Musiquarium Music Reviews 2018

Table Of Contents:

Alice In Chains – Rainier Fog

Alice In Chains releases their third album with William DuVall.

On the reformed Alice In Chains’ third album, Jerry Cantrell, William DuVall, Mike Inez, and Sean Kinney continue to make quality grunge, such as on the doom-laden The One You Know, the chunky title track and the William DuVall penned, So Far Under.

Not every song is as memorable as the aforementioned tracks, but Alice In Chains continues to best Pearl Jam as the two surviving Seattle grunge bands.

★★★½

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino

The Monkeys release a concept album about a hotel and casino on the moon.

How do you follow up a crossover smash hit album like 2013’s AM, which made the Monkeys one of the biggest rock bands in the world? By waiting half a decade, swapping out guitars for piano and making it a concept album about a lunar hotel and casino. And it has a taqueria too!

By this point, Arctic Monkeys were already known for changing their sound, the biggest change of which (prior to TBH+C), was when they made Humbug in 2009 (with the help of Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme). Compared to the punk-ish, fast and very English style of the first two albums, Humbug was a more Americanized, desert rock album, which evoked the California heat and a mirage-like daze. Alex slowed down his delivery noticeably too, and started leaning more towards a croon, which would become a staple of the band’s sound going forward.

This change in style lost the band fans, while also gaining new ones. They continued to alter the template set by that album through Suck It And See and AM, adding and removing certain elements, until they honed in on a distillation of that sound and won over their widest audience yet on AM, the culmination of that era of the band.

But, Arctic Monkeys have been telling audiences that they do things their own way (or no way) since the beginning, on songs like Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? (“…But we’ll stick to the guns, don’t care if it’s marketing suicide, we won’t crack or compromise…”), so by the time TBH+C came out, fans shouldn’t have acted so surprised that Alex Turner followed his heart and vision, ignoring all and any commercial or fan pressures.

Star Treatment introduces us to the sound of the album and a familiar, but strange narrator; one that sounds like he could be Alex Turner (“I just wanted to be one of The Strokes…”), but then sings about being a singer in the 70s, a time before Alex Turner was even born. This song is captivating. It’s such a bold way to start the album. People were (foolishly) expecting another Do I Wanna Know? and got a piano ballad with such rich instrumentation adorning its spaces. The initial shock of hearing this was one of the greatest listening experiences I’ve ever had.

One Point Perspective is dreamy with it’s synths and its soulful guitar solo. American Sports is engrossing, enveloping your mind with pure, grade A sonic bliss. The title track is sung from the perspective of a hotel worker, and talks of kissing underneath the moon’s sideboob. Golden Trunks is sinister and mysterious. Four Out Of Five was a perfect choice for a lead single, and has an exceptional build up and outro. And those synths…

Musically, The World’s First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip sounds straight out of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds or SMiLE, with it’s percussion and plucky bass lines, akin to the sound of famous session musicians, The Wrecking Crew. Science Fiction is dark and ominous. Cam Avery (Pond, Tame Impala) provides backing vocals on the suave She Looks Like Fun. Batphone sounds somewhat like a continuation of the hip-hop blending that was being done on AM songs, like Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? The album closes with The Ultracheese, a glammed-out piano finale.

The music on here combines the best elements of The Beach Boys circa ’66-’67, 1970s David Bowie, Serge Gainsbourg, sci-fi film soundtracks and whatever other diverse influences Alex Turner was inspired by. It sounds vintage and yet futuristic, being truly ahead of its time.

This is one of my favourite lyrical albums, with everything Alex Turner sings being extremely quotable throughout (e.g. “I lost the money, lost the keys, but I’m still handcuffed to the briefcase”).

With how polarizing this album was, it still led to a sold out world tour and the band’s fourth Mercury nomination, so it clearly wound up being a success in both commercial and artistic ways.

This was a ballsy album for the band to release and one of the greatest left-turns in music history.

★★★★★

Beach House – 7

Beach House explores psychedelia.

7 is Beach House’s most experimental album yet, adding psychedelic and shoegaze elements, giving their candy-coated dream pop sound an extra dose of colour, in contrast to its monochromatic artwork.

There’s unlikely to be another my bloody valentine album any time soon, so songs like Dark Spring should tide shoegaze fans over for a little while longer. Pay No Mind evokes memories of early Smashing Pumpkins. Lead single Lemon Glow makes use of some pitch-shifting electronic sounds. Black Car is ethereal and hypnotic. Drunk In LA paints a scene of an ocean of neon. It’s all so aurally pleasing.

Another typically sublime Beach House album.

★★★★

Death Grips – Year Of The Snitch

Death Grips releases their final album?

Death Grips entered near the start of the 2010s and seemed to disappear by the end of the decade (outside of some live performances in the 2020s). Between 2011 and 2018, they had put out six critically acclaimed studio albums, a legendary mixtape, an instrumental album, an EP, and a handful of singles. Fans were eating well.

By 2018, it’d be safe to assume that the band was burnt out, but basing that notion upon the music alone would not lead to the same conclusion. Year Of The Snitch sees the band continue to experiment, with a weird album full of icy synths that sounds like it was recorded in a skating rink.

Death Grips Is Online displays the chilly synths that will be heard throughout the album and continues the trend of self-referential songs, like @deathgripz and Death Grips 2.0. Songs like Flies, Linda’s In Custody and Hahaha are as interesting as they are bizarre. Black Paint is one of their heaviest, most metallic songs and should appeal to fans of Jenny Death and Bottomless Pit. Streaky is a synth-driven song in the vein of Eh. Dilemma uses synths that sound like late 70s Genesis. The vocals of Disappointed alternate between MC Ride’s smooth and screamed vocals.

In fact, a lot more of the vocals on Year Of The Snitch utilize MC Ride’s gentler, smoother voice than his screaming/shouting one.

Year Of The Snitch may not be as impactful as The Money Store, The Powers That B or Bottomless Pit, but it’s still an indication of a band at the height of its powers.

★★★★½

Greta Van Fleet – Anthem Of The Peaceful Army

Led Zeppelin this is not, despite how hard Greta Van Fleet are trying to be them.

Imagine all of the best elements of Led Zeppelin (the lyrics, the riffs, the performances, the variety, etc.). Now, remove all of that and what you’re left with is Greta Van Fleet.

The vocalist rips off Robert Plant (including his mannerisms). The guitarist rips off Jimmy Page (including the guitars and his stance). The drummer rips off John Bonham (I think you get the drift).

Oh, and before people start accusing Led Zeppelin of stealing and plagiarizing, here is my rebuttal:

a) The songs Zeppelin stole/altered/borrowed are all arguably better than the original source. Are you going to listen to Jake Holme’s Dazed and Confused or Led Zeppelin’s? Are you going to listen to Taurus by Spirit or Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

b) Led Zeppelin made PLENTY of great original songs: Achilles Last Stand, Kashmir, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, The Rain Song, The Song Remains The Same, etc.

Greta Van Fleet is algorithm music, corporately made for boomers who claims that no good music ever came out after 1971. This is regressive, asinine trash.

★

Jack White – Boarding House Reach

Jack White gets experimental.

After a couple of increasingly country-influenced albums, Jack White switches up and gets experimental on Boarding House Reach.

Respect Commander is one of the most interesting songs here. The downbeat Why Walk A Dog? sounds somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s Welcome To The Machine. Over And Over And Over is this album’s classic Jack White song, continuing on from from what he did with Sixteen Saltines and Lazaretto.

Then there’s the other half of the album, which is rather forgettable. The album doesn’t 100% commit to the experimental theme and some of the songs end up sounding like the material from Jack White’s past two albums, albeit with spoken word vocals instead (Abulia And Akrasia, Ezmerelda Steals The Show). These songs lack replay value and just seem like wilted experiments.

And when he is experimental, he isn’t always successful. Hypermisophoniac is bizarre and its repeating synth line can get annoying. Ice Station Zebra is a funk-tinged track that finds Jack White rapping. Connected By Love and its warbling synths sound rather uncharacteristic, even with considerations towards the album’s experimental nature.

Regardless of its many flaws, Boarding House Reach is easily the most distinct and unique album in Jack White’s entire discography. It’s just not very consistent.

★★★½

Judas Priest – Firepower

Judas Priest releases their best album since Painkiller, 28 years later.

Since Rob Halford rejoined Judas Priest on 2005’s Angel of Retribution, there hadn’t been a new album that could hold a candle to any of the band’s best work between 1976-1990. The aforementioned album was a good enough return for Halford (after two albums with singer Tim “Ripper” Owens filling in), but a classic it was not. Nostradamus walked the line between ambition and parody, and Redeemer of Souls was the first without founding member K.K. Downing, having some good songs mired by dull production.

Then came Firepower and that all changed. The band had now been with Richie Faulkner for several years and his (relatively) youthful influence seems to have been rubbing off on the Birmingham legends.

Ever since they released Painkiller in 1990, it seems like that has become the benchmark for their style and sound, but considering that was their first album with longtime drummer Scott Travis, it makes sense to use that as a guide. And that album was one of the best metal albums of all time, so it’s more than understandable why the band would try to remake it. Firepower definitely comes closest.

The title track and Lightning Strikes both show how capable the band still is of making a killer metal song decades later. Rob Halford continues to sound amazing, being in his late 60s at the time of recording. The interplay between Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner has inched closer to that of Tipton and Downing in their heyday.

Judas Priest was firing on all cylinders here.

★★★★

Kanye West – ye

Kanye West grapples with bipolar disorder and records in Wyoming.

How many Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed, globally beloved icons like Kanye West would start off an album with a song called I Thought About Killing You?

Surrounded by controversy from saying that “slavery was a choice” and from a photo of himself shaking hands with President Trump with a MAGA hat on, this album seemed to have absorbed a lot of the criticism against him from his detractors. But, if you remove the politicized nature of damn-near everything that’s come out since the mid 2010’s, you’ll find a gem of an album here, where Kanye exposes his bipolar disorder for all to see.

I Thought About Killing You is one of his most exciting and experimental tracks.Yikes is a banger, with Ye comparing his recently diagnosed bipolar disorder to a super power. All Mine is filthy fun with one of Ye’s funniest lyrics (“I love your titties ’cause they prove I can focus on two things at once”). Wouldn’t Leave is a desperate and vulnerable plea, asking his wife to stay with him. Ghost Town soars high as a mental health anthem and Violent Times is a tender song aimed towards his daughter and how he wants her to stay young and innocent, safe from the vultures and perverts of the world.

It’s an album that was somewhat written off as weaker than his previous works, but like most of his music from Yeezus onwards, sometimes it takes listeners repeated listens to catch up to Kanye and his erratic mind. This album may be brief, but it’s still a classic like all that came before.

Trivia: This was the second of five releases that Kanye West produced in 2018 from his famous “Wyoming Sessions”.

★★★★★

KIDS SEE GHOSTS –KIDS SEE GHOSTS

Kanye West and Kid Cudi team up as duo, and create a psychedelic hip-hop masterpiece.

Kid Cudi had been collaborating with Kanye West since 2008, when he first appeared on Ye’s 808s & Heartbreak. After continuing to work with each other over the next decade, it finally culminated in a team up on KIDS SEE GHOSTS, where Kid Cudi’s love of rock music and Kanye West’s penchant for sampling obscure songs blended into a psychedelic hip-hop masterpiece that even detractors of that era of Kanye couldn’t get enough of.

Opener Feel The Love features Kanye stalwart Pusha T and some interesting scat singing from Kanye. I typically hate almost any form of scat, but what he does here just works. Fire sounds like walking through a psychedelic jungle. 4th Dimension is based around a Christmas song and goes to show how transformative sampling can be when done creatively.

Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2) is a sequel to Ghost Town, which appeared on Kanye West’s Ye, only one week prior. Reborn is an entrancing lullaby and one of the finest things either party has ever been involved with. The title track sees a cool as ice feature from Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Cudi Montage makes use of an abstract solo Kurt Cobain guitar sample.

The cover art is a sight to behold and is dare I say, even better than Takashi Murakami’s other work on the cover of Graduation.

Trivia: This was the third of five releases that Kanye West produced in 2018 from his famous “Wyoming Sessions”.

★★★★★

MGMT – Little Dark Age

MGMT releases a modern synthpop classic.

The trajectory of MGMT is one of the most interesting in indie rock. They seemingly came out of nowhere in 2007 and became overnight sensations, thanks to hit songs like Kids, Time To Pretend and Electric Feel. Those songs were infectious and inescapable, like some sort of neo-psychedelic plague.

Expectations were high for a follow-up and 2010’s Congratulations polarized their audience with an album that was more genuine and artistic, but less immediate or catchy than Oracular Spectacular.

Fans of their first album were still holding out and then their 2013 self-titled album came out and was even more bizarre and challenging than their last album. While I have come around to that album and how much of a mind-fuck it is, it was far too out there for casual listeners wanting another Kids and it seemed like MGMT were destined to fade away from the commercial masses.

Five years later, Little Dark Age was unveiled and it managed to appease both old school fans and those who were on board with the artistic experimentation of the band.

Like on their first and third albums, Dave Fridmann (known for producing The Flaming Lips) was back to produce and helped the duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser to create a dark synth pop album that puts their (great) debut to shame; that’s how good it is.

She Works Out Too Much is hyper and exciting. The title track is a master stroke of gothic rock. When I Die flirts with some eastern sounds and has some of my favourite MGMT lyrics yet (“Go fuck yourself, you heard me right, don’t call me nice again”). Me And Michael is deliciously 80s. James is vaporwave cool. TSLAMP and One Thing Left To Try both go hard.

Little Dark Age is a fab juxtaposition of 80s revivalism and futuristic soundscapes, feeling both new and retro at the same time. The songs here are poppy and accessible, but still retain the experimentalism and darkness of MGMT’s post-Oracular Spectacular albums.

Their best album yet.

★★★★★

Muse – Simulation Theory

Muse revels itself in cheesy 80s synthpop.

Following 2015’s Drones, which was a small step in the right direction after the polarizing 2012 LP, The 2nd Law (which incorporated pop and dubstep elements), the band goes two steps backwards with their most pop-leaning affair and their worst LP yet.

Simulation Theory jumps on the recent 80s revivalism craze, which was catalyzed by the TV show Stranger Things, but instead of harnessing the 80s to their advantage (the way Tame Impala did on the retro-futuristic masterpiece, Currents), it just feels stale and dated.

Thought Contagion is rather catchy, but it verges a little too closely into Imagine Dragons territory (one of the worst bands of the decade), as does Dig Down. The robotic voice going “prop-prop-prop-prop-prop-prop-prop-propaganda-ganda” on Propaganda is flat-out hilarious, and then the song goes into some Prince-like cosplay. Algorithm is a decent opener though.

The album still has flourishes of classic Muse here and there, and nothing else is quite as bad as Propaganda, but overall, it’s still a forgettable album and a miss.

★★

Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch

Trent Reznor decides to release the third EP in a trilogy as a proper album.

Originally slated to be the third EP in a series following Not The Actual Events and Add Violence, Trent Reznor decided to change Bad Witch to an album instead, noting that the EP format isn’t quite as impactful as it once was (unlike their 1992 classic, Broken).

While not on par with any of NIN’s first three albums, Bad Witch is a short and ~~sweet~~ nihilistic detour into experimental jazz.

The aptly titled Shit Mirror is as dirty, raw and filthy as its title suggests (in the best way possible). Ahead Of Ourselves is another great track. God Break Down The Door sounds like a spiritual successor to the style of David Bowie’s final album ★, and even has a vocal delivery in a baritone voice similar to that of an aged Bowie. Considering Trent Reznor worked with Bowie in the mid 90’s on his famous I’m Afraid Of Americans remix, it adds an extra dimension to the song and feels like a homage to one of his fallen heroes.

Bad Witch may be too slight to rival the band’s best works, but it’s still a fantastic end to the run of works from 2016-2018.

★★★★

Pusha T – DAYTONA

Kanye West helps Pusha T to make his best, most immediate album yet.

Alongside his brother as the duo Clipse, Pusha T was already responsible for two legendary hip-hop albums (Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury), but neither of his two solo albums had bested either of those (despite being strong offerings). Where The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) had produced the aforementioned Clipse albums, Pusha T’s solo albums were the result of several producers (including Kanye West), and thus didn’t have the same consistency in style and production as those earlier records.

Enter DAYTONA, which was produced by Kanye West. Like the later Wyoming session albums that Kanye worked on, ye and KIDS SEE GHOSTS, DAYTONA is very short; in fact, its the shortest of those three albums, at only 21 minutes. Not a second is wasted here, with this being one of the leanest hip-hop albums ever made; the complete antithesis to the overstuffed, skit-filled rap albums of yesterday.

The intro to If You Know You Know continually builds, until the pressure is too great and bursts. The Games We Play sounds like a new age theme song to Al Pacino’s Scarface. Hard Piano has one of Rick Ross’ best appearances. The soulful sample in Come Back Baby contrasts nicely with the bass-heavy verses. Santeria sounds as sexy as it does dangerous. What Would Meek Do? continues Kanye West’s sampling of classic prog rock, this time with a clever use of Yes’ Heart Of The Sunrise.

Infrared sees Canadian rapper Drake get caught in Pusha T’s sights, taking aim at him for alleged ghostwriting and for being a negligent father, leading to the infamous Story Of Adidon diss track that released a few days after DAYTONA came out.

A brief masterpiece and only one of three incredible albums that Kanye West produced in 2018.

Trivia: This was the first of five releases that Kanye West produced in 2018 from his famous “Wyoming Sessions”.

★★★★★

Sleep – The Sciences

The stoner metal legends return.

As transcending an experience as Dopesmoker was, it wasn’t a very easy album to throw on, as it was one 63 minute-long drone song. While The Sciences isn’t lacking in the length department, no track exceeds 15 minutes, so it has better replay value in that regard.

After the instrumental introduction The Sciences, Marijuanaut’s Theme kicks in and is easily one of the best songs the band has ever composed. It’s heavy, doomy and features the top notch jamming you’ve come to expect from the stoner gurus.

Giza Butler is named after Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who along with the rest of the original incarnation of that band are basically the Gods of Sleep (guitarist Tony Iommi appears on a piece of toast in the gatefold and drummer Bill Ward appears on a carton of milk).

A must listen for any fan of Black Sabbath or stoner/doom metal.

★★★★½

The Smashing Pumpkins – Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.

Billy Corgan reunites with James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin.

When Billy Corgan first reunited with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin for 2007’s Zeitgeist, it only resulted in mixed reception and another hiatus, with Chamberlin leaving and Corgan adding an all new lineup for 2012’s Oceania. Fast-forward 6 more years and we arrive at the closest thing to a full-on reunion (minus original bassist, D’arcy Wretzky), with the contriving and pretentiously titled, Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.

Knights Of Malta is a terrible opener, with Billy Corgan singing these “woah woah woah woah woahs” with an effect that sounds like he’s gargling mouthwash at the bathroom sink. Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts) almost sounds akin to vintage Smashing Pumpkins, like an attempt at crafting another 1979, but lacking the timeless magic of that song.

The rest of the album is inoffensive, but boring, and considering it’s the first time Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin have been back together in 18 years, it’s very underwhelming, especially at a mere 32 minutes.

★★ ½

St. Vincent – MassEducation

Annie Clark remakes Masseduction with stripped back piano arrangements.

Released one year after Masseduction, her Jack Antanoff produced venture into pop, MassEducation is a reimagining of that album, foregoing all the sugary production for nothing, but piano and voice.

The arrangements here are all quite pretty, with extra emphasis on Clark’s naked vocals. It provides a nice contrast to the maximalism of Masseduction. It’s a lot more enjoyable than your typical remix album.

★★★½

Tenacious D – Post-Apocalypto

Tenacious D soundtracks their poorly animated Youtube cartoon.

For my money, the 2006 cult classic, Tenacious D & The Pick Of Destiny, is one of the greatest music comedies of all time. I cannot say that same for the Post-Apocalypto cartoon that this album is the soundtrack to.

Using a series of still images with audio, Post-Apocalypto is barely even a cartoon, and the soundtrack to it has barely any music. At just about 30 minutes, it’s the duo’s shortest album yet, and about one third of that is skits. Despite all this, I still had an amusing time and probably enjoyed this more than most.

The title track makes for a decent theme song. MAKING LOVE is a smutty, spiritual successor to dirty D classic like Fuck Her Gently and Double Team. DADDY DING DONG and WOMAN TIME are metal romps and two of the duo’s heaviest songs to date, alongside The Metal and Master Exploder.

I can’t give this album too much credit, as it’s clearly underdeveloped and lacking in scope, but it was still a satisfying enough experience and provided some terrific new songs for the Tenacious D canon.

★★★

Various Artists – Black Panther

Kendrick Lamar curates an all star line up of artists for an original soundtrack to the Marvel film, Black Panther.

After inspiring David Bowie’s final opus with 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly and winning a Pulitzer Prize for 2017’s DAMN., Kendrick Lamar was the most important rapper in the world (not named Kanye West). So, naturally, Kendrick Lamar would be the perfect man for the job of curating a soundtrack for Black Panther, a Marvel film that featured an almost all black cast, which was a big deal for African-American representation in a major blockbuster film of this scale.

Infinitely better than the film it was based on (which generally felt like a typical Marvel film, including a ridiculous, CGI-filled third act battle), the Black Panther OST is a zeitgeist moment of when rap music was at the forefront of the music industry, led by one of the greatest rappers to grace the genre.

The album features a stellar cast of artists, including The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Future, Vince Staples, SZA, Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Anderson.Paak and James Blake. Everyone brings their A game and the instrumentals are very fitting of the Afro-centrism of the movie, without delving into self-parody or stereotyping.

Kendrick Lamar appears on every track, despite only being credited on 6 of the 14 tracks. For this reason (along with his overall contributions), Black Panther feels like a Kendrick Lamar album proper and though it is filed under various artists, it’s an essential part of Kendrick’s solo discography.

A prime example of a soundtrack that transcends the quality of the film it was written and recorded for.

★★★★

The Voidz – Virtue

Julian Casablancas proves that his other band is a force to be reckoned with.

The Voidz were off to a good start with 2014’s Tyranny, which showcased a more experimental side to Julian Casablancas and contained some of his best songs yet, like the sprawling, 10 minute-long epic Human Sadness. Despite that album’s success, you never know if side projects like this will become one-offs or not, but four years later, the band released an album that was even better than the already excellent Tyranny.

Leave It In My Dreams could be passed off as a Strokes classic. QYURRYUS feels like something you’d hear at a dance club in the middle of the desert. Pyramid Of Bones and Permanent Highschool both evoke that badass, leather-clad swagger that Casablancas is known for. ALieNNatioN and Pink Ocean have a sexy, midnight swing to them.

Think Before You Drink is an acoustic cover of a late 70s disco song, and would normally sound out of place, but for a band like The Voidz, it feels right at home here. Black Hole is a suitable name for itself. Wink has Julian Casablancas sounding like he’s having way more fun than he’s had with The Strokes in years. Pointlessness is a ballad ripe for a b-movie sci-fi flick, and a fitting climax to the album.

Virtue is a fairly long album at about an hour, but it has so much variety and experimentation to keep it entertaining. The Voidz have allowed Julian Casablancas to indulge in creative new ventures and they are becoming a band that can hold its own against The Strokes.

★★★★★

FIN

Britain Chambers

The Musiquarium