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Showing posts from October, 2018

The Black Eyed Peas, MASTERS OF THE SUN VOL. 1, Album Review

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The Black Eyed Peas MASTERS OF THE SUN VOL. 1 Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Ladies and gentlemen, The Black Eyed Peas have still got it! When a friend of mine suggested that I should listen to the new Black Eyed Peas single "RING THE ALARM pt.1 pt.2 pt.3" shortly after its release, it would be fair to say that I was fairly reluctant. Seen as I virtually grew up listening to the Peas , I grew a little tiresome of the direction that they were going towards in the late 2000's in which they were essentially trading their traditional hip-hop inspired roots for a more accessible electro-pop sound. However, upon my first listen of the new track I got one of the most pleasant surprises of the whole year! "RING THE ALARM" was a stellar track from the very get-go, with an engaging and upbeat production with some masterful lyrics to match. I found it comparable to material released by some of hip-hop's most relevan

Kero Kero Bonito, Time 'n' Place, Album Review

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Kero Kero Bonito Time 'n' Place Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music "Time 'n' Place" is the second full length album by the British indie group following 2016's "Bonito Generation". I heard quite a bit of hype surrounding the group, particularly thanks to what is arguably their most well known single "Flamingo" which a lot of people know as "the shrimp song" which has been memed quite a bit in recent memory. However, I found myself discovering the artist properly with a couple of music videos for some other earlier tracks. It was after really getting to like them as a guilty pleasure band and being continuously intrigued by them that I stumbled upon their newest album which was released on the first day of this month. Judging from their earlier material, I was expecting Kero Kero Bonito to continue their traditional J-Pop inspired style. However, I was pleasantly surprised to fi

Parquet Courts, Wide Awake!, Album Review

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Parquet Courts Wide Awake! Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The reasons that I finally decided to fully listen to the latest release from Parquet Courts are very similar to that behind my recent listen of the Blood Orange album "Negro Swan". As a result of going through a fairly scarce period in terms of good new albums to listen to, I took it upon myself to revisit some of the ones I might've missed out on, and I think it is certainly safe to say that I nearly missed out on one of the most brilliant albums this year in the form of "Wide Awake!" This album is my first introduction to the band and their music, so I have little opinion towards their past work, but have heard from others that it is a pretty polished improvement upon their previous efforts. But from my perspective alone, It still captured me completely with its intriguing and thought-provoking political messages, nostalgic post-punk authenticity and a c

Petite Noir, La Maison Noir / The Black House, EP Review

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Petite Noir La Maison Noir / The Black House Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Petite Noir was an artist that I knew of before 2018 began. However, I never really listened to his music before the release of the single "Beach" which came shortly before this "mini album" which is titled "La Maison Noir / The Black House" LMN/TBH  is the fourth effort from Yannick Ilunga's alias and is essentially a six track EP that lasts only under half an hour. However, I can sense that quality was much more of an aim rather than quantity as each of the tracks carry their own unique charm and yet they all meld quite well together stylistically with its Africanised spirit and summery warmth. The first track of the EP "Blame Fire" was released in July of this year (which I somehow missed) and brings the energy that will become the overall theme of the EP in a relatively short amount of time. It has that quinte

Blood Orange, Negro Swan, Album Review

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Blood Orange Negro Swan Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Negro Swan, the fourth album created by Dev Hynes (under the alias of Blood Orange)got my attention a little when it was part of the "new releases" section of Spotify. This was around the end of August, which to me was too busy of a time to fully just take a moment to give it a thorough listen. But following what to me has been quite a quiet period in terms of new albums, I decided that it would be a good time to revisit some albums that I haven't given enough time upon their release and have since gained a lot of positive feedback. The first album that came to my mind was of course this one. And after going through it, I was honestly surprised that I let an album as brilliant as this one get past an earlier listen from myself. Theres a hell of a lot of material to keep anyone entertained for a long time, with a trackless of 16 songs that combine to make a runtime of