Booth Boy Productions Blog

To those of you who have read my articles exclusively through Blogger. It is coming up to almost 2 years since I began to write music reviews on Blogger, but I have also more recently been creating other articles on the publishing company Medium on behalf of the publishing company Lunazee, based in Amsterdam. With this, I have been enjoying the opportunity to write on Medium, and have started to notice a great deal of self-improvement since I begun writing with Medium. As a result, I have decided to fully move to Medium, where I will be writing all of my reviews and other articles. I knew that the last set of articles I would write on Blogger would be my seven mini reviews, but my lists for 2019 and the decade, will be on medium. Appropriate links for my articles: https://medium.com/@joeboothby https://medium.com/lunazee I would like to thank you all for reading through my articles, and for your support. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed it as much as I,

Dorian Electra Flamboyant Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music To conclude our last minute reviews week, we have the debut album from experimental pop genius Dorian Electra, who initially had my attention with their gender-bending style. However, I discovered that wasn't simply all for show, as Electra's visual style translates perfectly into the music found on Flamboyant . I love how this album really pushes the ideology wielded by Dorian Electra, in the form of a big middle finger to toxic masculinity and the straight-acting norm. This is executed in a very in-your face musical style which holds nothing back. As Electra quotes on the albums title track, "No taste for subtlety, and no time for restraint, No I go all the way". And I believe that these lyrics sum up the album perfectly. The general style of the album is a loud and colourful explosion of pop, electronic, and even the occasional rock element thrown in for good

SOAK Grim Town Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I believe that I discovered this album after I heard enough about it from a local record store near me, but while I enjoyed the little snippets of what I did hear from SOAK's latest album Grim Town , I didn't get round to reviewing it fully; meaning that this week would  a perfect opportunity to write about such a project. Grim Town is the second album from the singer/songwriter from northern Ireland, who goes under the alias of SOAK. True to the albums title, this album has been described as a kind of dystopia that the artist had created in their mind. And I feel that with the introduction that the dialogue-based intro to the album was a very effective way to drop us the listener into this dystopian theme very cleverly. What follows musically, is either melancholic or bittersweet in its sound, and I feel that the generally bleak yet wholesome atmosphere created by Grim Town rema

Men I Trust Oncle Jazz Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music My memory is a little fuzzy in terms of how I discovered this album exactly, but I am very glad I did. Oncle Jazz is the fourth studio album by the immersive indie group, Men I Trust, and the first full record since current frontwoman Emma Proulx held the reigns. I had heard that this band was a lovely, chill little record, and I couldn't agree more. I really enjoy the ambient sound, which still feels lo-fi and a little D.I.Y despite being the fourth instalment. There's a genuine element to the music, that makes it incredibly easy to get into, or very useful for playing as background music.  Furthermore, the sound across the album is generally very glossy, cosmic, and not too in-your face. It simply soothes the listener with its gentle and indulgent noise. I might say that the likes of the music on this album are possibly quite similar to the upcoming Welsh indie group S

Rex Orange County Pony Mini Review Listen On Spotify Listen on Apple Music After having listened to little tidbits of Rex Orange County's music, including his feature on "Boredom", one of my favourite songs off of Tyler, the Creator's 2017 album Flower Boy and the much more recent single "10/10", I definitely felt that this artist had earned my late interest in reviewing his newest album, Pony . I think what interested me initially about the previously mentioned "10/10", a teaser track for Pony was that on the surface, it musically sounded quite nostalgic to me. But fortunately, finally listening to the album fully allowed me to recognise the song on a more contextual level. I would say that this album seems to have a very self-reflective theme of the artist coming to terms with doing what he does long-term, toying with the idea of "quitting while he's ahead", and fighting to stay connected with the rest of the

Michael Kiwanuka KIWANUKA Not So Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Out of all of the mini reviews I had set out for this week, KIWANUKA had to be the one I looked forward to reviewing the most. I remember when this album was released and giving it a fairly thorough listen. But for whatever reason, I only paid interest to the more upbeat tracks, some examples being "You Ain't The Problem", "Rolling", and "Hero". And with that, I quite carelessly dismissed this album and decided against reviewing it. Because at the time, my mentality towards KIWANUKA was while the highlights on the album were marvellous, they didn't come frequently enough for my liking. I am quite frankly relieved, however, to get the chance to review this album, as it has recently begun to grow a hell of a lot more on me. It took me long enough to open up to KIWANUKA , but I now recognise just how spectacular this album truly is.

KAYTRANADA BUBBA Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The second spot on the last minute minute reviews very nearly went to Brutus' marvellous album  Nest . However, once I gave this other album a listen, I knew I had to have it on here. The third album from Canadian DJ KAYTRANADA, BUBBA  was quite late to the party upon its release. In other words, I believe it came through only very recently, almost missing my attention altogether. but boy oh boy I'm glad I didn't miss out on this record. With a line up of features which are almost as impressive as KAYTRANADA's previous effort, 2016's 99.9% , I was certainly intrigued enough. These featured artists include Pharell Williams, Estelle, Goldlink, Kali Uchis, and many more. But in addition to this, seen as this is my introductory album into KAYTRANADA's discography, I good a very good idea of just how colourful, atmospheric, and just all-round brilliant his beats are.

Billie Eilish WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Mini Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music This album has to quite possibly be one of the most popular picks for a great 2019 album, and I feel that this contributed to both why I'm reviewing it now, and also why I didn't review it in the first place. I did give this album a very quick listen upon its release, but did so in a rather dismissive manner thanks to my inner hipster, which I have been trying to tame ever since reviewing music in the first place. But this is exactly why I enjoy the idea of dedicating a week to reviewing 2019 albums that I should've possibly done earlier. And i think the debit studio album from Billie Eilish is the perfect way to begin this, as I ended up finding it a lot better than I initially thought. Simply listening to the several hits that scatter this album on a quiet radio don't exactly do it justice. Whereas now that I've gone ahead and given

The Free Nationals Self-Titled Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Thankfully for me, this album managed to release right at the very last minute, As I will be concluding 2019 with my week of last-minute mini reviews, and then my final lists. Needless to say, The Free Nationals have had a fair bit of my attention this year, and I am very glad that I was able to find this album upon its very fine-cutting release. I had listened to a little bit of Free Nationals this year, both in terms of their recorded music, and also live. As somebody who had been into Anderson .Paak for quite some time now, it was interesting to discover that he would be banding together with The Free Nationals in his live performance at this years Reading and Leeds festival. I thoroughly enjoyed that set, but felt that Anderson .Paak didn't just steal the spotlight on his own. In other words, I felt that The Free Nationals had a great deal of input in that live performan

Jack Peñate After You Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music We're now approaching the end of the year, and this makes it much harder for me to carry on reviewing albums, for I will soon need to compile a number of lists. However, this album certainly seemed interesting enough for me to want to review, and quickly fit into the 2019 catalogue. Despite this essentially being my introduction into the musical world of this London-based indie artist, the third addition to Jack's discography was long overdue. After the release of his previous album, 2009's Everything Is New , it took a decade for this newest chapter to arrive. Jack travelled across the globe, looking for inspiration to put towards the creation of After You . This definitely shows well, with the album collectively sounding quite culturally diverse. While to me, it feels just as accessible as any indie album should, this album boldly ventures towards more of a world-music

Tei Shi La Linda Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music I was immensely looking forward to more from Tei Shi after the release of her gorgeous collaboration with Blood Orange, "Even If It Hurts" at the end of September. However,Spotify can be a bit funny sometimes, and the Columbian-Canadian singer/songwriter's second full-length album, managed to release right under my nose. What I loved so much about the previously mentioned teaser track, was how dreamy and celestial the electric sound was. I assumed that this input was by the hands of Blood Orange when being featured in this song. However, this kind of style that I loved so much remains throughout the majority of the whole project. This style pairs beautifully with Tei Shi's angelic vocals. And quite honestly, if I were to judge the album on vocals alone, this would be an absolute 10/10. Both the range and silkiness of these vocals truly do allow this album to stand out amongs