Album Review: Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan
“Even if Ichiko Aoba’s thematic intentions are often murky at best, the feeling of something profound hiding just below the surface is universal within her music, a sense of indeterminate mystery that keeps so many fans spellbound even if her words themselves are beyond their understanding. Windswept Adan is what Aoba’s entire career has been building up to, proving definitively that her artistry is not, and never will be, comfortable with inertia.”
“Bernie Would Have Won”
The dreaded battle cry of the online left is actually the most succinct description imaginable of America's current political reality.
A Quick One: Slauson Malone - Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)
“This is not a straightforward work of art, nor is it a hopeful one, yet Malone’s stripped-down collection of recapitulations is nonetheless compelling in its blatant need to exist. Even without an optimistic conclusion, the act of baring his soul has clearly let him make some sort of peace with his recurring antagonist; that the record still has so much to offer from a musical perspective is merely a consequence of untempered genius.”
Album Review: Conway the Machine - From King to a GOD
“It’s easy to come up with reasons why From King to a GOD isn’t quite as dramatic a statement as it should have been, the most realistic being that it is meant to serve (in Conway’s own words) as an appetizer before the rapper’s upcoming Shady Records debut God Don’t Make Mistakes. Not even this justification, however, can explain why From King to a GOD falls short in so many areas, from lyrics to guest verses to (especially) production.”
Album Review: Lianne La Havas - Self-Titled
“This is neo-soul in its most prototypical sense; not a reinvention, but a recapitulation of the same fervent spirit Marvin Gaye tapped into fifty years ago. If Lianne La Havas were any less of a perfect blend between the old and new of its genre, such comparisons might read as sacrilegious; as it stands, the London-born virtuoso proves here that she will not be denied her rightful accolades, blasphemy be damned.”
Half-Year in Review #4: Pink Siifu - NEGRO
“Pink Siifu’s newest offering is a confusing, often illegible mess of a record, the stylistic equivalent of yanking the steering wheel as hard to the left as possible and plummeting your vehicle off the edge of a cliff as l’appel du vide takes over your once-rational mind. It is also, bar none, the most important album you will listen to this year.”
Half-Year in Review #3: R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages
“If you wanted to pitch milo to an unsuspecting initiate, you could probably spin the rapper’s more eccentric qualities into assets with a little poetic license. Talk about his offbeat flow, his ambitiously understated approach to rapping, maybe quote a few bars and hope they can define Sonderweg but don’t know what futanari is. If you want to pitch R.A.P. Ferreira, just refer them to Purple Moonlight Pages and let the rapper’s newfound candor do the talking for you.”
Half-Year in Review #2: Beach Bunny - Honeymoon
“For all the despondency and heartache Beach Bunny manage to portray in their debut album’s slim runtime, its buoyant instrumentals and enthralling lyricism trick the listener into enjoying themselves far too much for a record written with this much angst. The indie pop quartet may still be dipping their toes into the realm of full-length projects, yet already it is all too clear that their work has mastered the art of not overstaying its welcome while simultaneously leaving the listener in desperate need of more.”
Half-Year in Review #1: Halsey - Manic
“In theory, taking a break from the ambiguously defined Halsey-verse to make an isolated record of heartbreak, doubt, and eventual catharsis is a great idea; in practice, Manic suffers from many of the same flaws that plagued Halsey’s previous albums. At this point, no amount of blatant talent or perceived potential can obscure the unattractive production and regrettable lyricism that ruin far too many promising ideas; if Halsey wants to maintain the same level of intrigue with which many have followed her career up to this point, something on the journey from thought to pen to studio must change, and drastically so.”
Album Review: Run the Jewels - RTJ4
For almost a decade now, Run the Jewels has been a much-appreciated opportunity for two grizzled veterans of the music industry to flex their political inclinations, while also having fun doing so. What made them so appealing to so many, though, can be attributed to a truth self-evident since the release of Killer Mike’s 2012 album R.A.P. Music: two is so, so often better than one. When Mike and El-P come together, the synthesis of their abilities carries them beyond the limits of their individual genius, yet even as they continue to refine their formula, the fruits of their persona threaten to become conventional. While El-P is pulling this much of the weight when it comes to Run the Jewels as a vehicle for social commentary, it becomes clearer than ever that creative beats and hard-hitting punchlines can only carry you so far, and the duo are sorely in need of some fresh ideas. Make no mistake: these criticisms are not uttered because RTJ4 is bad, or average, or even merely good. This is a great album that overcomes many of the flaws of its predecessors, but more than ever before the uniformity of the duo’s style threatens to wholly consume their artistic talent, and it is uncertain how much longer they can stave off the decay of their purpose.
Album Review: City Girl - Siren of the Formless / Goddess of the Hollow
Though it may at first appear to be little more than a gimmick, in truth the decision to split what probably would have been one lengthier record into two more concise ones reaps many benefits for the latest City Girl endeavour(s). Despite Siren of the Formless being in many ways a better summation of City Girl’s various talents than its partner Goddess of the Hollow, both are astonishingly consistent releases, each with their own separate ambience, themes, and merits. City Girl is far from the first artist to employ such a tactic, but one would be hard-pressed to find a duet of albums as contiguous and interwoven as these, and that they originate in such an unlikely genre only adds to their appeal. If anything, these twin records only prove more certainly that the ill-founded critiques leveled against lo-fi hip hop are largely unfounded; beyond that, the only thing certain of the next City Girl release is that it will likely be even more impressive and ingenious than one could ever expect.
Album Review: The Strokes - The New Abnormal
‘Memorable’ is perhaps an oddly fitting descriptor of The Strokes’ music, an unlikely heritage that The New Abnormal is surprisingly adept at employing in its best moments. Even among a field comprising some of the most talented rock bands of their generation, the group was able to carve out a legacy for themselves that endures to this day, largely through the sheer volume of unforgettable hooks and genre-defining melodies strewn about Is This It. That ingenuity can still be heard here: in the ever-shifting melodies of Bad Decisions, in Julian Casablancas’ pained shouts on the chorus of Eternal Summer, and in so many more hidden idiosyncrasies that often show their face for only the briefest instant. The longer tracks routinely fail to justify their lengths, and it is truly a shame this loss of focus too often ends what begins as an explosive outburst of passion with a pitiful whimper. Nevertheless, though many fans of The Strokes will continue to let perfect be the enemy of good, any band that can still write something as powerful as Selfless or as euphoric as Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus is one worth listening to.
Album Review: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Save for the last two tracks, Future Nostalgia is an immaculate revival of forgotten sounds and subgenres from decades past, and a captivating ode to the glory days of disco and dance-pop. Dua Lipa might seem on paper to be an unlikely candidate for such a convincing throwback, but it is clear from the care put into her lyrics and performances on this record that her infatuation with pop music’s history is entirely genuine. It is this that makes her imitations of these styles so flattering, and the talent on display across the album leaves no doubt as to why her variations on the pop formula almost entirely work to perfection. For as many dated musical experiments as are strewn about the charts of yesteryear, enough timeless material has survived so as to show why such trends became popular in the first place, and it is these paragons of pop which Dua Lipa innovates upon to create her masterpiece.