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
Eiko Ishibashi - Evil Does Not Exist
Posted: 7/28/2024 by James Clontz ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM(2024) Ryusuke Hamaguchi's film "Evil Does Not Exist" would not exist if it hadn't been for its soundtrack, composed by avant-garde musician Eiko Ishibashi. The "Drive My Car" director's original intention was to create a 30 minute short without dialogue paired with live scoring by Ishibashi, however, as production continued, the decision was made to expand the movie with a feature length and the addition of dialogue. The two bonded over the late Jean-Luc Godard, finding a "musical quality" to his work, perhaps best exemplified in Godard's 1980 film "Every Man for Himself", which, curiously, credits the man not as director but instead as composer.
Thanks to all of this, "Evil Does Not Exist" as a soundtrack is more than just supplementary, making it a worthy album outside of its (also fantastic) movie. Guitars performed by Ishibashi's partner, the legendary Jim O'Rourke, who also mixes and masters the record.
Recommended If You Like: film scores, electroacoustic, ambient, chamber jazz, etc.
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Lupe Fiasco - Samurai
Posted: 7/9/2024 by Liam Delaney ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM(2024) Incredible concept record from the rap legend Lupe Fiasco. Not only are the lyrics really conceptual and thought provoking, but the instrumentals are really fun as well. Highly recommend it for anyone who likes rap music, or even just music in general.
Recommended If You Like: Old school soul-inspired hip-hop
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Charli xcx - BRAT
Posted: 6/26/2024 by Leilani Krady ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM(2024) BRAT - Charli xcx
In case you have been living under a rock, it's officially BRAT summer. On June 7th Charli xcx returned from the world of CRASH (2022) to swoop in and save pop music with her already highly acclaimed 8th studio album, BRAT. The album artwork, which is simply the word ‘brat’ in blurry arial font on a vivid lime green background, immediately reached legendary icon status, prompting an internet trend where people take pictures or videos of any lime-green object they see out in the world and interpret it as intentional marketing for the album. There is even a brat generator website where users can type whatever they want in arial font on the now-famous shade of green. So what does BRAT summer entail? What does it mean to be a BRAT? What's this album all about?
BRAT summer is passing around a bottle of wine in the river with your friends. It’s unironically wearing Crocs. It’s sleeping naked. It’s finding beauty in and embracing the innate paradoxes of life. It’s getting a little too tipsy at the family function. It’s your favorite shoes giving you blisters. It’s ditching your man to go out with the girls. It’s going thrifting with a cold brew full of melted ice. It is embracing contradiction. It is simultaneously having a god complex while being debilitatingly insecure. BRAT is messy, it is unquestionably real, and it's not only already one of the most important albums of the summer, but I’ll bet that it’s going to be fighting for album of the year.
“360” was the last single and the opening track off of BRAT, and it sets the lyrical and sonic tone of the album. Sonically, it immediately tells us that we’re in for a hyperpop-infused treat. Lyrically, it’s a god complex club banger. Famous lines from “360” include “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia” (a reference to Julia Fox, pop culture icon) and “when you're in the mirror, do you like what you see? / when you're in the mirror, you're just looking at me.” The track features a video-game-esque electronic melody and, of course, confident/bratty lyrics. This is where BRAT shines--walking the line between pure self confidence and brattiness… and it doesn’t feel the need to pick one or the other.
“Club classics” is driven by looping vocal clips, half-spoken lyrics, and thumping electronic synths. Hyperpop influence is massively apparent on this track as well as the rest of the album. “Club classics” is, of course, very SOPHIE-esque (more on that later). This track is another club banger about Charli’s favorite club bangers. Very meta. She wants to dance to A. G., to SOPHIE, with George, and, in BRAT fashion, to her own music.
The only way I can describe the masterpiece that is “Sympathy is a knife” is as a hyperpop lamentation about insecurity and the pain/embarrassment that can accompany sympathy. The verses are sparse musically, with a rapid repetition of motifs that drives us into a chorus expertly punctuated by what sounds like a staccato of violin notes. This one high-pitched detail gives this song a mournful and tense atmosphere. Charli’s vocals are also perfectly painful. She has a knack for encapsulating huge and overwhelming complex emotions in simplistic lyrics--such as the very specific feeling generated by lines like “I feel all these feelings I can't control.”
“I might say something stupid” is a musical vibe shift into a sad, slow, and autotuned world. Again Charli’s ability to convey such specific feelings associated with certain scenarios is highly commendable. Painfully relatable lyrics include “I look perfect for the background / I get nervous, sip the wine” and “I snag my tights out on the lawn chair / guess I'm a mess and play the role.” On this note, BRAT summer is also all about the duality of being able to switch up between dancing to hyperpop and crying to mellow electronic music. Which brings us back to…
With “Talk talk” we’re back to the bangers. Enough moping! This song is a wonderful, straight up pop joyride, featuring more 10/10 lines like “I followed you to the bathroom / but then I felt crazy”--which, according to Charli, actually happened. The repetition of “I wish you’d talk, talk” on the chorus is so satisfying to listen to and a real earworm. The outro is another highlight--I am constantly muttering “talk to me in French / talk to me in Spanish / talk to me in your own made-up language.” Groovy.
“Von dutch” was the lead single off of BRAT, dropping in February. It’s another banger which walks the line between confident and bratty. It also features the line “do that littl? dance, without it, you'd be namel?ss” which is funny, considering that a remix of this track was dropped shortly after featuring Addison Rae, who got famous dancing on TikTok. Lines like “it's okay to just admit that you're jealous of me” are quintessentially BRAT and loop in my head constantly. Sonically “Von dutch” features pulsating and swirling electronic sounds along with a pounding beat--the perfect mixture to drive your car full speed off of a cliff. It’s one the most banger bangers on the album.
“Everything is romantic” has a concept that I absolutely love. It seeks to emphasize the beauty of romanticizing everything. It asks you to fully appreciate every moment that you get to be alive. The orchestral intro is an absolutely perfect touch. Here Charli finds the beauty in “bad tattoos on leather-tanned skin” and “Jesus Christ on a plastic sign”. This is BRAT at its core. BRAT summer is about finding the beauty in the odd and the paradoxical. This album cuts to the core of the human experience wrapped up in a hyperpop package--that’s just the versatility of Charli xcx. However, rather than lines about seeing the beauty in a rich European country, it would, in my irrelevant opinion, be more effective to describe the beauty of very mundane aspects of regular life. Italy or wherever is already romanticized, it isn’t revolutionary to be in a place where you can see “Pompeii in the distance” and think about how beautiful life is. I would have loved to see more appreciation for the beauty in the “ugly” parts of life, like bad tattoos. Nonetheless, a fantastic song.
“Rewind” is a song about wanting to go back to simpler times. I find some of the sound effects to be a bit corny, but her lyrics are quite genuine and real. This song, I believe, was meant to be played exclusively off of a DSi. Or filmed at a concert on a DSi. That would be the ideal setting and vibe. This song feels quite 100gecs-y as well.
“So I” is Charli’s tribute song to her friend and collaborator, SOPHIE, a pioneer in hyperpop who tragically passed away in early 2021. SOPHIE’s song “It’s Okay To Cry” is referenced in the chorus. Painful and haunting lyrics infuse this grief-drenched track with a raw pain that anyone who’s ever experienced grief may find comfort in. Particularly devastating is the end of the first verse: “You'd say, "Come on, stay for dinner" / I'd say, "No, I'm fine" (Now I really wish I'd stayed)”. “So I” is a lovingly crafted well-written tribute to a lost artist and Charli’s friend.
“Girl, so confusing” is a masterclass in songcraft. Charli taps into a very specific experience common to young women everywhere. Lyrics like “Can't tell if you wanna see me / falling over and failing / and you can't tell what you're feeling / I think I know how you feel” perfectly capture how difficult it can be to navigate interpersonal relationships as a young person. This song also generated speculation as to who it was about--lines like “people say we're alike / they say we've got the same hair / we talk about making music” narrowed it down to a similar artist in Charli’s realm that also had the same hair as her. “Think you should come to my party / and put your hands up” seemed to indicate that the person in question was Lorde, who famously sung “I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air.” After letting speculation run rampant for two full weeks, Charli xcx and Lorde confirmed the rumors and dropped a remix of “Girl, so confusing” together, featuring a wicked smart verse and chorus written by Lorde. The whole verse is worth checking out, but my favorite Lorde-lines are “and it's just self-defense / until you're building a weapon” and “I never thought for a second / my voice was in your head.” Both the original and the remix are works of art. It IS so confusing to be a girl! AND it’s a banger and a half! “Girl, so confusing” is another incredible track that embraces the BRAT energy in every paradoxical relationship.
“Apple” is one of BRAT’s most underrated deep cuts in my opinion. It’s based off of the simple “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” metaphor. The beat is bumping and the premise is a universal experience that doesn’t get voiced often in music. I totally understand just wanting to drive all night instead of confronting familial issues. “I think the apple's rotten right to the core / from all the things passed down / from all the apples coming before / I split the apple down symmetrical lines / and what I find is kinda scary / makes me just wanna drive” is jarringly poetic for a dancepop song. Did I mention that it’s also a banger? BRAT is chocked full of club bangers that lyrically confront deep existential questions. Thus is the nature of BRAT.
“B2b” SLAPS! The vocals are basically instrumentation on this one. The pounding beat drives this track, but at around 0:43, the introduction of a sort of distant droning synth adds a fascinating air of anxiety to the track. It almost reminds me of a tornado siren. “Maybe you should run right back to her / I don't wanna go back.” At 1:32 a falling noise that sounds like a bomb dropping is introduced. My favorite part of the song is at 1:49 when “Took a long time” hits and the beat drops through the floor. Inject that synth in my veins, I feel like a space robot! This song feels like a deepcut despite being the second single.
This one’s for all my “Mean girls”!!! Another song to blast at the pregame, and a shout-out to haters everywhere. It is another quintessential BRAT track: real brats are out here hating on fake people. The piano which is introduced at 1:25? Shut up. Expert choice, perfect touch. Charli is brilliant. It becomes so jaunty! I’ll even be gracious and say that the Parry Gripp sounding voice distortion at 1:37 is camp. Truly an anthem for haters everywhere.
“I think about it all the time” caught me off guard at first, but has steadily grown on me. It is a simple lullaby expressing very elegantly another common female experience--feeling torn between the prospect of motherhood and familial fulfillment vs. potentially missing out for the sake of an independent life. Charli has a less common perspective since she is a public figure: “Should I stop my birth control? / cause my career feels so small / in the existential scheme of it all.” Overall another gorgeous song which speaks to the unspoken ponderings of women everywhere.
Here’s the thing about girls--they CAN do it both. They can go from the existential prospect of motherhood to the drug-fueled rave of BRAT’s closing track, “365”. THIS is what BRAT summer is all about--duality. This track is another club hit, and certainly many people will play it while “bumpin’ that”. At 1:05 the way the synth comes in sends fire through your veins. It makes you want to get up and start running and maybe snort something. At 1:20 the “no, I never go home, don't sleep, don't eat / just do it on repeat” goes SO hard. Getting absolutely drowned under the ocean of dubstep in the outro is also the perfect end to this album. With that, we circle back to the beginning and continue to bump Charli xcx’s BRAT on repeat (keep bumpin’ that).
Recommended If You Like: Caroline Polachek, SOPHIE, Rina Sawayama, 100gecs, Addison Rae
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Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
Posted: 5/19/2024 by Leilani Krady ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM(2024) HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish carved herself a wildly successful niche in the zeitgeist of teenagers drowning in their own heads during the second half of the 2010s. After 2016’s “ocean eyes” came her 2017 EP, don’t smile at me, which proved not only her talent as an artist but her ability to construct a musical narrative and persona that cut through all the BS and gripped the inner world of freshly-conscious Gen Zers. Hits like “bellyache” and “idontwannabeyouanymore” are characteristic because they reveal two threads within Eilish’s musical universe that garnered her widespread popularity: The first being her unabashed willingness to explore and embrace the macabre, and the second being her determination to truthfully and explicitly give a voice to the depressed and anxious realities experienced by an unprecedented proportion of her young audience.
Both of these threads wove their way into the hearts of people around Eilish’s age across the world. She was a catalyst for a new type of popstar, one who was, for lack of a better phrase, not like the other girls. She exclusively wore baggy clothes, she spoke openly about her mental health issues, and she released music that caused genuine parental concern. In short, she and her music represented the antithesis of happy-go-lucky stereotypical popstardom. It was raw, it was real, it was unheard of in the mainstream, and it spoke to the taboo darkness that every teenager experiences.
Don’t smile at me was followed up by her Grammy-winning 2019 debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Devoid of capitalized song titles, WWAFAWDWG was an expertly executed expansion of ideas first proposed in DSAM. “bad guy” became a massive hit, “i love you” remains on sad playlists to this day, and “bury a friend” obliterated the boundaries of what a pop song could be with its visceral lyrics, tooth-drill-screeching sound effects, and horror-movie-style music video. The 2019 Album of the Year immediately became a classic in the genre and showed that Eilish could excel in the dark and gritty niche that she has carved out for herself.
Coming out of a pandemic-intermission, Eilish pulled a 180 with her 2021 release Happier Than Ever. She dyed her hair blonde, went on the cover of Vogue, and released a disjointed album that explored new sounds and themes. Don’t get me wrong; Happier Than Ever features some genuinely fantastic, fresh, and innovative songs like “Therefore I Am,” “Happier Than Ever,” “GOLDWING,” etcetera. As a complete package, though, it suffers from confusing song order choices and multiple unnecessary filler songs that, if cut, would’ve improved the album’s composition overall. Although I won’t get into the trenches here, some of my main gripes include the misguided decision to put an almost 4 minute spoken word piece smack-dab in the middle of an album which is already pushing it on length as well as the similarly odd choice to end the album on the painfully average and uninspired “Male Fantasy” rather than the explosive, scream-in-your-car penultimate track “Happier Than Ever”. Happier Than Ever represented an important side-quest in Eilish’s career which broke her self-made mold, freed her of expectations, and expanded her thematic and sonic resume in a way that left doors wide open for whatever direction she chose to pursue next.
This direction arrived on May 17th, 2024 with Eilish’s 3rd studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Despite her (justified) decision to not release any singles in the leadup to the album’s release, a couple of snippet leaks and an extremely personal Rolling Stones interview had expectations high. Fans of Eilish’s WWAFAWDWG aesthetic and sound are the clear winners here. Eilish herself describes (in the Rolling Stones interview by Angie Martoccio) HMHAS as a sort of homecoming to her pre-Happier Than Ever self: “I feel like this album is me … it feels like the When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? version of me.” She also admits what was evident to many long-time fans--that Happier Than Ever was “a coping mechanism of an album.”
But HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a return to, as her brother/co-writer/producer Finneas says, “what we do best.” Eilish describes this album as feeling “like I’m coming back to the girl that I was. I’ve been grieving her. I’ve been looking for her in everything, and it's almost like she got drowned by the world and the media. I don’t remember when she went away.”
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is the perfect evolution of Billie Eilish. It is the culmination of eight years of musical growth and self-discovery. While being rooted in the Eilish-pioneered macabre-pop ambiance of her first album, her 3rd album ties in the thematic growth and experimentation of the 2nd album all while featuring the most mature and musically cutting-edge version of Eilish to date. It also cuts out the unnecessary fluff that bogged down Happier Than Ever--HMHAS is a perfectly tight, thematically and sonically unified, no-skip 10-song package. It reinforces what we already know: That Eilish has an uncanny ability to tap into the current cultural climate of her generation and release music at the opportune time for her listeners who have literally grown up with her. Thus, with HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, Billie Eilish is back.
“SKINNY” tenderly transitions us out of the golden-but-sad realm of Happier Than Ever and into the reawakened deep-sea black-and-blue synth and electronica of HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. It reminds me of how boygenius’s “Without You Without Them” opens The Record in a very sonically similar way to how “Ketchum, ID” ends their self-titled prior album (acapella or nearly acapella, all three members harmonizing, etc). “SKINNY” underscores Eilish’s characteristic soaring soprano with a deliciously indie guitar melody. Lyrically it also feels quite Happier Than Ever, with discussions of fame, body image, getting older, and unbalanced relationships. The last minute of the song is an unexpected but gorgeous orchestral outro. This string arrangement leads us directly into HMHAS’s leading banger.
With “LUNCH”, Billie Eilish has thrown her hat in the ring for sexiest sapphic banger of the summer. It’s pulsating, groovy, and endlessly stuck in everyone’s head. In a sort of “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter manner, “LUNCH” opens with its chorus, which has been floating around on TikTok and my head as a snipped in the weeks leading up to May 17th: ‘I could eat that girl for lunch/yeah, she dances on my tongue/tastes like she might be the one/and I could never get enough/I could buy her so much stuff/it's a craving, not a crush, oh.’ The baseline and the guitar dance around each other and the synth is indescribably delicious. It ends with a melody of inhales and exhales, which I will probably never stop thinking about. No notes. With “LUNCH”, Eilish is back and better than ever.
In classic Eilish manner, the sultry dance banger is followed by a monumental vibe shift that she somehow manages to totally pull off. “CHIHIRO” also had a snippet of the verse floating around the internet (‘not today, maybe tomorrow/open up the door/can you open up the door…’). It takes us on a well-deserved 5-minute journey across pulsing electronic beats, echoing vocals, and a hauntingly out-of-this-world bridge. The synth melody which takes us to the climactic bridge first unassumingly starts throbbing underneath Eilish’s tender voice until it becomes so loud and demanding that it grabs listeners by the shoulders and throws them out of the windows of their comfort zone. Eilish is now yelling in the background, ‘I, I don't know why I called/I don't know you at all/I don't know you’. I can think of no other comparison other than Eilish’s own extremely underappreciated song, “NDA”. “NDA” always stood out to me on Happier Than Ever, and I think it could fit on this new album. The striking build to the bridge on “CHIHIRO” reminds me of the crescendoing build to the outro on “NDA”--the way Eilish is loudly pleading only to be drowned out by synthesizers is an expert artistic choice. Every time the synth melody before the bridge starts to build in “CHIHIRO” I half expect to hear Eilish belt out ‘did I take it too far?/now I know what you are/you hit me so hard/I saw stars.’
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” blesses our ears with a rare genuinely sweet Billie Eilish love song. It’s a beautiful demonstration of her vocal range, it features a classic Finneas/Billie electronic beat and melody, it will go on love playlists everywhere, and it’s just plain beautiful. I am personally a huge fan of the post-chorus: ‘I knew you in another life/you had that same look in your eyes/I love you, don't act so surprised.’ Another smash hit.
“WILDFLOWER” is the most stripped back song on the album. It starts off with a slow guitar strum which eventually builds. Eilish’s crooning voice absolutely oozes with feelings of regret and guilt, which are the main emotions in the song. Again, the chorus melody is intriguing and haunting. These feelings are in line with the song’s subject matter, which describes the narrator (presumably Eilish) harboring extremely mixed feelings about entering a relationship with her friend’s ex--and how it haunted her for their whole relationship. The belting vocalizations that enter across the later chorus and bridge are a great touch, contributing to the haunting ambiance. This song is sonically and thematically riddled with ghosts--something only Eilish and Finneas can achieve so well.
“THE GREATEST” starts off innocently enough with a simple plucky guitar melody and eventually culminates in an all-out rock breakdown. In a more recent Rolling Stones article featuring omitted interview snippets from the original article, Eilish accurately says that “'Happier Than Ever' walked so that 'The Greatest' could run.” It has a tension-building chorus (sort of akin to “i love you”) where you can feel the pain of sacrificing everything for someone who doesn’t seem to care. The line ‘doing what's right/without a reward/and we don't have to fight/when it's not worth fighting for’ is exceptionally painful. Again, Eilish shows off her vocal maturity and belts all across the incredible rock-infused bridge. Although “THE GREATEST” is perhaps more sad-rock than the more rage-rock of “Happier Than Ever,” it is still a worthy successor.
“L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” is the first of multiple 2-part songs on the latter half of HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. By this I mean that the beginning and ending of these songs are so sonically different from each other that they function as two distinct but complementary parts of the greater whole. Think “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” from Tyler, The Creator’s IGOR. “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” is witty and self aware, with the first part featuring an almost “Billie Bossa Nova” sort of guitar melody. It has a jazzy breakdown for the second chorus, which is scrumptious--Billie’s ‘then you moved on [*chuckle*] immediately (bum, bum, bum)’ is impeccable. Just when you think you know what this song is gonna be, the 3.5-minute mark rolls around, and you’re introduced to a thumping beat, 80s-synths, and hyper-auto-tuned vocals that make her sound like she’s singing in a retro video game. This part of the song is vibrant and pulsating. The lyrics ‘wanna know what I told her/with her hand on my shoulder?/you were so mediocre/and we're so glad it's over now’ were also released in a snippet online in the lead up to the album's release. Both parts of the song work together perfectly in a way that only Billie Eilish can pull off. Another incredible song.
“THE DINER” is from the perspective of a stalker. The sonic landscape is something out of a retro murder mystery movie. You can imagine the subject creeping around in a cartoon-villain-esque manner. The macabre subject matter and sonic atmosphere make this song feel like it would fit well on WWAFAWDWG. Eilish’s low and sly voice is reverbed to give the song an even more creepy and haunting ambiance. She sounds like she is singing into one of those echo microphone kids toys from the 2000s in a dark room in a big chair with window-blind striped shadows across her face. This type of genuinely creepy pop masterpiece is emblematic of what Billie Eilish has always done best.
The video-game-esque synth that smacks you in the face at the start of “BITTERSUITE” feels like something off of IGOR (maybe the initial droning of “IGOR’S THEME”). This song is another 2-parter. “BITTERSUITE” feels like a perfect example of Billie and Finneas incorporating some of the new sonic and lyrical experiences gained from Happier Than Ever into the older WWAFAWDWG sonic landscape and mood. Lyrically and rhythmically it draws from HTE, but it is steeped in a deep dark oceanic moodiness first worked with on her first album. The build in the pre-chorus and the chorus itself is brooding and carnal, with the pulsating synth and Eilish’s soaring voice locked into a stupefying dance. After the first minute and a half we enter the second part of the song which has a very “I Didn’t Change My Number” sort of rhythm to it. Both halves of “BITTERSUITE” work together to produce a very anticipatory atmosphere of tense desire.
“BLUE” is the final track on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. It is also a 2-parter. It is beautiful, devastating, and, of course, absolutely soaking in deep hues of black and blue. The chorus sets the tone: ‘I try to live in black and white, but I'm so blue/I'd like to mean it when I say I'm over you/but that's still not true (blue)/and I'm still so blue, oh.’ The melody dances across a chasmic bass and guitar. Part 2 hits around two minutes in. It is a simple lullaby, but with Eilish-style ‘listen before i go’ sirens in the background for ambiance. The bridge introduces an altered Eilish voice and creepy audio effects which carry us into the last chorus and bridge, which serve as the synthesis of both parts of “BLUE”. The ending portion even brings in another orchestral strings section, which brings us back to the beginning with the string arrangement on “SKINNY”. A gorgeous way to wrap up a stunning album, perfectly priming the listener to loop back around to the beginning.
Recommended If You Like: Anything Billie Eilish has ever done; pop in general
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Taylor Swift - THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY
Posted: 4/23/2024 by Leilani Krady ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM(2024) Taylor Swift has released her newest collection of pages out of her diary. She has also followed in Midnight’s footsteps and surprise-dropped an extended edition in the early morning hours after the album’s initial release. However, unlike Midnights (3AM Edition)’s 7 bonus tracks, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY is marketed as a double album, and adds 15 additional songs to the original 16 of TTPD. The term “double album drop,” doesn’t describe two separate sister albums, but one 31-song conglomeration that’s over 2 hours long. TTPD:TA is now Swift’s longest album in terms of number of tracks, but is second longest in terms of run time: It is 8 minutes shorter than Red (Taylor’s Version) while still being 1 track longer. Swift’s latest movie-length project was produced and written by herself and her frequent collaborators, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner.
As evident as it was to me going into this that TTPD was going to be a relatively mellow breakup album, I was still overwhelmed by the strict sonic cohesion that, though giving the piece as a whole a very concrete aesthetic and palate, inevitably leads to many of the non-standout tracks blurring together or even falling through the cracks. In her defense, it’s an unachievable goal to create an album as long as this one that solely contains standout songs. In fact, these standouts are generally the tracks that provide the most sonic variation and experimentation: “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” for example, provides a much-needed shot of adrenaline in the trenches of the album. Unsurprising for the run time, this album really drags at times as it cycles through the same few themes. Sonically, thematically, and lyrically TTPD is “Maroon” from Midnights expanded over 31 songs. Maybe it’s the Antonoff curse, but truly, these songs all sound SO similar. The music, of which there are rarely identifiable instruments, is colored a sad millennial beige. Sure, you can argue that this is the intended aesthetic of the album, but the uniformity of the music even for the sake of aesthetics does not make it good or interesting to listen to--ESPECIALLY not for 2 straight hours.
What this album needed most was to understand the meaning of ‘quality over quantity’--it could have been a much greater TS release if it possessed the self awareness to only feature the best 10 to 12 tracks off of TTPD:TA. Afterall, it isn’t like all 31 tracks on TTPD:TA are being used to explore new themes, thoughts, or concepts; they just continue to beat the same five dead horses with different synth backdrops. If the album was boiled down to the top 11 songs, it would contain the same amount of thematic content present in the current album but with a much more effective brevity that allows the emotional and lyrical contents to fully breathe in the fresh air of a normal 40 minute run time. (In fact, I have taken one for the team and created TORTURED POETS (ABRIDGED VERSION) which preserves the best tracks, core themes, and overall tone of the album without any of the filler--all in a perfectly reasonable 40 minute run time: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1dGQmwzlymyNu573E5hk7q?si=4fb419e6165445f5 )
ALBUM 1
“Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” will inevitably be misspelled as ‘fortnite’ by Googlers everywhere for the foreseeable future. Despite its perhaps unfortunate name, the opening track sets the tone and ambiance that will follow throughout the album. Synth backdrops, lyrical repetition, and a slow build will all be featured many times more in the coming tracks. Malone is a great feature, and his harmonies are a beautiful addition to the song. It’s an alright opener. It’s no “State of Grace.”
“The Tortured Poets Department” has a twinkling synth that dances through each line, almost “Bejeweled”-esque (I hate to keep making comparisons to Midnights, but the sonic palates are almost identical, with TTPD just foregoing the electrifying dance songs for even more somber lamentations).
With the second track, we are introduced to an unfortunate recurring theme that plagues this album: some of the most jaw-droppingly cringey lyrics ever penned by Taylor Swift. It painfully boggles my mind how the same woman who wrote “cowboy like me,” “illicit affairs,” and “All Too Well” can unironically sing lyrics like ‘and who’s gonna hold you like me?/No-f*cking-body/You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate/We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.’ But I digress.
On that note, TTPD:TA also has the most offensively cringe song titles in Swift’s repertoire. Putting aside the first two, the third track hits you with “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.” Other offenders that I will get to include “But Daddy I Love Him,” “Fresh Out The Slammer,” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” I do not have much to say about this song--it’s another “Maroon” or “Question…?”
“Down Bad,” which sounds by the title as if it would be a Reputation vault track, actually is, would you believe, also a sad-synth-ballad-from-Midnights-esque track. It utilizes its 4.5 minute run time to go absolutely nowhere. The way she says ‘f*ck it if I can’t have him’ is sort of satisfying, in a weird brain-scratching way. Another skip for me.
“So Long, London” is the 5th track, which is usually regarded as the most devastating on a given Taylor Swift album. On this album, the 5th track is not only finally the place where we get to see Swift’s true songwriting chops, but it also probably killed Joe Alwyn, just like “All Too Well” did to Jake Gyllenhaal. The melody is immediately much more engaging, unique, and musically interesting than the previous four songs. ‘And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free’ is, and I am dead serious here, chef’s kiss. Lyrically, she nailed this one. The bridge is also classically beautiful, but, in my own nitpicky opinion, would have been even better with an explosive emotional bridge, a la ‘Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much/But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up’ of “All Too Well” or ‘Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts/Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first’ of “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.”
The elephant in the room about “But Daddy I Love Him” is obviously the egregiously self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking lyric, ‘But, daddy, I love him! I’m having his baby/No, I’m not, but you should see your faces.’ Now, I’m woman enough to admit that that did, indeed, get me good. In fact, I thought it was hilarious; she really can just write whatever she wants to at this point, huh? That being said, it is still absolutely ridiculous--whether in a good way or a bad way, I cannot decide. Musically, it’s one of the more upbeat tracks, and for that reprieve, I am thankful. It is not good enough to be almost 6 minutes long, though… not in an album already double an acceptable length.
My immediate take on “Fresh Out the Slammer”--BESIDES the fact that the title is too embarrassing for me to ever say out loud--is that I LOVE the spaghetti-western-esque electric guitar sound that plays in the first second of the track. This song would have been incredible and subversive in the context of the album if the production leaned more into a steel guitar/western vibe for this track rather than continuing the same synthpop we’ve waded through for the first six tracks.
“Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)” finally tries to do something different. Florence Welch is IMPECCABLE and the perfect feature. Unfortunately I am not confident that I can get over just how jarring the percussive explosions are on the chorus. I know that’s the point, but… it doesn’t quite work. This song would have worked well as a “no body, not crime” moment. The bridge is excellent, and it's a shame the rest of the song does not follow suit. There are enough redemptive bits and pieces of this song that I wouldn’t skip it if it came on shuffle. I think that this song stands out because it's one of the few on this album that actually tries to do something different. It doesn’t hold up compared to other Taylor Swift songs, but in the specific context of TTPD, it is certainly in the top 5 of most engaging tracks.
First perfected with Reputation, “Guilty as Sin?” is emblematic of Swift’s ability to write a really good carnal-yearning-in-a-religiously-repressed-way banger. The beat is groovy, the melody is satisfying, the lyrics are risqué, and the contrasting religious imagery is flowing. Finally we get the hint of real instruments with the choruses, and somehow the flow (or maybe it's the crooning guitar) almost makes it seem like this song could be a Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vault track. The bridge is vulnerable but not musically exciting enough for it not to almost feel like the bridge of a worship song (oof).
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” just doesn’t quite land. It feels very “Anti-Hero” in message. Maybe it's the unfortunate pairing of a phrase your creepy uncle might say at a family gathering with a The Greatest Showman-type musical swell+drumbeat+cymbal clash on the choruses. It just seems like it would fit a little too well in the climax of a PG-13 movie that was strictly following the Hero’s Journey beat by beat. I’m sure it's very inspirational to main characters undergoing character development everywhere, though.
“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” once again wants to tease me with the vaguely-Western sonic ambiance. The lyrics contribute to this, with lines like ‘the dopamine races through his brain on a six-lane Texas highway/His hands, so callused from his pistol softly traces hearts on my face.’ It sounds like she wrote this on a rough table in a shady corner of her local saloon. Finally a different sound to pull us out of the synthpop bog… I dig it. Since I like this one and it sounds different, obviously it would be one of the shortest songs on the album, barely passing 2:30.
“loml” has a real piano in it! Clearly the appeal of this song is Swift’s poetry. This Dessner-produced track would fit in the ranks of the evermore tracklist (see: “happiness” or “coney island [ironically, featuring The National]”). This track is for lovers of Swift’s devastating piano ballads about her lost lovers. Usually not my speed, but this track is worthwhile for its lack of synthpop (rare on this album), its unapologetic centering of Swift’s lyricism (thank you, Aaron Dessner), and the fact that it could fit on evermore or folklore.
Sonically, “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” is “Mastermind” in the verses and “Bejeweled” in the post-choruses. In other words, it is a breath of fresh air. Easily one of the best tracks from TTPD, “ICDIWABH” is dazzling. Finally, it seems, Swift’s self-deprecating humor lands correctly against a purposefully ironic upbeat musical backdrop. If you only hear one song from this album, it should be this one. Again, the “Bejeweled”-type beat behind Swift singing ‘I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague/I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art’ through gritted teeth is 10/10. This one speaks to all the straight A kids on Prozac out there (so, her whole audience). It’s light, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it is a resounding win for this album.
Aaaannddd “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” pushes us right back into the trenches. This song I feel the exact same way about as “loml.” Thank you Aaron Dessner, why don’t we all go cry over a song probably written about the guy who allegedly inspired the rat from Flushed Away. This one is slightly better than “loml” purely because it turns into a satisfying “rage song” (by TS standards, obviously) where Taylor Swift calls Matty Healy small. It’s a similar structure in that regard to “Dear John,” but way less good.
“The Alchemy'' lyrically is, perhaps, reminiscent of the adolescent setting of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” It feels like Swift views her ongoing romance with Travis Kelce as a more R rated High School Musical (this will make more sense with the abomination that is “So High School,” so bear with me for that discussion later). “The Alchemy” features, and I say this with a tremendous sigh, numerous football references: ‘Call the amateurs and cut ‘em from the team,’ ‘These blokes warm the benches,’ and, no joke, ‘Touchdown.’ But that’s not all--there’s an elephant on this football field…
If anyone has spent any time near the Taylor Swift side of TikTok, there is a chance that they will have heard the smash-hit AI generated meme song that, in an impeccable Taylor Swift impression, goes, ‘so happy that my Travy made it to the big game/One step closer to Kelce being my last name.’ It is with simultaneous laughter and despair that I inform everyone that “The Alchemy” sounds exactly like this AI generated meme. If you don’t believe me, please, just listen to the AI song and then “The Alchemy.”
With “Clara Bow” we’ve finally passed the halfway point, and reached the end of the standard release of TTPD. Tired yet? This song, like other songs Swift has released recently, plays out her fears of growing old and irrelevant as the next Taylor Swift takes her place. She name-drops herself. Unfortunately after 16 songs I am emotionally drained. Nothing exceptional, will be skipping.
[Allegedly] ALBUM 2
“The Black Dog” is another sad song. The musical earthquake that occurs behind ‘old habits die screaming’ is headache inducing and certainly not warranted for such a mediocre subversion of an old adage. ‘And I hope it’s shitty in The Black Dog’ is actually a great line…or maybe this is Stockholm syndrome. Either way, it scratches my brain! I also hope it's shitty in The Black Dog, mostly because it's fun to say.
“imgonnagetyouback,” despite being stylized like a 2017 Billie Eilish song, can actually be perfectly described as the TTPD-ification of “get him back!” by Olivia Rodrigo. This is ironic because Rodrigo has been chastised in the past for “ripping off” Swift’s style, so to see Swift come out with a song destined to be so much less fun, popular, and successful than “get him back!” is crazy. Rodrigo’s song is more conceptually and lyrically well executed, but the similarities draw themselves… Rodrigo’s ‘I wanna key his car/I wanna make him lunch’ is just plainly more fun than ‘Whether I’m gonna be your wife, or/Gonna smash up your bike.’
“The Albatross,” for some unknown reason, is a hidden gem buried under the weight of 18 other tracks. This Dessner-produced track has a deliciously lush melody, which serves as the perfect cradle for Swift’s lyricism. This track would fit perfectly on evermore or folklore, from its plucky acoustic guitars to its earworm melody to its mythologizing storytelling. Rich oceans of harmonies accentuated by subtle string arrangements bring this track vivaciously to life. Its excellence leads the listener to long for the alternate universe where TTPD was sonically like folklore/evermore and produced far away from the clutches of Jack Antonoff’s synth-stained hands (and I say this as someone who constantly wants MORE synth and who’s favorite TS album is 1989--but the synthpop actually works in that lyrical and aesthetic context. This album’s contents are mismatched with its sonic landscape… it would have been much more convincing as a fully Dessner collaboration). This is one of, if not the, best track on TTPD.
As much as I dislike the mouthful that “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” is to say, almost all of my opinions about “The Albatross” apply here. Swift’s lyrics and Dessner’s production style once again meld together, propping up and accentuating the best parts of each other. The warm symphony of stringed instruments layered upon each other provides a breathtaking depth and musical intrigue to this track not present on many Antonoff tracks. I feel like a broken record.
“How Did It End?” Not for another 10 songs, I can tell you that much. There is not much new to say about this one. The piano is gorgeous and the Dessner production lets Swift’s lyrical talents shine. They could put this one in a Twilight movie. I will not be adding it to the queue.
At last, we have arrived at “So High School.” In an unbelievably cruel and disgusting twist of fate, this song simultaneously is musically Taylor Swift’s most perfectly indie rock song to date and also contains some of the most horrendous lyrics I have ever heard leave her mouth. Why, on God’s green earth, would this song that sonically could fit on any The National album contain lyrics like ‘you know how to ball, I know Aristotle,’ and ‘touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto’? I am frankly appalled. Despite this, I miiiiight be able to ignore such lyrics for the sake of slurping up this rare glimpse into what it could be like if Swift was in an indie rock band in 2008 instead of Nashville. Undecided.
“I Hate It Here” is sonically solid but lyrically a mess. It does actually contain the line, ‘We wished we could live in instead of this/I’d say the 1830s, but without all the racists/and get married off for the highest bid.’ This truly has left me speechless. This song is nothing special.
With “thanK you aIMee” Swift has the audacity (or maybe just good lawyers) to spell out ‘KIM’ in the title, and with that it is obvious that the song is about her decade-ish old beef with Kim Kardashian. It's just fine. I do NOT care.
“I Look in People’s Windows” is the shortest track on the album, thank god. It is boring and I can’t believe this was good enough for her to add it to this already lengthy album.
“The Prophecy” is the third, but by no means the last, song on this album to follow the “The ___” format. This song shockingly is also boring and more of the same. I have nothing new to say, and this song has nothing new to add.
“Cassandra” also could have been on folklore or evermore! And I would have skipped it every time on either of them. It is once again just fine.
“Peter” is something we have definitely never seen before… another piano ballad! Luckily it's only almost five minutes long. Boring! Skip! Oh my God!
“The Bolter” is like “betty” in some ways, maybe in the boring guitar strumming and odd use of ‘f*cking’. Another skip for me.
“Robin” is probably about something but I actually couldn’t be bothered to figure it out. It’s probably tragic but it is also boring for 4 straight minutes so I will pass.
“The Manuscript” starts off with echoing piano chords that make me feel like I’m watching the ending to a movie that I cannot wait to give a bad review on Letterboxd. This one is probably very sad and exposes Swift’s whole soul to the listener. Unfortunately, I’ve spent hours of my life wading through the swampwater of this amalgamation called a double album and I will only ever be returning to like, maybe 4 out of the 31 songs. Goodbye, and good riddance, The Dead Poets Society or whatever this album was called.
Recommended If You Like: Midnights, Folklore, or Evermore
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Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me
Posted: 4/18/2024 by Leilani Krady ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM(2024) Maggie Rogers returns from Surrender with her 3rd LP, Don’t Forget Me. Opener “It Was Coming All Along” features a synthy backdrop that I can only describe as The War On Drugs-esque, which provides depth and melancholy to the track. As usual her lyrics are poignant, self aware, and relevant. Another strong opener that leaves you engaged and begging for more, sort of like a less carnal and more end-of-summer-dread version of “Overdrive.”
“Drunk” is immediately a high-point of the album, on par with the passion and fervor of “Want Want” from Surrender. ‘I’m drunk, but not drinking’ speaks to the chronic daydreamers in Rogers’ audience, as well as to the central reflective themes of this pensive album. The track benefits tremendously from her breathy, passionate, and raw vocals--her continual choice to leave her vocal quirks and inhalations in the final mixes of her songs always pay off and help give her body of work a distinct personal realness. “Drunk” leaves the listener wistfully riding off into the sunset. Additionally, Rogers’ ability to use her voice to accentuate the instrumentation of her songs never fails.
“So Sick of Dreaming”, the second single, is effortlessly groovy. Although I’m rarely an enjoyer of speaking in the middle of songs, Rogers mostly manages to pull it off. The overall construction of the song (elements of her vocals, drums, and guitar riffs) almost reminds me of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac--a comparison I don’t make lightly. This track floats high in the sky, an easy listen and an obvious choice as the second single.
Something about “The Kill” fills me with a nostalgic sense of existential anxiety. It drips in delicious dread as she paints murals with her lyrics. The simple descent of the three notes at the very beginning of the song set the melancholic vibe of the track. ‘And you were going in for the kill’ is the crux of the song, which she reverses in the second chorus: ‘And I was going in for the kill’. It’s a simple but well executed songwriting trick. The track benefits heavily from the deep and aching piano (?) chords anchoring the pre-chorus and chorus--I almost wish she would have leaned more into the dark nostalgia set up by the opening few notes. Overall, “The Kill” is another knockout.
“If Now Was Then” is another easy listen. Not necessarily unique in terms of Maggie Rogers’ catalog, but not unlistenable in any way. Again, it oozes nostalgia and feeds the soul of daydreamers everywhere. Features an absolutely delicious bassline.
If I have to pick between a slow piano ballad or a slow acoustic guitar ballad, I would pick piano everytime--and Maggie Rogers excels when she sits at a piano. Her falsetto in “I Still Do” is drop-dead gorgeous; again, her ability to use her voice as an instrument is critical to her unique sound. For some reason, the tonality of ‘love is not a debt you pay’ almost reminds me of Billie Eilish’s upper range (and on that note… collab?). Although I would not find myself adding “I Still Do” to a queue or playlist, it remains a gorgeous piano ballad that I would kill to hear live. One thing about Ms. Rogers… she is gonna sing a damn fine piano ballad.
“On & On & On” will be added to female-rage playlists everywhere. Rogers’ continual ability to write a passionate banger that probably killed a man somewhere will never cease to amaze me. This track soars, grooves, and sobs in your arms drunk at 2am. The harmonies, the subtle anger in her voice, and the soul-nourishing bassline work together to create a masterpiece that will blow out car speakers globally. And ending it with ‘yeah, you better run’? No notes. Absolutely none. In fact, my only complaint with this song is that it’s the shortest on the album--a disappointing length of 2:34.
“Never Going Home” continues to conjure feelings of bittersweet nostalgia. In classic Maggie Rogers fashion, she paints a going-out-with-the-girls scene tainted with unwanted memories of an ex-lover. Her ability to write a song that makes you feel like you were reminded of your ex when out with your girls is something literally only Rogers can manage to do in a 3.5 minute song. Yet another highlight that will be scream-sung by 20-somethings in college dorms everywhere.
“All The Same” is the guitar ballad that I was not asking for in the previous slow song, “I Still Do.” This one unfortunately features a much less impressive display of Rogers’ range. The piano motifs are pretty, but not enough to keep me engaged. That being said, I do think this song fits sonically and contextually in the album as the penultimate track. Unfortunately, I will still be hitting skip each time--this is the “Past Life” of Don’t Forget Me.
I have mixed feelings on the lead single and final track, “Don’t Forget Me.” This one, I agree, does feel like a sunny Sunday afternoon. The instrumentation is fine, her vocals are good, and the lyrics are… alright. It's definitely a great track for all the chronic yearners out there. The song builds nicely, but for a four and a half minute run time… it almost, almost, feels a bit too churchy for my personal taste. Certainly a very different vibe than the previous tracks…
…That being said, I do overall think this album has a very cohesive vibe and musical aesthetic. The singles released gave me a much different vignette of the album, which meant I was VERY pleasantly surprised by tracks that had darker/more intense musical undertones like “The Kill.”
Although no work of preplanned photographic and artistic genius, the album cover suits the album. It’s very in line with her previous album cover/album aesthetics--spontaneous, real, and effortlessly beautiful. The cover art for Surrender suited the album extraordinarily well: both the album and the cover took you up close and personal to Rogers’ soul, highlighting the intensity of longing and the simultaneous anger and soft joy that can come from it. Don’t Forget Me forgoes the unbreakable eye contact for a polaroid of her now grown out pixie cut. Its golden glow, I think, sums up the album well: it exchanges passionate intensity for an equally reflective but softer, more mature, and golden work of art.
Recommended If You Like: Del Water Gap, Fleetwood Mac
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Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
Posted: 4/3/2024 by DJ Carly ( See All) Show:(2000) Metal Director here and I'm sure this is going to upset a majority of music enthusiasts but I will not tolerate any Limp Bizkit hate so sit down and listen to my take on this album.
It's a banger. I don't make the rules. But let me elaborate before you get hurt. Limp Bizkit is the type of band that you don't listen to seriously, and thats coming from someone whos one of their favorite bands is limp bizkit. Another one of my favorite bands is Primus so I'm not new to the goofy-esc music. They are goofy and thats ok, debatably that is why it the album SLAPS. Primus wouldn't be Primus without a little goofy behavior and Limp Bizkit wouldn't be Limp Bizkit without a little goofy behavior. And before you say anything, no, I am not comparing Primus and Limp Bizkit at all, but if you like goofy music, they are both a lil goofy in their own little ways.
It's perfectly comedic and musically very well put together. You have the goofy voice of Fred Durst and the most insanely cool guitar parts from Wes Borland and thats not even giving any credit to John Otto, DJ Lethal or Sam Rivers. This band will 100% get you off your butt and on your feet and soon you will be moshing and headbangin.
My favorite song off of the album is Boiler and some of my runner ups include My Way, My Generation, and The One.
So in conclusion, if you are a music crit who is holding a tea cup, collects expensive fine art, speaks in a old British accent and only listen to music to critique it to classics like The Beatles and Mozart or whatever, you are going to hate this album plain and simple. But if you enjoy listening to fun, lighthearted, goofy music but still like to hear some classic metal elements, then you may like it. You can't go into listening this album expecting total seriousness because thats not what it is and thats not the point of the album.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Recommended If You Like: Korn, Primus, and literally anything else nu metal
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Radiohead - OK Computer
Posted: 3/30/2024 by Tristan DiBerardino ( See All) Show:(1997) A classic Radiohead album with a big message of technology taking over the world. Pretty much foreshadows the future. Also some great singles and performances by Thom Yorke.
Recommended If You Like: Rock
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Korn - Life is Peachy
Posted: 3/13/2024 by DJ Carly ( See All) Show:(1996) I can't say enough good things about this album sincerely. It is easily my favorite Korn album and genuinely probably my favorite album of all time (I literally want 'Life Is Peachy' tattooed on me.
This album has such a edge and was so innovative to the time it came out. Korns debut album came out in 1994 and kept the music scene on the edge of their seats because no one really ever heard something like it before. Their sophomore album 'Life is Peachy' didn't disappoint either with songs like A.D.I.D.A.S and Twist which caught the attention of radio stations and people everywhere.
Picking favorite songs on this album is the equivalent to picking your favorite child but if I had to pick five they would be 'No Place To Hide', 'Good God', 'Chi', 'Lost', and 'Kill you'. Each song on the album is so powerful and full of emotions whether its Jonathan Davis's thunderous vocals, Brian 'Head' Welsh and James 'Munky' Shaffers tag team of a guitarist duo, Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizus booming bass, or David Silverias hard hitting drums.
I sincerely advise anyone to listen to that album in full, I swear you will feel like a completely different person. I have much respect for them all as musicians and as people and can't say enough about them. They are my favorite band of all time and will GUARANTEE you that most of the recommendations that I post on here will be Korn albums.
Recommended If You Like: Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Deftones, System of a Down, etc.
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Television - Marquee Moon
Posted: 1/24/2024 by Niles Lavin ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM(1977) This cult classic paved the way for several genres including punk and progressive.
Recommended If You Like: Johnathan Richmond & the Modern Lovers, The Cramps, The Dead Boys, Corduroy
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Radiohead - Kid A
Posted: 1/20/2024 by Tristan DiBerardino ( See All) Show:(2000) Kid A was an extremely influential album for such a large band as Radiohead. 3 years after releasing OK Computer, the band was exhausted after the overwhelming popularity, leaving members such as Thom Yorke in a dark mental space. This album serves as a place away from the norm and inherently releasing emotions that the band bottled for years, while also displaying talents never seen or heard before by some other members.
Recommended If You Like: Aphex Twin and other tech sounding ambience albums
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John Zorn - Parrhesiastes
Posted: 11/21/2023 by James Clontz ( See All) Show: Tuesday from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM(2023) Having just celebrated his 70th birthday and finally putting out his entire label's catalog on streaming services, it's something of a late career renaissance for Zorn. The mastermind behind jazz grindcore outfit Naked City, the Masada songbooks, the conducted improv of Cobra, surf rock-tinged easy listening and so much more shows no sign of slowing down; in fact, he's still at the top of his game 50 years into his career. Parrhesiastes is his tenth(!) album of 2023, and his first to release after Tzadik's arrival on streaming services. Performing for their second record this year, his ensemble Chaos Magick (John Medeski, Matt Hollenberg, Kenny Grohowski and Brian Marsella) delivers perhaps their recording to date. An essential Zorn album, hopefully to not be forgotten to time thanks to a new ease of accessibility. If you like your prog and/or jazz weird and fun, this isn't a bad place to start with his prog efforts.
Recommended If You Like: Avant-prog, jazz fusion; Has worked with Mr. Bungle, Boredoms, Keiji Haino, etc.
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lamp - Dusk to Dawn
Posted: 10/16/2023 by DJ liv ( See All) Show:(2023) 20 amazing songs that will bring you through all of your emotions. It is a little twist on the lamp we all know and love. Complex sounds of flute, harp, and koto all come together to create a soothing sound. Has more rhythm than previous albums and it sounds amazing!
Recommended If You Like: Ichiko Aoba, Boa, Panchiko
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Rush - Moving Pictures
Posted: 10/14/2023 by Tristan DiBerardino ( See All) Show:(1981) It's the first prog rock album my dad introduced me to, and if you like drums then this is the album for you!
Recommended If You Like: Prog Rock
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The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Posted: 9/9/2023 by Tristan DiBerardino ( See All) Show:(1967) This was the album I believe started the sound of psych rock back in the 60s along with other bands like The Doors and Pink Floyd.
Recommended If You Like: psychadelic indie
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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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Billy Cobb - Séance
Posted: 3/29/2023 by Micah Seese ( See All) Show:(2021) When it was initially released in March of 2021, Séance was treated as merely a filler project. The SS Krill, Billy Cobb’s gay pirate sea shanty rock opera, was only a few months away from its release. However, the SS Krill had taken Cobb a considerably longer time to create than nearly all of his other projects. To focus his attention on the SS Krill, Cobb decided to leave Séance at only two songs. It made sense, he already had numerous similar projects from his yearly "Halloween" releases. And he felt that the springtime months would be a good source of inspiration for the SS Krill. Thus, Séance was released in a somewhat unfinished state.
All of these factors were seemingly leading to Séance being a lukewarm release. Yet by some miracle, Séance became one of Cobb's best projects, even two years later. Billy Cobb himself sees it as one of his best projects. On hard times news’s podcast "Fanboys,"(A podcast where listeners send in songs by indie artists to be critiqued) upon hearing Séance's opening track for the first time, the hosts regarded it as one of the best songs they had ever heard on the show. When I first heard the song on Bandcamp over two years ago I too was blown away by it.
The single starts with the song Séance. Which starts slow with eerie guitar strumming and understated vocals. Immediately we witness the single's diverse instrumentation with a banjo, adding a feeling of folklore to the song's narrative. The lyrics speak of a desire to gain supernatural powers and cross to the other side of existence. Soon we get harsh guitar feedback, a taste of what's to come. The energy of the instrumentals and the desire of the speaker slowly pick up, before returning to harsh guitar feedback. From here the song really starts to pick up as the speaker is presumably consumed by the dark power he so craves. The vocals transition into screaming as the song crescendos before suddenly stopping. The song ends on a peaceful tune played on a synthesizer, perhaps implying that the speaker succeeded in crossing over to the other side.
The first track of Séance created its horror through an exploration of the super-natural, citing ghosts, witches, the occult, demons, and hell. The second track, “affair” presents a unique contrast to this narrative. It relies on horror just like its predecessor, but uses only the horrors of reality to do so. There is no mention of ghosts, goblins, witches, vampires, demons, monsters, or any entity outside the realm of tangibility. Instead it creates dread using a tangled web of the very real concepts of death, lust, and the inevitable march of time. It creates a situation so real that it has almost certainly been closely replicated before and since its release. It tells the story of a man whose wife is in critical care for an unknown condition, her survival is not likely. After an exhausting day of caring for her, he retreats to a bar. There he meets a woman who makes advances towards him, in such a desperate state the man gives into his desires. He goes to her house and sleeps with her. The narrator of the song makes it clear that this brief recess of pleasure is inescapably temporary. Singing “Run away, for how long?” Before long his wife will die, and his mistress won’t provide him with the long term comfort that she did. His affair will likely bring him nothing but shame, regret, and guilt. His attempt to run away from his problems will likely do nothing but bring him closer to them.
Although Billy Cobb had many similar projects before and after Séance, none of his other works quite match its tone. It exhibits a sense of dread not weighed down or contrasted by a sense of nostalgia or whimsy present in many of Cobb’s other horror works. This is created not only by the narrative of the lyrics, but also by the experimental and varied music itself. Although it is disappointing that Séance was left at two songs, these songs are so perfect that its brevity is arguably a blessing.
Recommended If You Like: My Chemical Romance, Moss Icon, Harley Poe, Misfits, Will Wood
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Cafune - Running
Posted: 3/25/2023 by Tristan DiBerardino ( See All) Show:(2021) A debut album from a 2 person indie band. Fast paced songs are electric, while the slow songs are dreamy. This is a very chill indie album to vibe to.
Recommended If You Like: Eyedress, Vacations, Riovaz, Rex Orange County
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Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Posted: 3/16/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2023) This album is a big let down and a perfect example of "song of the summer" culture. Miley Cyrus attempts to strike gold in this album and ends up returning with nothing but copper in a really disappointing manner.
Miley Cyrus manages to create a record that shows stagnation in her own progression. She's managed to evolve as an artist and let everyone know she's not the kid that she got famous as. Miley has known talent especially in her vocals as can be seen in a lot of stuff but no better than her cover of Heart Of Glass. Her vocal talent is impeccable and a style that works very well when used properly. The problem here is that it is squandered so much within this album.
Every song on this feels like she is trying to do something different or be someone different. A great example is Island where it feels like she's just trying to make a song that Lady Gaga would have made at least 6 years ago. The same thing can be said for the track Muddy Feet with brings in a guest feature from Sia who aside from her own controversies manages to do nothing interesting for the song itself and just sounds like she's phoning it in based on what she's done in the past.
Many songs on here feel like a TikTok you scrolled upon where the creator says "Guys! Did I just make the song of the summer" and then play the most generic pop ever. Nowhere is this more evident than the track Jaded a song that just does nothing interesting and wants to focus on pop music sounds and relatable but shallow lyrics. The leading single for this album is no exception, Flowers is the most catchy and best song on this album but the problem is it gains a lot of that from the fact that it basically does the exact chorus of When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. The album manages to continue to make more generic pop music while trying and failing to be something emotive and more.
This album provides nothing of real value for someone to come back to. One listen was all it took for me and I can't see myself going back to any track other than Flowers and if I did it would probably just be to rip on it. I had hopes for this record and its not even the fault of the performer its these songs being so uninteresting and not good that I have no desire to hear them again.
Overall this is a real stinker of an album. It's a little harsh for me to call it the worst album I listened to this year but right now its sitting in that position. Im sure worse has come out and I just haven't found it yet. If you like this album good on you but if you didn't I can very clearly see why. This is a solid 3.5/10 album with not much to do for itself.
Favorite Track: Flowers
Least Favorite Tracks: Muddy Feet, Jaded, Wildcard, Handstand, Island
Recommended If You Like: Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Top 40 Pop
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Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Posted: 3/11/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1997) In my not-so-professional opinion, Pavement is a really important band for its time. A true pioneer of the College Rock/ Slacker Rock community and how its music would shape things as time moves on. Pavement has managed to stand the test of time and create something that's just as good now as it was over 20 years ago.
Brighten the Corners is no exception to the previous statement. Fusing an experimental artsy side with modern rock stylings such as grunge creates a slacker rock gem. Of all the Pavement albums this one is sure to not disappoint.
Every track maintains this crisp and refreshing sound that makes everything more and more fun to listen to. Tracks like Embassy Row are so energetic and fun that they fit perfectly as the soundtrack for some 20-something's coming-of-age story. Everything here gives a feeling of being a product of the time in all the best ways possible.
On the other side of that coin is the cons that any album may have. While many tracks manage to knock it out of the park there are a few that do one thing or another to fail to reach the mark. The two biggest things are...
1) Overstaying their welcome. Tracks like Fin and Type Slowly run just over 5 minutes and they feel like they run out of steam at least a minute early and it's just trying to fill space on the record. These songs have moments but the time arises when the song feels like it should end yet continues on.
2) Never fully reach their potential. Some tracks on this album tend to feel like there should be something more in them yet they never reach that point. The biggest case of this in my opinion is Blue Hawaiian. This song had a lot of potentials but it feels like it spends too much time trying to get off the ground and ends up being underwhelmed by the time the song finishes. This is mainly caused by the instrumentation being soft for most of the song and the vocals following yet trying to ramp up within the choruses and then unexpectedly at the end of the song making it feel disjointed.
Outside of these this album manages to do so much and do it all right without struggle. This being Pavements 4th album I think it just further showed that they had found their sound and even how to have some extra fun with it. Is it, the best Pavement album? It's a worthy contender. For me, it's a solid 7.5/10 and one of the more fun listens I checked out this year.
Favorite Tracks: Date With Ikea, Stereo, Embassy Row
Least Favorite Tracks: Blue Hawaiian, Type Slowly
Recommended If You Like: Built To Spill, Pixies, Slacker Rock
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Depeche Mode - Violator
Posted: 2/23/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1990) This album is phenomenal. Just to get that out of the way. In the eyes of many fans this is the quintessential Depeche Mode album and I don't blame people for thinking this way. Almost everything about this album manages to hit perfectly causing an amazing experience for the listener from start to finish.
The synth leads are absolutely amazing on this album creating an electronic atmosphere that doesn't feel like many other songs from the time where synth was just forced in. Here that synth part has a set purpose and the artist have an idea for what is supposed to be happening with it. Outside of just synth all of these songs manage to be very well structured musically while also allowing the borrowing of other elements such as the guitar/ bass on Personal Jesus this adds a style of sound that wasn't normally embraced by this style of music but allowed for it to be innovative and still be successful.
Outside of musical arrangement in terms of lyrical arrangement and styling this album manages to hit in so many spots by delivering a hard hit from the singer while also managing to show feeling in these words. This album was without a doubt very personal to the band and especially to the songwriters especially as seen in songs like Sweetest Perfection and Enjoy The Silence.
This album manages to take from many genres and do such a great service to them whether its the pop hooks from tracks like Enjoy The Silence or World In My Eyes. These songs have infectious rhythms and deliveries that can allow for it to be in your head for days on end and just want to be played over and over and over.
In terms of accessibility I feel like this album manages to bring something to the table for everyone and it feels almost impossible to hate a lot of the music here especially with how well made this album is.
This album is so good and I would consider It an essential for anyone to check out as it manages to give a synth pop album a lot of feeling and every ounce of it is full of passion from the artist making It one hell of an album from start to finish.
This may be the best album by Depeche Mode and one of the best albums of the 1990's or at least that's how I see it. This album kept me hooked from start to finish and I could just listen to the whole thing on repeat for hours at a time and not get bored. I think this album is a solid 9.5/10 its almost perfect but one or two small hiccups just makes it a little bit shy of that but for the love of god if you haven't heard this album please go listen to it right now. You will not regret
Favorite Tracks: Enjoy The Silence, Policy of Truth, and Sweetest Perfection
Least Favorite Tracks: None
Recommended If You Like: Duran Duran, New Order, Synth-Pop
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Thundercat - Drunk
Posted: 2/18/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2017) This is an excellent album before I say anything else. Thundercat has a lot of skill with vocals and instrumentals. However, the most significant problem area for this album is its overall bloated feeling that it has.
With a runtime of 51 minutes in 23 songs, the album feels like it overstays its welcome part of the way through. Had this album been two releases it may have felt more refreshing for a full listen.
The biggest cause for the stagnant feeling is that many songs borrow from a very similar style of sound coupled with a similar type baseline from Thundercat. This causes songs to feel like they blend together in a sense that makes it hard to differentiate one track from another.
Some of these songs have amazing songwriting but other times it feels like listening to a high schooler making music about generic high schooler topics. However, the features make up for some flat lines as they provide a nice refresh from the Thundercat vocals while managing to keep with the style such as Kendrick Lamar in Walk On By and Wiz Khalifa on Drink Dat.
Sonically this album is one of its kind with a lot of funk-inspired riffs and jazz fusion sounds that pull you in. It is no shock that tracks like Them Changes became massive on video-sharing apps like Tiktok as they are able to easily get into your head and make you want to move along to it. If there was one way to describe the sounds this album pulls it's comparing this to Coltrane or Davis with a more modern setup of instruments allowing itself a funky yet complicated style of sound that is nice to play in the background of things.
I liked this album a lot despite these minor flaws. It definitely feels better in a casual listening sense but still can keep a listener interested for a while and there are good standalone tracks in this album. I would call this album a 7/10 as while parts didn't blow me away there was a lot to take away from this album.
Favorite Tracks: Lava Lamp, Bus In The Streets, and DUI
Least Favorite Tracks: Tokyo, and Friend Zone
Recommended If You Like: Funkadellic, Kendrick Lamar, Silk Sonic, Acid Jazz
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Origami Angel - Gami Gang
Posted: 2/7/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2021) This is technically Origami Angel's second album following up the very well-received Somewhere City and it manages to deliver in every way.
Origami angel found their sound in Somewhere City and just kept working and experimenting with their styling to give this album the Origami Angel sound that will continue to develop I hope.
This song is a very good listen as at no point do the songs nor the album feel like they overstay any welcomes and allow themselves to run to completion without anything holding them back.
This album feels like the Musical equivalent of a film like Clerks or Superbad where it was made by teenagers/20-somethings not going for quality but making what they wanted to make and creating mostly quality along the way. The laid-back feel of this whole album puts you in a very good mood to listen to these winey 20-somethings talk about their möbius chicken strips and their mach bikes.
You can tell when listening to this album that the band had a lot of fun making the album whether it's little laughs and banter at the end of a recording or just within the song the band has overall good chemistry.
All praises aside this album does still manage to have a few stinkers throughout as most projects do but even at these lowest points, you'll still have a lot of fun with the album. The lowest points on this album are just a few tracks that aren't as catchy or interesting as the other songs. But many of these dull moments are fought by the amazing production and fun of the songs in this album. The production is clean and sounds great for this band and really allows everyone in the band to shine with what they make.
Playing off of the lightheartedness of the album is the fact that this album is funny whether it be by naming tracks things like "Noah Fence", and "Bed Bath & Batman Beyond to adding samples from tv shows such as Jimmy Neutron to the end of songs just makes the album feel like a fun little trip from start to finish.
This album arguably brings it all to the table with some relatable emo/pop-punk lyrics, great production and performance from the band, a few laughs, and even some very catchy melodies this feels like a project that you could defiantly go back in time, and time again in full or just go with a handful of songs to put into your everyday rotation. I feel like this album set a lot of good things in place for the future of Origami Angel and I'm excited to see where they move from here.
GAMI GANG by Origami Angel is a very solid album that I would give a 7.5/10
Favorite Tracks: Noah Fence, Kno U, gg, and Self-Destruct
Least Favorite Tracks: Tom Holland Oates, and Greenbelt Station
Recommended If You Like: Pool Kids, Hot Mulligan, Retirement Party, Oso Oso, Emo
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Parannoul - After The Magic
Posted: 2/6/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2023) This is Korean shoegaze/emo artist Parannoul's sophmore release following the heavily acclaimed "To See the Next Part of The Dream". After The Magic succeeds in all the same places that TSTNPOTD did, this album has many of the same gripping riffs, emotional delivery, and intensity as Parannoul. This album delivers some amazing shoegaze instrumentals as well as an emotional performance by Parannoul especially in tracks like We Shine at Night, and Polaris. This album manages to stay fresh for the entire runtime and Parannoul never misses a beat. Overall this is a 9/10 album and a great way to start out the year for releases.
Favorite Tracks: Polaris, Sketchbook, After The Magic
Least Favorite Track: Imagination
Recommended If You Like: My Bloody Valentine, Asian Glow, Weatherday, Brave Little Abacus, Shoegaze, etc..
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Lil Yachty - Let's Start Here
Posted: 2/3/2023 by Rich Mehrenberg ( See All) Show:(2023) Lil Yachty makes a departure from his standard rap sound on "Let's Start Here". Heavily inspired by and produced by acclaimed alternative/psych artists, this album is a fresh change of pace for an artist who has clearly done his homework.
Recommended If You Like: Tame Impala, Pink Floyd, Gizz
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Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
Posted: 9/2/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1969) This is the late Frank Zappa's first release under the name Frank Zappa instead of just being a member of his band The Mothers of Invention. This album shows just how much potential Zappa had and how much creativity one man was able to use to make something amazing. 6 songs spanning an album runtime of 43 minutes Hot Rats is a pretty easy album to get through with no real need to skip any songs. At this point, Zappa saw himself doing more composing than anything, most of the tracks feature Zappa only doing instrumentals and the only track with vocals is "Willie the Pimp" which uses vocals from another psychedelic rock extremist Captain Beefheart. The instrumentals such as that on Peaches En Regalia and Son of Mr. Green Genes are extremely catchy and manage to blend into the background of the environment you're in. In terms of Jazz fusion psych rock, this album is completely essential that everyone needs to hear.
I recommend the tracks: The Gumbo Variations, Son of Mr. Green Genes, and Peaches En Regalia
Recommended If You Like: Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, The Mothers of invention
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Black Country; New Road - Ants From Up There
Posted: 4/12/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2022) Ants from up there by Black Country New Road
Today I Listened to the sophomore album of Black Country New Road (BCNR). This was an experience of an album that I will try my best to do justice in its review.
This was an album where I found myself not loving every song in a sense that I could put it on at any time to enjoy but instead every song draws you in for what it does and what it says.
Before I look into the album I feel I should note the story surrounding the release where the bands lead singer Isaac announced his departure from the band much to the shock of fans and bandmates. This departure was due to an extreme sense of fear and dread as per result of Isaacs mental health being on a point of decline.
This album is able to display so much of what Isaac felt without being explicit and showing the harsh details. Songs like Concorde and Basketball Shoes are these amazing works of his feelings in a failing relationships and the decline that he himself is going through within all of this.
These songs are complimented by the instrumental skills of the band providing lots of sounds to bend genres but also manage to be so mellow but also so big and able to make your feel so much without even saying anything.
While many songs will not have you singing along these songs will have you feeling along. You can feel what Isaac felt while writing this and that adds to how the overall experience of the album and how it makes us see what that artist wanted to show.
Theres so much this album says and I don’t know how to wrap my head around what I want to say about this album. I heavily recommend you set aside an hour to listen to this album beginning to end and allow yourself to fully feel what Isaac felt as he sang this
My top tracks were Chaos Space Marine, Basketball Shoes, and Haldern
Ants from up there Black Country New Road: 9/10
Recommended If You Like: Black Midi, The Smile, Have a nice Life, Lingua Ignota, Fantanocore music
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Father John Misty - Choë and the Next 20th Century
Posted: 4/12/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2022) This is a very interesting release from Father John Misty. This album takes a lot more inspiration from the Hollywood era of the early 1900s while also borrowing music from the time while still making fitting for his sound. Lots of new instrumentation in this album especially orchestral sounding as some songs have strings, harpsichord, electric guitar. This album has ambition and it paid off resulting in a top album of 2022
Recommended If You Like: Very smooth and acoustic sounds while also borrowing from jazz and big band era
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Empath - Visitor
Posted: 3/31/2022 by dj furniture ( See All) Show:(2022) If you saw the visuals attached to Empath’s work before you heard their punky noise pop, you could almost mistake them for a classic New Age act. Their earliest two projects are both titled Crystal Reality, and the liner notes for these releases list the astrological signs of the band members. 2018’s Environments borrowed its name and graphic design from Atlantic Records’ long-running 70’s ambient record series. Their breakout EP, Liberating Guilt and Fear, featured Indian drone instruments tuned to frequencies purported to free the listener from guilt and fear. And their first full length, released in 2019, was branded as Active Listening: Night On Earth, inviting the consumer to commune with the music.
Visitor, the West Philadelphia band’s second LP, carries on the band’s tradition of ambient and punk reference points. Although the album doesn’t fit in with the explicitly New Age nomenclature of earlier releases, it contains Empath’s fullest musical synthesis of their seemingly opposed reference points. Earlier releases could scan as delightfully kitschy in their use of birdsong and other field recordings, but on Visitor the ambience feels more essential to the songwriting. Empath still sounds like Empath, but the noise feels sweeter, more pillowy, and more poppy. There seems to be a deeper attentiveness to the way the texture of the noise shifts in relation to Garrett Koloski’s powerful drumming.
The first four tracks showcase Empath’s newfound softness remarkably well. They are the most approachable songs of the bands career, emphasizing the “pop” side of their noise pop. Things get weirder from there, from the Deerhoof-like yelping of “Corner of Surprise” to the pure ambient bliss of the instrumental “V.” And on the closer, “Paradise,” the band shows of their technical chops, with Koloski drumming in perfect unison with Catherine Elicson’s jumpy guitar soloing. After two minutes of wild beauty, the song dissolves into a chorus of frogs and slowed-down chimes. It’s bizarre, but it works; and it’s an exclamation point on an album that cements Empath’s place as one of Philly’s most unique-sounding bands.
Recommended If You Like: Deerhoof, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Early MBV
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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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Def Leppard - Hysteria
Posted: 1/23/2022 by Will ( See All) Show:(1987) Great album if you like 80s rock!
Recommended If You Like: Van Halen, AC/DC, Foreigner
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Ghost - Call Me Little Sunshine
Posted: 1/20/2022 by Shane Garcia ( See All) Show:(2022) After much anticipation, Ghost has finally announced their new album titled 'Impera' - set for a March 11 release date. The news came with the release of their latest single, "Call Me Little Sunshine," continuing the musical evolution of the band. If you are expecting the dark and heavy carnivalesque sounds of Opus Eponymous and Infestissumam, you'll be disappointed to see that this single has a similar sound to 'Prequelle' and their most recent single, "Hunter's Moon." "Call Me Little Sunshine" feels like a modern take on Blue Oyster Cult's "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" - just with a ghoulish undertone. "...Sunshine" could also be shortened by a solid 30-50 seconds, as much of the lyrics repeat in the latter half of the song - however it does grow on you after a few listens. All-in-all, don't be discouraged by this release - the unpredictability of Papa Emeritus IV and the Nameless Ghouls should have many Ghost, and Rock fans in general glued to their streaming devices to see what the band releases next next.
**Ghost returns to Central PA on February 8 with Volbeat and Twin Temple at the GIANT Center in Hershey. Tickets are available now.**
Recommended If You Like: Blue Oyster Cult
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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!"
Watch a The Neighbourhood video
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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
Watch a King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard video
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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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Joji - Nectar
Posted: 9/30/2020 by Rich Mehrenberg ( See All) Show:(2020) Joji has come a long way since Pink Guy.
Recommended If You Like: Khalid, Post Malone
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Childish Gambino - Because The Internet
Posted: 9/16/2020 by Rich Mehrenberg ( See All) Show:(2013) This album has an accompanying screenplay that the songs represent the soundtrack for. Currently being analyzed by Cole Cuchna in his Dissect podcast on Spotify. Check it out.
Recommended If You Like: Kanye West, Donald Glover, Brockhampton
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jack stauber - Finite Form / Smooth
Posted: 3/7/2020 by Carlos Sedano ( See All) Show:(2013) its a song that always manages to bring a smile to my face regardless of how i'm feeling.
Recommended If You Like: sales, TEMPOREX, gorillaz. foster the people
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Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin
Posted: 1/30/2020 by Connor Buckley & Kory Arnold ( See All) Show:(2020) One of the best live albums ever released, she's an incredible musician
Recommended If You Like: jazz, bebop
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Bark Psychosis - Hex
Posted: 1/30/2020 by John Simpson ( See All) Show:(1994) Perfect nighttime listening. Nice and smooth ambience. All around great listen for those late nights up. Post-Rock with hints of jazz.
Recommended If You Like: Talk Talk, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros
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Will Wood and the Tapeworms - Self-Ish
Posted: 1/27/2020 by Andrea Yahraes ( See All) Show:(2016) Fun cabaret punk with the occasional emo stylings. A great weird listen.
Recommended If You Like: My Chemical Romance, Dresden Dolls, Gogol Bordello, Bella's Bartok
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The Who - WHO
Posted: 12/7/2019 by Ben Schad ( See All) Show:(2019) A fresh, new take on rock for the modern day, but still with that same sound and grittiness you expect from Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.
Recommended If You Like: Rolling Stones or any other classic rock band
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Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Posted: 11/20/2019 by John Simpson ( See All) Show:(2013) If you like 70s Prog Rock, this is the modern version of that. Takes a lot of cues from King Crimson.
Recommended If You Like: King Crimson
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Sharon Van Etten - (its because) I Was In Love
Posted: 11/19/2019 by Kristina Diefenderfer ( See All) Show:(2017) Fall-time sadboi hours? Perfect album for you!
Recommended If You Like: City and Color, Hozier, Beirut
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Jack Stauber - Pop Food
Posted: 11/8/2019 by Carlos Sedano ( See All) Show:(2017) Amazing music presented in its own unique way. He also has a youtube channel where he posts similar content.
Recommended If You Like: Cuco, The Unicorns, MGMT
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Marc Scibilia - 90s
Posted: 11/7/2019 by Matt Cleveland ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM(2019) Sporting a campy video filled with nostalgic references, Marc Scibilia's newest song is a fun throwback to the end of the last century (it sounds so long ago phrased like that). It has all the memories, melancholy, and optimism you want in a song about the time growing up. A catchy song that you'll enjoy more by watching the video, too.
Recommended If You Like: James Bay, Butch Walker, Bruce Springsteen, The Killers, John Mayer
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