Quick Hits, Vol. 286 (Young M.A., Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Wolf Alice, Tyler the Creator)

Young M.A. - Off the Yak.  I really like this album.  Not sure entirely why, but I think it has to do with the fact that when I hear this lady rapping, talking shit about everyone and laying waste to any sort of gender norms, she reminds me of Snoop from The Wire.  And I thought Snoop from the Wire was a freaking badass.  I remember tiny bits and pieces from that show, but one scene that will never leave my mind is the scene when she is shopping for a nail gun to murder people with, and the Home Depot guy is just explaining the options as though Snoop is a construction contractor.  Hilarious moment.  Especially when she hands the guy a wad of cash instead of going to the register.  Perfect scene.

You can't even understand what the hell she is saying for half of it, but it's a great scene.  "you earned that bump like a muffugga just keep that shit."  Amazing.

Anyway, Young MA is not actually Snoop from the Wire.  She's Katorah Kasanova Marrero, a neck-tatted New Yorker who will call herself the Queen of New York in the same song as telling you to suck her dick.  It's tough and street-smart stuff, which is somewhat rare from a female rapper.  Instead of rapping about sex and her body, like a Megan or Cardi or Kim, she's spitting about thugging the same way that the dudes do.  And I dig that.  "Hello Baby," with its stop/start woozy beat, is the hit at 13 million streams.

I don't know Fivio Foreign, but I like his verse on there.  Nothing special to that track, kind of a regular brag rap track, but I still enjoy the delivery.  I really like "Don Diva," even though its another brag track, but just because the rhymes make me grin and the beat is great.  "Klub Stories" is also an entertaining set of lyrics.  The track that I thought was going to be the hit of the album is one of the lowest stream count-havers, which shows you what I know, but "Maaan (Got Me F'ed Up)" has the best beat on here and a slick flow.  Love when she derides the listener as a clown.  Nothing on here smells like a huge hit or anything, but the whole album is a good unit.

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Georgia Blue.  I love many things about this album.  If you missed the impetus for its creation, Jason Isbell tweeted that if the Georgia electorate would "go blue," and elect the two Democrats running for Senator in 2020, then he would make an album of exclusively Georgia cover songs as a thank you.  So, for one, I love that this is like the payout from a bet made to no one in particular.  Second, I love the fact that it includes not one, but two R.E.M. songs.  Being that they are my favorite band (despite no longer existing), I am a big fan of the fact that they get the bigger/better treatment on this album of classic Georgia songs.  I also really like the education I've received here.  If you would have asked me beforehand to name Georgia bands/artists, I would have named R.E.M., Black Crowes, B 52s, and the Indigo Girls, before having to resort to rap artists for the next 58 that I know.  But now I know that James Brown, Otis Redding, and Gladys Knight & the Pips are also from Georgia.  Those are some big time artists to claim for that state!  I also should have remembered the Allman Brothers when thinking through who was from Georgia.  I'm bummed that the B-52s didn't make the list of cover tracks on here!  Finally, I love the collaborators they get involved here.  Brandi Carlile singing the Indigo Girls, Chris Thile doing his mandolin thing on "Nightswimming," and several of the others who I don't know sound great.  I think next time he needs to do one where they do these rock and roll renditions of the rappers though.  Americana T.I., Outkast, Future, Ludacris, etc. etc. would be amazing.  The top track is the other R.E.M. tune - "Driver 8" with 490k streams.  Love it.

Great cover.  I love how the change in vocals bring out the actual lyrics in a way that they are not so obvious in the original, so that I can feel foolish for all of the incorrect lyrics I memorized when I was eight.  Also, the Allman Brothers tune is a hot damn jam.  Inject it into my veins.  If I'm going to gripe at any of this, I'd say that increasing the speed of "Nightswimming" is a mistake to me.  And again, no B-52's is lame.  Gimme "Rock Lobster" and make weird dolphin noises immediately.  Fun disc, will keep it.

Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend.  Kinda disappointing to me.  I really like these guys, and they put on a sweet live show as well, but this album takes a step back from some of their harder, crunchier elements and goes with a softer, tender sound that leaves me looking for the next tune.  Like, "The Beach II" is a shoegaze song.  What are we doing here?  And yes, I know they get loud and insistent with "Play the Greatest Hits" but that doesn't make for the cohesive album that I was to hear right here.  More just like they are doing that one song to make fun of my take on this album and be intentionally brash and annoying.  I think "Smile" is the top track on it, the one that sounds most like what I was expecting when I found their new album.  

Good groove, nice song.  But then you get "Safe From Heartbreak" right afterwards with a triple layer of harmonic vocals and a lovely little guitarwork in the background, and it feels like I lose the thread on the album.  "The Last Man on Earth" smells like The Beatles for a bit.  I don't get what they were aiming for here.  Maybe I'm just too old to get it or something, but I liked it better when they just jammed.

Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost.  Right after this came out, I was in the Chick Fil A drivethru with my kids and middle kid asked if we could listen to the new Tyler, the Creator.  After mentally debating pulling up an album I'd never heard before that might have some bad stuff going on it, I went for it.  The first few songs kinda bang!  And then the album shifts into 48 other styles and it loses me entirely.  The hit so far is one of the wack ones that's half R&B.  "WUSYANAME"

It's kind of funny, telling her she looks malnourished and all, but it very much sounds like some mid-90's Boyz 2 Men track.  Don't love it.  But, like "CORSO" brings the thunder both in the beat and the rhymes.  "LEMONHEAD" too.  "JUGGERNAUT" is fun.  But the goofy "Sweet/I Thought You Wanted to Dance" throws off the whole thing, especially when followed by the weird diatribe by his mom.  Of course, Pitchfork gave this album an 8.4 and Best New Music.  One weird thing about the disc is that most of the songs are super short, except for two bloated tracks that are 8:35 and 9:48 long.  Blech.  Parts of it are enjoyable, but as a total unit, this isn't for me.