Review of 'I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It' by The 1975

Rather impressively, UK rockers The 1975 play with almost every genre under the sun on this new sophomore LP. Even more impressively, they somehow manage to make it all exceedingly dull.

INTRODUCING: Shifty Chicken Shed

Throw your radio in the skip and surrender all sanity. It’s time to get acquainted with yet another bonkers band, Shifty Chicken Shed.

Review of 'Eraser Stargazer' by Guerilla Toss

Noise rock is, by its very nature, rather unmelodious and can therefore be a lot of hard work. 

Review of 'Pathology' by Trails and Ways

I’m glad Trails and Ways aren’t another depressing wannabe-Smiths indie band. I’m also depressed that it’s taken me until September to give this album a listen when it could have been fuelling my summer.

Review of 'Surf' by Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment

Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment is a Chicago hip hop collective consisting of Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox, Peter Wilkins, Greg “Stix” Landfair jr and a load of other artists I won’t pretend to have heard of. About the only member I was familiar with beforehand was kooky emcee, Chance the Rapper, who provides bars on most of these tracks.

Review of 'The Beyond/ Where The Giants Roam' by Thundercat

When you’ve listened to as much soul and funk as I have you begin to get desensitised to the slinky chords and groovy basslines. Everyone becomes another wannabe-Stevie-Wonder, another wannabe-Steely-Dan. It takes an artist like LA producer, singer and bassist Thundercat to prove that funk and soul still has room to evolve.

Review of 'Bush' by Snoop Dogg

Having thankfully abandoned his shortlived career as a reggae artist, Snoop Lion returns as Snoop Dogg with this brand new record Bush, the title of which could refer to many things. Personally, I think it’s a tribute to the ex-president.

Clearly the inspiration behind this album

In recent years lots of artists have been jumping on the 70s-revival bandwagon. Snoop is the latest to hop on board (although given his 90s g-funk roots it’s hardly new territory), half-rapping/half-singing over slinky instrumentals loaded with bow-chikka-wow-wow guitars, groovy basslines designed for making babies to and gratuitious use of the 808 cowbell. It’s unashamedly cheesy, particularly the melodramatic male backing vocals layered over each hook (they did make me chuckle), but Snoop – being as smooth as he is – is able to get away with it, resulting in an album that’s charmingly feelgood.

Snoop

Handling the production is Pharrell Williams. Some of you may have heard of him. He turns out to be one of many guest artists on the record, others being Stevie Wonder, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, T.I. and Rick Ross. Together, this horde of guest artists help to conceal the fact that Snoop can’t sing or rap any more (or most likely isn’t trying). Snoop’s vocals are largely flat and auto-tuned and his lyrics consist of largely weed-related throwaway scrap, but underneath the carnival of backing vocals and Pharrell-produced funk this seems irrelevant, that is until you remember that this is a Snoop Dogg album.

Choosing to take a backseat throughout the whole album, the record never feels quite as vibrant as it could be. I can just picture Snoop lying back with a joint in his hand whilst the rest of his entourage do the work around him. That said, this is an enjoyable listen and there are standout moments. ‘Run Away’ and ‘This City’ contain some of Pharrell’s most velvety beats yet and ‘Peaches N Cream’ is clearly the new ‘Gin and Juice’. 

★★★☆☆

TRACK TASTER:

Review of 'What For?' by Toro y Moi

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. 

★★☆☆☆

TRACK TASTER:

Review of 'Uptown Special' by Mark Ronson

Some people might roll their eyes at the idea of a funk album in 2015. There’s an awful lot of retro music coming out these days. Whilst there are a lot of cheap imitations, Mark Ronson’s latest full-length is a true homage carried out with soul and conviction.

Review of 'Jungle' by Jungle

Two male singers, one of whom has mislaid his testicles and sings entirely in falsettos, the other of whom mutters a couple octaves beneath, harmonise together accompanied by some sweet and punchy 70s grooves and Disclosure-esque synth splashes.