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Showing posts from April, 2019

Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Balance, Album Review

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Catfish and the Bottlemen The Balance Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The third studio album by Indie-rock band extraordinaire Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Balance was released last Friday, following the last album they released back in 2016; the highly successful The Ride . And while I do understand their previous album as a success, this serves as the first album from the band that I have taken the time to fully listen to. A big part of the reasoning behind giving this band the benefit of the doubt was the impressive set of teaser tracks. Starting off with January's "Longshot" and followed by "2all" in March. While I don't know if this is just the band's shtick, I enjoyed how these tracks and the album to follow seemed to have much of an essence of The Strokes' "Reptillia". A lot of this albums tracks just has such an infectiously earthy tone to them. I also feel like this album was

Kevin Abstract, ARIZONA BABY, Album Review

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Kevin Abstract ARIZONA BABY Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music ARIZONA BABY is the latest release from founding BROCKHAMPTON member Kevin Abstract. This third studio album from the rap artist was teased by a pack of singles followed by an EP rather than simply putting out teaser tracks. However, I feel that once the full album was released, everything came into effect perfectly. As someone who went into this album as a BROCKHAMPTON fan, I was expecting this album to be a little similar musically. And while this ended up being sort of true, it does so in a way that ticks all of the right boxes. To clarify, it carries through the same sort of BROCKHAMPTON appeal wit its warm and colourful production, but the way that this albums music also feels even more upbeat and slightly more minimal make this an album that may even prove to be more enjoyable to me than the latest BROCKHAMPTON record iridescence . The subject matter of this record and th

Cage The Elephant, Social Cues, Album Review

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Cage The Elephant Social Cues Album Review Listen On Spotify Listen on Apple Music Cage The Elephant was a band that was introduced to me through their very first self-titled debut album that was released back in 2008. And while it wasn't until a few years later that I would discover their music through this album, it served as a great gateway into their later music. And while I still enjoyed their 2015 album Tell Me I'm Pretty quite a lot, I was longing for a Cage The Elephant album that really switched things up from their signature formula that I have come to know so well throughout the years. And while this latest instalment from the band, titled Social Cues still feels a lot like a Cage the Elephant album and still sticks quite firmly to what they are used to doing in some areas, I feel like it is the closest we have gotten so far to a record that isn't afraid to go a bit further into experimental territory. This albums arrival was heralded by f

Anderson .Paak, Ventura, Album Review

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Anderson .Paak Ventura Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music It was only about 5 months ago that I remember reviewing Oxnard , the third studio album by R&B/ Soul artist Anderson. Paak. But somehow, someway, he has managed to come through with yet another full-length masterpiece under the name of Ventura . Both  Oxnard and Ventura were apparently being developed at around the same time, but were obviously released a few months apart. According to an interview with .Paak, this album was meant to act as the prettier sounding juxtaposition to Oxnard's grittiness, which I believe was accurately portrayed in the two albums. Its fairly easy to see that .Paak's train of thought when releasing  Ventura  soon after was to essentially strike while the iron is hot thanks to the success of Oxnard . And strike this album most certainly does! This album sees the artist showcasing an even more soulful and jazzy sound than the last instalment,

The Chemical Brothers, No Geography, Album Review

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The Chemical Brothers No Geography Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Experimental dance giants The Chemical Brothers showed signs of a new record a few weeks back. And now that it is finally here, the ninth studio album from the group in places shows that they still have what it takes. The Chemical Brothers are truthfully an artist that I kind of dip in and out of, only really skimming across various singles of theirs. however, I am a fan of a selection of singles they have released over their discography, from their nostalgic and progressive "Leave Home" to the more upbeat, more modern sounding "Go" from their previous album Born in the Echoes . But No Geography is the closest thing so far to an album from the Chemical Brothers that I have fully listened through. And the reason I say "closest thing" is unfortunately, there were some tracks (especially towards the later part of the album) that I kind of got

Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising, Album Review

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Weyes Blood Titanic Rising Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Titanic Rising is the newest full-length record from sub-pop artist Weyes Blood. I discovered this album not too long ago and it serves as my introduction to Weyes Blood. My initial thoughts on the album was that it seemed maybe a bit too consistently mellow when I first skimmed over it. However, many of the tracks still had enough grace and uniqueness to entice me into giving the album a more thorough listen. Conceptually and aesthetically, it is a fairly easy album to understand and definitely one that lands its meanings in the minds of its listeners effortlessly. Musically, it is very rich, incredibly powerful and doesn't fail to pull the heart strings. Thanks to this, I have a feeling that Titanic Rising and Weyes Blood's music in general hasn't necessarily been made for a specific type of audience. Instead, it simply comes across to me as beautiful, soul-tuggi

The Comet Is Coming, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, Album Review

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The Comet Is Coming Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I personally find that an instrumental album is in many cases, very hard to execute in a way that engages with the listener. But when I stumbled across this newest record from the UK jazz trio that make up The Comet Is Coming, It really excited me and really left we with the impression that this will be an instrumental piece that will actually stand the test of time. There are a few instrumental records I have enjoyed in the past, but the biggest issue with all of them is that they all became too familiar once I knew what to expect from it. And while this album is still relatively fresh, I definitely get a sense that this will become a very essential album of 2019, and one that will continue to entertain me for a very long time. With what seems to be a newfound love for jazz starting to become more clear in my musical taste, this album pretty m