Nas - Kings Disease II. I wonder why it is that rappers refuse to come up with a new name for their albums and just keep naming them as though they are sequels. Jay-Z used to do this, Logic keeps doing this, Nas too. I get it when it is a mixtape that you are selling out of your trunk, but a legitimate album, it feels weird to not come up with a new name for the album. I don't love anything on this one. It's fine - good sample-based beats, his smooth flow over the top, a few good cameos (EPMD, Eminem, Lauryn Hill) - but each time I fire it up it feels like a chore. Like I'm supposed to listen to Nas because he is an elder statesman of the rap world, and so I need to pay my proper respects. "Rare," with ten million streams, is the top track.
Some deep shit about chess strategy there at the start. I like the shift in beats in the middle, as well as the call out to one of his classic tunes during that transition. But overall, its just brags without much meat on the bone. That is what the whole album feels like - the dude just trying really hard to remind everyone that he is the king, without actually showing it. No thanks.
Disclosure - Never Enough. This is probably officially an EP, with only four songs on it, but since they are long songs, I figured I'd still make note of it. Also, I felt very cool when I heard one of these songs in a Uniqlo store on 5th Avenue over the weekend, recognized it, and could sing along a little. I'm very cosmopolitan, y'all. None of these tracks are as good as their best stuff, but they still do a damn fine job of turning a dance beat into an earworm that will keep rotating in your brain afterwards. "In My Arms" has the stream crown for now with 1.1 million.
Although, now that I listen to this and now the name of the song, I can confidently say that I was singing the wrong lyrics while perusing the clever t-shirts of Uniqlo. 100% was singing "need you in my life," instead of "arms." Oh well, for a few glorious minutes I was definitely extremely cool. I'll let this one go though.
Sleigh Bells - Texis. I keep coming back to this group as well, based solely off the pleasures that I got from 2010's "Kids." And nothing since then has hit me anywhere near as hard. This music is super aggressive electronic rock with a lady singer, which definitely has its time and place, but it super is not at my desk while trying to work. One tune has over a million streams - "Locust Laced" - with just over a million.
Like the "Kids" one, it has a distinct cheerleader vibe like a naughty cheerleader who flips a little too much of her skirt towards the crowd as she does her dance. I got a little worried at one point that she was going to hurt that hound dog. Either way, nothing on this album makes me need it.
Jose Gonzalez - Local Valley. Another lovely album of gentle tunes. If I am remembering correctly, it was the Secret Life of Walter Mitty soundtrack that introduced me to Gonzalez, and I have warm memories of that movie mainly because of those songs. I don't actually recall if the movie was any good, but the songs were for sure. Well, this album is more of the same. Warm, quiet, sparse, with lovely harmonies layered on each song and a lot of lightly strummed guitar. Funny thing is, the groove sounds so similar throughout that I frequently fail to notice that a tune is in Spanish, and several of the songs on here are in Spanish. Like the most popular one, "El Invento," which is the first track with 10.9 million streams. But then the second track "Visions" is the second most popular with 5.1 million streams, and is all English. I'm going to give you the third most popular, since it isn't at the start of the playlist. "Head On," with 3.9 million streams.
Woah, video game foot launcher toe tapping! Crazy video game attacks from all sides! Yeah, like I said, a distinctly pretty sound, very low-key and lovely. The whole album is going to sound much like that. It is a wonderful thing, so long as you are in the mood to relax and let it wash over you. Good stuff.
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