“A collection of profound and epic album reviews and musical articles by former astronaut and brain surgeon, Alasdair Kennedy. Reaching levels of poetry that rival Keats and Blake, the following reviews affirm Alasdair to be a prodigy, a genius and a god whose opinion is always objectively right. He is also without a doubt the most modest man in the universe.” - Alasdair Kennedy
This album wasn’t the turd I expected it to be. For one
there’s no annoying autotune and less dying cat warbles. In fact, the drug-addled
metrosexual Atlanta rapper is actually spitting on most of these tracks, some
of his flows regretfully impressing me. The trap beats aren’t all bad either – some
are generic, but others like ‘Constantly Hating’ and ‘Dream’ have a spacey and
atmospheric vibe more akin to Drake’s recent album. That all said, Young Thug’s
lyrics are yet to see any improvements, still consisting of the same clichés and
nonsense as before. ‘I am a beast, I am
obese’ is a genuine line from this record as is ‘I want that neck like a giraffe/ I like fish in water, I’m a bear’.
I guess there’s a certain goofiness to it that’s entertaining, but it’s nothing
on Riff Raff. Overall, Young Thug just seems to be trying to sound more like his
idol Lil Wayne. Given that Thugga has already stolen Wayne’s look, given that
the title of this album was originally going to be ‘The Carter 6’, it’s no
surprise that Young Thug is now trying to steal Lil Wayne’s sound (all under
the influence of evil puppeteer Birdman of course). Fans may praise Young Thug’s
originality, but personally I’m yet to see it. He just strikes me as a wannabe-Lil-Wayne - which I think you'll agree is fairer than my previous criticisms on this blog.
Bring a torch. It's all a bit dark this week. Abrasive synths and metal riffs ensue.
THE BEST:
'Eight O
Clock In The Morning' - Lee Scott
Quirky butter-obsessed UK rapper, Lee Scott, is gaining heat
at the moment with his eccentric persona and has just released a new LP, Butter Fly. This new track from the album
shows off his darker side. The cinematic strings make for a magnificently raw and eerie beat.
'Gully' - Darq E Freaker ft. Maxsta
Grime producer Darq E Freaker drops this sinister track, featuring vocals from London emcee Maxsta (I’ve been
overdosing on UK hip hop this week!). The track title ‘Gully’ is slang for ‘street’
or ‘hood’. If you didn’t know that already, you’re not gully. I had to look it
up on Urban Dictionary, so it’s okay, I’m not gully either.
'IDONTWANNABEDELETED' - Doldrums ft. Samantha Urbani
This track is as odd as its title suggests. Canadian
electronic producer, Doldrums, kicks things off to a downbeat, melancholy start
before bringing in some aggressive industrial noises and a pounding house beat.
Brooklyn vocalist Samantha Urbani then turns up and starts screaming. It’s all
very unsettling.
'Lovesick- - Maryann (Bae God)
The Californian bedroom rapper and singer’s latest track, ‘Lovesick’,
sees her embracing sugary r&b. The hook is sweet and summery and I’m loving
the sound of the snare that producer Sbvce lays down.
'DarkSide' - Sepultura
Brazilian thrash metal band, Sepultura, have released this
intense one-and-a-half minute song in collaboration with publishing company, DarkSide Books. It may be short but it sure packs a punch.
THE WORST:
'Trap
Lust' - Lil Debbie
Absolutely killer beat – but the lyrics are a load of
nonsense: ‘I’ll turn into Dracula/ Money
flippin with the spatula/ Black Diamonds from Africa’. The bit about her
bank account giving her orgasms is also a bit weird.
I’ve never been to Castleton before. From the pretty
pictures I’ve seen, the Derbyshire village seems like a rather quaint place to
live, the kind of place where Morris dancing is still celebrated, the kind of
place Enid Blyton might have set one of her novels.
Castleton
It certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of a place a band like Drenge would come from. Made up of two brothers who go by the name of Eoin and Rory Loveless,
the group first made heat when they dropped their debut album in 2013, a raw
and angsty guitar record containing romantic track titles such as ‘People in love
make me yuck’ and ‘I want to break you in half’. The I-hate-the-world attitude
and rough production made Drenge charmingly uncharming. They had a rock and
roll spirit to them that too many of today’s rock bands lack.
Two years later, we now have this new record Undertow. It isn’t quite as raw or
angsty – which turns out to be both a blessing and curse. The sound is now
bigger thanks to the addition of a bassist. As someone who likes rawness and
eats their steak with a pulse, I’m not overly happy to see the duo trading in
their intimate pub sound for stadium production. However, a greater focus on
atmosphere has come as a result with reverb-heavy tracks like the ‘Introduction’
and following track ‘Running Wild’ perfectly capturing the spooky, nightly vibe
of the album cover. The riffs are also still meaty, despite not as rough around
the edges, and the drumming is still primal as showcased on tracks like ‘Never
Awake’.
Drenge
Lyrically, the band have decided to ditch their teenage
moodiness for a more grown-up maturity, which is a bit disappointing as it
means no funny track titles. However, the rebelliousness is still present in
songs like ‘We Can Do What We Want’. The songwriting seems to have also got
better – ‘Standing in the Cold’ relying on storytelling and instrumentation
that builds and matches the tone. Glumness and anger seem to still be the band’s
two favourite emotions, but instead of being blunt and cynical, the band
instead use these songs to show the root cause of their moroseness. Heartbreak
serves as a common theme, which proves these two brothers might not be as
loveless as they claim. Thankfully this heartbreak comes without soppiness –
which allows Drenge to still have the same rock and roll vibe that was on their
debut.
They may be adults now and they may have more money to spend
on production, but on the whole Drenge haven’t lost their charisma. In fact, as
musical progressions go, this is pretty encouraging new direction for the band.
There are no WORST tracks this week. I bring only love and
joy.
THE BEST:
'Joe' - Washer
Featuring some twangy guitars and punky vocals, ‘Joe’ has a
similar vibe to the New York rock duo’s previous nonchalantly depressive single,
‘Rot’. Things are tamer this time around, almost pop-punk-esque – that is up
until the last twenty seconds when the leash and muzzle are removed.
'Bust No Moves' - Run the Jewels ft. SL Jones
My love for Run the Jewels is unhealthily obsessive. It’s
better off we don’t get into it. In celebration of Record Store Day, the US hip
hop duo have dropped this new track. Lyrically it’s nothing special from the
two emcees – the spacey beat is the clincher. SL Jones does lay a pretty good
guest verse. I don’t really know who he is, but he’s got a cool voice – almost like
Big Sean if Big Sean could actually rap.
'Water
Water' - Empress Of
‘Water Water’ is a dance song logically themed around water,
featuring some gloopy reverb-soaked synths and breathy female vocals that
reminded me of Bjork towards the end. The mood is bubbly and the whole track
flows very neatly. It’s anything but wishy-washy. Stream it above (my reserve of water-related puns has now run dry).
'So Many
Pros' - Snoop Dogg
I’m glad to see the back of Snoop’s short-lived reggae
career. This new song titled ‘So Many Pros’ sees him delving into funk,
accompanied by the coolest music video I’ve seen all year. I can’t say I’m enjoying
Snoop’s flat vocals, but the backing vocals and instrumentation (produced by
Pharrell Williams) do a great job of masking this.
'James Joint' - Rihanna
It’s very short – perhaps even unfinished – but I’ve been
waiting a long time to hear Rihanna employing that beautiful voice of hers over
some decent instrumentation. If you liked the soulful beats Kendrick was riding
on To Pimp A Butterfly, you should dig this. Check it out here.
'Day of the Rope' - Spray Paint
This dissonant dose of desert punk from Texan trio, Spray Paint, won't be everyone's cup of tea. Even Washer seem like easy listening in comparison. Personally, I love the volatility.
The eccentric rapper’s
new album is either the musical equivalent of a Jackson Pollock art piece or
the musical equivalent of something the cat threw up. Either way it’s a mess –
but depending on how your ears are tuned and how much of a Tyler fanboy you
are, it’ll either strike you as an artistic mess or garbage.
Instrumentally, Cherry
Bomb sounds like an old warped soul record found in a psychopath’s basement.
Beautiful jazzy chord progressions clash violently with noisy, industrial
percussion that hints Tyler may have been spending a lot of time listening to Yeezus and Death Grips. The mixing is
awful – sometimes clearly deliberate. The title track, ‘Cherry Bomb’, is
distorted and overcompressed to fuck, coming across as almost a wall of noise
with the vocals buried beneath. At first I dismissed it as cat puke, but slowly
I’m leaning more towards Jackson Pollock - this song and similarly produced
tracks ‘Pilot’ and ‘Buffalo’ are now some of my favourites on the record. The
messiness has an angry, blood-pumping catharsis to it of which my inner maniac
is drawn to.
Alternative cover for 'Cherry Bomb'
Sadly, not all tracks have this positive effect. On some
songs like ‘Run’, the low mixing on the vocals is just irritating and the beat
isn’t noisy enough to warrant how lo-fi it is. Running barely over one minute,
the song also feels abruptly short and underdeveloped. Tracks like ‘2Seater’ by
contrast don’t know when to end, meandering off until Tyler gets bored and decides
to throw in a skit.
Contributing to the messiness is the bad singing from Tyler
himself. Some of it is redeemed only by the fact that Tyler knows himself that
he can’t sing, as declared at the start of ‘Fucking Young’. There’s a charm to
the idea of Tyler doing whatever he wants regardless of what people think, but
sometimes the singing is just painful and distracting. Couldn’t he have got
somebody else to do it? As proved by features from Kanye and Lil Wayne on this
record, Tyler has the connections and could get anyone to croon for him if he
wanted.
Part of me thinks that at this point Tyler is simply too at
peace with himself to care. After all, there’s no therapist on this record –
perhaps Tyler no longer feels the need to spill out his internal troubles. The
weird and wonderful multiple personas have also been scrapped – Wolf Haley,
Sam, Tron Cat, Ace the Creator, Felicia the Goat, Tiny Tim (I’m making some of
them up now) – which is good because I never cared for any of these characters
anyway.
Instead, Tyler’s bars are more outward-thinking,
straightforward and confident. He marvels the fact that he’s paying a mortgage while
his friends are paying tuition. His messages are more positive: ‘spread your wings’. There’s less
misanthropy and rape jokes. Saying that, not all the immaturity has faded. His
love for the word ‘faggot’ is still
present, and the track ‘ Blow my Load’ might be his crassest song to date (were
the cunnilingus sound effects really necessary?).
Me during 'Blow my Load'
Overall, the whole album is a bit hit and miss, Tyler’s newfound
carefree attitude causing the whole album to feel a bit clumsy. The critics no
longer bother him – his cluttered beats, his choice to sing and his choice to rap
about going down on the ladies all reflecting this.
His nihilistic outlook is admirable – almost inspirational. The
issue is that in not caring about others’ opinions, he’s making music only for
himself, and he’s clearly more tolerant of his own bad singing than I am.
What For? sees US
producer Chaz Bundick (AKA Toro y Moi) swapping out electronica for guitars.
The result is a funk rock record of sorts that makes for perfect breezy summer
barbeque music. The problem is that as a focused listen it doesn’t have much to
offer. It’s funky but not particularly groovy, retro but not particularly
nostalgic, hook-reliant but not particularly catchy. The tinny car radio effect
that smothers the record is pretty pleasant but that’s about it. The sexy and
danceable intermingling of modern electronica and vintage r&b that made up Anything in Return had so much more
charm and replay value. I will congratulate
this record on one account, Chaz’s voice has come a long way since his early Chillwave
days. It’s still pretty flat but at least it’s in tune this time around.
I need to brush my teeth. All the best tracks this week have
been far too sugary and sweet. In other words, no angry or mean songs this time
around. Maybe next week I’ll have a bad day at work and break my phone and be more
in the mood for some dark, depressing shit. For now, I just want to live in a happy world of kittens and daffodils and rainbows.
THE BEST:
'Fun
Universe' - Sam Carter
‘Fun Universe’ is the kind of Soundcloud stumble-upon that
really makes you feel like you’ve struck gold. The bright fifth chords sound
like they’re straight out of a sunny childhood dream, arranged into a short but
sweet ravey instrumental. I wasn’t able to find much background info on the man
behind the magic. To be honest, I prefer the mystique. ‘FROG
LEARNS TO MAKE MUSIC. WORLD FOREVER CHANGED’ reads his Soundcloud bio.
'God Emoji' - Silicon
I’m reminded of a more danceable version of Thundercat
whilst listening to this new gorgeous tune from Kiwi multi-instrumentalist,
Silicon. The charm is all in the groove and jazzy vocal harmonies. If God Emoji
doesn't make you feel :), you're deaf.
'Fucking
Young' - Tyler, the Creator
The cockroach-eating, straight-edge, highly-immature,
highly-creative, highly-entertaining hip hop star of Odd Future fame has a new
track out – and it’s about being in love with someone who’s too ‘fucking young’. Tyler’s singing is
pretty awful (although self-awarely so) and lyrically he still can’t help himself
when it comes to juvenile punchlines: ‘my dick
is longer than my attention span’. However, instrumentally the track is made up for with some of Tyler's lush layered signature soul. It’s so pretty you almost forget what's being sung about.
'Cream On
Chrome' - Ratatat
UK instrumental duo, Ratatat, add some exciting duelling rock guitars
to their groovy sound on this new track. It comes with what I think is a music
video. 1:22 made me jump.
'Heroine' - Gengahr
‘Sure, you can be my
heroine’ the London indie rock band’s frontman sings almost reluctantly. This
is matched by the grudgingly breezy tone of the guitars. There aren’t enough
subtly twisted love songs like this any more.
THE WORST:
'The Wolf' - Mumford & Sons
This band have gone from being a watered-down folk act to a
watered-down rock band. Give it a listen if watered-down is your thing.
Depression is a fashion accessory in the music industry. You
only have to look at the Yung Leans and Lana Del Rays and Earl Sweatshirts of
this world (plus every emo band that’s every existed) to realise that it’s cool
to be sad. It’s been that way since The Smiths.
This new album from Sufjan Stevens is a reminder of what
true, raw tragedy sounds like. Stripping back his sound and spilling out his
guts, the American singer-songwriter leads us through the darkest chasms of his
psyche following the death of his mother.
There are no bells and whistles, no crocodile tears, no acting.
Sufjan lays his emotions bare, delivering his vocals as sweet sighs over
percussionless instrumentals consisting largely of a single folksy guitar. The
lack of drums gives the album a peacefulness and an ambience that feels like a
welcome countryside break from the busy, urban world of dubstep drops and party
tunes. The whole Earth seems to stop whilst listening to these songs –
particularly ‘The Fourth of July’ in which Sufjan feels at his most exposed. Usually
I’d dismiss the line ‘we’re all gonna die’
as gimmicky melodrama, but in this song when Sufjan utters it, describing it as
the only thing he’s learnt from his mother’s passing, there’s a true conviction
to it that had me feeling chills.
Me whilst listening to 'The Fourth of July'
Shockingly, there is no life lesson on Carrie and Lowell. Sun Kil Moon’s similarly-themed Benji (which I seem unable to stop talking
about on this blog) seemed implicitly to be a celebration of life’s tragedies
as useful character-defining moments in his life. Sufjan, by contrast, doesn’t
seem to have any positive advice to give his fellow sufferers. Track 7, ‘The Only
Thing’, is borderline suicidal (he goes so far as to question tearing out his
own eyes!). ‘Faith in reason, I spent my
life playing dumb’ seems to be his only solution, giving his listeners some
small solace that he isn’t about to slit his wrists any time soon.
There are also some flecks of humour in amongst the
bleakness that stop Carrie and Lowell
from being a total downer. In recounting past memories, he tells the tale of his
old swimming instructor who couldn’t pronounce his name, and hence resigned to calling
him ‘Subaru’ – a moment that did make me chuckle. Sufjan’s efforts to entertain
with rich imagery also gives the album much needed colour amongst the greyness.
References to folklore and mythology are particularly prevalent throughout the
record. There are vampires and dragons, mentions of Medusa and Pegasus, references
to Perseus and Poseidon. Casper the ghost even make a cameo.
Subaru Stevens looking mythical
As described when featuring the single ‘No Shade In The
Shadow of The Cross’ on this blog, this use of folklore and mythology seems to
me to be an attempt to escape the reality of his depression: ‘Amethyst and flowers on the table/ is it
real or a fable?’ That, and it also spruces up the landscape, which
instrumentally is very barren.
In fact, this is my only gripe with the record – sonically
it’s stripped back, but almost too far. Illinois
really showed the instrumental talent and melodic diversity that Sufjan could
bring to the table, sporting flutes and string sections and big horns. This
record is all lonely subtle guitars, which is pleasant for the first few tracks
but a little stale towards the end. I’m not saying Sufjan should have added
drums or brass sections like there were in Illinois
– that would totally take away from the raw vibe. However, a few bare piano
numbers could have added some diversity. The slow synth passages feel like
attempts to vary things up, but most of them are a little too samey. The
interlude at the end of ‘Drawn To The Blood’ sticks out as the only moment
where Sufjan tries to get in the listener’s face instrumentally. Subtlety has its
charm, but it also has its limits.
Lyrically, Carrie and
Lowell has enough substance to make up for this, and if you’re one of the
few naysayers who thinks that this album is boring simply because of the
instrumentals, then you’re clearly not focusing your ears in the right
direction. There’s a reason this album is getting such high praise from critics and that’s
because the words coming out of the Sufjan’s mouth have more heart and brain
behind them than most artists you’re likely to hear this year.
Eaten through all your Easter eggs already? Why not sweeten
up your evening by listening to some of these new tunes. Avoid the last track
though. It’ll leave a sour taste in your mouth.
THE BEST:
'Excessive' - D.R.A.M
D.R.A.M’s dreamy lyrics about money and bitches are made
relatable by the fact that the Virginia hip hop artist doesn’t try to paint
them as a reality. That being said, such as lifestyle is probably in his grasp
if he continues to turn out these solid tracks. Even if you’re not feeling the
lyrics, the wavy beat is definitely worth lending your ear to. Fans of his
sound should check out his 2014 trap/latin banger ‘Cha Cha’.
'Cause
I’m A Man' - Tame Impala
Kevin Parker sings about being a man. A manwoman? Take your pick. Either way Aussie indie rockers, Tame
Impala, have me psyched with their new psychedelic sound. This might be a very
/mu/ thing to say, but the groovy bass and plodding beat are almost vaporwave.
'Memory Palace' - Between The Buried And Me
At first a metalcore band, BTBAM have slowly transformed
over the years into a prog metal group, and now they’ve finally ended up as a
pumped-up version of Dream Theater. The noodling and melodrama here is a bit
over the top, but I can’t say I didn’t dig most of the riffs and the crazy na na na bit in the middle reminded me
of something awesome Devin Townsend might do. A sense of humour is always
welcome in prog. Nobody likes soulless guitar wankery.
'Helios' - Darius ft.
Wayne Snow
French producer, Darius, drops this hypnotic r&b ballad featuring
guest vocalist, Wayne Snow. If you could hear moonlight it would sound like
this chord progression.
'Puppet' – Of Embla
It’s time to crack open the Martini. This smoky ballad from
Swedish artist, Of Embla, could be the theme to a Bond movie. Apparently,
Greece are playing it on commercial radio. The UK airwaves need to get their
act together and follow suit.
The Californian
experimental hip hoppers continue to push sonic boundaries on their supposedly final
album, but is it an explosive enough ending to make up for their unpredictable
and action-packed career?
When friends, family members and random elderly strangers in the
street ask me why I like Death Grips, my response is usually something
illogical and vague like ‘because they’re
nuts’. The truth is, I’m not entirely sure myself as to why I love Death
Grips. Their music is largely unmusical. Vocalist MC Ride sounds like a hobo
whose stubbed his toe and even with a lyric sheet, it’s hard to make out
whether he’s spurting out dense poetry or simply nonsense.
'I'm epiphanic amnesia! I'm in Jimmy Page's castle! I'm off the planet!' - MC Ride
In many ways, it is simply the mystery of not understanding
Death Grips that is the appeal – that and the fact that their raw aggression is
so primal and thrilling.
Last year, scrawled apathetically on the back of a napkin as
is their style, the band announced their breakup, stating: ‘We are now at our best and so Death Grips is
over’. Assuming it’s not just another publicity stunt, The Powers that B is the group’s final album.
Essentially it’s two records disguised as a double album.
The first half, N****s on the Moon,
was released before the band’s breakup and I rambled briefly about it on this
blog. Having listened to it a few times, I’ve grown to appreciate it. It’s the
band’s most proggy album yet, consisting of complex songs with changing time
signatures, interspersed with random chopped-up Bjork vocals. MC Ride’s voice meanwhile
is at its most clearest, whilst his lyrics are some of his most impenetrable: ‘melanin pewter cellophane/ arms as long as
their legs/ even the greys can’t/ voila’.
The second part of The
Powers that B was released a couple weeks ago and is titled Jenny Death. Unlike its counterpart,
there’s less progginess, less word salad and less chopped-up Bjork vocals. In
fact, the glitchy Bjork vocals have been traded in completely for a new motif – guitars. Many of
the songs contain distorted hardcore punk riffs – namely ‘Turned Off’ and ‘Why a
Bitch Got A Lie’. Whilst N****s on the
Moon is the band’s proggiest release, Jenny
Death can be viewed as their most punky.
Prog and punk are essentially ying and yang musically – one celebrating
depth and complexity, the other celebrating rawness and simplicity.
Consequently, the two halves of The
Powers That B don’t feel very cohesive as a whole. Maybe it was Death Grips’
intention to show how schizophrenic they can be stylistically. Personally, I
feel I’m tempted to listen to one at a time rather than both as a whole,
suggesting they should be two separate albums.
The album is certainly their most extreme work to date by all definitions of the word, which is
something Death Grips have always tried to achieve with each release and hence
would imply that this is a suitable finale to their career. The title track,
‘The Powers that B’, is their loudest and most abrasive banger since the opener
to Government Plates. ‘On GP’ meanwhile is their most depressive,
containing some explicitly suicidal lyrics and ending rather powerfully on the
line: ‘I’d be a liar if I sat here
claiming I’d exit in a minute/ but I can’t say I wouldn’t have my limits.’.
This itself is a heavy statement to end the band’s career on, and is further explored
in the closing instrumental proceeding it entitled ‘Death Grips 2.0’. This
closing track is the group’s fastest and most sinister sounding track so far
and the ‘2.0’ in the title helps to end the album with an air of mystery – are
Death Grips going to one day reform as more advanced version of themselves? Or
have they reached their ‘limits’.
Most of these standout moments happen in the second half, Jenny Death, which leaves the first
half, N****s on the Moon, feeling a
bit redundant as part of the climax. That being said, the first half is still
enjoyable and flows better than Jenny
Death. The topic of sex is also explored more deeply on N****s on the Moon than any previous
release, with tracks like ‘Fuck me out’ and the hilariously titled ‘Have a Sad Cum’ painting it as a
depressive subject. It has always been Death Grips mission to turn hip hop clichés
on their head, and this itself seems like an attack on sexual braggadocio.
Arguably, Jenny Death contains the
most blatant example – ‘Pss Pss’ being a charming trap-flavoured number about
pissing on a girl’s face.
Overall, The Powers
That B succeeds at doing what all Death Grips albums have done before it –
it raises more questions than answers. Death Grips could never give us an
explosive ending as this would require destroying the air of mystery that is so
essential to their appeal. They’d have to reveal some major plot twist – ‘Death
Grips were One Direction in disguise all along’ or something along those lines.
Sadly, I don’t think the band have anything nearly as impressive to reveal, no
dark hidden secrets, no grand plot to overthrow the music industry. However, I
do believe there is more to their music than simply spontaneous noise for the
sake of being noisy, and the desire to decipher this is what makes Death Grips so engaging.
It’s time to test
those subwoofers and annoy your conservative elderly neighbours. UK rave
veterans The Prodigy are back and they’re not about to go all ambient on us any
time soon. In fact, this might just be the group’s loudest and most aggressive
album to date. Sadly, it’s also their most forgettable.
Let’s get one thing clear first - this album is forgettable by
Prodigy standards. The Day is My Enemy
doesn’t contain any cheap house beats. There are no airhorn-loaded trap
numbers. Compared to most EDM artists out there, these guys are still clearly attempting
to be innovative and in some ways succedding. The percussion rhythms for one are reliably creative, the key
ingredient in many of the group’s prior bangers such as ‘Spitfire’ and ‘Firestarter’. The beats on 'Rebel Radio' and 'Medicine' made me want to move and brandish glowsticks and rip my shirt off.
ME RAVING HARD TO THE BEATS ON THIS ALBUM
Hence, the issue with this album clearly lies elsewhere. Personally, I see the band's forgettability (if such a word exists) as being largely down to the texture of this album.
The synth tones deployed on this album are abrasive, but they’re
simply not fresh. They’re essentially the same synth tones that were being used
on Invaders Must Die. In fact, they’re
the same synth tones that Pendulum were playing with a decade ago.
Clearly the griminess of these synth tones plays a large
part in the aggressiveness of this album, but overall the moments that truly
stand out on this record are the moments in which these abrasive synth tones
take a break. Such moments include the 8-bit Nintendo-esque keys on ‘Wild
Frontier’, the rave stabs on ‘Destroy’ and the driving guitar on ‘Invisible Sun’.
Here, The Prodigy expand the sonic palette. Sadly, these moments are too few
and far between, resulting in the remainder of the album feeling very samey.
Lyrics prove to also be a problem on The Day Is My Enemy. Whilst I can’t say I look for much
introspection from The Prodigy, hooks such as ‘nasty nasty!’ and ‘Ibiiiza!’ do
feel uninspired, especially when compared to the edginess of a past hook like ‘Smack my bitch up’ or ‘Take me to the hospital’.
‘Ibiza’ arguably redeems itself when it is revealed that the
track is a jab at many current EDM artists’ live shows that involve plugging a
USB stick into a laptop and waving their arms around for a bit. Here, The
Prodigy prove their relevance in today’s music scene – they’re still the best
live band in EDM.
It’s just a shame that as an album band, the same can no longer be
said.
Nothing too macho or hardcore this week. A lot of my
favourite tracks this week are smooth, classy numbers you’re likely here down
your local wine bar. Music for wearing a Burgundy smoking jacket to.
THE BEST:
'Spring
(Among the Living)' - My Morning Jacket
Speaking of jackets, US rock band My Morning Jacket have a
new track out – a seasonal ode to Spring accompanied by psychedelic visuals of
Yosemite’s Vernal Fall (the group’s upcoming album is set to be titled ‘The
Waterfall’). It’s a sprightly piece with some vaguely Southern-flavoured vocals
and steadily evolving guitars that weave in and out of one another.
'Not Like Here' - Mar
With its synth swells and seductive male vocals, ‘Not Like
Here’ sets itself up to be a slowjam for serenading the ladies to. But then in
comes the pitch-shifted vocals followed by a surprise spacey synth-bass
breakdown. Now even I want to make babies with Mar.
'Young Black
Mind' - Dolphin
I don’t feature many jazz songs on this blog because it’s
not really my forte, but this new track from Baltimore artist Dolphin about his
mother’s influence on his life is sentimental and beautiful enough that any
music listener can appreciate it. Impressively, the dude is a one-man band,
singing and performing all instruments on the track as well as producing it.
'Puzzle' - Lapalux
UK electronic artist Lapalux is starting to sound a lot like
Flying Lotus, which is a good thing so long as he doesn’t end up completely
hi-jacking the producer’s sound in the future. British singer, Andreya Triyana,
provides some sweet soul amongst the sparkly chords. Listen here at Soundcloud.
THE WORST:
'Pilates' - Donmonique
This chick tries to rhyme Honda with Sunday and the result
is ‘Honday’. That’s unforgivable.
'Yoga' - Janelle Monae & Jidenna
I’m a huge fan of Janelle Monae but this naughty ass-shaking anthem
just isn’t for me. ‘Bend over. Let me see
you do that Yoga’. I love how coincidentally the worst tracks this week are named 'Pilates' and 'Yoga'.
