video review: 'neon icon' by riff raff

As much as I'd argue I didn't waste my time with this video, it still was a chore to listen through that album, especially when there's Jack White, Say Anything, and Sage Francis to listen to instead.

So yeah, one of those before the 200th episode special, so stay tuned!

album review: 'neon icon' by riff raff

I don't even know where to start with this.

Okay, if you're not familiar with certain subsections of hip-hop, you might not be familiar with Riff Raff - and after I describe him, you might start wishing that that remained the case. Riff Raff is a white rapper from Houston and who started his career in show business on reality TV before becoming affiliated with Soulja Boy. Eventually the two of them parted ways, with Soulja Boy leaving the passing shot of calling him a 'cokehead', but Riff Raff was somehow able to garner enough attention through his mixtapes and self-released album to get signed to Diplo record label Mad Descent and release his many-times delayed album Neon Icon.

And from what I had heard from him before going into this album, I had no idea how seriously I was supposed to take this. On the one hand if it's self-aware comedy... well, I didn't exactly find him funny or clever or witty, at least on previous releases. But on the other hand if I'm supposed to take him seriously, as some people clearly do, or say that he's the 'white Lil B'... look, as much as I don't like the based god, it's clear something was knocked loose in Lil B's brain that causes him to spew the inveterate pop culture free association that he calls lyrics. Where Lil B could reasonably be called an outsider artist, Riff Raff feels a bit like a poser, or at least someone attempting the same style of gaudy bargain-barrel luxury rap. As much as Riff Raff claims James Franco's character Alien from Spring Breakers was based on him, I don't see it because there was an air of menace and sleaze to that character that was undercut by a honest naivete. And while it's debatable how 'honest' Rifff Raff's portrayal is, it's so silly that I can't feel the slightest element of menace from his rap persona.

But putting that aside, I was curious about this album, and at the very least I could look forward to guest verses from Mac Miller and Childish Gambino, so how's Neon Icon?

video review: 'road between' by lucy hale

Man, this was a great surprise. Seriously, get this record, it's better than you'd ever expect.

Next up... ugh, I should probably get Riff Raff out of the way before talking about Jack White. And then, a surprise for my 200th episode, so stay tuned!

album review: 'road between' by lucy hale

So I've mentioned in the past that I really don't watch a lot of TV, on the count of not owning one. When I do sit down to watch TV... well, of currently running shows, that list is pretty thin. Girls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Mad Men, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the occasional episode of Glee or The Big Bang Theory, but with Community's unfortunate cancellation and How I Met Your Mother's finale getting all the more frustrating every time I think about it, my TV schedule looks pretty thin right now.

Now one of the shows I haven't watched is Pretty Little Liars, the ABC thriller drama based on a series of teen novels of which the most I know about are the mostly hilarious and occasionally insightful recaps I read over at Autostraddle. And from that peripheral information, I discovered that one of the actresses of the show, Lucy Hale, was going to be releasing a country debut album Road Between. 

Now, normally I don't cover these sorts of albums - I make it a priority to mostly ignore this sort of soap-opera-to-music fare, mostly because it tends to be pretty plastic, assembled by committee in order to give young actresses another creative outlet - and especially when coming from Hollywood Records, which has a really bad reputation for this sort of production. But considering I cover whatever comes out of the increasingly large number of singing competitions which often has the same assembly process, and since I am the country music critic on YouTube who actually will give this stuff the time of day, and since I'm in favour of highlighting more women in country music, even if it's just pop country, I gave Road Between by Lucy Hale a chance. After all, it's got a song by Kacey Musgraves on it, it can't be that bad, right?

video review: 'platinum' by miranda lambert

Eh, this was alright. I wish this album gripped me more, but what can you do?

Next up will be Lucy Hale, so stay tuned!

album review: 'platinum' by miranda lambert

It's more than a little sad that when I look at the mainstream country charts, it's almost universally dominated by male country acts, especially when you look at what's getting pushed by mainstream radio. And if you watch the charts as closely as I do, you'll notice for the most part, this is more of a radio problem, because digital airplay tends to be a little more evenly spread between the sexes, or at least a little quicker to pick up on ebbing trends.

But it didn't use to be like this. See, back in the mid-2000s, there was a rising swell of new female country stars that came in the aftermath of the popular backlash against the Dixie Chicks that led to their careers effectively ending in the mainstream. This wave included Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson, and Kellie Pickler among others, but the artist who got the most critical attention was Miranda Lambert. Stepping in with a reputation for sharp songwriting, a ton of natural stage presence and fiery personality, and a series of songs that viciously thrashed the guys who did her wrong, this persona was focused best in her critically acclaimed 2007 album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And given that album is overloaded with murder ballads, you can bet that it became a quiet favourite of mine even as I drifted away from country in the mid-2000s.

However, like most records with that kind of explosive force and character, Miranda Lambert has struggled somewhat to match it. That's not saying her wit or phenomenal knack for personal framing and maturity has fallen away, but the compositions haven't always been able to match her in production or melody. And while I don't mind her slower pieces and some of the rich songwriting behind them, I do admit I prefer Miranda Lambert the firespitter to Miranda Lambert the loving wife. Of course, when she blends the two, you get incendiary tracks like 'Mama's Broken Heart', which was one of my favourite hit songs of last year, but that most recent album could have used a little more fiery guitar, some rougher production and to have eased up a little on the cymbals. So of course I was going to check out her newest album Platinum - how did that turn out?

video review: 'clppng' by clipping

Man, this album is only getting better every time I'm listening to it. Holy shit, this was fun.

Next up, I'm taking a brief break from hip-hop and diving back to country. Miranda Lambert and Lucy Hale coming up soon, so stay tuned!

album review: 'clppng' by clipping

Well, I knew this day would come. I knew that as soon as I started covering hip-hop, and especially after I really quite liked the most recent release from Ratking, I'd have to dive into the noisy, eclectic, and inaccessible subgenre of noise hop. A very new genre, one inspired by the experimental fusion between noise rock and hardcore gangsta rap, it was one I was always tentative to approach. Because let's face it, while I do listen to some experimental and abrasive music, I do like some trappings of conventionality or at least recognizable song structures and melodies. And while I loved Swans' most recent record, I also know that I only really came to embrace the band in full when they started incorporating more melodic progressions into their music. And given that I wasn't really a huge fan of what I had heard from the output of acts like Death Grips, I was a little uneasy about looking up an act like Clipping, so I looked up their first album Midcity and...

Well, if I was looking for the perfect transitional act between traditional horrorcore gangsta rap and the paranoid noisy insanity of Death Grips, it would be Clipping - and yeah, I really dig it. The bizarre thing about Clipping is that once you get past the explosively jagged noise, there is undercurrents of melody and depth to these mixes and Daveed Diggs is a damn impressive spitter, although not the traditional sort of visceral MC that comes with this sort of experimental music. My issues with the act were issues of content and the MC himself - while I definitely like Diggs' flow and lyrical construction, and appreciated the moments where he seemed to be showing the unstable anarchy and bloody emptiness lurking beneath the trapping of gangsta rap, there were moments that his flow got a little less intense and his punchlines got a little corny. For the most part, however, it was noise rap that I surprisingly liked, and when I heard they had signed to Sub Pop Records, I was curious to see what would come out of it. Would they attempt even more mainstream accessibility - well, to the extent any noise rap is accessible - or would they double down on the weirdness?

video review: '...and then you shoot your cousin' by the roots

Review two of the night, and a great album to boot. Whew.

Next up, I'm feeling like keeping up with the hip-hop reviews... so Clipping's coming up before I dive back into country. Stay tuned!

video review: 'animal ambition: an untamed desire to win' by 50 cent

Man, I was hoping this was going to be better. But then again, my expectations weren't that high.

First review of the night, second coming soon!

album review: '...and then you shoot your cousin' by the roots

Yeah, I know this review is late. There's a reason for that: for a band like The Roots, you want to make sure you're getting things right.

And at this point, after going through The Roots' massive and critically acclaimed discography, I'm a little lost where to even start. Beginning in the early 90s, the band started as an alternative hip-hop act fronted by one of the most lyrically dexterous MCs to ever pick up the microphone and a fusion of jazz and conscious hip-hop to create some impressively insightful rap I've ever heard. And it wasn't just the fact that they've easily made four classic albums, but that the albums they made hold up astoundingly well. There might have been brief moments of experimentation with the times, but I could give you a record like Things Falling Apart right now and it'd still be accessible and definitely worth your time.

Now if we were looking at albums from The Roots that I'd brand as my favourites... man, it's a tough choice, but it'd probably come down to a split between the groove-rich, experimental and melody-rich Phrenology and the haunted, aching sadness of Undun, the latter being the most recent Roots album released before this one. That album is one that I've long expected The Roots would make, now that with the stability of being Jimmy Fallon's backing band they have the freedom to take more risks and get weirder. Because Undun is a concept album exploring the life in reverse of a black man trying to make it out of the trap, and while I wish the rapping had painted a little more of a stark picture, that was never their intent. What Black Thought and the rest of the band delivers is a hazy enough portrait that many could likely see resembling themselves, and combined with the soulful undercurrents, the personal yet reflective lyrics, and incredible melodies, make it easily one of the best albums of the decade thus far, at least for me. 

So when I heard The Roots were making another concept album with ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin this year, I was psyched, and while it might be late, I was determined that I was going to cover this album at some point, even if it is nearly a month late. So how was it?

album review: 'animal ambition: an untamed desire to win' by 50 cent

It's really mind-boggling to me that 50 Cent's biggest years were around a decade ago.

I mean, do people remember 2003, when 'In Da Club' was the biggest song of that year? Maybe it's just me, but to some extent, the gangsta rap scene has both evolved and yet stayed the same enough to be just as receptive to 50 Cent now as it was ten years ago. With the right singles and the right leverage, I could buy 50 Cent holding down gangsta rap in the same vein as Schoolboy Q or Pusha T.

But at the same time, the question remains that even though we're finally getting a new 50 Cent release five years after the last album, do we really need another 50 Cent album? Bursting onto the scene off of some well-received mixtapes and a pretty damn solid debut album, 50 Cent brought a certain visceral punch of brutish charisma and solid wordplay to his records, and became most notable in rap music for crushing rival Ja Rule's career. But as the decade wore on, the gangsta image 50 Cent put forward got shakier and shakier. He threatened to quit rap if his single 'Ayo-Technology' didn't outsell Kanye West's 'Stronger', and when he didn't do that and instead released a decent-at-best record in 2009, the question began to arise what intangible qualities he brought to the table outside of any other gangsta rapper. And when he didn't manage to end Rick Ross' career in the same way he crushed Ja Rule, proved to be one of the worst actors working in Hollywood, and lent his voice to two utterly masturbatory video games which basically served as terribly written action hero fantasies for our protagonist here, I started to wonder if 50 Cent's gangsta cred had been too tarnished to return to mainstream rap.

But regardless of whether he should have returned to hip-hop, 50 Cent is back with a new full-length album Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire To Win, his first album in five years and his first release since a few solid mixtapes, the last being in 2012. Does this album solidify his return and prove that rap music needed 50 Cent?

video review: 'are we there' by sharon van etten

I think this review came out pretty damn solid, just about as solid as the album.

Next up, I'm talking 50 Cent, then probably Clipping and (finally) The Roots before I dive straight back into country. Stay tuned!

album review: 'are we there' by sharon van etten

I've gone on the record before stating that the nebulously defined subgenre of 'white guy with acoustic guitar' tends to turn me off. It's not that there isn't some serious talent in that category, but like with all minimalist setups, if every element isn't on point, it's all the more noticeable and glaring. I admit it's a bias - it's a genre that's as old as most music itself - and I can definitely respect the instrumental talent that can be brought to the table, but that's not always what you get with your typical middle-of-the-road adult alternative acts.

So what about white girls with acoustic guitars? Does it bug me as much? Well, as much as the parallel exists and as much as there is some music in that particular genre that turns me off, I'll admit I've been lucky enough to find more singer-songwriters in this vein that I like and who don't exasperate me as much as their male counterparts. Granted, that doesn't mean I don't have my issues here - they can succumb to the same lazy songwriting cliches and tactics as anyone, and they can bore me just as badly.

Fortunately, one of the exceptions has been Sharon Van Etten, an American singer-songwriter who stepped into the indie folk scene with the good but unremarkable Because I Was In Love in 2009. For me, I was immediately struck by the straightforward passion of her vocal delivery - she didn't mince words or was afraid to show real vulnerability, and there were occasional flights of nuance that cropped up in her songwriting. And after the rougher, shorter, more abrasive, and much better record Epic in 2010 and the much more vulnerable album Tramp in 2012, I was intrigued where Sharon would be aiming to take her newest album, especially given her recent tours with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and his reputation for visceral, gripping songwriting. How did that turn out?

video review: 'the moon rang like a bell' by hundred waters

Well, this was interesting. Wish it had clicked with me a little better, but I definitely recognize the quality.

Next up... whoa, busy schedule all of a sudden. Probably that Sharon Van Etten album before tackling 50 Cent, Miranda Lambert, and clipping. Stay tuned!

album review: 'the moon rang like a bell' by hundred waters

Let's talk a bit about folktronica.

The genre term was originally coined in the very early 2000s to describe a new genre fusion between traditionally organic folk music and electronica, typically driven by sampling of that instrumentation. And at first glimpse, it was a fusion that made no sense to me: folk was typically a richly organic genre defined by singer-songwriters and intricate lyrics, while lyrics tend to be the last thing that's relevant in most electronic music, especially the material intended for dance. And yet, over the past year with the success of Avicii's debut album TRUE, folktronica began inching into the mainstream, driven partially by the small folk resurgence in 2012 and the continued acceptance of EDM on the mainstream charts. 

Now I was really hard on Avicii's TRUE, and I reckon that while I don't think the album works all the way, it has grown on me a bit for some reasonably decent songwriting, shockingly solid organic elements, and great melodic composition. My issue with that album always came back to the fact that the electronica elements felt underweight in comparison with the richer folk sounds, but it was a sign that perhaps the genre fusion could work, and thus I resolved to keep my eyes open for any possibilities this might crop up in the future.

Enter Hundred Waters, a newer indie band from Florida who achieved some measure of critical acclaim with their self-titled debut album that critics were branding folktronica. And it was a very different animal than Avicii - or indeed from Skrillex, who signed them to his vanity label in 2012 - instead taking more cues from quieter, more understated electonica in the vein of James Blake. Hundred Waters opted for fluttering hollow synths against tightly composed guitar lines, every piece coming together to create beautifully organic compositions. Now I wouldn't say that self-titled debut was perfect - I was unsure how much I liked the very breathy vocals from Nicole Miglis, and the songwriting had moments that came across as a little too precious and cute for my personal tastes - but there was talent here and while I wished the folk elements were played up a little more in the compositions, I was interested in their sophomore record The Moon Rang Like A Bell. So how did that go?

video review: 'good to be home' by blu

Man, it took entirely too long to get this video out, but between social schedule, moving plans, and the Roots discography I'm powering through (plus, you know, a full-time job and shit), it's to be expected.

Next up will be whatever I can get to next before June kicks into gear. Stay tuned!

album review: 'good to be home' by blu

The more I think about it, the more grateful I am that The Alchemist and Evidence dropped the excellent album Lord Steppington very early in the year. See, I'll admit that it's been a learning process for me to discover more acts in the hip-hop underground, and considering they brought on so many names onto that record to collaborate, I got a sampler of a whole selection of artists I might not have heard before. And considering most of them delivered solid lyrics, it definitely got me interested in future projects.

The first one that jumped out at me was Styles P's last album, which was pretty solid, but he was coming from gangsta rap of which I was at least somewhat familiar. But Blu was a different act entirely - originally debuting the mid-2000s with the extremely solid Below The Heavens and inspired by both gangsta and conscious rap with a hint of a Christian angle, Blu's jagged career trajectory has been interesting, if a little concerning for his fanbase. Between the No!York release which came just after his very brief tenure with Warner Records and a selection of EPs and projects that really were a mixed bag, I wasn't sure what I was going to be getting with his newest album, especially because I didn't really like his verse on his track on Lord Steppington, 'Tomorrow'. Admittedly, part of the problem was the beat on that track, but Blu's verse wasn't all that stellar and I wasn't impressed with his flow.

That said, I wasn't about to ignore his new album Good To Be Home, half because the collaboration list looked pretty impressive. Not only was a double disk with collaborations with The Alchemist and Evidence and Fashawn, but LMNO was also reportedly on the album as well, whose album After The Fact was one of my favourite hip-hop releases of last year. And I figured, hey, with such a rich list of collaborators, it'd probably be pretty interesting, right?

video review: 'with love from brushy mountain' by matt woods

Well, this came together quickly, but overall I'm happy with this album. Not a lot to really say about the good albums, but it makes my job that much easier.

Next up will probably be Blu, so stay tuned!

album review: 'with love from brushy mountain' by matt woods

I think it's safe to say that any critic of any stripe has pet peeves of some kind. For me, almost two hundred reviews in, they should be obvious for any long time viewer. I don't like Autotune or reverb used when it's not needed, I don't like it when rappers rhyme words with themselves, I find unjustified macho posturing to get tiresome, I goddamn hate the chipmunk voice effect, you get the drill.

But believe it or not, there are also a few elements that will tend to win me over almost immediately when it comes to music - if you're looking for areas that some would brand as 'bias', it'd be here. Musically, it comes to well-composed melody lines, rollicking guitar riffs, organ riffs, that peculiar synthesizer tone that Arjen Lucassen uses on nearly all of his projects, well-harmonized vocals, a perfectly executed dramatic crescendo, you get the picture. But beyond that, there are subjects that tend to draw my attention as well, both within and across genres.

And a decidedly odd one is the presence of prisons in country music. Brought most to the forefront by Johnny Cash with his legendary live album At Folsom Prison, to me it strikes a potent balance between the rough-edged flavour of outlaw country and the confrontations of morality and often mortality that rest at the heart of the genre's best material. Maybe it's the addition of real consequences that adds dramatic stakes, but if I hear about a record featuring prisons prominently in country music, more often than not I'm going to dig it up. 

So when the country underground started to buzz about the new album from relative unknown Matt Woods titled With Love From Brushy Mountain, named for a famous penitentiary that once housed the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., I knew I had to check it out eventually. Tennessee native Matt Woods was a relative unknown until his breakout single release last year with 'Deadman's Blues' - was there any way he could live up to the acclaim that song got?