On Elmatic, Detroit’s Elzhi rewrite’s Nas’ seminal Illmatic to fit his personal story. Thanks to his flow, lyricism, and some production help from the Will Sessions band, the project goes off without a hitch. I’m sure it’ll be debated whether or not this album is better
On “the Rose With the Broken Neck,” Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi pull together some Italian-style soundtrack music with Jack White on vocals. Though the textures and sounds are vintage and pretty authentic, the drama of this track–the drama I imagine should be here–doesn’t really hit me.
Every time Cass McCombs drops an album, I feel myself swinging back and forth violently on a spectrum of enjoyment. The songs that win me over do so with little to no effort, and the songs I hate gather an immediate response from me as well. Thankfully, “County Line” is
Actor, writer, and rapper Donald Glover is Childish Gambino. He’s best known for his comedic output, but his rap career seems to be growing exponentially with the release of his latest EP–look out for a full-length this fall, too. We’re taking on the lead single from this
If my son had made this album, I’d say this: “This is a strong debut, son. Strong debut.” WATCH THE REVIEW
This Will Destroy You’s latest LP starts and finishes with flying colors, but it gets a little underwhelming in the middle for me. Hearing the band revisit old sounds, work with an odd drum mix, and working with similar structures throughout this album make me rethink my original love
On their sophomore album, Australia’s the UV Race brings garage rock to a dirtier and grimier level than most. The band’s loose song structures and loose playing bring a lot of, well, “character” to these recordings. There are flubbed notes everywhere, and it’s all for the sake
On this new track, Bon Iver has altered the instrumentation his somber tunes soak in, but not much else. Years after For Emma has dropped, the mood as stayed roughly the same–which is a pretty great thing, to me. Sincerity, earnestness, honesty, and passion all come through on this
On hit latest release, Amon Tobin isn’t building songs as much as he is sounds. The textures on most of this album are absolutely amazing, and among the best this Brazilian electronica producer has ever created. I love how abstract, adventurous, and mind-bending the first two thirds of this
