Album Reviews: October 2013 Week 4

Thee Oh Sees - "Putrifiers II" 2012

I got a chance to see these guys in concert last week and their performance blew me away. It's a great feeling to be excited about rock n roll again. It's amazing to me how this band has about 6-7 albums that are all from the last 3-4 years, and all of them are great. This was one of the records I purchased at the show. I don't like it quite as much as their newest full length, "Floating Coffins", but it's still very high quality. They have a relatively unique sound, but if I was to compare to them to other bands, I would recommend them to fans of The Pixies, L7, The White Stripes, and Ween. Check out this surreal video for the surfy sounding "Lupine Dominus". Also check out "Putrifiers II", "Hang A Picture", and this cool little fan-made video for "So Nice".

Thee Oh Sees - "Carrion Crawler/The Dream" 2011

So, this was another record I bought at their show, and hot damn, this might be my favorite release by them that i've heard so far. This record has barely left my turntable this week. Nice, upbeat, and rockin. This album instantly puts me in a good mood. Highly recommended. Check out "The Dream", "Robber Barons", "Carrion Crawler", and "Crack In Your Eye".

Ryan Hemsworth - "Still Awake" 2013

I ended up catching a DJ set by him a couple weeks ago, and when I heard he was coming to town I was excited about it, because I enjoy a great deal of the songs i've heard from him so far, but his set was pretty uneventful and lackluster and actually seemed pre-recorded. Disappointing. In any event, this EP is pretty good. Definitely more mellow and soft than i'm used to hearing from him, but I like when people expand their horizons and don't let themselves get put into boxes. Most of these tracks remind me of 90's RPG video games for some reason. Maybe it's just me. Either way, this is 7 songs of upbeat audio relaxation, perfect to zone out to. Check out "Empty Thoughts Over A Shallow Ocean", "I Want To Stare At Your Face Until I Die", and "Track 5 (Crashed)".

Mac Miller - "Watching Movies With The Sound Off" 2013

Mac Miller is such a strange artist to me. On one hand, he represents a lot of things that I hate, not only about the music world, but the whole world in general. A rich kid who was probably given everything he ever wanted growing up, and therefore had all the free time and resources in the world to develop his craft. There's tons of poor people with way more natural skills who will never get the chance to show the world that, and that's just the way the world works. On the other hand, I have to respect Mac Miller for the direction he seems to be trying to take his career now that's he's got a sizeable fanbase. He's basically reached the highest amount of popularity he could possibly achieve at a very early point in his life, and the only place to go is more progressive and experimental. You can hear the influences of the substances he's on while writing and recording, and this album sounds like the end result of a person in their early 20's discovering a lot of the psychedelic non-hip hop music out there and attempting to distill it for the pop world. As an example, there's a beat that samples Black Moth Super Rainbow and a song produced by Flying Lotus. There's points on this album where his lyrics are cringe-worthy and corny (no, Mac Miller, you do not look like David Duchovny, you look like a real life version of the cartoon kid from The Fairly-Odd Parents with the personality of the "retarded" rapper character from Always Sunny In Philadelphia), but then there's a lot of songs where his lyricism and rhyme structures really impress me, and show why he's lauded as being great by some people. He definitely has a really good live show, as evidenced by his performance at Soundset earlier this year, so it's not like he's one of those rappers that only can sound good in the studio. I think he's here to stay at this point and is not the Johnny-Come-Lately that I previously looked at him as. Check out the videos for "S.D.S.", "Gees" featuring Schoolboy Q, "Watching Movies", "I Am Who Am (Killin Time)" featuring Niki Randa, and "The Star Room". All of these videos are pretty well done, if you can get past how annoying he looks. Also check out "Someone Like You" and "Suplexes Inside Of Complexes & Duplexes".

Album Reviews: October 2013 Week 3

Terror Danjah - "The Dark Crawler" 2012

This album is decent. This dude is a relatively well known grime producer. As with any grime styled stuff, I always prefer the instrumental jams over the rappers jibber jabbering in their British accents. This album is about 70% instrumental, so that's a pretty good ratio for me to enjoy it. What I noticed about this album is that either this is a little more ambitious or broad scoped than most stuff that is labelled as grime, or I just didn't know this style of grime existed. Either way, I find a lot of this stuff kinda hard to categorize, which is a good thing to me. I hate it when you can just stick things in a box and call it a day.It's better to be surprised by diversity. A lot of these tracks have a softer edge to them than most grime i've heard, but at the same time, none of the songs really come off as actually sounding soft or poppy. It's a thin line he's walking on here and doing it pretty well. There's a little something for everyone on here. Check out this trippy video for "Dark Crawler (Interlude) featuring Riko Dan. Also check out "Dark Gremlinz" featuring DOK and "You Make Me Feel" featuring Maleka.

Fuzz - "Fuzz" 2013

Fuzz is the new 3-piece project fronted by Ty Segall. Instead of him singing and playing guitar, which is what he usually does, he is singing while playing the drums in this band. It's insane to me that this is not his main instrument, but yet he is a better drummer than a lot of drummers I hear. I got a chance to catch these guys live last week, and the show was a must-see. All 3 guys are really talented and it shows. This album has a classic rock vibe to it, and I would recommend them to people who really like Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix. Check out this video for this non-album track, "Fourth Dream", to get an idea of how good they are in concert. Also check out "Loose Sutures", "Sleigh Ride", and "HazeMaze". Also check out this other non-album track, a nice cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man". 

Album Reviews: October 2013 Week 2

Letherette - "After Dawn" 2013

This is 2 songs from their self-titled full length, and a couple remixes of those songs by Jimmy Edgar, Bibio, and Barker & Baumecker. I actually find this single a little lackluster compared to their previous releases, but they had set the bar pretty high, and there's nothing wrong with this single either. It's some dance floor material that falls on the more chilled out side of things, with lots of little subtle ear candy for you and pitch shifted vocals that float in and out. Check out this fan made video for "After Dark", featuring some Jem & The Holograms footage. Also check out "Restless" featuring Natasha Kmeto, "Restless (Jimmy Edgar Remix)", and "After Dawn (Bibio Remix)".

Hot Chip - "Dark & Stormy" 2013

Hot Chip has never been an act that ever did anything that ultimately excites me, but I randomly heard a track from this EP that sounded decent, so I decided to give this one a whirl. Looks like this EP is a companion piece to their 2012 LP, "In Our Heads". I can see why these guys have a big draw, but it's really just not my bag. I kind of have the same issue with these guys as I do LCD Soundsystem. I know it's decent music, it's just not what gets me going. I would recommend this EP to people who enjoy their stuff though. Stuff that has this style sounds too "white" to me, for lack of a better way to describe it. It's like the beats are all pretty full and lush, but still give me a sense of emptyness. Check out "Dark & Stormy", "Night & Day (Daphni Mix)", and "How Do You Do (Todd Terje Remix)".

Airhead - "Pyramid Lake" 2012

Wow. I had heard a couple songs by Airhead, previously. Those songs sounded very texturally precise and tantalizing, and also pristinely crisp. These tracks have some of those aesthetics, but have taken them in a wonky direction that makes me wonder what else this act has cooked up. These 2 songs are awesome. Check out "Pyramid Lake" and "Black Ink".

DJ Rashad - "Rollin" 2013

One of many newer releases from the Teklife crew, these 4 tracks do not disappoint. This EP almost seems like Rashad is going for a smoother, slightly more accessible sound than some of the other members of the crew. A lot of the background sounds in the samples just float over everything perfectly. Check out "Rollin", "Broken Heart" featuring DJ Spinn, "Drums Please" featuring DJ Manny, and "Let It Go".

Traxman - "SO DAMM WHATTT!!!!" 2013

Nice 6 song EP from Traxman. Again, like I said about the Rashad EP above, one of MANY new Teklife releases, all of which are worth getting. This one seems a little more experimental than usual, and you know I like that. Check out "Ohh Wahhh" featuring DJ LP, which is unfortunately the only song I can find a link for at this time.

Curren$y & Young Roddy - "Bales" 2013

Decent little mixtape/album from these guys as a duo. I really enjoy the range of production styles provided by people like Harry Fraud, Mike Will Made It, and King Thelonious (damn, this dude's beats are straight fire on here) and these guys' ability to sound natural rhyming over all of it. I like it when rappers branch out like this when choosing beats. Check out "Walkie Talkies", "Mo Money" featuring Juvenile, "Bales", and "100 Spokes".

UZ - "Balltrap Muzik Vol. 1" 2013

This is a non-stop mix of what you would expect based on the title. There's more vocals on this than I had anticipated and this mix left me kinda wishing it wasn't so rap heavy. I prefer to hear production like this without vocals, but I know i'm not in the majority on that one. This is a pretty good mix to roll around and listen to in the car stereo for sure. Here's the whole mix.

BitsBits: Mystery Mix October 2013

http://www.mixcloud.com/ryanbirch54/mystery-mix-october-2013/

So, this time i'm trying something a little different an trying to get people more involved. If you listen to this mix, write/type down all the artists you think you hear and post them in the comments section on Mixcloud, or any other way you think they'll reach me. Most correct answers wins a custom made mix of your choosing.

Album Reviews: October 2013 Week 1

The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - "Danza IIII: The Alpha, The Omega" 2012

This metal album goes pretty hard, but falls short of being anything amazing for me. I still enjoy this album more than most new metal albums I hear though. It's just one of those things where you can hear the potential for something to be an absolute classic, and it's just really good instead. There's plenty of good songs to choose from, and I like their blend of hard and melodic with the occasional digital edit (that I know metal purists surely hate, but I like that sort of production flair when it sounds appropriate and not forced). Apparently, this is this band's final album, as they have broken up since the release of this album. Check out "Behind Those Eyes", "Paul Bunyan & The Blue Ox", "The Alpha/ The Omega", and "Rudy x3".

Knifefight - "Knifefight" 2013

Knifefight is the duo of Beans and Mux Mool. I honestly want to like this EP more than I actually do, which is usually how it ends up for me with anything related to Anti-Pop Consortium. It's not bad by any means, it's just relatively simple and straightforward within it's parameters, which are obviously beyond the normal scope of rap, but still, i'm left feeling like I want more when I hear this, and that's unfortunate, but maybe it's my problem. I'm sure there's a market for this, and it's not a poorly executed project, it just apparently isn't for me. Check out "Light Beat", "Pop Your Bubble" featuring Kool AD +Sub Con, and "Gloss".

The Stepkids - "The Lottery" 2013

This is the 2nd single from their new album, "Troubador", and let me tell you, it reminds me a LOT of Steely Dan. Some people will hate on it and say it's cheesy, but this is pretty damn good. I really gotta check out this new album of theirs. Check out the video for "The Lottery". Also check out a live performance of the B-Side track, "The Art Of Forgetting".

Oh No - "Oh No vs. Now Again 2" 2013

Title is pretty self-explanitory. Oh No raids Now Again's vaults for samples and makes a bunch of beats. I feel like with all the releases he does in this vein, his beats have become somewhat predictable, but he does a shitload of them, and they are all good, so being predictably good is hardly a negative thing, it's just that you kinda know what to expect before hearing it, so it takes away a bit of the element of surprise...but yeah, this album is filled with dope beat after dope beat. Unfortunately, i'm having a hard time finding any of these tracks online to share with you, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

BitsBits: Relic86 Radio October 2013

http://www.mixcloud.com/ryanbirch54/relic86-radio-october-2013/

Album Reviews: September 2013 Week 4

Belle & Sebastian - "The Third Eye Centre" 2013

Over the last 5 years or so, this band has grown on me and i've become pretty into them. This is a collection of all their B-sides and rarities from the last 10 or so years, and it actually plays out as a better album than most of their other albums. It's funny that this is basically their leftovers and it's still better than 95% of all other indie rock out there. Check out "Your Cover's Blown (Miaoux Miaoux Remix)", "Mr. Richard", "Meat & Potatoes", and "I'm A Cuckoo (Avalanches Remix)".

Noah23 - "Tropical Fruit" 2013

Decent little 5 song EP. Pretty much what you would expect from him if you've heard him before. For those that don't know, he's an underground rapper with an insane amount of talent. This and many of his other releases are on a name your own price status on his bandcamp, so you can easily check all that stuff out the way you want to if you don't like streaming. Here is the link.

Document One - "D Is For Document One EP Part 1" 2012

This some slickly produced, but ultimately semi-boring dubstep. Not bad by any means, but not really what i'm personally looking for either. Check out "Already Lost", "The Feeling", and "Body Pump".

Ministry - "From Beer To Eternity" 2013

I'll start right off by saying that i've been a huge Ministry fan since Psalm69 was new. I was too young and dumb to get in on the first couple waves of popularity for them in the 80's, but that version of them was my introduction to them, and that, along with Nine Inch Nails' "Broken", are what broke me out of the mold I had been in, where I only wanted to listen to hip hop all the time. My favorite album by them is "Filth Pig", and I consider the 90's to be their best era by far, but I still enjoy almost all of it. I admit that my interest in them has waned during the last decade and i've found most of the post-2000 releases to be predictable, which makes them boring in ways. Enter last year's "Relapse". This album wasn't necessarily a return to greatness, but it did seem like Al had wanted to breathe some new life into the band in some way. This new one is honestly my favorite Ministry album since "Dark Side Of The Spoon" and is easily their most versatile piece of work. It's like they took all their styles of their entire career (except the first album) and put it in one big pot and stirred it up. I love it. So if you were ever a fan of them before and you stopped listening, this is the album you should hear. Check out the video for "PermaWar". Also check out "Hail To His Majesty (Peasants)", "Lesson Unlearned", "Fairly Unbalanced", and "Side F/X Include Mikey's Middle Finger (TV4)".

Boardwalk - "I'm To Blame" 2013

This is a 45 that came out on Stones Throw, and i'm assuming a full length is on the way at some point. Some really dreamy sounds, for lack of a better word. Really soothing sounding indie pop rock, like a more upbeat Mazzy Star or something... or maybe something like Au Revoir Simone too... Either way, i'm eagerly anticipating some new stuff from this band. Here is the video for "I'm To Blame" and here's the link to purchase this record or listen to the 2 songs too.

The Weeknd - "Kiss Land" 2013

I wish an album like this was a normal album, quality-wise, for the mainstream, or even just for pop and R&B in general, because there's really nothing special about it in the grand scheme of music, but with pop music the way that it is nowadays, an album like this seems like a breath of fresh air and even progressive. It's neither of those things, but it is a very well crafted LP from all angles and a pretty impressive piece of work. He definitely wears a Michael Jackson influence on his sleeve, but it doesn't come off as annoying to me like it does sometimes with Justin Timberlake and Usher, when they do that. The only major misstep on this album is his Vanilla Ice-esque biting of Portishead's "Machine Gun" (Geoff Barrow denied him the sample, so he added one drum hit, called it his own, and he's damn lucky Geoff is cool enough to not pursue legal action about it), with "Belong To The World" (this link is to the video, in case you're interested). That's the type of thing where when it happens, you just save the song for a free download or keep it unreleased, but this dude goes and makes it his lead single and the video is like a little mini-movie. Kind of a lame decision in my book, but what do I know... Anyways, the rest of the album is pretty solid and an engaging listen if you're in the right mood for it. Check out the videos for "Pretty", "Live For" featuring Drake, and "Kiss Land" (this video is crazy... so is this beat, it's like mid 90's Three 6 Mafia-style dark) Also check out "Love In The Sky", "Wanderlust" , and this collaboration with Kavinsky, "Odd Look".

Zion I - "The Vapors" 2013

This is a cool little 5 song EP of songs with a marijuana based theme. Nothing stellar here, but it's a nice listen. Listen or download here.

The Octopus Project - "Whitby EP" 2012

This is a little single/EP that is a teaser for the new album that just was recently released, and I need to get.  Some awesome sounds here. Check out this really cool video for "Whitby".