I've always wanted to be a bigger fan of this than I am. I hoped maybe on this listen it would grow on me but I was wrong. This has always been a difficult one for me to place a finger on, at least concerning what keeps me from loving it. Thinking on it now, there is one track that towers over the rest, that being the title track. I think what makes that song special, even after being so well-crafted musically, is how relatable and relevant the lyrics are. Though the lyrics on the other songs are intriguing to read, I feel that they come out a little weightless once delivered, easy to miss, or overshadowed by the instrumental qualities of the album. In my experience at least, it's always been hard for me to form some sort of narrative or cohesion between the tracks on this album. Perhaps this wasn't the best attempt at explaining myself but I do like this project. The band's hard work can be heard in the utter perfection of the vocal performances and the crafty musical arrangements.
Rating: 73/100
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Losing a vocalist is a challenge for any band, one that could even prove fatal to the group's progress. This occurred to math rock outfit Battles after only releasing their debut album. In response they made the interesting choice of heading forward without replacing their singer. This led to their follow-up, Gloss Drop, being mainly instrumental with guest vocalists here and there. There are many things I like about the album. It's very playful and colorful in tone. The band's sound is vivid, the drums particularly sound huge and bombastic. Their best songs here have an almost organic quality to them, as if the band were sparking life into the pink... thing... you see on the cover. For the first half or so of the album the group puts out some very fun performances, particularly Ice Cream, which sounds exactly like a possessed ice cream truck out of hell that has lost its brakes. Bright sunshine-like tones and summerly rhythms are in display during this part of the project. From the seventh track onward it feels as though the band lets go of the throttle a little bit and everything sounds a little too much the same. Despite the second half, the album maintains a decent enough momentum to get the listener through the slower end. I can see myself returning to this sometime later on.
Rating: 65/100
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Over the handful of listens I gave this very dense project I found the songs unraveling a little bit on each occasion. I might need more time before having a well-formed opinion on it, though I can list down some first impressions. Nearly everything about Black Up is unconventional. I'm led to think that perhaps it claims strength in this fact as it spends some time picking at shallow and clichéd music in its lyrics. Walls and layers of diverse sounds make up the very left field instrumentals. The lyrics on the album are similarly intriguing, being extremely well-spoken and intricate, never stating anything it doesn't mean to or wasting a breath. Despite being so peculiar, the album never showcases its best features up front. To me, Black Up even seems to deliberately shy away from the spotlight, preferring to be admired by those who will truly appreciate it. I'm very happy with this and I hope it will continue to grow on me as time passes.
Rating: 76/100
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I've always admired the way that Kendrick Lamar delivers his social commentary. Even as early as this album Kendrick manages to make powerful statements without sounding preachy or redundant. He illustrates social issues in a real and personal way which in themselves convey to the listener what Kendrick wants to get across; the scenes he creates speak for themselves. Section.80 is in this way a lyrical giant, not only displaying various evils in society and gathering them into a larger systematic problem, but it also invites to action. Too much 'conscious' hip-hop, or music in general, states problems but never provides a solution. Kendrick does, and whether his way of looking at things is 'right' or not (though morality itself is heavily discussed and put in doubt during the project) he leaves no room for questions. Despite the album's lyrical prowess and Kendrick's undoubted talent to deliver (Rigamortus, enough said), I feel that Section.80 is not equally astonishing on the musical side of things. I wouldn't say that there are any bad tracks on the listing, but there are many in need of a better hook, more colorful instrumentals or a more established sound in general. There are shining moments like the opener, closer, and Ab-Soul's Outro, though I do wish that the musical elements on the album were as ambitious as the lyrical ones. A lyric-focused listener may reap strong results with this album.
Rating: 69/100
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Brutally introspective, XXX is a project which explores the downward spiral of over-indulgence. What seems fun at first can often lead to a self-destructive path which leaves victims in a terrifying position once there seems to be no way out of the hole they dug themselves into. Danny Brown gives us a first-person view right from the bottom of that horrible pit, delivering what ends up being a dismal and depressing experience. Any sort of party anthem on the record is either enveloped in a shell of self-hatred or ludicrously jammed with lewd scenery and numbing over-stimulation to the point of satire. So far removed are the activities he boasts of from what an average listener would consider healthy that pity is often incited. As Danny begins to discuss more seriously his situation in the second half of the album things even become depressing, as the reality of consequence becomes overbearingly real. Addiction, crime, loss of time and the hereditary chains of said issues form great part of the lyrical heft in these tracks. Subject matter aside, Danny Brown displays ridiculous amounts of technical ability throughout the album, effortlessly gliding over intricate and complex instrumentals that are as tantalizing as his own unique delivery. Personally he's one of my favorite rappers and he wreaks havoc in this project. If there are any downsides it would be perhaps that few songs are on their own as good as the collective whole and it's difficult to tell the tracks apart at times.
Rating: 76/100
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This Puerto Rican salsa orchestra now a decade old is one of the most exciting groups in the tropical scene right now. Reminiscent of the golden age of salsa in the late 60s, 70s and 80s though keeping it fresh and energetic, this orchestra not only offers technically impressive performances but also brings back the classic storytelling which made the genre so appealing to the working class in the first place. Though much of the subject matter has a funny and lighthearted encasing, the stories herein speak of unattainable dreams, failure and the acceptance of one's lot in life. The best compositions on the album hold incredible emotional power, with poignant chord progressions that are not often heard in the genre to back up the emotion while keeping the energy high. Cuto Medina struck me instantly as a masterpiece of equal caliber to classics like Pedro Navaja back when salsa was at its peak. It's exciting, personally, to see the essence of the genre being respected in this way after decades of commercialization and pop influence tainting what was once so respectable. I wish this group the best on their journey to bring salsa its original glory and I wish I had covered their debut album on my 2010 shortlist.
Rating: 75/100
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That's it for 2011. A little disappointed with not really falling in love with any album on the shortlist though I'm sure there's bound to have been a few gems if I had kept looking. It was interesting to see that the albums were more consistently enjoyable than 2010, however. Sadly time is counting down and I've got to get going but 2012 seems PACKED with good stuff.
Everything I disliked about Death Grip's debut mix-tape is not only improved upon, but made into the strongest elements of The Money Store. Continuing with a similar vein of lyricism to their previous project, this album depicts a character that is deeply scarred, violent, lunatic and terrifying, with MC Ride's abrasive, hyper-aggressive delivery fitting the part seamlessly. Musically the album features an accessibility that was not previously present though remaining wild and ever-changing. Every song has its own distinguishable characteristics and keeps the project fresh and constantly surprising. The hooks are also crucial to this project, keeping the insanity grounded and each track highly memorable. It's been years now that I use this as a musical palate reset when things get bland or I crave something different. It also makes me happy to see it's keeping its place in a constantly evolving field. Masterpiece!
If Teen Dream felt like taking a classy, top of the line sailboat on rough waters, then Bloom is smooth sailing, all the way through. No more awkward clashes between sound and composition, just a constant nailing of the sweet spot where every song perfectly compliments the group’s sound. Now, one opposing point you could make about this project is that the songs are simply formulaic copies of each other and are even hard to separate at times. While this would generally be a negative thing, the sound of the album is so consistent that it ends up feeling more like a single collective experience rather than a fragmented one, at least it does to my ears. In any case the tracks here are far more mature and well-crafted than those on their previous effort. There really is great improvement made by Beach House on many fronts with this project. Bloom takes me somewhere else and separates me from reality for a little bit, making it quite worthy of that 'dream' pop label.
Rating: 82/100
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As per usual, my lofty listening goals have proven to be beyond my reach. My time has been limited as of late and the end of the year (and decade) is soon arriving. I've made a few adjustments to the way I will be going about finishing the recap for the 2010's. In order to finish by the end of the year and to maintain the quality over quantity mindset I get fulfillment out of, I will only be listening to around three to five albums per year in the decade. Yes, it's not nearly as intriguing as the original concept I had but hey, I'm really just doing this for myself in the end. I think this way of exploring music, personally, is the best suited for me. With this in mind I've decided to continue with the recap once I finish the going backwards in time. That is, after doing the 2010's, I will go through the 2000's (this time with no self-imposed deadline), beginning from the year 2000 on to 2009, later doing the 1990's and so on. Once I do the whole loop around to the 1950's, I'll begin once again at the 2010's (or 2020's?), diving deeper and deeper every time. So the long haul is the idea here. I will be posting shortly on the two or three albums left to cover for 2012.
This large Colombian ensemble is the young and hip embodiment of the country's musical culture. Ondatrópica takes traditional rhythms of the area (including salsa, cumbia, vallenato and currulao) and injects them with a fresh electronic element. Some songs have very left-field grooves to them, such as Locomotora Borracha, which aptly translates to "drunken locomotive" (and yes, this is precisely what it sounds like). There are some very ear-catching tracks, the most peculiar of which would be 3 reyes de la terapia which renders a detailed and immersive experience that resembles running from something in a dank, dark cave by the seashore (though admittedly I find it disrupts the album's cohesion). I enjoyed the humor often employed throughout the album, the third track I Ron Man or "I, Rum Man" serving as a clear example. Despite the more conventional tracks being less entertaining than the fresh and innovative ones, any performance put in by the band is complex, intricate and worthy of praise. Considering that most of the album is instrumental the band does an excellent job with shifts in repetition and the timing thereof. Perhaps the whole project is a little long and doesn't capitalize on its biggest strength, that being the mixture of conventional rhythms with electronics, as much as it could have.
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