Posts

Showing posts from November, 2019

Beck, Hyperspace, Album Review

Image
Beck Hyperspace Album Review Listen On Spotify Listen On Apple Music Up until now, I never really listened to an awful lot of Beck's music, besides his big break hit "Loser". However, I was impressed enough by his feature on Cage The Elephant's "Night Running" for me to give his latest solo project a good listen. In bits and pieces, I was aware of Beck's lo-fi and ambient approach towards his music (especially in his more modern records), and that trend is carried through to here as well. However, this album carries with it a solid theme, and most importantly a collaboration with Pharrell Williams which ties into the title rather nicely. To elaborate on this, Hyperspace has quite a spacial and cosmic atmosphere throughout. There are other albums that use this kind of atmosphere to a greater effect, but in the case of Hyperspace , it still works well. It sounds almost alien, which when paired with the ambient approach, offers

Coldplay, Everyday Life, Album Review

Image
Coldplay Everyday Life Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The recent decade for a band like Coldplay has been a disheartening one to say the least. Ever since the phenomenal Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends dropped all the way back in 2008, the group haven't managed to top or even match that album since. 2011's Mylo Xyloto would become the beginning or a more shallow and far less memorable sound from Coldplay, and the same also goes for 2014's Ghost Stories. The band would then release A Head Full of Dreams a year later. And while the track "Adventure of a Lifetime" reintroduced a well-needed upbeat nature to Coldplay's music, not an awful lot of the album followed suit. I would even have to say that "Hymn for the Weekend", a track on the same album, has to be my least favourite hit in Coldplay's entire discography. This all culminates to make their 2015 effort, a mixed bag overall. Four

Alfie Templeman, Don't Go Wasting Time, Album Review

Image
Alfie Templeman Don't Go Wasting Time Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music This debut full-length album from DIY alternative indie artist Alfie Templeman managed to grab my attention just before the newest Friday comes rolling in. And quite honestly, I wouldn't have paid nearly as much attention to it if it didn't sound as good as it does. The main reason that this album grabbed my attention was that it seemed to have the potential to fill a small void in 2019, that being the lack of a truly chilled, ambient, and enjoyable album with that kind of DIY aesthetic. Don't Go Wasting Time has a very clear influence of Mac DeMarco behind it, with tracks like "Who I Am", and especially the title track, feeling very reminiscent of 2017's  This Old Dog . When you compare the likes of these songs with the abysmal nature of DeMarcos own 2019 project Here Comes The Cowboy , I feel that this album carries an appropriately DeM

DJ Shadow, Our Pathetic Age, Album Review

Image
DJ Shadow Our Pathetic Age Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I became aware of DJ shadow through his collaboration with Run The Jewels on the track "Nobody Speak", from his previous 2016 effort The Mountain Will Fall . While I believe it to be a solid track, the rest of the album sort of fell under the radar. A full three years later, and we have ourselves the next studio record from this versatile Disc Jockey. However, it may be one of the most unusually compiled albums I've listened to thus far. To give a little bit of context. This newest record, Our Pathetic Age , is quite the substantial record with a runtime of over 90 minutes. However, it essentially comes as a two-sided project. I was confused to find that the second side had a feature on almost every song, while the starting side had none. That being said, I foresaw that the first side would be DJ shadow laying down a number of beats without the help of other artists.

FKA twigs, MAGDALENE, Album Review

Image
FKA twigs MAGDALENE Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I must admit, we are drawing all-the-more closer to the end of 2019, and the epilogue of the 2010s. With that being said, I was expecting new music to be scarce at this time. Nevertheless, I still wanted to be as open to any new music that comes along as I possibly could. And while I hadn't listened to the debut album from experimental pop artist FKA twigs; 2014's LP1 (which had been critically acclaimed as one of this decade's best albums), her second and newest effort MAGDALENE , has finally managed to grab my attention. When I addressed FKA twigs as experimental, it certainly wasn't my intention to use that term lightly. This album is indeed very theatrical, and incredibly arty. I feel that MAGDALENE's album cover does reflect the aesthetic of this album very well, as it truly is a piece of musical art; one that the listener will not find hard to indulge in completel

Greentea Peng, RISING, EP Review

Image
Greentea Peng RISING EP Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I struggle to remember exactly how I discovered R&B underdog from London, known as Greentea Peng. However, I remember clearly that when I did, I became instantly interested in her indulgent and lo-fi musical style. This little project comes as Greentea's second EP, following her 2018 effort Sensi. RISING  was teased by the warm and hazey single "Mr. Sun (miss da sun)" which I found both very enjoyable, and also seasonably appropriate. Fast-forward to the full EP, and what we have to listen to is a 6 track piece which lasts roughly 18 minutes. It's the kind of duration that one would expect from an EP, so on that front, I have no quarrel. This EP begins with "Risin'" which is what I assume to be a pseudo-title track. It has a somewhat energetic pace which feels appropriate when trying to kick off an EP right. However, it pleased me that the fluidity