Father John Misty confronts your nightmares, Macklemore confronts racial politics and Rihanna confronts the ears.
THE BEST:
'Maybe Sweet One You Wont Have Nightmares Tonight' -
Given the Machiavellian songsmith has never been one for joviality, I should have guessed this wasn't going to be some dainty lullaby. At first the pretty chords and soft vocals suggest so, but then you catch on to the sick joke at hand. 'And you realise your penis has become detached' is just one of the many fragments of disturbing imagery making up this surrealist trip through hell, the whole song meanwhile sonically spiralling into a sea of tortured screams. Even the bogeyman himself would listen to this and want to go to bed with the light on.
Given the Machiavellian songsmith has never been one for joviality, I should have guessed this wasn't going to be some dainty lullaby. At first the pretty chords and soft vocals suggest so, but then you catch on to the sick joke at hand. 'And you realise your penis has become detached' is just one of the many fragments of disturbing imagery making up this surrealist trip through hell, the whole song meanwhile sonically spiralling into a sea of tortured screams. Even the bogeyman himself would listen to this and want to go to bed with the light on.
'Crooked, I Robot' –
Horseshoe Gang
Long Beach rap group Horseshoe Gang take on a menacingly slimy beat with some incredibly speedy flows like ninjas battling a giant space slug (not one of my finest similes). It's a banger!
Long Beach rap group Horseshoe Gang take on a menacingly slimy beat with some incredibly speedy flows like ninjas battling a giant space slug (not one of my finest similes). It's a banger!
'White Privilege II' - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Jamila Woods
‘The culture was never
yours to make better/ You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea.’
Even if instrumentally this is a little too messy to function as a nine-minute song, the message is honest and thought-provoking. Macklemore might not seem like the most appropriate guy to confront white appropriation of black culture, but in fact he does an admirable job here, refraining from embarrassing himself, even owning up to being part of the problem. I'm just waiting for him to ruin it all by doing something stupid like going on tour dressed in blackface.
'On The Map' - Mick Jenkins &
BADBADNOTGOOD
US emcee Mick Jenkins and Canadian experimental jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD team up for this track which is apparently a cover of ‘On The Map’ by The SenseiBlue. Who? I hadn’t heard of TheSenseiBlue either, so I checked him out. Credit where credit's due, the original is certainly smooth and funky, but not nearly as smooth and funky as this rework. Those synth splodges are damn near sexual.
'Divine Disaster' - XO ft. James Chatburn
This groovy deep house tune comes courtesy of UK producer, XO. Its bouncy and fresh and just the direction I wish Disclosure had taken their music in.
THE WORST:
'Work' - Rihanna ft. Drake
Slathered in auto-tune and sporting a hook somehow more annoying than 'Umbrella', this new Rihanna song becomes all the more dislikeable when you realise it was written by eight people. Listen here.
'Work' - Rihanna ft. Drake
Slathered in auto-tune and sporting a hook somehow more annoying than 'Umbrella', this new Rihanna song becomes all the more dislikeable when you realise it was written by eight people. Listen here.