video review: 'bottle it in' by kurt vile

So this was... honestly, kind of tiring to review, but I'm happy I got it out anyway. Enjoy!

Next up... hmm, let's see if I can kill two birds with one stone and cover both Open Mike Eagle and Cloud Nothings soon, so stay tuned!

album review: 'bottle it in' by kurt vile

It's hard not to feel like Kurt Vile is going in the exact opposite direction I hoped he would.

Or at the very least it's hard to say if he's playing to his strengths, because I've always been of the opinion that when the man feels fit to string his ideas together he can craft some fascinating songs with great hooks that I'll recommend to this day. Hell, I put one of his biggest singles 'Pretty Pimpin' on my year-end list of the best songs of 2015, and I stand by that - yeah, the songs might coil and meander but so long as the hook stabilizes it's some great indie rock. It's also why I tend to like his earlier, garage-inspired records more than his newer stuff - less complex and psychedelic, sure, but there's a visceral catchiness and core of tension to his best work I really do appreciate.

And yet that seems like the last thing on his mind, which can get frustrating for me because while the shaggy song construction and perpetually stoned demeanour might give some the impression of laziness, I've never bought that. I've read interviews with Kurt Vile and the impression I've got is closer to the guy in the room who is so smart he might operate on a different detached plane of existence, where you cling to moments with a hook or stable progression because it's a clue of what level he's on. But over the past two projects I've heard increasingly less desire to get there: b'lieve i'm goin down felt increasingly lethargic and his project with Courtney Barnett Lotta Sea Lice felt more like an extended jam session than a fully composed piece, and with buzz suggesting this record was even more obtuse... well, I wouldn't say I was thrilled, but I was curious. So okay, what did we get on Bottle It In?

video review: 'ella mai' by ella mai

Well, this was... kind of a mess, but I wound up being a bit more charitable because 'Easy' is a legit great song to end the album, really dug that.

Next up, Kurt Vile - stay tuned!

album review: 'ella mai' by ella mai

So here's a serious question: who the hell was expecting 'Boo'd Up' to be as big as it was?

Because I sure as hell didn't, I'll say that right now - when I first covered Ella Mai's breakout single on Billboard BREAKDOWN on a week chock full of better R&B tunes, I was underwhelmed by this... hell, I think on some level I'm still underwhelmed by it, or at the very least stunned that it was a top 5 hit! And I'll be very blunt and say that it seemed like the odds were stacked against Ella Mai - signed to DJ Mustard's label of all places from getting discovered on Instagram, unlike so much modern R&B 'Boo'd Up' was not a darling of streaming so much as the radio, which made me very curious what sort of organic groundswell Ella Mai would be able to carry into her full-length debut. Yeah, those EPs had gotten a little traction, but it was hard to avoid the narrative that this album was as much of a trial for the redemption of DJ Mustard's career than it was for Ella Mai. And really, I won't lie and say that I was incredibly interested in this beforehand, but I did want to see if Ella Mai would stick the landing on her own, so what did we get from this self-titled, full-length debut?

video review: 'afterlife' by alterity

You know, I will say I'm surprised this did not wind up on the Trailing Edge for me... but to be honest, I wound up having plenty to say on this one, so I'm okay with a review even if it doesn't get a lot of traffic.

Next up, let's deal with Ella Mai - stay tuned!

album review: 'afterlife' by alterity

So just so you all understand my point of reference, let me describe how I handle artists who are more of a Bandcamp/independent stripe that wind up on my schedule. Most of it would seem self-explanatory: unless they absolutely blow me away or I literally have nothing else to talk about on my schedule - like in early January - I typically put these artists on the Trailing Edge. And for the most part folks have been fine with this: the acts are just starting out or are very underground, after all, and sometimes bringing down my full critical scrutiny can be a lot to handle, and while there's often a consideration on my part when it comes to traffic, there's also the acknowledgement that a lot of these acts don't exactly give me a ton to say.

Of course, there are exceptions where I do have a little bit more - I'm sure some of you are familiar with my Eric Taxxon reviews by now - but Alterity is a bit of a different case. A duo of producers who also happen to contribute to my Patreon - no guarantee of a positive review or not winding up on the Trailing Edge, for the record - they've patiently voted this up the schedule and I'll freely admit after checking out their debut EP I was pretty sure this was going to wind up on the Trailing Edge too. Not that it was bad, but more that I was generally a little underwhelmed by their sound and approach, of which I'm very familiar and have some pretty strong tastes on what I like in this collection of subgenres. But okay, what then is there to say about their follow-up Afterlife?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - october 20, 2018 (VIDEO)

Yeah, this was messy, putting this together... not a good episode at all, but hey, I tried.

But alright, can't promise a review tomorrow (again, crazy IRL shit), but I'm going to try and prep a few records to possibly land on the Trailing Edge as I work through my schedule, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - october 20, 2018

...you know, it's funny, when I made my rule about album bombs just last week I was expecting that it'd face a challenge sooner rather than later with something that was a bit smaller... and sure enough, skating right under the wire with seven new songs from an album I haven't quite covered (though it's on my schedule), we've got a smaller album bomb from Lil Baby and Gunna, and that's before we tack on a considerable chunk of A Star Is Born - almost makes you forget twenty-one pilots put out a project, but they sneaked in too!

video review: 'always in between' by jess glynne

Damn, I really do wish this was better... but it happens, I guess...

Okay, this week is going to be crazy for personal reasons outside of video production, so we'll see where this goes, but Billboard BREAKDOWN is up next, so stay tuned!

album review: 'always in between' by jess glynne

So here's something I've realized about myself and pop music: when it comes to sheer competence in song construction, more often than not I'll give acts that might not be the most innovative more of a pass than most. Part of this is the appreciation and acknowledgement that crafting a damn solid straightforward pop song is often just as hard if not harder than making a track in any other genre, but I do think it runs a little deeper, to the pop that did work so damn well in the late 90s on which I was raised. Hell, one reason I've gone to bat for S Club 7 more than I think anyone should is that they put out at least three albums of damn solid, well-produced pop music that might not have blown apart any paradigms but did exactly what it was designed to do - that consistency rarely gets the hype it deserves.

And I think there's some truth to that surrounding how much I like Jess Glynne, because I was much more positive on her debut album in 2015 than pretty much any other critic. Yeah, there were a few misfires in production and the lyrics were never great, but Glynne was a solid enough singer and the hooks were there, enough so that I was genuinely interested in her sophomore follow-up this year, even if I had the expectation that like last time I might not have much to say. But what the hell - what did we get out of Always In Between?

movie review: 'a star is born' (VIDEO)

Yes, I know I'm going to get a ton of hate for this... but really, considering how badly I wanted this to be good, I just want you all to know I wanted to love this too, you know?

Gah, whatever. I've got a bunch of album reviews on the docket, so stay tuned!

video review: 'stardust birthday party' by ron gallo

Ugh... this was hard to talk about, because I really wanted to love this one, and it just didn't connect all the way through. It happens, though.

Next up... I think it's time I talk about A Star Is Born, so stay tuned!

album review: 'stardust birthday party' by ron gallo

So I wasn't expecting this.

Sure, when Ron Gallo came right the hell out of nowhere to blow my mind with the brilliantly witty, terrifically nasty album HEAVY META in 2017, I knew we were dealing with a very real talent that I was sure was going to throw me for a loop consistently, and when he followed it with the Really Nice Guys EP in January of this year which seemed to be an extended satire of the experience of the working musician, I knew that he would be have to be someone to watch. What I wasn't expecting was that Ron Gallo would have another project ready as early as this October, which I only assumed to be another slice of self-aware satire but buzz was suggesting was a much more gentle, introspective affair, blending in elements of funk and art rock... which yes, could indeed be very interesting, but given what I know about Gallo's delivery I wasn't sure this was a direction that'd really flatter him in comparison with the acerbic fire that stoked HEAVY META. Still, he's a fantastic songwriter, I really wanted to hear this as soon as I could, what did we get from Stardust Birthday Party?

video review: 'desperate man' by eric church

So... not sure how this'll be received, but it was an interesting album to talk about, even if I didn't quite love it as much as I wanted.

Next up, Ron Gallo and then I'll probably sneak out to see A Star Is Born at some point, so stay tuned!

album review: 'desperate man' by eric church

There's a part of me that wishes I had a firmer clue where Eric Church was going.

See, it seemed simple enough in the early 2010s, where he adopted a brand of swaggering rock-tinged country that could come across a little overblown but tended to have enough details, hooks, and nifty ideas bending around the genre of country music that critics gave him a pass. Then came The Outsiders in 2014, an album that was critically beloved at the time but in retrospect seems to have held up as worse for wear, at least in the circles I run. I'd argue that the record earned a lot of points for its novel steps towards progressive rock and metal that were damn near unheard of at the time, and the sheer balls behind the risk won acclaim... even though even then I was calling it a bloated, overwrought, sloppily produced mess that overplayed its hand, especially in comparison to the other boundary-pushing country albums of that year, and I reckon my opinion has held up a little more strongly than some of that critical acclaim.

And nothing was the strongest rebuke to The Outsiders' awkward reception was Eric Church's follow-up the next year with Mr. Misunderstood, a much needed course correction that still was on the outskirts of country - more roots rock and Americana - but showcased a fair bit more temperance and nuance in Church's songwriting and compositions, still taking risks but with a little more of a level head. And from there, all the buzz seemed to indicate his long-overdue album this year would follow in a similar path - still more rock and blues inspired than outright country, still with a casual blend of genres that thankfully Jay Joyce's much-improved production would flatter, only this time picking up more of a southern, swampy edge that would reflect Church's dogged commitment to pushing the genre into territory not quite untapped but certainly neglected. And given how much I liked Mr. Misunderstood, I had a lot of high hopes for Desperate Man, especially with its terrific lead-off self-titled single. So what did we find with this?

video review: 'ultraviolet' by poets of the fall

Well, this was awesome. Yeah, definitely want to hear more of this, although maybe a bit more metal next time? Please?

Anyway, either Ron Gallo or Eric Church up next, stay tuned!

album review: 'ultraviolet' by poets of the fall

You know, I could rattle off a pretty impressive list of disappointing events in 2016, but if we're just to confine it to music, the last Poets Of The Fall album would be up there.

And no, I'm not going to mince words with this: Poets of the Fall were one of the most strikingly potent alternative rock and metal groups to break out of the 2000s with multiple albums I'd rank as among the best of their respective years... and yet in 2016, it didn't work. And for once it was strikingly easy to point to the cause of it all: not Marko Saaresto's delivery or the band's increasingly dalliances with atmospheric pop rock, but the introduction of a new producer who seemed to grasp the basics of a Poets of the Fall sound but none of the subtleties, leading to a glitch in the alchemy that gave us possibly their most underwhelming project to date. Don't get me wrong, there were songs that worked off of Clearview and it was still good, but this is a band that delivers magnificence, and merely good does not cut it in my books. 

But I had hope for this one, folks, I did. For one they had brought the production back in house and while buzz was indicating the wild experimentation that has characterized their 2010s work was still in swing, I've been of the belief that this band has a better grasp on genre blending than most - hell, I absolutely adored their biggest pop pivot on Jealous Gods, and if they were going to keep going in that direction, I had to hope they'd stick the landing. So, what did we get on Ultraviolet?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - october 13, 2018 (VIDEO)

Okay, I think I'm pleased with how I landed things here with regards to album bombs going forward, and the episode turned alright along the way. Enjoy!

billboard BREAKDOWN - october 13, 2018

Well, I was half right with this. I knew there'd be some form of album bomb with Lil Wayne - the sales and streaming numbers made it practically undeniable - but what I didn't expect that it kept Logic from charting anything with the entire album dominating the Hot 100 with a full twenty-two debuts from that album alone. And since I already reviewed the album... well, you'll see in a bit, but suffice to say that considering album bombs are now the norm in the streaming era and have been throughout 2018, I'm going to be putting in some new rules on how to properly handle them in a way that's reasonable to the health of this show, so stay tuned for that.

video review: 'trench' by twenty one pilots

It's strange that it feels like I'm the one who somehow wound up being the most cool on this album of the YouTube critics. I mean, it's not bad - it's a good, thematically rich listen, but I'm not convinced the hooks are there and the songs are as gripping, and the sonic palette got really draining after a while. Just not really feeling it, I guess.

But next up... so much Lil Wayne, folks, it's a big album bomb coming, so stay tuned?