THE BEST:
‘Welcome to LA’ –
Oliver Tree
Don’t be deceived by the mullet and windbreaker. Oliver Tree
is a cool dude. COOLER THAN YOU’LL EVER BE. Over a groovy beat that culminates
with a suave trumpet solo, the musician delivers some blistering bars against
the people of LA. Everyone from ‘plastic barbies’ to ‘drug addicts in a sleeping
bag’ are depicted in this lyrical painting of California’s most lovable hellhole.
‘Get Lost’ – Washed
Out
Washed Out aren’t washed up. Why should they be with all the
Portlandia royalties? The chillwave pioneers (I’m pluralising the band, but
really it’s a one-man-project) are still making music and this time round it’s spiky
jazz-house. The zonked-out vocals give me warm shivers.
‘Glitz’ – Testset
More glitchy than glitzy, this electronic instrumental is the work of mystery producer Testset and it’s pretty innovative stuff. It begins as a dense wall of digital percussion and stuttering sounds. Then midway a mighty tide of synth creeps in and washes it all away. But then it all cuts abruptly away and the track plummets back into a maelstrom of clicks and clacks and bleeps. Not to mention bloops and blaps too.
‘Run’ – Foo Fighters
The Foos are getting on a bit, but wow, didn’t realise they’d
aged this much. Flashing grannies and hipster assault take place in the band’s
latest video centred in a riotous retirement home. As for the tune itself, it’s
sounding a lot less dad rock than their previous album’s material. There are
mosh-friendly riffs, Grohl screeches and flashing grannies. No, wait that last
one’s just the video. Sorry, I’m still traumatised.
‘The Lord of
Lightning vs Balrog’ - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
This 13 minute lo-fi rock odyssey is bloody mental, which is
what I expected from a song titled ‘The Lord of Lightning vs Balrog’.
THE WORST:
‘Strip That Down’ –
Liam Payne (feat. Quavo)
Generic strip club music is still a more positive direction than
One Direction, I’ll give Liam that.