album review: 'semper femina' by laura marling

So I'll admit I was pretty slow to the punch to cover Laura Marling's last album Short Movie in 2015. There was a lengthy back catalog to listen through and decode - mostly because Marling's exploration of themes and ideas reflected wisdom and nuance beyond her years - and despite being transitional and what I'd argue is a slightly lesser entry in her discography, there was still a lot to discuss and untangle. But again, it was transitional in every sense of the word - not only did it feel like a stylistic shift away from her acoustic sound to add more electric distortion, albeit feeling a bit listless, thematically it was tracing different directions too. This was a record that was partially inspired by her move to Los Angeles, and the mingled desires for companionship and lonely purity that ran through it. All of this led to an album I liked but didn't love, and while there are a few standouts that I do revisit to this day, it's not really a record that I return to very often.

And believe it or not, while most critics were a bit warmer on it than I was, they tended to fall into similar opinions, that it was a bit of a lesser entry in her discography compared to I Speak Because I Can or Once I Was An Eagle. Not so this time around - in fact, the critical acclaim that Marling has received for her exploration of definitions of femininity has been considerable... not that I'm entirely surprised here. Marling has been a critical darling for some time - deservedly so, I should add - but there is also a pretty significant subset of well-meaning critics that'll throw praise for the exploration of specific themes without really touching on whether they're done well. Now again, it's Laura Marling, she's got the sort of insight and tact that can lead to brilliant writing, and especially coming after Short Movie, I was curious how she was going to evolve her sound. So what do we get with Semper Femina?

video review: 'the breaker' by little big town

Well, this is getting a rougher response than I was otherwise expecting... eh, it happens. Again, a good return to form, but it should have been better.

But that's not the only record I'm reviewing tonight... stay tuned!

album review: 'the breaker' by little big town

It's been a running narrative and critic in-joke that Little Big Town share a fair bit in common with Fleetwood Mac, or at least their progression suggests the similarity. Sure, they started on the outskirts of country, blending in elements of pop and folk, but in 2014 with Pain Killer they took a hard left turn towards the sort of experimentation and melodic tones that ran through Tusk, and got a significant amount of critical acclaim for it. And in 2016 they did it again, ditching Jay Joyce's production for Pharrell's as they made the sunny pop record Wanderlust that seemed to reflect common tones with Fleetwood Mac's Mirages...

And now it's time we put that overdone comparison to bed because at this point of career parallels Fleetwood Mac released Tango In The Night in 1987 in the midst of solo albums and cocaine abuse, and I'm not sure Little Big Town are doing much of either. In fact, the buzz I heard was suggesting that Little Big Town were at least trying to pivot back towards country, reuniting with Jay Joyce on production and recruiting veteran country songwriters like Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna to help. And to me that was a really good sign - not just because I wanted to avoid the implosion, but Jay Joyce has steadily become a more subtle and nuanced producer and there were at least traces of interesting ideas on Pain Killer that I'd love to see developed further, especially if the writing could match it. I wasn't going to say I had high hopes - I was lukewarm on the lead-off single 'Better Man', which was contributed by Taylor Swift of all people - but I still go back to cuts like 'Live Forever' and 'Tumble & Fall' off Pain Killer, and if they got the awful pop impulses out of their system on Wanderlust - which was thankfully ignored by anyone with taste - this could be good? So how is Little Big Town's return?

video review: 'volcano' by temples

I'm not sure anyone should be surprised that I loved this, but there's a part of me that still kind of is. I mean, it's ridiculously fun and smart and nuanced, what's not to love?

Anyway, Little Big Town is up next, so stay tuned!

album review: 'volcano' by temples

You know, if I were to characterize nostalgia among most music critics, I'd say most that it's inconsistent. We appreciate acts that pay tribute to the past, but we don't them sounding too close to that sound or they just become imitators. We like winking references... to a point. We tend to love musical subversions and deconstructions of certain antiquated genres and styles, often at the expense of the song structures and sounds themselves, but if an act earnestly tempers or refines similar sounds and material, they're 'stuck in the past'... unless it happens to be a sound we like, and then we'll throw all the praise in the world at them.

And look, I'm not going to say I'm immune to these trends, but if you want to see a band that divides a lot of music critics on this line, it's the UK psychedelic band Temples. Their debut album Sun Structures was very plain in its worship of mid-to-late 60s psychedelic pop, and yet it divided a lot of critics, a significant chunk saying that they weren't really doing that much to differentiate themselves from their forebears. And of the surface, I'd mostly agree with that, if you're fond of that particular sound they're an easy sell - and yet it was the details in the writing and the thicker punch in their production that pushed that debut up several notches for me. Yeah, I could see the callbacks to T-Rex and The Byrds, but there was enough between the lines in the melodic composition and writing make them feel distinctive. You could make disparaging comparisons to Foxygen or Tame Impala all day, but Temples knew how to structure hooks and cohesive songs, and unlike Kevin Parker they could write lyrics that weren't utterly insufferable.

But now we have the follow-up three years later, and while a good retro interpretation can have a lot of mileage on a debut, following it up and keeping things unique and interesting is tougher - and yet with that in mind, I still had high expectations for Volcano, even despite critical reviews that were, once again, all over the map. But did Temples stick the landing?

video review: 'common as light and love are red valleys of blood' by sun kil moon

Well, this was a fun exercise... can't see myself forgetting this record any time soon, fascinating dig.

Next up, though... Temples. Stay tuned!

album review: 'common as light and love are red valleys of blood' by sun kil moon

I have a complicated relationship with Mark Kozelek - and not just because if we ever met in person, we'd probably hate each other with a passion, or at least find the other utterly insufferable.

Of course, this would rely upon Mark Kozelek logging onto the internet or YouTube, and that's never going to happen - his resentment of social media of any kind is near-legendary. But in this hypothetical, should we ever meet, he'd probably brand me as an overly-earnest, frequently annoying hipster poptimist that's still too damn pretentious for his own good. And at the same time, I'd probably brand him as a technophobic rockist curmudgeon who is just as pretentious and whose underlying pathology of bitter nihilism is intolerable and shoddily justified. And the hilarious thing is that while we'd probably end up hating each other buried deep down we'd probably have some grudging acknowledgement of our similarities, of the other's insight and intellect and how our statements about each other probably ring more true than we'd prefer to admit, at least not without a veneer of irony.

And that's the thing: as much as I'd probably hate Kozelek in person, from an artistic standpoint I find him a profoundly fascinating figure, and one where my frustrations are rooted in many of the parallels and flaws I see in my own short stories and novel. Self-aware framing but never quite as deep as it could be to mine deeper insight, poetic and detailed and ultimately deconstructionist in his themes, but never enough to mine it into a cohesive narrative, all against instrumentation and tones that can be as inviting as they are abrasive. Much of my complicated emotions culminated in my controversial review of Benji, his critically-adored 2014 record of which I admired a fair amount of the craft but thematically frustrated me to no end. And while I was planning to cover his tangled and ultimately overlong 2015 album Universal Themes - to which I'd argue hits a few underappreciated and stunning high notes - it ended up getting lost in the shuffle. So in order to make up for that, I decided to cover his newest record Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood - a title that says more about him than any of my rambling for the past few minutes ever will - and its mammoth two hour plus runtime. In other words, I was gearing up for a monster of a double album - how did it go?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 18, 2017 (VIDEO)

Weird week. Busy as hell, but weird all the same, I have to say.

Next up, though, is finally Sun Kil Moon - enjoy!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 18, 2017

So this was a weird week. I wouldn't call it a bad week - any chart where we get less Future than expected is a net positive - but the new arrivals and shifts reflect not quite a lull but a Hot 100 where nothing is quite as stable as it seems. There have been a lot of fluctuations here - and with a big debut from Ed Sheeran coming next week I can definitely see that continuing - which I tend to see as a net positive overall, it keeps things kinetic to avoid the massive stalls that did considerable damage in 2014 and 2016.

movie review: 'logan' (VIDEO)

As I mentioned, I'm not sure this is my best review, but it is one that kind of fascinates me, I think I got close to what I was looking to explore, and that's something.

Next up, Sun Kil Moon, but first we have Billboard BREAKDOWN, so stay tuned!

video review: '÷ (divide)' by ed sheeran

So this is going to get a ton of hits... and I'm not all that surprised, it was a fun record to talk about.

But next up, another movie review, so stay tuned!

album review: '÷ (divide)' by ed sheeran

The more I listen to Ed Sheeran, the more I'm a little baffled that he is as big as he is, especially in the mainstream.

Now that's not a knock against Sheeran, believe it or not - on average, he's probably released more singles I like than otherwise, because while I was no big fan of 'Sing' or 'Thinking Out Loud' or 'Photograph', I did really come to love 'Don't' and 'Lego House', and that's not even counting his big two singles from his new album, both of which I'd argue are really good. But it's more than the songs at this point, because Ed Sheeran doesn't make a lot of sense as a pop star, especially in recent years, from his look and presentation to his voice to his content! For one he's an acoustic singer-songwriter who isn't really playing to gimmicks beyond an uncanny knack for skipping into R&B and soul and blues and sticking the landing, and for another, his songs have the sort of distinctive detail and character that if anything show more of an auteur voice than a lot of modern pop. And that details matters, because Ed Sheeran is not writing about wealth and success - his stories are often small-scale and character-driven, with messy human framing and a lot of alcohol abuse - he'd be very much at home in the mid-90s adult alternative scene, which is a little bizarre to hear in 2017. Sure, he'll write the boring songs that'll make the young girls cry - he knows what pays the mortgage - but I'm far more interested in the Ed Sheeran that writes 'Don't' or 'Castle On The Hill' or the absolutely stunning 'Afire Love', which to this day remains one of my favourite songs of 2014. And it's amusing to me that Taylor Swift was one of the big forces to propelling Ed Sheeran to popularity around 2013, given that in the beginning she may have tried for populist authenticity and framing but never showed the courage to get raw or real outside of 'Back To December', so where she retreated into pop artifice, for Sheeran it all feels on the table - that's what gives it bite. 

As such, I was very interested in his next album ÷, which has been getting some interesting reviews, with the critical line seeming to hang on whether you buy into Sheeran's authenticity, especially in the detail of his stories. Whether or not that's fair is a different question - I have the suspicion if Sheeran was just any other indie folk songwriter nobody would care to ask - but given that authenticity is a pretty key factor to the emotional throughline of Sheeran's stories, it was always going to be a question. For me, it all came in the execution, and I had reason to hope this would click, so what did we get with ÷?

video review: 'human' by rag'n'bone man

It's not good, let's just say that. Okay, Ed Sheeran and Sun Kil Moon are next, stay tuned!

album review: 'human' by rag'n'bone man

Of all of the acts that I've covered on this show, especially in recent months courtesy of Patreon, this is arguably one that I have been looking forward to the least.

I know, harsh allegations, especially for an act who is currently racking up hits in the UK, but indeed, that's part of the issue. Unlike most people, I knew about Rag'N'Bone Man, real name Rory Graham, back a few years ago, and I was not surprised to see a significant push behind him, especially in the wake of rougher artists like Hozier blazing the trail for bluesier acts having success. Hell, in an episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN I used every possible excuse to avoid talking about Rag'N'Bone Man, even calling him a Hozier rip-off... which got me a fair amount of flak from people who told me that he actually predates Hozier and he had been pushing out EPs since the early 2010s. Believe it or not, I actually did know this, mostly through his affiliation with a few smaller British hip-hop acts. But that indeed might have been part of the problem for me - Hozier trended towards blues rock and gospel, rougher genres that demanded grit and a darker brand of howling soul that I really came to love. And while Rag'N'Bone Man was capable of that sort of sound, most of his early EPs played closer to neo-soul and pushed him into his smoother upper register and featured hip-hop guest verses, he was going in a different direction.

And then Hozier's self-titled debut sold over a million copies worldwide for Island and you can tell that the major labels wanted to have at least somebody who could compete in the same territory. Atlantic had Ed Sheeran who was even bigger, Interscope had Imagine Dragons - although  Smoke + Mirrors wouldn't help  - Republic snatched up James Bay who would go on to make 'Let It Go' an adult alternative hit, and Columbia... see, that's the thing, they were distributors for Hozier, they didn't need another act to play in this lane while Hozier worked on his sophomore project unless they were looking for R&B/neo-soul crossover... which I doubted. And yet here we are with Rag'n'Bone Man, for whose breakout single 'Human' you can largely thank Hozier for popularizing that style, especially in the UK. But I do like Hozier, and even though I didn't really care for 'Human', maybe Rag'n'Bone Man might be able to recapture some of that magic on his full-length debut?

video review: 'felony blues' by jaime wyatt

Yeah, not a huge amount to say about this one - short, sweet, and awesome, definitely recommend this a lot.

But next up... okay, it looks like we have this Rag'n'Bone Man project before I get to Sun Kil Moon and Ed Sheeran, plus Logan, so stay tuned!

album review: 'felony blues' by jaime wyatt

So let's talk about the prison-industrial complex.

And believe it or not, that is a relevant topic to my content, specifically in a lot of the music I cover and not just because I've occasionally been told I remind people of John Oliver on Last Week Tonight - I'm extremely flattered, but he actually has production value and humor to back up his analysis. In this case, we're going to talk about how it relates to music and artists, because beyond the outlaw context, we should consider necessity in the modern age. Think about it: when you consider the percentage of the population that is incarcerated, especially for trumped-up drug offenses, and the fact that many companies will disqualify people based upon convictions during background checks, sometimes the DIY approach to the creation of art and music might be the only way to make a little money. Now that's not to say it's a method for everyone - music equipment is far from cheap, and not everyone has the means or talent to step into that arena, but as a possible path to avoid recidivism, it's not a bad one, especially if you can tell the story of your experience. 

And what's also notable is the historical precedent - many will make the obvious connection to hip-hop, but in one of the many, many parallels between the genres, these themes have been rooted in country music for decades, albeit a lot less so in the mainstream. Hell, if you read about how many times the greats in country were either in and out of jail because of their own wild lives, I'm always a little surprised that we don't see more of these themes continue, especially as the population percentage of incarceration continues to rise and with the growth and evolution of the truly horrible modern court and prison experience. So into the indie country scene comes Jaime Wyatt, who once had a few record deals that went nowhere before running afoul of the law and actually spending time in prison herself. And since she couldn't find conventional work after getting out, she turned to country music and put together a few projects along with some soundtrack work, with her first album From Outer Space coming 2015 and now this, aiming to tell more of her story. At seven tracks, it's a lean affair, but the critical acclaim it was receiving - to say nothing of themes that could often feel all the more relevant in modern America - meant that I had a vested interest in digging in. So on this project, did Jaime Wyatt deliver?

video review: 'reassemblage' by visible cloaks

Again, I have no idea how many people are going to watch this review, but it was a fascinating one to put together, and I'm grateful for that at least.

Next up looks to be Jaime Wyatt, and that'll be a cool project, so stay tuned!

album review: 'reassemblage' by visible cloaks

This'll likely be one of the stranger reviews I've done in some time.

Granted, I could say that about the majority of electronic music I cover, especially the more experimental and 'quirky' it gets, but Visible Cloaks sits in a peculiar space all on its own, to the point where I'm not quite sure how to properly describe it. The project of composers Spencer Dolan and Ryan Carlile, the sound sits in an odd plucky brand of warbling ambience that sparks and careens off of all sorts of bells and whistles that played fast and loose with any idea of consistent key or tempo or groove. That's certainly what I felt about their self-titled debut project, which as expected had a certain homegrown Bandcamp quality in its meandering experimentation but also brought a level of quality and poise in the compositions that did draw my interest. And when their sophomore project began picking up considerable critical acclaim... well, suffice to say my interest was piqued. So what did we find with Reassemblage?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 11, 2017 (VIDEO)

Man, this was a week of surprises - half songs I didn't think I'd like as much as I do, half because there wasn't a single damn Future song that I liked (and believe me, I tried).

Eh, anyway, next up we have something I wanted to talk about that's a little on the weirder side, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - march 11, 2017

So I didn't have a good feeling about this week going in, mostly because I knew what was coming. I knew that we were getting the first half of Future's 'two albums in two weeks' mistake, and when you follow it with The Chainsmokers working with Coldplay, Linkin Park working with Kiiara, and Lana Del Rey, I was gearing up for a disaster... and that's before I found out about our biggest new arrival, but we'll get to that.