Joey Bada$$: B4.DA.$$ ALBUM REVIEW

The world of rap music seems to be split; on one end you have the meme worthy, ear worm focused rappers who are simply there to have fun and make money, and maybe be a guilty pleasure for certain music nerds... On the other end you have MCs who are truly trying to further the art of hip-hop, guys like Mick Jenkins, Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, and the star of this album review, Joey Bada$$. Now I've been a fan of Joey's since his 1999 mixtape, even though that tape could be a bit too laid back in spots. On his next solo mixtape, Summer Knights we saw Joey working with a more aggressive flow and even more lyrical ability, but the tape felt a little aimless; the time was right for Joey to come out with a debut that fused the best elements of these two mixtapes; enter B4.DA.$$.

A title that obviously can be read two ways, but the clear intent is to convey that Joey is going to tell stories about how his life was before he was a young hip hop star. Funnily enough, the first half of this album doesn't really touch on these kinds of stories, instead we get a lot of brags and a couple of Joey's best bangers with "No.99" and "Christ Conscious". The only track that does tell a story about Joey's past in an explicit fashion is the fantastic "Paper Trail$" where Joey not only touches on the fact that growing up without money was tough, but also that money is the motivating force behind all people, sometimes leading them to ruin their lives in pursuit of it.

However, the second half of the album really starts to get personal, especially the last three tracks with tracks like "O.C.B" which stands for "only child blues" where Joey reminisces about growing up as an only child and how he found comfort in music. We also get the incredible closer, "Curry Chicken" which tells a story about Joey and his Mom, inter cut with a sample of Joey's mom.

The song subjects and lyrics are universally strong, but what I found really impressive on this album were the beats. They range from laid back cuts that sound very similar in tone to stuff we've heard on projects like 1999, but we also get more aggressive moments that remind me of tracks from that Pro Era mixtape, and maybe that last FlatBush Zombies record. The only real anomaly here (if you don't count bonus tracks) is "Escape 120" which has a beat that is really reminding me of like Stankonia era Outkast, specifically "B.O.B", and that feeling is only driven home with the feature on here, Raury sounding almost exactly like Andre 3000 did on that track.

Overall this album has a pretty even mix of laid back and aggressive moments, though I would have loved another "No.99" type song; luckily, I think this album is exactly what I wanted from Joey Bada$$. It has a lot of excellent tracks and is easily this guys most solid effort from top to bottom.

9.0/10

Sleater-Kinney: No Cities To Love

Sleater-Kinney are a Washington based punk band that has a long history of being one of the last great punk bands. They had a string of great albums in the nineties and early 2000's, but after the band's last LP The Woods the trio was feeling tired and ready to move on. However, seeing as this is seemingly the age of the comeback album (Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada etc.) of course we would get a new Sleater-Kinney album.

I'll be honest and say that I'm not an expert on Sleater-Kinney... in fact this is my first full listen of one of their albums. But, I don't think that has had a negative impact on my view of this album because in listening to this album (and enjoying most of it) I now want to backtrack and listen to the groups "heyday" material.

All of that aside, as I stated above, I did actually find myself enjoying a fair bit of this rather short and to the point album. For one, the opener here "Price Tag" is a fantastic start, with a lot of lyrics basically showing the dangers of consumerism and how all of our mindless consumption will have a high price to pay. I also really enjoyed the title track, this track again puts out some thought provoking lyrics, this time about certain people's love of places when in actuality, those places are no different than any other.

Other strong tracks our the ironically anthemic "No Anthems" which is just so heavy and distorted,( I was catching that same heaviness when I gleaned the bands last LP) and I also really loved the track "Hey Darling" which is a statement about fame and how it can turn talent into mediocrity; plus this track has the best hook on the entire album.

Unfortunately, though this is a really solid album, there were a couple of tracks I wasn't too fond of. The two biggest culprits show up right after the rush of the opener, with the tracks "Fangless" which just seems to drag on with very little in the way of change, and the single "Surface Envy" which has a good message, but just sounds too generic to be on an album that is otherwise full of blood-pumping, angular rock music. I also wasn't a huge fan of the closer here; it just felt a little anticlimactic to me, again, because of the amount of energy the rest of the album puts forth, maybe it would have worked better as a middle track?

So, all in all I enjoyed listening to No Cities To Love, but I think this album was more effective as a gateway to the band's past work than a zenith of the trio's skill a prowess as a band.

7.8/10

Belle & Sebastian: Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance

Belle & Sebastian hardly need an introduction; they are easily one of the most recognizable and beloved groups in Independent music and have been putting out records since the early nineties with gems like If You're Feeling Sinister and The Boy With The Arab Strap. You can read in length my thoughts on the latter of those LPs, but in general, I am mostly a fan of the band's earlier output, with my love waning a bit on albums like The Life Pursuit. It's not that I don't find these albums pleasant to the ear, it's just that they lack the charm that those earlier records have.

That being said, I find myself in a strange position listening to their 9th studio album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance. Because this album finds the band going in a completely different direction, a dancier, brighter one that takes cues from disco and (for a more contemporary reference) that last Arcade Fire album, Reflektor.

Sure, this is absolutely still a B&S album, but this time they want you to put your latte down, take off that over sized sweater and dance! And while this album certainly isn't one that is going to find it's way into dance clubs, I do think it is good for some shoulder swaying or maybe even a slow dance or two.

Songs like "The Party Line" and "Perfect Couples" are bright and peppy with solid grooves, especially in the verses of the former; and while I've read some critics saying that this album is a bit weak in its attempts at dance pop, I think the band manages to fuse their style (much like Arcade Fire) with these new found sounds in a satisfying way that doesn't feel contrived.

Other tracks here step away from the dance floor for a breather, such as the opener, which is  quickly becoming one of my favorites from the band, with the lead singer giving us a bevy of lyrics that are personal and poetic. I also really enjoyed the tracks "Allie", "The Everlasting Muse" and the penultimate shot of energy "The Book Of You".

There are however a couple of problems I have with this latest album: one, the production can be a bit to clean for my tastes; one of the reasons I prefer the older stuff over the newer stuff is that I feel that they build a wall between the listener and the music when they produce their songs so heavily, but that problem isn't as big here because the nature of dance music is to be heavily produced for maximum rump-shaking effect. Secondly, the album does run a bit longer than most B&S albums, and while the material here is certainly worth listening to in its entirety, I'd still say tracks like "Play For Today" could have done with some trimming.

At the end of the day, this is still a B&S album, but depending on what that means to you will determine what your reaction will be. To me, these guys are good at writing quaint, positive songs about life, and they do that here, but with just a little bit more looseness than what we're used to hearing from these guys.

8.2/10

The Decemberists: What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World ALBUM REVIEW

Well, it's been four full years since the release of The King Is Dead, and the once obscure, nerdy, overly wordy folk-pop group, The Decemberists has bloomed into every one's favorite nerdy, overly wordy folk-pop group. As you know, I'm a huge, almost obsessive fan of these guys, though I do have my share of reservations when it comes to their discography. I wasn't head over heels for TKID, or HoL for that matter, but I always find myself at least appreciating a Decemberists album, and most times flat out adoring them.

However, you already know my feelings on the band's past work and the background to how they became such popular little nerds; lets talk about this new album.

I'll admit, I wasn't crazy about the first single that dropped from this new LP, "Make You Better", it just felt to prim and proper for a band that I will always remember jamming out a song about July. That being said, I did really like the following single, the Nick Drake influenced "Lake Song" which tells a little story about a summer's day spent at the lake with a girl who Colin (who I assume is who this song is about) has a fondness for. But it wasn't until the fantastic "The Wrong Year" that I really got excited for this album, it isn't the most complicated song in the world, or on this album for that matter, but it just sounds so good and has a killer hook to boot.

We also get to see the more personal side to frontman, Colin Meloy, as he writes what are possibly the most directly personal lyrics to ever grace a Decemberists album. For instance, the opener is a track about the band adapting to their new found fame, and has references to the band's change in sound, AXE shampoo and the love that the fans show to them that fuels their creative output. We also get the sweet ode to Colin's family on the closer "A Beginning Song".

But how is the rest of the album? Well, I'd say it is one of the groups most consistent efforts in terms of mood with one track flowing beautifully into another without so much as soft whisper in between. At the same time though, I found some of the tracks here to be just a little mild in terms of energy; "Make You Better" has grown on me, but it still isn't one of my favorites, I'd also put the two short tracks here on my list of the more forgettable moments on the album.

Aside from those few grips though, I think I actually love What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. It just flows so well and has the great songs that I'd hope it would have, with a touch more eccentricity than what TKID had to offer. I've read some reviews that point to this album having "the best of both worlds" in terms of the two sides of the groups music, and I have to agree with that.

In short, if you're a fan of these guys, there's no reason not to love this album, it has strong melodies, a renewed fondness for storytelling that TKID lacked somewhat, and finds Colin penning some of his most personal lyrics yet. I'm very happy with what The Decemberists managed to put together on this album, and I can't wait to see them play these tracks live.

Happy Decemberists Day!

8.5/10

Decemberists Discography: Part 6: The King is Dead

After the explosion of ambition that was The Hazards of Love, the band saw fit to make their next album a bit more accessible (a feeling that some fans and critics shared strongly). So, in 2011, the band released their 6th full studio album, The King is Dead, a collection of tracks that is both the bands most accessible and a sign that the band was not only scaling back their theatrics, but also embracing the sounds of early Decemberists and even Colin Meloy's first band, Tarkio.

The album also shows strong influences from bands like REM (the guitarist actually plays on a few cuts here) and my personal favorite 60's folk rock god, Neil Young. In summary, this album is a complete departure from the sounds that the band was working with on their last album, a choice that hurts or helps the album depending on how much you enjoyed Hazards.

For me, this album is a solid set of songs that often showcase the band's tight playing and Colin's true talent for writing memorable songs. However, there is a real lack of ambition on this album that I just can't shake; the instrumentals backing up this album are good, and sometimes great, but they don't have half the personality that previous Decemberists had, even the less savory cuts from Hazards. Luckily, despite the instrumentals lacking that Decemberists edge, the vocals and melodies are still incredibly strong.

My favorite moments from this album are probably the quietest, "January Hymn" and "Rise To Me" being prime examples. These tracks put their best foot forward and despite being some of the slowest moments on the album, they are easily the most enthralling.

That's not to say there aren't good upbeat tracks here; the opener is simply lush with harmonica and a gloriously sung chorus, and the mid album "All Arise!" is a countrified slice of perfection. But it's the penultimate track "This Is Why We Fight" that truly steals the show here, mostly because it is easily the most geeky, i.e. Decemberists feeling track on the entire album, and it is simply a fantastic track.

My main problem with this album is not that it isn't good, in fact, I think it is a great album, but at times it feels more like a Colin Meloy solo album than a full fledged Decemberists album.

8.3/10

Well, that concludes my Decemberists Discography series of reviews. Now I just have to wait a week for the band's new album to drop, and I couldn't be more excited! Stay tuned for a full review of that LP and hopefully other, non-discography based reviews coming soon!

Decemberists Discography: Part 5: The Hazards of Love

At this point, The Decemberists were a folk-pop band with songs that were more thematically related than actual whole concepts. That is until 2009's Hazards of Love, an album that is polarizing in not only the public eye, but also within the band's own fan base. Personally, this was the very first Decemberists LP I bought; in fact, I bought it the day it came out, having only been a fan for a few months at that point I had no idea what to expect.

What I and many others got from this album is a mixture of confusion and surprise as much of what is presented at the start of this album is so odd for the band, it seemed as though they had lost themselves in their own ambition. To point to a single track, "A Bower Scene" kicks into thundering guitar riffs that sound more akin to metal music than a Decemberists album, and the following track introduces even more electric guitar riffing.

At first, I felt kind of disappointed with this album; where were the catchy, up-beat songs like "Sporting Life" or the slightly dark, but still quirky tunes like "July, July"? Why was the band acting so darn serious? And what on earth are these lyrics about?

Ahh, the dangers of expectation. Sure, moments like the ones mentioned above aren't apparent from the first listen, but they do in fact exist on Hazards of Love. For instance, what is easily the most beloved cut from the LP "The Rake's Song" is a morbidly dark, yet oddly endearing song about a father who, being a widower after the birth of his last child, decides it best to kill all three of his children in a number of gruesome ways... not exactly what you would expect from the band that wrote such goofy tracks like "Chimbley Sweep" eh?

All of that aside, I actually think this album is great. Yeah, it's not the bands strongest set of songs, but I think it is easily their most cohesive, as only a couple of the songs here work outside of the context of a full album listen, yet when listened to properly, the tracks here all build to a successful whole. Not to mention the shear ambition of putting an album like this out after the commercial success of The Crane Wife; gotta give the band credit for not resting on their laurels.

I know that this album is considered the band's worst, and I can understand that stance, partially because I agree to an extent. However, to call this album bad music is just silly, because the tunes here are still good, they just require a bit more attention to extract the marrow of enjoyment.

Maybe not the best album to start with from the band, but definitely one worth checking out.

8.5/10

Decemberists Discography: Part 4: The Crane Wife

So up until this point, the band was releasing their albums through indie labels, which makes sense; major labels usually don't warm to overly theatrical and eccentric folk bands (unless you're Edward Sharp). So it came as a surprise when EMI of all labels recruited The Decemberists for their fourth full album, The Crane Wife. Even more so when you consider that this album boasts the two longest tracks that the band has ever recorded, and even boasts a loose concept that strings the tracks together, though it's more off a thematic concept than an actual story thread (the band would save that for later).

However, aside from being the band's first major label outing, I have to say that Crane Wife is just as quirky and geeky as the band's previous three, though the production is a lot smoother. As for the two long form tracks on the album, (them being "The Island" which is cleverly broken up into four smaller "movements" and the three part title track) both turn out to be some of the strongest material on the entire album; especially the title track medley, which is probably my favorite long form song the band has ever done.

Once you look past the major label and the twelve minute "monsters" you will find the band's most accessible and poppy album to date, complete with all of the storytelling and dramatic characters that filled the liner notes of albums like Picaresque. 

For instance, there is the grief ridden "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)" which tells the story of a Civil War soldier who talks to his former lover from beyond the grave, and the tragic love of the following track "O Valencia!" which was actually the very first song I'd ever heard from The Decemberists.

Further down the track list we get a song about a gang of killers that stalk the night, looking for small children ("Shankill Butchers"), one about the joys of summer ("Summersong")  and even a track that, like "16 Military Wives" from the last album, seems to be pointing a finger at the current state of war and the way the government handles it. But I'd be remiss to forget the true oddity of The Crane Wife, the funky, Pink Floyd indebted "The Perfect Crime #2". Now I've seen some publications straight-up attack this track for being terrible, or completely out of character; however, I think the band uses a new sound to set a mood, and the story that the lyrics tell fit perfectly with the slinky bass line and agile drum playing that this song presents.

The album finishes strong with the aforementioned title track medley (parts 1&2) and slides in to the closer "Sons & Daughters" which ends the album off on a positive note, something that was new for the band at the time.

In conclusion, I rank The Crane Wife pretty high in the grand scheme of the band's catalogue; it just has so many good songs, and while being a longer album for the band, I still find it incredibly easy to go all the way through it every time I listen to it.

9.5/10