video review: 'always strive and prosper' by a$ap ferg

Well, this happened. Not an easy album to review, but certainly an interesting one, that's for sure.

Up next, Beyonce - stay tuned!

album review: 'always strive and prosper' by a$ap ferg

Okay, way back when I was first starting this show in 2013, I took a crack at discussing A$AP Ferg's debut Trap Lord - and you don't have to tell me the review is pretty rough in retrospect. Putting aside that it was done before I had a proper camera, it was also a record that screamed style and flow over substance, which to me at the time didn't feel particularly cohesive against gothic-tinged trap production that initially felt too dark to fit with the content. Sure, I could appreciate the tracks where A$AP Ferg was indeed spitting, and his collaboration 'Lord' with most of Bone-Thugz-N-Harmony remains a highlight to this day, but for the most part it was a record that that was trying for a certain opulence and grandeur that I wasn't entirely convinced it could pull off, especially in the lyrics.

Granted, that was in 2013 - since then, we've seen so much hip-hop tilt towards material that's even more gothic and opulent, and at least A$AP Ferg could maintain a consistent flow on his own and not slather his vocals in autotune to drive the melody. And given that I did like his lead-off single 'New Level' with Future, I figured I'd give him another chance with Always Strive and Prosper. The one significant reservation I had was the larger-than-ever list of guest stars - A$AP Ferg can have an odd tendency to mimic the flows of his guest stars for better or worse, and given that I have pretty much zero expectations in finding a lyrical identity, that doesn't really help him stand out. But again, Future really was the worst part of 'New Level', and with a more impressive list of producers, I had reason to be it'd come together with at least some flair and style - was I right?

video review: 'human performance' by parquet courts

This review was a lot of fun - not just because of the album, but because it was a tough nut to really explore, even if I didn't all the way love it. Definitely expect some of the songs will grow on me more throughout the year, though.

Next up, A$AP Ferg - stay tuned!

album review: 'human performance' by parquet courts

So I'll admit right out of the gate that I was a little tentative to cover this record. I think I've gone on record about how most lo-fi garage rock doesn't really excite me unless the hooks are stellar or they're doing something incredibly bizarre - see the collected output of Ty Segall - but that's not saying I dislike the genre, more a factor that if you've heard a lot of this brand of indie rock it can start to blur together a bit. 

Well, okay, that's not fair, and I'll admit that Parquet Courts does stand out a bit. Their wordy brand of art punk first materialized around the turn of the decade and immediately racked up critical acclaim for albums like Light Up Gold and Sunbathing Animal. And yeah, I liked those records: the guitar lines were sticky, there was some groove there, and you could tell that the lyrics had a certain cleverness that I could definitely respect in isolated chunks, often taking broad shots at Internet culture and finding something to respect... but more often than not, I got the feeling the band hadn't quite reached the level of ambition or instrumental heft groups like Ought or fka Viet Cong had. Good for sure, but a shade away from real greatness for me.

Granted, I get the feeling Parquet Courts were looking to change things up too, because after dropping two records in 2014 - the latter Content Nausea being released by only half the band under a slightly different name with a much rougher, more punk tone - and an EP that confounded critics, they looked to follow it up after a few years of touring with this release, which promised to be a mellower, yet more eclectic new record. So okay, I'm good with Parquet Courts pushing themselves, so what did we get with Human Performance?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 30, 2016 (VIDEO)

Pretty decent week, but a bit of a weird one too - get the feeling it's right before the storm too.

Next up, Parquet Courts and A$AP Ferg, so stay tuned!

video review: 'love streams' by tim hecker

Well, this was a fascinating and incredibly difficult album to untangle. I still think it's worth listens even if its not my thing, but again, not my thing.

Next up... hmm, probably Parquet Courts, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 30, 2016

Okay, so normally after a week with a ton of debuts, the following week tends to be a real pain, as everything resets to compensate. And given the massive falloff from Kanye's Life Of Pablo - which yes, we'll be talking about here - you'd think that it'd mean this week was incredibly busy. But while it was turbulent across the board, it was so in a way that we had enough returning entries to keep the new arrival list relatively small, and since I no longer cover returning entries in as extensive detail as I did last year, this might actually mean I'll get a breather, at least before the top ten collapses in upon itself.

album review: 'love streams' by tim hecker

I've talked before at length how I'm still working to explore electronic music, still trying to find the clearest inroad to a genre that can frequently be beautiful and powerful and experimental, but often can be just as hard to talk about or fully dissect. And today, it's time we talk about one of the subsets of electronic music that remains some of the hardest to decode and explain: ambient drone and noise. The sort of sounds that will nearly all but the most dedicated of listeners branding it as background noise or completely empty to just walk away, it's long been a genre to which I've touched in passing but have had a certain aversion to it. I can definitely appreciate ambient music and atmosphere, but stretched across glitched out soundscapes with only the slightest of change-ups in melody or the sparsest of beats... yeah, most of the time it's just not for me. I like groove and composition more than textured sonic tapestries that often rely on the thinnest of context of define what it might be trying to say. 

As such, delving into the extensive back catalog of Canadian electronic artist Tim Hecker has been quite the experience for me, most notably because it probably came the closest to create soundscapes that were enticing enough to keep me coming back for more. The missed connections and fragmented transmissions of Radio Amor, the darker, guitar-feedback-soaked Mirages that started touching into black metal textures, the more soothing but melancholic Harmony In Ultraviolet that grew all the more expansive, the more dense construction of An Imaginary Country, they all reflected so much more than what the first few listens would imply. This would reach a peak on Hecker's 2011 album Ravedeath 1972, a titantic, borderline apocalyptic record that I would have no qualms saying is legitimately great, and while I didn't quite like his 2013 record Virgins as much - I missed the thicker atmosphere, even if the greater, more intimate focus on melody with much cleaner textures made it a potent listen in and of itself - I think I understood enough to delve into his newest record Love Streams, which had been garnering something of a mixed critical response. So as a relative newcomer to this sort of music, how did it click?

video review: 'a sailor's guide to earth' by sturgill simpson

Man, this record is incredible. It creeps up on you for sure, definitely a grower, but I can see this sticking with me a lot this year, if only because of how defiantly unique and potent it is. Definitely great.

Next up, Tim Hecker, coming up soon!

album review: 'a sailor's guide to earth' by sturgill simpson

I want to start this review by clarifying something important: I've talked a lot in the past about genre and how it can play a role in how artists are marketed and sold, but at the end of the day I really don't care all that much which genre an artist chooses. If an artist wants to take a pivot into uncharted territory for them, I might be skeptical of the choice, but provided they pull it off well, I'm generally pretty accepting of it.

And thus when Sturgill Simpson made his incredible sophomore album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, I had no problems at all that he was blending in elements of psychedelic rock - after all, he did it well, one of the many reasons that record is one of my favourites of 2014. But what started to irk me was the aftermath of it all, and one you can expect when an artist starts getting crossover attention from the hipster crowd. And by now, anyone who has followed Sturgill had heard the comments: 'oh, I don't like country music, but I like Sturgill Simpson', as if they'd like to pretend that country was never a factor because they'd never want to be associated with it. Seriously, those pretentious twits can blow me, mostly because country is just as viable of an artform as any other genre and denying the role Sturgill has played does a disservice to everyone, especially his producer on that record Dave Cobb, who recently released with Southern Family one of the best country records and albums period that I've heard in the past few years.

That said, I had heard that Sturgill Simpson was going to be taking his country influences even further afoot with his upcoming record A Sailor's Guide To Earth, beyond psychedelia and into more soul tones, including a full horns section, and combined with Sturgill not working with Dave Cobb and producing the entire record himself, I was a little concerned. Sure, it was bound to be a very good, probably great record, but this sort of experimentation was pushing into uncharted territory, and if the fundamentals are compromised, this could get messy. But look, the man has incredible talent and I had hope that A Sailor's Guide To Earth might stick the landing: did Sturgill pull it off?

video review: 'lead poison' by elzhi

Finally glad I got a chance to cover this, and damn, it was so good. Next up... well, there's Tim Hecker, but that Sturgill Simpson and Parquet Courts records is tempting too... stay tuned!

album review: 'lead poison' by elzhi

I've talked a bit before about regionalism in hip-hop, how certain areas cultivate certain sounds and styles of rap. New York hip-hop tends to be more opulent and proud, the West Coast trends towards more laid-back grooves and g-funk, the South is known for trap and hard, trunk-knocking bangers, you get the picture.

And yet if we cast our eyes to the city of Detroit, only one word springs to my mind: bars. Formerly the engine of the United States but now fallen into disrepair and poverty, to me Detroit has always been characterized by hard-edged MCs fighting their way out and building independence with sheer, mind-bending wordplay. Granted, I'll wholeheartedly admit a lot of this impression was probably crafted by an early liking for Eminem and seeing 8 Mile one too many times, but when you consider rappers like Eminem and Royce da 5'9'' or even more out there MCs like Danny Brown, one of the reasons they remain interesting rappers is how they construct their wordplay. And hell, even though I don't like Big Sean I'll give him credit for at least trying to hold up the legacy when he talks about his hometown.

And continuing in that tradition is Elzhi, former member of Slum Village which was most well-known as J.Dilla's group, though the two were not in the the group at the same time. For the longest time he was one of those MCs I had just not had the time to dig into - but I'm definitely glad I found time to check out his 2008 album The Preface, because it is just the type of hip-hop I really like. Great production courtesy of Black Milk, fantastic wordplay, and Elzhi delivering not just great bars but great stories, showing a ton of real promise and poise. Along with his mixtapes he also released a tribute to Nas' Illmatic in 2011, which is also pretty damn excellent... but let's get real, it's been nearly five years since we've heard an Elzhi project. This one was funded through Kickstarter back in 2013, but after extended delays we finally have it. Was it worth the wait?

video review: 'more issues than vogue' by k. michelle

I don't know why I'm always surprised that a K. Michelle record is actually good, but this is pretty damn solid, definitely liked it. Except 'Rich' - goddamn, that song is terrible.

Next up, think I'm ready for Elzhi, so stay tuned!

album review: 'more issues than vogue' by k. michelle

When I first covered K. Michelle near the end of 2014, I found myself surprised. That had been a year where I was taking tentative steps to appreciating more R&B, and as such I had been game to K. Michelle's somewhat unique position. She had played the reality show game but you can tell there was a unique songwriting voice that came through her record Anyone Want To Buy A Heart?, a fiercely independent and imaginative writer that had genuine promise. That record had the potential to be a smash... potential that wasn't realized thanks to frustratingly cheap production and a vocal performance that brought volume but not quite the tact or emotive subtlety to match the writing. In other words, definitely a good record, but a flawed one all the same.

As such I was strongly debating whether I would even bother to cover her third release, More Issues Than Vogue. On the one hand, it was reportedly a greater stab towards differing genres and styles, pushing more artistic boundaries - of which K. Michelle had shown a tendency towards on her sophomore release, there had been some odd instrumental choices there. But what gave me pause were the songwriting credits, namely that K. Michelle didn't have writing credits at all on over half of the album. This is coming after an album where she had writing credits on every single song and a lot fewer cowriters overall, and it gave me concern that her unique personality would end up diminished, especially when there was no guarantee her production team was top quality. But hey, it could turn alright, so I dug into More Issues Than Vogue - how did it turn out?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 23, 2016 (VIDEO)

Man, this took WAY too long to finish. Long episode too, so I hope you all enjoy!

Next up... hmm, time to take care of some unfinished business, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - april 23, 2016

And to think this week was going to be busy enough. The chart instability is only getting more pronounced, we've got a healthy list of new arrivals - including what looks to be bad signs coming from Drake's lead-off to Views From The 6 - I thought things would be mostly stable. So of course here comes Kanye West with eight new songs from The Life Of Pablo, an album I covered nearly two months ago with one of the most confused release strategies I've ever seen play out. Of course, such is the transcendent power of Kanye's fame and fanbase that the album went to #1 on streaming alone, regardless of middling quality or the fact that it's been out for two months already.

video review: 'metal resistance' by BABYMETAL

I liked it. Sue me.

Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN, and i'm really not sure what might come next, so stay tuned!

video review: 'TWENTY88' by big sean & jhene aiko

Man, my promotional efforts have been absolute crap these days. Anyway, this record turned out better than expected - not precisely good, but still interesting enough.

Next up... well, you'll see. Stay tuned!

album review: 'metal resistance' by babymetal

Have to be honest, even I am surprised that I'm covering this band, a group that blew up on the Internet and in their native country of Japan a few years back but only now are seeing a real explosion on this side of the Pacific, bound with all of the controversy that one would expect fusing idol j-pop with a hodgepodge of extreme metal.

And really, there shouldn't be a controversy about this. I heard about Babymetal around the time of their debut and really was not all that surprised or impressed by the novelty of the concept. Oh look, a bunch of cute j-pop singers in front of what otherwise would be synth-driven DDR music except with a full metal backing band - cute concept, but on my first few listens that's all it seemed to be: a bit of a gimmick, and not even a new one. Let's face it, as much as some hardcore metalheads will refuse to admit it, heavy metal can work in a pop-leaning context. As much people tend to dump on hair metal or nu metal, both genres have their standouts that can work, and I've always thought symphonic metal with a solid hook can play in the same arena, if only because their power ballads are on a different level compared to most. Hell, I don't even need to point to Nightwish or Within Temptation or - God help us - Evanescence for proof of that, Disturbed is now notching their biggest ever hit on the Hot 100 with a cover of 'The Sound Of Silence'. Now I'll concede the more extreme metal genres have always been a bit different, but I've also heard enough Devin Townsend to know if the melodic hook is strong enough, you can win over most audiences - it's not like the riffs are that much more abrasive than modern EDM synths or a dubstep breakdown.

As such, my issues with Babymetal have always been a little different, because as much as I dig a lot of the heavier riffs fused with pop hooks, there are real problems with that debut album. For one, many of the songs did try to do too much, including genre fusions of hip-hop, reggae, and dubstep that did not fit whatsoever. A more glaring problem came in the lyrics - I get that most people aren't going to bother translating them, but they do come across as a tad too cute to really mesh all the way with a metal sound, which didn't help dispel the image of the band being a gimmick. That said, when I heard their sophomore record was taking things a little more seriously with more cohesion, I figured this was probably worth my time: was I right?

album review: 'twenty88' by big sean & jhene aiko

When I first heard about this project, I thought it was a joke.

And by now you all should know how I feel about these two acts, but in case you don't, Jhene Aiko is probably the one with whom you're a little less familiar. If you do remember her, it's probably for being the best part of that godawful Omarion and Chris Brown track 'Post To Be', although that really isn't saying much given that track landed on my top ten worst hit songs of 2015. And what made it so much worse is that just a year earlier, Jhene Aiko was an R&B star was entirely behind, riding a few pretty songs and EPs to her debut Souled Out, which is one of my favourite R&B albums of the 2010s! Smart, beautifully performed and produced, it had so much goddamn promise - and it did precisely nothing on the charts in terms of singles, even though the record did sell well.

So I understand if Jhene Aiko wanted to network and get a boost for her career... but did it have to be Big Sean of all people? Those of you who saw my Dark Sky Paradise review know that I'm no fan of this guy, who somehow manages to squander the backing and production of Kanye West with some of the corniest and sloppily written bars you'll find in mainstream hip-hop. I'm not going to deny he's made a few songs I like, but the songs I don't like, to quote my buddy Anthony Fantano... (stream of inarticulate 'nos').

So on that note, I shouldn't even be surprised that Jhene Aiko and Big Sean were apparently long time friends, even if it does kind of depress me. It's like remembering that Ariana Grande used to date Big Sean, and that he also dated Naya Rivera from Glee, it just makes me so sad for every woman involved, they can do so much better. But enough tabloid nonsense, apparently they put together a project. And I debated even covering it, given that it was technically considered an EP. But then again, it's a half hour long, Jhene Aiko clearly saw something in this project that's worth while, and Big Sean has been slowly becoming a better rapper, so I decided to check out TWENTY88 - how did it go?