2 Chainz - "Based On A T.R.U. Story" 2012
I know this review is 2 years too late, but I just wanted to document the fact that I actually made it all the way through this album while listening to it by myself. I had previously been relatively familiar with most of these songs, either from the satellite radio at my work, or from hanging out with people, or from DJ sets. He's always been one of those artists that I never saw what other people see in him, or a reason for his rise to success, and upon further listening to this album, I still don't get it. Some of these beats are OK, but none of them are straight bangers to me. Not enough to make me forget how uninteresting the rappers are. There's certain people that make music like this, that I don't personally agree with the message, but they have that certain something about them that makes them stand out from the rest in a crowded field, and almost force you to enjoy their music because they're so good at what they do. People like DJ Paul, Juicy J, Gucci Mane, E-40, and Project Pat come to mind first. 2 Chainz is not one of those people to me. Some of the songs it seems like he doesn't even know when to start rapping on the beat at the beginning of his verses, and when you actually listen to what he's saying, he's never saying anything remotely clever or interesting. If you want to know what type of rap bores me to death, this is it. Generic major label gangster rap with no personality. With all the options out there today to listen to, particularly within this same style, it makes it extra weird to me how popular this album was. The whole reason for me even giving this a 2nd chance was because I caught part of his performance at Soundset this year, and actually enjoyed it, but maybe I was more just enjoying how clear and loud the bass was coming through the sound system there that day and was in a good mood... I don't know... Check the videos for "No Lie" (featuring Drake), "Birthday Song" (featuring Kanye West), (this song I do at least partially understand why it was a hit, I just don't personally like it, but it's the closest thing this album has to a banger for my personal taste) and "I'm Different".
Dirty Projectors - "About To Die" 2012
Dirty Projectors are a band that I'm a casual fan of. I've never went to see them in concert, and i've never loved any of their albums, but for the most part they make music that I enjoy on some level, despite not really sounding like they are particularly adept at singing or playing instruments. This is actually a quality that I admire and respect in certain musicians very much, because it proves that people don't have to be virtuosos that are oozing talent in order to make good music and they can just let their unique personalities shine through the audio they create. This EP is like a companion piece to their 2012 full length LP, "Swing Lo Magellan", and this EP is more of the same, probably from the same sessions. This is one of those EP's that seems like it's over too soon when it's done, so they do a good job of enticing you to hear the album that goes with it. These songs are nice and breezy without actually sinking into a laid back mode. Check out the video for "About To Die". Also check out "Desire To Love" and "While You're Here".
EPROM - "Halflife" 2013
EPROM is one of the few newer artists that has popped up in the last few years that has fully captivated me and has my full attention. His songs have such brilliant textures and evoke feelings. His music always seems to make my heart rate go up and get me going, even if i'm not feeling particularly motivated. I love how defined all of the sounds in his palate are. If I had to describe his music using one word, I would say thick. He lays it on real thick...This album isn't quite as good to me overall as his last full length, "Metahuman" was, but this is still a great album, and I do think it was smart of him to make this album a mixed bag of familiar sounds from him and with some expansions outward from that. I always love it when people refuse to be pigeonholed. Any fans of electronic music or beat driven music that haven't heard any of his stuff yet, should check this out, as well as fans of psychedelic music in general. Check out this mind bending video for the completely fucked album opener, "Center Of The Sun". It's almost Aphex Twin-like in certain aspects, but then explodes into a banger of a beat for people with warped brains. Also check out "Screwface", "Turtle Ride", "Subroc", "Super FX", and "Beasts Of Babylon".
Thee Oh Sees - "Drop" 2014
These guys have definitely put their fans through an emotional roller coaster during the last year, by first announcing an indefinite hiatus, then quickly saying, no that's not actually true, they just won't tour extensively like they usually do and will be going through a "transitional phase", then quickly after that announcing the release of a new album. "Drop" is that album, and the thing I noticed is that the lineup of the band has shuffled around. I admit that I kinda miss hearing Brigid Dawson's background vocals, and this album is harder to immediately get into, like their last few are. This clocks in at a lean 32 minutes, and there's no unpleasant or boring moments on here, but at the same time, it just doesn't seem to quite have the same oomph I was expecting (I know..... transitional phase). I still like this album a lot, and would recommend it to any rock fan. John Dwyer has just set the bar high for himself at this point, so it sounds like i'm nitpicking, when really this is still a great album. Check out the videos for "The Lens" and "Drop". Also check out "Savage Victory", "King's Nose", and "Camera (A Queer Sound)".
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