Table Of Contents:
- American Football – American Football (LP2)
- Animal Collective – Painting With
- Charli xcx – Vroom Vroom
- Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
- David Bowie – ★
- Death Grips – Bottomless Pit
- Deftones – Gore
- Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression
- JPEGMAFIA – Black Ben Carson
- Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
- Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered.
- The Last Shadow Puppets – Everything You’ve Come to Expect
- Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker
- Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
- Nine Inch Nails – Not the Actual Events
- Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
- Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3
- The Strokes – Future Present Past
- Travis Scott – Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
- A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
- Weezer – Weezer (White Album)
American Football – American Football (LP2)
The influential emo band returns after 15 years.
After releasing their acclaimed self-titled debut album in 1999, American Football would disband only a few years later, with Mike Kinsella forming Owen and Steve Lamos going on to become a professor. Fast forward 15 years and the band is back together with Mike Kinsella’s cousin Nate Kinsella joining the band on the bass.
On the opener, Where Are We Now?, Mike Kinsella finds himself a decade and a half older, but no less depressed and hopeless than he was in ’99 — in fact, it seems that time hasn’t healed his wounds at all.. Among the beautiful guitar bends and harmonics of My Instincts Are the Enemy lies a self-saboteur. If others see the past through rose-tinted glasses, the glasses in Home Is Where the Haunt Is are scratched and cracked, showing only a grey haze. The bass lines of Born to Lose provide the song with a sense of hope, even if the narrator has lost all of his. The alcoholic anthem I Need a Drink (or Two or Three) finds a middle-aged Mike Kinsella battling demons far worse than just heartbreak.
One criticism that can be said is that LP2 is quite similar to its predecessor, even going as far as featuring the interior of the same house from their debut on the cover, but that also creates a continuity and a sense of lore for the band. It may never have had a chance at topping its predecessor or its influence, but American Football (LP2) is still a fantastic sequel that sounds like no time has passed since their debut, with the band still playing their math rock rhythms in perfect harmony.
8/10
Animal Collective – Painting With
Animal Collective make one of the most annoying albums of all time.
With the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective was one of the biggest indie bands on the planet, thanks to a string of strong albums and rave reviews from publications, like Pitchfork. Its follow-up, Centipede Hz., was decent enough, but failed to capitalize on the band’s momentum, ending their streak of great albums; compared to Painting With, Centipede Hz. was a masterpiece.
Painting With is what Animal Collective must sound like to people who hate Animal Collective. The call and response vocals are torturous on the ears. Every song is filled with obnoxious effects and gone is the nuance and beauty of Sung Tongs and Feels, or the tasteful neo-psychedelic experimentalism of Strawberry Jam and MPP. One of the worst listening experiences I’ve ever had from a once great band.
2/10
Charli xcx – Vroom Vroom
Charli shifts into gear.
After crafting hit songs, like Boom Clap, Charli xcx was becoming a pop force to be reckoned with, but that wasn’t enough for her. Her first two albums provided some decent pop music, but neither was quite good enough to become classics, but with Vroom Vroom, Charli levels up her artistry and game, branching off into more experimental pop territory.
The title track is definitive Charli, and is as sexy and sleek as a Lamborghini, but with a hint of danger; like getting road head while driving 200km/h down the autobahn. Paradise evokes something out of Dance Dance Revolution. Trophy samples Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) from the Jack Rabbit Slim’s scene in the classic 1994 Academy Award winning Pulp Fiction (Charli’s debut, True Romance, is named after the Tarantino-written film of same name) and Secret (Shh) brings sultry thrills.
Although it’s only an EP, Vroom Vroom is both a significant release and Charli’s best project yet — this is where the Charli xcx story really starts to take off.
9/10
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
Danny Brown crafts a twisted, progressive rap masterpiece.
Taking its name from both a novel and a 1980 Joy Division song (a band that also influenced XXX), Atrocity Exhibition feels like a psychedelic funhouse, where Danny Brown takes you into the darkest recesses of his mind and addiction.
Downward Spiral feels like stumbling drunkenly down a neon-lit street, motor skills fading, as your vision starts to turn to black. The synths in Tell Me What I Don’t Know sound straight from a depressing 1970s sci fi flick. Rolling Stone swaggers by like a pimp in a new mink coat. Really Doe features Kendrick Lamar in one of four incredible features from him in 2016. Lost sees some Portishead type trip hop song. Ain’t It Funny sounds like getting spiked with acid at a circus (think of that one scene from Dumbo). Goldust is like a peyote trip in the desert. White Lines is about exactly what you think it is. Pneumonia is ominous and mysterious, but far more fun than the infection its named after. Dance in the Water and its Indian chants sound like a party in a tipi. From the Ground provides a calm from the psychedelic storm. When It Rain evokes Aztec vibes. Today is an anthem for those who wish to live every day like it was their last. Get Hi is like taking that first hit from a bong after a long day, with Danny Brown able to numb all the pain and have some fun for a little while. Hell For It closes off the album — the flame dies, but you’re still trapped in your mind.
This album is just covered head to toe in fantastic, exhilarating, diverse production and even if you can’t get past Danny Brown’s voice (an acquired taste), you should still check it out for the imaginative instrumentals. Atrocity Exhibition is arguably Danny Brown’s towering achievement (even more-so than the already classic XXX) and a watershed moment in 2010s rap, with its inspired psychedelic backdrops and hard-hitting lyricism.
10/10
David Bowie – ★
David Bowie releases one last masterwork right before dying.
Released on his 69th birthday, two days before he died, ★ (pronounced Blackstar) was truly a parting gift to the music world. When The Next Day surprise-released in 2013, Bowie had sounded more energized than he had in 30 years — no one could have foreseen that he’d follow that album up with a masterpiece that completely dwarfed it. Where that album seemed more indebted to the past (including the defacing of the “Heroes” cover), ★ is firmly rooted in the future, leaving his comfort zone one last time, whilst grappling with the approaching inevitability of death from the cancer that he had been secretly battling.
Musically-inspired by experimental artists such as Death Grips, Kendrick Lamar and Boards of Canada, Bowie seemed to really be challenging himself to become a trailblazer one final time, after decades of playing catch up. He does what any great artist does, and takes disparate influences and creates something fresh out of it. Having flirted with jazz back in 2014 on Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), and even further back in 2004 with the Reality closer, Bring Me the Disco King, Bowie finally dedicates an entire album to the style, but this jazz doesn’t sound like the jazz those tracks. Instead, this is more like jazz from the future — it’s forward-thinking and experimental and is also Bowie’s heaviest album, both musically and thematically.
The title track is one of Bowie’s longest, most grandiose songs, only beaten in length by 1976’s Station to Station. ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore and Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) are remakes of songs from 2014, and are the definitive versions. Lazarus sees Bowie accepting the freeing embrace of death. Girl Loves Me features one of Bowie’s rare uses of the word “fuck”. At the end of the album, Bowie says a heartfelt goodbye to his fans with the bittersweet I Can’t Give Everything Away, which revisits the harmonica sounds of A New Career in a New Town from 1977’s Low (perhaps his most important album in a long and storied career).
★ has set the gold standard for final albums by an ageing artist. This record is as incredible as anything from his legendary run from 1970-1980 — in fact, it’s a contender for his best work, which is truly astonishing, considering it was released two days before his death. Rest in piece, David Bowie; you were one in a billion.
10/10
Trivia: ★ won Best Alternative Music Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Death Grips – Bottomless Pit
Death Grips goes hardcore.
Coming one year after Death Grips’ double album The Powers That B and continuing on with Jenny Death’s hardcore rap rock sound (courtesy of Nick Reinhart on the guitar), Bottomless Pit is a chaotic album that should appeal to fans of rap, industrial metal and hardcore punk.
If ADHD was a song, it might just be Giving Bad People Good Ideas, an opener that pummels you with rapid-fire machine gun drumming and features female vocals for the first time since Exmilitary (outside of Björk samples, that is); conversely, Hot Head may be autism incarnate. Spikes continues with the onslaught of organized chaos. Warping uses vinyl records as a metaphor. Eh sees the band chill down a bit from all the noise with a more laidback, synth-driven sound. Bubbles Buried in This Jungle is simply put, batshit crazy. BB Poison, Three Bedrooms in a Good Neighborhood and 80808 are all bangers, perfect for driving over the speed limit to. The title track sounds straight out of Jenny Death, providing a wall of guitar distortion that fucks you in half.
The production here sounds like everything was cranked to 11, Spinal Tap style, like everything is just about to fall apart, but never quite manages to let itself collapse. Another masterpiece from one of the most important groups of the 2010s.
10/10
Deftones – Gore
Deftones lighten up their sound.
With tensions arising between singer Chino Moreno and guitarist Stephen Carpenter on the direction of the music, Gore could have ended up a major disappointment, but rather, the album occupies a unique space within the band’s discography for having a distinct production style and (relatively) lighter sound.
Prayers / Triangles is one of the band’s best pop moments, along with Hearts / Wires , which uses a similar quiet/loud dynamic and forward slashes. Phantom Bride features a guest appearance from Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell. Songs like Doomed User, Acid Hologram and Geometric Headdress all offer that classic Deftones heaviness.
Though it’s viewed as one of the weaker Deftones albums and has some jarring production when compared to the band’s previous albums, Gore is still a bloody good album that deserves reappraisal.
8/10
Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression
Iggy Pop forms a band with members of Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys.
Considering that The Stooge’s two revival albums weren’t particularly well-received (especially The Weirdness) and Iggy Pop hasn’t been attached to a genuine classic since his pair of Bowie produced albums in 1977 (The Idiot and Lust for Life), I think it’s safe to say that nobody was expecting a good album from Iggy Pop in 2016, but here we are.
Iggy Pop has always been overflowing with charisma and personality, but he seems to work best when he’s collaborating with other skilled musicians (David Bowie, James Williamson, the Asheton brothers). It was definitely a wise choice to hire a backing band full of some of the best modern rock musicians, which seemed to help to push Iggy Pop creatively.
Break Into Your Heart features that classic Josh Homme psychedelic guitar sound, and clues the listener in on how this is going to be a Josh Homme project just as much as an Iggy Pop one (despite it solely being listed as an Iggy album). Gardenia (not to be confused with the Kyuss song of the same name) makes use of a rotary sound. Vulture is an acoustic detour. German Days is likely a reference to Iggy Pop and David Bowie’s stay in Berlin in the late 70s, which resulted in some of the greatest music from both men. Paraguay starts off with a group vocal, and closes off the album.
Josh Homme injects his usual swagger and groove into the songs, and him and Iggy just emanate cool, with their voices coalescing well; a nice contrast between Iggy’s aged, deepening vocals and Josh’s more youthful falsettos. Matt Helders drum work is tight as usual too. One of the best backing bands ever.
8/10
JPEGMAFIA – Black Ben Carson
The aspiring rapper/producer releases his debut LP.
Compared to JPEGMAFIA’s Communist Slow Jams mixtape, Black Ben Carson feels like a more standard rap album, though it isn’t quite conventional either, thanks to the overall experimental production.
The album begins with Drake Era, where Peggy boasts over a sparse but menacing industrial beat. ALL CAPS NO SPACES is basically JPEGMAFIA’s theme song, addressing the correct spelling of his stage name. On Cuck, Peggy sounds like he’s doing an impression of Death Grips’ MC Ride, though it’s the next track, I Smell Crack, where Peggy ends the song claiming that “Death Grips can’t do that”. In 1988, N.W.A dropped Fuck the Police and 28 years later, JPEGMAFIA drops a slow jam called I Just Killed a Cop Now I’m Horny (how far we’ve come). On the The 27 Club, Peggy raps about the legendary phenomenon of musicians who have died at age 27, referencing Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. This That Shit Kid Cudi Coulda Been targets the titular rapper/singer, with Peggy even impersonating his vocal style.
Black Ben Carson isn’t as good as Communist Slow Jams and is a fairly inconsistent album that doesn’t really have the best replay value when compared to many other rap albums of the 2010s, but what it is, is another showcase of JPEGMAFIA’s sound and a stepping stone towards perfecting his already impressive craft.
7/10
Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
Kanye West grapples with the duality between religion and sin.
Where Yeezus was an album that was lean, with every piece of fat obsessively cut off as if it was dysmorphic, The Life of Pablo embraces its excesses, imperfections and general unfinished nature, but this only adds a charm to the album and it distinguishes itself from simply being a Yeezus II.
Starting as Thank God For Drugs (which had the single All Day in 2015) and evolving through Swish, Waves and eventually settling on The Life of Pablo, Kanye has yet again outdone himself with a masterpiece that feels like the unravelling of his psyche. As evident by the cover artwork, TLOP is an album about the duality that Kanye has faced in his career, between being a virtuous family man and man of God and being a hedonist basking in fame, riches, sex and sin. Kanye has always been a walking contradiction, but here it is more evident than ever. The other concept here is between the different Pablos that Kanye is comparing himself to: Pablo Picasso, the eccentric artist, Pablo Escobar, the ruthless drug kingpin and self-made billionaire and Paul the Apostle, the preacher of Christ.
TLOP is a goldmine when it comes to its tracklist. Ultralight Beam is a gospel master work and one of Kanye’s most transcendent songs. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 deals with love and lust. Famous, with it’s Bam Bam sample and Rihanna feature, proved to be quite controversial due to its references to Taylor Swift and its music video, featuring a bunch of wax-versions of celebrities in bed together, but beyond said controversy, it’s quite a stellar track that did not need to piggyback off its infamous video. Feedback revolves around an experimental sample that sounds like some sort of guitar or microphone feedback. Highlights is a perfect song for the gym or at least for an ego workout. FML is an emotional gut-punch, with a superb hook from The Weeknd. Real Friends is similarly stirring, kicking you in the feels. Wolves follows these two tracks with some heavenly wordless backing vocals.
30 Hours sees an appearance by OutKast’s André 3000 on backing vocals and ends with an experimental ad-lib. No More Parties in LA has Kendrick Lamar on a killer guest verse, with the song incorporating a sample of Kanye’s earlier GOOD Music collab track, New God Flow. On Facts (Charlie Heat Version), Kanye brazenly compares Nike’s treatment of its employees to slaves and although it feels a bit like a Yeezy plug, the song itself is still a first-class banger and vastly superior to the original 2015 single. Fade is a perfect song request for the club.
Kanye ends the album with Saint Pablo, an introspective work of art, which features some vocal work from Sampha that emphasizes a lot of emotion on the track. It also houses some of Kanye’s best bars, such as, “I’m not out of control, I’m just not in their control” and “This generation’s closest thing to Einstein, so don’t worry about me, I’m fine”. Saint Pablo is perhaps the quintessential track from The Life of Pablo, which is ironic, considering it was a last minute, post-release addition.
Some people saw TLOP as the beginning of Kanye’s downfall due to the album’s unfinished, work-in-progress release, but I suppose that’s just the new reality of music in the digital age. However, this is Kanye West we’re talking about here, so it really shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering a second version of The College Dropout was released shortly after the original, back at the start of his solo career. Kanye is confident and full of bravado, but is also a self-conscious perfectionist. Making real-time updates to an already released album on streaming was novel in 2016 and for better or worse, it’s another reason why Kanye is a pioneer in music.
The Life of Pablo is a masterpiece of an album with a fascinating history, conceptual-complexity and the type of album that could only come from the mind of Ye.
10/10
Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered.
Kendrick Lamar releases a companion to To Pimp a Butterfly.
A collection of “demos” from the To Pimp a Butterfly sessions, which completely undersells just how incredible all of these songs are. untitled unmastered. sounds like it could be any other artist’s greatest achievement, but for Kendrick, these were just some leftovers to one of the greatest albums ever made.
Like it’s predecessor, untitled unmastered. makes use of live musicians, including Thundercat, diving deep into the history of African American music, far beyond just rap. A lot of the songs on this album sound more like genuine funk and jazz songs than proper hip-hop.
As essential and as important as Kendrick’s proper studio albums.
9/10
The Last Shadow Puppets – Everything You’ve Come to Expect
Alex Turner and Miles Kane reunite for the first TLSP album in 8 years.
The first Last Shadow Puppets album came out right after the first two Arctic Monkeys albums and was soon followed by Humbug, where everything changed. This makes The Age of the Understatement seem like the end of that era of Alex Turner’s songwriting. It was also the last album they had recorded in Europe.
So how does Alex Turner’s side project sound 8 years later? This album doesn’t seem to wear the spaghetti western influence on its sleeve like its predecessor did, but instead goes for a 1960s baroque pop sound. This is still very much The Last Shadow Puppets, but it sees a slight evolution in their sound, despite the cheeky title.
Alex Turner had grown a lot as a songwriter between the two TLSP albums and this album showcases just how far he had come, even though he was already exceptional by the end of the 2000s. Everything You’ve Come to Expect is a sophisticated and sensual album, one that sounds like you’re sipping on a martini while chatting up a cute bird in a conversation pit in some 1960s pad.
8/10
Trivia: The cover is a photograph of Tina Turner from 1969.
Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen releases one last masterpiece before death.
Similarly to David Bowie earlier in 2016, Leonard Cohen released his best album since his glory days shortly before dying, and like that album, you can feel the life fading away as he commits his voice to tape, one final time. Compared to his last two albums, You Want It Darker is more sparse and engulfed in a darker sound.
It’s an understatement to say that Leonard Cohen’s voice is deep and raspy on this album — you can actually smell the cigarette smoke and whiskey when listening to this album. The mix of alcohol, nicotine and age has given Cohen a voice that few singers could ever wish to imitate (outside of Tom Waits). Although his life was nearing an end, he still exerts an utmost passion into his lyricism here.
The title track is one of the greatest songs Cohen has ever penned, with a choir, a memorable bassline that guides the listener through the blackness like a candle in the dark, and some of the best lyrics he’s ever written (“You want it darker, we kill the flame”). On the Level is a gospel track with organs, soulful backing vocals and piano. Leaving the Table recalls the sound of a 1950s ballad. Travelling Light makes use of beautiful wordless vocals from Athena Andreadis and some Godfather-like mandolin. Treaty sees Cohen take one more chance to yearn for a lost love. It Seemed the Better Way is like the title track, with choir vocals and a lowkey, but powerful sound.
You Want It Darker was the final album Leonard Cohen released in his lifetime and is a masterpiece that’s just as spectacular as his early trilogy of albums and a perfect ending to his 2010s renaissance. Rest in peace, Leonard Cohen — gone, but never forgotten.
10/10
Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
Metallica are back with another 78 minutes of thrash metal.
Coming 8 years after their last proper album, Death Magnetic, and 5 years after their Lou Reed collaboration, Lulu, Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct is in certain ways an improvement over its predecessor, though it still has certain flaws holding it back, like its bloated runtime, something that has plagued every Metallica record since Load.
Hardwired… To Self-Destruct does feature some of Metallica’s best tracks in years, like Moth to a Flame, Atlas Rise! and Spit Out the Bone, with the last one particularly capturing the band’s thrash roots well. The title track has Metallica trying to revisit some of the speed metal of their early days and it mostly works, despite some rather corny lyrics (“we’re so fucked, shit outta luck!”). Some of Hardwired‘s songs do feel like a mix between thrash and the slower blues metal of the Load/Reload era (ManUNkind, Am I Savage?, Murder One), but you can’t expect Metallica to always play like they did when they were young men, so the compromise is forgivable and the slower songs aren’t automatically bad for their lower BPMs.
Hardwired… To Self-Destruct might not be as good of a thrash metal album as Death Magnetic was, but that album was held back by its atrocious brick-walled production. At the end of the day, Hardwired is a fairly successful blend of Metallica’s first two decades and it does enough right that it shouldn’t offend the fans that were still pissed off at Lulu.
7/10
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds release their most minimalistic and ambient album yet.
During the recording of Skeleton Tree, tragedy struck as Nick Cave’s teenage son Arthur died after a fall near a cliffside. Most of the album had already been written by then, but Cave had made certain amendments to the lyrics following this traumatic turn of events. Even if this album wasn’t written with that loss in mind, it still emanates grief and pain from every note, like the sorrow had travelled back in time to Cave during its sessions.
Carrying on from the new sound that the band began to explore on Push the Sky Away, Skeleton Tree has minimal drums and percussion, and very little guitar. Instead, there is greater focus on words, texture, ambience and mood. Jesus Alone has no percussion and just Nick Cave, some piano chords, backing vocals and synths, but is no less enthralling, despite it’s desolateness and minimalism. Rings of Saturn is bewitching and warm, feeling like a spirit has visited a loved one. I Need You feels like a plea for his lost child, reaching out for the hand of a ghost, but not being able to grasp it.
Skeleton Tree is not the easiest album to listen to, given it’s despairing sound, but it is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty and emotion.
9/10
Nine Inch Nails – Not the Actual Events
NIN makes a return to the EP format.
In 1992, Nine Inch Nails released the Broken EP, a project which saw a major evolution in the band’s sound, and one of the most influential EPs ever released. Not the Actual Events sees a return to this format and is the first in a series of three proposed EPs.
Branches/Bones is the most invigorated Trent Reznor has sounded in sometime. Dear World, has spoken-word vocals. She’s Gone Away is dark and lethargic. The Idea of You gives some of those hardcore Broken vibes. Burning Bright (Field on Fire) is a distorted and atmospheric ending to the EP.
While it’s no Broken, Not the Actual Events is still a fantastic EP and return to a darker sound after the more accessible, Hesitation Marks.
8/10
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
Radiohead fuses together their best elements of the past twenty years into one of their most lush works.
The loops and glitches of 2011’s The King of Limbs had proven to be quite divisive among the Radiohead fanbase, especially following an album like In Rainbows, so fans were hoping for something more along the lines of that album — another five years later and fans got what they wanted.
Preceding the making of A Moon Shaped Pool, Thom Yorke had recently undergone a divorce and so, in many ways, this is a divorce record, similar to say, Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks or Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, though some of the lyrics still deal with the usual Radioheadisms of the social-political variety. As for the beautiful Stanley Donwood album artwork, my theory is that it’s meant to resemble the silhouette of a woman’s face, like it’s fading away from memory.
Burn the Witch sees the long-waited release of a song that’s been played live as far back as the early 2000s and features a string section plucking their instruments with plectrums, giving the strings a distinct and percussive sound. Daydreaming may very well be the saddest of the sad songs in Radiohead’s canon and has an experimental outro that feels emotionally-devastating. Ful Stop takes its time building up with a fade-in, before eventually bursting into a climactic end. Present Tense uses some gorgeous finger picking from Jonny Greenwood. Glass Eyes is a tranquil piano ballad in the vein of TKOL’s Codex. Identikit features a Jonny Greenwood guitar solo that should bring a smile to the face of the fans whose favourite Radiohead albums are The Bends or OK Computer. Speaking of Jonny Greenwood, the guitar playing on the finger-picked Present Tense and on Desert Island Disk are just further evidence of his prowess behind the fretboard. True Love Waits finally makes its studio debut, after floating around live since the late 1990s, with every note from Thom Yorke’s mouth sounding like a desperate plea — until this, the closest we had to an official version was on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings. This new version is likely to bring listeners to their knees, and bring tears to their eyes.
Every song here is rich, vibrant, enchanting and intricate, and like most Radiohead projects, will require repeated listens to hear all of its layers. Though Radiohead may still have an album left in them, A Moon Shaped Pool is a phenomenal album that feels very much like a swan song, though I hope that I’m proven wrong.
10/10
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3
Lightning strikes thrice.
After two back-to-back albums that paved the way for the duo, RTJ could have had a victory lap, but instead, Killer Mike and El-P continue to push forward creatively, with the latter’s production improving and expanding and both members continuing to successfully play off each other just as well as groups like Beastie Boys had done before them.
Down feels a bit like an Imagine Dragons-style song done by far more capable artists.. Talk to Me and Legend Has It are self-referential bangers, with the beats to back the braggadocio. Call Ticketron is a whole lotta fun, and makes brilliant use of Lyn Collins’ often sampled, Think (About It). Detroit legend Danny Brown makes an appearance on Hey Kids (Bumaye). Rage Against the Machine’s Zach de la Rocha returns on closer Kill Your Masters.
Another great album from one of the best duos in hip-hop history.
9/10
The Strokes – Future Present Past
The Strokes release an EP.
Three years after the lukewarm reception of Comeback Machine (a fairly underrated record), Future Present Past isn’t likely to win over the fans who want a return to a pre-Angles era Strokes, but it provides a few new Strokes tracks to add to the playlist.
Oblivius and Threat of Joy are more-or-less just your standard 2010s Strokes tracks, but its Drag Queen with its manipulated vocals from Julian Casablancas that stands out (for better or worse). There’s also a rather superfluous Oblivius remix.
None of these songs are likely to make a dent in the Strokes back catalogue, but it’s something to tide you over until the next release in another 5 or so years…
6.5/10
Travis Scott – Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
Travis Scott falls victim to the sophomore slump.
Released barely a year after his influential debut album, Rodeo, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight is a rushed sophomore release that falls extremely short next to its influential predecessor.
The album opens with the ends and while it’s no Pornography, it’s a decent enough opener with some 808s & Heartbreak (Kanye West) vibes and a feature from the semi-retired André 3000 of OutKast. Kendrick Lamar’s appearance on goosebumps and the song’s interesting beat make for what’s probably the best song here. pick up the phone with Young Thug and Quavo is also good, evoking Miami with its steel drums. wonderful has typically reliable Weeknd vocals all over it and is a solid way to cap off an otherwise forgettable album.
As for the negatives. Kid Cudi’s vocals aren’t very palatable on through the late night, sounding like a dying cow mooing, or like something from his critically-panned 2015 album, Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven. beibs in the trap features nav and not the titular Justin Bieber, so I’m not sure what that’s about; regardless, nav can be a bit grating on this. sweet sweet verges on annoying, as does guidance. Most of the other tracks sound similar to the trap sound that Travis Scott had ignited just a year ago, but without any of that album’s vision, edge, or memorability. There’s also some really cringe-inducing ad-libs throughout the project.
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight isn’t the worst album out there and it has its moments, but it feels like Travis Scott tried to capitalize on his newfound success by releasing a follow-up too rushed and hastily. This is hopefully a one time misstep, as Rodeo proved what he’s capable of when he’s actually trying.
6/10
A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
A Tribe Called Quest return after 18 years for one final album.
Having disbanded at the end of the 1990s, nobody knew when or if A Tribe Called Quest would ever get back together, but here we are 18 after their then final album, the underwhelming, The Love Movement. Unfortunately, Phife Dawg died during the recording of their final album, but not before getting to leave his mark on the project, even having named it. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service is a modern and updated take on the jazz rap sound that A Tribe Called Quest pioneered in the 90s and featuring an all star cast with the likes of Jack White, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and André 3000.
The Space Program is a poignant opener, perhaps their best yet. We the People… samples Bill Ward’s drums from Black Sabbath’s Behind the Wall of Sleep and is an anti-Trump Administration anthem. Solid Wall of Sound interpolates a line from Elton John’s Benny and the Jets in a transformative fashion (similarly to Frank Ocean four years prior). Dis Generation acknowledges the new generation of rappers that have sprung up since Tribe’s rule in the 90s. Enough!! is a sensual bedroom ballad. Kids… features André 3000 and deals with the frustrations of adolescence. Kanye West sings the hook on The Killing Season, which deals with police brutality and mistreatment of veterans. Black Spasmodic has a Rasta-ready beat. Lost Somebody is R&B that uses a sample of CAN’s 1971 track, Halleluhwah. Kendrick Lamar features on Conrad Tokyo. Jack White plays guitar on the final two tracks, Ego and The Donald.
Both one of the greatest comebacks and swan songs in music history, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service is a triumphant tour-de-force.
10/10
Weezer – Weezer (White Album)
Weezer’s love letter to California.
After a minor comeback with Everything Will Be Alright in the End two years prior, Weezer (White Album) finds Weezer continuing to gain momentum, with their most sincere and interesting album since Pinkerton. Weezer (White Album) is very much a love letter from frontman Rivers Cuomos to the state of California.
California Kids sets the summery scene of the album, with a nostalgic ode to the beloved state. Thank God for Girls is Rivers Cuomo’s tribute to the fairer sex. Songs like Do You Wanna Get High? and Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori are perhaps the closest that Weezer has been to capturing the spirit and sound of their early work (and are 2/3 of the Cuomo-only compositions on this album).
A surprisingly good album from Weezer that doesn’t quite bring them back up the the standard of Weezer (Blue Album) or Pinkerton, but is a hell of a lot better than anything else they’ve done in the past decade.
7.5/10
FIN
Brett Nippard
