Quick Hits, Vol. 116 (Mac Miller, Bruno Mars, Nathaniel Rateliff, Travis)

Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine.  So as the title and then the sexy-time noises might tell you at the end of "Stay" and the beginning of "Skin," this album focuses on the lady friends in your life.  And portions of it are really pretty good - I like "Stay" and I like "We" with CeeLo Green, but the great song on this is a rollerskating summertime jam featuring Anderson.Paak that is freaking UNSTOPPABLE in my brain these days.  Here is "Dang!"

Anderson.Paak's voice is silky little hairs blowing in a cool breeze on a baby's nose after she gets rubbed with the back of a puppy goldendoodle that was just rolled in fine cornstarch.  Just a fun ass song that makes me want to groove.  Now, I will say that Miller's body movements and twitches in that video make me want to run for the hills, but I can't deny the track itself.  I'm not sure about keeping the whole album yet, but I'm going to keep it around and make sure.  I'm for sure saving that track.

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic.  So, I'm conflicted about this dude.  On the one hand, you've got this craven pop star personality who makes music that overall I don't like.  But on the other hand, you've got the legitimate entertainer badass who showed up at the Grammys and absolutely killed the Prince tribute.  That performance was excellent.  And you really can't deny that "Uptown Funk" was a classic pop song.  So I think I have to fall on the side of liking the guy, even though I don't really want to listen to his albums.
So this one opens with the title track, which is no "Uptown Funk," but is a pretty good groove track that sticks in my head after I hear even a little clip of it.  And usually, because I am an immature child, the lyrics in my mind are always "24 KARATS MAGIC IN MY PAAAAYYAAAAANNNTS."  I'm not a mature individual.  And my son heard me singing that the other day to myself, gave me a quizzical look, but then just moved on.  He knows me.

But I like that tune well enough.  After that, its just more of the same with varying results. There is a song called "Chunky" that is an 80's synth laden love ode for heavy ladies.  I won't say I like that one. But then there is a bona fide James Brown groove called "Perm" that is funky shit that I want to hear every morning when I wake up.  Then a bunch of tracks that channel mid-90's R&B boy groups, and again I don't care for those, being that I wouldn't claim I was ever a big Jodeci or Boyz2Men fan in the first place.  If you are into that type of music, then this album is your nostalgic jam.

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - A Little Something More From.  I'm a sucker for what this guy lays down.  One of those bands where, once you see them live, there's no going back.  I've seen them twice now, and they absolutely kill it.  This little EP has a few new tracks, a live version from their hit album, and some alternate versions.  It's not nearly as racous and fun as the full album from last year, but it still works well.  It matches up better with the mellow mood of "Wasting Time" or "Mellow Out."  Which is just fine and dandy with me.  I'll take it.  Top track is the opener, called "Parlor."  533k streams.

All I could find was live versions, so just go with it.  You get the feel.

Travis - Everything at Once.  Travis was my damn jam back in the early post-college years.  Something about 2001's The Invisible Band just spoke to my early work years and I listened to that album all the time.  "Flowers in the Window" and "Sing" went on a few mix CDs back in the day.  These guys kind of took off from where Oasis left off, and then handed the baton to Coldplay a few years later.  So they've still been putting out new albums, which I can't say I realized, with 2007, 2008, 2013 discs coming before this one.  Zero change to the sound or style, still beautiful singing and pleasantly rocking tunes behind it.  The dang counter on song plays is still jacked on Spotify, so I'll just give you a happy tune that I like, "Magnificent Time."

If they come to a fest near you, I'd expect for that track to be the exuberant beginning or end of the set, with everyone singing along and bouncing and having a generally good time.  While I enjoyed the listens I've given this album, I can't say that it does anything better than the old good Travis stuff. I think I'll stick to my favorites and let this one go.