Just read that Boosie has been diagnosed with cancer of the kidneys. The 33-year-old Baton Rouge rapper - who originally sprung up as a helium-voiced protégé of Pimp C, and who has been frequently referred to throughout his career as 'the Tupac of the South' - only got out of jail last year, and is responsible for one of the very best albums of 2015, Touch Down 2 Cause Hell. This is obviously terrible fucking news. Can only hope he recovers as quickly and as fully as possible. There are a few Boosie-related posts on the first page of this diary, and below is the video for TD2CH closer, 'I'm Sorry', which takes on an extra level of poignancy given today's news.
Upset were responsible for a really cool little pop-punk record a couple of years ago, which featured plenty of ultra-catchy hooks and sugary harmonies, but probably felt a little too by-the-numbers over the course of the twelve or so songs that it housed. Here, they've basically doubled down on everything they did well, but slashed the runtime, getting stronger in almost every way ('Away' is the best song they've ever written), but without really adding any other major strings to their bow. That said, the last two songs offer something a little different - 'Pastey' is sludgier than I've heard them before, and 'Wonder' is nostalgia-filled acoustic ditty that sounds like a cleaned-up Moldy Peaches demo. Overall, this is really nice. It's just a whisker over twenty minutes in length, meaning it has no time to really lag or become too repetitive (as their debut did), and it's ridiculously likeable, evoking memories of ice cream- and bike ride-filled childhood summers with enviable ease.
This is basically as far away from that Upset album as you can get whilst still remaining within a pop template. Every time I listen to it I can't figure out why it isn't in my top ten for the year. I really love the sonic world she's created here, all sighing strings and moaning sub-bass and whining synths, but still prone to stutters and songs jutting off at jarring angles, as though she's singing from within a fishbowl laced with beautiful, symmetrical cracks. Obviously this whole thing features some uncomfortable open lyrics, but the way she sings them, like a wounded animal still determined to show its strength, makes this my favourite Björk album since... I dunno, probably Homogenic. Getting in Haxan Cloak and Arca could have made for something really cluttered and grimy, but on the whole she leaves plenty of space here, seemingly relying on that pair for a simmering, sinister undercurrent that often threatens to bubble over but is held at bay throughout by Björk's singing. Some really cool glitchy percussion stuff happening here as well every so often, particularly on the second half of the record - it seems to become more rhythmically charged as it progresses, climaxing with 'Quicksand', which relies more on its beat than anything else here, a skittering, almost post-dubstep pattern that features high up in the mix and drives the whole thing forward. Anyway, this is just a beautiful record. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
It was just the title of a book on my shelf that caught my eye as I was making the thread. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Been really hyped for this since I heard the second track when Stephen O'Malley stood in for Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 6's Freak Zone last Sunday, and it does not disappoint. I definitely feel like that second track is the most dangerous thing here - it's rawer and more stripped back than the other two. But then this whole album in general feels more modest than Monoliths & Dimensions, which was their last non-collaborative proper studio album. There are no choirs or string sections here, and those frayed guitar notes and feedback squeals are pushed right to the front. Also, this is largely less dense than, well, just about all of their other work. There's something quite menacing about the sparsity at times, and even though it's still slowly unfurling drone it isn't what I'd describe as ambient music whatsoever (then again, I did listen to it at full volume in my closed ear Sennheisers). But yeah, this is fucking great. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Always loved the titular opening track - a cute little riff repeated ad nauseum over which Smith delivers a subtly catchy, somewhat detached lyric about having so few friends that he doesn't even need one hand to count them. Can't shake the feeling that the band (and Smith in particular) are in autopilot mode throughout, but to a certain extent that only makes the record more appealing - this is arguably the most overtly pop material they ever recorded, and you can pretty much hear their distain for the form coming through via their utter half-arsedness. However, to paint this as a purely positive aspect would be disingenuous. 'Carry Bag Man', for example, is basically a Fall parody, a straightforward, half-pace, uninspired re-do of 'The Man Whose Head Expanded', without the childlike synth melodies that give that song its distinct, loveable identity. And I'll be fucked if I can figure out the point of that (surprisingly loyal) Kinks cover. That said, there are still some thrilling moments here, including the hilarious, Spinal Tap-quoting 'Athlete Cured' - which features such lyrical gems as "an odour resembling hot dogs permeated the whole room" - and the quasi-rockabilly 'In These Times'. Closer 'Oswald Defence Lawyer' is, along with the aforementioned opener, the best thing here, a messy dirge over which Smith eviscerates certain sections of the British legal system, helped by some Slits-esque backup chanting from Brix. On the whole, this record just proves how great The Fall were for the first ten or eleven years of their career - even at their most pedestrian, their albums were still pretty fucking great, and certainly a damn sight better than the vast majority of their output since. Probably not the best place to start if you're a Fall novice, but certainly not the worst.
Been falling asleep to this the last few nights, which means I rarely make it to the second disc, so sat down and listened to the whole thing again just now. There's this quiet, ominous intensity to it that just grabs my attention throughout and keeps me hooked. Certain parts work less well than others (there's a song on the second disc that has this kinda circus-y oom-pah thing going on that doesn't really do a lot for me), but given the range of material here, and the sheer amount, this is an impressively consistent collection, especially given it's her debut album as bandleader. I love the clarity on display throughout, there's just a really clean feel to everything here, but the intimacy means that you pick up little imperfections that only add to the appeal, as though I'm listening through a magnifying glass (erm, a magnifying glass for the ears, or something). The first disc could be a movie soundtrack, the way it repeatedly incorporates a couple of melodic motifs sporadically throughout, whereas the second disc feels as though it has more of a narrative arc, with moments of action and violence occasionally cropping up out of that melancholy, ever-so-slightly menacing quiet. It's one of the best records I've heard all year (I'm talking top five), a genuinely gorgeous work that recalls Satie, Messiaen, Coltrane, Ornette, Eno, but manages to carve out its own subtly muscular identity. I feel that a lot of the stuff that gets released on ECM is pretty bland and stuffy, but this is a record to get excited about. Extremely highly recommended, obviously. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
So, the God Erykah decided to bless 2015 with some new music. This would usually be the best news in the world. On some days I could swear she's my favourite artist of all-time. But this isn't an album (or even an EP, à la Worldwide Underground), it's a mixtape - and it shows. There's a few actual songs here, but this is largely made up of sketches of songs. That said, Erykah's sketches are still lovely, but it's a little disappointing that they couldn't have been fleshed out more. 'Mr. Telephone Man' goes absolutely nowhere. Her cover of 'Hotline Bling' is here, and it's still as radiant as the first time I heard it, but was it really necessary to recycle the beat for 'I'll Call U Back' (which is lovely, but entirely redundant), or to slow it down and allow a Drake imitator to spit a frankly despicable verse over it for an interlude? (Whilst the idea of 'money over music' isn't a new one, it just seems completely at odds with Badu's artistic raison d'être.) 'Dialafreaq' is a cool nod to early electro hip-hop (Mantronix, Afrika Bambaataa, The Egyptian Lover, etc.), but just feels as though it's missing something, almost as though they decided to record as soon as they had the idea without really thinking it through. Of course, these are still Erykah Badu songs, and so nothing here (awful faux-Drake [Faubrey?] verse excepted) is even remotely unpleasant, and the highlights are fantastic. Of course, there's that simply inspired Drake cover, but we also get 'U Don't Have to Call', which is skeletal, brightly coloured funk that dances with childlike glee (I only wish it lasted longer than two minutes), the titular opener, which begins with mere keypad tones but builds and builds and builds, with Badu referencing her classic 'Tyrone' in lyric, and the mixtape's pièce de résistance, closer 'Hello'. It features a verse from André 3000, which is always a blessing. There has never been a rapper who better matches a keen sense for a strong melody and economical cadence with such effortless rhyme schemes and memorable, often profound lyrics. When I'm listening to him, it's difficult to imagine that there's ever been a better rapper full stop. Here he's fantastic, and really closes the mixtape on a high note.
Overall, this is possibly the weakest Badu release I've ever heard, but her standards are so ridiculously high that even half-arsed, sketchy Erykah makes for an often gorgeous listen. I can't say that I'm not a little disappointed, but the four or five actual songs here are among the best things released this year, so maybe I'm being a little unfair. It's certainly got me hyped for her next album proper. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Perfect Hair 2? Probably just about, which is a brilliant thing as far as I'm concerned. The production has that same sinewy quality, a rugged stew of hiccupy, IDM-influenced percussion, brawny cartoon synth stabs, and occasional nods to jazz. This, of course, is a sound that completely suits Busdriver, his army of elastic flows meaning that he can either ride - albeit bumpily - atop these beats, or go toe-to-toe in a mad lazerquest battle with them. If anything, this release is even more action-packed than the already dynamic Perfect Hair, with less tea & empathy tent moments meaning that it's more or less an all-out assault on the senses from beginning to end (aside from the acoustic guitar assisted, milo-featuring quasi-ballad 'Worlds to Run', which recalls Perfect Hair's 'Upsweep', and the trap-influenced 'Shadows and Victories', though when you're looking to trap music for a reprieve it should probably give some indication as to the pace of the record). This is a cluttered record both musically and lyrically, which is probably a suitable representation of what goes on in Busdriver's mind - his rapping is full of surreal observations about life in a parallel universe, unanswerable questions, obscure pop culture references, and other inscrutable nuggets of what is surely wisdom to those with the patience and poise to prise it all apart. Can't fault any of the features here either, all of which fit the record's vibe perfectly and work as fantastic counterpoints to Driver's manic style. Overall, this is easily one of the strongest hip-hop releases I've heard this year, and Busdriver is on a mid-career run-of-form that suggests he's entirely comfortable with who he is as an artist, which wasn't always necessarily apparent on earlier releases. Really great stuff. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
I was convinced to try this by a combination of a rave review in this month's Mojo and it's #3 placing on Norman Records' albums of the year list. His last album seems to be on a few charts, but no sign of this one in the database yet. I guess this is ambient music, but it's almost too confrontational to be described as such. That isn't to say that there are any real moments of violence that stop this from being a relaxing, enveloping listen (because there aren't), but rather that there's a distorted, harsh undercurrent running throughout that definitely feels far more real than ethereal. I suppose there is a lightness here at times, especially in those glorious moments when Ian's wordless vocals slowly but firmly brush their underlying layers of dust and broken glass out of the way, but to call it delicate or even slight would be to belie the weight that the record carries - not monumental or grandiose (in the same way I feel the likes of Ben Frost or Tim Hecker can be), but more like the feeling of something settling in your lungs, like emerging from a smoky room and realising that your insides feel kinda dense now that you're standing up in clean air. There's a really cool melodic side to this record too, even if said melodies do unfurl in slow-motion. Definitely getting shades of Bryars' The Sinking of the Titanic and Basinski's Disintegration Loops here (if you're into that stuff), though the reliance on vocals, the relative dynamism, and the shortform nature of these pieces prove that it isn't overly in thrall to those records. It also reminds me of Julianna Barwick, but I find this far less bland than her stuff. Anyway, this is really dope drone/tape manipulation stuff that would likely appeal to a few users here. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
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