“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
Aussie psychedelic rock band, Tame Impala, have traded in rugged
guitars for shiny synths. The result is a sound somewhere between the Blade
Runner soundtrack and those glossy eighties power ballads that I could always
picture myself driving down a highway to at night if I could afford a car and
hadn’t failed my test five times, but anyway we’re getting side-tracked.
Cat noises and train station jingles. You can make a song out of anything these days. A lot of this week's music has been pretty strange. It's an even mixture of entertainingly good and entertainingly bad.
THE BEST:
'No Chill' - Skrillex & Vic Mensa
‘Practice? What the
fuck is practice?’ Chicago rapper Vic Mensa is sounding ridiculously
arrogant here and arrogance usually isn't my thing, but I'm willing to overlook it due to the badass beat. Who knew that the iconic dubstep producer could also
make a mighty trap beat? That brass sounds huge. It’s like a fanfare to the
apocalypse. Listen here.
'Rattle that Lock' - David Gilmour
If you’ve ever spent time in a French railway station you
may recognise the SNCF jingle sampled throughout this song. Personally the
sound brings back nostalgic memories, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of
French commuters find this rock veteran's new song intolerable.
'Like I Like It' - Vantage
Talking of France, here’s a little disco-house tune from the garlic-and-cheese-loving country itself. The funky middle section is extremely
creative and I’m loving the shimmery use of synth vox.
'Meowrly' – Meow the
Jewels
Rap duo Run the Jewels have released a remix of their 2014 single 'Early' made entirely of cat noises. The use of purring as a substitute for bass made me chuckle. I can't believe they didn't think to call it 'Purrly' though...
'I Need Chickens' –
Young Thug
After all the unwavering hate I’ve given garbling Atlanta rapper Young Thug on this blog I
almost regret admitting that I kind of like this song. I guess it appeals to my goofy sense
of humour the same way Riff Raff does. Producer Mike Will Made It delivers a
fun beat complete with 808 cowbell, and Young Thug makes hilarious chicken noises over the
top (they sound more like pigeon noises to be honest, but let's not get pedantic).
THE WORST:
Black Magic – Little Mix
UK girl group, Little Mix, wish they were American whilst promoting the idea that you need to be hot to be successful. That's just the music video.
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.
As per usual, I round up my favourite and least favourite tracks from the last seven days. Enjoy!
THE BEST:
‘Sugar’ – IshDARR
This bouncy hip hop single from Wisconsin newcomer IshDARR
certainly lives up to it’s name – it’s adorably sugary. Sweet lyrics ride an
uptempo beat made up of bright synths and squeaky pitch-shifted vocals.
‘EML Ritual’ –
Chemical Brothers
Built around a sinister synth riff, this new track from EDM legends
The Chemical Brothers is a masterpiece in suspense. I was convinced there would
be a drop around the two minute mark, but the Manchester duo keep up the
teasing for another minute until finally giving in.
‘Sleep Talk’ – Diet
Cig
Few songs capture love with such realistic and idiosyncratic
detail as this new indie rock single: ‘I
can’t play instruments very well and I eat all your cereal/ but I’ll never be a
smoker cos the second cigarette makes me feel like shit’. The New Paltz duo
might not be all that instrumentally, but their lyrical wit and charm certainly
makes up for it. ‘Diet Cig’ is also one of the best band names I’ve heard all
year.
‘Raindrops’ – CONFZ ft. Jamilah Barry
East London rapper CONFZ offers some impressive wordplay, although it's not quite enough to distract from phenomenally spacey beat in the background. All that's missing from this track is a hook.
'Impression of You' - Giraffage & Viceroy ft. Patrick Baker If you're looking for a babymaking anthem this summer, look no further than this sexy electropop tune. Trap 808s, synth-harp arpeggios and woozy chords create the perfect backdrop for Patrick Baker's breathy vocals. I hate the word 'eargasm', but I think I just had one.
THE WORST:
‘Stay Up’ – Problem
'Good money, good weed/ that's the way you stay up'. These lyrics are absolute gibberish. It's like listening to a trap rap parody.
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.
It's weekly roundup time. This week Pharrell gets political, Toro y Moi gets creepy and Puff Daddy attempts a comeback.
THE BEST:
'100' – The Game ft.
Drake
Whilst The Game still strikes me as a pretty generic rapper,
there’s no denying how cool Drake’s passive aggressive sighed guest verse is: ‘I would have all your fans if I didn’t go
pop and I stayed on some conscious shit’. The beat is also bloody gorgeous.
'That Instead of This' – Toro y Moi
Continuing to dabble in new genres, singer and producer Chaz
Bundick AKA Toro y Moi goes down a brooding electronic route with this new
instrumental made up of sinister bass and screeching synths. I wasn’t all too
keen on the musician’s recent indie funk endeavours, but perhaps there’s hope
with this new darker sonic direction.
'When I Was Your Age' –
Mammoth Penguins
Being a twenty-something millennial I’m constantly aware of how
little I’ve achieved at my age compared to what my parents did. I don’t have my
own house. I don’t have my own car. I’M NOT EVEN POTTY TRAINED (just kidding - or am I?).
‘When I Was Your Age’ is a song that any twenty-something feeling
unaccomplished can relate to. Here’s hoping this Cambridge alt rock band
continues to put out songs of this calibre.
'Freedom' – Pharrell
Pharrell Williams has dropped his surname and started getting political. 'Freedom' is a far cry from the cheerful sound of 'Happy' (Pharrell even sounds a bit angry as he's screeching the hook) and whilst it isn't quite as catchy as previous releases, it's interesting to hear the singer pushing his lyricmanship.
THE WORST:
'Finna Get Loose' –
Puff Daddy ft. Pharrell Williams
I was constantly waiting for Puff Daddy to stop rambling over the beat and start
rapping. Pharrell's constant yelping in the background is also prety damn annoying.
Excuse the lack of distorted guitars. I've been in a summery, poppy mood this week. Here are my favourites and not-so-favourites from the last seven days.
THE BEST:
'Them
Changes' - Thundercat ft. Flying Lotus & Kamasi Washington
I expected some slinky jazz funk given the production credits,
but nothing could have prepared me for the groovy mother of all basslines
sported in this track. As usual, Thundercat injects the lyrics with his own
warped sense of humour. The song turns out to be about losing one’s heart,
literally: ‘Nobody move. There’s blood on
the floor/ And I can’t feel my heart’.
'Pressure Off' - Duran Duran ft. Janelle Monae & Nile Rodgers
Rustle yourself up some cocktails and get the barbecue smoking. This new pop anthem from new wave legends Duran Duran has got me right in the summer mood. Funk guitar idol Nile Rodgers and neo-soul queen Janelle Monae add to the feelgood factor.
'Gold' - Kiiara
The chopped up vocals that kick this song off will either strike you as annoying or creative. Personally it’s this Illinois singer’s sweet vocal tone that’s drawing me in, the inflection reminding me a lot of Danish pop singer MØ. It perfectly suits the smooth but icy beat (I love that canyon-reverb click noise!)
'Everybody Knows' - Injury Reserve
Injury Reserve claim to be the ‘only good rap act in Arizona’, which is a bold statement to make, but I’ll roll with it seeing as I can’t think of any other Arizona hip hop artists off the top of my head. ‘Everybody Knows’ is their latest track and comes with an eccentric attitude and left-field instrumental.
'Down
For This' - Vanessa Elisha
Australian r&b singer Vanessa Elisha delivers this spacey
slowjam with a glitzy hook and lots of 808s. I wasn't too sure about it at first but then the chorus hit and floored me.
THE WORST:
'No Sleeep' - Janet Jackson
No sleep? Give this song a whirl and you’ll soon be out for
the count. A lot of people (mostly hardcore Jackson fans I feel) have been hyping this track up, but it just strikes me as dull 80s lounge-revivalism
without any kind of catchiness or flair.
