Are you guys ready for some more mediocre indie rock for troubled teens? Because, starting tomorrow, this is pretty much a rehash of the previous ULL. (probably) _________________
Are you guys ready for some more mediocre indie rock for troubled teens? Because, starting tomorrow, this is pretty much a rehash of the previous ULL. (probably)
I first heard of these guys where I assume most people from the UK have heard of them: through Glastonbury. It was interesting this year, with Florence, Kanye and The Libertines keeping us up on our toes. But, I honestly think that Wolf Alice were one of the more standout bands of the whole Glastonbury experience this year. All packed with an ecstatic live show and a lot of energy, the crowd seemed to love them. While those are factors into a great performance, the music here is pretty awesome. It has the vibe and drive that you would find in a few late 90s alternative bands, but it has its own misty quality. Think of it as Throwing Muses if they lost the jangly quality and gave us a more direct and popular approach a la Foo Fighters. Though to give them credit, they do experiment with their sound that gives them more of a enlightening feeling - even on one track they seem to challenge their inner motorik abilities whilst also mixing Black Sabbath-esque melodies into the mix. There's also a shit ton of other influences that I can't name to avoid TL;DR status. (To be fair, I have already reached that status already) Though, don't let the use of multiple influences thwart your enjoyment of this record. While this isn't the most original record ever, this is still a very enjoyable and fun album. With many rocking tunes, introspective experimental passages and many songs that have a bit of commercial potential. One of the best alternative rock and debut releases of 2015 so far. Glad I heard about these guys.
Another artist I discovered through Glastonbury, I didn't quite see all of his performance, but from what I did see of him I was amazed at how smooth his voice and sound was. Though, I've got to be honest with you, I'm actually not that familiar with soul music. I would love to be, because it seems like a genre that I would love. Even so, I still haven't listened to many classic soul artists like Marvin Gaye; Stevie Wonder; Curtis Mayfield; Aretha Franklin; Al Green etc. I haven't even delved into a little D'Angelo yet. Yeah, I know I suck. Though, for someone like me who wants to explore more soul music, this is not a bad place to start. It might be a bit too reliant on that old school soul sound that will kindle the nostalgia of people around that era, but it's not a bad nostalgia trip, even if I don't personally feel anything from the songs themselves. His voice is still amazing though. _________________
Apart from listening to the new Kendrick album, my 2015 music is lacking some hip-hop. Since this is getting a lot of acclaim lately, I thought I'd listen to the new Vince Staples. All I knew about this album prior to first listen was that it was his debut and that it was a double album. I actually never listened to Hell Can Wait so this is my first exposure to his music. Though I thought it was a bit strange to make this a double album even though it's barely an hour long. Anyway, during the first disc I found myself a little underwhelmed. The production is a bit uninspired and the lyrical content and concepts didn't really go anywhere. For a hardcore hip-hop album, most of its first disc barely left an impact on me like it was supposed to. It was until I reached Jump Off The Roof where I found myself becoming engaged with the album's content and started getting something out of it. It's obvious that I find the second disc a lot better and more cohesive than the first. Overall, while it may have a weak beginning, it gets better as it goes along. Not sure if I get behind some of the hype surrounding this album, but it's pretty good. _________________
Nice so far. In terms of hip-hop released this year, you might enjoy the respective new offerings from Dr. Yen Lo (aka Ka and Preservation), Earl Sweatshirt, L'Orange & Jeremiah Jae, Billy Woods, and Jonwayne. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Giving a first listen to an album that's just managing to stay in the top 20 of the year at the time of writing. In fear of Death Grips overtaking its position. Honestly, I wish this was higher on the list. That's odd, because there isn't a lot to this album. Just mainly a guy and his piano, with the occasional guitar, drums, strings and brass for accompaniment. Not a huge fan of the formula, as it can lead to some pretty insincere and subpar material with little variety and predictable moments, but Tobias Jesso Jr. is a clever guy, so he tries to add more colourful chord progressions and there are some parts of the album where you're constantly guessing where each song is going. And it comes off as completely sincere and full of energy, even if it tackles themes of breakups. They are very common traps for similar artists fall into and I'd be lying if I said that Jesso Jr. didn't succumb to this a little. Though, apart from some lyrical inconveniences, this is a terrific album with a lot of personality behind it. In my opinion, this is the dark horse album of 2015 so far. _________________
I always suspected that Torres was this kind of like a St. Vincent but with a more Cat Power-like directness in terms of melody. Coming from someone who isn't entirely familiar with any artist mentioned here, it isn't a fair assumption/comparison to make, and makes my statement appear like there's some kind of agenda or a status quo that any female that classifies herself as *insert genre here* must follow. I'm not saying that women can't redefine the standards of their respected genre (whether they choose to acknowledge it or not), it's just something that I haven't had much experience with. But I feel that 2015 is a great year for female musicians, and it is all the more reasons I find this year to be one of the best years for music in recent memory. And now I've just opened a can-of-worms that I feel like I'll regret opening later. Where was I? Oh yeah, Torres is awesome. The songs here are murky and brooding, but some songs have an irresistible drive and occasional quirkiness (especially on Cowboy Guilt) that give it a strong musical backbone and a sense of humour to it. Her voice has a haunting quality that complements the instrumentation perfectly. And the production makes it all come together. Not much else to say. This is great. _________________
Thought I'd give a bit of a detour from listening to new releases to giving a re-listen to this album. There was once a time where I adored Vampire Weekend, but, ever since I had my musical dry spell that lasted for a few months, I lost interest in listening to many of my other favourite artists and music in general. But I think that I lost interest in these guys well before that happened. I still like Vampire Weekend, but it showed that they'll never be one of my favourite artists again. So why am I giving this album another listen? Well, I was thinking to myself: what would be the perfect soundtrack to a TV show that would gain a cult following on Tumblr? Then I thought of this album, and it seemed to match my fantasies perfectly. I mean, I still liked it when I first listened to it, but with this mentality in mind, my admiration started to blossom. Now, I know that Modern Vampires Of The City being associated with Tumblr might toxically hinder the album's enjoyment. Honestly, coming from someone who uses Tumblr, I don't really care. Enjoy the album however you like and don't pay any attention to some weirdo teenager who wants it to be the soundtrack to some life affirming and/or cynical teen drama set somewhere in the album's cover and have it get popular on an infamous social media platform. Though if my dream were to come true, buying the royalties for this album would cost a fortune...
Anyway, enough rambling, this has become my favourite album by them. I'm surprised that this has happened, because the s/t was on my overall for a long time and I had a bit of a Contra phase back when I was a massive fan. That's really odd, because if it wasn't for my deranged dream, I'd argue that my opinion hasn't changed a bit, but my opinion on the other albums have changed significantly. Maybe it shows a sign of maturity; a sign of moving on from adolescent fantasies where you acquired affirmation from peers to be accepted; not needing other people to complete you; finally seeing the bigger picture other than yourself placed all over the frame. Shows that fitting in and having safe choices and options in your life makes you a drone and you're searching for something that benefits others just as much as yourself. Maybe that dry spell was a sign to show me something. I don't know what that would entail, but I hope it's something for the better. Right now I'm content, and while it won't stay like that for long, there's some naive hope inside that wishes it did... Now that sounds like something out of that TV series. We've all come full circle. _________________
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