Album Reviews: January 2015 Week 1

Nacho Picasso - "Trances With Wolves: The Prixtape" - 2014

Seattle's Nacho Picasso has put out a slew of releases the last few years, all of which are pretty high quality. I'm wondering why he's not a bigger name already with how talented he is on the mic. He mostly goes for over the top braggadocio that borders on comedy at many points. His flows and production he rhymes on remind me of people like Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa, but his lyrics are light years beyond those guys, and it's unfair to compare him to them, as he does have his own unique style. I'm just trying to explain to people that this is some relatively accessible stuff that won't sound foreign to you even if it's underground. You can listen to the whole EP here. You can purchase the EP or download it for free here.

Hudson Mohawke - "Chimes" - 2014

With this song, Hudson Mohawke is seemingly saying "you guys still want more of this, right?", because this sounds like every other throwaway track he's put out in the last few years, and makes his classic 2009 LP "Butter" seem even further in the past. I really enjoyed his TNGHT collaboration with Lunice in 2012, but it seems like any release he puts out solo nowadays, is just some leftover rehash sounding stuff to me. Even one of the beats he worked on for Kanye West is just a rehash of one of his other songs. I get the feeling that he's not actually out of ideas, but is just trying to pander to the main part of his audience, while squeezing the last drops of fun out of that sound. I'm sure it works for some people, but not me. I want to hear him using his talent for bigger and better things in the future. The other 2 new songs are OK. One is more like an interlude, and the other one is more along the lines of what i'd like to hear from him more, but it still isn;t a great track either. This EP is more like a single, so i'm not going to judge it too harshly. I know it's just a couple songs. Check out "Chimes", the only song I can find a link to.You can purchase this EP here.

Milo - "A Toothpaste Suburb" - 2014

I've reviewed a couple of Milo's earlier releases within the last year, so i'll keep this short and sweet, so i'm not repeating myself too much. Milo is a member of the crew, Hellfyre Club, which is based out of LA and led by Busdriver. He has a very talky and matter of fact vocal style, and makes a lot of semi-obscure pop culture references over some great sounding, post-beat scene, production. This new album continues in his tradition of quality releases. It's not any better or worse to me than his previous releases, but his level of consistency is admirable. You can count on the fact that if you enjoyed him before, you'll still enjoy him now, but it's still engaging music that doesn't bore me at all. Definitely one of my favorite rap albums of the year. Hellfyre club has been really busy lately, with almost every member dropping an album in 2014. It's good to see talented people making waves in the underground and not getting lost in obscurity. You can listen to the album in full here. You can purchase this album here.

Clark - "Clark" - 2014

I always have mixed feelings about people putting out self-titled albums later on in their career. It's rarely the 'quintessential' album by those artists, and this falls in the same boat. Clark (FKA Chris Clark) has been putting stuff out on Warp Records since the 2001, and i've always found his music to be pleasurable for the most part. He has a wide range of styles within the electronic realm, so different people are going to prefer different songs and eras of his career more than others. My personal favorite album of his was 2012's "Iradelphic". He was hitting aspects of the beat scene that really moved me and I continue to go back to that album over and over again. This new one is a bit more dancey in nature, but is still by no means some attempt at bigger success, or a departure from his known styles. A range of styles is still being presented and his attention to detail within the sound designs of the songs is much appreciated when listening on headphones. There's way more going on in these tracks than it initially seems like on the surface. I always enjoy hearing more music in that vein. Check out this sweet video for "Winter Linn", and this other video for "Beacon". Also check out "Unfurla" and  "The Grit In The Pearl". You can purchase the album here.

Freddie Gibbs & The World's Freshest - "The Tonite Show" - 2014

So, obviously the Freddie Gibbs album that everyone talked about last year was his collaboration with Madlib, "Pinata", but on the down low, this collaboration EP with the Bay Area's World's Freshest (FKA DJ Fresh) is also worth listening to, and displays even more just exactly how diverse Freddie Gibbs can be on the mic. Dude seems like he could pretty much take any beat and figure out precisely the best way to ride it with complex, multi-syllable rhymes, all the while never just throwing in words just to rhyme, but always making complete sense. For those unfamiliar with The World's Freshest, he has an extensive catalog (mostly under the DJ Fresh name, the name change was a recent thing due to there being a DJ Fresh in the UK) of mostly Bay Area oriented releases, where he provides all the production. Pretty much every noteworthy Bay Area rapper has worked with him at some point, and many people from outside the bay as well, such as Raekwon and Trae The Truth. His production usually relies on well known samples being chopped up over some nice bay area style beats. By doing this, he has a nice way of giving people an "old school" feel, without actually making beats that sound old. It's a similar aesthetic to classic U.G.K. material, but less live instrument oriented and with more overbearing drum tracks. There's usually an abundance of guests on these Tonite Show releases, and this no is different. People like E-40, Problem, Sir Michael Rocks, and Yukmouth come to lend some more diversity as well. You can listen to the whole thing here.You can purchase this EP here.

 Traxman - "Da Mind Of Traxman Vol. 2" - 2014

The album that introduced me to the entire footwork/juke sound was the first Mind Of Traxman album, and it obviously blew my mind and continues to, so the prospect of a sequel to it was very tantalizing when I first heard about this, and this album does not disappoint. Out of all the releases he's put out in the last couple years, this is definitely my favorite. What i've noticed, is that it seems like he chooses different styles within his style to highlight on particular releases. He'll always give people a glimpse of other places he's willing to go with his style all throughout every release, but every release also seems to have a focus on one particular aspect of his style. On this one, it seems like he's trying to focus on his MPC prowess. The way a lot of the samples are chopped and arranged is incredibly advanced, and he just keeps going further and further with it. Much like J Dilla, he seems to have a knack for finding cool samples out of chopping them in conventionally odd places, that most producers wouldn't think of, and it really sets him apart from a lot of his contemporaries. You can tell he has a massive music collection just by listening to his creations. No types of samples are out of bounds. It's amazing to me that Rolling Stone put this in their top 20 electronic albums of 2014 list. I didn't think people that worked at publications like that had their ears open to music like this that is pretty left field compared to the normal 'EDM' they usually cover. Check out the video for "Ever & Always".  You can listen to most of the songs here. You can purchase this album here.

Ab-Soul - "These Days..." - 2014

The TDE crew was pretty busy in 2014, between this album and releases by Schoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, and SZA. I was a huge fan of both Ab-Soul's "Control System" and Schoolboy Q's "Habits & Contradictions" albums in 2012, and was interested to see where they go now that they're in the spotlight and not just an underground sensation. "These Days" is an interesting album for how lofty it's sights are set. He's trying to sell left field ideas and sounds to the mainstream rap audience, but not trying to go too far with it, for fear of alienating the mainstream. He's got some decent philosophical rhymes, but then he's also got a song with Rick Ross that has a chorus talking about "real nigga shit, pill poppin, kill a nigga shit", and honestly, he seems to have found a pretty good balance between these different aesthetics and approaches, where it works for this album. It's also interesting that many of the tracks seem to have multiple songs on them, like he was just slipping a few quick short dope songs at the end of some of the songs like interludes. It makes the album flow really well when you listen to it front to back. This album is a cool step in his career and it will be interesting to see where he tries to go with his next album. It would be nice to hear an album from him that was completely unhinged, where he wasn't worried about being cool at all and just speaking from the heart 100%, but I understand that he needed to get the large fanbase first before trying to get more progressive, and I feel like his career is ultimately just getting started, and he'll be around for years to come. He's an artist that I think is talented but hasn't recorded his quintessential album yet. This is still one of the stronger rap releases of 2014 though. Check out the videos for "Tree Of Life", "Stigmata" (the album version of this has Action Bronson and Asaad, but this video is just Ab-Soul's verse), "Closure", and "Hunnid Stax" (featuring Schoolboy Q). You can listen to the full album here. You can purchase this album here.