album review: 'i cry when i laugh' by jess glynne

So I think I was one of the few critics who cover pop music who didn't love 'Rather Be' last year, the breakthrough single from electronic music group Clean Bandit. Yeah, it was very elegant and very pretty and had a vibrant clarity to the sound that reminded me of Imogen Heap in a good way, but it was one of those tracks that just fell completely flat for me. Maybe it wasn't weird enough or that it never reached those transcendent moments it kept gunning for, or maybe because it felt bizarrely overmixed and the songwriting wasn't all that great, but it didn't do much for me.

One person I won't blame here, though, is Jess Glynne, the guest singer on that track who was actually pretty solid and who was steadily building herself a respectable career in the UK while everyone on this side of the Atlantic had no idea who she was. And let's make this clear, she's big over there right now, with multiple songs cracking the top ten and even one taking the #1 slot for three weeks - and considering the turnover of the UK Official Charts, that's saying something.

So who is Jess Glynne? Born in the UK, she grew up working music management and record labels before a few chance collaborations, the biggest being with Clean Bandit that netted her a Grammy before she had a full debut album. Reportedly drawing on soul, R&B, and house music, it promised to be interesting at least, so I made a note to check out I Cry When I Laugh when it finally dropped - how does it turn out?

video review: 'psycadelik thoughtz' by b.o.b.

So this thing happened. At least it was better than Underground Luxury, if that says anything.

Next up... hmm, I want to cover Jess Glynne, but that Mick Jenkins project... we'll see. Stay tuned!

album review: 'psycadelik thoughtz' by b.o.b.

I can't imagine what it might feel like for a rapper who loses their hype, especially one who made it big for a second in the mainstream before it all fell apart. And the more I've reflected upon the career of B.o.B., Atlanta MC that was once being compared to Andre 3000 for his flow, eclectic fascination with other genres, and guitar skills, the more I'm starting to think this is the case. After a series of well-received mixtapes he smashed into the scene with The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which despite being pretty uneven did show off a rapper with real chops, a unique brand of production, and a fair amount of charisma that could play to the mainstream. Which of course was what happened, with huge songs like 'Airplanes' and 'Nothing On You' and 'Magic'. He followed it up with Strange Clouds in 2012, which was just as uneven but still had some solid songs I really love to this day, including 'So Good' and 'Where Are You (B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray)'.

And then it all fell apart. His buzz seemed to evaporate without good singles, and as hip-hop went for the darker trap sound he struggled to keep up. But 'struggle' might be the wrong word, because I reviewed his 2013 record Underground Luxury and it sucked, not just because of messy trap beats but because B.o.B. was just wallowing in lazy, badly written hedonism. For a rapper who once had such imagination to devolve into that was incredibly disappointing for me, and for once it seems like everyone else agreed, with many critics trashing the album and the sales being miserable.

So what do you do when you're a rapper who has lost your hype? Well, from my point of view you've got one of four options: you retire; you slink back into the indie scene and try to rebuild your cred, you stay signed to the major label and hope to God you can follow trends well enough to churn out hits at the expense of your identity, or - and this came out of nowhere - you decide to title your next record Psycadelik Thoughtz and drop it with no promotion or lead-off single in the hopes surprise will draw curiosity, especially with a rumoured change in sound: go big or go home. And I was worried here: Tyga already tried this strategy with his long-delayed surprise release, and nobody seemed to care, and he had hype going in. What was B.o.B. going to deliver?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 29, 2015 (VIDEO)

So the reason this is late is because my computer decided that it no longer wanted to render the correct file format - for no adequately explained reason. I suspect it's an issue as my computer constantly tries to update to Windows 10 despite the fact that said update will not promote properly on my particular machine, but fortunately I have ways around this.

Next up... I dunno, probably B.o.B. or Mick Jenkins, just to get them out of my system and try desperately to get back on schedule. Stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 29, 2015

Right, so let's explain why this didn't drop on its regular Tuesday timeslot. Well, believe it or not, I suspect it wasn't Billboard's fault the charts were delayed, mostly because the sales data that they got from Nielsen surrounding a certain song was wildly inaccurate, originally placing its debut in the top ten instead of midway down the chart where it belongs. This frantic revision - which other chart analysts had already estimated properly earlier this week - caused Billboard to delay a day to make sure the numbers are in properly on what was otherwise a pretty regular week.

billboard BREAKDOWN - a look at the canadian hot 100 (2015) (VIDEO)

I've been looking to do this episode for a long time, and I'm happy I had an excuse to finally get it out (even if it does mean my review schedule got more complicated, but I should expect that at this point).

Next up, the real episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - a look at the canadian hot 100 (2015)

So on regular episodes of Billboard BREAKDOWN, a frequent tagline is that the Canadian charts are always better than those of the United States, and that has drawn responses from curiosity to outright skepticism. I mean, this is the nation that gave the world Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, and Nickelback, surely anything that charts there must be bland, derivative junk that was clearly not good enough to make it south of the border, right?

Well, you could argue that might be the case, particularly Canadian acts are jumping on trends that American acts already started, but it tends to be more complicated than that, and the place to start would be the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission, otherwise known as the CRTC. The idea behind it ties into the preservation of uniquely Canadian content - given our proximity to the US and the fact that sheer size means the US market is so much bigger than ours, there was a desire to give Canadian artists a boost nationally so that they wouldn't have to rely on international hits to succeed. It's a bit of a controversial system, as any sort of regulation tends to be, but when you look at the bigger picture, I tend to support the CRTC for a few key reasons. It's not like it's preventing the massive hits from the States getting huge up here with very rare exception, and in the mean time it gives a greater audience to Canadian creators who might never get it in the States, especially with increased consolidation of radio.

But here's the thing: since the Canadian Hot 100 debuted in the mid-2000s, it's increasingly departed from US trends to fall somewhere between them and international audiences. And this means that more off-beat oddities will land on our charts - a smaller population means that a song doesn't need to appeal to the increasingly massive audiences required for US hits. And since hip-hop and country radio tends to be a fair bit smaller simply thanks to demographic demand, what fills in the blanks is an odd assortment of pop rock, electronica, and indie songs that defy categorization - and the hilarious thing is that a fair chunk of them aren't even Canadian! Since our market has become more accustomed to weirder stuff, it's meant that where songs like 'Come With Me Now' by KONGOS barely had an impact in the US, it was a top ten hit up here!

And all of this got me thinking: there's a whole swathe of music that as of this date has not hit the US yet or likely ever will - to qualify for this list, it must not have charted at all on the Billboard Hot 100 in the past six months - so let's put some of it on display, shall we? Prepare to get mostly Canadian up in here, let's get this started! In no particular order...

video review: 'positive songs for negative people' by frank turner

Fairly solid release, fairly solid review, no complaints there. Honestly hope my throat feels a bit better, Billboard BREAKDOWN is always crazy.

And speaking of that... whoo boy, get to talk about Lana Del Rey tomorrow, joy...

album review: 'positive songs for negative people' by frank turner

On some level, punk is always going to be a young person's genre. The raw anger, the focus on passion and energy over meticulous craftsmanship, the vitriolic power with maybe the nuance coming later, all of this shows up most in the heady rush of youth. So what happens when a punk grows up and encounters the crushing weight of adulthood?

Well, any number of things happen. Some will keep the faith, some will fade out of the scene naturally, some will even double down and rage all the harder, and some will opt to refine their simple songs into something with a little more weight or maturity or complexity. As such, it's not all that surprising that some punks will drift towards folk rock or rock operas or even alternative country, trading explosive energy for tighter songwriting or more grandiose presentation.

And one of the best examples of that is Frank Turner, who initially started in post-hardcore before going solo and making highly lyrical and yet no less passionate folk rock drenched in the grubby pub tradition that drew upon Celtic folk, disillusioned punk, and even hints of alternative country and piano rock. And there's a lot to really like about his brand of abrasive yet confessional songwriting, his clever knack for a great hook, and his eclectic hodgepodge of influences that are half tongue-in-cheek and yet often completely sincere. For me, my favourite album of Turner's is easily his second Love Ire & Song, as it felt like it brought the most instrumental flavour and excellently crafted songs to the table while still maintaining that punk edge. If I can find areas where Turner can stumble, it'd be some of his material can get a little sleepy and lacking in momentum, which would probably be the biggest criticism I'd have of his third album, or that his newest albums can occasionally feel a tad too polished, especially in his vocals. But none of that was going to stop me from reviewing his newest album Positive Songs For Negative People - does it live up to its title?

video review: 'cry baby' by melanie martinez

You know, it's funny, the comments have been, 'Yeah, we didn't expect you to like this, but we wanted you to cover it anyway.' So there's that.

Next up, Frank Turner - stay tuned!

album review: 'cry baby' by melanie martinez

I've been getting requests to cover this artist since 2014.

And if I'm judging at all by the cavalcade of requests begging for me to cover Melanie Martinez, the hype has reached critical mass and it'd be questionable if I didn't cover her... even though she's never had a charting single off of any material that wasn't from The Voice. Yeah, for those of you who don't know, Melanie Martinez was once on that overexposed show and got eliminated midway through, and yet to judge by her buzz and following nowadays she's easily eclipsed many of the winners, thanks mostly to viral success off of her EP last year and her videos. And after a few listens, I got the impression she was the sort of artist I wanted to like more than I did, with the striking lyrics, shattered porcelain persona, brittle instrumentation, and creepy videos. 

But the more I listened to Melanie Martinez, the more I was convinced that the image was eclipsing the actual music, which really wasn't as interesting as the ideas behind it. I didn't think she was a bad singer - somewhere between Lana Del Rey at her most tolerable and Natalia Kills - but she wasn't great, and a lot of her instrumentation and production didn't impress me. I could go a step further and say that most of her image and style both Marina & The Diamonds and Kimbra did with better actual music, and if I were to admit I listen to j-pop or k-pop I'd say that Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is considerably weirder - and better - but the larger issue is that the whole faux-lolita to emphasize girlish creepiness just doesn't appeal to me whatsoever. And yeah, I definitely know I'm not the audience for any of this, but at the same time I wasn't buying into the hype machine.

That said, when you get down to the songwriting, outside of some minor technical issues I'll admit Martinez has ambition and big ideas, and she's got enough personality to make up for a lot. I was significantly more skeptical when I heard it was a concept album - which is certainly bold for a pop record, and even moreso for a debut album - but I figured this would at least be interesting, even if it was a trainwreck. So what did we get with Cry Baby?

video review: 'faded gloryville' by lindi ortega

Man, I wish this album was stronger - it always kind of stinks to not give stellar reviews for artists you really like, but it happens.

Next up, either Frank Turner or Melanie Martinez. Either way, both will be out in the next few days, so stay tuned!

album review: 'faded gloryville' by lindi ortega

You know, considering how much indie country I cover and especially on the Canadian side, I'm a little astounded I've never covered Lindi Ortega. Maybe it was poor timing - her last album Tin Star dropped in late 2013 where I was still very much getting a handle on my reviews - but let's make up for lost time and discuss one of the more fascinating indie country acts you'll hear. Born in Toronto, she spent most of the 2000s trying to land a deal through a selection of independently released albums and EPs before signing with Interscope through Cherrytree in 2008... and if you know anything about Cherrytree and a rising star named Lady Gaga affiliated with that label, it was perhaps the worst possible timing for her. It wasn't long before Lindi returned to the indie scene and signed with Last Gang - the label behind K-OS, Lights, and Metric - which proved to be a much better fit and gave her more flexibility to drop records.

And starting with Little Red Boots in 2011, she did just that. Blending a dusty brand of alternative country with a vintage rockabilly image and jazz-cabaret inspired vocals, Lindi had a theatricality that might have felt broad if it wasn't for the great textured production and sharp writing. She followed it with the dustier snarl and general all-around awesomeness of Cigarettes & Truckstops in 2012, which started earning her some serious critical acclaim - and for good reason, as Lindi's sultry vocals had a lived-in reality that belied the smoky glam and dark lyrics. Lana Del Rey wishes she could appropriate vintage flair this well, it's stunning. She followed it with Tin Star in 2013 working with producer Dave Cobb, and while he definitely brought his brand of vintage production that worked wonders for the atmosphere, I missed some of the smoky, noir darkness and ragged edge which was replaced with a gentler, more neotraditional sound. And frankly, with Dave Cobb handling production for her newest album Faded Gloryville, I expected more of the same. And of course it'd be good, but would it reach the greatness she hit with Cigarettes & Truckstops?

video review; 'abyss' by chelsea wolfe

Well, this record took way too long to cover. Brutal album, and a hard one to cover, but glad I did it.

Next up, probably Lindi Ortega. Then Melanie Martinez, Frank Turner, Jess Glynne, and apparently B.o.B. decided to drop an album from out of nowhere, so this could get interesting... stay tuned!

album review: 'abyss' by chelsea wolfe

It's weird, I think I'm simultaneously growing into and growing out of gothic music.

Because like most teenagers who listened to a lot of metal and who later went on to listen to Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and The Cure, I've got more than a passing familiarity with the bleak, hollow-eyed chill of most gothic-flavoured art. And while I never really went through an angry white boy phase, I found the appropriation of religious and horror iconography, icy darkness, obsession with death, and provocative sexuality fascinating. 

But as I got older, a lot of the 'glamorous' side of goth culture lost its appeal to me - not entirely, but the more adolescent whinging that focused on brooding darkness for its own sake just got tired, and you should all know by now how I feel about nihilist art that can't innovate on the premise - just kind of gets boring after a while, to be honest. But at the same time, the gothic material that aimed higher, for something more primordial and existential, that added more texture to the tragic stories and added the ugliness of humanity to the mix... ah, now that's a lot more fascinating to me. It's one of the reasons why I've always liked Nick Cave, for instance.

But what about an act like Chelsea Wolfe, an LA singer-songwriter who began her career in lo-fi folk that added sludgy and brittle riffs and drone-saturated soundscapes to create a particularly bleak brand of music that showed up on the haunting The Grime and the Glow and the slightly cleaner but no less creepy and outright excellent album  Apokalypsis. Her 2013 album Pain Is Beauty cleaned things even further, added more strings and operatic instrumentation, and while the improvements in writing, melody, and Swans-esque crescendos definitely stood out and I really do like that album, it also left me wishing more of the grime and edge could return.

As such, you can bet I was looking forward to her next album Abyss, which reportedly was diving deeper into the howling doom metal-inspired nightmare that always lurked around the corner in her music - what did we get?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 22, 2015 (VIDEO)

So this happened. Dear god, this episode took so long to finish...

Okay, next up it's going to get dark with Chelsea Wolfe, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 22, 2015

...I'm starting to think the summer lull is a complete load of shit. Because right after another fairly reasonable week, we get one of the most crazy weeks I've seen in a while. Major shifts up and down, a considerable chunk of new songs, and new top ten debuts, and even a new number one! And while some of it I could reasonably predict - the One Direction debut was no surprise - I wasn't expecting the return of the Drake show or the arrival of a slew of Disney songs! I mean, seriously, what the hell is going on?

video review: 'kill the lights' by luke bryan

Well, this was a mess. God, I didn't expect much here, but this was bad.

Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN, so stay tuned!

album review: 'kill the lights' by luke bryan

At some point we need to ask the question how it came to this point. At some point music historians are going to look back at bro-country and its legacy and ask how on God's green earth we let this happen. And inevitably the focus will swivel to Luke Bryan, who has arguably profited the most from this trend by being the A-list talent to rode bro-country to the very top, partially through his series of spring break mixtapes and partially through hauling in so many of the songwriters who would become staples of the genre behind the scenes.

But about midway through the fourth single dropping from his 2013 album Crash My Party, I came to the realization that the music in a Luke Bryan concert is functionally irrelevant. The fans probably couldn't care less that the album production was increasingly synthetic or that Bryan himself was writing fewer and fewer songs with every release, or that his subject matter was a grabbag of country cliches rattled off with obnoxious efficiency. Because it wasn't about the individual songs or the increasingly haphazard albums: it was about the image and live show experience, Luke Bryan on stage and shaking his ass to get the girls screaming. In other words, this isn't new: what Luke Bryan did in 2013, Billy Ray Cyrus did in 1992, and history repeats itself.

And thus on some level reviewing this record is pointless. To those who have turned on bro-country, Luke Bryan is everything wrong with modern country, while to his fans he's everything right, and the latter's presence means this album is guaranteed to sell. But as somebody who has always held the belief bro-country can be done right - and someone fascinated by the slow-moving trainwreck that I predict many will consider Luke Bryan's career in a decade or so - I figured I might as well cover Kill The Lights. After all, he did discontinue his Spring Break series of mixtapes - considering he's turning forty next year, it's not a bad decision - and considering he wrote six of his new album's songs in comparison with the one he wrote on Crash My Party, I had reason to believe this might be marginally better. Was I right?

video review: 'compton: a soundtrack' by dr. dre

...and that was fun. Whew, I loved that review, really think I did a good job with it.

Next up, Luke Bryan or Chelsea Wolfe, stay tuned!