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Showing posts from November, 2018

Anderson .Paak, Oxnard, Album Review

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Anderson .Paak Oxnard Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I've know about the Californian rap artist since the release of the official Black Panther soundtrack earlier this year in which I was very impressed with his contribution to the song "Bloody Waters" with Kendrick Lamar , James Blake and Ab-Soul . So it was fair to say that I was pleased to find out that .Paak would be releasing his own full length album. This newest record (named after his hometown of Oxnard ) was released on November 16th and quite frankly, is far better than I initially anticipated. The production on this thing is incredible! Not only does it sound fresh and exciting, it also stays familiar enough to the traditional hip-hop conventions for it to be very accessible, much like many other phenomenal rap albums released this decade. "Oxnard" does definitely seem like the next step forward. This album starts off gloriously with one of the

The Smashing Pumpkins, SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, Album Review

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The Smashing Pumpkins SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Fully named "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT VOL 1/LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN.", this is the newest full length record from The Smashing Pumpkins ; a band who I more or less remember fondly for their older hits such as "Today", "Cherub Rock", "1979", "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and many more. I admittedly hadn't been listening to their more later work, most notably their 2014 release "Monuments To An Elegy" which was their previous full album to the one I am reviewing today. I saw "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT" as an opportunity to rekindle my interest in the band and discover if they've still got what it takes, and for the most part, I was impressed.  I loved The Smashing Pumpkins for the way that their musical library was so abundant with a mixture of both heavy and softer tracks with some of t

The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Merrie Land, Album Review

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The Good, The Bad and The Queen Merrie Land Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music While I've been aware of the alternative rock supergroup for a fair amount of time now, it was not until the teasing of this newest album that I really started listening to them. I was just glad that Damon Albarn had another project this year following the newest Gorillaz album, "The Now Now". But don't be fooled into thinking this is anything too similar to that album. Most likely because of the difference in people working on each project, this album sounds much different in a way that seems to be leaning towards a more positive respect. This album seems to have an fully realised theme of Englishness which makes the album much easier for a listener to immerse themselves into. The lyricisms in the majority of the songs, while I still don't understand them fully, certainly remain thought provoking. It makes it incredibly fun to try and adopt

Swizz Beatz, POISON, Album Review

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Swizz Beatz POISON Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music If there's one thing that I can truly appreciate when it comes to hip-hop music especially, it's a good producer. I was fortunate enough to discover this album recently, which is the second full length album from the producer known as Swizz Beatz. This album was release quite some years after the 2007 debut from Swizz Beatz , titled "One Band Man". But this is admittedly the first set of material that I have heard personally. This newest release features quite an impressive collection of other artists featuring on this record, including the likes of Kendrick Lamar , Lil Wayne , Nas , 2 Chainz , Pusha T , French Montana , Giggs and many more. It isn't the features that solely steal the spotlight however, there are an diverse range of exceptionally made and refreshingly unique beats. And despite being a producers album, still has a solid enough flow and aesthetic tha

Daughters, You Won't Get What You Want, Album Review

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Daughters You Won't Get What You Want Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music While I normally find it difficult to immerse myself into an album that is "overly technical", this album certainly caught my attention due to how well received it has been since its release. I had never really heard of Daughters until the release of this new album, but was surprised that they have been making music since 2003. Although, it has been quite some time between this newest album and their last  with a 7 year gap. The band has been labelled as noise rock, math rock, grind core and everything in-between. But even considering the out-there genres that the band are affiliated with. I found this album, named "You Won't Get What You Want" to be a vey surreal experience. The majority of the albums atmosphere is very moody, atmospheric and above all, extremely dark in its tone and instrumentation. It feels somewhat apocalyptic at point

Architects, Holy Hell, Album Review

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Architects Holy Hell Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Watch the Documentary "Holy Ghost" on YouTube When listening to this record, I remembered what Dan Searle (the founder and drummer of Architects ) mentioned on their recently released documentary; "Holy Ghost". He told us that "you can go through terrible things and come out as a better person, or maybe a happier person. Theres growth and evolution in going through those nightmarish situations". I felt that this belief is incredibly apparent with this record. Another brilliant record released this year that I feel shares a similar impact is in fact Parkway Drives ' "Reverence" for the way that both albums serve as proof that you can come out of the other side of a terrible situation, gaining inner strength and wisdom from it all. I feel that it is exactly this that has helped both album's become so powerful. In my opinion it's emotion thr

The Prodigy, No Tourists, Album Review

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The Prodigy No Tourists Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The second album to review over the Late September/early November tidal wave of music is actually one that I've been waiting for for a while now. None other than the newest effort from The Prodigy : "No Tourists". I was thrilled to find that Prodigy were making a comeback this year, signalled by the first teaser track "Need Some1", but obviously there wasn't an awful lot that I can predict from just that song and the other teaser track "Light Up the Sky" in terms of how the album as a whole would sound. However when the album was finally released, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it turned out to be an incredibly fun and enjoyable effort from the very first listen and a remarkable improvement upon their previous album, "The Day Is My Enemy", released back in 2015. The overall atmosphere of the album reverts back to 2009'

Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway, Dictator, Album Review

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Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway Dictator Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music After what I would've thought to be quite a scarce period for music in the form of October, the sheer amount of 2018 music that I've discovered over the last week or so has been overwhelming in comparison. And although the latest album by Daron Malakian's Scars On Broadway was actually released in July of this year, I have seemed to be making a name for myself as Mr late to the party, only discovering it last Thursday. The appeal of this album that drew me into listening to it was of course Daron Malakian ; guitarist and vocalist to the legendary System of a Down . Even on the very first dabbling over the tracks, I  was very impressed with how Malakian had managed to keep the aesthetic of S.O.A.D well and truly alive, even without the help of its vocalist and frontman,  Serj Tankien . Malakian had very cleverly tailored his vocals to essentially fi