Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

Kendrick Lamar is a rapper from Compton, California.  Like most people, the city Kendrick comes from plays a large role in his development as a person.  This is clearly and thoughtfully showcased on "Good Kid M.A.A.D. City."  It is a very autobiographical album, and Kendrick goes through great pains to bring this across through the lyrics, the structure, and the beats.

"Good Kid M.A.A.D. City" shows Kendrick experiencing young love, robberies, peer pressure, and alcohol abuse all during a journey that he takes in his mom's van over what seems like a weekend.  He starts off by falling for a girl named Sherane who sets him up to be robbed.  This and some other tragic events culminates in his acceptance of Christ and vowing to tell his story so people can learn from it.  I don't want to sum up the whole story right here, because I think it makes more sense if you listen to it.

It is a very conceptual album with a story that is told through voice mail messages interwoven into the different songs.  The interesting story is what kept me listening long enough to appreciate some of the songs that I normally would not have cared for.  This was especially true for the song "Backstreet Freestyle" in which Kendrick raps about wishing his dick would get as big as the Eiffel tower...ya.

...Yes Kendrick...We should talk about that.

Its ridiculous and braggadocios, but in the context, this is Kendrick trying to impress his friends as they smoke and goof around.  He does not actually want the women, the fast cars, and the Shaquille O'Neal sized penis.  Trying to impress Kendrick's friends is a big part of this album for him, and this is more fully explained on the next track "The Art of Peer Pressure." In this song, Kendrick is doing break ins, getting high, and robbing people, all things he would not normally do, but life is different when he is "with the homies."

Kendrick also plays with his voice a lot on this album.  In the song "Swimming Pools," when he raps as his drunk conscience, his voice pans from left to right as if his head is spinning.  I thought this was a clever addition to a beat which is already so large and hazy, it sounds like you could drown in it.  Its a very coherent and interesting way to portray what being drunk feels like.  In the song "M.A.A.D. City" his voice is so high and frantic it cracks, just like scared the scared teenager he is reminiscing about being.

Lyrically, Kendrick is very strong on almost all the songs.  I especially liked "Bitch, Dant Kill my Vibe," "Swimming Pools," and "Sing About Me, Im Dying of Thirst."  I found myself particularly annoyed by the hooks in "M.A.A.D. City" and "Real" as well as how Kendrick ends every line with "ya bissch" (sic) in "Money Trees."  They range from tear jerking to ridiculous, but they are always compelling.

I found this album very compelling.  For every moment that I really loved, I had another one that really annoyed me.  However, I never found it boring or drawn out, even in the twelve minute long "Sing About Me..." which has some seriously heavy topic matter and a tragic moment early on that makes you confront death in a sudden and unexpected way.

The strong album structure also gave me a way to make sense of the things I did not like.  For instance, on the song "M.A.A.D. City" the chorus sounds Neanderthal stupid, but I think its supposed to, because in this song Kendrick is being interrogated by a gang member.  Since Kendrick makes me want to praise even the moments I did not like, it makes me really respect his artistry.  He even made me love "Poetic Justice," a song that has Drake in it! In his defence, Drake actually drops some great verses. I think he was a great choice for a feature on this track, because the song is about longing after a woman, which Drake is great at.

In conclusion, there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the strongest hip-hop albums that has come out this year.  It is thoughtful and entertaining all the way through.  There are also many levels you can appreciate it on, so someone who is just listening to it for the singles would appreciate it as much as someone who stayed for the whole story.

Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes

Flying Lotus is an experimental, instrumental, plain old mental, hip-hop producer from California.  Over the past several years, he has broken many barriers for this genre of music, as well as making quite a name for himself by producing for other interesting artists such as Gonja Sufi and Thundercat.  This year, he has also broken into rapping under the pseudonym "Captain Murphy".

Each of his previous albums have been released to heavy critical acclaim, including his last work, "Cosmogramma," which was a fantastic and energetic union of jazz inspired hip hop and eccentric noise.  Its very evident in this new work that Flying Lotus has taken what he demonstrated on that album and presented in a more controlled form, and in many ways "Until the Quiet Comes" feels like a very organic progression from that album.  The pacing however, feels fairly relaxed and more similar to "Los Angeles" than Cosmogramma.  Also, even though many of the sounds on this album are sampled, they feel as crisp and real as if they were recorded in one take, jazz style.

One thing you will immediately notice about Until the Quiet Comes is the kick drums, which are astronomically huge.  On the tracks "Getting There," "Tiny Tortures," "Sultan's Request," and "Me Yesterday//Corded" they just grab you by your head and force it to bob, you simply have no choice.  The songs that stay away from strong hip-hop influences on this album are consistently spacey and atmospheric, so they provide some nice space in between the more energetic moments.

Like I said before, this feels like a very organic and smooth progression from his last album, but one of my complaints about Flying Lotus actually follows from this same point.  In many ways Until the Quiet Comes does not feel different enough.  If he had released all these tracks with the same cover art as Cosmogramma, I feel like I would not have been able to tell the difference between the two works

I also feel that most of the individual songs get somewhat lost to me.  Other than the singles, many of his songs pass right by me without notice.   I think this is an unavoidable consequence of having a large number of short tracks on each album that all flow seamlessly into one another.  It builds a strong atmosphere, but I had to go back and actually search track by track to find the ones I liked.  I generally liked this album, but it was not distinct in my mind at all.  Without it leaving any sort of lasting impression on me, I find it hard to say that it was one of his better works, but if you are fan of Flying Lotus, you will definitely enjoy it.

Grizzly Bear - Shields

It took me a long time to appreciate Grizzly Bear's musical style.  My first exposure to their sound was through their amazingly successful album Veckatimest, and for a time I found myself bored with their music.  Eventually one day, while listening to Veckatimest in the tranquil setting  of UVic's library, the quiet beauty of their music hit me.  Their vocal harmonies are complex and haunting, the guitar work is dazzling, and it is all composed with a minute attention to detail that gives their music the dignified beauty of a church hymn.

Grizzly Bear rewards you for the attention you put into them.  Many of the intricacies in their music are not noticeable on the first listen, but the band is easy to appreciate after sitting down and paying close attention to all of the different sounds you will hear.  This density can be missed on a casual listen, but like closely examining the brushstrokes allows you to appreciate the work of a great painter, sitting down with any Grizzly Bear album will reward you with a great experience.

This is all still true for Grizzly Bear's new release Shields.  Even though this new album is altogether more lively than much of their earlier work, they still consistently craft beautiful atmospheres with their meticulous instrumentation.

The opener, and single, "Sleeping Ute" is torrential.  The guitar work soars and crashes with the cymbals and drum rolls, like waves in a storm and the guitar effects they introduce at 2:07 adds a level of gloss to this track that would make Ratatat drool.  The next track "Speak in Rounds" emerges from the sea foam of the opener, and starts out much more relaxed with some beautiful vocals from Daniel Rossen.  Before long though, the pace picks up again and acoustic guitars dominate the landscape.

There are some slower tracks on this album such as "The Hunt," "Adelma," and "What's wrong."  These songs all feature Rossen's voice alone, usually backed by just organs or keys and percussion.  Grizzly Bear can vary its instrumentation quite a bit and still sound very coherent on the album level, and its nice to see that when they use more instruments and take more time they really run wild with it successfully.  A nice balance between their two extremes of serene beauty and energetic brilliance is the 7:00 minute closer, and my favourite track "Sun in Your Eyes."

The density of this album is truly astounding.  Only two of the songs are under four minutes, and of that "Adelma" is just a short, atmospheric, breather between some of the most engaging songs.  The slower songs are well placed, and they give the album a smooth flow without too much down time and without burning you out.  Whereas on Veckatimest, I found that the slow pace made it hard to engage with upon a first listen, this album had me engaged from the moment I pressed play, and I find myself coming back again and again to examine the complexity in more minute detail. 

Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

Before writing this review, I really thought intensely about how I was going to approach reviewing a rap album.  My biggest challenge in reviewing Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music was this whole situation right here:

Street cred not pictured
    

This was something I actually felt I needed to account for in order to present this review.  I realize that there is a large cultural gulf between me and Killer Mike, which sometimes makes me cringe at his ghetto repping, and it also can make it difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the political and social problems that Mike discusses in this work.  Despite this, I did really enjoy this album.  With these things in mind,  I present you  Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music.  Brace yourself, it's a long one.
                 

This album's opener "Big Beast" really starts it off on the right foot.  The first line "Hard core G shit, homie I don't play around..." should give you a good idea of what is to come.  It's incredibly aggressive and the percussion, which moves double time for most of the song, really helps bring the fire.  The guest spots on this track from Bun-B, T.I., and Trouble all completely nail their verses with ease of the seasoned veterans they are.  Mike holds his own with these other hip hop stars, which should be expected as this is his sixth album.
                      

The high energy powerhouse keeps up all the way through to the track "Reagan" which exchanges the energy for a simmering anger and hatred for Ronald Reagan, and the system of economics he spawned.  After Mike finishes repping the south and his ghetto style, he really surprised me by delivering some incredibly self aware lines about the rap community:

"So it seems our people starve from lack of understanding
Cause all we seem to give them is some balling and some dancing
And some talking about our car and imaginary mansions
We should be indicted for bullshit we inciting"

This track also has some searing critiques of the war on drugs.  This song is quite similar in intention to the next song, "Don't Die" which is about shooting some crooked cops, who break into his house without a warrant.  In this song, Mike also reveals that his dad was a cop, which is not something just any thug would do, and it really starts to reveal the depth of Mikes character.  He is a thug, he is political, he is a southern gentleman, and he is so much more.
                     

The diverse range of material that Mike is able to discuss on this album is what ends up being the cherry on top of the crisp production by EL-P, and Mike's consistently large and infectious presence on all the tracks.  He talks about feeling like an outcast in his early life for reading a lot, comparing his life in the streets to being Jack in The Lord of the Flies on "Willie Burke Sherwood".  He also talks about being a southern man, which is a large part of his identity causing him to carry a "blunt and a bible and gun..." in "Southern Fried."  On top of this, Mike is very reflective and honest about his life decisions, both positive and negative, which is another admirable quality of his music.
                       

Religion also plays a major role in Mike's music even if "(He's) never really had a religious experience in a religious place." Songs like "Southern Fried," "Ghetto Gospel," and the closer "R.A.P. Music" have very religious themes, and the church organs and hand claps have a very southern Baptist feel to them.  In the closer, Mike discusses how rap music is his religion, and I would agree.  This album is infused with a certain integrity and ferocity that one could only expect from a person totally devoted to their craft like Mike clearly is.
                       

This album is fantastic.  From wall to wall, every song is brimming with good lyrics, tight rhyme schemes, and I haven't even had a chance to really discuss EL-P's amazing beats that back each song.  There is no dead space or downtime anywhere on this entire album, which can make it feel tiring after a little while, but Mike's constantly engaging lyrics will keep you testifying and nodding along all the way through.   Amen.

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol Two Judges

On a recent trip to the mall, I noticed New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges by Colin Stetson filed under the rock / pop section of HMV.  After my initial surprise at finding this obscure album at HMV, I realized that whoever put this here had never listened to it, or even been in a room with someone who had.  This beast of an experimental jazz record resembles nothing close to pop or rock music, even though the soloist in question has played saxophone with the likes of Arcade Fire and Bon Iver as recently as last year.

New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges is the second album by soloist Colin Stetson.  While listening to this behemoth, you may find it hard to believe that only one man is responsible for the cacophony of sax that you will hear even though each song was recorded in one take with no looping.  Mr. Stetson utilizes a technique called circular breathing, which allows him to play pieces up to five minutes long without stopping the insanity for even a moment.  The effect is quite dizzying, and at times it sounds barely human at all.  The saxophone seems to leap and bounce off a cavernous expanse deep within the earth.   Also, look at how big it is, Link.  This man is a beast.

He also manipulates the sound of the saxophone using 24 microphone positions throughout his recording space, sometimes even placing them inside the saxophone itself.  This recording techniques allows the saxophone to express an array of strange noises and even makes it sound like a heard of charging horses on the song "Clothed in the Skin of the Dead."

There are times in this album when short, well needed, interludes break up the noise, and guest spots by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden help to add a human element to the devilish menagerie of sounds without distracting too much from Colin's playing.  "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" utilizes Shara Worden's voice to devastating effect.  She sings mournfully about her family and dismal life in a traditional blues fashion, while Colin's saxophone sniffles along in the background as if it is literally trying to keep from crying.  He plays one note throughout the entire song, which at times groans with such intensity that it feels like you are listening to the world rip apart around you.

I also felt incredibly impressed that one of the most emotional moments on the album for me was the 36 second track "All the Colours Bleached to White."  This track contains no brass at all, but instead opts to use a glorious choir to describe what feels like a heart breaking surrender.

The sounds that he produces from his demonic saxophone are so rich and deep they yawn and groan like some great beast from the bowels of hell in "Judges" and "Red Horses (II)."  He can also sound shrill and frantic in "From no Part of Me Could I Summon a Voice," strangely beautiful in "A Dream of Water" or shudder with ecstasy in "The Righteous Wrath of an Honourable Man."

This album blew me away so completely, that I could do nothing but sit in silence after some of the songs.  I find it as invigorating and challenging as it is entertaining.  It can be shrill and evil sounding, but it consistently shines with a strange sort of beauty I find it hard to put my finger on.  This is an experience like nothing you have ever heard before,  and it is definitely worth your time to listen to the whole thing.  This album actually came out in 2011, but I have been holding onto this review and refining my ideas about it since then.  I feel like I could still talk about it more, but I will leave it to you to experience yourself.  

The XX - Coexist

When I heard that a new XX album was released, I immediately went and put away everything that would remind me of my exes while I prepared to listen to it.  The often haunting and arresting simplicity of their début self titled album was remarkable.  The group has a great power to use their emptiness for raw emotional impact, exchanging complex songs for your own complex emotional response to it.  Songs like "Heart Skipped a Beat" and "Islands" from their first album definitely left me breathless, and if you have not listened to them, I suggest you do it now.

In their new album, Coexist, The XX still chase the same emotionally drained emptiness that their first album did, but it is altogether slower and although the songs have a more complete feel to them, I found that this took away from their emotional impact.  In this record, they don't put silence and empty space to work in nearly as affectively as they did before.  They do attempt to do this on "Tides" and "Our Song," but without engaging lyrical content, these two both come off as flat and uninteresting.

One thing that I noticed as soon as the opener "Angels" started playing is a change in percussion style from their last album.  The drum rolls on this track and cymbal splashes on "Chained" give a new organic life to these songs which was previously alien to The XX, and it is a fantastic development.  Jamie XX has also stated that club music had a strong influence on this record, which you can hear in songs like "Reunion," "Sunset," and "Chained," but the sleepy nocturnal feel that the xx produces does not allow them to be compared to any real club music.  That is not a problem for me because I would never expect an XX record to make me want to do anything but cry myself to sleep.  As a side note though I do see some good club remix possibilities for songs like "Chained" and "Try," the Hype Machine and Youtube confirm this suspicion.

Many of the songs sound more developed than on their first album, but their constituent elements don't always feel like they mesh very organically.  I noticed this the most with the very dark sounding guitar intro to "Try" (couldn't find a working link) which, although it sounded great on its own, had a very different tone than the rest of the song.  I also wish that steel drum on the next song "Reunion" were more of a centre piece because Jamie XX has shown how pretty he can make it sound in his solo work on the song "Far Nearer."

In general, I was not particularly thrilled with this album.  While I liked the improvement in percussion, many of these songs seemed awkwardly put together and dull.  It didn't have nearly the same arresting impact for me as their first album.  The real pitfall of making such skeletal music as the XX does is that if the few elements you use are lacklustre, or if they don't coalesce very nicely, there is very little else to keep the music interesting.

Kids and Explosions - Shit Computer

In honour of the upcoming Rifflandia Festival in our very own victoria, I have decided to try to review a couple albums from the incredible lineup of talented artists they have this year.  The first of these artists that I decided to check out is Kids and Explosions' 2010 album "Shit Computer."  You can check out his bio for Rifflandia here.

At a first glance, you might compare K&E to the pop sampling maniac Girl Talk, but K&E's more focused and careful delivery exceeds Girl Talk's frantic, fuck and chuck style of quickly adding elements and then changing them 8-10 seconds later before they have a chance to fully develop.  K&E's attention to pacing creates more complete songs and an altogether more cohesive album.

Even though K&E utilizes samples for all of his music, he is not content to let them play as normal.  In fact, a lot of the fun of listening to this music is remembering what the original lyrics or melodies are, and comparing them to how they have been chopped up and forced into these new formations.  For example, the opener, "Everything," features some hilariously mixed up Eminem and Notorious lyrics, set against a very backwards rendition of what I think might be "Sweet Child of Mine."  This technique reaches ridiculous proportions on the aptly titled "Swear Words," a song that is childish, but still fun.  I definitely laughed every time I heard Biggie yell "tits!"

I also find that, when you take away the meaning of these rap lyrics, it forces you to pay attention to the timbre of each rappers voice.  This is something that does not always get as much attention in rap music and you may once again find yourself loving how angry Eminem sounds, or appreciating Lil. Wayne's nick name "Weezy."

This album is not without its flaws, however.  When K&E's slice and dice skills fail, they fail hard.  At their best they are fun and intellectually compelling, but at their worst they are jittery and nearly intolerable, like on the track "Winning is Easy."  To put it in perspective though, this was a remarkably fun and unique mash up album, and since it is a first effort from K&E, I look forward to seeing K&E's development in the future.  I am also excited to see him play Thursday September 11 at Market Square.

Dirty Projectors - Swing lo Magellan

I feel like I need to start this review by saying that I was a very big fan of the Dirty Projectors first major label record "Bitte Orca."  That work was brimming with confidence and although their sound seemed a bit cluttered on songs like "Cannibal Resource" and "Useful Chamber," it was a solid demonstration of guitar playing talent as well as fabulous voice work.  Their sound was delicately constructed, but at the same time it consistently flew off the handle with fiery guitar solos that gave it a very bright and ecstatic feel.  Both the guitar playing and their vocal work seemed to me like the strong points of the Dirty Projector's sound and I was hoping these two elements, in all their bright form, would be the focal point of the band's next release.

"Swing lo Magellan," the Dirty Projector's new album, features both of these elements, but not as strongly or as excitedly as their preceding work.  It takes on a more mature feel, which is not always a bad route, but in this instance I did not find it nearly as engaging.  The work as a whole feels much more calculated, and darker.  Rather than riding triumphantly through the desert, this feels sun baked like a six shooter showdown.  I think overall this change in ambiance is what made me dislike this album more than "Bitte Orca."  I really connected emotionally to the ecstasy they projected, but I just do not feel the same emotions while listening to "Swing lo Magellan."

That being said, there were several songs I really enjoyed.  "About to Die" has some interesting drum work that builds to a very emotive chorus.  The next song "The Gun Has No Trigger" makes the rest of the vocalists sound like a chilling choir of ghosts next to David Longstreth's lead vocals.  This single was actually the song that I liked the most out of the songs that do not bear as much resemblance to their earlier work.  It also epitomizes the change in style that really struck me on this album, if only the rest of the songs matched this one in quality.  "Dance for you" is an another simple and relaxing song that I enjoyed immensely.  The light percussive work allows Longstreth's voice to really ring out as if he is singing to a vast canyon. 

The back half of the album had several songs that I enjoyed due to their similarity to their old style.  "The Socialites" really shows Amber Coffman's voice well.  It lets her bring forth great emotion that sounds comforting like a lullaby and on a side note, in this song she sounds very similar to Marceline from Adventure Time.  "Unto Caesar" has a some guitar parts that remind me a lot of "The Bride" from "Bitte Orca" and the speaking interludes add some hilarious moments to the song.

All in all, with the exception of "Dance for You" and "The Gun Has No Trigger," I found my favourites to be the songs that were closest to their original style.  The slower and drained feeling of a lot of these songs does not fill me with the same exuberance that their first work did, and without any other elements than the guitar and voice to fall back on, it seemed ineffectual and boring all the way from "Swing lo Magellen" to "See What SheSeeing."

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

(I would like to thank Frank for choosing a colour that fit in with the rest of my blog)

This new work from Frank Ocean is surprisingly sunny and relaxed for a member of Odd Future.  This Californian singer really goes to lengths to portray the good and bad about the culture of his peers and friends in the Orange Country.

Channel Orange is slow paced and careful.  The songs take their time, but Frank Ocean uses the space well, filling it with sleepy synthesizers and his stellar voice.  Some of the songs really feel like the beats were ripped from 1970's infommercials, but I feel like the sterile ambiance of songs like "Fertilizer" and "Super Rich Kids" really adds to the overall feel of a world stuffed with shrink wrapped couches and pools only for sunning oneself beside.

Both of the rap features on this album fit into the rest of the songs with ease.  Earl Sweatshirt kills it as usual, and Andre 3000's soothing swagger seems right at home in the mournful "Pink Matter."  Also, the fact that only two are used goes to show that Frank Ocean can hold his own comfortably on his début solo release without using the features as a crutch.  This album is R&B all over and comfortable that way.  John Mayer also makes a fantastic appearance on the lounge interlude "White."

One grievance that I have with Channel Orange, is that the message tends to be somewhat heavy handed at points.  Songs about the hollowness of Californian, suburban lifestyle only pack emotional weight when they are not played back to back.  I generally enjoy heavily themed albums, but when they do not have a wide enough variety of material it can grow stale.  I also find it hard to feel sorry for millionaires sometimes, although most of Frank's lyrics concern the children of these people and it is very easy to sympathize with children whose "maids come around too much, and parents aren't around enough."

In general, I quite enjoyed Channel Orange.  After listening to it all the way through a couple times, it did seem to drag a little bit in the middle, but considering the album's generally slow pace, it did stay quite engaging.  "Pyramids" and "Lost" helps to drive the album forward when the pace slows down, but at the end of the album, I found the song "Forrest Gump" perplexing and nonsensical.  This album would be perfect for a lazy day in your beach side villa after a night of heavy drinking and regrets.

Zammuto - Zammuto

Zammuto - Zammuto

Experimental music consistently has a habit of being serious in nature.  It plays itself off as something you should be scratching your chin at while staring blankly into your stereo.  This is not the case with Zammuto's new self titled album.  Nearly all of the vocals in this work are heavily edited, and the song structure frequently deviates from the norm, but the music consistently comes off as light hearted and fun.

This album is the new project of former Books guitarist Nick Zammuto.  It is a four piece outfit with Nick Zammuto on the guitars and vocals, Gene Back on guitar, organ, and keys, Sean Dixon on the drums, and Mikey Zammuto on the Bass.  While it retains several elements that make the Books a good band, it is more accessible and energetic.  For starters, Zammuto does not use nearly as many vocal samples as the Books, which I feel makes the lyrical content more engaging and emotive.  You can read the full story of the Books' break up and Zammuto's formation here.

One thing that is interesting throughout this album is the different ways that they edit the vocals.  The opener "Yay" uses some strange intermittent filtering which makes the lyrics unintelligible, but builds the energy of the song to the point of ecstasy.  The next song "Groan Man, Don't Cry" makes extensive use of a vochorder to building interesting harmonies against Nick Zammuto's fantastic guitar riffs. "FU-C3P0" sounds like the lyrics are typed into a speak and spell.  The incredibly strange, pseudo rap or slam poetry song "Zebra Butt" has the female vocalist slowly speak like the Windows text to speech program (that we all typed swearwords into, in our youth) over a bubbling electronic bass line that slowly builds until it explodes into a cacophony of electric angst.

The second half of the album has a more relaxed feeling but still maintains interest through the use of the  electronic vocals, drum samples, and sequenced bass.  The song "Harlequin" uses some interesting keys that sound like pvc piping, before falling into a haunting night time ballad.  It utilizes a more toned down version of "Yay's" vocal editing that sounds like the vocals are rippling across the surface of a pond.  Finally, the closer "Full Fading" makes it seem like you are drifting away on the smoothness of Nick Zammuto's electronic voice, like a computer slowly running out of batteries.

All together, I immensely enjoyed this album.  The use of the vocal editing made this work consistently fun and engaging all the way through, even on the slower songs at the end.  It can be hard to distinguish which sounds have been sampled and which have been authentically recorded, but I don't really think it matters because the end product sounds fantastic.  The use of vocals in this album can seem alienating during the very energetic songs such as "Yay" and "Zebra Butt", but the closing tracks are so beautiful and relaxing, that it should round off the experience quite peacefully.