album review: 'the bird & the rifle' by lori mckenna

So a week or so back Billboard hosted a round table of female country artists and the current frustrations they have dealing with country radio's inability to get them on the air. This has been an ugly situation that I've discussed before at length during the height of bro-country, but even now little has changed outside of isolated moments of success, where b- and c-list male acts can snag airplay and festival stages while leaving their female counterparts high and dry. This hit an apex in 2015 with 'Tomato-gate', when radio consultant Keith Hill compared women in country to 'tomatoes in the salad' - and yet a year later outside of isolated moments, little has changed. Kacey Musgraves and Cam both stalled out on the radio despite great singles, and though Maren Morris' 'My Church' was a hit, I don't see that follow-up coming. Then you have Kelsea Ballerini's lack of concern about all of it... well, we'll see if that changes when 'Peter Pan' starts to dry up, and that's speaking from someone who likes that song!

And yet that roundtable had an undercurrent of optimism that things were going to get better - and I'd argue they're right, but I wouldn't say any of them were leading the charge. With the exception of fringe indie artists like Dori Freeman who deserve a lot more attention, 2016 has had a slew of strong albums from women, specifically older women like Brandy Clark and Jennifer Nettles who are releasing strong solo projects in their forties. And to add to that mix comes Lori McKenna, a songwriter who has been working behind the scenes for decades but recently received praise for her work behind Little Big Town's 'Girl Crush' and Tim McGraw's 'Humble And Kind'. And yet indie country fans know that she's been releasing critically acclaimed records since 2000 with a distinctive folk-touched vocal tone and the sort of sharply incisive songwriting that isn't afraid to pull punches. She actually did release an album called Unglamorous on Warner Bros in 2007 in the height of a small boom for women in country - and for the record, that record has aged incredibly well and does indeed hold up, but the production was far too slick to match her writing, and I don't have any problem believing it got lost in the crowd. So she went right back to the indie scene where country and folk blended a little more easily and four years later in 2011 dropped a borderline classic with Lorraine - seriously, if you're looking for the three records to get a full picture for Lori McKenna, it's 2004's Bittertown, 2007's Unglamorous, and 2011's Lorraine. Hell, you could argue that the reason her following two records, 2012's Massachusetts and 2014's Numbered Doors, didn't quite leave the same impact is what they had to follow, although in both cases you could make the argument the songwriting didn't quite cut as sharply as the best hits of either record.

And yet with the success of 'Girl Crush' and 'Humble And Kind', Lori McKenna now has more momentum than she's had in probably a decade, so she connected with Dave Cobb and put out a new record called The Bird & The Rifle - and yes, I know I'm late to the party here, but I knew after going through her entire discography I had to cover this. So does it live up to my high expectations?

video review: 'morning report' by arkells

Well, this was a mild disappointment - only mild, I kind of expected it, but still, I thought there could be more to it than this. Eh, it happens.

Next up, though... oh wow, this record really is something, so stay tuned for that!

album review: 'morning report' by arkells

I've been both anticipating and dreading this release.

More specifically, I've been anticipating and dreading this review, because for as much as I'm a fan of Canadian rock group the Arkells, I haven't exactly been wild about their creative decisions over the past few years. Their 2014 album High Noon went straight for more synthetic territory, de-emphasizing the rougher basslines and distortion in favour of gleaming textures and drum machines, which to me felt like the exact opposite direction one should take with the more political and self-serious subject matter. That didn't mean there weren't great songs - hell, 'Crawling Through The Window' made my list of my favourite songs of 2014 - but as a whole High Noon just didn't hold up to the melodic groove and fast-paced heaviness of their first two records.

And that didn't look like it was changing on their newest album Morning Report. Opening singles were sliding even further towards pop and seeming all the more plastic and slick, especially with lead-off singles like 'Private School', which sent up big red flags for me. Granted, that wasn't a guarantee things were completely off the rails - after all, my favourite songs from High Noon had been deep-cuts, even if 'Leather Jacket' was a pretty sweet tune - but I did have some reservations going into Morning Report. Were they justified?

video review: 'give a glimpse of what yer not' by dinosaur jr.

And there we have it. Man, this was a rewarding journey revisiting the entire discography, and a pretty damn solid record to cap it all off.

Unfortunately, our next few entries might not be so lucky. Still need a little more time for Lori Mckenna, so until then, we have Arkells... and presuming it doesn't get delayed, Rae Sremmurd. Strap in folks, and stay tuned!

album review: 'give a glimpse of what yer not' by dinosaur jr.

I've said a number of times in this series that it's difficult to talk about legends - and yet that's definitely not something I'd say about Dinosaur Jr., one of the bands responsible for creating the rough-edged jangling side of indie rock in the mid-80s we've all come know and love. It's an act that's defined by three distinctive eras, all with their own high and low points, strengths and weaknesses: their early indie years in the 80s before the departure of bassist Lou Barlow; their major label years in the 90s; and everything after that.

Where things get interesting are when you discuss which of the eras was best, because again, they each had their own strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I'm partial to their rough-edged material in their early years, especially Bug which I'd call a indie rock classic, mostly for a lot of the same reasons why I like early Weezer in terms of composition and letting the rattling basslines interplay with the main guitar melodies. Now don't get me wrong, there are good tracks after Barlow departed, but they rarely had the same edge as borderline J Mascis solo projects - especially Without A Sound - and none of them were really comparable to what Barlow was doing with Sebadoh anyway. Things definitely improved when they reunited in the mid-2000s for a pretty solid string of records - Farm is probably the standout for me - but it also was clear that J Mascis was starting to understand Barlow was the foundation of the group, which led to basslines that weren't exactly rougher but more prominent all the same. And hey, that was a progression I wanted to see continue, so you can bet I was interested in digging into Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not - how did it go?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 20, 2016 (VIDEO)

Bit of an odd, unstable week here. Guarantee it's going to be rough in upcoming weeks - I have that odd feeling we're on the precipice of a major shift, just watch.

Anyway, next up is Dinosaur Jr., so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 20, 2016

So I can't be the only one who thinks that the charts are a little unstable right now, am I? Now that the summer lull has faded for good, we might not have gotten many new songs this week but it doesn't shake the feeling it's only a matter of time before everything is thrown into chaos. Keep in mind that we still have a solid fourteen weeks left - there are songs that could debut in the next few weeks that'll make the year end list, and if they debut higher they'll need even less time.

video review: 'the shadow self' by tarja turunen

Well, this was an unexpected surprise. Tarja really did deliver here, definitely impressed by this. Seriously, you should all check this out, it's kind of amazing.

Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN, then I've got Arkells, Dinosaur Jr., and see if I can find time to get in Lori McKenna before... Rae Sremmurd. Anyway, stay tuned!

album review: 'the shadow self' by tarja turunen

First off, some unfinished business: when I covered Tarja Turunen's last album Colours In The Dark way back in 2013 when I was first starting my channel, I'm fairly certain I mangled the pronunciation several times over, so I'd like to extend my apologies for that. 

But truth be told, that's probably the most I actually remember about that review - or most of that album, if I'm being brutally honest. I know, it's been three years, but I haven't really been inclined to go back to Tarja's solo work, even compared to what she did with Nightwish. And I'm not sure why that is - going back to Colours In The Dark, it's a damn good record, but with the exception of a few songs, it never really grabbed me in comparison with the symphonic metal I love, I probably overrated it a little back in 2013. Maybe it was the buzzy industrial effects that didn't always click or the songwriting that never quite came together, but Colours In The Dark very quickly fell into the category of being a record I really liked but not one I felt inclined to regularly revisit.

Well, it became clear that Tarja wasn't slowing down, even in the lead-up to this release dropping a EP called The Brightest Void with songs that had to be cut from her newest record. Hell, it was practically an album in its own right, produced by Tarja herself and featuring the sort of eclectic elements that she'd never touched before, from the horns and harmonica that dominated 'Your Heaven And Your Hell' to the creaking piano-driven glitchy atmospherics on 'An Empty Dream' and 'Witch Hunt', and that's not counting the Paul McCartney deep cut or the symphonic metal cover of 'Goldfinger' that completely misses the point and isn't nearly as good as you'd hope. But whatever, that was an EP of extras - now that we have the full album, how is it?

video review: 'encore' by dj snake

Always forget to cross-post these videos more than I should... even if the album is completely mediocre.

Anyway, next up is Tarja, Arkells, and Dinosaur Jr. as I work my way through Lori McKenna's back catalog and gear up for some awful hip-hop coming sooner than I'd like. Stay tuned!

album review: 'encore' by dj snake

I've never been completely sure how I feel about DJ Snake. 

And if you've been following his seemingly meteoric rise to fame over the past three years, you'd understand why. As a producer, his synth tones and beats have the sort of aggression that can match the firepower of someone like Lil Jon but also have enough restraint to intensify the tension for more low-key singers. And while it can definitely take a while to get on-board with some of his more off-kilter melodic progressions, he does have a distinctive sound - probably one of the big reasons Lady Gaga tapped him around the turn of the decade to produce for Born This Way and ARTPOP. And considering how many bonafide hits he's had, I'm surprised it's taken him this long to make a full-length debut, even as an producer.

But on the other hand, there's a part of me that's not that surprised - DJ Snake has probably been making enough bank off of singles to not need to worry about albums, and when you combine that with the fact that his unique selection of tones can seem a tad limited when you explore his material at length, maybe he was concerned about wearing out his welcome. Hell, he's even calling his debut album Encore, maybe he's aware of his possible longevity. But that doesn't mean I wasn't curious, so I checked out Encore - how did it go?

video review: 'american woman' by jake owen

I honestly wish this record was a lot better than it was... but eh, it happens. 'LAX' was a great song, hope it gets dropped for release soon.

Next up, DJ Snake, so stay tuned!

album review: 'american love' by jake owen

Let's talk about charisma. I think a lot of people - and I include critics in this - who downplay how much charisma contributes to an act's success and viability, but let's get real: there are people who 'have it' who can stick around and become superstars; and people who don't and have to utilize every trick in the bag to compensate. These are the artists who make it look easy like Usher and Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake and Ludacris, or the people with such prodigious stage presence where you can't help but look, like Garth Brooks or Ke$ha or - as much as I don't like to admit it - Luke Bryan. And artists who have raw charisma can often get away with a lot more than less-expressive counterparts, or somehow find a way to what would destroy so many other performers and make it something that connects.

So let's talk about Jake Owen, arguably one of the most immediately charismatic country stars to come out of the opening years of bro-country and ride the trend to reasonable success. He was also one of the few artists who understood if you're going to make stupid music, you might as well make it fun, which is one of the reasons why 'Beachin' still holds for me as one of the best hit songs of 2014. But I've always thought that if he wanted to aim higher, he could put together potent music that cut more deeply, as songs like 'Ghost Town' and 'Life Of The Party' from the far better than expected Days Of Gold proved in late 2013. Hell, pair him with solid songwriters and I had hopes that Jake Owen could deliver, especially in 2016 with bro-country a mostly distant memory and minus Joey Moi's overdone production. And while I thought the lead-off single 'American Country Love Song' was a little by-the-numbers in the writing, I was still won over by Owen's performance, so I figured what the hell and I checked out American Love - what did we get?

video review: 'major key' by dj khaled

I still have no idea why I covered this record. Still think it had more potential, there were things to like about this record... shame it didn't come together.

Next up, Jake Owen, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 13, 2016 (VIDEO)

Well, this was an interesting episode. Not really a good one, but eh, what can you do?

Next up, DJ Khaled and Jake Owen, so stay tuned!

album review: 'major key' by dj khaled

I don't use Snapchat. I don't use Vine. I have an Instagram but have never posted a photo, and Socialblade tells me I have a substandard Twitter account. So maybe I just don't get social media in some capacity - it's fine, I've accepted that, and while I find the success of many acts based upon their social profiles bewildering, I get the appeal. Hell, on some level you can almost admire someone who can so manipulate social media to still make themselves relevant - like it or not, it's a skill, especially if you're not especially good for what you're 'supposed' to be famous.

And I think at some point, DJ Khaled got this. He realized that nobody gave a damn about his interchangeable party anthems for his contributions, so he did the next best thing: marketing. He inflated his online persona to comical sizes and then focused on his one real skill: collaboration. He became an expert at connecting people and making his 'records' star-studded affairs that were more notable for guest verses than anything else. And going into this, I had no expectations that this would be anything beyond over the top party jams- but on the other hand, it's not like either of his lead off singles were any good, so my expectations were rock bottom. Could DJ Khaled at least rise to that?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 13, 2016

You know, there's an adage I have on this show that the Canadian charts are always better, mostly because we didn't get rid of rock radio and we at least try to cultivate more unique Canadian acts. And yet if we look at the 2016 Hot 100, which many critics are already claiming is one of the worst years on record for this decade, it's been dominated by two Canadian artists coasting more off production than any sort of lyrical or vocal personality. Now I could make the argument that we as Canadians tend to manufacture some distance with our stars - Drake and Bieber have both been bigger south of the border than they have here - but on the other hand, we did let Bieber debut at #1 where he only landed #2 this week, so take it as you will.

video review: 'HEAVN' by jamila woods

So yeah, I really fell behind with posting things the past little bit - went to ConBravo and basically spent the rest of the long weekend decompressing (it's been a rough little while, if I'm being honest). But next up, I've got Billboard BREAKDOWN, Jake Owen, and DJ Khaled waiting, so stay tuned!

album review: 'HEAVN' by jamila woods

Let's talk a bit about Chicago and hip-hop. A city that in the past has given us Kanye West, Common, and Lupe Fiasco, but if you know anything about it recently it's a much darker territory. Gang warfare and ever escalating violence has led to some of the darkest and most aggressive hip-hop to emerge from its South Side, from the now mostly ignored Chief Keef to the emergent drill scene. This is hard music made by young artists who have seen far too much too young, and while she's more adjacent to it than a part of it directly, the rapper Dreezy whose debut I covered yesterday comes with the scars of that sound.

But there's another side to hip-hop in Chicago, a side that is just as touched by the violence but has rebelled with an unrelenting, socially-conscious optimism that seeks to mine some good out of The Windy City. Chance The Rapper is by far the most well-known name, but you also have Donnie Trumpet and Saba and maybe even Vic Mensa in a pinch. And then there's Jamila Woods, an artist who straddles the line of hip-hop, R&B, soul, and spoken word poetry and who has worked with Chance and even Macklemore. And though I wasn't really familiar with any of her solo work, I liked her contributions to songs like 'Sunday Candy', 'Blessings', and 'White Privilege II', and with the critical acclaim her debut album HEAVN has received, I figured it might be worth a look. Was I right?

video review: 'no hard feelings' by dreezy

I expected this record was going to be good, but I have to admit not quite this good. Solid record, genuinely enjoyable, I'd definitely dig in more and I hope Dreezy gets some momentum to compensate for her crap first week of sales...

In any case, let's stay in Chicago for our next review and talk about Jamila Woods, so stay tuned!