ALBUM REVIEW: Run the Jewels (Killer Mike & El-P)- Run the Jewels
2013 has ruled for music on nearly every front. Except for Hip-Hop. I mean, sure we had (Depending on who you ask) Yeezus and (Also depending on who you ask) Chance the Rapper and (If you ask me) Big K.R.I.T., but those are a few albums. In past years, we’ve gotten tons of really great albums and tapes by this point. However, June blew up with great Hip-Hop. One of the greatest? Killer Mike and El-P.
Last year, these two kind of ran the Hip-Hop world, at least from the underground. El-P produced Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music, a fiery and furious political southern Hip-Hop album that yanked the South back away from Gucci Mane and Waka. Just a couple weeks after that, El-P dropped Cancer 4 Cure, a wild and dark Hip-Hop manifesto with some of the wildest production I’ve ever heard. These projects showed that El-P and Killer Mike are a weird combination that shouldn’t work, but it does. El-P’s hardcore New York sounds locks into Killer Mike’s southern growl like Legos. This album isn’t nearly as serious as their punches last year, but it’s just as good and 3x as fun.
The politics and dreary lyricism have been exchanged for wild shit talking and great lines that feel like the ceiling is falling above you. The beats are just as dark and hard-hitting, but this time they’re a bit more playful and taunting. The Nintendo beat on 36” Chain and the wild Bongos on the opener Run the Jewels all seem to say “Get at me” whilst flipping us off. It’s really awesome.
Even though the lyrics aren’t as conceptual as their albums, they don’t need to be. Despite the fact this album (You’re welcome, El-P) doesn’t consist of much outside of some wild flaunting, they still unleash some fantastic lyrics and some really memorable lines. Hell, even on the only weaker track (Sea Legs, because I hate the hook) these two spit some wild lines. They even through stabs at Watch the Throne (The lines alluding to them as corporate slaves on Get It is also nicely timed with Jay-Z’s “Samsung Galaxy: The Album”). I’d name individual lines that are fantastic, but there’s a fantastic line every couple of seconds on this album. These two are incredibly talented lyricists.
On top of that lyricism is some of the fiercest flows and deliveries I’ve ever heard from either of them. The title track has some absolutely wild flows that they throw back and forth with ease. They sound like they have as much chemistry as the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC had back in their primes. Keep in mind these two have only been recording together for two or three years. Individually, they always try to top each other, which keeps them on top of their games. El-P’s wild tongue twisting makes his verses feel like roller coasters on fire, while Killer Mike delivers with a thick gusto that can sometimes make Kanye’s barking on Yeezus sound like the rap equivalent of dairy-free ice cream. Oh, and I’ve never been as afraid of a rapper as I was of Killer Mike and his opening verse on Job Well Done.
Overall, there’s not much to say other than this Album is really fantastic. Even moments that are overshadowed (Like collaborations from Big Boi and a hilarious appearance from Prince Paul) are really great. Mike and El are an odd couple that were meant for each other. That’s about it. You need to download this.
Summary: Run the Jewels shows off just how perfect Killer Mike and El-P are for each other, with wild production and amazing verses. These two make quite the case for why they’re some of the best in Hip-Hop right now.
Choice Cuts: Run the Jewels, Get It, Banana Clipper, DDFH, A Christmas F**king Miracle
Leftovers: Sea Legs
5/5
You can pop in an email for a download here.
ALBUM REVIEW: Disclosure- Settle
I’m not an expert of electronic music. I mean, Garage, House, Dub, Step, Acid…I can’t often hear the differences between them. I tend to lump electronic music into the same pile, so I haven’t understood a lot of arguments as of late as to what genre Disclosure’s debut is (House? Deep House? Garage? Bass?). When I finally heard this album for the first time, I became even more confused by these arguments. Who gives a damn when the album is this good?
This UK Duo has been dropping singles and EPs for the past couple of years, and each release has brought more and more great tracks. These clubby tracks manage to combine all of those confusing genre tags into one incredibly cohesive whole. Each song of theirs crawls and grows from simple percussive beats and little synth lines to enormous anthems. Each song just groves smoothly, and they do things with their synths that are absolutely mind blowing. And they manage to be mind blowing in a diverse set of ways. Sometimes, they can use subtle and quiet ideas to introduce a song (Like the stunning Help Me Lose My Mind). Other times, they can throw everything to at the wall to create a gloriously busy beat like on Defeated No More. Or they can just do some amazing things with the vocals of their guests, like the draw-dropping vocal breakdown in White Noise.
While a lot of “House” can tend to drag a single idea out for a long time, not a single idea on Settle overstays its welcome. Which is partially due to the fact that the ideas are absolutely stellar. Even some of the weaker tracks on here manage to bring a sense of inventiveness to the music. Each song twists and turns, bringing interesting things to the table both in the foreground and the background. On their solo tracks, wobbly synths and stellar percussion drive the story. But even on their tracks with guests (Which make up a good half of the album), they manage to bring cool things to the table. Voices is a track with Sasha Keable, but Disclosure take an equal lead on the track.
In fact, this album is a stellar example of “Guest Musicians Gone Right”. Every guest, from Aluna Francis to Eliza Doolitle to Sam Smith, sounds perfect for this kind of music. Most of them have had experience with electronic music before (Jessie Ware and Jamie Woon are the most obvious and famous examples). All of the guests sound comfortable over the wildly inventive instrumentation. Plus, a lot of them deliver vocals that on there own are absolutely stellar. Jamie Woon sounds more confident than ever before, and Sam Smith just gained a fan in me with his awesomely explosive stint on Latch.
To be honest, the only parts of the album where the album almost falters are the tracks without guests. Tracks like Stimulation and Grab Her! suffer from a case of “poorly chopped vocals”. However, despite some of these problems, the tracks themselves never become anything less than solid, because some of the ideas are absolutely cool (And these guys have an ear for really cool synths). True, most of the problems on this album come from Disclosure themselves, but luckily the problems are very miniscule, and they’re often outweighed by truly stunning moments (Which nearly every song has).
Overall, this is a great debut. Disclosure manage to make a wild type of house that still remains accessible and cool. Plus, some of the best pop songs I’ve heard in recent years are on this album. Electronic music hasn’t really had new life breathed into it since James Blake brought something new to the table in 2010. Disclosure haven’t exactly brought something completely new, but what they brought is an incredibly welcome addition to the genre.
Summary: Incredibly tight, incredibly smooth, and incredibly catchy, Settle establishes Disclosure as some of the most talented electronic artists out there with phenomenal songs that utilize guests well as well as interestingly accessible experiments in sound.
Choice Cuts: Latch, White Noise, Voices, You & Me, Help Me Lose My Mind
Leftovers: Stimulation, Grab Her!, Confess To Me
4-4.5/5
Stream White Noise and Latch below. Settle is out now on Universal/Republic
EP REVIEW: Kid Ink- Almost Home
Kid Ink is one of those rappers that you always hear the name of, but you never really hear the music. He released his own album independently, and he was on 2012’s XXL Freshmen list. That year, he was the rapper who we all say “Who the hell is that?” about every year. Well, this year he got a major label (RCA) to release his latest mixtape. Since he has received quite a bit of hype, I figured I’d try his music out. I immediately regret this decision.
Unlike some XXL Freshmen, Kid Ink really feels like symbol for the regression of Hip-Hop. Lame lyrics, generic trap beats, and good ol’ American ignorance are sprinkled on every track. Take the overwhelmingly long Bossin’ Up. The beat is soulless and genetically engineered for a similarly soulless club where Ciroq is served and the lights are all a dim dark blue. There are guest verses from French Montana and A$AP Ferg, but only Ferg brings anything remotely interesting to the track. And then there’s Kid Ink himself, who I can honestly say is the most boring, uninteresting rapper I’ve ever heard. Nothing he says carries and weight or sense of creativity. The closest thing that neared “interesting” was the line “It’s Clear who been getting to the bread like Panera”, and that’s only interesting because it’s laughably awful.
Kid Ink lacks any real sense of charisma, both in lyrical delivery and lyrics themselves. The lyrics follow the typical “Getting Money, Having Sex With Women” formula that Hip-Hop tends to follow. But there’s no twist or interesting angle on it. The only times his classical ignorance veers into interesting territory is the line “Martin had a dream, I’ve been dreamin’ bout gold” on the awful Money and Power, and that’s only because it’s borderline offensive. Plus, his dopey and plain flow makes his lyrical incompetence even more apparent. This sounds about as skillful as any mediocre mixtape you can pull up on Datpiff for free.
The production ranges from “Painfully generic” to “Almost inspired?”, with Was it Worth It being the only track that brought something to the table that wasn’t sleep inducing. Most of the production is the uninspired club/trap stuff that’s dominated more inspired tracks by Drake. Plus, Ink tends to tack on lame and grimace inducing choruses throughout the EP. None of them are remotely catchy or fun. They all just seem to say “Oh hey, we needed to put a chorus here”. Plus, Kid Ink is an even worse hook singer than he is a rapper.
I’d go into specifics of songs, but they all sound the same. Ignorant Hip-Hop lyricism and production is fine when the music is interesting or the song is fun. Sadly, Kid Ink brings neither to the table. He simply brings awful lyrics, bad production, and pathetic excuse for a project.
Summary: Almost Home is a terrible EP. It’s generic, blandly produced, and only shows off all the problems with Kid Ink as both a lyricist and MC.
Choice Cuts: Was It Worth It (If I had to pick)
Leftovers: Every other track.
.5/5
Almost Home is out now on RCA.
EP REVIEW: TEEN- Carolina
Late last summer, I reviewed In Limbo by the Brooklyn all-female group TEEN. The album was flawed and some of the material was a bit stale. But for the most part, I liked it. It was a debut that held a lot of promise for things to come from the group, especially with the album opener Better. This year, we got a short little follow up to that album…but sadly it is not better (Pun completely intended. And I apologize).
The band did away with a lot of the stuff I didn’t like about their debut, including the road-to-nowhere ballads that I didn’t care for. Every song here manages to feel energetic, and they surprisingly never overstay their welcome. There are some cool guitar riffs, some energetic percussion, and a new sense of direction that was somewhat not there before. TEEN improved in this regard, but sadly, that’s about the only place where they improved.
The best adjective I can use to describe this project is “Messy”. Every one of these five tracks comes across as unorganized and afraid to truly settle. A lot of it sounds dissonant, but I don’t think it’s on purpose. For some reason, Teeny Lieberson’s vocals come across as less commanding and more confused. On the debut album, she sounded like a fierce and controlling lead vocalist. Here, on tracks like Carolina, she sounds uncomfortable and unsure. Without her command the rest of the music falls apart behind her. I really like the guitar on this project, but the weird synth work on every song just feels tacked on to make it fit with the “TEEN Sound”.
In fact, my biggest gripe with this project is for sure the synth work. Perfectly OK pop songs like Circus are absolutely ruined by the obnoxious synth-work. The synths just repeat scrambled and ugly melodies over and over and over again. Plus, while the synths on In Limbo really helped amplify the emotion and lyrics of some songs, here they act like more of a hindrance. Plus, a lot of the synths feel completely unnecessary. Cannibal is a perfectly nice song with the light guitar and cool clapping percussion. Does it need the scrambled synth ambiance in the back? I think not.
Overall, Carolina is a step backward for this group. Even without the horrendous and lazy synths, the EP still doesn’t bring anything really interesting to the table. The only track that is remotely near the caliber of their debut is Cannibal, and even that feels like a bit of a throwaway. Carolina is just really underwhelming and pretty mediocre.
Summary: I hope Carolina is a collection of throwaways, because the lazy synth work and uninspired vocals ruin songs that were already only OK to begin with.
Choice Cuts: Cannibal
Leftovers: Circus, Glass Cage
2/5
Stream Carolina below. Carolina is out now on Carpark
ALBUM REVIEW: Laura Marling- Once I Was an Eagle
Back in 2009 (OK, let’s be honest, 2010), there was this sudden explosion in the British folk/singer-songwriter scene. From the same-ish area that spawned Mumford & Sons gave us a ton of little acts that thumped around guitars and sang their hearts out. One of them was Marling’s former group, Noah & the Whale. In that sudden explosion, we got the delightful I Speak Because I Can, which generally followed a lot of the tropes that were big at the time. Spunky lyrics, heart-on-your-sleeve vocals, and a general prump-thumping vibe. Every other album from that folk explosion had that sound, but Marling brought an interesting singer-songwriter angle to the proceedings. Sure, A Creature I Don’t Know was a bit messy, but it was still better than all of the other follow-ups from those groups, and Marling was only 21.
Now, Marling has brought an album that really refines her music in a subtle and understated way. The rip-roaring choruses are gone, as are the spacious production values and plain energy. Once I Was an Eagle is a very intimate album, where even the grandest moments of sound feel personal and secret. This album slithers like a silent snake, with each song flowing into the next with a sleek and intense sense of urgency and awareness. The album is tighter, and so is Marling.
This time around, she’s settled for a very subdued and quiet style. Much of the music tends to be acoustic guitar lead folk tunes that rumble like tumbleweeds. There are flourishes of strings and pianos and percussion throughout, but they never quite feel like they are an integral part of the album. They’re just there to accentuate songs. The heart is Marling and her guitar, and despite the reduction in instruments and production, she is more captivating than she has ever been before. The guitar licks on Undine feel like little legs urgently running to a destination, with Marling’s sweet country-esque vocals riding them there.
Marling’s strength as a vocalist and performer are more clearly illustrated on this album than ever before. On several tracks, she takes a strong hold of the song, commanding it with her smooth voice and guitar. In fact, tracks like the energetic Where Can I Go? sound like a young Joni Mitchell fronting a stellar Americana studio band during the early 70s. There is a lot of things that really link Marling to Mitchell, be it the calm yet commanding voice, her blunt but affective song-writing, or her stunning consistency (Marling has been making a run of albums that nearly compete with Mitchell’s run in the 60s and 70s.
Despite the reduction in production and sound, the other instruments are still vital to this album’s stark and emotional beauty. Tracks like Once manage to make the most out of incredibly quiet organ lines, while light percussion brings the song along as well. Little hand percussion on songs like Pray For Me make the lovely crescendos even better, and the sweet strings that are trickled throughout the record are an absolutely wonderful addition as well. But these instruments never really feel like Marling saying “Alright, let’s liven it up with some strings I guess”. Each instrument manages to mold into the songs to become vital limbs rather than trivial ornaments.
Of course, saying that this album is decibels lower than her past work would be a bit of a lie. Those thunder-storm crescendos still make their appearances throughout, and for the most part manage to become one with their relatively quieter surroundings. What really makes this record standout are the quiet moments, like much of the first 4 tracks, which brilliantly bring an intimacy that is simultaneously warm and cold. With the sound turned down, Once I Was an Eagle gives the incredibly young, incredibly talented Marling a lot of space to grow and shine. And she does it pretty damn well.
Summary: Once I Was an Eagle is Marling’s best record yet, with an increased focus on intimacy allowing Marling’s lyricism and vocals to shine, with the instruments providing their most affective purpose yet.
Choice Cuts: Take the Night Off, I Was an Eagle, Breathe, Little Bird
Leftovers: Master Hunter
4.5-5/5
Stream Once below. Once I Was an Eagle is out now on Virgin/ Ribbon Music
ALBUM REIVEW: The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die- Whenever, If Ever
Emo music is a genre that, historically, has just left me cold. The vocals often feel like nails on a chalkboard or a cat getting its tail stuck in a slammed door. The general efforts almost always sound half assed, even when they are technically well written and arranged pieces of music. I also think that the label of “Emo” unjustly links these slightly sensitive songwriters to make-up caked outcasts who hang out and Hot Topic. But I’m not even that into artists that manage to transcend the label. I can’t stand much early Modest Mouse, and Cap’n Jazz hasn’t really affected me. However, this little band with a not-so-little name has probably changed the game for me.
The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die *GASP* is a an emo group from Connecticut with an emotional punch and a grand sense of instrumentation and arrangement. The band basically seems to be an emo version of a band like Explosions in the Sky or a less atmospheric Godspeed You Black Emperor. Their music is full of post-rock guitars, grandiose climaxes, gorgeous decrescendos and crescendos, and swelling, triumphant strings. Keep in mind, this is an “emo” album.
What strikes me about this band is just how fantastic the songs are. Heartbeat in the Brain, the first non-instrumental, is an absolute thrill ride. From the strumming to the chugging to the gorgeous strings (Seriously, great touch), every idea and execution feels perfect. The really solid guitars all work with each other and the other instruments to create something truly special. There is a quiet moment where just a single guitar plays, and it’s absolutely breathtaking. In fact, much of this album is pretty breathtaking. And it doesn’t come across as “Explosions In the Sky with ugly vocals” (Which, when I first heard about this album, I thought it would be). Everything feels natural and incredibly emotional.
The thing that really blows me away are just how well the scraggly vocals go with the huge instruments. The band switches and combines three vocalists, and it makes for something oddly special. Their almost mournful croaks entwine with one another to ride the riffs with a strange sense of ease. The vocals manage to bring a sense of story and emotion to the already eventful instrumentation. There are even some group vocals where they chant over the mountainous wall of sound.
These guys are masters of crescendos and decrescendos. Some of the most powerful albums are loud swells and quiet interludes. The guitar part mentioned from Heartbeat in the Brain is one of the most gorgeous moments I’ve heard in a song all year, while the gradual increase in tension on Picture of a Tree That Doesn’t Look Okay is rip-snorting and vicious. Whether it’s a loud chant-along with guitars or a quiet intro with a cello and piano (Oh my god, the intro on You Will Never Go To Space), the band pulls it off with amazing skill.
Now, not every song here is a massive and huge event, but that’s a good thing. There’s a relatively quiet opener that sets the mood in an incredibly affective way. There are also some more traditional songs for the genre, like Fightboat, but even these songs manage to at least bring some cool ideas to the table (Like an awesome synth solo and saxophone work). Plus, even though some songs feel huge and expansive, most of them stay in relatively short lengths (Save the closer). In fact, some of the songs are so well done that some tracks almost feel too short. The album shows off how versatile these guys are. Plus, they know how to add interesting textures to their songs, whether it be saxophones of thunderous drum outros.
This album also deserves some credit for how stellar the vocals are. For example, on the stunning and massive Ultimate Steve, the song is absolutely made by the vocals that break up the quiet instruments that catalyst into a huge explosion of guitars and chant-along vocals. They bring a sense of emotion to the already emotional music. They almost act as the center of the tent, with the instruments just forming the cloth around the post. Despite what some may say, the vocals are integral to the music, and honestly make the songs even more beautiful (Especially the more subdued vocal moments, like on Low Light Assembly). This album rests on the vocals and lyrics, which make the already incredibly mastered music even greater. The final moments of the album end with these lines:
“The world is a beautiful place but we have to make it that way. Whenever you find home we’ll make it more than just a shelter. And if everyone belongs there it will hold us all together. If you’re afraid to die, then so am I.”
Pow. Right in the heartstrings. Pow. I’m blown away.
Summary: TWIABPAIANLATD May have a ridiculous name, but their album manages to mesh emo-earnesty and soul with post-rock instrumentation and flair to create a spectacularly powerful, instrumentally interesting, and incredibly emotionally satisfying effort.
Choice Cuts: Heartbeats in the Brain, You Will Never Go To Space, Ultimate Steve, Getting Sodas
Leftovers: Picture of a Tree That Doesn’t Look OK (If I had to pick)
5/5
Stream the album via this YouTube playlist below. Whenever, If Ever is out June 18th on Topshelf
Vantage Point Music 