Quick Hits, Vol. 257 (Real Estate, Grip, Megan Thee Stallion, Childish Gambino)

Funny thing - I should be blogging my ass off right now, what with being locked down and just chilling at the house all day.  I should have completed all sorts of posts about potential ACL headliners and whatever.  But instead I've been slow to sit down and do any of this stuff.  Also, for some reason, my New Music list has been very slow to fill up recently - most of the things I see on Spotify's new release list are completely uninteresting to me.  Not sure why, but I'll bang out a few reviews here - maybe something in this list will pique your interest while you too are on lock down at home.

Real Estate - The Main Thing.  I loved their 2014 album Atlas - they either came to ACL right around then or soon thereafter, and so I went and saw them play and loved them live.  Very chill rock heavy on harmonies and a relaxed sound.  "Talking Backwards" is a beaut.  But this album hasn't been able to catch on in my mind - every time it comes on I feel bored and wish it was over.  Which is a sucky thing to say, but its the truth.  It's just under an hour, but it sure feels a lot longer than that.  Sometimes it kicks into a Grateful Dead vibe, such as the noodling during "Also a But".  Other times, more of a yacht rock thing ("Paper Cup").  

What the actual F is going on with that video?  Why do we need to watch nickel Chuck E Cheese go through a medical crisis?  Although I did giggle when the kid gets a full load of the 10W-30 special gut pack.  I generally like this style of music, but this disc left me listless.  I'll drop it.

Grip - Snubnose.  No recollection where I found this one, but its actually very solid.  Flows like Kendrick Lamar with great story-telling flow, and as far as I can tell, the whole album circles around his pistol.  "Snub Speaks" is a short song, but has a laid back, cool beat fronted by the gun bragging about how he's handled his shit in the past and ready to go again.  The stories aren't linear - this isn't Good Kid, but each one tells a story and does a kick ass job of putting you in the place.  A dark place full of violence and fear.  The final track is great - good beat, good flow, sad story.  The album opener, "He is ... I am" is the top track at 672k streams.

That one starts out sounding like I'm about to hear a Common track, then the flow comes out Kendrick, then the whole beat rips off its fairy wings, balls them up and shoves them into a trash can, straps on body armor, cocks its weapon, turns off the lights, and starts running towards a fight.  That second half is from the perspective of the gun, and its freaking awesome.  I keep going back to this album - I really like it.

Megan Thee Stallion - Suga.  This gal is having a huge year - makes me even more annoyed that she missed her show at ACL last year so that we could have tasted the greatness before it became a huge deal.  She just had a writeup in Rolling Stone that made her seem funny and interesting - she's still fighting to stay in college and finish a degree, despite having major shows booked all over the place now.  So, this new album is short - only 24 minutes and 9 songs - but it keeps the same fire as her last disc (Fever).  Lots of that "aaaaaahhggghhhh" sound, as though she is opening her mouth wide, poking out her tongue, and getting your attention.  The cover of the album looks like that sound sounds.  I wrote something the other day about her Tupac homage "B.I.T.C.H.," which is pretty cool (and very catchy).  It actually owns her streaming crown right now at 20.5 million, but "Savage" is the hotter track right now, so I'll give you that one.  just over 11 million streams.

This one is apparently hot right now because of TikTok.  Which is going to be the downfall of society - I keep hearing my 11 year old daughter listening to pieces of this, and although I'd like to chew her out for listening to stuff with cuss words in it, we have to pick our battles in the times of Corona.  If she really wants to walk around saying that she is "sassy, moody, nasty" then that isn't the worst thing ever.  This album is kind of a mood piece.  If I'm feeling this way, then it's perfect.  If I'm not in that mood, then I won't want it.

Childish Gambino - 3.15.20.  Gambino dropped a new album out of no where, right in the midst of the Coronavirus mess, and it feels like this was a set of demos he was working on and then just impulsively decided to launch them into the world.  He didn't even name all the tracks.  This has some of the same vibe as those loose singles he released last year, in fact, one of them is still on here, but instead of being called "Feels Like Summer," its now just called "42.26" for some reason.  "19.10" has a Prince vibe going on.  I haven't cared for Gambino's music for a while, and this one can just go back into the pile with the rest of his weird attempts to meld funk with rap and soul and R&B.  Here is "12.38," which is winning on streams at just over 2 million.

21 Savage comes on there and I kinda like his verse.  But the song itself just sounds like they were noodling around with a beat and tried a freestyle for the fun of it.  Nothing special.  And what is the crap at the end?  It's like they are just playing around, but then actually published this to the world.  "32.22" is actively unpleasant to listen to.  Like, I am literally grimacing.  Not for me!

Predicting ACL 2020: Shazam

Howdy!  Welcome to the Coachellamageddon!  Because with Coachella moving to October, and conflicting with the second weekend of ACL, who in the absolute hell can predict what that will mean for the lineup?  I know that it is possible for a band to play both Fests - i.e. Rage could play Coachella on Friday night and then get to Austin for Sunday night - I get that.  But it just throws a wrench in things for sure.

The idea for this post popped into my head last year when I was trying to get into the brain of the two ladies who handle most of the ACL booking.  Where do they find out about the next big band?  How do they spot Twenty-One Pilots in 2015 or Maren Morris in 2016 or Megan Thee Stallion in 2019, before either of those had really hit the big time?  I know they have contacts with loads of agents and Live Nation and all of that, so there are many that are likely fed to them through those channels, but if someone wanted to figure out what is hot right now in music, seems like Shazam is the right spot, right?

If you don't know what Shazam is, we are talking about an app you can put on your phone that will identify whatever song is playing within a few seconds of listening.  Its kind of amazing.  So, if you are in the car or in a restaurant or at a party, and you hear a song that slaps, and you want to know what it is, you just fire up the app and let it listen for a little bit and it will tell you what is up.  I probably use it about 5 times a year, usually for some killer indie rap song playing on KUTX.  Then Shazam keeps that data to create Top 100 lists for different locations, so you can pretty easily see what the new hot shit is out there in the wild.

Right now, here is the top ten for all of the United States:

1. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights.
2. Tones And I - Dance Monkey.
3. Roddy Ricch - The Box.
4. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now.
5. Russ feat. BIA - Best on Earth (Bonus).
6. Doja Cat - Say So.
7. The Black Eyed Peas & J Balvin - RITMO (Bad Boys for Life).
8. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted.
9. blackbear - Hot Girl Bummer.
10. Justin Bieber feat. Quavo - Intentions.

What in the actual fuck is all of that?  A band called Tones and I?  Is all of this because of tik tok?  If those are artists on our poster, then I'm screwed.  Shazam might skew a little too young for the crowd that I am expecting at ACL.  This might be a better gauge for the I Heart Radio festival or something.  Although we know I can eliminate Eilish, since she was just here.  I hope Weeknd isn't coming back, same with Russ.  

Let's look at Austin-only.

1. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights.
2. Tones And I - Dance Monkey.
3. Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now.
4. Doja Cat - Say So.
5. Russ feat. BIA - Best on Earth (Bonus).
6. Roddy Ricch - The Box.
7. Billie Eilish - everything i wanted.
8. The Black Eyed Peas & J Balvin - RITMO (Bad Boys for Life).
9. Post Malone - circles.
10. Nathaniel Rateliff - And It's Still Alright.

"one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same!"  Thank God for Rateliff to save our list from total pop domination.  We also have Caroline Rose at #15, plus Noah Cyrus/Leon Bridges at 23, Khruangabin and Leon Bridges at 25, and Black Pumas at 31.  That is good news for the sanity of our city.

Buuuuuuuut, what does this mean?  I'll look at some of these artists, but there is no way that I believe all of these pop ass things are going to be named to the ACL poster.

• The Weeknd.  On tour right now, with dates in Houston and Dallas at the end of July.  Shows during Chicago Lolla.  Swings back through Texas for San Antonio and Fort Worth in August, which makes me think this is less likely.  But he has a huge gap from September 3 to October 11, which means he could ostensibly play weekend one very easily, and then maybe the Friday of Weekend Two so that he could fly to England for his Oct. 11 show in London.  That doesn't sound very likely (plus I saw part of his show last time, and it wasn't so great).  No.
• Tones and I.  Uh, holy fucking shit.  That song up above has 1.2 BILLION streams.  WITH A B!!!  What is going on?  This must be a tik tok thing, right?  Her voice is annoying and the song is nothing all that special, right?  What?  Playing Governor's Ball, Bonnaroo, and several other fests.  Her tour ends on August 2 in Montreal, so she could be here.  Sure, why wouldn't they book someone with a track that has over a billion streams, who probably costs all of $20 plus a bottle of Tito's to book?  Yes.
• Roddy Ricch.  He just came through Austin recently - someone I follow on Twitter thought it was a good show.  As of now, it looks like his tour is coming to an end - a few smaller festivals - "Broccoli City Festival"?  WTF?  BUt his last show is July 11, so it would appear that he isn't doing much more.  Again, like the Tones & I thing up above, I could see ACL adding the guy just to snag the excitement of "The Box" while its still hot, since it shouldn't cost them much at all to get him.  Sure.
• Dua Lipa.  She appears to be on tour right now, but it's 100% Europe.  Shows peter out on June 19, though, so she would have the time to come do her thing at both Lolla and ACL.  I honestly just had to search for her to see if she was here last year - her name sounds familiar even if I don't know any of her music.  BUt nothing here leads me to believe she would be here this year.  No.
• Doja Cat.  My girls requested a song by this lady the other day, I had no clue what it was.  I did not enjoy it.  She is coming to Austin on April 9 for a sold out show (booked by C3), just before she was supposed to play Coachella.  Actually, now that I think of it, I wonder if they are going to cancel a bunch of other shows, and push back tours, which will also impact ACL?  Crap.  Anyway, her tour is supposed to end on July 25, so she has the time to come back, is popular enough to sell out a C3 booked show in Austin already, so I see this one as a good chance.  Yes.
• blackbear.  I feel like I could just make up a band name here and you likely wouldn't know.  "Yeah, 8lacks4uce is coming to ACL for sure!" and you'd never know.  ANyway, maybe I'm just out of touch, as Wikipedia says this dude has released FIVE studio albums.  Okey doke.  Holy shit - he's playing two nights at Red Rocks in July.  Who is this guy?  Ooooh, dammit.  My kids were singing along to this song the other day in the car too, which was highly inappropriate for a pre-church sing-a-long.  Luckily the radio version was censored, but it was pretty clear that he was singing to "fuck you, and you, and youuuuuuuu!"  The last show on his calendar is Sept 6 at Lolla Berlin.  So, yeah, I can see this one being on tap.  He's on the C3 radar, has three tracks with more than 300 million streams (this one has 417 million).  Yes.
• Nathaniel Rateliff.  Funny, I'm sitting here looking through his tour, being like "wow, he's got a sold out show at the Ryman, then a sold out show at Royal Albert Hall in London, and later two nights at Red Rocks, he's killing it!" and then see a show at the Amarillo Civic Center in June.  Which is decidedly not "killing it."  The tour ends on Aug. 26, but he's playing right through Lolla Chicago's dates.  But, he just released a new album (mid Feb.), and would match up well with the old-school ACL style, so I'll go with a yes.   

So, let's see - I think Tones and I, Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat, blackbear, and Nathaniel Rateliff are going to come, out of this method for hunting for artists.  That would be all small type artists, so I'm not sure that it even matters.  Not sure I need to do this post next year.

Quick Hits, Vol. 256 (Soccer Mommy, Beach Bunny, Jason Isbell, Beach Slang)

Soccer Mommy - color theory.  2020.  This is probably my album of the year so far.  Freaking beautiful, with a good mix between poingant, moody feelings tracks, more traditional semi-rock things with catchy aspects, and then those that mix all of that together.  "lucy" is the immediate standout that I keep singing to myself as I go about my day, but also "circle the drain" and "yellow is the color of her eyes" are really good.  Right now, I'm digging on "stain" - that down chord right when the chorus comes along just draws my brain right in immediately.  These songs make me feel like I need to go apologize to someone I love and ask them to take me back.  "circle the drain" is the stream winner right now with 2.1 million.

So freaking catchy.  But also has some much longing and sadness under that pretty, sunny track.  "Hey I've been falling apart these days, split open, watching my heart for round and round."  And "things feel that low sometimes, even when everything is fine."  Also, I want to immediately go ride on skateboards at an abandoned water park (and also, immediately snap my neck, which is the only ending I would experience from what those guys are doing).  Nothing this year, or hell, in a while, has immediately put me in a mood like this album has done - its not necessarily a happy mood, but it is definitely, deeply affecting me each time I go back to the start.  So good.

Seriously just came on again, and something about the album just feels like it is "mine."  Like she is singing those songs for me and me alone.  Love it.

Beach Bunny - Honeymoon.  2020  Another album I love!  Hooray for 2020!  [checks the news and sees that we have been through an impeachment, a deeply shitty Presidential primary season, and now a viral pandemic]  Shit.  Whatever!  Gimme the music!  Those of you who read me regularly know that I have had an overly large love for the band The Beths, well this one flies in the same V formation of geese trying to bring me poppy, fun rock and roll with an earnest female lead singer powering the action.  This is a very upbeat album, very jangly and head-bobby stuff.  So fun!  "Dream Boy," with 2.1 million streams, is the streaming champion so far.

They just seem so pure - something about them seems innocent and happy and genuinely pleased to just be making nice rock music.  Their old EP (Prom Queen) is also very enjoyable.  When the chorus of "Cuffing Season" kicks in, I want to spin in a circle through a crowd while pogoing onto everyone's feet.  When "Rearview" kicks in after a few minutes, it makes me want to learn guitar so that my hands can bleed from powering through mega chords.  "Ms. California" makes me want to meet her.  She seems nice.  ;)  The only bummer of the album is that its only 25 minutes - I need mas!  Keeper!

Jason Isbell - Southeastern.  2013.  And another one!  Although this one is from 2013, so it isn't keeping the 2020 streak alive.  But Rolling Stone included this album in their top albums of the decade, and it didn't ring any bells to me, so I thought I'd try it.  This guy is one of the best songwriters in the game right now.  "Elephant" is an absolutely brutally, gutting song.  I love it, but oooof.  A tune about ignoring the elephant in the room while the lady in the story is dying of cancer.  For some reason, one nugget gets me more than the rest - "She said, "Andy, you're taking me home",
But I knew she planned to sleep alone, I'd carry her to bed and sweep up the hair from the floor."  Fuuuuuck me, man.  "Travelling Alone" is a beauty as well.  "Super 8" is just plain funny.  BUt the top track is the opener, "Cover Me Up," with 32.4 million streams.

A live version, on Austin City Limits, but you'll get the gist.  Just a really nice love song.   I'm glad I found this album - maybe I need to just go back into the whole catalog and dig through everything he's ever done.

Beach Slang - The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City.  FOUR FOR FOUR!  MY GOD, FOLKS, HE'S DONE IT!  Another great album that I like very much.  If you ever liked the Replacements or Paul Westerberg, then this album will tickle your jimmies.  Seriously, they sound so much like both, and I'm very here for it.  Also, "Bam Rang Rang" sounds more like the Queens of the Stone Age, and its like these guys are trying to create something that will lodge in the pleasure centers of my brain.  I thought for sure that the opening track would be the top song - "Kids in L.A.," or maybe "Tommy in the 80's," since that is the song that Rolling Stone said was good, but the QOTSA-esque track actually beats both of those out.  Despite that, I'm going to give you Tommy - 90k streams.

Replace one of the Westerberg songs on the Singles soundtrack with this one, and I'm not sure most people notice the change.  Just good, burning rock and roll riffage with a raw set of vocals making it seem even more urgent and necessary with each song.  Lemme have it!

Quick Hits, Vol. 255 (Roddy Ricch, Kesha, Francis Quinlan, Marcus King)

Roddy Ricch - Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial.  2019.  Quite an album title for yet another generic trap rap album of tracks slathered (of course) in auto tune with the usual lyrics.  "I eat that pussy like a steak, she eat my dick like a crepe?"  This is some sort of tender, thoughtful rap?  I mean, I cherry picked that particular line, but it just popped out at me as I was writing.  That's just gross.  And it shows that this ain't some sort of introspective stuff.  Sounds like Future because of all the autotune and singing over trap beats.  And I don't much care about Future.  The Meek Mill one "Peta," with a little flute loop on top, really sounds like he is biting Future.  The top song - and a huge current hit right now - is "The Box."  438.7 million streams.

It's catchy for sure - that beat, with that little squeaky rocking chair noise - is a good one.  And his flow works well over it, even if you need urban dictionary to understand half of the shit he is saying.  Speaking of which, apparently telling someone to wipe their nose means you are putting out a hit on them, and saying the word "slatt" means "slime love all the time," which makes me feel like I have actually gotten dumber by trying to understand this song.  I don't much care for the album as a whole - I can dig why this song is blowing up right now, but I'm good.


Kesha - High Road.  2020.  Was fully prepared to dislike this one and move on from it quickly, but instead, I kinda like it.  Well, I like the upbeat dance tracks, some of the maudlin slow ones I could do without.  The album opener, "Tonight," has a little bit of both, but the party portion of it is highly fun - reminiscent of some of her best old songs.  "My Own Dance" makes me think of Panic at the Disco.  "Honey" almost bites the guitar lick from Weezer's "Say it Ain't So."  "Birthday Suit" bites the Super Mario Brothers' theme song.  The other fun thing, that runs throughout the album, is the feeling that she has a room full of fabulously fun people with her in the studio, who are singing along, yelling asides, dancing, prank calling her mom, and occasionally making music.  Absolutely adds to the attitude of the album.  One song features Sturgill and Brian Wilson, but they're fully in harmonizing mode, they don't really get a showcase verse.  The collaboration with Big Freedia is the hit for sure, with over 20 million streams.  This is "Raising Hell."

That video sure took a turn.  But its a fun song, filtering in elements of gospel and bounce while she's singing about raising hell.  I also like the storytime of "BFF" with her and Wrabel exchanging memories about some fun times together.  I don't like the Lumineers-lite of "Chasing Thunder."  I'm conflicted with my feelings for this album, but you know what?  If I am entertained, then just be entertained and be OK with the fact that this album is a weird mix of random party anthems and sad tracks.

Frances Quinlan - Likewise.  2020.  I really like her name.  Sounds like a New Orleans detective in a pulpy book.  She is the lead singer for Hop Along, who I've generally enjoyed in the past, and this is her solo debut.  Generally good - although it has some high and low points.  The screaming end to "Went to LA" is something I can do without.  The Indigo Girls-esque "Lean" is lovely.  The kind of whimsical rock of "Your Reply" makes me think of Courtney Barnett.  She has a distinct voice.  The top track, with almost half a million streams, is "Rare Thing."

Tasty little groove.  Starts off sounding like something I've heard before from the 80's.  Weird video - I would have been so annoyed at needing to take all of those outfits on and off so many times.  NO THANK YOU SIR!  I'll actually keep this one.

Marcus King - El Dorado.  2020.  I saw this dude open for The Record Company a year or two ago at Antone's, and I swear to God I had a full on reaction.  Like, ribbing my wife and pointing with my eyes wide open and my mouth agape.  Dude can abso-freaking-lutely shred the guitar.  He sounds kind of like Brittany Howard, and at times during this album I'm reminded of the blind dude from the movie Road House.  But if you dig that Allman Brothers type of southern fried rock, then this is your jam.  "The Well" is the track, with 1.2 million streams.

If you ever watched Justified (amazing show, BTW), then this also sounds like something that would have felt right at home on there.  Homie lost some weight too - I have a picture with him from that night when I saw him play, and he's definitely larger than he appears in that video.  This album is solid - I can dig it.

Quick Hits, Vol. 254 (K.A.A.N., Pop Smoke, Kamayiah, Destroyer)

I spent the almost all of the day today listening to the Smiths.  I really don't know why, I had a snippet of "Big Mouth Strikes Again" stuck in my head for reasons I don't recall, and so I threw it onto Spotify and just let it roll for like eight hours.  Surprisingly great!  In my mind, they were more of a high highs and low lows type band, but I honestly really enjoyed the experience of hearing them all anew.  Pretty, tender, quite lovely songs with some good songwriting to boot.

K.A.A.N. - Twenty-Nine.  2020.  Knowledge Above All Nonsense.  One of my co-workers popped into my office last week to tell me to listen to one of this guy's tracks - unbeknownst to him, the dude has like 20 albums available on Spotify.  So, after thinking that "Lonely" was pretty alright, and after hearing that Dr. Dre has co-signed on this guy, I figured I'd give an album a chance.  His most recent disc is this one, following four (!!!) releases in 2019, and it has a cool sound.  Kinda funky, sample-style beats, and the raps come out sounding kind of like when Kendrick Lamar gets high-pitched and kind of intense.  "Timeless" actually sounds like Mac Miller.  Sadly, I might have grabbed the lesser of his albums, because none of them have made his top ten on Spotify yet.  "Meek Interview" has the most streams, at only 18k, and is kind of a mediocre track (I assume it has many streams because people think Meek Mill is on it?), so I'll give you third place instead, "Observation," which has 10k streams.

On some of these tracks, like on the back half of that one, he'll leave you breathless with the unrelenting cadence.  I'm not sure how someone can rap that way without ever seeming to really take a deep breath.  I enjoyed some of this album.  Not sure anything on here grabs me in a way that makes me believe he's the next big thing, but he's solid.

Pop Smoke - Meet the Woo 2. 2020.  I like this guy's cadence even better, if I were comparing the two, although KAAN's lyrics are stronger for sure.  Pop Smoke just popped onto my radar after he was murdered a few days ago during a purported home invasion, and then read an article in the Ringer lamenting his loss as the new sound of New York hip hop.  He's got a grimy voice that sounds cool, and his beats are tough and brawny as well.  But his lyrics leave something to be desired - the kind of guy who says his name too many times in a bar.  Feels appropriate that Quavo from Migo's is a guest on his second track here - another guy who talks loud and says nothing but makes sure to say his own name in each appearance.  Some of this also reminds me of that guy who said Panda a million times in that one song.  The top track is "Dior," which was actually release before this album but is on the deluxe version.  34 million streams.

Eh...  The beat is kind of cool, and yet again his delivery sounds tough and menacing, but the lyrics are just stream of consciousness junk (and homophobic junk too, tossed in for good measure).  Big bummer that the guy died, seems like he was a hometown hit who maybe would have spread further out than just NYC, but I won't hold on to this album.

Kamayiah - Got it Made. 2020.  I loved her album from 2016, which was the same year she came to ACL and put out a weak ass show - started late, mailed it in, too much hype man.  This one is more of the same, good Oakland sound on the beats, brash flow.  She's angling more for the nasty rhymes, where she didn't used to go that route, but I think she's trying to join into the ranks of the hot lady rapper thing right now like Megan Thee Stallion or Cardi B or whoever - like "1-800-IM-HORNY" - whereas her old tracks were more about having a good time in the ghetto or drinking too much or whatever.  But most of these are still bragging and tough lyrics - I very much enjoy the one with Trina "Set it Up," where they are jacking up a guy who was cheating on both of them, by spending all his money and smashing his stuff.  "Still I Am" is the top streamer right now, at 1.2 million.

Tough beat, with a little Oakland-style high notes over bouncing low end in there, and she's just throwing down brags all day.  I'm loving some of the people in that video - the guy in the screencap up above who looks like he borrowed his mom's Sentra to come get in the video and is very pleased now that he made it, or the one in the video right after that who throws some convenience store trash out of their open door as they skid by.  I like her.

Destroyer - Have We Met.  Spotify thought I would like this guy once my playlist was empty, and I kind of dug the track that they picked for me.  Not so sure about this whole album though.  Has an 80's vibe in here - the opening track "Crimson Tide" seriously sounds like a lost Pet Shop Boys track to me.  Overall, the vibe I get from this is like The National and Bowie?  He was with the New Pornographers previously, so he definitely has experience in those sorts of fun tracks.  Like when the guitar kicks in on "Kinda Dark" as I'm writing this and that is the right level of action that I was looking for.  Maybe I like this more than I thought.  

686k streams.  I very much like the chugging bassline of that track.  And that video is creepy and weird.  Very catchy and cool.  But then, the next song is this super spare, beat-less Radiohead-In-Rainbows-B-Side thing.  I want the whole album to sound more like the good catchy stuff, without any weird detours.  But even with those detours, this one is solid.

Quick Hits, Vol. 253 (Lil Wayne, Tame Impala, Green Day, Drive By Truckers)

Lil Wayne - Funeral.  2020.  The opening track lit me up once it really kicked in, but after the excitement of a new Wayne album wears off, some of this is not great and its definitely overly long.  "Know You Know" sounds like it stole half of the beat from "Old Town Road."  "Funeral," the opening track, starts out all slow and feels like it might be lame, and then he starts rapid firing his trademark weird lyrical action and it hits hard.  The second track, "Mohagany" comes out of the gate hot, with a laid back beat and a smooth flow.  Overall, the first handful of rap tracks are solid.  Then "Not Me" and the Adam Levine track come on and it goes off the rails.  It is up and down after that.  "I Do It," which features Big Sean and Lil Baby, is at the top of the streaming heap for now.  16.6 million.

I know Lil Baby is the hot thing right now, but give me Sean's smooth delivery over either of these guys any day.  Some of these tracks go with Wayne's singing, which I generally can't stand.  All Autotune and whine.  See "Never Mind" for a prime example of this.  I might keep this album in my new music queue for a little while and see if I can find the best ones, but I'm definitely deleting "Never Mind" right now.

Tame Impala - Slow Rush. 2020.  I'm not sure if any band (and I'm using that term very expansively) has ever changed quite so drastically over the course of their albums.  Long gone is the Beatle-esque psych rock.  Long gone is the alternative rock crunch of Lonerism.  And here to stay is the loopy, synth-laden, beat-driven, dance party that Tame Impala has become.  I loved the last album - Currents - and in fact think it is my favorite album of the entire last decade.  So, to say that I was excited for this album to come out would be a massive understatement.  I've been jamming the lose singles that were released prior to the actual album release date, and by now I have a good handle on "Borderline," "Posthumous Forgiveness," "It Might Be Time," and the surprisingly missing from this album "Patience."  And while I'm not yet sure that I love it as much as Currents, I can easily say that I really like it.  The bouncy, 90's pop dance groove of "Breathe Deeper," including the totally different beat that kicks in about 5 minutes in.  The 70's blaxploitation groove in "Tomorrow's Dust."  The Paul Simon Graceland bassline nimbly bopping around in "Lost in Yesterday."  The Supertramp organ stabbing in "It Might Be Time."  The acid disco trance house bop that pops up throughout - the opening track comes on like some classic house techno stuff from tho 90's.  The "Posthumous Forgiveness" stolen guitar line echos the flute from Isaac Hayes' "The Look of Love."  Every song feels like it has layers, sounds that are familiar, or new, or strangely configured, or surprising, but in the end, I feel like just about all of them get me moving, which is a highly fun attribute of an album.

The amazing thing here is that he apparently played every single thing on the album - every synth line, drum beat, guitar scronk, knob twist, and fader wipe all came from the brain of this insanely talented dude.  Like the last album, its almost like he took his psych rock album, but then tried to turn it into a hip hop album because he couldn't find anyone to join him in the studio, so he needed beats and basslines instead of other humans.  I love it - give me more groove and rap sense in a rock song all day - makes for very smooth tracks that wink at me in the mirror and hold their hand out to ask me to dance.  While "It Might be Time" has the streaming crown right now, I think that is mainly because it was an early single.  Not that I don't like it, but I think "Lost in Yesterday" is the actual hit single as of now.  18.3 million streams.

Loved the video right up to the end - the slowly increasing happiness of that scene was awesome.  This album is great.  I find it interesting that I like Parker so much - I wouldn't say that it is entirely normal for me to fall in love with such electronica-based tunes, but this one rubs a sweet spot for me.

Green Day - Father of all Motherfuckers. 2020.  Interesting choice for the title, when they're not even getting all that angry on this one.  Instead, this one has almost a throwback vibe - the first four songs employ handclaps and an almost surf-rock, doo-wop, swing rock vibe.  It's not bad, but it also isn't what I expected from the purported "comeback" album from these dudes.  Their weird career has gone from sneering pop punk, jamming about bored masturbation, to indignant rock opera, pointing fingers and holding George Bush (and others) accountable), to this weirdly lighthearted bop of relatively pretty pop rock songs that don't appear to be about anything in particular.  Here is the title track.

I can dig it.  "Huh uh, come on, honey, Lyin' in a bed of blood and money, Huh uh, what's so funny? We are rivals in the riot inside us."  Just kind of a generic sentiment of distaste and suspicion for the current world, but without any real pointed particulars or criticisms.

The album suffers the fate of many disappointing albums by well-loved bands, with a play count like this: Song 1 - 14.2 million; Song 2 - 7.2 million; Song 3 - 6 million; Song 4 - 2.7 million; the rest of the songs, about 1.3 million.  SO, lots of people tried the first song, half of those tried the second tune, a few made it to the third tune, half of those committed to the fourth, and then everyone but the actual fans bailed.  I mean, "I Was a Teenage Teenager" sounds like a cover of a fifties rock track, except that they probably wouldn't have said "freak you out" back then, or maybe talked about holding drugs.  "Stab You in the Heart" has the hippie hippie shake going on in there.  This is just such a weird album.  And at only 26 minute long, its done before you even have time to consider how weird things have gotten.  My favorite track is "Sugar Youth," which is more of a straight-forward blast of pop-punk energy, without any of the handclap/doo-wop detours.  "Junkies on a High" also has less of the incongruous effects.  After firing through this one five times in rapid succession, I'm on board.  Quick, clean, joyfully sneering, I'm in for the ride.

Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling. 2020.  Good goddamn.  You just need to listen to "Thoughts and Prayers" right now.

The imagery of kids lining up on the playground with their hands up in the air.  And then this verse:
When my children's eyes look at me and they ask me to explain
It hurts me that I have to look away 

The powers that be are in for shame and comeuppance

When Generation Lockdown has their day

They'll throw the bums all out and drain the swamp for real

Perp walk them down the Capitol steps and show them how it feels

Tramp the dirt down, Jesus, you can pray the rod they'll spare

Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers

Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers

"Generation Lockdown," man.  What a killer song.  Also, "gravity called out to close the deal" is a dope line.  

The Truckers have mellowed a lot in their music - the one time I saw them play live, it was a legit rock and roll blast of a show.  Ther first few songs on this album are harder - pushing more to real rock, and then the indignant folkie stuff kicks in.  Most of these tunes now are purely concentrated on the excellent lyrics, and the music kind of stays out of the way and just bops along.  "21st Century USA" is another hell of a biting song that purely skewers the pain of living in today's America.  Fucking bleak, but also a great song.  Then I'll give you one guess what "Babies in Cages" is about.  These guys bring the righteous thunder on these tracks.

ACL 2020: Coachella Moving?

I read some rumors last night on Twitter that have me nervous.  Coachella organizers are considering moving their gigantic festival, which normally would kick off in mid-April, to October because of Coronavirus concerns.  WHICH SUCKS.

I mean, the whole thing obviously sucks - I hate that people are getting sick and dying.  That is way more important than my desire to see music.  Death is kind of a big deal.  I hate that the Austin economy just took it up the shorts because of SXSW being cancelled - so that a lot of people, venues, bands, etc. are in serious danger of being unable to make it.  SX just laid off a third of their employees, most of whom work in the music portion of the business.  That is horrible for those people, venues, and bands - it might seriously impact their whole lives.  A much bigger deal than a single festival messing up my music viewing desires.

But if Coachella moves to October 9-11 and 16-18, then they run right up against weekend two of ACL.  So, if ACL had been planning on announcing Rage Against the Machine (which I have been hoping and predicting they will do), then we might lose out on that show (and several others who would have been on the bill), if they decide to go with the California show.  And the articles about Coachella say that they plan to keep the same lineup, but I don't see how that could possibly happen - I'm sure some of those bands that have been announced already have other plans for their Octobers.  Although the big three - RATM, Frank Ocean, and Travis Scott - all currently have clear calendars in October, so maybe that is why this is being discussed.

I get why they are considering moving the festival - I suppose that the alternative is that the booking company goes out of business and the surrounding area loses hundreds of millions in impact.  I'd think it would be just about impossible for Goldenvoice to absorb the costs of just cancelling the Fest and pushing it to 2021.  I can't find any real numbers for the cost of Coachella - I found an article saying that Burning Man cost its organizers about $26 million (before artist costs), but Coachella is a very different experience than Burning Man.  The internet says that Coachella made $114 in profit in 2017, so maybe they have a war chest they can use to survive the nightmare of refunding ticket money and whatever other refunds and penalties and contract money they'd have to pay, but it would be way cooler if they could figure out a way to just push it.  I only wish that they weren't looking at October!

More to come, but this really could throw a major wrench in the lineup for ACL.

Already, more to come - Pearl Jam just announced they are postponing their tour due to coronavirus fears.  That sucks very deeply.