Reviews, 9-30-2025
I'm back from my much-deserved vacation, and I've listened to some stuff. Wanna know what I thought? I'd hope so, because this is a review blog! First up is:
A Day To Remember "Big Ole Album Vol. 1"
This sounds like the center of a Venn diagram of Falling In Reverse, 2000s emo-tinged pop punk and (to a lesser extent) modern pop country. The real trick is somehow it's less terrible than all of those things. It manages to concoct a far less annoying, far less nihilistic and marginally less dogshit brew from that vortex of suck. Unfortunately, the starting ingredients guarantee that the potion is still no good, but I respect that they managed to lessen the damage; this could of been a LOT worse (and would have been more interesting had it been). Competent schlock. Nothing more, nothing less.
Busta Rhymes "Dragon Season...The Awakening" &
"Dragon Season...Equinox"
The Awakening is a six song, 18 minute EP listed as an EP on YouTube Music, while Equinox is a seven song, 26 minute EP listed as an ALBUM on YouTube Music. I've mused about the semantics of where the line is between EP and album before (eight songs and up is an album, four to seven songs is an EP unless it's a half hour or longer, one to three songs is a single with one or two B-Sides, unless it's at least 15 minutes, for the record). But I don't sweat it; I've got my opinions, no one has ever really codified this to satisfaction...you do you.
I went in with a lot of trepidation, because E.L.E. 2 and Blockbusta were both kinda bad, and to top it off AOTY had both of these on their bottom 25 for 2025 at one point (neither are on their currently; the shit changes all the time as I've discussed before).
As for The Awakening: Based on Busta's performance, anyone who puts this on the bottom of anything is fuckin' TRIPPIN'; this is the best he's done since...the Busta's Back mixtape in 2008? It's been a long time. But when you factor in vocal recording...jeeSUS I see why it got the lower ratings. Some of this was recorded in Idaho, because you would've needed a whole CROP of potatoes to record it on to get a vocal sound that low quality. Not lo-fi...just really, really bad. But it also kind of feels like 00's mixtape shit, so I had a little more stomach for it, and coming out of that, Busta went six for six.
If these two EPs were one album (which they easily could have been), it would be pretty front-loaded. Equinox stumbles HARD out of the gate. "Get On Your Job" is by a galactic distance the worst thing on either project. Four guest stars, all sucking and wasting your time over a forgettable beat. Busta raps half a bar at the end, and it's way too little too late. The song with Akon also gets a few minus points for having fucking Akon on it (one of my least favorite mainstream artists of all time), but other than that, Equinox does recover. Busta still does well, even if the beats are a little less distinct (though the vocals are much better recorded on this one). Equinox also doesn't really have an ending. Might we be getting a third EP to finish off this statement? Only time will tell. (Maybe they took it back to the lab after the poor reception of the first two.)
This is the most I've enjoyed a Busta Rhymes project in a looooong time, even if it's not gonna make my Top 20 or Honorable Mentions. I'd still recommend it, but be warned, parts of it are rough to say the least.
Cautious Clay "The Hours: Morning"
Picked this one because A) It was right next to Busta, and B) Had the same Title - Subtitle routine as Busta's EPs. I now realize that The Hours: Afternoon and The Hours: Night may be in hour future, but for now, we've got eight tracks and 20 minutes. (A short album, but still an album to me, dang it. (Unless of course those other parts come out at a similar length; then it's a bunch of EPs that Voltron into an album; not a thing I had to account for when I came up with my understanding of release vessel semantics in the 1990s.))
Well, this is the exact opposite of Dragon Season...The Awakening in the vocal department; this sounds amazing. Musically and lyrically, it's a little too slice of life. It does touch on the humanity in mundane moments, but does so in a way that isn't that interesting. The harmonies are decent to good. I liked the surprise sax solo in "Traffic (7am)" (if you're gonna have sax, good to do it in a song with the same name as an early 70s band that used sax).
All the tracks have names with an hour in parentheses after them, going from 5am to 12pm, each one illustrating what's going on in this couple's day. "The Plot (8am)" has some similes and metaphors at least (resisting the "it thickens" joke here). As the project progresses, it does kinda set up a vibe. "Promises (9am)" had me nodding my head.
Over all, not reinventing the wheel, but the vocals are immaculate and the music is decent enough to warrant playing it again. I sort of dig it.
Djrum "Under Tangled Silence"
I'm kinda bummed that the super glitchy thing I heard about four minutes in was my computer struggling and not part of the song; it sounded dope.
Anyway, Under Tangled Silence is more of a...smooth IDM joint? It's got electronics, but it's definitely not trying to sand you off the face of existence or black you out with its inaccessibility, yet it also has dexterous but tasteful jazz piano throughout as a companion, the blankets to this digital music bed. You can tell this is more of an "Art" thing than your average album.
By track three, you're taking the blankets off the bed and wandering around the house (it's a solo piano piece). There were a few augmentations, however, that made me do a double-take. You hear a jazz piano song, so you settle in for certain conventions, but to hear notes get paulstretched and reverbed and even a little pitch-bent...it breaks those conventions in ways that, used as tastefully as they are here, sound out of this world.
And that manipulation continues into the bass-heavy "L'Ancienne", which moves into darker, noisier territory. This album is a challenge and I respect it. I needed something to contrast all the CDs I've been buying lately (mostly rock focused, mostly 90s and 00s). This sounds fresh.
After track four, I stopped looking at song titles and just let the whole thing wash over me. I recognized "Let Me" from the May 2025 Hit Mix, but the rest was a pleasant experience of being bombarded with nervous, bassy, but kinda chill shit. Of course, that got a little old, since the last four songs (about 60% of the runtime) all blur together as one jittery mass. Was liking it more, still liked it over all, but the end was overkill.
Everything Is Recorded "Richard Russell Is Temporary"
It's mostly sleepy folk, but UK neo-R&B superstar Sampha is here and so is Florence Welch to do backup? In fact, so are Nourished By Time, Kamasi Washington...Roses Gabor? Damn girl, I ain't heard from you since the end of 2019! What's shakin'?
Point is, this is a collective effort, as in Everything Is Recorded is a musical collective, guided by producer Richard Russell (who I've learned is the owner of XL records, the label that launched Adele, so that explains how he's so connected), with the mélange of artists contributing what they will, I think.
Shame most of the contributions are unobtrusive wallpaper. "Never Felt Better" is the standout, and "Losing You" and "Firelight" are standout for the opposite reason, making Sampha (on my Best Of songs lists two years running) and Florence Welch (my favorite singer of all time) sound the worst I've ever heard them. I don't know what the fuck they were going for there, but it did not work. Other than that, everything else fades into the background. (Except interlude track "The Summons". That was annoying.)
Flipturn "Burnout Days"
Now THIS is the summertime chillout music I was looking for. I could post up at the pool to this one. I love how in the hook of "Rodeo Clown" they throw in a jazzy chord that goes up instead of resolving down like it "should", giving the feeling that the song is threatening to float away like a balloon for a second.
"Inner Wave" is a bop; I'm nodding my head to it, kinda wishing I was wearing sunglasses. "Sunlight" feels like "What if Nothing But Thieves did a slow song and it was good?" (I wish that wasn't as real a statement as it was). "Moon Rocks"'s beat sounds like there's a box of rocks being shaken in it; it's phrenetic, despite being another melancholy number.
And after the fourth mopey song in a row, I'm starting to wonder where this interesting album went. The songs aren't bad, but it was going one way, switched up and stayed stuck in a rut for too long. At least "Swim Between Trees" has the decency to add a little light and color back in. Can't say the same for "Tides".
When I said chillout music, I meant something with a little pulse to it. The album sinks into a depression and can't find its way out. The hell of it is the songs would be decent to good on their own, but back-to-back-to-back it kills the mood the first two songs set up stone dead. It feels like a bait and switch. If it had been low key from the beginning, maybe I'd see it in a kinder light, but then again, I think these songs being grouped together makes them all suffer for their sameness. By the time "Reason To Pretend" comes back in to try and rescue the mood, it's too late. Somebody's face down in the pool and I'm face palming at this preventable tragedy. (It's not that bad; this'll probably wind up in "Okay".)
Ghost "Skeleta"
I was wondering why I've heard nobody talking about the new Ghost, seeing as they're usually one of the most talked about metal bands out there, and...
This was a weird one. It's like every song took until the very end for me to catch up to liking it. And even though tracks 8 and 9 were kinda weak, I still left the experience feeling like I'd clicked with it?
I'm not sure about Skeleta. It's too cheesy to start, a passable pastiche, but you feel like it's been done before. But by the end of each song, you're like: "Wait. Did that slap?" And before you can answer yourself, it's on to the next one, and the same tidal wave of velveeta to slog through. Once you're able to scrape it off, there's something solid underneath.
But because you only catch it in the final seconds of each song, you don't really connect with anything firmly. It ends up being too ephemeral, and this album winds up feeling like smoke you're mad you can't hold. That's after first listen, anyway.
I get why people aren't talking about this. I'd say it's good, but it's gonna take several more listens before I can figure out what it really is or what my relationship is to it (which is bizarre to say about a band basically running the same playbook for at least the fourth time in a row).
Haim "I quit"
Some people may be put off by their intentional "hot mess" era of lyrics (and to some extent composition, but not as much as you might think), but as something to put on and just float to, it's not too bad. At it's core, I Quit is still Haim, through and through; it just has more swearing and a few rougher musical left turns to give it its own identity. (Whether these are too rough or too different for what you want from them, your mileage may vary, but it works for me.)
I'm With Her "Wide And Clear And Blue"
Uh...Album Of The Year contender here. The only thing that's really jumped out at me all year. It's just three women with guitars and harmonies, but there's a sense of community and an undeniable atmosphere. Just what I needed right now.
Jane Handcock "It's Me, Not You"
Reminds me a lot of We Are KING (their capitalization, not mine), especially in the vocal harmony department (high praise there). I liked it, but wanted to love it; I think because it's laid back it starts to get same-y after awhile. It toes the line between vibe and rut, veering over occasionally, but never fully crossing. All that said, I'd put this in the Top 20 in most years I've done countdowns, so absolutely check this out.
KickFlip "Flip It, Kick It!" &
"Kick Out, Flip Now!"
....why the fuck do I kinda like this? Maybe because it's more K-Rap or K-R&B? With a slight rock edge? (Question mark?) Maybe because it tones down the boy band aspects juuuust enough to not make my reflexes hit stop out of cringe? (But they're not not there; or not not prevalent?)
Originally, I was thinking of reviewing these as one project (since combined they're 36 minutes and 13 tracks); listening to them back to back didn't feel like a jarring transition, or even a side change.
At first.
As Kick Out, Flip Now barreled on, it revealed itself to be a lot more bombastic, major key and, frankly, normie. None of those things are bad, necessarily, it's how you use them. And Kick Out, Flip Now stopped being interesting around track 2 and never got back to the more interesting harmonies and sonic pallets that had my ear on Flip It, Kick It! (Though I did like the onomatopoeia of a defibrillator in the chorus of "Code Red"; that was at least funny.)
If you folded "Freeze" and "How We KickFlip" into Flip It, Kick It!, you'd get a decent mini-album. Most of Kick Out, Flip Now! is the really middle of the road, big empty sugar that makes me bounce off most K-Pop. (Y'know, the pop part.)
McKinley Dixon "Magic, Alive!"
I don't know what it is, but I felt mostly nothing listening to this one. Outside of "We're Outside, Rejoice!", the songs are good, sure, but I couldn't tell you anything about them. I just couldn't pay attention, and I feel like that's on me. Everyone and their brother is praising this to high heaven (it's definitely between this and Clipse for "Backpacker Album Of The Year" [complimentary] [sort of]), and they're welcome to it, but this is just...fine to me? And I liked Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?! quite a bit so it's not like I just don't get McKinley's vibe, I just didn't pick up on this one and that's weird.
If you like lyrical, story-driven jazz raps absolutely listen to this. You will get something out of it. But maybe it was a bit hype poisoned for me. I'd listen to it again, and maybe with lowered expectations it will click with me harder next time.
Nourished By Time "The Passionate Ones"
Alternative R&B, I think (I never know what genre people are shooting for anymore; I just got guesses). It has soulful passages, but it's built on more jangly instrumentation, so it's like a college radio/bedroom/indie act trying to do R&B and this is what came out. The vocals are definitely not skillful in the traditional sense; this is a guy who can carry a tune in a bucket being, well, Passionate about what he's singing about, but not pushing his voice beyond its range or breaking point, so you get a low key, yet well stated delivery.
The lyrics got to me pretty good. As poisoned as the word "relatable" is (mostly because of how forced it often is, and how often its deployed ironically or derisively), this is mad relatable.
Q "10 Songs"
I liked the cut of its jib. I liked how it has vinyl crackles through all of it, blended in, not just like old hip hop would try to duplicate. Like they uploaded a vinyl master of the album or something, but only after they played it a bunch. And considering the soul music on display, it adds to the charm. I can dig a hopeless romantic with a bag of solid grooves. Glad I found this.
Water From Your Eyes "It's A Beautiful Place"
Bought this one physical, and the clerk was stoked about it, so I took that endorsement (and single "Life Signs") into my first listen. What I got was ten tracks, three of which are minute or less bullshit interludes, one of which sucks outright, two that were merely okay and four that are good to great. A grand total of 29 minutes for $16. And I found out the next day they just dropped another album (so two in two weeks) that's the same length, so I basically only got like a quarter of a good album here. I dunno, it's not terrible, there are some good songs here ("Life Signs", "Nights In Armor", "Spaceships", "Playing Classics" are recommended), but it's just frustrating.
And because I'm a glutton for punishment:
Water From Your Eyes "Long Days, No Dreams"
I get why they dropped these as different projects: very Side A/Side B with the sonic palette. Whereas It's A Beautiful Place is distorted and electronic, this is much more acoustic bedroom pop with a cheap keyboard for charm. And like its fraternal twin up there, it has a few pretty good tunes mixed in with a couple of clunkers. What I'm saying is you can take the best tracks off both and make a solid album.
Shit, we should do that. Lets!
Here's my playlist of what I would keep from these two:
As you can see, Long Days, No Dreams wrecks It's A Beautiful Place's shit as far as quantity; it's a better album by a mile. But the best songs on here would still be "Life Signs", "Nights In Armor" and "Playing Classics". So yeah, I'd recommend the four songs from IABP first, then Long Days, No Dreams in it's entirety. My story & I'm stickin' to it.
Xikers "House Of Tricky: Spur"
K-Pop lightning did not strike twice. They think they hard, don't they? It's annoying in a way only teenagers can be (something I've felt since I was a teenager) and it's a bunch of boy band trap with no substance.
...well, it's not completely without merit. "Highway" has this jagged rising synth thing that I didn't hate. It also had some harmony, even if it's the level of "jingle for a product sold on a Cartoon Network commercial from the mid-2000s". That's about as nice as I can be about this thing which is deeply not for me.
That'll do it for now. Already have another hit mix in the chamber (when don't I these days), so that's up next.
Don't give up.
A Day To Remember "Big Ole Album Vol. 1"
This sounds like the center of a Venn diagram of Falling In Reverse, 2000s emo-tinged pop punk and (to a lesser extent) modern pop country. The real trick is somehow it's less terrible than all of those things. It manages to concoct a far less annoying, far less nihilistic and marginally less dogshit brew from that vortex of suck. Unfortunately, the starting ingredients guarantee that the potion is still no good, but I respect that they managed to lessen the damage; this could of been a LOT worse (and would have been more interesting had it been). Competent schlock. Nothing more, nothing less.
Busta Rhymes "Dragon Season...The Awakening" &
"Dragon Season...Equinox"
The Awakening is a six song, 18 minute EP listed as an EP on YouTube Music, while Equinox is a seven song, 26 minute EP listed as an ALBUM on YouTube Music. I've mused about the semantics of where the line is between EP and album before (eight songs and up is an album, four to seven songs is an EP unless it's a half hour or longer, one to three songs is a single with one or two B-Sides, unless it's at least 15 minutes, for the record). But I don't sweat it; I've got my opinions, no one has ever really codified this to satisfaction...you do you.
I went in with a lot of trepidation, because E.L.E. 2 and Blockbusta were both kinda bad, and to top it off AOTY had both of these on their bottom 25 for 2025 at one point (neither are on their currently; the shit changes all the time as I've discussed before).
As for The Awakening: Based on Busta's performance, anyone who puts this on the bottom of anything is fuckin' TRIPPIN'; this is the best he's done since...the Busta's Back mixtape in 2008? It's been a long time. But when you factor in vocal recording...jeeSUS I see why it got the lower ratings. Some of this was recorded in Idaho, because you would've needed a whole CROP of potatoes to record it on to get a vocal sound that low quality. Not lo-fi...just really, really bad. But it also kind of feels like 00's mixtape shit, so I had a little more stomach for it, and coming out of that, Busta went six for six.
If these two EPs were one album (which they easily could have been), it would be pretty front-loaded. Equinox stumbles HARD out of the gate. "Get On Your Job" is by a galactic distance the worst thing on either project. Four guest stars, all sucking and wasting your time over a forgettable beat. Busta raps half a bar at the end, and it's way too little too late. The song with Akon also gets a few minus points for having fucking Akon on it (one of my least favorite mainstream artists of all time), but other than that, Equinox does recover. Busta still does well, even if the beats are a little less distinct (though the vocals are much better recorded on this one). Equinox also doesn't really have an ending. Might we be getting a third EP to finish off this statement? Only time will tell. (Maybe they took it back to the lab after the poor reception of the first two.)
This is the most I've enjoyed a Busta Rhymes project in a looooong time, even if it's not gonna make my Top 20 or Honorable Mentions. I'd still recommend it, but be warned, parts of it are rough to say the least.
Cautious Clay "The Hours: Morning"
Picked this one because A) It was right next to Busta, and B) Had the same Title - Subtitle routine as Busta's EPs. I now realize that The Hours: Afternoon and The Hours: Night may be in hour future, but for now, we've got eight tracks and 20 minutes. (A short album, but still an album to me, dang it. (Unless of course those other parts come out at a similar length; then it's a bunch of EPs that Voltron into an album; not a thing I had to account for when I came up with my understanding of release vessel semantics in the 1990s.))
Well, this is the exact opposite of Dragon Season...The Awakening in the vocal department; this sounds amazing. Musically and lyrically, it's a little too slice of life. It does touch on the humanity in mundane moments, but does so in a way that isn't that interesting. The harmonies are decent to good. I liked the surprise sax solo in "Traffic (7am)" (if you're gonna have sax, good to do it in a song with the same name as an early 70s band that used sax).
All the tracks have names with an hour in parentheses after them, going from 5am to 12pm, each one illustrating what's going on in this couple's day. "The Plot (8am)" has some similes and metaphors at least (resisting the "it thickens" joke here). As the project progresses, it does kinda set up a vibe. "Promises (9am)" had me nodding my head.
Over all, not reinventing the wheel, but the vocals are immaculate and the music is decent enough to warrant playing it again. I sort of dig it.
Djrum "Under Tangled Silence"
I'm kinda bummed that the super glitchy thing I heard about four minutes in was my computer struggling and not part of the song; it sounded dope.
Anyway, Under Tangled Silence is more of a...smooth IDM joint? It's got electronics, but it's definitely not trying to sand you off the face of existence or black you out with its inaccessibility, yet it also has dexterous but tasteful jazz piano throughout as a companion, the blankets to this digital music bed. You can tell this is more of an "Art" thing than your average album.
By track three, you're taking the blankets off the bed and wandering around the house (it's a solo piano piece). There were a few augmentations, however, that made me do a double-take. You hear a jazz piano song, so you settle in for certain conventions, but to hear notes get paulstretched and reverbed and even a little pitch-bent...it breaks those conventions in ways that, used as tastefully as they are here, sound out of this world.
And that manipulation continues into the bass-heavy "L'Ancienne", which moves into darker, noisier territory. This album is a challenge and I respect it. I needed something to contrast all the CDs I've been buying lately (mostly rock focused, mostly 90s and 00s). This sounds fresh.
After track four, I stopped looking at song titles and just let the whole thing wash over me. I recognized "Let Me" from the May 2025 Hit Mix, but the rest was a pleasant experience of being bombarded with nervous, bassy, but kinda chill shit. Of course, that got a little old, since the last four songs (about 60% of the runtime) all blur together as one jittery mass. Was liking it more, still liked it over all, but the end was overkill.
Everything Is Recorded "Richard Russell Is Temporary"
It's mostly sleepy folk, but UK neo-R&B superstar Sampha is here and so is Florence Welch to do backup? In fact, so are Nourished By Time, Kamasi Washington...Roses Gabor? Damn girl, I ain't heard from you since the end of 2019! What's shakin'?
Point is, this is a collective effort, as in Everything Is Recorded is a musical collective, guided by producer Richard Russell (who I've learned is the owner of XL records, the label that launched Adele, so that explains how he's so connected), with the mélange of artists contributing what they will, I think.
Shame most of the contributions are unobtrusive wallpaper. "Never Felt Better" is the standout, and "Losing You" and "Firelight" are standout for the opposite reason, making Sampha (on my Best Of songs lists two years running) and Florence Welch (my favorite singer of all time) sound the worst I've ever heard them. I don't know what the fuck they were going for there, but it did not work. Other than that, everything else fades into the background. (Except interlude track "The Summons". That was annoying.)
Flipturn "Burnout Days"
Now THIS is the summertime chillout music I was looking for. I could post up at the pool to this one. I love how in the hook of "Rodeo Clown" they throw in a jazzy chord that goes up instead of resolving down like it "should", giving the feeling that the song is threatening to float away like a balloon for a second.
"Inner Wave" is a bop; I'm nodding my head to it, kinda wishing I was wearing sunglasses. "Sunlight" feels like "What if Nothing But Thieves did a slow song and it was good?" (I wish that wasn't as real a statement as it was). "Moon Rocks"'s beat sounds like there's a box of rocks being shaken in it; it's phrenetic, despite being another melancholy number.
And after the fourth mopey song in a row, I'm starting to wonder where this interesting album went. The songs aren't bad, but it was going one way, switched up and stayed stuck in a rut for too long. At least "Swim Between Trees" has the decency to add a little light and color back in. Can't say the same for "Tides".
When I said chillout music, I meant something with a little pulse to it. The album sinks into a depression and can't find its way out. The hell of it is the songs would be decent to good on their own, but back-to-back-to-back it kills the mood the first two songs set up stone dead. It feels like a bait and switch. If it had been low key from the beginning, maybe I'd see it in a kinder light, but then again, I think these songs being grouped together makes them all suffer for their sameness. By the time "Reason To Pretend" comes back in to try and rescue the mood, it's too late. Somebody's face down in the pool and I'm face palming at this preventable tragedy. (It's not that bad; this'll probably wind up in "Okay".)
Ghost "Skeleta"
I was wondering why I've heard nobody talking about the new Ghost, seeing as they're usually one of the most talked about metal bands out there, and...
This was a weird one. It's like every song took until the very end for me to catch up to liking it. And even though tracks 8 and 9 were kinda weak, I still left the experience feeling like I'd clicked with it?
I'm not sure about Skeleta. It's too cheesy to start, a passable pastiche, but you feel like it's been done before. But by the end of each song, you're like: "Wait. Did that slap?" And before you can answer yourself, it's on to the next one, and the same tidal wave of velveeta to slog through. Once you're able to scrape it off, there's something solid underneath.
But because you only catch it in the final seconds of each song, you don't really connect with anything firmly. It ends up being too ephemeral, and this album winds up feeling like smoke you're mad you can't hold. That's after first listen, anyway.
I get why people aren't talking about this. I'd say it's good, but it's gonna take several more listens before I can figure out what it really is or what my relationship is to it (which is bizarre to say about a band basically running the same playbook for at least the fourth time in a row).
Haim "I quit"
Some people may be put off by their intentional "hot mess" era of lyrics (and to some extent composition, but not as much as you might think), but as something to put on and just float to, it's not too bad. At it's core, I Quit is still Haim, through and through; it just has more swearing and a few rougher musical left turns to give it its own identity. (Whether these are too rough or too different for what you want from them, your mileage may vary, but it works for me.)
I'm With Her "Wide And Clear And Blue"
Uh...Album Of The Year contender here. The only thing that's really jumped out at me all year. It's just three women with guitars and harmonies, but there's a sense of community and an undeniable atmosphere. Just what I needed right now.
Jane Handcock "It's Me, Not You"
Reminds me a lot of We Are KING (their capitalization, not mine), especially in the vocal harmony department (high praise there). I liked it, but wanted to love it; I think because it's laid back it starts to get same-y after awhile. It toes the line between vibe and rut, veering over occasionally, but never fully crossing. All that said, I'd put this in the Top 20 in most years I've done countdowns, so absolutely check this out.
KickFlip "Flip It, Kick It!" &
"Kick Out, Flip Now!"
....why the fuck do I kinda like this? Maybe because it's more K-Rap or K-R&B? With a slight rock edge? (Question mark?) Maybe because it tones down the boy band aspects juuuust enough to not make my reflexes hit stop out of cringe? (But they're not not there; or not not prevalent?)
Originally, I was thinking of reviewing these as one project (since combined they're 36 minutes and 13 tracks); listening to them back to back didn't feel like a jarring transition, or even a side change.
At first.
As Kick Out, Flip Now barreled on, it revealed itself to be a lot more bombastic, major key and, frankly, normie. None of those things are bad, necessarily, it's how you use them. And Kick Out, Flip Now stopped being interesting around track 2 and never got back to the more interesting harmonies and sonic pallets that had my ear on Flip It, Kick It! (Though I did like the onomatopoeia of a defibrillator in the chorus of "Code Red"; that was at least funny.)
If you folded "Freeze" and "How We KickFlip" into Flip It, Kick It!, you'd get a decent mini-album. Most of Kick Out, Flip Now! is the really middle of the road, big empty sugar that makes me bounce off most K-Pop. (Y'know, the pop part.)
McKinley Dixon "Magic, Alive!"
I don't know what it is, but I felt mostly nothing listening to this one. Outside of "We're Outside, Rejoice!", the songs are good, sure, but I couldn't tell you anything about them. I just couldn't pay attention, and I feel like that's on me. Everyone and their brother is praising this to high heaven (it's definitely between this and Clipse for "Backpacker Album Of The Year" [complimentary] [sort of]), and they're welcome to it, but this is just...fine to me? And I liked Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?! quite a bit so it's not like I just don't get McKinley's vibe, I just didn't pick up on this one and that's weird.
If you like lyrical, story-driven jazz raps absolutely listen to this. You will get something out of it. But maybe it was a bit hype poisoned for me. I'd listen to it again, and maybe with lowered expectations it will click with me harder next time.
Nourished By Time "The Passionate Ones"
Alternative R&B, I think (I never know what genre people are shooting for anymore; I just got guesses). It has soulful passages, but it's built on more jangly instrumentation, so it's like a college radio/bedroom/indie act trying to do R&B and this is what came out. The vocals are definitely not skillful in the traditional sense; this is a guy who can carry a tune in a bucket being, well, Passionate about what he's singing about, but not pushing his voice beyond its range or breaking point, so you get a low key, yet well stated delivery.
The lyrics got to me pretty good. As poisoned as the word "relatable" is (mostly because of how forced it often is, and how often its deployed ironically or derisively), this is mad relatable.
Q "10 Songs"
I liked the cut of its jib. I liked how it has vinyl crackles through all of it, blended in, not just like old hip hop would try to duplicate. Like they uploaded a vinyl master of the album or something, but only after they played it a bunch. And considering the soul music on display, it adds to the charm. I can dig a hopeless romantic with a bag of solid grooves. Glad I found this.
Water From Your Eyes "It's A Beautiful Place"
Bought this one physical, and the clerk was stoked about it, so I took that endorsement (and single "Life Signs") into my first listen. What I got was ten tracks, three of which are minute or less bullshit interludes, one of which sucks outright, two that were merely okay and four that are good to great. A grand total of 29 minutes for $16. And I found out the next day they just dropped another album (so two in two weeks) that's the same length, so I basically only got like a quarter of a good album here. I dunno, it's not terrible, there are some good songs here ("Life Signs", "Nights In Armor", "Spaceships", "Playing Classics" are recommended), but it's just frustrating.
And because I'm a glutton for punishment:
Water From Your Eyes "Long Days, No Dreams"
I get why they dropped these as different projects: very Side A/Side B with the sonic palette. Whereas It's A Beautiful Place is distorted and electronic, this is much more acoustic bedroom pop with a cheap keyboard for charm. And like its fraternal twin up there, it has a few pretty good tunes mixed in with a couple of clunkers. What I'm saying is you can take the best tracks off both and make a solid album.
Shit, we should do that. Lets!
Here's my playlist of what I would keep from these two:
- Life Signs
- Nights In Armor
- Born 2
- Playing Classics
- Fly South Or Stay Here
- Actually, on second listen, this album is perfectly decent through and through. (Took awhile to warm up to "Cold Stare" and "The Late Night Show", and I thought there were more duds than just two. Huh. Kinda shot my own thesis down here...)
As you can see, Long Days, No Dreams wrecks It's A Beautiful Place's shit as far as quantity; it's a better album by a mile. But the best songs on here would still be "Life Signs", "Nights In Armor" and "Playing Classics". So yeah, I'd recommend the four songs from IABP first, then Long Days, No Dreams in it's entirety. My story & I'm stickin' to it.
Xikers "House Of Tricky: Spur"
K-Pop lightning did not strike twice. They think they hard, don't they? It's annoying in a way only teenagers can be (something I've felt since I was a teenager) and it's a bunch of boy band trap with no substance.
...well, it's not completely without merit. "Highway" has this jagged rising synth thing that I didn't hate. It also had some harmony, even if it's the level of "jingle for a product sold on a Cartoon Network commercial from the mid-2000s". That's about as nice as I can be about this thing which is deeply not for me.
That'll do it for now. Already have another hit mix in the chamber (when don't I these days), so that's up next.
Don't give up.
Comments
Post a Comment