video review: 'magdalene' by fka twigs

So yeah, long-overdue after a busy weekend - was actually planning to have this out on Friday, but given a pretty light schedule ahead, we're going with it here. Enjoy!

album review: 'magdalene' by fka twigs

The last time I reviewed FKA twigs, it didn't really go well.

And again, this is one of those cases where of course there was backlash, but it did feel a little unfair - I wanted to like a lot of what I had heard on LP1, I recognized it was genre-pushing and beautifully sung and featured some pretty fascinating and layered lyrical content... but tonally it just didn't click for me. And I've relistened to the album plenty of times in the years since trying to get into it, with the assumption that as I learned more about experimental music and R&B it'd click more strongly... and yet it just didn't. Hell, even though I wasn't really covering EPs in 2015 I tried giving M3LL155X a chance as well over the years, and while I was more accustomed to the sonic palette she was using - you can really hear the fingerprints of Boots all over it, in a similar way to how Arca's influence coloured LP1, it just didn't grip me, a project I respected a hell of a lot more than I liked - which can happen with experimental music, and I've always found backlash for that a little misguided.

And thus I was reticent to cover the new album... until I saw the list of producers, which seemed to imply she was going in a more accessible direction, or at least one where I had more inroads. Sure, the names that'd jump out are Benny Blanco and Skrillex and Sounwave and Kenny Beats and even Jack Antonoff, but the names that caught more of my interest were Oneohtrix Point Never and Nicolas Jaar, the latter of whom has made electronic music I've really liked this decade. And considering the production was often the sticking point for me, maybe this would click way better, so how was MAGDALENE?

video review: 'what you see is what you get' by luke combs

I'm honestly not sure how this will be received - silent majority acts like him always get a bit of an odd response, so we'll have to see how this goes down. Anyway, FKA Twigs is finally up next, so stay tuned!

album review: 'what you see is what you get' by luke combs

So I'm not too proud to admit that I screwed up in a big way by not covering Luke Combs' debut album.

Now to be completely fair, at the time I'm not sure anyone could have predicted how fast Luke Combs would rise in the cultural conversation, especially off of the badly produced, overmixed clunkers that passed for many of his singles. At best, they were tepid or kind of amusing in a very middlebrow, Tim McGraw sort of way, trafficking in broad relatability and underdog charm rather than much in the way of sharp songwriting or emotive punch, and when you tack on middling to bad production, I just wasn't all that interested outside of a passing fondness for 'When It Rains It Pours'.

And over the past few years, Luke Combs' star has risen high and fast, because as much as I might find that approach underwhelming or predictable, to mainstream country listeners it reflected a middle-of-the-road accessibility that wasn't always seen in the increasingly slick and anonymous dregs of bro-country, or the broad neotraditional pivot of Jon Pardi and his lane, much less the more untamed indie scene. Coupled with the fact that he looked the part of every down-home country boy who might be a little rough around the edges but had the best of intentions and I'm not at all surprised his mass appeal blew up across the industry, radio, and audiences. What I was more concerned about was how this would translate to the second album, especially as the singles seemed to reflect a more organic and thoughtful pivot, and while I knew he'd never dive completely into that lane, I did have some tempered expectations, especially as I knew he'd never fully ditch the overproduction. But hey, what did we find on What You See Is What You Get?

video review: 'the juice: vol. 2' by emotional oranges

Here we go, folks - another great EP of R&B, absolutely check this out.

Next up, I think I'm ready to finally discuss Luke Combs at length, so stay tuned!

album review: 'the juice: vol. 2' by emotional oranges

In the past six or so months it's been fascinating to watch the rise of Emotional Oranges. I remember seeing them with buzz earlier this year - well-earned by dropping one of the best EPs in The Juice Vol. 1 - but that buzz has built momentum with a tour that has sold a lot better than I expected and a rapidly growing fanbase. No joke, when I saw them live not long ago, I was shocked how many people filled the room and were gripped by the live show of two barely seen silhouettes... that nevertheless performed incredibly well live with the chemistry of the duo translating remarkably.

But with added attention comes added scrutiny and criticism, and for Emotional Oranges, it came in two places I'd argue were expected and rather depressing: the group's relative anonymity, and the fact that the songs seemed a little too airtight and streamlined, a little too ruthlessly calculated to attain wider appeal. Now on the surface both of these criticisms might seem to make sense - even with the branding it does stunt curiosity in the personalities of the artists when they hide in the shadows, and that sleek construction thus comes across all the more mechanical... until you remember that the emotional complexities and interplay in the writing gave both of them plenty of personality and a unique dynamic, and the more organic, well-produced grooves and heavier reliance on guitar really did not match the trap-saturated R&B scene, nor really the more soulful contemporary R&B vibe, although they'd probably be closer to that category. Again, I'm surprised more of the obvious comparisons to The xx haven't shown up - you can recognize the critics who know - but I'll also admit that I was a little concerned about the second EP. I had heard snippets live and I wanted to hear how everything translated on record, especially as I'm always skeptical when artists drop multiple projects in a year when they could be combined into one stellar release with the fat trimmed. But okay, what did we get on The Juice Vol. 2?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 16, 2019 (VIDEO)

And here we go - bit of a messy recording process to get here, but here we are.

Next up, I think I'm ready to talk about Emotional Oranges, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 16, 2019

You know, it feels like it's been a while since we've had a week that I'd otherwise describe as 'normal' on the Hot 100 - a respectable number of entries, everything seems somewhat stable, only the rapidly fading remnants of an album bomb that's best forgotten. And it's also one of those 'normal' weeks that seems deceptively busy - more of a correction to what the equilibrium of the chart should have been the past few weeks, at least to me.

video review: 'dusty' by homeboy sandman

Well, this was underrated as all hell and I'm thrilled I finally got to it - next up... hmm, I think it's going to be L'Orange next, so stay tuned!

album review: 'dusty' by homeboy sandman

Not going to lie, this was the album that inspired me to do a full week of underground hip-hop reviews.

And when I say that, it's more of a combination of things than this album directly, even though Homeboy Sandman has been on my radar for a while now and I actually covered him briefly on the Trailing Edge last year. And I've long regretted that being my public introduction to discussing Homeboy Sandman, because I'm not sure it reflected how much I genuinely loved his work when I did my deep dive in his back catalog. To me I put him in a similar category to Sage Francis and Brother Ali, an older guy who is just as much of a bruising, socially conscious MC with uniquely creative wordplay, but also a fan of kookier flows and melodies, and with a much more robust sense of humour. Like most artists in this fringe of the underground, he can be a bit of an acquired taste, but if you're fond of acts like Aesop Rock - with whom he's worked frequently - you'd probably like a lot of his work, particularly albums Actual Factual Pterodactyl from 2008, First Of A Living Breed from 2012, and Kindness For Weakness from 2016.

That said, when he put the EP Humble Pi last year with producer Edan... I still wasn't really crazy about it, and I still place a lot of my frustrations on the production. Don't get me wrong, I like my lo-fi boom-bap, but Homeboy Sandman has the sort of compositional acumen that allows him to build more developed songs, and the dustier production didn't always flatter his melodic sensibility as strongly. And that is why I was a little nervous about his newest project literally called Dusty, produced entirely by Mono En Stereo who in recent years has done a lot of work for Your Old Droog, another act that I should probably get to covering at length at some point. But hey, it was short, and I had already heard songs that were as quotable and hilarious as ever, so what did we get with Dusty?

video review: 'secrets & escapes' by brother ali

Ugh, I really did want to love this... but it happens? Anyway, Homeboy Sandman is up next and I'm more excited about that one, so stay tuned!

album review: 'secrets & escapes' by brother ali

Well, this was well-timed for me - and came right the hell out of nowhere too! In the middle of when I was planning to make a week focusing on underground hip-hop, we get a surprise release - and from Brother Ali and Evidence of all people!

So let me back up - I first reviewed Brother Ali in 2017 for a project I was a little more lukewarm on than I'd prefer after a lengthy deep dive into his back catalog, which may not have been the best way to engage with that album not just because it forced him into comparison with some truly stellar work across the mid-2000s, but that it also remained remarkably solid throughout that crazy year, and the burst of aspirational optimism felt more grounded and human in this time than many other MCs in this lane. But I'll freely admit that he did slip a bit off my radar - as did Evidence, but that was more because he went quiet and I had the suspicion something was up, I just couldn't pin down what. And yet out of nowhere, Brother Ali dropped a short surprise release with the sort of features list that would make any underground hip-hop fan salivate: Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, Evidence himself, all spit over a flurry of samples run through a 2-track compressor and utterly unconcerned with anyone's schedule or attention. Which is a luxury when you're underground stalwarts with diehard fanbases, but I sure as hell am not going to complain about the timing, so what did we get on Secrets & Escapes?

video review: 'FEET OF CLAY' by earl sweatshirt

Well, this'll be... controversial? Maybe? We'll have to see...

Next up, we've got either Brother Ali or Homebody Sandman - stay tuned!

album review: 'FEET OF CLAY' by earl sweatshirt

At this point, I've given up having expectations for Earl Sweatshirt. 

Granted, I think we all did with Some Rap Songs, a discordant jumble of jazzy, lo-fi hip-hop that had him sifting through messy questions of numb anger and grief, that felt more like a set of cast-off thoughts than a structured album. And it was certainly a project that I respected... but it wasn't really one I loved, and I got the impression it'd be considered divisive in Earl's larger discography. And while the critics bent over backwards to shower it with praise - which again, I understand, but the particular set of lo-fi tones he used just didn't connect as deeply as I'd like - you can tell that some hip-hop fans were a little hesitant with this direction for Earl, especially long-term. 

And thus when he announced he was dropping a surprise EP from out of nowhere, while a lot of people seemed surprised at the incredibly quick turnaround, I'll admit I wasn't, especially if Earl was continuing to self-produce in lo-fi. Flip and chop up the right sample, blend the percussion in, add bars and muddy mastering and you could have a follow-up, especially if the songs were only a few minutes in length and there was no expectation of hooks or structure; that's the hidden truth about some brands of lo-fi music, the audience that buys into this sound without deeper scrutiny will tolerate a lot more than even mainstream fans who just want bangers with hooks. Now granted, I didn't expect Earl to phone this in, but you can only say so much in about fifteen minutes of music, with the majority of songs under two minutes. So okay, what did we get on FEET OF CLAY?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 9, 2019 (VIDEO)

Well this took too long to get up - stupid copyright bullshit...

Anyway, Earl is coming very soon, plus we have Rock Coliseum coming tonight, so stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - november 9, 2019

You know, when I reviewed JESUS IS KING over a week ago, I had this naive hope that maybe the general public would just be apathetic to it and it wouldn't chart, or if it did it'd be patchy and marginal, mostly around the bottom half of the Hot 100, an album bomb but one that could be managed. Instead, over half the album landed in the top 40, so even when album bomb rules are applied I've got a sizable week to mostly talk about a project I have aggressive non-interest in - goddamn wonderful. And while I could very easily find seven related Bible passages to make my point again and call it a day... well, we'll have to see.

video review: 'city as school' by uncommon nasa & kount fif

Honestly, not a great project, but I still feel that I was expecting something different out of this and couldn't quite square away what we got. Eh, it happens.

Anyway, Earl is up next, along with (sigh) Billboard BREAKDOWN - stay tuned!

album review: 'city as school' by uncommon nasa & kount fif

So I've advertised this a bit on Twitter, but here we go: a full week ahead where my primary focus is underground hip-hop, and I'm excited for it - I've got a lot in my backlog, both in recent releases and acts who have waited too long, let's get into it!

And let's start with one of the projects for whom I actually haven't seen a ton of buzz: a new album from New York veteran Uncommon Nasa who built his career as an engineer within Def Jux in the 2000s, but who you might be more familiar with cutting a swathe through the underground this decade as both producer and rapper with a set of tangled, dense, but highly rewarding albums. He came onto many folks' radar with New York Telephone in 2014, but won me over convincingly with Halfway in 2015 and Written At Night in 2017, two of the best albums of their respective years, along with a pretty solid project in 2016 with Short Fuze called Autonomy Music that I'd argue holds up pretty damn well to this day. But you'd be forgiven for thinking that he's seemed a little quiet the past few years... and there's where I'd argue you might be misinformed, because not only did he release a collection of short stories and poetry in 2018, he also produced a pretty hard left-field project with Last Sons this year called Chekhov's Gun, which I also reviewed and it also kicked a lot of ass! But I knew it would only be a matter of time before Nasa got behind the mic again for another project, so on Halloween last week he released a project produced by Kount Fif and featured many of his regular collaborators, including Short Fuze, Guilty Simpson, Last Sons, and more. Seemed to be a pretty agreeable release for the underground, even if it seemed like the buzz was rather muted... but screw it, I wanted to cover it, so what did we get from City As School?

video review: 'wildcard' by miranda lambert

Yeah, this is going to get messy... sorry y'all, I wanted to love this as much as you did, I am a fan... but I have to be honest too. 

Anyway, next up is a week full of underground hip-hop, so I'm starting with Uncommon Nasa - stay tuned!

album review: 'wildcard' by miranda lambert

When Miranda Lambert released The Weight Of These Wings in 2016, I can argue it simultaneously opened many doors, but also closed many as well. On the one hand it played like a magnum opus, a long, winding, dusty look through her deepest insecurities and pain given her recent divorce that you really only can get from a top caliber artist - hell, trim the fat on that project and you easily have one of the best of that year. But it was also decidedly uncommercial as a project, winning tons of critical acclaim but not landing much in the way of crossover success in the same way previous albums had. And as much as I'll stand up and say that Miranda Lambert was probably most comfortable near the indie scene anyway - especially given her work with the Pistol Annies, who made their triumphant and underappreciated return with Interstate Gospel last year - it was dispiriting to know that Nashville radio would probably wall up the door behind her and never let her see the same mainstream traction again. 

But that did mean Lambert would be able to effectively make whatever the hell she wanted, which meant that I wasn't surprised that big changes seemed to be coming with Wildcard. Not only was it her shortest album in over a decade, she had also ditched long-time producer Frank Liddell, bringing in Jay Joyce as his replacement... and I'll admit I immediately had mixed feelings, because Joyce's track record has been unbelievably hit-and-miss over the past several years, from highs with Brandy Clark and Eric Church to lows with Halestorm and, well, Eric Church. Yes, he's gotten better in recent years, but  he's not going to elevate a song where the writing isn't up to par... which is why I was so relieved to see a murderer's row of veteran writers behind Lambert, most pulled from the indie scene from Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna to Brent Cobb and Jack Ingram. So okay, I'm excited, what did we get from Wildcard?