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List of New Albums I’ve listened To In March 2017 (but haven’t reviewed)

Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me | March 4, 2017 | 3/31/2017 | 9

Folk | Concept Album

https://open.spotify.com/album/5p64XgvFREt1P6mC7Xl6XN

Stabscotch - Uncanny Valley | January 13, 2017 | 3/12/2017 | 9

Progressive | Hardcore | Noise | Metal | Punk | Experimental Rock | Avant Garde

https://stabscotch.bandcamp.com/album/uncanny-valley

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana |               February 24, 2017 | 3/24/2017 | 8

Psychedelic Rock | Prog Rock

https://open.spotify.com/album/3WAs9wemNyK4eWWMuniJeY

Power Trip - Nightmare Logic | February 24, 2017 | 3/29/2017 | 7.5

Hardcore | Metal

https://powertripsl.bandcamp.com/album/nightmare-logic

Thundercat - Drunk | February 24, 2017 | 3/24/2017 | 7.5

R&B | Jazz

https://open.spotify.com/album/0pP7fWQxwXJ52FsQww0YGx

Oddisee - The Iceberg | February 24, 2017 | 3/25/2017 | 7

Hip-Hop/Rap

https://open.spotify.com/album/2dEkjiUBO6Z2aeolcJ7sCy

Sampha - Process | February 3, 2017 | 2/25/2017 | 7

Electronic | Soul | R&B | Pop

https://open.spotify.com/album/2gUSWVHCOerKhJHZRwhVtN

Jonwayne - Rap Album Two | February 17, 2017 | 3/24/2017 | 6.5

Hip-Hop/Rap

https://open.spotify.com/album/7BucNyOhmpFiLli7e7MPUE

Ed Sheeran - ÷ (Divide) | March 3, 2017 | 4/1/2017 | 5.5

Pop

https://open.spotify.com/album/3T4tUhGYeRNVUGevb0wThu

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CunninLynguists just released an EP, and I’m really digging it. As always, Kno’s chilled, soul-based hip-hop production is top-notch, and the lyrics and flow are just as well-crafted. This EP, on all three tracks speaks on race relations in America, and does it near flawlessly. I’m going to keep from giving this EP a rating because I’m almost certain that this is just a sneak peek at what’s to come from CunninLynguists, but I really enjoyed this short EP and I would definitely recommend it.

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Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood by Sun Kil Moon is Mark Kozelek’s latest project which rarely bores the listener despite its 2 hour 9 minute runtime. This folk album is composed of 16 tracks, each averaging out at approximately 7 minutes. Throughout the album, Kozelek is able to tell cohesive and rather interesting stories over more folk rock style instrumentals. While his lyrics often seem rambly, he still doesn’t fail to tell a cohesive story or drive his idea home on a single track, even at track lengths longer than 7 minutes. The album is also filled with several spoken-word pieces where Kozelek often tells a story about his life. These spoken word pieces, along with the chorus’ break up the monotony of his rambly vocal and lyrical style and keep the listener more interested. His dedication to every topic he sings about is admirable, and not for a minute does he speak about anything that doesn’t have anything to do with the topic at hand, even if only vaguely connected. While, at times the lyrics seem very rambly his impeccable storytelling adequately makes up for it. So far, this is one of the better albums I’ve heard this year.

8/10

Favorite Tracks: “God Bless Ohio” “Philadelphia Cop” “The Highway Song” “Butch Lullaby” “Window Sash Weights” “Early June Blues” “Bergen To Trondheim” “I Love Portugal” “Seventies TV Show Theme Song”

Least Favorite Track: “Sarah Lawrence College Song”

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List of albums from this year that I’ve listened to but haven’t reviewed. (with scores)

I just didn’t really feel like reviewing these for whatever reason. Either because they didn’t interest me enough, mostly everything has already been said about them, or the genre tags explain what the entire album is.

Here’s the format:

[Artist] - [Title] | [Release Date] | [Date of First Listen] | [Score Out of 10]

[Genre Tags]

[Link]

The Pablo Collective - The Death of Pablo | January 27, 2017 | 2/7/2017 | 8.5

Experimental | Noise | Dark Ambient

https://thepablocollective.bandcamp.com/album/the-death-of-pablo

Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods | January 23, 2017 | 1/25/2017 | 8

Remix | Meme Mashup

https://soundcloud.com/neilcic/mouth-moods

Quelle Chris - Being you Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often |    February 10, 2017 | 2/24/2017 | 8

Jazz Rap | Abstract Hip-Hop | Underground Hip-Hop | Avant Garde Hip-Hop

https://open.spotify.com/album/1RcFnz8idz2A9fm3ZlOYUZ

Wiley - Godfather | January 13, 2017 | 2/20/2017 | 8

Hip-Hop | Grime

https://open.spotify.com/album/1F4VaFhSDTVK5uDPXbm42l

Code Orange - Forever | January 13, 2017 | 2/19/2017 | 7.5

Hardcore | Metalcore | Punk | Hard Rock

https://open.spotify.com/album/2V7axnEU5HQoN9Tu5JVl4S

TWRP - Ladyworld | January 14, 2017 | 1/14/2017 | 7

Electrofunk | Disco

https://twrp.bandcamp.com/album/ladyworld

Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now | February 17, 2017 | 3 /4/2017 | 7

Folk | Anti-Folk

https://open.spotify.com/album/66Ie2OCJrjpAIvwLzb13TM

The Weight We Carry - Hard To Exist | February 15, 2017 | 2/16/2017 | 7

Hardcore | Punk

https://twwc.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-exist-3

Bomb Erotica - Salence Bombardo | January 24, 2017 | 3/6/2017 | 6.5

Experimental | Electronic | Noise | Plunderphonics | Vaporwave

https://bomberotica.bandcamp.com/album/salence-bombardo

The xx - I See You | January 13, 2017 | 2/19/2017 | 6.5

Pop | Electronic | Electropop | Synth Pop | Alt-Rock

https://open.spotify.com/album/2PXy9USZAoTSdtrxfkPBnl

SOHN - Rennen | January 13, 2017 | 2/13/2017 | 6

Synthpop | Electronic Pop

https://open.spotify.com/album/4ReJh8aIFJ1LlHzg3PBA15

Sundara Karma - Youth Is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect | January 6, 2017 | 2/12/2017 | 6

Pop

https://open.spotify.com/album/11vjbOVFGoGXWFQF5PwzUN

Bonobo - Migration | January 13, 2017 | 2/18/2017 | 5.5

Electronic | Pop | EDM | Ambient

https://open.spotify.com/album/2T64N96AVfsrRFJCUXQEoZ

Big Sean - I Decided. | February 3, 2017 | 2/23/2017 | 5

Trap | Hip-Hop

https://open.spotify.com/album/0XAIjjN5qxViVS0Y5fYkar

Dark Sky - Darkness At Noon 3 | January 1, 2017 | 1/1/2017 | 5

Hip-Hop

http://www.datpiff.com/mixtapes-detail-2015.php?id=820945

P.O.S. - Chill, Dummy | January 27, 2017 | 3/6/2017 | 4.5

Hip-Hop

https://open.spotify.com/album/5EZKYwCy3QwosNkGGdneu9

Elite - So Damn Good | February 16, 2017 | 2/20/2017 | 2

Hip-Hop

https://soundcloud.com/elite-14/sets/so-damn-good

I’ll be updating this every month.

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FORGET is the latest studio album from american experimental rock group, Xiu Xiu. Overall, this album is relatively accessible when compared to much of the band’s earlier work, nearly going into the realm of pop. However, this album still holds much of the same experimental edge that has come to be expected from them. Lyrically, this album sometimes slips into the realm of pretentiousness and occasionally this pays off with some really great lines but at other times these pretentious ideas just end up sounding stupid and well.. pretentious. Despite this, overall, the lyrics on the album are quite well written and well sung and the few corny and stupid lines don’t really take away from the experience. Instrumentally, Xiu Xiu puts together incredible electronic pieces. Some highlights of which are the atonal (and possibly detuned) guitar licks on At Last, At Last or the non-gimmicky use of a harmonic minor scale in the melody of the first half of Faith, Torn Apart. (Harmonic minors are often used in a somewhat gimmicky way so as to emulate some eastern music). Along with these highlights, every other track is quite well produced and each track is quite memorable as well. Overall, this was a great album, and I would highly recommend it to fans of art rock and experimental music.

8.5/10

Favorite Tracks: “The Call” “Queen of the Losers” “Get Up” “Hay Choco Bananas” “Jenny GoGo” “At Last, At Last” “Forget” “Petite”

Least Favorite Track (If I had to choose):  “Wondering”

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Culture is a trap-based party rap album by Lawrenceville, Georgia hip-hop group, Migos. From a track by track standpoint, this album is pretty good. The instrumentals throughout the album are extremely well produced and the flow of the lyrics is often very strong and catchy. My one main gripe with this album is that most of the tracks are quite similar to one another. The topics explored throughout the album are pretty much the same from track to track, topics mainly exploring drugs and sex, which has become the norm in most mainstream hip-hop, therefore, most of these tracks feel interchangeable. However, each individual track has decent flows and extremely catchy hooks, as well as extremely well produced beats. It’s nothing amazing but I can see myself coming back to some of these tracks.

6.5/10

Fav Tracks: “T-Shirt” “Get Right Witcha” “Slippery” “Deadz” “Out Yo Way”

Least Fav Track: “Culture”

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Discography Reviews

I’ve been thinking of reviewing full discographies by different bands and artists. Shortly reviewing every album in the discography and giving my thoughts on the career of the band or artist as a whole. I’m thinking of doing Swans first.

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The first full-length project by Great Good Fine Ok: III is a short and highly formulaic synth pop album. It seems each song on the album follows the same formula both lyrically and musically in how the lyrics are structured as well as the sound. Each chorus kicks off with a bass drop, and the songs tend to go in a very set and specific order. They hardly stray away from this structure which after a few tracks begins to feel tedious. Despite that, most of the album is still pretty catchy with a few spots here and there that miss their mark a little bit. The music is very danceable with funk elements strung throughout the project. The songs on this project it seems are better listened apart from each other as singles due to their similarities. Overall, this is just a safe, fun little synth pop album. It can be tedious at times despite it’s short length but it was still quite enjoyable at times.

5.5/10

Least Fav Track: “Get Away”

Fav Track(s): “Take It Or Leave It” “Holding You” “Everything To Me” “Thinking”

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TWRP’s newest EP Ladyworld is yet another well crafted electrofunk project from the group. On this project, TWRP comes back once again with their catchy and dance-able disco inspired sound that seems to bring back a sound long lost in a cloud of irrelevance. This 80′s funk sound is complemented with lyrics sung through a vocoder adding even more to the electronic feel. Of course, with all that’s great about this project, there are still a few small issues that require addressing mainly being that some tracks just aren’t interesting. Some of the tracks just feel like filler, which is surprising for an EP. Despite this small gripe about the presence of filler on the EP, this is still by far the best project TWRP has put out yet, and I’m excited to see what they put out in the future.

7/10

Least Fav Track: “FOOD BAR”

Fav Track(s): “Overture” “Ladyworld” “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Her” “Built 4 Love”

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“The Split EP” is a 2 track Metal/Hardcore EP by the bands Bottomfed and West Berlin, each contributing with one track. I haven’t really gotten deep into the genres yet but the project was still mildly enjoyable for me. I enjoyed the second track, “104″ by West Berlin a little more due to it feeling a bit more organized and more melodic. This project is only a little over 5 minutes long so if you’re into metal and hardcore music then I’d recommend giving it a listen. There’s not much to lose.

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Pink Guy a.k.a. Filthy Frank  a.k.a. George Miller has just released his newest album, “Pink Season” which improves on every aspect of his first album, “PINK GUY” both comedically and musically. First off, this album is a monster clocking in at just over 78 minutes and throughout my listening of this album I haven’t really been bored once. This of course is in part due to the short average track length mostly clocking in at under 3 minutes. The short track lengths add a lot of variety to the album and makes the filler a little less boring.

On that note one of my main criticisms of this album is the filler. There’s a lot of it. I understand that most of this album was made to be bad and that’s part of what makes the comedy so great but there’s a fine line between being so absurdly bad that it’s hilarious and just being boring and underwhelming. and about a quarter of the album’s tracks are just that: slightly underwhelming tracks that miss their mark. However this is still a slight improvement over Pink Guy’s last album whose filler was a lot more plentiful. This however is my only real problem with the album.

Although this is primarily a comedy album, there are one or two slightly more serious or at least less comedy oriented tracks on the album such as the softer track, “We Fall Again” which really showcases George Miller’s musical talent outside the realm of comedy.

Speaking of comedy, the comedy of this album is mainly composed of four things. Absurd lack of quality both lyrically and instrumentally on some tracks, sexual comedy (Badly done in many cases as well), offensive jokes and subjects and just general absurdity.

The offensive and absurd comedy tends to be the funniest to me on the album with tracks such as “White Is Right” “I Have A Gun”  “Gays 4 Donald Trump” and  “Dog Festival Directions” being some of my favorites on the album. another one of my favorite tracks on the album is the track “HIGH SCHOOL BLINK193” which mocks the pop-punk band Blink-182 and their musical style and lyrics.

Overall if you like offensive comedy, you’ll probably at least kind of like this album. I’d highly recommend at least listening to some of the tracks on the album to see if it’s for you.

7/10

Favorite Tracks: “White Is Right” “I Have A Gun” “STFU” “Gays 4 Donald Trump” “I DO IT FOR MY HOOD” “PLEASE STOP CALLING ME GAY” “She’s So Nice” “Hand on My Gat” “HIGH SCHOOL BLINK193” “Rice Balls” “Dog Festival Directions” “We Fall Again” “CLUB BANGER 3000” “Help” “I Will Get A Vasectomy” “Furr” “Fried Noodles” “Goofy’s Trial”

Least Favorite Track:  “Another Earth”

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My Top 10 Albums of 2016

Now That 2016 is over, I can confidently give my year end list. I haven’t listened to everything, but I have listened to enough music to have a good list of great albums that were released this year. So here we go.

Honorable Mentions: Sturgill Simpson, Beyoncé, Radiohead, Crying, Weezer, A Tribe Called Quest and Frank Ocean.

10.   Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

9.  Street Sects - End Position

8.  clipping. - Splendor & Misery

7.  Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree

6.  Swans - The Glowing Man

5.  David Bowie - ★

4.  Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 3

3.  Death Grips - Bottomless Pit

2.  Will Wood & The Tapeworms - Self-ish

1.  Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

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The album “Scum With Boundaries” by the I.l.y’s is a experimental punk and industrial album by Andy Morin and Zach Hill of Death Grips. The album is a very lofi, garage punk album with really catchy guitar riffs and choruses throughout the album. The music feels chaotic at times, and very controlled at other times. The album is pretty much exactly as one might think. It’s essentially what Death Grips would sound like if it were a punk band, and that’s basically what it is. Overall, the music is really hard hitting and catchy, and it’s yet another great album from Hill and Morin.

8/10

Favorite Tracks:  “Disastrous Looks” “Peace and Quiet” “Stop Yelling In The Museum” “She’s A Genius” “Doing Things That Artists Do” “Roll Your Eyes” “I’m Gonna Have Sex” “Spiral To Me”

Least Favorite Track:  “Scum With Boundaries”

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Weezer’s new Self-Titled ‘White Album’ is a great pop-punk album, ‘nuff said. Much of this album sounds kinda like a mix of Beach Boys and Green Day in the best way possible. This album is great, catchy, pop-punk music. That’s all there really is to say.

8.5/10

Favorite Tracks: All of them

Least Favorite Track: None of them

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“The Glowing Man” by Swans is yet another superb and surreal addition to their discography. The album is packed with both the ambient noise and beautifully surreal lyrics and melodies that the band has become known for. Despite the amazingly performance and production on this album, it may feel taxing and indulgent at times. The album is very long clocking in at almost 2 hours, which to a newcomer may seem a little too much to handle, but it’s definitely worth it. “The Glowing Man” is an amazing and surreal noise rock album, and one of my top picks for 2016.

9/10

Favorite Tracks:  “Cloud of Forgetting” “Cloud of Unknowing” “The World Looks Red / The World Looks Black” “People Like Us” “Frankie M” “When Will I Return” “Finally, Peace”

Least Favorite Track (If I Had To Choose): “The Glowing Man”

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The Album “Beyond The Fleeting Gales” by Crying is a superb independent rock album. Displaying great female rock vocals as well as a regular use of synthesizers and other sounds regularly displayed in electronic music, this is definitely one of the better independent rock releases I’ve heard in a while. The only major flaw I can find on this album is it’s lofi recording quality, but in no way is it distracting in terms of the music. The album is beautiful instrumentally and vocally, and is definitely a must listen to any fan of current rock music. 

8.5/10

Favorite Tracks: All of them

Least Favorite Track: None of them

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Green Day’s newest album, “Revolution Radio” was a mediocre attempt at keeping the band relevant. By no means was this album bad, although it was a little contrived in how it was performed and recorded. The project is what you would expect from modern Green Day. It has the same kind of sound as their earlier works, yet it has lost a bit of the edge that made their earlier works so great. Despite this, there were a few strong tracks on here, such as the extremely well written and performed “Still Breathing” or the softer ending, “Ordinary World” which closes out the album amazingly well. Although there are a few great tracks on this album, there are also a couple that take away from the experience. This can be best exemplified by the long and monotonous “Forever Now”. Despite its nearly 7 minute length, the song goes nowhere and just keeps the same pace. Overall, this album wasn’t bad. It had a couple tracks that were really great parts of the album, but they were accompanied by a couple tracks that were just as poor. Overall, this wasn’t a bad album, It mostly kept itself at a steady pace throughout the project. It may have had a few rises and drops, but overall it kept a consistent quality. 

6/10

Favorite Tracks:  “Still Breathing” “Troubled Times” “Ordinary World”

Least Favorite Track: “Forever Now”