of the rappers, but the rest of the guys put in some good work on here as well. The top track from the album is "People Say" with 4.4 million streams.
"Like Swayze at the Road House, ready for the bar fight." Yeah, that is pretty good. A couple fun lyrical bits and a great beat. But "Fast and Furious" is a perfect example of what I love.
Slinky soul sample, ominous violins, and beat, and then check a portion of Raekwon's verse:
Doin' a buck on I-95, screamin', "I live for this," They just seen us comin', blew a flat Pulled over to the shoulder Pop the trunk to see if it's a spare in the back A van pulled up, with Florida tags Three men jumped out with guns drawn and they all wore masks Snatched me up and handcuffed me Hit me with the butt of the gun I'm thinkin' to myself, "The war just begun" Thirty minutes in the ride, the mask came off The chickens dropped, the two in the back had Russian accents Askin' who my connect is, where he rest shit You better off squeezin' that tool bitch He said, "Nah, you're worth more to us alive than dead." He's flashed his badge and started laughin' "Cocksucker, we the feds"
I mean, it ain't high brow poetry, but I love it. You can see what he's rapping in your mind's eye and I'm ready to hear the rest of the story. This is the good stuff. Wu Tang forever. Now, some of these tracks, heck, including the chorus of that "Fast and Furious" track, are not the greatest thing ever and some can get tiresome. Having 80 different people rap is a little annoying, and I'd rather they just give us verses from the strongest guys, but as this exists, I still like it. Not a classic Wu record, but still solid. Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice. I'm so terribly disappointed in my life that I've never gotten to see Courtney Barnett live. Her album from 2015 was the shizz, a clever lyrical injection in the midst of so much vapid garbage. Kurt Vile is pretty cool, I listened to him a lot for ACL a year or two ago, and he likewise uses lyrics as his best weapon for his music. Joined together, these two have made a super chill album of relaxed and kind of sleepy tunes. Some go a little faster, but they are all still acoustic guitars and lax phrasing. Like the gentle sadness of "Peepin' Tom" and Barnett's list of things she doesn't want to do anymore and how nothing seems to be working out as she tries to improve. The top track is one that I hear on the radio here in Austin with some frequency, "Continental Breakfast," which boasts the nice couplet of "feeling inferior on the interior."
Like they are singing to each other (her from Australia and him from Philly) about their intercontinental friendship. I feel like his drab voice makes hers sound even more appealing than normal. Also feels like I would very much enjoy chilling at Kurt Vile's house with his two cutie girls. This album is a moody one, feels like I'd need to be in the right mood to shut down and enjoy it. If I'm being honest about it (which is kind of hard because I want to be cool and like this album), I probably won't listen to it anymore. Yamasuki Singers - Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki. Want some batshit crazy stuff in your day? You've come to the right place. My buddy Joseph heard the first song on this album when he was travelling out in Marfa, on the Marfa NPR station. His kids thought it was hilarious, so he brought me into the loop. And it is hilariously weird. Imagine if the Beatles had decided to add another layer to their sitar-based later music, and that other layer was made up entirely of Japanese school children singing pretty things while an angry Sumo wrestler screamed Japanese words over the top. As Black Rob would have said, "Woah."
That video is amazing. All the drugs. According to the Internet, this is a French band who inexplicably decided to make trippy music that involves Japanese screaming. And if you dig that, believe me, the rest of the album will NOT disappoint. I'll never listen to this again, but I feel like from an archive perspective, I needed to mention it and you needed to witness.
BTW, if you are tired of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" being the traditional rapey Christmastime tune, check out Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats new version, in which the male sings the demure portions and the female voice takes on the overbearing lyrics of the wolf demanding some action. Weezer - Pacific Daydream. *old man shaking his cane at kids these days warning* Dammit, Weezer, why can't you just keep making the Blue album over and over again? Although I am mildly liking this album, the fact that parts of it were made with computers and it reminds me of Fall Out Boy and 21 Pilots just makes me sad. Check out the top track, "Feels Like Summer."
While I want to complain, the bouncing bass bumps are actually really seductive in this one, just suck me right in to bobbing my head. And the sunny chorus blast, both bright/shiny and laid back/chilled is cool. But despite that fun beat and chorus, its a weak song - like they tried to make a current EDM-ish pop song and forgot who they really are. The rest of the album feels similar, there are flashes of interesting stuff, but too many layers of gunk on top of those flashes. Like the lyrics to "Happy Hour," what the hell does this even mean - "I'm like Stevie Ray Vaughan on the stage, high on music, Teeth grindin', sweatin' under the lights, But then my boss calls and she's crushin' me with a 20 ton weight, Just like in Monty Python, Somebody left on the sink, it's still running, My eyes are gonna overflow." Uh, what? I literally just googled "was Stevie Ray Vaughan known for grinding his teeth." This is just not good. There are many other things to do with my listening time. I won't hold on to this Courtney Marie Andrews - Honest Life. Very pretty album of singer-songwriter type tunes, kind of country-flavored, but strongly reminiscent of Carole King to me. Mainly in the vocal tone and style of singing. Some of these songs are so damn achingly beautiful you'll just want to die. This isn't the top track, but just listen to album closer "Only in my Mind."
Simple tune, just piano chords and some swelling orchestration, but I'd be hard pressed to think of a more melancholy but beautiful song I've heard in years. Her voice and the lyrics are definitely the main draw here, seems like a fine album to curl up with on the floor for a good solid weeping session. (that is a little melodramatic, even for me, but it feels like it fits). This music falls outside of my normal favorite stuff, but I can't deny the allure of the album and the excellent lyrics. I had fully intended to just delete this and move on, but now I'm realizing that I want to save it for later and more listens. A Thousand Horses - Bridges. I feel like it should serve as an indictment that I thought of both Nickelback and Kid Rock while listening to this album of "country" tunes. Generic tropes like "I'm goin' out in a blaaaze of something" and the second song paying honor to the patron saint of weed smoking "country" artists ("Burn like Willie"). Hell, just the titles of the songs on this EP are cliche - "One Man Army," "Preachin' to the Choir," or "Weekends in a Small Town." I don't know, I remember enjoying these guys when I listened to them for ACL a few years back, but this stuff right here is just not lighting me up like a Willie blunt smokin' in the ashtray of an old Chevy pickup full of girls in daisy dukes headin' down to the river on a Saturday night. "Preachin' to the Choir" wins the most popular track award for this album, as just over 2.1 million streams.
Name checking Skynryd's Simple Man, telling folks to raise their hands and spark up their lighters, and integrating both binge drinking and church into the same song, this song is built to be current Nashville country gold. For me, no thanks. Big K.R.I.T. - 4eva is a Mighty Long Time. Woah. Some of these tracks absolutely bang. KRIT is one of those rappers who has appeared on a bunch of other people's albums (Big Boi, A$AP Rocky, Slim Thug, Rick Ross, Ludacris, and a bunch of other dudes), but I am not familiar with his own stuff. Mississippi boy, with a lot of Houston and Atlanta influence on his sound. Two immediate beefs with the album. Length is first because this is a double album with 22 damn songs and almost an hour and a half of runtime. This is too damn long, man. Just keep the best 14 tracks, right at an hour, and drop the dead weight. Second, more of the bad ass tracks with T.I. and Bun B and Pimp C, but less of the jenky R&B garbage like the track with "Lloyd." Less of "Layup" as well. So over the tired Chris Brown-esque hooks everyone thinks they need to do for a rap track. But aside from those, get down with the T.I. trunk rattler "Big Bank," Outkast-esque tracks like "Get Up 2 Come Down," the UGK songs like "Ride Wit Me," or the pure bombastic stuff like "Subenstein (My Sub IV)."
I need to go buy a 1994 Suburban, add a lift kit and tractor tires, install 40 20" subwoofers in the back, and then just drive up and down Congress Ave. all day tomorrow with that track turned up to 11. That isn't the best song on the album, but I dig it. Just banging. "Aux Cord" is cool - sounds like an old school beat and Kendrick rhymes. The top track on the album is the second one, "Confetti," with 1.3 million streams.
That one is OK, nothing special to me. Plain jane beat until about half way through the track when a new bass section morphs in. Uninteresting lyrics. Not sure why that one would have so many listens. I think the first disc is superior to the second disc, which seems to do less of the bangers and more of the singers. Not to say the second album is bad, its just a different sound. And shit gets real, on tracks like "Drinking Sessions" (about his alcohol struggles) and "The Light" (sounds kind of Kendrick-esque, Common-esque, with a full on jazz band going to town as he raps about social injustice issues). The opening track of the first disc is called "Big K.R.I.T.," and the opening song of the second disc is "Justin Scott," so maybe these are supposed to reflect the two sides of him, his rapper name and his real name. Good album overall. I won't even call it uneven, even though this review kind of leaned that direction, I just think that there are so many facets here that you can't go into the listen expecting only one thing. Pretty cool stuff, and I'll keep working on it.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again - AI YoungBoy. I read an article about this dude, comparing him to Kevin Gates (very apt comparison) and saying that he had taken up the mantle of the old school storytelling rappers. Some of these tracks are pretty good, but in my opinion he does too much of the sing-song thing and generic trope stuff that doesn't remind me of the classics from Tupac so much as Kevin Gates and some of the jenky mumble guys. I like "No Smoke." "Untouchable" is more popular, but is more commercial-sounding and generic. I thought I was going to like "Left Hand Right Hand" because of the tough beat, but lyrically its pretty lackluster. You know, talking about Ferragamo holding up his pants and using a Dell even though he owns (!?!) a Mac and a Compaq. Who the hell still owns a Compaq? Maybe a Baton Rouge guy who just got out of jail. Nevermind, Compaqs are cool as hell. Please don't hurt me. Here is the most streamed on Spotify, "Untouchable," with 12.3 million streams.
I'm all for him getting out of jail and making good for his mom and little brother and coming up like a bad ass and all of that. But I can't say that the beat is great, and I can't say that the rhymes are very interesting, just nothing is really top notch here. Its fine. But then again, 82.3 million views of that freaking video, so maybe he's already the best rapper alive and I'm just missing the boat. I'll wait for the next album. White Reaper - The World's Best American Band. Like the title of this album, these dudes are fully tongue in cheek at all times. I saw them play at ACL this year, and the show was one of the best things I saw at the second weekend, as they just blasted through a fun show with abandon, rocking out and being ridiculous. Very fun. The album isn't quite as raw as the show, but it still sounds like punk rockers trying to play classic rock, like they're trying to cover T. Rex ("The World's Best American Band") or Thin Lizzy ("Judy French") but came up playing only raw punk tunes. I like the mix. "The Stack" really sounds familiar too - I know it has the same kind of chord progression as "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," but I almost feel like it is a cover song that I've heard before from someone else. But it appears to be an original. Weird. That Thin Lizzy-esque song is the top track on this album (746k), and I think it kind of rules.
Oh, and Alexandra Daddario, who was in the kind-of-funny-but-pretty-solidly-dumb Baywatch (as well as other flicks) tears it up in that video. I have no clue why it makes any sense for her to appear in the video as though she is every member of the band, but whatever... Their live show is even better than this album, but I think this album is highly fun stuff too. I'm gonna keep it around and blare it from my car tonight while I drive home. FYI, I did do that on my drive home and it was excellent. I also kept it going this morning when the girls got in to the car for the drive to school and they didn't tell me to change the station, so that's a plus. Natalie Hemby - Puxico. Hemby is a Nashville gal, with a handful of big hits for the traditional country stars like Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town. No clue how this album came to reside in my new music queue, I'm guessing Rolling Stone must have said she was good or something. Her voice is really lovely, and lyrically these songs are great. The top track on the album is, of course, my least favorite one. Here is the drum machine-assisted, kind of snoozy "This Town Still Talks About You," which has just over a million streams.
I much prefer the stronger sounding tunes like "Return," "Time Honored Tradition," or the beautifully picked "Cairo, IL." "Return" is more of a soft rock song but it sounds very good, yearning for the return of a loved one. These tunes are nice sounding country tunes. Kind of in the Sheryl Crow neighborhood, but none of them ever really fire up any big energy, it is a very chilled album. Going to add a few tracks to a mix playlist and let the rest of the album go. Chuck Berry - Berry is on Top / St. Louis to Liverpool. When Berry died earlier this year, Rolling Stone did a great retrospective of the dude that explained some of the troubled history of his life, but also detailed some of the musical high notes that he had enjoyed over time. The dude was truly one of the originators of rock and roll. The rebellious lyrics and the crazy use of the guitar. By now, of course, thousands of other folks have come along and copied his guitar style or modified it or improved on it, so you have to go into these tracks with a historical perspective to think about what this must have been like back then.
They listed these two albums as some of the classic stuff you had to hear to get an idea of exactly who Berry was, so I've been checking them out. The first one, Berry Is on Top, complete with a cover showing a bunch of strawberries stuck to the top of a bowl of ice cream, is one where you'll remember the songs, boasting both "Johnny B. Goode" and "Maybellene," as well as several other classics like "Roll Over Beethoven." I know "Johnny B. Goode" has been overplayed to death, but it truly is a fantastic song. And then you get a little dose of good old fashioned 50's era racism, with the intro to "Hey Pedro." Good times.
By the time St. Louis to Liverpool came out (1964, five years after Berry is on Top), you can tell that his voice has gotten stronger and he's a much better singer, or maybe the production is just better and so you can hear his voice better. But it definitely sounds better. And this one also has some classic tunes - "No Particular Place to Go" (love it) and the Pulp Fiction-famous "You Never Can Tell." One cool thing that Berry does, and I don't know if this was particular to him, is that guitar lick intro to songs - the iconic one for "Johnny B. Goode" is reprised almost exactly for "Promised Land," but several other songs have that same structure - firing out some hot guitar licks to introduce the song. Anyway, happy to have run through these a few times, I'm going to spice up some playlists with some of these tunes to keep Berry around.
The Districts - Popular Manipulations. I remember these dudes fondly from ACL 2014, when I reviewed them and then also heard them jam. Good stuff, pretty straight-forward indie rock (although I'd say I liked their blues rock sound from earlier albums more, in going back and trying them again right now). I say that, but this is still a good album. The album opener, all feedback and driving jangle, is the top track from the album with just under a million streams. This is "If Before I Wake."
After a handful of further listens, I'm less enamored with the album as a whole. It is good, fuzzy rock and roll, but nothing on here is really sticking to me. I think I'll let it go. Kano - Made in the Manor. Another one of the grime rappers from the UK, this guy came on to my radar when I was listening to Skepta for this last year's ACL. From what I can remember, people were saying that this guy was maybe the best grime rapper (versus Skepta and Stormzy). My response to that is a whole-hearted negative. He's not terrible, but he is just slightly off on the beat with his lyrics. Not in a purposeful sounding way, like dropping the lyric off beat, but more like he's just not really paying attention to the beat and spraying his dense bars down at his own rate.
Start at about 1:00 and listen to the verse and you'll see what I'm talking about. This is his most popular track, "3 Wheel-ups," which has 13.2 million streams. So other people think this is good, even if I'm not on board. He also has one with Damon Albarn, which was interesting on paper, but less well executed (not sure if Albarn was really even on there). Most of the beats are forgettable, nothing about this does anything for me. Robots with Rayguns - Wild Style. No clue where I found this one, but it is pretty fun dance EDM type music with few lyrics except for sampled words that repeat often and a few tracks with rap (the actually pretty good "Spark" is the top example of that, although can that rapper not come up with a better name than TT the Artist? I can't heard that without thinking of a child giggling about pee.). Not many listens to any of this, but here is the top one from his album, "Sweat it Out."
Pretty generic. All of these songs would be fun for dancing along to in a tent, or useful for working out (as though I work out), but nothing on here is worth becoming a permanent fixture in my collection. Probably the most interesting thing here is the remake of INXS' "Need U Tonight," just because I still love me some INXS. Anyway, this album can go. Ships Have Sailed - Mood Swings. Highly generic pop rock treacle with cheesy lyrics and heavy synth background. Kind of emo-ish in tone at times, but the music is more soft rock than punk rock. Some sample lyrics, from "Summertime," the second track on the album: "Daydreams fantasies, kisses and insanity. Strawberry summer dress, steal my heart and take my breath. Let's fall in the summertime, star crossed, dancing 'til the sunrise, And it's sweeter on the first try, let go, believe and we can both fly. Up, down, Chinatown, it's gonna be good when the lights go out. Look what you do to me, making promises I can never keep." burp. vomit. gulp. vomit. glurg. The most popular track on here is "If Only," that somehow has 325k streams on Spotify.
I mean, the music is fine. Its fine. But just so schmarmy. Covered in schmarm. I do not enjoy this song or this album. No thanks. Go back to where you came from.
Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator. Huh. I mean, what does that band name sound like to you, just first impression? If you thought the first song would sound like an acoustic Americana thing that resembles The Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang" and Edie Brickell's version of "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," then you have the predictive capability of Professor X mixed with the musical acumen of the guy from High Fidelity.
That was "Living in the City." I fully expected some sort of power pop dance music, instead I get Rihannon Giddens vibes on these tunes. And St. Vincent. Quite good actually. Got a good bit of weird world rhythms on songs like "Nothing's Gonna Change That Girl," and "The Navigator," which sounds like the Buena Vista Social Club backing up Fiona Apple. You know what else sounds like Apple? "Pa'Lante," the almost album closer, with just simple piano chords and Alynda Segarra's exhortations to "stay out the way and be something, do your best, fuck the rest, and be something." Surprisingly good album. Give it a chance and see what you think. I'm gonna hold on to it. Beachheads - Beachheads. Another album that has somehow made its way into my new music list without any indication of how it weaseled its way in there, but this time it is great news. This is excellent power pop guitar rock stuff, like The Replacements listened to a bunch of Foo Fighters to get just a touch harder. Bright pop rock stuff, like the album opener "Moment of Truth," which has about 127k streams on Spotify.
Really a fun tune. Basic stuff, but fun and sunny. The opening also makes me think of Teenage Fanclub, like the start of "Metal Baby." I have that album on the brain right now though. Anyway, yes, I like these dudes. They have no bio on Spotify, but all their related artists are weirdly lettered names like "Hvitmalt gjerde" (for reals), so they must be Norwegian or something. Whatever dude, I like this album. Here is one more track, just because I just watched the video and now I want to include it here. This is "Una."
Only 2588 views for that YouTube video, and the only comment is someone named Max Mustache, 7 months ago, saying "Huh...?" I'm intrigued by that comment. Whatever, even if no one gets this, I do and I like it. Shakey Graves - Shakey Graves and the Horse He Rode in On (Nobody's Fool and The Donor Blues EP). Wins the award for longest, weirdest album title of anything I've reviewed recently. Weird stuff. I saw Graves play the AllATX benefit show the other night, and he was fantastic. Such a cool sound, all alone on the stage, playing the kick drum and guitar parts himself while still managing to sing lyrics on time. I feel like I can barely chew gum and walk, and this guy can somehow sing complicated lyrics as three of his four appendages do different things at the same time. For the most part, this album sounds like he is still doing that same thing, with electric guitar, kick drum, and his voice as the only sounds. Oh, and some tambourine too, which I suspect he is also doing. A few other additions here and there, but they are few. With only those instruments, the sound is spare throughout. No song makes his top ten on Spotify, and although I think my favorite is "Wither," with its creaky, ringing background and vocal overdubbing (kind of like Car Seat Headrest in tone), I'm gonna give you the top track, "Nobody's Fool," which is the only track on here to break a million at 1.5 million.
Holy shit, yes, he is also doing the tambourine. So literally, he has left hand doing fretwork on the neck of the guitar, right hand plucking and strumming the strings, right foot doing drum rhythms, left foot doing tambourine rhythms, and also singing the lyrics. Truly an amazing thing to be able to handle. I like bits and pieces of this album (which appears to be the combination of two old EPs), but overall it is uneven and I'll just stick to his 2014 album. HAIM - Something to Tell You. Nothing much has changed for these ladies, they continue to make funky pop soft-rock tailor made for a dance party where the lyrics frequently have more rhythm in them than seems possible. Loads of good harmonies. The best tunes on here are the fun jams, and less so the introspective, softer ones. Like "You Never Knew," I can do without that little Magic 95-esque item. Give me more of the high energy ones like "Want You Back," the album opener and most popular track from the album with 23.7 million streams.
That is an arena-ready, but very pretty, slow builder with some introspective lyrics. I can imagine seeing this one live and being compelled to dance along during the chorus and then awkwardly going back to just standing there, swaying and nodding my head, when the verse comes back in. *nervously looking around to see if anyone noticed how my shoulder-shimmy-hip-thrust devolved into a awkward head bob* And for a simple ass video (Description for the studio execs: We are going to walk down a street and make tiny movements along with the music, we may also dance, barely) I was sucked in and wanted to see the entire thing. I find the band endearing, I love the backstory of having played in a family band and now doing the full thing. I enjoy most of these tunes - especially "Little of Your Love" - but I'll say that these tunes flirt with full on jamminess, but they always hold back right at the last second. Subdued when I want them unleashed. But I'll admit that even the slow burners like "Night So Long" are quite lovely. Days are Gone is better, but this is solid.
Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life. Wolf Alice can freaking jam. I'll still ride or die with "Bros" as an excellent song, and "Moaning Lisa Smile" is also rad. This is a London band, who lives in the grungy alt-rock world but is led by a female vocalist. They came to ACL a few years ago and are going to come back to Austin next year for a show that I am going to go to no matter what else is happening in my life. Queens of the Stone Age with Wolf Alice opening? Give me all of that all day. [edit: Just bought my tickets this morning and now I'm preemptively pumped.] This album is less even than their last one, which I still listen to all the time. This band is at their best when they mix some groove into the aggression. So, you can compare "Yuk Foo" and its pure scream-fest to "Beautifully Unconventional," the slightly funky track that showcases the beauty of Ellie Roswell's vocal. Here is the latter.
Good stuff. I also like the heft of the rock on "Planet Hunter" and funky click mixed with energetic outbursts of "Formidable Cool." Some tracks go to much into the shoegaze world, like the whispering ethereal "Sky Musings," but overall this is a good album. If I'm being honest, I likely won't listen to it much more though. Macklemore - Gemeni. Macklemore is another one of the guilty pleasures I have. I've written at length before about how I think he gets an unreasonable amount of shit for genuinely trying to make a difference with his lyrics, and for making pop smash raps like "Thrift Shop," but I say screw that. Do your thing bro. Top track features someone named Skylar Grey, who sounds like the secret alter ego of someone from the X-Men. 236 million streams.
Well, shit, there goes the daily does of tears welling up in my eyes. CAN'T THE RAPPERS GO BACK TO REFRIGERATORS FULL OF 40'S AND LADIES IN G-STRINGS JUMPING ON MINI-TRAMPOLINES COVERED IN BUBBLES!!! Honestly, very sweet video. Makes me wish I still had a grandparent to go hang out with. This album, though, is flavored heavily by the guests on here, as all but one song on the album (the pretty solid "Ten Million") have a guest listed. That means you end up with garbage like Lil Yachty (shockingly rapping over a beat that involves a toy piano riff. Shocked, I tell you) and weak verses in otherwise enjoyable tracks, like the Offset verse in "Willy Wonka" or the Reignwolf hook sung in "Firebreather." But then the beat and loping chill of "How to Play a Flute" is super cool (until all of the weird sneezing happens). Several of these songs are OK - "Cornerstore," "Glorious," or "Good Old Days," but overall nothing on here is so revelatory that I feel like I need to keep it around forever. Liam Gallagher - As You Were. Oh, hey. That sounds like Oasis, right there. Huh. While I'd always prefer for the brothers to suck up their childish ass differences and go back to making the Oasis tunes I love, this is a pretty solid facsimile right here. This album has a lot of the same kinds of sounds - obviously the vocals sound the same, but the vocal reverb, psych rock guitar fuzz and chiming guitars, and continuous use of tambourine. The album's opener, and lead single, and most popular track, also grabs hold of that old harmonica bit that he used to great effect in Oasis. Here is "Wall of Glass," which boasts 16.4 million streams (shockingly, more than several songs on (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, which is insane to me. KIDS THESE DAYS!).
That harmonica is some big fat sound. I like it, really sounds like the old stuff. Same with "Bold," honestly same with much of this album. Now, if you know anything about Liam, he's apparently a massive asshole, or at least his public persona act is that of a major prick and unapologetic jerk. Although sometimes that shit is funny. Some of these songs appear to be apologetic, like "Paper Crown," but its never real clear, more opaque. "You Better Run" sounds good, "Chinatown" is kind of clever and is a good little ballad, and "Universal Gleam" is also kind of lovely. The best stuff on here is prime day Oasis, but some of it is a little soggy and forgettable. I'll be keeping it around, because even watered-down new Oasis is better than a bunch of the new music out there, but this isn't an excellent album by any means. At the Drive In - in-ter a-li-a. This is one of those albums that I really wanted to be over almost as soon as it started. I think I found this album because I was reading a Chronicle article about Beto O'Rourke, or maybe Texas Monthly, but either way it mentioned that O'Rourke's best bud and fellow rocker was in this band. So I thought I'd check out their new one and see what was up. Apparently, yelling over post-punk thrashing is very much what is up.
That was "Governed by Contagions," the most listened to track from the album with 1.5 million streams. There was a time when I enjoyed some post-punk yelling, but that time has faded into history. I do not want to find out how many bites it takes to get to the center of the cyanide tooth. I'm good.
Harry Styles - Harry Styles. Funny, I've heard good things and terrible things about this album before I ever even tried it. Friends on both sides of the spectrum have either loved it or hated it intensely. I think I fall towards those who loved it, but I'm a little more reserved in my pleasure. This guy, in case you somehow don't know, was one of the One Direction guys. A friend who went and saw his show the other day at the Moody said that the decibel level of the screaming girls in attendance at the show was brutal, to the point of making it hard to hear the actual songs. Which is funny to me - I've never seen anything like that before. The opening track to this album makes me think of Dan Auerbach and the Black Keys, very spacey blues acoustic sound, reverb-soaked and chilled. I like that tune, "Meet Me in the Hallway," quite a bit. "From the Dining Table" has that same style. But most of this album is more like a John Mayer album reflecting the soft rock sounds of the 70's in America. I don't know what the problem is in the "Woman" song, but there is a weird buzzing fart sound that happens throughout it, and it is distracting beyond all measure. I think, without that sound, it would be a pretty solid song, but as recorded, I say screw that song. The most popular track, without any doubt, is "Sign of the Times," with over 265 million streams. It is OK, I'm not in love with it, so I'll give you one of the other top tracks, "Two Ghosts."
Just a very nice little track. Spare and quiet, very pretty. Nothing flashy or heavily produced, not at all what you would expect from a former boy-band guy, but this is the vibe of most of the album. I think it is good. I'm surprised to be saying that I would keep this album around, but I'm going to do it anyway. At pickup from basketball practice the other night, I put this album on when three 4th grade girls got in to my car, just to see what they thought. No high pitched screaming was involved, but I did catch one of them singing along for a bit. Paramore - After Laughter. Paramore is a funny band. In my mind, I think that they are a lot harder than they really are - pop punk with some screaming. Maybe their older tunes were a little bit harder, but now this stuff is pure pop rock ready for all the dancing you can fit into your pants. Hell, just sitting here listening to this album again I'm grooving around in my desk chair and unable to stop myself from thrusting my head forward in an uncomfortable turtle bird dance. Just try listening to "Rose-Colored Boy" and keeping still. If you can do it, I'll give you ONE AMERICAN NICKEL next time we see each other in real life. Unless I don't have one, in which case you can get one for yourself and then remember that I gave it to you each time you see it. FYI, their Spotify bio right now is a terrible thing probably written by a PR firm and it makes me want to die, but the current playcount listed by Spotify means they are the greatest band in all of history. Literally, it says "6,087,1242,351,093" [sic] monthly listeners. I mean, 60 TRILLION monthly listeners is pretty amazing. Hot damn. Thinking this was a typo, I checked Taylor Swift's count, and she has 315 TRILLION monthly listens. Holy Hannah. Anyway, I digress. These tunes have a little worldliness to them, in the way Graceland or Vampire Weekend have a lilt of world music poking into them, but overall it is power pop rock stuff that is crazy catchy. The top song is one that is reminiscent of their prior big hit ("Ain't It Fun," which is a legitimately fun track), the album opener, called "Hard Times."
Like I said, power pop with guitar. Snappy as hell, very fun, even if the music behind it is pretty basic strum and drum 80's disco-fied rock. I enjoy it. These are the best songs on this album, others are slow and maudlin (looking at you, "26") full of violin swells and lyrics about dreaming. But other tracks, like "Caught in the Middle," which are like funky No Doubt outtakes, are more fun again. While I've enjoyed a few trips through this one, I'll let it go but save a song or two into active playlists. Logic - Everybody. I generally like Logic. I've written about him before, his rapid fire rapping is pretty fun. He does a weird thing where each album has a spoken theme that weaves between some of the songs. The last one was about space travelers or something. This one has the story of a guy who dies and meets "God" in purgatory before he is reincarnated as every human being ever in the history of man. Or something. I'm a little confused, but I enjoyed the reaction he had when, right after he finds out he is dead, he found out his wife had been cheating on him. One track from this album has blown up and become a real live hit, easily eclipsing any of his old hits (like the great "Flexicution" or "Alright"). I was going to choose "Everybody" as the song to play for you, because I think it best reflects his speed flow, but now that I realize there is a hit track on here, I'll give you that one. 380 million streams, this is "1-800-273-8255."
a) I love Don Cheadle (his character in Out of Sight is amazing); b) I need to go listen to that full album by Khalid to check out what the El Paso boy has going on; and c) watching videos for this blog is turning me into a blubbering idiot. Why do I tear up at half of these videos now? That one is really well done, but damn man. BTW, that phone number is the suicide prevention hotline, and if you listen to the lyrics, it is the sound of someone starting at "I don't want to live anymore" and ending with "I don't want to die today." Powerful song, well done video, but now I'm messed up. I liked the piece of "Killing Spree" taking people to task for living through their cell phone screens. I liked the black/white dichotomy study of "Take it Back" (and the shitty stuff that happened to Logic as a kid). But overall, nothing on here is grabbing hold of me as much as the past albums for tunes that I'd want to keep listening to. A$AP Twelvy - 12. Another part of the A$AP Mob, and while this is better than the Mob disc I reviewed the other day, it still falls behind the best stuff that Ferg or Rocky put out. The currently most popular track has just over 2.5 million streams, this is "Hop Out."
That is a jenky ass looking video, in their rented cars and getting all dirty in the desert. OK song, pretty tough, no lyrics that really stand out. The better stuff is the more laid back tracks like the opener, "Castle Hell" or "Diamonds" (which sounds very much like something from a Rocky album, instead of sounding like something he is guesting on for Twelvy, it sounds the other way around). But then some of the laid back stuff is lame, just slow and boring (like "Yea Yea Yea (Maps")). This disc was better than I thought - popcorn rap, nothing of substance - but I'll still let it go.
Primus - The Desaturating Seven. Primus, man. These weirdos were my jam back in high school. I still use Sailing the Seas of Cheese to rock out while I'm cooking with some frequency. If you've never chopped veggies while gyrating to "Tommy the Cat," while your kids look on in horror, then you have never truly lived your highest and best life. TOMMY THE CAT IS MY NAME! AND I SAY UNTO THEE! HEY BEBE DO YA WANNA GET DOWN WIT ME? HEY BEBE! HEY BEBAAAAYYY! So, the dudes continue to make super weird stuff that leans heavily on one of the best bass guitars in the business. From a few listens of "The Seven," this might be a concept album about the colors of the rainbow come to life as goblins? I dunno. But bits of that track make me think of Rush, something about the nimble plucking of the bass. Each track is named "The" something, like "The Valley" and "The Trek" and "The Seven." I really like "The Trek," because it sounds very much like the Primus of old.
Oh God. That guy reading the book in the pig head mask. Not OK. Not OK. But now this got me curious enough and I understand this now - there is a children's book called The Rainbow Goblins, about goblins who are trying to eat the rainbow, and this album is an interpretation of that entire book. Again, Primus, man. Making an entire album based on a weird children's book. Anyway, I dig that thumping bass trundle and the squiggly guitar work on that track. I enjoyed running through this a number of times, but if I'm being honest, I'll stick to the old Primus and let this one go. Pearl Jam - Let's Play Two Soundtrack. I still need to get to work on that post about my favorite band, because listening to this mega-awesome live album makes me want to sell everything and follow PJ like an old school Deadhead nomad. I got goosebumps about 93 times listening to this, first because it is awesome, second because I'm remembering old times I've seen them live. "Go" absolutely rocks the hell out - the guitar work in the solo is seriously awesome. Something about the intro to "Release," talking about some dude named John who is going through some stuff who waited in line for days to be front row for this show, and then the visceral power of that song, shit, its doing it to me again right now. If I'm tearing up at my desk listening to this for the 10th time or so, I feel like I would have been a blubbering idiot if I had heard this live at Wrigley. The band and Eddie sound fantastic, but the best part of this to me if how you can hear the crowd singing along and hanging on every moment. Even on the songs I don't know as well, like the opener "Low Light," the crowd is there with Eddie on every syllable and it makes the tune sound rad. Interestingly, none of these songs have many listens. I think this whole album freaking rules. I guess a lot of people aren't that in to a live album, but this is the good stuff. The tunes are the "soundtrack" for a documentary about some concerts PJ did at Wrigley Field during the 2016 season (when the Cubs finally won their World Series).
Look at that crowd! Holy smokes, that looks like the most fun concert of all time. Just got full body goosebumps again, watching a dumb trailer for a movie about a concert. I'm on some old man emotional shit right now. I can't find many good videos from this on YouTube, so here is the best one I can find, of "Corduroy."
I can remember the last time I saw them play live, and screaming out the "Nothing's Changed! Absolutely Nothing's Changed!" lines with 50,000 other people, and it was super cool. I will say, F the guy who starts whistling off beat at about 4:21. Dildo. Man, that is still the good stuff. Crush it up and soak it in saline and shoot it right into my earholes. Keep this album. The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful. This album is surprisingly good. I've already documented my distaste for the obnoxiously bombastic "The Man," and there are some other tracks on here where the lyrics are likewise pretty terrible ("Tyson v. Douglas" being the glaring example), but the music itself is mostly really fun, driving rock and roll soaked in 80's synths. Very fun. "The Man" has a great tune to it. "Run for Cover" should be used on road trip mix tapes. Love the sound of the opener, "Wonderful Wonderful," with this slinky, ominous bass line that sounds like something from Joshua Tree era U2. But on the other end of the album, "Money on Straight" leaves both the good music and the good lyrics idea in the dirt, for a real bummer of an album closer. The album feels short, at only 43 minutes, it goes away quickly. The top track (when ignoring The Man) is "Run for Cover," so here you go.
I mean, WTF is up with those lyrics?
What have you gathered to report to your progenitors? Are your excuses any better than your senator's? He held a conference and his wife was standing by his side He did her dirty but no-one died I saw Sonny Liston on the street last night Black-fisted and strong singing Redemption Song He motioned me to the sky I heard heaven and thunder cry
What are we even talking about there? Trying really hard to be deep or something, but I don't see that anything in there is actually deep. Weird. The rest of the song doesn't do much better, just like random phrases patched together by Google translate or something. I think, while I enjoy the tunes as background fodder, each time I really listen to them I'm left confused or wanting, so I'll let this one go. Willie Nelson - God's Problem Child. I love when Willie sounds like the old school, good Willie. The last time I heard him live, he was just tired sounding, kind of speak-singing his lyrics and not really even trying all that hard. Made me worry that the end was nigh. But this one has a good sound and nice vocal tone. "Old Timer" is a beaut. "Delete and Fast Forward" is annoying, although it is apparently about Trump winning the election (although that is a pretty opaque message). "Still Not Dead" is pretty funny, a song about how Nelson keeps waking up to find out that the Internet says he's dead but he's not actually dead. The classic sounding track, with a big pile of Willie's trademark guitarwork in the middle, is the title track.
A lot of this style on here (and in Nelson's last few albums) with the bluesy-type songs, less of the traditional country sound and more of this chilled and swampy sounding stuff. Nice album overall, but honestly doesn't move the needle much for me.
Neil Young - Hitchhiker. This is an old, previously unreleased album that boasts several tracks that were later released, like the excellent "Powderfinger" and "Pocahontas." I found this one because Rolling Stone was breathlessly trumpeting that this entire album was recorded in one night in the 70's. One magical night. The sound on the whole album is imperfect, and kind of cool for it, with flubbed guitar strums left in or studio chatter. Cool. For whatever reason, the album was shelved at the time and only released now, but it really is a beauty. This is the best Neil Young, the stripped-down lyricist. Well, what am I saying, I also love the Crazy Horse version of Neil Young. Whatever. The title track is the most listened to, although nothing on this album has cracked Young's top ten on Spotify. Just over 500k streams.
The whole album is like this, just sparse guitar and Young's wavering voice telling stories. "Powderfinger" is a great tune, although if I'm being honest I like the electric version more than this acoustic one. It is a good album. Jane Ellen Bryant - Hourglass. On HAAM day this year, I managed to get out to see music at breakfast, lunch, and happy hour, which was a fantastic use of my time. If you don't know what HAAM day is, then you need to go do some researching. HAAM is an Austin group that helps musicians with healthcare access and expenses, which is a great way to help keep Austin musicians doing their thing and maintaining the Austin cool. The theory being that if a musician has to quit playing music to go get a job with benefits, then the city misses out on their music and cool factor. Good group of folks. Anyhoo, I went to Whole Foods downtown and grabbed a terrible taco, but got to see Bryant perform from a few feet away. Her voice is stunning. Especially in that close of a setting, it was just her voice and a guitar and she sounded like a million bucks. So I came back to the office and added her album to the Q, and it has been in there for a few months, she really sounds good. Not getting many listens on Spotify, most of her songs are under five digits, but two tracks are up over 100k. But I can't find those on YouTube, so you get this one instead, "Make That Call," which doesn't appear to be on this album. Whatever.
The tunes on this album are quite a bit better than that song, but you get the general idea of her sound. She's not quite so swampy bluesy on the album as that tune would have you believe. But you can hear the voice. The voice is the thing here. I like the album. Ty Richards - Zillion. Here is the music that I saw on HAAM day at lunchtime. This dude and his little band cranked up on the plaza out in front of City Hall, and they were awesome. This is kind of psych rock with an odd flair, like Beck with more guitar. No one is listening to these tunes, only one song cracks the 10,000 mark ("Spaceman" at 14k), but I dig this stuff.
I'm not much for the "Naked Girls" track, but most of this album is pretty solid stuff. "Baby, Baby, Baby, etc" is another standout. I'd like to go see him play live again. J. Roddy Walston & the Business - Destroyers of the Soft Life. This album is freaking awesome. No two ways about it. These dudes came to ACL a few years ago and I recall enjoying them and their 2010 album. This one is some more pure rock and roll and I'm in for it. The top track is "The Wanting," which clocks in at 1.2 million streams.
Man, the YouTube comments get savage on this one, accusing them of selling out and going pop. This tune is definitely cleaner than some of the other tunes, but screw people for thinking that is a negative. Listen to the rest of the album and you'll get other sounds too. I also agree about the Kings of Leon sound-alike comments on that track. And Moon Taxi. Clean sounding rock track. But go listen to "You Know Me Better" and you'll get back the feedback-y rock where the vocals crack and rough up the track. I don't know, people are weird about music, man. (says the guy who writes like 5,000 words a week about music right now)... This is a great disc that I'll keep on jamming. Hope I can see these guys play live sometime soon.
A$AP Ferg - Still Striving. This album came out just before I saw him at ACL Fest, so I had heard it like twice before I went into that show. The crazy thing is that everyone around me at that show was yelling along to this thing like it had been out since the 80's. Crazy as hell. Made for a very fun show, everyone obviously loving these tracks and being very into it when they kicked off. My first few listens of this were not all that impressive, mainly because I think a lot of his collaborators (and almost every track has a guest on it) are pretty weak. But the beats are brawny and hard, and some of the raps are kind of sticky - you keep saying in your mind that the rubber band man is like Usain Bolt because he's running this shit. For example, take "Trap and a Dream," the album opener. The beat, an echoing, ethereal sample of singing is layered with bass and trap clicks and some bells, which adds up to some mighty thump, but then Meek Mill starts his usual braying whiny garbage, and I don't want anything to do with it. Such a bad rapper. Same with Lil Yachty farting around on "Aww Yeah." Just stop ruining things with the bad rappers. But then get a look at "Plain Jane," which is by far the most popular track from this album at 42.7 million streams.
Yeeeaaaahhh. Check that beat, sing along with that chorus, talking shit about stuff being plain jane. Check out his explanation on Genius about what that means:
The last piece I got done with Ben would probably have to be my hood pope chain, which got different color stones in it. I got the infamous Yamborghini piece, the bull with the horns, and the Hermes link with the diamonds in it.
“Plain Jane” means when you ain’t got no diamonds or nothing in it. This represents class to me without all of the diamonds and everything in it. It does have baguettes on the inside of it. When you keep it plain Jane, or OG or somebody that’s very classic, they be like, “Oh, yeah, he didn’t …” You kept the stock rims on your car, that’s what it’s like. You didn’t have to throw the spinners and all of the trinkets on it to make it stand out. You ruin a watch that way. It’s like you buy a car and you just fuck it up with everything else. You buy it stock and keep it that way. The only diamonds that you’ll see on my watch is the ones that come with the watch.
When you add diamonds on to your watch, you lower the value of it. This is like an investment. If I ever go broke, I could really just trade this in and I’ll be good. But once you add the diamonds and you start flooding it out, it just ruins the art. It’s like taking a Picasso and just saying, “You know what, I think I should add green on it.” You don’t need to do none of that. You keep that Picasso the way it is.
Something about that is perfect, man. In this age of adding more and more junk to make things more xxxtreme and better, just get something legit and keep it like it is. "Nasty (Who Dat)" was another that was cool in person and pretty good on the album. I'll just keep the best tracks from this album. And if you have the chance to see this guy live, I'd go do it again. Alvvays - Antisocialites. I really liked their last album, especially the lovely anthem "Archie, Marry Me," and had high hopes for this album as well, but after a handful of listens, nothing on here is too terribly interesting. They are still doing the very sweet indie pop thing that was endearing last time, and I do generally like it here, but its one of those albums that is pleasant as it is playing, and then the next album starts and you struggle to recall anything that you just heard. The top track is "Dreams Tonite," and it will encapsulate all of that for you. 2.9 million streams.
Achingly beautiful, just a lovely track. Would be a great addition to a mixtape of some sweet person you need to woo appropriately, but an entire album of this just washes out your brain for 32 minutes and then is gone. Although I've kind of crapped on it, I'll actually save this one because I think it will work well to offset a lot of my music and relax me in my jamming. Backdoor thumbs up! Just like she likes it! Action Bronson - Blue Chips 7000. If you don't know Bronson, he's a heavy white dude with a vocal like Ghostface Killah and a propensity to rap about food. The best thing about this album are the super chilled out soul sample beats. None of that new school trap-synth-808 bull, this is some real organ and real snare and real guitar lick stuff. Hold on, before I get to the music, let me show you him making sandwiches while very high.
And:
I mean, damn. I actually tried to emulate that second one right there, without the cool bullet salami, by using honey and Sriracha on a leftover meatloaf sandwich that was freaking FIRE. UUNNHHHH!! So, now that we know about how awesome his sandwich making skills are, back to the tunes. The top tune from this album is "Let Me Breathe," which boasts a rad, old school beat and some silly ass lyrics.
That video makes it a little hard to enjoy the song because of the gaps for documentary style funnies. But the beat is good enough to make this a fine popcorn rap song. If that doesn't make you want to lay back the seat in your car and cruise, then you are me are different. No lyrics on any of these songs are changing my life, but a lot of these things make me grin for a sec. Like this one, from the album closer, "Microphone attached to my hand so I can dance my little heart out, Don't make me bring the white guitar out, Like the one in Wayne's World, That was shining in the window." Weird but funny. "The Chairman's Intent" is good stuff too. This will be another where I just keep a few tracks. A$AP Mob - Cozy Tapes Vol. 2. I enjoy me some A$AP Rocky, like Ferg pretty well, and think the Twelvy album is pretty solid too, but this mixtape of the A$AP Mob is pretty piss poor. I can't really tell who is rapping half of the time on these, but the overuse of Autotune is annoying and this is just way too uneven. The top track is called "RAF," which of course stands for Royal Air Force. (not really, you shouldn't trust what I say) 44.6 million streams.
I feel like I just watched a clothing commercial. According to the internet, Raf Simmons is a clothing designer who apparently makes exceedingly unattractive shoes that cost an ungodly amount of money. Go look at this page, where you can spend $500 to get some sneakers that look like something sold at Academy in the early 90's that had Dennis Rodman as the spokesman. No reason to check out this album.
Vic Mensa - The Autobiography. I generally like Mensa, he came to ACL a few years ago and I liked his old stuff, and then I reviewed an album a year or so ago and liked that one too. This new one is pretty good, but it is honestly a little forgettable. I've gone through it probably 5 times just today, but I'd be hard pressed to remember anything interesting other than hearing Rivers Cuomo from Weezer sing some on one of the songs. The biggest problem is how many of these involve him singing. I don't want to hear that stuff, on tracks like "Rage," with a generic rock track in the back and him switching back and forth between singing and rapping. I'm also not much for the generic sounding weed anthem "Rolling Like a Stoner." But "Say I Didn't" is pretty cool, with its soul samples and the right kind of bragging, about taking care of your business and being a good dude. Sounds like a Common track. But I'll play you the Pusha T assisted one, "OMG."
That is some good popcorn rap right there. Interesting banger of a beat, tough braggadocio, and clever turns of phrase throughout. I also love Pusha T, so give me more of him rapping about his sheeples jumping the fence until you're snoring or tables full of coke and fresh powder skiing in the snow. I'll probably just keep a track or two from this one. Cold War Kids - LA Divine. I swear I am trying to get on board with the Cold War Kids. I really am. I know multiple people who really like them, and when I saw them live I thought they were pretty alright. But there is just something grating about the lead singer's voice that will not let me enjoy this stuff. But this disc has been in my queue for longer than anything else, so I need to do this and get off the pot. The top song from this disc is called "Love is Mystical," and it has 20 million streams on Spotify, so other people dig this stuff.
The tunes themselves are snappy good indie rock, but I just can't get behind the songs as their whole. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Sheryl Crow - Be Myself. Back when Tuesday Night Music Club came out, I was a ride-or-die Sheryl fan. That album ruled. Hell, I played the next two (Sheryl Crow and The Globe Sessions) a million times as well. Just seeing the track listing for Sheryl Crow makes me think of The Wallflowers and the house I lived in my junior year of college. Such a good album. These tunes are fine, but none of them are really lighting me up. I will say that they are much better than the foray into country music that Crow did over the last few years. This is back to that soulful, brassy rock thing that she was doing back in the day. Man, I need to just go listen to the classic Crow albums again... No songs from this album make her top ten on Spotify (and its actually shameful how few listens her classic songs have gotten, a Drake tune will get more in a minute than "Strong Enough" has gotten in more than a decade). But the second track on the album, "Halfway There," is the only one that is over a million streams, so here you go.
Aw look, the donkey and the elephant like each other! I want to make fun of this peace and love BS and meeting halfway across the aisle to get along with the guy with the long red tie, but it actually is a pretty fine and timely message. Let's meet halfway man. While this is better than her recent albums, I think I'll still just stick with my old school stuff. XXXTENTACION - 17. I remember putting this one into my list after seeing one of iamkingvader's videos, which was good, but not nearly as good as my favorite one. This is going to go down a weird rabbit trail for you, but let me just say before I get in to this, that this album of weird guitar ballad rap and boring verses is terrible. You don't want to listen to this album. But, back to iamkingvader, who is some dude I found on Twitter who makes these funny short videos that always involve him and a crew of dudes doing these weird stylized dances while rap music plays and someone gets a surprise of some sort. Here is my favorite one:
"They both at work, they can't do shit!" And then the ooooh face. Cracks me up all over again. And then the belt to the hands launching the guy. I'm a child. I know this. Makes me laugh every time I think about it. Then here is the one with the XXXtentacion song used in it.
Not as funny, but I am actually pretty impressed with the effects this guy can do. I tried to make a short video for work the other day and it look me like 9 hours to just add text to the screen. I'm far off topic, but whatever. Don't listen to this guy's album. But go watch some iamkingvader videos.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Murder of the Universe. I thought I might have turned into a King Gizzard fan boy, as I'm digging their old stuff, but this is super weird shit. This is more psych rock freakout stuff, but what makes it even more weird is that there is a bunch of spoken word stuff over the top, like scary narration to move the storyline along during the jams. There is also a song called "Vomit Coffin," which should be super rad, but is only OK. And the album is split into three parts. Why can't we just rock out, bros? None of these songs make the top ten most popular tracks for the band, and no song appears to be more popular than the rest by any appreciable measure. So I guess I'll just give you the first of the rock freakouts called "Altered Beast." The first section of the album boasts 4 consecutively numbered songs called "Altered Beast" and then 3 songs called "Alter Me," shifting back and forth.
Hear that lady voice at like 1:10? She is the voiceover for this portion of the album. Shit is weird. I enjoyed some of these tunes, but I'm gonna let this one go. Cub Sport - This is Our Vice. This album is terrible. I don't know where it came from, but this is like watered down The 1975 or something (to the extent The 1975 could even get more watered down). Synth-y pop mediocrity. You don't want to hear this one. Just in case you REALLY do, here is the top track, "Come On Mess Me Up."
I always feel like an asshole when I really crap on something, but I want nothing further to do with this album. I almost deleted it and just moved on, but I need to acknowledge the bad along with the good. Jeff Tweedy - Together at Last. This is the lead singer of Wilco, in case you somehow have been living under a rock and didn't know. That sounds more rude than I meant it to, but you know whaimsayin, right? This album is damn pretty. I clown on Wilco, but I am having a hard time finding anything to fault on this disc - sounds like old school Neil Young took a shot at remaking a bunch of old Wilco and Uncle Tupelo tracks. Very simple, just guitar and voice, but it works nicely. The most listened to track is an old Wilco tune called "Laminated Cat," and has just under half a million streams. Doing OK, but not great.
I mean, that is lovely guitar work right there, and Tweedy sounds great over the top of it. I just want to take a bath in there while driving deep into the hills above Breckenridge while the Aspen leaves go gold. So, like I guess the truck I'm in has a bathtub, but someone else is gonna have to drive, but the sides of the tub will need to be high to keep the water from sloshing out. Anyway, logistics aside, we're doing this. While playing this single. "Candy left over from Halloween, a unified theory of everything, love left over from lovers leavin', books they all know they're not worth readin', it's not for the season." That, with "weedin' out your weekends," this is the good stuff. The start of "Lost Love" really makes me think this is about to be a Neil Young track, singing about Pocahontas. Fun album, very chill stuff, but I like it. Birdtalker - Just This. More stuff that I don't recall even finding in the first place, but I apparently stuck it into my new music queue on July 27, 2017. Makes me think of that Civil Wars group that came about a few years ago (and killed it at their ACL big stage performance). Light touch on the music and nice harmonies. The hit from the album is "Heavy," with 14.8 million streams.
Nice stuff. Curious to see what they would do with a full album and not just a 6 song EP. I like it though.
