Quick Hits, Vol. 270 (Dawes, DJ Shadow, Busta Rhymes, Disclosure)

Dawes - Good Luck With Whatever.  I like these guys in general.  A reliable source of soft-rock quality, kind of in the same wheelhouse as the Jayhawks or Band of Horses.  Saw them years ago at ACL for a bucolic afternoon show on a beautiful day, and they've stuck to me ever since.  This album starts with a freaking great song that totally speaks to the age and stage that I live in right now - "Still Feel Like a Kid" goes through all sorts of adult-ish things that he can do or that he now knows about, but it still doesn't make him feel like a grownup.  I feel that all the time.  All the time.  Like, how am I old and responsible enough to have children, or a real job, or a home.  In my brain, I'm still 19.  It's a weird feeling, but this song nails it.  And sounds nice while doing it!  "St. Augustine at Night" is another standout to me - one of those good story songs where you can see what he's singing about in your mind's eye the whole time.  "Life became a series of birthdays, cars, and pets, just anything to look forward to" is one of the most true and bleakest lines about modern life I can think of.  The top streamer is the more rocking "Who Do You Think You're Talking To?" with 1.4 million Spotify streams.

At the end of the day, that isn't my favorite track on the disc, but overall, the whole disc is enjoyable and kind of gently pleasant.  I'll save it - I enjoy these guys.

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...  This album was in the RS Top 500 albums of all time listing, and so I figured I needed to check it out.  I'd never even heard of DJ Shadow, but I think I had at least heard of every other artist in that Top 500 listing.  This is very cool stuff, like, I can fully tell why people would list it as influential to other music and full of interesting ideas about how beats could be arranged.  But as a straight listening experience, I can't say that it does much for me.  Actually, I like it just fine, it has loads of good grooves, but it feels very disjointed, like each track was intended for a different time than its neighbor, so there isn't a cohesive feeling throughout.  And that makes it distracting to listen to at the desk.  The top track is one called "Midnight in a Perfect World," with 17.4 million streams (so pretty damn popular!).

Super chilled vibe.  Like a Dido/Massive Attack thing going on there.  I can see this working really well on a soundtrack, or as a tune to watch people shred slo-mo snowboarding powder to.  It almost leaves the hip/hop world on these tracks and turns down the lane for ambient chillwave stuff.  And some of these suckers fire past the 7 minute or even 9 minute mark, all in instrumental style.  I'm okay without this one, even if it means I'm not as cool as all the crate diggers who love it.

Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God.  Hell of an album title.  I own the first one of these, and really liked it a lot back in the late nineties.  This one has been stressing me out - I am still working from home, and Chris Rock just hops up every once in a while on here and yells out the N-word at a much higher volume than the rest of the music, which is worrying me about what the kids are hearing outside of the guest bedroom.  I'll say that the opening track sounds really good for the first half (after Rock is done), but then they change up the beat and I think it slips.  The things that stick out are the kinda gimmicky ones like the track with Bel Biv Devoe on it where they just reprise their "Poison" chorus.  I don't care for it.  "Slow Flow" is kind of cool, although I still find it weird when they can have Ol' Dirty Bastard on a track when the dude's been dead for like a decade.  I also dig the one with Rick Ross - that dude has carved himself a lovely little niche of only showing up on some love-making-ass beats.  Pimp.  I can't really put my finger on what is lacking about this disc, because if I try to isolate particular tracks, I kinda dig them.  But each time I run through the album again, I'm stressed and kind of wishing it would be over already. No shock, but the track with Kendrick is the top streamer at 7.9 million.  "Look Over Your Shoulder."

Man, how much do you think they had to spend to get that sample of baby Michael?  Seems like a very high level expense.  Of course, I'm sure getting Kendrick on your verse costs a buttload too.  Cool beat for sure, and a solid verse from Kendrick - both of these guys are trying to tell the young guys that they're still the kings.  I dig it.  Cool sample, good verses (man, when Busta does the fast bit, he's really something else).  But I still don't know what to do with this whole album.  I guess it is a no.

Disclosure - ENERGY.  As is usual with these dudes, you know what you are about to get.  A bunch of high energy EDM that is more bright and tuneful than the dubstep wing of that genre.  So, very danceable, usually with some singer collaborator who will jump in and give it a good elastic bounce with their syncopated lyrics.  Also, Disclosure has some legitimately HUGE songs.  I need to quit my job and make some of this sort of music.  Literally, their top five tracks total more than 2 billion streams.  The top one on this album only has 9.2 million streams, so it ain't in that stratosphere at all.  "Birthday," which features Kehlani and Syd.  Of course.

I would not enjoy living in those little homes.  Makes my skin crawl to even see it.  Kinda like the rest of this album - nice enough, not especially memorable.  I'm good.