#and violin very consistently so many of the songs were really catchy to me and i get them stuck in my head a LOT. this musical instrument

[hallelujuh]

shay’s favorite albums of 2017

didn’t commit to finishing this until the literal very end of 2018 but whatever fdjhfkjdsnfds

I’m not sure if it was my newfound willingness to explore new genres and artists, but I thought 2017 was a fantastic year for music. Plenty old favorites of mine released new albums this year, and I was lucky enough to discover a lot of music, both from new musicians and old. Here’s my top twenty albums of this year.

20. Divide by Ed Sheeran

19. Fin by Syd

18. Blossom by Milky Chance

17. I See You by the xx

16. Trip by Jhene Aiko

15. Good for You by Amine

14. Future Friends by Superfruit

13. Sacred Hearts Club by Foster the People

12. American Teen by Khalid

11. All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell by Pvris

10. From the Outside by Hey Violet - While I originally only cared about this band because it’s composed of mostly girls, which is rare, I’ve grown to really love them as musicians. They’re very creative, producing catchy pop tracks that aren’t like most pop songs, and their debut album is fun as hell. Each song makes the listener feel badass and sexy and young, and you just kinda wanna dance and enjoy life. Favorite track: Tie between Like Lovers Do and Unholy. The former is distinctive and unique, and reminds me of Emilie Autumn, and the latter is incredibly well-produced and pretty visceral for a pop track by such a young band. 

9. After Laughter by Paramore - Continuing their previous album’s sound so that every song sounds like Ain’t It Fun, After Laughter has a gorgeous aesthetic, a memorable sound, and, notably, follows the trend of most emo artists of today - disguising sad lyrics beneath happy music, as made famous by Twenty One Pilots. Each song is catchy, allow the lyrics all leave you feeling a bit empty, but you’ll be dancing to misery. Favorite track: 26. I’m always a sucker for the one mellow song on an album full of bops, and that rang true once more. 26 is about reflecting back on how you’ve spent your youth, and it’s paired with a bittersweet simplistic guitar. Hayley’s vocals hold pain, but also gratitude.

8. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom by Halsey - I’ve been a huge Halsey fan since before Badlands even came out, when all we had was Room 93 and live versions of then-unreleased tracks. Though her evolving sound was criticized by some, I appreciated that HFK follows the formula so many other sophomore records follow, with the lyrics addressing new-found fame and how the artist is dealing with it, and also how they want their sound to be since they’ve already made it big. This record was clearly more hip-hop driven, with production that sounded heavily influenced by Kanye, but it felt fitting. Furthermore, HFK is the redemption arc to Badland’s heartbreak-themes. It’s really a triumphant album overall. Favorite track: Sorry. While 100 Letters is my most-played track and therefore a close second, because the simplistic beat allows Ashley’s lyrics to shine, and she’s a lyricist and a poet before she’s a singer - I believe Sorry is the quintessential song from this record. Her pain is so tangible in this stripped-down ballad, and it’s such a nice switch from her usual lust-driven upbeat songs. I always have respect for musicians who can bear their sleeve in such an open, honest way, and while Ashley’s always been vocal about her struggles, it’s still nice to hear such a heartfelt track come about even after all her success.

7. Dua Lipa by Dua Lipa - This young pop singer's self-titled debut is a catchy, passionate, and solid record that's earned her a well-deserved place on the charts and in people's playlists. The songs are rather cliched, recycled themes that I've heard from dozens of other young female artists, but there's some emotionally-charged pop ballads that show potential. Dua's vocals remind me of a raspier Ariana Grande mixed with a less-powerful Christina Aguilera. Seeing as those two aforementioned singers can over-do their performances a bit, I enjoyed this mellower newcomer. Don't get me wrong, Dua's unique in her own way, and she's hardly a copycat; but I'm worried her talent will overlooked because there's already others like her. Still, it was a solid album that I enjoy thoroughly, and I had multiple tracks from it on repeat.

6. Beautiful Trauma by P!nk - I've been a P!nk fan since I was very young, and this album was wonderfully nostalgic to me. P!nk's one of the few artists who's never been swayed by a need to stay relevant; she just makes the music she wants to make, and her fans love her for it. This record was, at times, a little generic beat-wise, but still distinctly P!nk. As always, she wore her heart on her sleeve and you can feel how personal every song is; how genuine every word is. It really pays off. Favorite track: Barbies - This is a song I think every girl over thirteen can relate to. I'm twenty years younger than P!nk, but this track really resonated with me. It was the only song on this record I listened to repeatedly. I think every girl wants to grow up as quickly as possible, but once you reach adulthood, you just want to be a kid again. You long for simpler times. The beautiful message of the song (enjoy your youth) is paired beautifully with gorgeous instruments (violin! cello! wow!), which adds a timelessness to the track.

5. One More Light by Linkin Park - Although most, myself included, were unhappy with the pop-driven sound of LP’s seventh effort, the death of Chester added a lot to how meaningful this album is. Listening to it now fills me with a hopeful nostalgia, in contrast with how I listened to it in the days following his passing. What once sounded like a cry for help that no one listened to, now sounds like a triumphant farewell. As usual, these guys put their hearts into the making of this record, and it’s a real bummer that it took Chester killing himself to make people appreciate that. LP is a master at their craft, regardless of what genre they’re feeling at the moment. It’s a solid album, full of truly heartfelt lyrics and Chester’s beautiful voice, and I’ve often found myself listening to it when I’m feeling down. It really helps. And that’s what LP’s music has always been about, I think. Being there for you when you feel like no one else is. This album still felt like that, even though it was through a different genre. They let go of the anger that fueled their signature sound in the beginning, in exchange for a more rounded, reflective take on things. I think that’s comforting, and beautiful, in a way no one seemed to understand. What’s better than someone making peace with the world? Alternatively, what’s worse than someone taking their own life because people didn’t want to see them get better? Favorite track: Talking to Myself. I watched this video the day it was released - hours before Chester’s passing was announced. I enjoyed the bass and the video made me smile. After I found out, and after a few hours of crying, I rewatched this video, and it meant so much more the second time. The song itself is a favorite because it’s such a fun track. The bass line is catchy as hell, and my favorite part of the song is the chorus following the bridge, where Chester does a powerful run and then briefly lapses into Meteora-style vocals (”you keep running like the sky is falling”). That bit is so profoundly incredible to listen to for me, and I’m glad he left us with it.

4. Revival by Eminem - I’m one of the biggest Eminem stans of all time, so I’d probably buy a record that consisted entirely of Marshall shitting - but in all actuality, though he could never disappoint me, I was prepared for the worst, and I was pleasantly surprised. This album felt more solid than MMLP2′s experimental sounds, with Em showing us he really hasn’t fallen off. His usage of words like “lit” and “shook” are admittedly a little cringey, and his take at a more modern sound on Believe (with a trap beat and a Migos-like flow) is questionable, but the lyrics show he’s just as on top of his game than ever. It’s not an instant-classic like MMLP - those days are probably over - but it’s a decent record with several damn good songs. (Edit, 12/2018: Bro I wrote this last year, what the fuck was I on dgfkjdgh.) Favorite track: In Your Head. While the most memorable tracks on this record are definitely the collaborations - my favorites being River with Ed Sheeran and Need Me with P!nk - this rather short track really stood out. I listened to the album for the first time on my CD player, without having looked at the track listing since it was released a few weeks back, so every song was a surprise, and when I heard O'Riordan’s vocals, I got very excited, since Zombie is one of my favorite songs of all time. Though the original song is about war, Em raps over the sample track’s bass line and signature guitar riff and speaks about the skeletons in his closet with a passion reminiscent of The Eminem Show and a flow taken from his Recovery days. The smooth transition to Castle is another nice touch. While his speed in the last thirty seconds of Offended is impressive (with Flight of the Bumblebee in the background! Ha!), this was the song that sold me on this album. It’s everything I love about Eminem. (Note: This was written before O’Riordan’s passing. RIP.)

3. Scum Fuck / Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator - From the goofy poster boy of a generation of carefree and colorfully dressed punks, to an extremely talented and capable producer and musician, watching Tyler’s growth as an artist and a human has been extremely rewarding, especially as a longtime Tyler/OF fan. While Cherry Bomb failed to impress me in the midst of my emo-craze, I appreciated that it was a turning point in Tyler’s career. SFFB, however, successfully took me right out of my indie-craze. Flower Boy builds upon what Tyler tried to do on CB, and it works out much better. Watching his brilliant NPR Tiny Desk Concert only solidified this belief. Tyler’s a musical genius, and I hope more people come to realize it. Favorite track: 911/Mr. Lonely. The whole record is full of earworms - Glitter, Boredom, See You Again - and it’s truly a feat Tyler was able to pull that off. But I have to go with this single - both songs are catchy, the production is masterful, Frank Ocean and Steve Lacy’s voices are beautiful. Who Dat Boy didn’t particularly excite me upon first listen, but these two tracks did, because they reminded me how talented and incredible Tyler is.

2. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar - My favorite thing about musicians is getting to watch them mature, both musically and personally. I’ve frequently compared DAMN to J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only, as both records feature Jermaine and Kendrick discussing much more mature concepts within their albums. Kendrick’s always been grounded because of his upbringing, whereas Cole was a little more blinded by fame for the first few albums. However, since their respective last albums, Kendrick has gotten engaged, and Cole got married and had a little girl (EDIT: Apparently he had a boy!), and you can hear how these lifestyle changes have influenced their lyrical content, which is really nice to behold. Kendrick’s always seemed like a very intelligent person, with an understanding of the world many in his field lack, and this album highlights that beautifully.  Favorite track: Humble. While Love’s a personal favorite, Humble’s success reminded me of Control. I still remember the day that dropped - and Humble felt similar, as it was Kendrick reminding us that he’s simply on another level. The simplistic and almost grating beat excellently parodies every single rap song that’s on the radio these days, except Kendrick proves his superiority by showing us that the beat’s not the important part; the lyrics are. It’s genius, and I’ll never get over how iconic it is, honestly.

1. Saturation I, II, & III by Brockhampton - Because this remarkably talented new group released three new records this year, and I can’t pick a favorite, nor can or do I want to rate them separately, they easily earn this spot. With flawless and innovative production, refreshingly creative and intricate lyrics, remarkable versatility, and, best of all, a youthful individuality reminiscent of Odd Future circa 2011, Brockhampton is one of the best things 2017 has offered. I’ve grown attached to these kids, and I’m glad I’ll be able to see where they go and how big they get. Favorite track: Star. While Junky is the most impressive track, and Follow is my personal favorite, Star earns this spot because it’s the song that single-handedly got me into Brockhampton. The name-dropping bop is a good introduction to the band, as it features their signature memorably synth-infused beats, Ameer’s clever wordplay, Ian’s favorite thing to talk about (his sexuality) as well as his penchant for hooks and bridges, Merlyn’s loud and brash vocals, etc. I won’t be compiling a list of my favorite songs of this year, but if I did, this would easily make the top ten. It reminded me exactly why I love rap music, in a time when I was beginning to doubt hip hop.

honorable mentions

CTRL by SZA - Though I’d never heard of SZA aside from her feature on Consideration, this album was hyped immensely by Twitter, so I felt I had to check it out. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Although the album’s masterfully done, and I love the production and her voice, the lyrical content ruined it for me. Of course, this is personal preference, and she’s allowed to write songs about whatever the hell she wants to, but the nature of the lyrics were what kept me from being a fan. To each their own, I guess.

Everybody by Logic - I wasn’t a big Logic fan prior to 1-800. Funny story, actually - I thought he was entirely white, and I’m vehemently against white rappers. He's more like a biracial Kendrick, especially in flow on Hallelujah. The record continues the trend started by Bey’s Lemonade of celebrating black power and beauty, with Logic demonstrating a fresh, biracial perspective on it. Loved that there were actual instrumentals, that was refreshing, considering modern rap beats are often created entirely using synthesizers. Also love that Logic’s cementing himself as the Inclusive Rapper, and accepting that title proudly. Good for him.

I Decided by Big Sean - I’ve been a casual Big Sean fan since Finally Famous (2011), but he’s very rarely impressed me with his lyricism. This album showed that Sean’s matured and grown as a person and a rapper, but the songs didn’t leave enough of an impression on me to be featured on my list.

Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey - Although I’m sure die-hards were more than happy with this record, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wish I could’ve. Lana’s sound hasn’t changed much, so I don’t think the quality of her music is decreasing, I just think my tastes are changing. This newer stuff hasn’t appealed to me nearly as much as her Born to Die/Paradise stuff did. I think 2012!me would’ve loved this record, but 2017!me was unsatisfied.

Melodrama by Lorde - I can always appreciate growth in an artist, but in Lorde’s case, I couldn’t bring myself to like the change. While there’s traces of the sound that put her on the map, and the music still sounds like teenage rebellion, it just doesn’t invoke the same feelings. It’s less grounded - and not in a good way.

Lovely Little Lonely by The Maine - The pop punk 1D continues to make catchy, solid tunes, but nothing about this record particularly stands out to me. Still, it’s a decent album from an underrated band.

extended plays

they’re too short to be included in my top albums, but i wanted to mention them anyway.

Caught Up by Sarah Close - I found this adorable Brit through her fantastic covers of popular songs, and thankfully I was subscribed when she started posting original music. Caught Up isn’t particularly unique, but the songs are fun, her voice is wonderful, and it’s a solid little EP.

Y.O.U by Dodie - I’ve watched Dodie’s covers for a while, so it’s nice to see she’s making original stuff. Love the style of it. Very excited to see what she puts out next.

dont smile at me by Billy Eilish - The fifteen-year-old, who sounds very similar to the recently-disgraced Melanie Martinez, may talk like an annoying skater boy, but her angelic singing voice keeps pulling me back in. I’m not used to talented celebrities being younger than me. It’s depressing. (EDIT: I spelled Billie wrong jdgdhf she’s in my top 10 artists of this year now too hahh)

Hard by The Neighbourhood - This band has been a favorite for four years now; I even saw them live for my birthday in 2015. They could never disappoint me, but their recent music hasn’t changed much to what long-time fans like myself fell in love with in the days of I Love You, which is nice to see, when so many other artists I used to like are experimenting with their sound in unflattering ways.

[classicliteraturehoe]

BREAKERZ “X” Discussion/Rant

Honestly I just really want to talk about this album to somebody and since none of my friends care about this band neither do most of you, I’mma just post it here anyways.

First of all, I want to say that I’ve been looking forward to this album for roughly two years, aka since the release of their last album, ZERO. Especially after they kicked off their Tenth Anniversary Concert Series. The moment I realized that each band they challenged would have a part on the album, I began anticipating X more and more. Essentially, I love this band with all my heart and I always look forward to their new music. And this album in particular has really caught my attention. Every song is very well crafted and they all sound spectacular. I’m going to go More in depth about how I feel about all the songs later.

I don’t know if it was Daigo who thought of this or another band member or a third party, but Kudos to the double meaning, triple meaning and consistency of puns with the title of the album and songs. If you don’t get it, let’s go over them:

The Title of the Album : X

-X as in the Roman Numeral 10 for this being he Tenth Anniversary of BRRAKERZ as a band as well as having ten songs on the album.

-X as in Cross, because every song is a collaboration with another Japanese musician or group. So BREAKERZ x SKY-HI, for example.

The Song Titles (excluding GOD and She is Devil)

GREAT (pronounced in Japanese as GU-REI-ITU” Ambitious, featuring GLAY (pronounced GU-REI)

RODEO Drive featuring GRANRODEO

Black SKY featuring SKY-HI

GOLDEN Night featuring GOLDEN Bomber

Koi no SUPER EXPRESS featuring 超特急 (which translates as SUPER EXPRESS)

TRIANGLE featuring TRIGNAL

Never Ending STORY featuring My First STORY

Hirari MAI chiru hana no youni featuring MAI Kuraki

Now, these are likely obvious to most of you, but I just find all of these cute play-on words commendable. They certainly put a lot of thought into this album and it shows.

Not only did a lot of thought go into the titles, but to the music as well. Each song was thoroughly enjoyable and beautiful for their own reasons and I adore each one.

GREAT AMBITIOUS was a great (pun intended) way to open up the album. The upbeat rock combined with the violins playing in the higher register felt to me very reminiscent of Ikusen no Meikyuu de, as well as Climber x (ha!!!) Climber. And from just the title I began thinking about WE GO, and I can imagine they both have similar themes. The song is very catchy even without really knowing the meaning of the lyrics. Overall, it’s a fun piece.

RODEO DRIVE. I don’t know if it’s just me, or does this song feel a whole lot like RUN AND RUN from ZERO? Yes, RUN AND RUN was specially written because Daigo was doing the 24 Hour run thing on television, which was huge for him especially since that was the day he proposed to Keiko Kitagawa, but this song is just as upbeat and I can only imagine going on long jogs at sunset when I listen to it.

BLACK SKY. This one is in the running to be my favorite on the album along with two others. The guitar riffs kind of remind me of Daydreamer from the ZERO album. But the addition of SKY-HI’s rapping gives this song a whole different feeling. I’m not even sure how to describe it. The touch of electronic music seems out of place in this song. On the other hand, I absolutely adore the chorus. The pace and the progression of the notes just sounds so beautiful to me.

ゴールデンナイト〜黄金色に抱きしめて〜. Listen up I’m literally obsessed with this freaking song. There are so many musical elements and little nuances that I just UGH love so much, and it just. feels like a BREAKERZ song. But it also doesn’t. And it’s amazing. It’s as if BREAKERZ took 女々しくて (Golden Bomber’s most famous song) and then made a BREAKERZ song. Because it sounds like Memeshikute, but it also doesn’t.

恋のスーパーエクスプレス. I like this one, but it’s not my favorite on the album. And believe me, it’s a nice song. Very j-pop-y, and when you collaborate with a jpop group that’s the kind of sound you tend to get. It’s a cute song, and in a few senses it reminds me Smile 100% and Arigatou Beautiful Day. You know, very pop-rock, sweet. You just really feel like smiling while you listen to it. A nice contrast to songs like She is Devil, Golden Night, And GOD.

Triangle. I enjoy the beginning of this one more so than the rest of it. The instrumental introduction is very pleasing. The clarinet I found especially pretty. It’s quite clever that it’s called Triangle and the rhythm is in 3. I can’t decide if it sounds more like a carnival song or a french drinking ballad. Really it’s a combination of both. Trignal narrating adds a nice touch. Also a sweet song.

NEVER ENDING STORY. I love this song a lot. It feels like BREAKERZ is going back to their roots a bit. I hear a lot of influence from many of their songs from GO and FIGHTERZ. Very fast paced. It feels a lot like DAIGO’s Mugen no Rebirth and other songs which were anime openings. And at the end of the chorus, it sounds like Daigo is referencing the melody from Maria, back in his DAIGO STARDUST days.

She is Devil. The only non-collaboration song on the album. And gosh, when I listened to it the first time, the first thing I thought of was Miss Mystery. She is Devil is written as if it’s the sequel song to Miss Mystery, and boy it brings back memories of classic BREAKERZ, back when I first discovered their music, and I felt like crying. I particularly enjoyed this song because it’s the only one on the album that is exclusively BREAKERZ. I mean, of course it’s great that they had all these collaborators, but it is an album celebrating ten years together as a band, and it wouldn’t be right if they didn’t write a song for them and only them.

ひらり舞い散る花のように. THIS. SONG. IS . GORGEOUS! I was in love with it after only hearing the teaser of it that BREAKERZ posted to YouTube. It’s quite possibly my favorite song BREAKERZ has ever written. Daigo is known for his recognizable voice, so full of emotion in every syllable, and this is a perfect example of the extraordinary power his voice has in carrying melodies, in ballads especially. I notice that while their ballads are never their most popular, they’re always my favorites. The acoustic guitar, the strings! The harmonies, the percussion. They all come together and create this beautiful work of art. If you listen to no other song on this album, make this the one you listen to.

GOD. The first time I read about DAIGO writing GOD and performing it at the BREAKERZ vs. VAMPS concert, I burst out laughing, and saying “aw Daigo, you Hyde super fan.” Only someone dangerously devoted to their idol would write and perform a song in their honor about how they worship them. But listening to the emotion in his voice as I finally got a first listen to GOD, I understand precisely why he wrote it, and I understand the sentiment. This song is written for Hyde, but it says exactly what many of us feel for the artists and creators and public figures that we look up to.

This album revived my love of the band. In the two years between albums, so much happened. I experienced the worst depressive episodes of my life, my anxiety worsened, and I was hating life for a long time. Of course, good things happened as well, I rediscovered my love of musical theater, worked on a lot of shows, became a better musician. Daigo got married, started becoming more popular than ever. So much happened. Along the way, I listened to them less and less. But after this album came out, I feel like I remember the way I felt when I first discovered BREAKERZ, and I remembered what it felt like to really love a band. I’m so thankful for this band and for Daigo and Akihide and Shinpei. And I’m so thankful that they’ve been together as long as they have been. Ten years is a milestone, and while was only on board for four years, I harbor a deep appreciation for the band as much as any other fan, even those who were with them from the beginning.

[girl4music]

The 6th studio album from Demi Lovato is here and it’s ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I made sure to give this a good listen a couple of times through so I could get all the details down of what I wanted to say about it in my review. I heard it on a rushed initial listen and I disliked near to every song on it because of the musical production. I didn’t like how dead and dull the beats sounded. But later I found out that the production did not actually sound that bad, I was just listening to it through earphones that had a broken right ear and I did not realize it. Musical and vocal production is most important to me when it comes to the music. If you have not got that right, then you haven’t got anything right. If the musical production is bad, then it’s all going to sound bad. If the vocal production is bad, then the singer is going to sound bad, no matter how well they performed in the studio. Clarity is key when it comes to both kinds of production. I need to be able to hear everything that’s going on in that track. All the detailed nuances and dynamics in instrumentation. Of course how it’s mixed and mastered plays a huge role into how it sounds on the final cut but it’s mainly the producer that has the job of making sure the track sounds clear so that everything is equalized. These days though the producer also mixes and masters the tracks, so they are pivitol to the finished release. When it comes to the vocal production, that is also extremely important. Especially how the vocalist phonates the lyrics. How they convey their thoughts, feelings and emotions to the listener so you can better understand the story or concept behind the music. Demi is very good at that in general, and on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, it’s truly what sells it.

This is a track by track review where I talk about the specifics of what I personally picked up both negatively and positively about each track and how I rate it based on those opinions. I’m not your average reviewer. Those of you who read my reviews already know that I am a subjective one. I only draw from my own perception. Everything I see, hear, feel and know about the music is what I talk about. I do not talk about sales, charts and awards. I don’t talk about numbers at all. So if that’s what you’re expecting, you should move along because I never do that. I do not consider it a necessary thing to talk about. But what I do consider necessary to talk about is the music itself and how the artist/band has grown from their previous efforts. What has improved and what has decreased. This shows their development as an artist and that has more benefit to them than me just praising them for the success they’ve already achieved. I attempt to give them critical acclaim through constructive and unbiased criticism. So I will do the very same with this review. Here we go…

1. Sorry Not Sorry

The debut single to ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. This song is a great summer song. She released it at the right time and makes her market. In several interviews Demi talks about how she was the only one that wanted this track to be the first single and that nobody else on her team agreed with her and would of much rather chosen the title track ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ instead. Until she went to seek out the advice of Jay Z at Roc Nation and he told her that she was right. That it should be the debut single. That was what made the debate settle and they went with ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ as the first single of a whole new era for Demi’s music.

I think they made the right decision. It’s a great song. It has it’s pop vibe for radio to latch on to but it also showcases the soulful side the album is offering. It features a choir as many tracks on this album do. It’s sort of an intentional set theme Demi wanted to go for with it’s soulful/gospel style. It’s got a very catchy chorus, something you will sing along to, if you can. Demi’s songs are always difficult for even a classically trained singer like myself to sing to, let alone just anyone. I want to point out how interesting I find the techno bass vocal effect that’s in the track. She uses this effect quite a bit in this album and it’s interesting to me because usually I don’t like this kind of thing in music. Modulated/pitch-shifted vocals usually puts me off. But I actually quite like it in this album. It gives it edge and attitude and it contrasts well with the gospel choir, making it compliment the track overall rather than destroy it. There is too many songs out there where even small things like that can make or break the song. It was a risky decision and it payed off for Demi.

9/10

2. Tell Me You Love Me

‘Tell Me You Love Me’ is the title track of the album and as previously mentioned earlier, was supposed to be the debut single for it. It’s a great song that really shows just how soulful Demi wanted to go with this album and I think that’s why her marketing team were fighting for it so hard against Demi. But she argued that people know her too much for this kinda thing when it comes to her music, so she wanted to prove to the public that she can also be a party girl. She’s versatile and I absolutely LOVE that about her. It’s a big reason why I am a fan.

This track brings in a Jazz band. Horns and brass instruments are heard sounding out in the intro and they have a prominent existence all throughout the entire song. It makes it sound sophisticated and mature musically and sonically and that’s something Demi definetly wants to have if she’s trying to get The Grammy’s attention. The drums that make their way into the track at the chorus are real drums. Big deal for me. I’m tired of hearing drum machine beats. I love the sound of a real drum kit. Demi’s vocals go for the goals with hitting those high upper-belts that she’s known so well for. Upper-belts are her trademark. You know it’s Demi when she’s hit about 5 F#5′s consecutively in the same breath without even so much as a stagger in vocal control. Yeah, to say I’m jealous is an understatement. She said she’d give us an album that showcases other sides to her massive vocal capacity, and she does, but you just come to expect the powerhousing alongside it and think nothing of it. It’s just what she does and she does it very well. For musical production and vocal production as well as vocal performance this makes it one of the best songs on the entire album for me. It scores as high as her voice.

10/10

3. Sexy Dirty Love

Initially I did not like this song but it’s grown on me with every listen to it. It’s a grower track. It’s an infectious disco tune. Like something you’d get from Donna Summer back in the 70′s but with more modernized musical and vocal production. Using the techno bass vocal effect gives it that updated pop production as well as the electronic bass and drum beats. Demi’s proved she can do fast-tempo music with her cover of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ for the soundtrack to The Angry Birds Movie. She’s never really done disco for her own music though. It’s very different for her, but as usual, she smashes it because she’s just that vocally versatile. Although, not a favourite from this album or really anywhere close, it gets respect and praise from me for her experimenting and trying something new which furthers her development as an artist.

4/10

4. You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Now we get on to our big power ballad. ‘You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore’ is gorgeous vocally. Demi finally uses her falsetto register to a degree where it’s clear and consistent and her voice is not wavering around. She has good control of it, proving that she is fully capable of singing in head voice whether recording in the studio or live in performance. She just needs more practice with it. The tonal quality and brightness of her head notes are stunning. A beautiful and light timbre that’s perfect for singing R&B/soul music. Because in soul more than just the modal/belting registers are needed. R&B is about the vocals being used as an instrument. Everything is about vocal capability. It requires flexibility and dexterity. It requires a mixing technique where you can go from head to chest voice easily and fluidly. If you haven’t got that or you can’t execute your vocals to do that consistently, then R&B is not right for you. This is the only reason I was skeptical of Demi going R&B. Not that I doubted that she could do it. I had all the faith in her. I just wanted her to prove to me that she was ready to. This track is what cemented it for me that she can and she will succeed as an R&B/soul artist. I 100% believe that all she needs is more vocal training. I want to see her perform this one live without changing her voice to chest when she has to do the falsetto parts or avoiding the notes completely. Whatever weakness she believes she has is all in her mind. She is capable of it physically, she’s just doubting herself and hesitating when it comes to actually executing it in performance. If she can do it in the studio, she can do it live. No excuses.

As for the musical production, it’s old-school style instrumentation. Lots of violin and cello. It’s got big strong kick drum beats that give it a really dramatic feel. It’s very reminiscent of ‘Stone Cold’ from her last album ‘Confident’. The lyrics, and I don’t often talk about lyrics, are very interesting. Demi has confirmed that while the song sounds like it’s about a breakup song with a lover, personally for her, it is not. It’s about her breaking up with her old self and saying that the alcohol and the drugs don’t do it for her anymore. Of course you can interpret it any way you like, but I think this is a very interesting take on the song. Self-reflective lyrics are something I would resonate with or relate to more than if it was just about a relationship going down in flames, which Demi leads you to believe it is about when she refers to what she’s singing about as a “who” instead of an it. Clever multi-perspective lyrics. I am very impressed with her songwriting on this. The fact it is so brillaint musically, vocally and lyrically make this song the epitome of the album. The highlight of the entire body of work that she’s created and put together.

10/10

5. Daddy Issues

This is my least favourite track on ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ because of it’s messy electronic production. Her vocals sound great but the electronics are so punchy, in your face and distorted that nothing sounds clear at all apart from her vocals. But even they sometimes at some points in the track get lost in the mix of the mess it is. It all just kind of clumps together and isn’t very well arranged. The distorted electronic drum and bass beats, the weird video game-like sound effects, the techno rhythms and melodies don’t make it a very appealing song to listen to. You might feel differently, but it just doesn’t work for me. The only part of the song I like is the dance break bit and with her singing “daddy issues, huh”. Otherwise this song is just disappointing to say the least. I wish she would stay away from DJ’s and EDM-style so-called producers because they cannot provide for her the musical quality her voice needs to be surrounded by to really just exemplify how fantastic of a vocalist she is. I want for her material to be just as strong as her voice is so that she’s taken seriously as a vocalist and an artist. This electro-pop stuff just isn’t right for her at all.

Also, does anyone know why they censored out the word ‘fuck’ in the first verse? If you do, let me know. I thought I had downloaded the clean version until I realized it’s like that on the explicit version too.

1/10

6. Ruin The Friendship

This bluesy little number captured me eventually. I skipped passed it on the initial listen because my earphones were just making it sound just as bad as everything else sounded. Dull and dead. But no, the track doesn’t actually sound like that. I just need better listening gear. I love the drum beat and bassline on this track as well as the sensual Jazzy instrumentation. Those trumpets sound so sexy. I feel like it was missing a saxophone solo, but you can’t have everything. I’m just such a big fan of real and orchestral instrumentation. Demi’s vocals here are also very sensual and sexy. Using a softer and lower vocalization in the main vocal track but also doing the backing vocals in a high and light falsetto. Gives it a confident and yet vulnerable contrast. She’s almost whispering when she gets to the bridge. It’s really arousing. She gets louder and more forceful towards the end of the song. That gets your attention and pulls you out of that foggy haze her sensual vocals have put on you. So very emotive.

I am not gonna go into the lyrics. We all know who it’s about as she doesn’t exactly keep it illusive. I think it’s a really good track. Not as good as some of the others though so it’s not a personal favourite. You might feel differently and that’s perfectly fine.

7/10

7. Only Forever

Another ballad. A much needed departure from the faster tempo we’ve had for the passed few tracks. Demi has mentioned that this song is sort of like a part two from the last track ‘Ruin The Friendship’, so clearly it’s about the same thing and the same person. I won’t get into that. Although, I am very intrigued, I’m keeping it strictly about the music.

So the track opens with the sound of out-of-tune piano notes. Like they’re being played on an old, dusty, hasn’t been touched for years piano that’s so out of tune it just doesn’t function properly anymore and sounds awful. I’m sure there is an artistic reasoning behind this so I’m not gonna point it out as a fault. It’s probably got something to do with the story of the song. Connecting the musical production and the lyrics together to tell the story. I love songs that do that. The techno bass vocal effect makes it’s way into the album once again. She seems to really like that effect. It must provide or mean something specific for her. Not sure what that could be but it’s interesting enough to make me peruse my thoughts about it. And I love thought-provoking music and art of any kind. I love interpretating and coming up with theories and headcanons on that art. I always say we never look for the meaning in a piece of art. We create it for ourselves. It’s very synthy. Got lots of atmospheric synthesizers. Could almost pass for a dream-pop song. I find it a bit boring to be honest. However, it does make it more entertaining when she picks up power and tempo in vocals.

6/10

8. Lonely (feat. Lil Wayne)

Demi’s one and only collaboration for the album. There was supposed to be two but one fell through apparently. A midtempo borderline ballad I would call ‘Lonely’. It’s just basic percussion and bass. I think I hear an organ but I’m not sure. Any instrumentation in it isn’t very prominent. What makes it worth listening to at all is Demi’s emotive vocals. They sell the song. Like no question about it. Those creaky, raspy, husky vocals, emoting all the pain and grief and conveying them to the listener’s ears. You can hear everything she does without all the distracting instrumentation and you feel it. You feel how upset and pained she is. You literally feel how lonely she is. Or maybe it’s just me because I have the ability to feel what she feels anyway. Long story…

Her emotive vocals communicate everything there is to care about in the song because Lil Wayne’s feature is terrible. I mean, it’s really bad. 1. It’s covered in autotune. 2. Because it’s covered in autotune, you cannot make out a damn thing he is saying. 3. It just sounds like he is underwater for the whole thing. Maybe it’s a conscious artistic choice though, I don’t know. I thought he would be a good collaboration but nah… he might as well not even be there for all the good his rapping contributes to this track. It just doesn’t. It’s all Demi. Absolutely from start to finish, it’s all Demi. ‘Lonely’ would actually be a better track with just Demi solo. Lil Wayne is just that useless and pointless to it that you could edit him out and have Demi doing the rap and the song would actually be better. Maybe something to think about when she performs it on tour. If she performs it on tour…

5/10

9. Cry Baby

“I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry lately. I’m no crybaby, but you make me cry baby. Crybaby”.

This song if you can’t tell from the lyrics alone is just an absolute masterpiece. The musical and vocal production, the vocal performance, the rhythm of the verses, the guitar solo, the lyrics. Everything. Absolutely everything about this track is incredible. The chorus hits hard. The chorus is so fucking good! Let’s just talk about the intro to start with though before I get ahead of myself. When I heard the lone electric guitar echoing through my ears like it was being played in an empty arena, I immediately thought of ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’. But not Cher’s version. The Nancy Sinatra version from the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Volume 1. It’s actually one of my favourite films in history. Obviously not the same melody because that would be copyright. But I mean just the aesthetic of it. I fell for this track straight away. Hopelessly and helplessly fell in love with it. I’ve repeated it God knows how many times since it came out.

The musical production reminds me a lot of ‘Mistake’ from ‘Unbroken’ album. A very underrated track. But hopefully this won’t recieve the same treatment. Tayla Parx wrote this song along with another song called ‘The Beauty’ that unfortunately didn’t make it on the album. I’m dying to hear that one if ‘Cry Baby’ is this damn good! No guesses which song is my favourite song on the album.

10/10!

10. Games

This one has weird electronic sounds and effects like ‘Daddy Issues’ but I find them more tolerable than in that track. Again, it’s just an electro-pop track. Doesn’t sound very R&B or soulful at all. But maybe that’s just me. I don’t have much more to say about it than that. It’s not the worst on the album but it’s not much better than that. Not for me. It could have easily been replaced with a much more worthy track such as ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ from the exclusive Target version of the album.

2/10

11. Concentrate

‘Concentrate’ starts off as an acoustic/stripped down ballad at first. Snaps, claps and acoustic guitar. A little bit of reverb on Demi’s voice as she sings the lyrics in the verses. Then an electric guitar melody, her gospel choir and a drum beat comes in at the chorus and there’s definetly an organ that joins in too. It’s a very laidback track but it builds up to a climax, so it’s quite progressive and Demi sounds really great on it. Emotive vocals full of soul and attitude really lift the song into the stratosphere. When the heavier instrumentation comes in, it does not overtake her vocals. The vocal production remains clear and it’s easy to make out how she sounds and what she’s saying. It’s a good song but not a standout.

4/10

12. Hitchhiker

Bassline sounds off in the intro and brings us into another bluesy little number from the album. I especially love the backing vocals in this song. The gospel choir was a great addition to this era and this album. This song will sound amazing live with them. This is another song I’m really looking forward to hearing live. I love the musical production too. The driving guitars sound awesome. I wish there could of been a blues guitar solo. It would of really added the cherry on the cake to end off the standard version of the album.

8/10

This is my most favourite to least favourite tracks:

Cry Baby

Tell Me You Love Me

You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore

Sorry Not Sorry

Hitchhiker

Ruin The Friendship

Only Forever

Lonely

Concentrate

Sexy Dirty Love

Games

Daddy Issues

This is my track by track review of the standard version of Demi’s 6th studio album ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. I would of done the deluxe tracks but I don’t like ‘Instruction’ at all and there’s nothing really much to say. The ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ acoustic version with the choir sounds great though. You should definetly check that out if you haven’t heard it yet. She’ll probably post the video of them performing it eventually. There is an exclusive Target version with 2 tracks on it called ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and ‘Ready For Ya’ but since I don’t class them as part of the album itself, I’m not gonna review them either. But I do think ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ should of replaced either ‘Daddy Issues’ or ‘Games’ as I don’t like those tracks much but I do love that one. Thanks for reading. Give feedback.

- Girl4Music

[mint-sm]

LOS CAMPESINOS! REVIEW/ANALYSIS: We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Last time on the Los Camp review (suspenseful orchestral soundtrack plays), I went over “Hold on Now, Youngster...,” which was an excellent introduction to the band, but I don’t think was completely reflective of the refinement and impact it would later reach. While what was presented was impressive and lively as hell as is, and the foundation for a wittier, more poetic, more intelligent, more refined and diverse sound was there, they just didn’t have the a full-enough grasp on their visions to take advantage of it.

Well, just 8 months after the release of “Youngster,” the world was suddenly sucker-punched right in the face with “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed,” which had immediately shown a much firmer grip on that path. Bare in mind, prior to the release of “Youngster,” the band had already existed for 2 years, and that album was something of a compilation of different songs they had been performing in university clubs and internet radio shows. It’s an excellent compilation, and it’s still very well put-together, but it likely wasn’t the most precise voice and identity resembling what the band intended to jump for, at least for the future.

With “Doomed,” they finally found ground for their true calling, and it was surprising as hell. Starting things off, the album immediately hits you with “Ways to Make It Through the Wall" with its bombastic opening chords, grimy feedback, incredibly-banging and dense melodies, crashing cymbals and blasting violin, and even MORE shouty vocals from the band, including Gareth almost incoherently screaming “AND A ROOM FULL OF VACUUM AND A ROOM FULL OF AIR LOOK THE SAME!” during the bridge. On one hand, it still somehow manages to feel like the good ‘ol Los Camp we knew, and yet at the same time you ask yourself “This is the same band that just released an album with a song called ‘Drop It, Doe Eyes’?”

(HOW YOU BREAK THE RULES THAT YOU YOURSELF IMPOSED / THINK YOU'VE GOT IT IN FOR US, I THINK YOU'VE GOT IT IN FOR YOURSELVES!)

I kinda mentioned this in my intro, but I would personally divide Los Camp’s discography into 3 periods: A “Twee Indie Period,” followed by an “Noise Pop Period,” then a “Mellow Rock Period,” and “Doomed” is found kinda sandwiched in between the first two. A lot of the fresh-new-vibrant-indie-ness of “Youngster” can still be felt, but it doesn’t quite reach the more experimental and even more noisy magnificence of “Romance is Boring” that we’ll discuss next time. That said, this transitionary period still feels like a massive blow to the head with just how much more powerful the production feels now, but it’s really, really welcome.

While I don’t really think other tracks in the album reach as much of an impact as the intro, it still does consistently have a more consistently… not “tight,” but “punchy” feeling to it. Much of it feels in a way somehow messier than “Youngster,” with a more abrasive side, almost garageband-like than hipster-y (though looking it up, I just found out that “noise pop” is an actual thing. You can see why I’m probably not the most qualified music critic lol).

Later bangers (haha see that I'm an awesome reviewer look at my lexicon) on the album, such as “Miserabilia,” the title track, and "All Your Kayfabe Friends" all have this less-pure, but still clashing feel to them, with more distorted guitars, harsher-sounding percussions, and more compressed vocals, almost sounding cassette-recorded quality at times. Even their comparatively softer tracks, such as "You'll Need Those Fingers for Crossing" and “Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time,” still feel very feedback-y and dense, if that makes sense.

(WE GOT NOSTALGIC, ENDED UP FILLING SHOE BOXES WITH VOMIT / COLLECTED SCABS IN LOCKETS, HUNG THEM ROUND OUR NECKS LIKE NOOSES / NONE OF IT MATTERED, NONE OF IT MATTERS, NOBODY CARED)

Now this probably sounds like “Doomed” is maybe too messy or harsh to be really accessible if you’re coming from “Youngster,” but honestly, it’ll all feel surprisingly pretty familiar since a lot of the instrumental sensibilities from that record still shine through and are in the forefront. We still have a lot of those plucky, lo-fi keyboard synthesisers, we still have the violin and glockenspiel riffs, we still have the many call-and-response verses between Gareth and Aleks, and we still have the upbeat, catchy melodies and choruses.

Not much theory-wise has fundamentally changed in that regard, except maybe the softer, lowkey ballads have gotten more distinctive, such as “You’ll Need Those Fingers for Crossing,” which not only has a constant, but soft and occasionally punchy rhythm to it, but again, has that duet aspect, and it flows beautifully.

“Between an Erupting Earth and an Exploding Sky” is also this great, a bit dissonant, synthesized, little screechy, but also rather ethereal and floaty-sounding instrumental, a track that I honestly think is one of the band’s most visual-sounding themes, one that provides one of the most clear mental images, like maybe you’re splayed out while floating midair as both the earth and sky are already exploding beneath and above you all in extreme slow-motion, where everything’s all violent and impatient and tense and shit but at the same time weirdly serene and kinda cosy? It’s like experiencing a terrifying apocalypse and yet it feels like everything’s going to be okay.

There’s also “Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time,” which on top of just being one of the band’s very few honest-to-god love songs that’s surprisingly heartfelt (it’ll get more surprising when I discuss “Romance is Boring,” believe me), the muted vocals, the reverbed, feedbacked to hell background ambience, but very crisp guitar and percussion just paint this beautiful, but kinda fading image that’s honestly one of the most sweet tracks the band’s ever made, but also one of the most vaguely tragic.

(I DON'T WANT TO SOUND TRITE BUT YOU WERE PERFECT / THE WAY YOU LOOK COULD SERIOUSLY MAKE NATURE DYSMORPHIC / I WISH THAT YOU WOULD KISS ME 'TIL THE POINT OF PARALYSIS / THE WAY I FLAIL MY ARMS IN FRONT OF YOU, IT JUST EMBARRASSES)

And then we get to the lyrics, and like I’ve said, this is where the band has started to get much more flowery and descriptive, and honestly very funny in a sort of cringe-comedy-ish way, accentuated by once again, dissonant instrumentals. “Miserabilia” in particular is just like a really jaunty, upbeat and smiley-sounding track, and there is a definite playfulness both sonically and lyrically, but at the same time you go “wow, this ‘miserabilia’ (because get it, misery? Memorabilia? Miserabilia!) isn’t something I should cling onto, but at the same time, it’s pretty natural to do so, innit?” There’s also a really cute and funny lyric about “He whispered, ‘Oh my God, this really is a joy to behold’ / I thought he said, ‘It's a joy to be held,’ so I held him too close / It was a grave mistake, he never came back again!”, and I honestly can’t help but smile at just how absolutely DUMB it sounds when I hear it.

But on the more depressing side of sardonic, there’s the title track, and it’s probably one of my personal favorite cuts in the band’s discography, not just because how much it hits close to home for me personally -- it’s about a long-distance relationship falling apart, and how over time you start getting more and more resentful of them and their diverging interests and they get so much more unfamiliar it makes you wanna break their new friends’ teeth in no I’m not still bitter -- but also because how it manages to perfectly encapsulate that snide, but genuinely frustrated catharsis, not just with the banging instrumental or the gradual vocal escalation as the song continues, but the really specifically-vibrant vignettes Gareth provides to really build this mindset, like how “Absence makes the heart grow fonder / fondness makes the absence longer / Length loses my interest, I'm a realist, I'm insatiable / Swapped counting days until I fly, with hours before your reply.” Really, if you can only listen to one song from this band, it’s this one (even if it is for the climax, which is absolutely incredible if emo-sounding as fuck).

(OH, WE KID OURSELVES THERE'S FUTURE IN THE FUCKING / BUT THERE IS NO FUCKING FUTURE / I'M JUST PRACTICING MY ACCENTS, PICKING AT OLD SUTURES)

Admittedly, there are some times when the lyrics really elude me on their exact meaning, probably because I can’t really pin down what scenario or what context they were born from, unlike the lyrics to “No Blues” where I can say “Oh yeah, he’s just making a football reference, right” (we’ll get into that later). Like the song “It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song for the Other Kurt),” which I think is about the narrator meeting with a girl, breaking up with her, and I think like the on-off resentment he gets when she snogs with some other dude? I think? I dunno, I’m reading the lyrics and I’m listening to who’s singing what line, but I still don’t really get a clear scenario.

Though like I said, Los Camp doesn’t USUALLY excel or at least specify in making images, and are more for crafting mentalities, mindsets, and atmospheres, and you still get this kinda-restrained giddiness juxtaposed with deep-seated resentment/fondness about a girl and part of her family, which is a theme that continues on for pretty much the entire second half of the album, like with “The End of the Asterisk,” or “Documented Emotional Breakdown #1,” whose exact meanings also elude me, but they have an obvious, kinda “twee indie”-style jauntiness to them, but haunted by an understated feel of darkness.

(THEY SAID, "THAT BOY'S TOO LAZY", YOU WERE CLEARLY FOREWARNED / A JEALOUS EX SILENCED THE ROOM, HE SAID THAT YOU WERE A WHORE / "DO YOU KISS YOUR MUMMY'S LIPS WITH THAT MOUTH?")

I think that just about sums up this album in a nutshell: Twee indie-style jauntiness with darkness haunting under them, like maybe say, an erupting earth and an exploding sky? It feels like Los Camp have finally identified an ominous, impending feeling of doom underneath their twee pop exterior and is slowly bringing that out with noisier production, more simultaneously specific-yet-vague subject matter, and a lot more honest-to-god atmosphere, brought out with much more concise and evocative lyricism.

It marks the true beginning of what I think the band is all about, and redefined what to expect from them. Once again, the feelings it provokes are a simultaneous yet somehow distinctive mishmash of wanting everything to be raucous and violent and you wanting to break down walls and shit, but also at the same time wanting things to be more emotional and down-to-earth, yet additionally being resentful and anticipating that fearful, inevitable doom.

It really is a great addition to the band’s discography, and it honestly feels like the perfect halfway point between the band’s innocent enjoyment of a time and scene gone by and the massively sardonic bitterness of the future. What happens then? Stay tuned! (suspenseful orchestral music ends) (4.5/5)

FAVES: “Ways to Make It Through the Wall,” “Miserabilia,” “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed,” “Between an Erupting Earth and an Exploding Sky,” “Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1,” “Heart Swells / Pacific Daylight Time”

PS, if you’re interested, I’ve also got an EEP released recently too! It’s electronica/chiptune fusions about a lot of cheeriness and sadness and shit! Thank!

[mint-sm]

LOS CAMPESINOS! REVIEWS: Intro

Let’s talk about Los Campesinos! for a minute. Who the fuck is Los Camp?

So basically they’re an indie pop rock band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in 2006 and continuing to this day. Los Camp originally dabbled in the early sorta pop-revival movement during the mid-2000s, but then largely shifted their tone with future albums to indie rock that was darker, occasionally noisier, but wittier and much more moodily humorous over the years.

They’ve kind of got a reputation of being a prime example “maturing as a band” among the indie world, but at the same time they’ve never really exploded as like a big thing. Funny enough, the closest thing they’ve ever got to really being major successes were around that early twee period of theirs, one that the band is ironically not the most fond of, which is fine, Death of the Author and all that, but y’know, it’s kinda amusing.

Throughout their history, they’ve almost always had a consistency for rich instrumentation with immensely catchy melodies and choruses, as well as a dark yet amusingly intriguing lyrical style. The exact delivery and subject matter changes between albums as per that “maturation” thing, but they’ve always had this weird dissonance with emotions to actual sonics, in that many of the lyrics written by singer/lyricist Gareth Campesinos! (Gareth David) are all about reflection, contemplation, and frustration with the world they live in, but that exact world changes as time passes, interwoven (I use that word carefully) with lively, powerful and catchy choruses and vocal deliveries.

Early on with their “Sticking Fingers Into Sockets” EP and “Hold on Now, Youngster…”, they were all about a sorta general, but charmingly not-twee, early 20’s frustration through songs about broken relationships, death, and doe eyes. But later on, with something like “Sick Scenes,” they’ve grown more specific and a bit moodier, but simultaneously a bit more aloof, with a self-deprecative dark humor, going into stuff like quarter life crises, growing up in a world that’s on the verge of self-destruction, disappointment about things from crappy football tournaments to Brexit, among others.

But the thing I feel sets Los Camp apart from other indie rock acts that like to invoke lyrical dissonance is how much they intertwine the compositions and lyrics together, rather than have it just be sorta like, y’know, haphazardly placing really bright and poppy and glistening music with cheery, poppy sing-songiness that can be heard on pop radio but then the lyrics are all ANGSTY AND MISERABLE ABOUT HOW DEATH IS THE ONLY ANSWER BLAAARGH SCREAMO AND SHIT

Los Camp do have a really good sense of humor about their subject matter and themselves, and even the darker stuff they approach is usually (repeat, usually) approached with a... not-exactly playful, but very much self-aware attitude, and what you get is this weird mishmash of emotions where it’s like you’re introduced to a specifically shitty world or scenario, you feel like shit because you realize “wow, we’re actually all kinda living it,” and you know the world doesn’t love you, but you know what? Let’s shout back at the world and see what happens.

Gareth is able to make that sort of vague rebelliousness I probably just described it as as not vague at all, because his lyricism has been consistently very precise, very tight, yet very dense. Tons of his lyrics are jam-packed with incredibly ornate wordplay and obscure references from all over the place, from European football tournaments to esoteric postmodern novelists. He usually paints a really vivid mindset -- probably not an image per se, since he can get really esoteric and his exact meanings might fly right past me -- like he’s able to craft this really conflicting, but oddly consistent series of emotions with each song, and it makes their music so damn versatile, something you can totally listen to with any mood and yet still have it feel strongly relatable, kinda like how the lyrics of Smash Mouth’s “All Star” sound oddly depressing when I’m in a shitty mood. Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me... :(

And as for the music itself, the band’s sound has had a pretty clear-cut evolution over the years, starting off with this punchy, charming violin/glockenspiel-obsessed Beautiful South-or-Pavement-inspired pop rock with the “Sockets” EP and “Youngster,” which went on to this slightly moodier, noisier, but still-lively period with part of “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed” and completely with “Romance is Boring,” and everything since then has been this more mellow, relaxed and much, much cleaner period with releases since, in “Hello Sadness,” “No Blues,” and “Sick Scenes.” 

Essentially, listen to this track from "Hold on Now, Youngster..." and compare it to this one from "Romance is Boring" and to this from "No Blues." You can probably spot a few significant stylistic differences right off the bat.

I’ll go more in-depth with these individual albums over time in chronological order (gonna skip the EPs and “Heat Rash” zines just for convenience and in the end they’re not quite as interesting to talk about), but just in general, Los Camp has been a very fascinating band for me, and one I’ve heavily appreciated and respected for years. While I’m not the biggest rock fan, Los Camp will always hold a special place in my heart because of how unique they feel to me, in how much they’re able to properly convey their barrages of conflicting feelings with such tightness and consistency, and somehow make the bleakest or cringiest ideas seem heartfelt, or funny, or even really beautiful.

I would hesitate to say that their approaches are idiosyncratic or all that experimental, but their simple ability to be able to do as much as they’ve done with a probably not-that-diverse level of production is honestly very inspiring, and as just some random laptop musician that wants to be able to evoke emotions with an even smaller budget and even less resources, they really serve me well as both an idol and someone to listen to whenever I feel really upbeat but snide about “true love” not being real, or if I’m slumped against a bus window on a really rainy trip back home.

LC!4LYF and stuff.

[mint-sm]

LOS CAMPESINOS! REVIEW: Hold On Now, Youngster...

It’s been around a decade now since Los Camp’s formation and the release of “Hold on Now, Youngster…”, and it’s been kinda funny seeing this as a starting point for a band that would go onto making stuff like “No Blues” or the not-quite-new-but-most-recent “Sick Scenes.” The band, especially singer/lyricist/face of the band, Gareth Campesinos! is really not fond of this “twee-style” period they ended up being pigeonholed in for a while, and they don’t seem to have many nice things to say about it aside from maybe the 3-4 songs from this record they still play in live concerts (when I saw them, I think they only played 4, 2 of them were for the encore).

The kinda depressing or funny thing (you don’t have to pick just one) is that despite their animosity towards this period and this album in particular, it evidently struck a chord with their audience, since this album did pretty damn well critically and commercially as a first outing. It’s juvenile and innocent and kinda bordering on emo music with a serious addiction to the glockenspiel, but there’s something with these releases that did have a serious appeal, and probably not just because there were a lot of emo/indie scenesters in the mid-late 2000’s.

(IT'S SAD THAT YOU THINK THAT WE'RE ALL JUST SCENESTERS / AND EVEN IF WE WERE, IT'S NOT THE SCENE YOU'RE THINKING OF)

Now I can’t really speak for other people, but as for me, the reason why I’ve become so fond of it does sort of tie back into that whole “pop-revivalist” thing, in that it just felt so damn refreshing. This was made before the term “indie” became a meaningless household buzzword that came to define anything with some slightly lo-fi guitar gunk to it, and Los Camp have a legit life and vibrancy to them, almost kinda punk-ish at times, but with just enough glockenspiel, violin and clean-ass major guitar riffs for you to want to dance more than… I dunno, probably mosh, but honestly, they’d likely still be naturally too colorful to do that (just check out their cover of a Black Flag song from this era).

It’s not the most utterly original sound -- their 80’s-90’s twee and punk inspirations pretty clear, especially from their B-Sides and bonus tracks consisting of covers of their songs (including Heavenly, Black Flag and Pavement) -- but you know what, every band is someone’s first, and damnit I immediately fell in love with “You! Me! Dancing!” the first time I heard it, and it’s still an excellent representation of this band’s era. The epic minute and a half giant wall of sound intro, the tight, loud percussion, instantly catchy guitar riff (thanks for singing Pavement’s “Box Elder” in live shows so we know where you got that from, Gareth!), and charmingly memorable chorus and spoken word outro, it all works incredibly well.

I say “this era” though, because some of what makes Los Camp even better in my eyes, namely its ability to convey such conflicting emotions with lyrics and composition, is kinda lost here, and that’s probably a reason why Gareth dislikes this album so much. It feels very more in-your-face and visceral, especially in the light of how he’s gotten much more comfortable with a wittier, more self-deprecating style, especially with newer releases like “Sick Scenes,” which I can only believe was his goal since day 1.

That’s fine, and I get his frustration about being associated with “twee” shit, but the thing is that I still heavily appreciate it, not just because I have a soft spot for this cheesy, UK-based indie music, but because on its own, it’s still really, really good. Damn good. Honestly, while I do like the slightly-more complex, bit more focused and specific Los Camp, musically, this is probably one of my favorites, and certainly its most playfully enjoyable and raw.

(IF YOU CATCH ME WITH MY HANDS IN THE TILL / I PROMISE, SUGAR, I WASN'T TRYING TO STEAL / I'M JUST SWIMMING IN COPPER / TO SMELL AND PRETEND LIKE A ROBOT!)

I’ve found in comparing lyrics from this album to other releases, even including the next one released 8 months later, “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed,” is that they feel by far the most straightforward in their discography (aside from that “Sockets” EP). It’s not “simpler,” per se, because even back then, Gareth’s already managed to convey enjoyably-conflicting moods, such as the case with “This Is How You Spell ‘HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics’” (why yes, the entire title does appear in the lyrics!), and “We Are All Accelerated Readers,” which manage to contain kinda smarmy self-righteousness, but have an incredibly cathartic and gleeful “HAHAHA, FUCK YOU”-ness and a moody disillusionment and listlessness, respectively.

No, what I mean by “straightforward” is pretty much that Gareth doesn’t seem like so much he’s dancing around certain concepts, like it doesn’t feel like ambiguously dodging topics about death or failing relationships or the like underneath his obscure references and wordplay and stuff. Rather, here he’s preferring to confront those matters upfront and kinda shout at his targets. It gets both pretty heartbreaking but also darkly amusing in “Knee Deep at ATP,” where he recounts discovering a girl he meets at the titular festival is already in a relationship through a love letter, where his focus is “for each correctly used apostrophe / I could feel my heart sink inside my chest in front of me.”

Overly direct? Maybe, but it still paints a pretty clear image and mood, and is actually pretty charming, especially as the song starts up with its vivid energy, then trailing into an uncharacteristically (but not unappreciably) slow and melodic twing-twanginess and violin section before slowly building back up again to that energy as the band screams “‘Not what you like, but what you're like as a person’ /  Well, I need new hobbies, that's one thing for certain!” There’s a reason why Los Camp still seems to like this song and play it after all these years.

Another example of that simple-but-sweet-ness is “My Year In Lists,” where we get this really punchy, playful percussion and verses with this girl, I think is Aleks Campesinos!, gleefully shouting alongside Gareth as he details his long-distance relationship through snail-mail, how “You said, ‘Send me stationary to make me horny’ / So I always write you letters in multicolours /  Decorating envelopes for foreplay / Damn extended metaphors, I get carried away”. It’s ridiculously indie and twee and sardonic as hell, especially as the chorus repeatedly goes “I cherish with fondness the day (before) I met you,” but I fucking love it.

(MY YEAR IN LISTS / STOMPING ON YOUR FINGERS AS YOU'RE CLINGING ON TO THE ABYSS)

Oh yeah, other thing to mention is the occasional duet vocalist, Aleks Campesinos! (Aleksandra Berditchevskaia), who was featured very prominently in early Los Camp songs until her departure around Hello Sadness. Vocals have always been a bit of a weird thing for a long time, and up until Gareth really and suddenly got his shit together with “Sick Scenes” (really, compare any song from this album to “5 Flucloxacillin”), most of the charm with the vocals came from not being very good, but still heartfelt and poetic (which granted, he himself admitted was still technically not very good, and also a reason why he doesn’t like this album).

However, Aleks was able to consistently provide a great contrast for the many call-and-response duets in this album, such as with the AWESOME opener, “Death to Los Campesinos!” and later "...And We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes in Unison,” which really take advantage of her much smoother, more melodic voice to provide the band’s massively conflicting themes, and they would continue to do that for future albums. Though at times even she can’t escape the occasional cringey off-keyness, especially with "Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s)," which considering how its themes are probably TOO basic for it to be really forgivable, is the only track I normally skip listening to this album.

(WE KNOW THAT WE COULD SELL YOUR MAGAZINES / IF ONLY YOU WOULD GIVE YOUR LIFE TO LITERATURE / JUST DON'T READ JANE EYRE)

But another thing that I really like about this album is just how it flows so damn well from song to song without any of them being too samey or too sticked-out. It’s able to sinewave really well from starting off, again, with the bombastic and catchy “Death to Los Campesinos!”, then suddenly escalating with the even-more louder, shouty "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats" before it suddenly decrescendos and slows down to fit the mood of “Don’t Tell Me To Do the Math(s),” etc., all climaxing with “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks,” which is frankly the  band’s loudest, catchiest, most harmonious, most epic closer track in their discography (okay, technically there’s an unlisted bonus track called "2007: The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)", but I count that more as an epilogue, though it’s still awesome). There’s simply never a dull moment.

(AND IT HITS AS HARD AS A BLOW TO THE HEAD / OR A SMASH TO THE SKULL, OR A KNEE TO YOUR CHEST / AND SWEET DREAMS, SWEET CHEEKS / OH, TOMORROW, OH, TOMORROW, OH, TOMORROW)

Is it the most complex thing this band has to offer? Probably not, but it more than makes up for it in my eyes for its sheer raw energy. Gareth and the band itself might not look kindly on this because it doesn’t fit the wittier, more mature goals they’d later reach with future releases, and this is probably is something they’d rather mostly forget, but at the same time, it still accomplished something that made people want to care about this Cardiff joint.

It provided them with one hell of an avenue to speak their early concepts of brewing brilliance, and sure, audiences probably didn’t realize at the time just what they would later be capable of, but as is, it’s still a fantastic album that stands very well alone, even as an admitted black-sheep relic as it exists 10 years later.

It’s also amusingly ironic, since within this album itself, Gareth himself says in the awesome spoken-word outro to “You! Me! Dancing!” that “On the way home, it always seems like a good idea to go paddling in the fountain, and that's because it IS a good idea, and we're just like how Rousseau depicts man in the state of nature: We're undeveloped, we're ignorant, we're stupid, but we're happy.”  Is it as adolescent, at-times willingly pretentious and overly saccharine as Gareth makes it out to be? Eh, maybe, but be damned if it doesn’t manage to convince us (maybe unintentionally so, but still) that the idea of jumping in that fountain is an awesome one. (4.5/5)

FAVES: “Death to Los Campesinos!,” “My Year in Lists,” “Knee Deep at ATP,” “We Are All Accelerated Readers,” “You! Me! Dancing!” “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks,” “2007: The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)”