WIXQ DJ's Recommended Music
Each week our disc jockeys recommend the best new music that you need to hear. Listen for this music on our radio station and support new music!Recent DJ Posts All Disc Jockey Posts
Travis Scott - Utopia
Posted: 7/31/2023 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2023) 5 years, guys. 5. Years. I was going to type out a whole "WE MADE IT!! UTOPIA DROPPED!!" post but it's been done before. This is just a good album, and let me talk about it for the next few paragraphs or so. The roll-out for this was, in all honesty as a fan, kinda bad. Cancelled shows, weird cryptic messages, and even a Playboi Carti-esque "mOnday !" post that led to nothing, it was disjointed and unorganized. The album is too, but in a good way. This is an album that is equal parts futuristic and grimy, it's chrome and brown if it was personified in colors, it's scary sometimes, even. I'm going to go track by track for the most part to explain this, so strap in, I guess. "HYAENA" is a weird opening track that I genuinely enjoyed, Travis is rapping again, minimal autotune (not that it matters), it's a jarring dive into Utopia at its hardest. The following track, "THANK GOD", sounds like a Donda leftover, as does "GOD'S COUNTRY". These are synth-driven tracks with autotune, surprise surprise for a Travis album. A lot of this album can be said to be talking about nothing, yes he has good lines, but what is this album even about? I think the answer is "vibes" to a certain extent, as stupid as it sounds, like how Lost Highway makes close to no sense as a movie but does a good job of conveying "vibes". "MODERN JAM" is a silly little banger that pads out the running time of this album with something interesting and sterile in a hostile way, I do like hearing Travis list out things that end in "-inator" like how Dr. Doofenshmirtz would, though. Next is possibly one of my favorite tracks, "MY EYES", which is the closest we will ever get to an Aphex Twin feature on a Travis Scott album. It's spacious, ambient, and just plain pretty. "SIRENS" is a great example of good sampling, something I wish Travis did more of, and this is a good one for headphones, as the panning keeps things moving before the song goes into a little bridge where Travis quite literally "has your attention" like he says in the lyrics. Speaking of features, Drake on "MELTDOWN"? Come on. This is just another piece of evidence in my growing case that Drake is one of the best feature artists of all time, which is true for a lot of features on this album. Finally, after that, we come to our first moshpit-ready track, "FE!N", which is definitely making its way onto my wedding reception playlist so I can watch my cousins throw down at the wedding venue. Jokes aside, this is an infinitely-relistinable track with a very unique feature from everyone's favorite vamp. Speaking of features from amazing entertainers, the next track is something that sounds straight off of the newest Bey album, with the queen herself featured on "DELRESTO (ECHOES)" that goes SO WELL with Travis' sound. Club track of the year? Maybe not, but in my heart it is. "I KNOW ?" is this album's "5% TINT", and that's about all I can say about it, and I mean that in a good way. If you ever wanted to hear a good song about a "jetskiiiiiiiiiii", "TOPIA TWINS" is your chance. This is an aggressive cut with a line about a "glizzy", nothing could be better. "CIRCUS MAXIMUS", or as I like to call it, "Black Skinhead 2", is not only good because of Travis, but The Weeknd takes this song from just okay to good, in my opinion. "PARASAIL", the closest track to an interlude on this album, has a Yung Lean feature. I am a huge Yung Lean fan. I am not a fan of this feature. Skippable at worst, honestly. "SKITZO", despite the odd name spelling, is probably the most normal song on here, save for the single. I am a sucker for a good beat switch (see: "Nights" by Frank Ocean), and surprisingly, this is the most lyrical song on the album while still being listenable. Thanks to "LOST FOREVER", we got the most unexpected feature of all year, Westside Gunn on a Travis Scott track, and it's GOOD, like it's GOOD good. The sample screams Griselda, and I'm so glad Travis and Westside got to bounce off each other for this one, because Travis takes on the energy of his features, and thankfully this was a good one. Speaking of which, "LOOOVE" has Kid Cudi on it! One of my favorite duos, back again for a banger. This one makes you wait for the feature for good reason, and the beat is so Yeezus-y it almost reeks of 2013. Unfortunately, "K-POP" was included on the album, which is just a filler single for streams, regardless of how good Bad Bunny is on a song with Travis (and The Weeknd, again). Once that's over, we get to the 2 prettiest songs on the whole album, starting with "TELEKINISIS" and a Future feature for the ages, AND SZA!!!! SZA!!!! Travis on her songs is always a good sign, but the other way around? Life changing, genuinely. Perfect lead-in for the closing track, and probably my favorite, "TIL FURTHER NOTICE". I'm a big fan of any Travis Scott song with James Blake on it, now add in 21 Savage, and one of the saddest lines in any Travis Scott song ever, "Where will you go now / Now that you're done with me?" which is likely to be one of the last songs I ever play on this station, I think. Anyways, this album is crazy, it's good, and it's worth a listen. I don't know. I miss Astroworld, I miss Rodeo, I even miss Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight. This album just makes me nostalgic for 2018, and at the same time it came out at the perfect time in my life. This is a transitional album, for Travis, for rap, for me, and hopefully for you. I know it's just an album, but still. Go listen to it if you have the time.
Recommended If You Like: Spacious, sometimes ambient rap
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Tyler, The Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
Posted: 3/15/2022 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2021) If this is Tyler's last album, I can die happy. The man just came off the best 3-album run, that being Flower Boy, IGOR, and CMIYGL, of course, and he just continues to get better. A genuine artist, Tyler is making music, perfume, clothes, and he is absolutely everywhere. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is Tyler's homage to that "being everywhere" thing, forming an entire album that feels like less of a concept and more of a list of destinations that range from Geneva (that's in Switzerland) to Madison Square Garden, mentioning them by name in songs "HOT WIND BLOWS" and "LUMBERJACK". "SIR BAUDELAIRE" starts off the album with imagery of the sun beaming down on Tyler, presumably in a car or on a boat with the unmistakable voice of DJ Drama providing sometimes funny but genuine ad-libs before breaking right into "CORSO", which is probably Tyler's best non-single song in a long while. I'm a sucker for song transitions, and this one is just great, absolutely perfect as an album opener. Moving on, the features on this album are so very fitting, from Lil Wayne back again with Tyler for "HOT WIND BLOWS" and Brent Faiyaz on "SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE" to the sparse feature Teezo Touchdown provides on "RUNITUP", every feature is planned out meticulously and they never feel out of place. Even Domo Genesis, an original Odd Future member, makes an appearance on "MANIFESTO", which was a pleasant surprise for fans of Tyler since his Wolf years in 2013 like me. A massive, overarching theme of this album is travel, and funny enough, I was traveling when this album came out. I can honestly say this album is best enjoyed when sightseeing or out and about in general, since the music never stays in one place either. Tyler hops from lyricism-based tracks to dancehall jams within a few songs of each other, whisking you away from place to place with wild, well-established abandon. It's just such a good album. It's Flower Boy's sunny feeling meets IGOR's soft side meets Wolf's lyrical style meets Cherry Bomb's creativity all mixed together with the post-COVID urge to travel that we all have at this point. When we do eventually get out of this mess, go and listen to this album in a place you haven't been to and tell me that "SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE" doesn't make you feel some type of way.
Recommended If You Like: Excursions that are just too lavish to post on the 'gram, French vanilla ice cream, boats, fuzzy hats, ascots, passports
Watch a Tyler, The Creator video
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Kanye West - Donda
Posted: 8/31/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2021) If you haven’t followed Kanye news recently, strap in, grab some popcorn, and let me explain the past year before getting into this review. Kanye isn’t known for his dropping schedule to be consistent or guaranteed (Yandhi, Yeezus 2, and a plethora of scrapped albums that are too long to mention here), so when he does, it’s a big deal. This has been leading up since the announcement of the mysterious album in 2020 named after his late mother Donda West, who inspired a lot of his earlier album, 808s and Heartbreak. A few ugly political events, distasteful statements, and some bad PR later, Kanye returns to making music with a lackluster listening party in Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong, we had highlights like Jay-Z’s appearance on an early version of Jail, but listening party 1 was nothing to write home about, from the lack of a set design to the unfinished songs. Thankfully, the album was not released in that form. Instead, Kanye holed up in the stadium he performed in until listening party 2 in the exact same place, this time with a set that looked like the makeshift bedroom he had in the stadium. This listening party was a LOT more thought-out, with changes made to the album for length, quality, and general polish. Just like the first listening party, still no album release afterwards. Skip a few weeks yet again, and Kanye is building his childhood home in Chicago at Soldier Field for one more listening party. I won’t go into detail in case of spoilers, but he brought out some controversial people, set himself on fire, and staged his wedding to Kim Kardashian all over again set to the album, or at least what we thought was the album. Fast forward about 3 days after the third listening party and Donda, the long-awaited album in the 27-song, 2-hour flesh, is finally up on streaming and ready to buy on other outlets. Needless to say, Kanye is a man who thrives on backstory, hype, and continually loyal fans. Now that that’s out of the way, the album itself: this thing is a monster of an album. I find it funny that I’d be caught saying the Swans trilogy is just a bunch of long albums when Donda is right on par with this length deal, and surprisingly, there is filler. Donda’s glaring issues are not its songwriting, production, instrumentation, etc. No, the issue at hand is just how long some of these songs overstay their welcome without going anywhere, like God Breathed. Another issue I have with the album is its reliance on features, no matter how good those features are, from Playboi Carti (twice!) to Travis Scott to Five Foreign to Jay-Z to Baby Keem, and a bunch of others that could easily cost millions to get verses from in total. As said earlier, some of this is definitely filler, evident by how people on r/kanye are making their own tracklists shortened down to 10 or so songs. This is not to say the album is bad, no, this is probably all the bad I can say about the album without sounding nit-picky about production or clarity of instrumentals. That being said, the good about the album lies in everything else about it: features, experimentation, diversity of sound, and emotional gravity. First off, the features are everywhere, maybe a few too many than I personally enjoy on an album, but WOW are these good. You’ve got The Weekend on what could possibly be the biggest song Kanye’s ever released, Playboi Carti and Five Foreign on the Chicago drill-inspired Off The Grid, the Sunday Service Choir all over the album, Travis Scott in prime form on Praise God, and many more. The features really, genuinely work, just like in MBDTF’s massive guest list from Kanye’s earlier discography. In terms of experimentation on this album, Kanye isn’t really known for drill beats, now is he? Off The Grid shows that this needed to happen years ago. Experimentation through sampling on Believe What I Say? Kanye may have made the song of the Summer if Donda released earlier. Experimenting with choirs alongside beat drops? Heaven and Hell is a masterclass in the use of the human voice as an instrument, all thanks to Kanye’s background in organized religion, no matter how much bad that did at first to his discography, like with Jesus Is King. In summary, experimentation has always been Kanye’s bread and butter since Graduation came out, and he hasn’t stopped yet, doing something different every album cycle. Donda is very diverse in genres and sounds and appeals, as well. As mentioned earlier, Kanye dabbled in drill towards the beginning of the album, which is a welcome addition after the Pop Smoke track on the album and its shortcomings. Gospel music is back and better than it was before in Kanye’s discography thanks to the highlight 24, one of my personal favorite tracks behind No Child Left Behind, an organ-driven track that I wish was 10 minutes longer of Kanye saying “He’s done miracles on me.” Finally, the emotional gravity of this album is never lost, reminding the listener through both song titles and lyrics that this album is a celebration of the West family and their story, especially directed towards his late mother Donda, the album’s obvious namesake. Songs like Jesus Lord, No Child Left Behind, and Come To Life retain these themes within them, in perfectly length-edited tracks that feel like they’re the perfect runtime. Come To Life especially holds meaning to me that would take too long to explain in a review, but it reminds me so much of the emotional gravity that the second half of Kanye’s song Runaway holds to me. Come To Life’s organ melody, along with the piano melody in the latter half perfectly frames Kanye’s singing voice in the best shape it’s been in years. Full disclosure, the song and memory of seeing it happen at the third listening party live is a though that both brings tears to my eyes and is quite possibly one of my favorite moments in music in the past few years. Donda is much more than its shortcomings and bulked-up tracklist, it is a masterpiece hiding in what seems like an unorganized mess by one of the most polarizing people pop culture has known in the past few decades, proving Kanye still has it in him after all this time, somewhere, somehow. In the words of the man himself on Come To Life, “You know where to find me, they cannot define me, so they crucify me, how so fazed when I leave? Come and purify me, come and sanctify me, you the air that I breathe, the ultra-ultralight beam, brought a gift to Northie, all she want was Nikes, this is not about me, God is still alive, so I’m free, floatin' on a silver lining, floatin' on a silver lining, so when I'm free, I'm free.”
Recommended If You Like: Kanye West
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Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red
Posted: 8/16/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) Some albums can be described as challenging on a technical standpoint, or just for how long of a runtime you have to sit through (looking at you, Swans), but this is a different kind of challenging; It's challenging because, if it was a person, it would beat you up and take your lunch money. Carti's blisteringly fast 24-song album has a runtime of an hour and change, yet it feels like a brisk trip through the last few years of music summarized in an over-exaggerated package. This is not a tasteful gallery of modern hyperpop-rap-screaming songs, no, this is a dirty underground venue where you can't find one place to stand that doesn't feel claustrophobic. This is due in part to Carti's impeccable sense of pacing on this album, pacing that's so perfect that it feels like a setlist in itself, pacing that doesn't even feel like it was ruminated over, it's just so natural and makes so much sense when you listen to it, but not in a traditional way at all. If you've been following Carti or his fanbase at all this album cycle, the consensus is that Carti has always leaned to the side of keeping punk sensibilities alive in his music, fashion, and PR style. This is evident in the presentation of this album, in all its crimson text and black backgrounds on the cover, to the vinyl edition (thanks Tom, the best record store owner around!!) having the most basic packaging and a lack of a tracklist on the record labels. Carti releases snippets and singles, yes, but this is an EXPERIENCE. Carti wants you to sit down and hear this together as one set, even though most of your time listening to this will not be spent sitting down. In fact, most of my time listening to this was spent jumping around my room and yelling the words to the middle bit of "Stop Breathing". Maybe it's just quarantine and Covid-19 anxiety getting to me, but if this is what concerts were like before the pandemic, you can sign me up once things are safe again. The album mellows out towards the end, which reminds me of a few "Die Lit" tracks, but it's the perfect ending to such a devastatingly harsh first half. Overall, this is a good album, it takes some getting used to, and you will absolutely make fun of Carti's ad-libs on "Teen X" and the sample on "Vamp Anthem" until you catch yourself doing the vocals along with him and humming "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" absentmindedly. It's a simple way to get you to like the music, but it absolutely works, and the formula is never strayed from throughout the course of the album. It just works. Rock isn't dead, because somehow this SoundCloud rapper gone punk fashion icon is keeping it alive on this album.
Recommended If You Like: Punk sensibilities, SoundCloud rap, hyperpop, really heavy bass
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Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch
Posted: 2/20/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2018) I have been waiting to do this review for so long, you don't even understand. Considering the history behind the band and certain online music reviewers (looking at you, Fantano) already covering the band to death, I decided it would be best to start with their most recent album. I've listened to their discography, from the catchy hooks of "The Money Store" to the mostly instrumental and heavily produced "Government Plates" and still I keep coming back to "Year Of The Snitch", or YOTS as I'll be calling it. Death Grips consists of rapper MC Ride, drummer Zach Hill, and producer Andy Morin, each of which have their own projects that have interfered with Death Grips in some way, shape, or form, resulting in various hiatuses or "break-ups", until the band tweeted "Death Grips is Online", which happens to be the first track of YOTS, a synth-filled romp through the album as a fast-paced MC Ride verse plays. After a few semi-forgettable instrumentals with juxtaposed, interesting lines from MC Ride that save the song as a whole, one of the best early album songs entitled "Linda's In Custody" takes a surprisingly soft, but still industrial and electronic approach to Death Grips' usual pattern of song making. "The Horn Section" is a testament to Zach Hill's incredible drumming skills, though it's only about a minute and a half, serving as a short instrumental break and palate cleanser. One of the singles, "Hahaha", is ridiculously catchy for not having a set song structure whatsoever, proving that Death Grips still has appeal even when they're experimenting. One of my personal favorites on the album, "Streaky", plays out almost like a Gregorian chant mixed with "Threw It On The Ground" by The Lonely Island, which in itself is a paradox of a song idea. "Dilemma" is another mostly instrumental-focused track, but is much more gentle by comparison and almost sounds like a plain punk rock song with some keys over it. Finally, my favorite song on the album, "The Fear", after "Little Richard" and its forgettable vocals, comes in with a free jazz feel and MC Ride is still doing his usual semi-poetic rant-rapping and creating somewhat of a hook(?) that sounds so similar to "Ex-Military"-era Death Grips. After one more instrumental break titled "Outro", the final track "Disappointed" plays like the love-child of a corrupted Sega Genesis game's soundtrack and Zach Hill's fevered drumming style married a screaming maniac, specifically MC Ride. Overall, once the album is done, you're left either confused, worried, excited for more, or hopefully a mixture of the three. Death Grips' music has the ability to take the worst in the human experience and turn it into something tangible, consumable, and debated about. Definitely start off with something else in their discography unless you've listened to a lot of Death Grips-esque music before, but otherwise, enjoy "Year Of The Snitch" and whatever the heck it is that it's offering.
Recommended If You Like: Experimental rap, punk, hardcore stuff, awesome production, unintelligible lyrics
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The Weeknd - After Hours
Posted: 2/1/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) The Weeknd is no stranger to finding himself in terrible situations where he is left to his own devices: The most recent Grammys, leaving home at 17, making it in California, etc, but the most recent album by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye finds him alone again, quite literally. The first track on his 2020 album "After Hours", titled "Alone Again", is a synth-filled lament about his current, loveless situation that will sound incredible as a concert opener once the time comes to be around other people safely again. The Weeknd aims to detail a broken relationship in "After Hours", the following song "Too Late" taking the form of a more modern-sounding, rhythmic song full of interesting moments of echo and voice modulation that embodies what "After Hours" is all about: the past coming back to haunt him and how he decides to cope with it this time. Up next, "Hardest To Love" and "Scared To Live" are reminiscent of 80s ballads with a bit of drum and bass influences in the former, and a crooning vocal inflection in the latter that personally reminds me of the vocal runs Michael Jackson and Prince are so well known for. Now is a good time to mention, Tesfaye is heavily influenced by Michael Jackson, an early mixtape of his containing a cover of "Dirty Diana", yet he is far from "ripping off" or copying any of the 80s stars he idolizes, instead developing his own style that shines through in "After Hours". If you missed "Beauty Behind The Madness" and "Starboy" era Abel, you're in luck, because "Snowchild", a falsetto-filled, biographical piece on how he always cared for the other people into his life, even at his own loss, only to leave to go to LA, which he then promptly plans on leaving in a low point on the album, "Escape From LA". "Escape From LA" isn't necessarily a bad song, it just sounds like a lesser version of "Snowchild" that takes place in the future and tells the listener exactly how the relationship the album details went downhill. Finally, after many songs, the toxic, disgustingly extravagant Abel we know and love comes out in "Heartless", the result of trying to cope with a bad relationship in Sin City. If you follow the story of the album via the incredible "After Hours" Cinematic Universe (AHCU), Abel is in Vegas licking frogs to see what happens to his head and spending all his money in what I would call the beginning of his downfall, until it abruptly ends in "Faith", his realization that he lost what he once had, and a swift removal from the casino into the "back of a flaaaaashing car", which is either an ambulance or a police car, since he is close to being dead and arrested after his wild night out in "Heartless". The Weeknd has had his moment of catharsis, now it's time for him to fix things in "Blinding Lights", the biggest single of our time right now, breaking a multitude of records of sales and streaming alike. Besides being a genuinely great song, "Blinding Lights" is a timeless song with catchy melodies, a great bass track, and the unmatchable feeling that you've heard this song before on the radio years ago, and that there's no way this hasn't existed for years. "Blinding Lights" is his manifesto of feeling bad, that he needs to make things right, but he only goes and finds his lover with someone else in "In Your Eyes", yet another single that broke records and managed to get Kenny G of all people involved. Another catchy song with an incredible instrumental that has some great saxophone sections to compliment The Weeknd's immaculate vocal performance and ability to create an atmosphere. "Save Your Tears", my personal least favorite single and only song that I usually skip on the album, is catchy but seems a bit sparse by comparison to the lush production of the other songs in the album. Still, intensely catchy and whistleable, just not my cup of tea, despite the neat vocal compression in the chorus that reminds me of the second chorus of "Call Out My Name". Oh boy. "Repeat After Me (Interlude)". There's no good place to start with this other than that Mr. Kevin Parker of Tame Impala helped produce this and provide the opening vocals. This is one of those interludes that makes me sad that it's only an interlude, since it's gorgeous beyond all words and reminds me so heavily of "SKELETONS", which Parker helped Travis Scott produce as well. "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" is The Weeknd's final acceptance of defeat to his lover's new significant other, in which he tells his former lover that they're only doing this out of spite, and to "repeat after me" when it comes to saying "you don't love him". Now that he knows that part of his life is over, the title track comes in with a throbbing synth line and more falsetto that sounds so regretful and sad, which cuts out to a funky little drum and bass track that contrasts the loss-filled subject matter. After receiving the coup de grace from his lover, the final admittance that it's over, The Weeknd has nothing to turn to but himself in "Until I Bleed Out", in which he sings over a very, very minimal track about his regrets and need for stability in his life. The song ends on a quiet blip of what sounds like a reprise of the title track, and the official album closes, leaving the door open for the 3 deluxe tracks and the few remixes that it got (hello, Lil Uzi Vert on "Heartless"!). As a whole, "After Hours" is The Weeknd's most realized and story-driven album in my humble opinion, and that comes with the lofty expectations of being both a new album from such a critically acclaimed artist and having to come up with a whole new character, in this case the "red suit character" as Abel lovingly calls him. In conclusion, "After Hours" was one of the best things to come out of the quarantine, and I can't wait for the continuation of this 80s style version of The Weeknd to become a household name, and to maybe be this generation's Michael Jackson. If anyone can do it, it's definitely the guy behind this album. Enjoy "After Hours"!
Recommended If You Like: 80s music, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, redemption arcs
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Frank Ocean - Blond
Posted: 1/25/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2016) Here it is folks, the last Frank Ocean review. Frank Ocean's "Blond", or "Blonde" if you want to get fancy, is a masterpiece. It's easy to dismiss many works of art as masterpieces, but trust me, this album is something to be savored like a fine wine or a Renaissance painting that lasts 1 hour and listens like an emotional roller coaster of nostalgia, lost love, future love, and a long, long lifetime of yearning. "Nikes" begins the album with a hauntingly pitched version of Frank discussing what all the lovers in his life wanted, rings, Nikes (but the real ones, specifically), and plenty of checks, though none of that is likely in his eyes. Frank establishes his moral code in "Nikes", detailing some obituary-esque lines before, at long last, showcasing his gorgeous, unpitched voice and telling us about how he cares for his lover/friend that, while he's younger than them, he still looks after them. "Nikes" sets you up for the rest of the album, weeding out listeners immediately to find out who wants to hear what Frank has to say. Following "Nikes" is a selection of more upbeat songs to contrast the latter half of the album, finding features from Beyonce and more that either went uncredited or are too long to mention. "Blond" has a gorgeous essence of collaboration to it, which is furthered in the vast expanse of sounds Frank goes for in the first half of the album, from bouncy flows in "Solo" to almost poetry-like lines in "Skyline To". After the last note of "Skyline To" plays, Frank details a "poolside convo" in "Self Control", the emotional climax of "Blond" that tells us what's really going on: Frank's significant other found someone else, and he can't help but hold onto it and hope to be with them somehow, despite how his emotions seem to be much stronger than his former lover's, since they moved on long ago and left Frank to deal with himself. "Self Control" details that story in a much more eloquent, poetic way that can't be described other than in the song itself, which is code for "please listen to 'Self Control' right now". After "Self Control", "Blond" gets more and more indulgent and contemplative, following up with a palate cleanser featuring Andre 3000 himself in "Solo (Reprise)". "Nights", the song leading up to the reprise, is the song I had my 19th birthday to, to get a bit personal. The reason is because of the gorgeous beat switch from an oppressive, claustrophobic-sounding guitar to an ethereal, spacey beat that does the exact opposite of paling in comparison to 2016's year of music production. If you can make it through that much of the album, good on you, take a break, have some tea or something because Frank hasn't unloaded on you just yet. Frank unloads on the listeners in everything past "Facebook Story", a funny little skit that talks about the little amount of contact people have past meaningless, short meetings that aren't always face to face, only to leave each other and never see each other again except for in awkward, emotionally difficult situations that Frank talks about constantly. "White Ferrari" is, quite possibly under "Self Control" or "Nikes", the best song on the album, combining Frank's soulful voice talking about being smaller in other dimensions and acoustic guitar to keep the song chugging along, layered on top of each other in the most gorgeous way. The album continues to spiral downward, passing by a gospel choir backing up Frank in "Godspeed", the song you'll end up showing to everyone from this album and saying it sounds like some new, beautiful religion you want to be a part of. The album closes off with "Futura Free", a 9 minute monster of a song that is divided into two parts: the song, and the interview that will make you bawl like a baby if you know Frank's past. Frank talks about wanting to pay us, the listener, for being his therapist, his outlet, his "Dr. Whoever" in the words of Amine, and his relationship with his mother/friends/family and anyone who crossed paths with him. Now that it's over, what do you have to say? Do you feel like you have to go cherish life and your relationships more? Do you want to listen again? These are all things I personally thought about after listening with some friends the whole way through. "Blond" isn't meant as a standalone, be-all-end-all of the conversation. Enjoy "Blond" with a friend, a lover, someone you trust, anyone you want as long as they mean something to you. Above all, enjoy "Blond" responsibly, take breaks if you need them, and give yourself time to process, especially if you've been listening along with these reviews. I shared my story about this album and all of Frank's other works, now go listen to them and do the same. Frank's voice has a reach further than music itself, and if he can make this humble music reviewer think about his life, emotions, and love, then I'm sure he can do the same for you. Enjoy.
Recommended If You Like: Any music at all really (it's that good)
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Frank Ocean - Endless
Posted: 1/14/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2016) This is the middle of a series of Frank Ocean reviews, spanning his mostly mainstream discography from 2011's "nostalgia,ULTRA" to "Blonde", his most recent work.
"Endless" is 45 minutes and 52 seconds, which is hilarious. Frank Ocean was at a crossroads in his career, trying to get out of a record deal so that he could make his own music in a more freeing way than he did previously. "Endless", a short film that plays the album as Frank and clones of himself build a staircase over 45 minutes, is that record deal loophole that Frank needed. After releasing the film with Apple, he left town and brought his hard drives, only to release his most recent album "Blonde" the next day, August 20th, 2016. "Endless" is much different that "Blonde", heck, it's much different than any work of art out there in how sparse and meticulous it is. As I write this, I'm listening to "Endless" on my local files on Spotify, just proving how hard it is to experience. The album begins with a cover of "At Your Best (You Are Love)" by The Isley Brothers, a gorgeous, but barely there interpretation of the classic song. It's hard to describe "Endless" as anything more than a short collection of snippets, but it's the cohesiveness that keeps me coming back for it time and time again. "Comme Des Garcons" is a standout track where Frank raps for the first time in a while over a minimal instrumental. Even knowing the tracklisting is difficult, as Frank never formally released a tracklisting that everyone can agree upon, ranging from versions made for the movie to the elusive vinyl. All I can say about "Endless" is that it's worth a listen before "Blonde" just for some context, but it's worth your time. Stay tuned for the final review on Frank Ocean's "Blonde"!
Recommended If You Like: Ambient music, sparse production, Frank Ocean's "Blonde"
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Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE
Posted: 1/8/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2012) This is the beginning of a series of Frank Ocean reviews, spanning his mostly mainstream discography from 2011's "nostalgia,ULTRA" to "Blonde", his most recent work.
"channel ORANGE" is a love letter to pop culture at its core, emulating a good movie or satisfyingly bingeworthy TV show in its pacing, lyrical detail, and lush production all over. This album is Frank's height to most, representing the perfection of whatever he was trying to achieve in 2012 with his record label and his artistic vision alike. It's incredibly unfair that an album like this doesn't feel like a roller coaster, but all that means is "channel ORANGE" has zero lows, no skips, not a single miss of a song, beginning to end. Starting the album off with "Thinkin Bout You", a low-key R&B ballad that manages to talk about fighter jets and beach houses in landlocked states within the same verse. Even the filler between the first true song and the next one on track 5, "Sweet Life", is incredibly well thought out, leading to yet another track with lush and brassy production, one of two scathing reviews of American greed on the album, which is track 7 with Earl Sweatshirt and my favorite on the album, "Super Rich Kids". Despite being the second longest song on the album, "Super Rich Kids" is a song that goes down too smoothly, one that's too easy to put on repeat just to hear Frank's incredible vocals and Earl's sludgy delivery of his verse. Again, the pacing of the album is cinematic, and "Pilot Jones" to "Crack Rock" solidify that vision, leading into the prolifically long "Pyramids", a gorgeous song with a fun, bouncy, club-inspired synth lead. Track after track, Frank does not miss a single good song, each one deserving a review of its own. By the end, after a John Mayer feature and somehow an Andre 3000 feature that Frank must've done some kissing up to the label to get seeing how much of a recluse 3000 is, the album comes to a close (and a sweet Tyler, The Creator feature on the bonus track of the CD if you've got it). Overall, "channel ORANGE" represents the time it was made in, much like Frank represents the hopeless and unrequited romantic in all of us. Stay tuned for "Endless" and "Blonde"!
Recommended If You Like: R&B, The Weeknd's early stuff, Odd Future, Andre 3000
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Frank Ocean - nostalgia,ULTRA
Posted: 1/8/2021 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2011) This is the beginning of a series of Frank Ocean reviews, spanning his mostly mainstream discography from 2011's "nostalgia,ULTRA" to "Blonde", his most recent work.
Frank Ocean, barely known to the world in 2011 past his Tumblr presence, was on the edge of breaking through to the world of music stardom when he released "nostalgia,ULTRA". This album is full of covers and interpolations that date the album to the 21st century, from MGMT references to a cover of a little-known Coldplay song that even I didn't know about until I heard Frank sing it. The album is split into parts, each divided by an interlude of cassette noises and alarm clocks, sometimes accompanied by music. The breakout singles of the album "Novacane" and "Swim Good" are some of the poppiest in Frank's discography, beside giants like "Nikes" and "Thinkin Bout You" in his later works. Frank appeals to the listener's, and mine especially, nostalgia by naming video games and using recognizable songs as blueprints for his first album, one notable example being his incredibly done version of "Hotel California", instead changed to the story of the tragedy of lost, but fleeting love in the wasteland that America calls a dating scene in "American Wedding", my favorite track on this album even after multiple listens. Frank's moral values are expressed on "We All Try", unifying those who disagree on conspiracy theories, marriage rights, and other important issues inside a track that's shorter than three minutes. Frank's ties to Odd Future are still strong at this point in his career, which is why even "We All Try" isn't a full representation of his self identity, but waiting until "Channel ORANGE" better explains that discrepancy. The funkiness of this album shines in songs like "Lovecrimes" and "Songs For Women", two songs that highlight Frank's flow and taste in lush, heavily layered instrumentation (plus a reference to his record collection in "Songs For Women", so props to him). Frank's college days are far behind him by the time the album came out, but his penchant for dwelling on the past as a means of therapy and processing emotions is beginning to show, which leads to his next major album, "Channel ORANGE" in which he describes parts of his life as an analogy to flipping through TV channels and watching a show or two. Stay tuned for "Channel ORANGE", "Endless", and "Blonde"!
Recommended If You Like: R&B, Stevie Wonder, 2010s pop music, Coldplay covers
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Mac Miller - Swimming
Posted: 12/12/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2018) Mac Miller has always been a talking point of the music community, who claims his music? The rap community? Jazz? R&B? Pop? There's no correct answer, and depending on who you ask, you'll get a very different response, but Mac's 2018 "Swimming" crossed more boundaries than it created before his extremely untimely passing the year "Swimming" came out, about a month after the release. His presence is missed in the community today, accounts from his musically talented friends (Thundercat, John Mayer, Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, etc.) always show the impact that he had on their music. "Swimming" is extremely diverse in how it presents different aspects of songwriting, like how the bass on "What's The Use?" is front and center, plus it's extremely groovy. Mac's singing alone could fill up an album of hits (see "Come Back to Earth", "2009"), and his rapping skills could do the same (see "Self Care", "Jet Fuel"). As an artist in general, Mac has produced under multiple pseudonyms, done jazzy versions of his songs at live venues as opposed to just singing over a backing track, and was quite the multi-instrumentalist as well. "Swimming" starts off with, as my mother called it, an "intensely beautiful" track titled "Come Back to Earth", a gorgeous intro that eases the listener into the world of "Swimming" in an ethereal 3-minute track, then thrusts them directly into Mac's wordy lyricism and floaty beats with "Hurt Feelings". My personal favorite track on the project, "Perfecto", is not only a pretty song, but the spoken word section at the very end serves as a reminder that Mac was someone just like his listeners, someone looking for repose in art and the warmth of someone else. Mac's unique voice is somewhere between a PA city boy and a slight drawl, giving character to every song, "Small Worlds" being a shining example of his singing voice and how his vocal style makes every word sound like it's dripping with emotion and meaning, showing Mac doesn't write just to write, he means what he's saying and isn't afraid to prove it in his music. Late album gem "Jet Fuel" starts off with one of the neatest vocal sampling jobs I've heard in a while, then drops off for a slick bassline and Mac's symmetrical, deliberate flow in a song I've never been so glad was almost 6 minutes long. Overall, "Swimming" is best as a companion piece to "Circles", his posthumous album that seems to round out the ideas and tie up the loose ends of "Swimming" in a tranquil, singing-centric way that doesn't leave anything else to be desired from the artist's prolific discography. "Swimming" is a great listen-through-the-whole-thing album, meant to be enjoyed as one collective piece with "acts" of sorts that divide the album like a well-written piece of literature or a classic musical. "So It Goes", the album's closer, leaves the listener wanting more, just like a good artist should, but it becomes easier and easier to let it run, flip the record over, and relisten again and again while multitasking or focusing on every word. Mac is meant for any occasion, any time, anyone who needs him. I feel like the album's song titles say it best when "Swimming" is, as Mac himself would say, perfecto.
Recommended If You Like: Jazz, laid-back rap, Thundercat, Anderson .Paak, John Mayer
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BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION II
Posted: 12/12/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2017) I don't know entirely where to start with BROCKHAMPTON and their prolific 2017 trilogy, but I can at least write about "SATURATION II", an incredible mixture of rap, rock, and a boy band-style outlook on both fame and music that, now more than ever, feels like a time capsule of the best parts of life. Every track title on "SATURATION II" is one word, all caps, representing the deep juxtapositions of every emotion each song aims to encapsulate in a few minutes. Kevin Abstract, the de facto leader of the band, covers hook after hook and verse after verse on the album, while Matt Champion, Merlyn Wood, Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon, and Joba cover just about everything Kevin doesn't, just like any good boy band should. BROCKHAMPTON's approach to songwriting is "Divide the work and showcase", like giving Joba beautiful falsetto melodies and giving Dom the conscious, wordy verses that take a little bit of homework to understand. Each instrumental is different from the last, spanning a wide range of ideas, though each feel finished and fully thought out. Some of the best songs are in the beginning to halfway point of the album, a slight lull happening around the 3/4 mark, until "SUNNY" comes to prepare you for the cataclysmically sad end, "SUMMER". I could go on for hours about this song, but I'll shorten it to this: BROCKHAMPTON's hidden gem, Bearface, sings over a jazzy, sorrowfully reminiscent chord progression, only to be followed by the most angelic guitar solo I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, inspired by a song off of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" by Kanye West, a great influence in the creation of BROCKHAMPTON to begin with. Much like other albums, this tape is best experienced in the company of others in a cramped car with barely any leg space, in the order the band intended. The rollercoaster of "SATURATION II" is obvious, but never rests on one part of the ride for too long. "GUMMY" starts out the album with a gorgeous, sprawling orchestral sample that suddenly cuts out and introduces the band over the course of one song alone. "TEETH" slows the formula of the classic BROCKHAMPTON banger for a more culture-conscience take by ex-member Ameer Vann. Later on in the album, "JUNKY" expands from a minimal beat and Kevin rapping to, by the end, Matt Champion almost losing his voice in defense of the women in his life. If you haven't been able to tell by now, BROCKHAMPTON only sings what they know: love, peace, and friendship, all of which are backed by deeply developed emotions that aren't there just to appeal to the "kids", no, BROCKHAMPTON is a band for the people, quite literally by the people. BROCKHAMPTON shines in its diverse lineup, influences, and music, no song or album sounding exactly alike whatsoever. BROCKHAMPTON has grown since the days of the "SATURATION" trilogy, developed into a poppy, yet dark at times boy band that has always been unafraid of the music business or what people think about them, giving their fans what they need, but not always what they may want. By the end of the album, "SUNNY" and "SUMMER" paint a picture of friends, together for now but not forever, sharing what seems to be the most emotion-filled moments of their lives at that time, culminating in the trip back to reality when Bearface's guitar fades out into silence, the end of "SUMMER", and the end of what many call the best of BROCKHAMPTON's discography. Though this may be the end of "SATURATION II", there's much to explore about the rest of the band's music, which leads me to a short proverb that I feel fits this band best: Give a man any old album, he will eat for a day, but give a man a BROCKHAMPTON album, he will eat for the rest of his life.
Recommended If You Like: Boy bands, Odd Future, diverse song structure, out of this world instrumentals
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The Neighbourhood - Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones (Deluxe)
Posted: 12/12/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) Deluxe editions are overrated in every year but 2020. The Weeknd's "After Hours", Lil Uzi Vert's "Eternal Atake", Amine's "Limbo", almost every deluxe version of albums in 2020 have been overwhelmingly good. The Neighbourhood tones it down on their deluxe release with a sparse addition of 4 songs, all with a generally different vibe. In 2020, The Neighbourhood frontman Jesse Rutherford painted himself a blinding silver and took on the role of washed-up star Chip Chrome for their most recent album, spanning themes of lost love in a wasteland, thinking you're pretty, and trying to understand whatever your relationship is with a love interest that somehow takes a political undertone (see "Here We Go Again"). The album is reminiscent of "Wiped Out!" if Chip Chrome/Jesse witnessed the rapture and was the only one left after the fallout, left with emotions from a world long gone behind him, truly a man out of time and space. Even the music videos portray Chip as a character outside of our own world, a chrome, space-age man that either fits before our time in the Wild West or far, far after us. The music itself, too, is timeless, each song never wearing out its welcome by the third consecutive listen. The album is full of palate cleansers like "Hell or High Water" and its plucky, cartoony bounce, and "The Mono-Tones" shedding light on some of the lore of the album through a high pitched filter. It's a true miracle that each song on the album didn't get too popular upon release, because the mystique of Chip and his band is best kept for those who appreciate it the most, those willing to roll with whatever Jesse Rutherford can pull out of his head each year. Enjoy "Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones" with a friend or two on a dark summer night, dancing to "Lost In Translation" around a fire, enjoy it alone under those glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling while "Pretty Boy" reminds you of that special someone who makes you feel gorgeous, enjoy it while driving around with the sunroof down while Jesse tells you just how much he's changed on "Devil's Advocate", or enjoy "Here We Go Again" on a walk in the cold winter months while your own, real-life neighborhood changes from the hectic holiday rush to a peaceful respite from the real world while Jesse croons through your headphones about just how horrible the world is outside of yours and his bubble together, which is exactly how I chose to enjoy the deluxe version of this gorgeous album. Seriously, this is a trip meant to be shared with people you care about, especially yourself. Enjoy.
Recommended If You Like: Pop-R&B, The 1975, Wallows, The Neighbourhood's "Wiped Out!"
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Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon III: The Chosen
Posted: 12/11/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) Scott Mescudi is back, 10 years after the last Man On The Moon record, "Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager". Cudi's more recent efforts have either fallen short in the eyes of the public or become cult classics, though his more recent collaborations like "The Scotts" with none other than Travis Scott have been well received. No matter what, though, his "Man On The Moon" albums have always been hits, with multiple singles on each, including the iconic "Day 'N' Night (Nightmare)". On this project, it's obvious that there will be some breakout hits, along with a few hidden gems on the record. Some notable features include the late rapper Pop Smoke, British rapper Skepta, indie sweetheart Phoebe Bridgers, and Trippie Redd. After a little bit of intro, Cudi is in his true form, humming, singing, rapping a little, and doing what he does best. The lack of filler on this album is a huge draw, and though the features leave a little to be desired (where's Travis?), Kid Cudi rolls through song after song with what feels like no intermissions, no breaks, not even a quick stop to catch his breath. 10 years in the making, Cudi's psychedelic instrumentals and unique vocal approach hasn't changed for the sake of the times, but for the sake of carrying on the tradition of constantly breaking form with each album he releases, finally coming to rest on one of the most cathartic musical experiences he could possibly give us to save this dumpster fire of a year. I've been waiting 10 years, you've been waiting 10 years, and it's obvious that Cudi waited for us to be ready for exactly when we needed him: now.
Recommended If You Like: Travis Scott, experimental R&B, 2000s-2010s music, any other Kid Cudi project
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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G.
Posted: 11/21/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is back with another microtonal project, the second one since their legendary 5-albums-in-one-year 2017 run. While the uninitiated to the Gizzverse would dismiss this as the same sound they've done before, keep in mind that this is their 16th(?) full-length studio album since 2012. K.G. is a solid album overall, ranging from microtonal (notes between notes in non-Western scales) disco house to sea-shanty-like songs about metaphysics in the span of about 40 minutes. A stand-out track, "Intrasport", is likely to be the next big dance hit of the generation that has moved past dance music entirely. Known for their constant ingenuity in whatever genre they emulate in each album, K.G. comes off as a more refined album of microtonal pieces that a band has to do once or twice to fully "get". Overall, it may not have been the new album we were expecting in the King Gizz community, but it was the one we needed.
Recommended If You Like: KGATLW's "Flying Microtonal Banana" and "Polygondwanaland", disco, 70s music
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100 gecs - 1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues
Posted: 11/18/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) 100 gecs knows what they're doing, and they're doing it well. Since the 2019 release of their first full-length, non-remixed album, "1000 gecs", the band's sound has been a combination of the works of both members, Laura Les and Dylan Brady. While the first release was iconic in its own right, it left the door open for many, many artists to come in and shake up the 100 gecs formula with their own style. Among some of the more famous artists on the remix album are Fall Out Boy, A. G. Cook, Injury Reserve, Dorian Electra, and Black Dresses, just to name a few. Along with 14 remixed songs, the band included some unreleased and live tracks from fishcenter to round it out with some all-new content. Some songs are changed completely in the remixing process, like "hand crushed by a mallet" becoming a pop-punk masterpiece in the hands of Patrick Stump and others, and "gecgecgec" becoming an absolutely incredible beat for Lil West and Tony Velour to rap over. If you thought the original "1000 gecs" album was a bit much to swallow, this may be a better place to start for an overall poppier sound that doesn't delve too deep into strong hyperpop territory, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any grating, mechanical sounding songs like the Black Dresses remix of "745 sticky" and N0thanky0u's "hand crushed by a mallet" remix, both borderline noise music pieces. With this in mind, "1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues" is a great look into the minds of Laura and Dylan, along with a fresh take on their work.
Recommended If You Like: Kero Kero Bonito, hyperpop, A. G. Cook/PC Music affiliates
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Bladee - EXETER
Posted: 11/9/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2020) Bladee, the ringleader of the music collective Drain Gang, has dropped 2 projects in 2020 so far, 333 and EXETER. EXETER, 333's shorter, ethereal cousin, clocks in at around 20 minutes, a minimal span of time to achieve what Bladee accomplishes in this project. Bladee enlists Drain Gang collaborator Ecco2k for tracks WONDERLAND and LOVESTORY, two standout duet pieces on the project. Bladee's artist-defining autotune and synth-heavy production style seem to lighten up on all tracks throughout EXETER, leaving his vocals to not only float on top of the instrumental, but mesh within them and become an instrument itself. Bladee's lyrics, or mantras more specifically, are sparse and allow his instrumentals room to breathe, which is the main draw for most of Bladee's work to begin with. Overall, EXETER is a short project that ends up feeling like a full album's worth of content to tide the listener over until the next Bladee album, but shouldn't be overlooked as filler content in Bladee's discography purely for how much he has changed since 2019 alone.
Recommended If You Like: 100 Gecs, Playboi Carti, hyperpop, dreamy-sounding beats
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Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs
Posted: 11/1/2020 by Sam Bailey ( See All) Show:(2018) Earl Sweatshirt has been growing since his Odd Future days with Tyler and Frank, and yet, his talent has grown with him in both lyricism and instrumental production. His dark lyrics and grating production style fits within a short 24ish minutes and leaves the listener with a cathartic, yet deeply moving experience to stick with them.
Recommended If You Like: Experimental, ambient noise, weird production
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