Album Reviews: July 2013 Week 1

Adult. - "The Way Things Fall" 2013

This was a pretty highly anticipated release for me. They've been really quiet for the last 5-6 years, and until I saw the news last year of them being signed to Ghostly International, I thought they had probably called it quits from the music scene. It's good that they are still making music and here to stay, because their music fills some sort of void for me that other bands and artists can only sort of replace. I feel like Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs owes just as much to Adult.'s singer, Nicola Kuperus, as she does to The Runaways, in terms of influences to her singing style. This new album flows through very smoothly and fits right in with the current scope of what is hitting in the indie/pop/electro world, but it honestly seems a little too safe for Adult. There's no super hard sounding songs on here like "Blank Eyed Nose Bleed" and "Glue Your Eyelids Together". Even if the mood has been lightened up a little bit from their previous releases, this is still a very solid and catchy LP, and much like their older albums were, I wonder why more people aren't talking about this album and listening to it. People outside of their main fanbase continue to sleep on them. I would recommend this album to anyone who wants to hear some music that's not corny and sounds like it's from the 80's. Check out the video for "Idle (Second Thoughts)". Also check out "Heartbreak", "Tonight, We Fall", and "New Frustration".

Joeybagadoughnuts - "Joeybagadoughnuts Sings His Heart Out" 2013

Nice little EP offering from this member of Huntsville, Alabama's SortaHuman crew. Instead of the usual raps, this is more of an experiment in fusing rap with modern R&B. The end results are pretty enjoyable. It reminds me of what might happen if the dudes from N2Deep had hooked up with Domino in the early 90's. I definitely have a soft spot for people who put themselves out there as singers, when they know they don't really have a traditionally good singing voice, and then manage to pull it off and make tight songs out of it. I especially like the closing track, "Famous Last Words". You can download the EP for free, or just listen here at the SortaHuman page.

Apparat - "Krieg Und Frieden (Music For Theatre)" 2013

I had very low expectations for this, based on how little I enjoyed his last full length, "The Devil's Walk". I enjoyed all the early material I heard from him 6-7 years ago, but all of that material had been intricate instrumental music. He eventually decided to start singing and added his own vocals to the mix, and I just was not feeling his singing voice or style. Obviously from the title, this is some music soundtrack type work, and this style suits him QUITE well. I don't doubt that someday he'll be one of the more sought after people to make scores for films. Most of these songs are extremely intricately woven soundscapes that border on complete psychedelia without going too far off the deep end to alienate someone who mostly listens to classical music. That is a very hard tightrope to walk, but he's doing it. Even the 2 songs with vocals are pretty decent this time around. Check out "Lighton", "A Violent Sky", and this live performance of "44 (Noise Version)".

Thr33 Piece Suit - "Brand New Vintage" 2013

I don't remember where I found this from, but i'm guessing it was probably Potholes In My Blog. This is a hip hop trio consisting of Swann Notty, Chachi, and J. DePina. I'll admit that i've never heard of any of these guys before, or have any idea where they come from. This LP is very reminiscent of Little Brother to me. The beats are very 9th Wonder-like (in a good way) and the MC's remind me a little of Phonte and Big Pooh. This is one of those new albums that a lot of my friends who crave that late 90's east coast boom bap sound, need to hear. I personally don't find any of these songs to be stellar, but there isn't any duds either. Everything is nice and solid throughout. You can download the album for free or just listen to the songs here.

Heems - "Wild Water Kingdom" 2012

This must've slipped out during the holiday season late last year and got lost in the shuffle for me. He had put out a different album earlier last year under the name Himanshu, but apparently he's going for a name that people can pronounce easier or something. This is one of the 2 main dudes from Das Racist, for those not in the know. This album is incredibly drugged out, you almost feel high just listening to him rap so fucked up. I feel like this works both for and against this album, in terms of how enjoyable it actually is. It's cool when you're in the mood to hear intelligent junkies rambling, but it's not as good when you're looking for something a little more engaging. There's some pretty interesting beats on here as well, the best of which to me are probably by Harry Fraud and Keyboard Kid. Even though he dropped this during the winter, it works really well as summertime music, as everything has this very easy/breezy feel to it. You can download the album for free or just listen to the songs here.

Jonwayne - "Cassette 2" 2013

Entry #2 in his cassette only series. 5 nice little rap tunes with the tightness i've come to expect from him at this point. Check out "Passing Fancies" and "Cool Runnings" featuring Zeroh.

Intronaut - "Habitual Levitations" 2013

This was recommended to me by a friend. I was not familiar with their previous work. This is one of the better hard rock albums i've heard in the last little while. They remind me A LOT of Mastodon, but not so much that it seems like they're biting them or anything. I would just definitely recommend Intronaut to fans of them. Some of the vocals even remind me slightly of Alice In Chains. There is a great balance of good vocal parts and jamming out on instruments. I'm sure i'll be playing this album often for the rest of the year. Check out the video for "Milk Leg". Also check out "The Welding", "The Way Down", and "Steps".

Mr. Oizo - "Amicalement" 2013

Pretty much my favorite artist out there at this point. This is another free download EP like "Stade 3" was. You can get both of those here from his website for free. The main point of interest here is that he collaborated with Marilyn Manson for the song "Solid". This song is basically by the numbers Oizo, with a funny vocal sample from Manson repeated throughout. It's nice and effective, but also predictable. The other 3 songs here are a little more interesting to me, and show different sides of his style. I especially like "Waltz-E-More".

Major Lazer - "Lazer Strikes Back Vol. 1" 2013

In preparation for releasing the 2nd full length Major Lazer album, they put out 4 free EP's to get people hyped up. I wish more artists had this type of marketing instead of the cock tease method that Daft Punk and Boards Of Canada used for their current albums. I got this from their official website, but it's possible the free downloads are no longer available. The 4 songs here are pretty cool. My favorites being "Original Don (DGRC Remix)" and "Get Free (Yellow Claw Remix)".