Andrerson .Paak: Malibu ALBUM REVIEW

So, apparently Dr. Dre's  last album Compton was pretty good... I wouldn't know because it streams exclusively on Apple Music, but I've also heard that a big part of why that album is so good is because of Anderson .Paak, a soul singer from California. He's been around for a while dropping mixtapes, but Malibu is his major label debut, and it's a really sweet slice of Soul and R&B with just a sprinkling of Hip-Hop that is completely engrossing from start to finish.

And that's surprising, because Malibu is over an hour long, and very few debut albums give us this much quality content in the age of he digital single. Also, the fact that this album is so cohesive without feeling repetitive is testament to how great a songwriter .Paak really is. For instance, the opener "The Bird" is so soulful and gentle; it's the perfect start to an album that never rises above a harsh whisper, and instead puts the listener into a laid-back and warm vibe throughout its run-time.

The following track "Heart Don't Stand a Chance" is absolutely fantastic; it grooves so effortlessly and even displays .Paak's rapping chops, which he does a few other points on the album, all of which are really solid. If I had to point to another album that Malibu reminds me of, it would have to be last year's incredible To Pimp A Butterfly; both albums come from a similar place musically, though perhaps .Paak is more on the sunny side than Kendrick was on that album.

Other great moments on this album include "Am I Wrong" which features a great verse from Schoolboy Q, and he the following track "Without You" which features a hilarious verse from TPAB MVP Rhapsody. Also, the soulful "Celebrate" and the funky "Come Down" are major highlights as well. Perhaps the only track that wasn't great to me was "Silicon Valley"; the lyrics were just a bit too tongue in cheek for me, still, it's not a bad tune by any means.

Really, I could go through and describe every track (they all deserve it), but I'll keep it short and simply say that if you're a fan of any of the genre's that I listed at the start of this review, you owe it to yourself to give Malibu a listen. It's a bit long for a casual listen, but it's so worth it.

8.8/10

Wild Nothing: Life of Pause ALBUM REVIEW

Back in 2012, when I was first starting this blog, I reviewed this band's second full length album Nocturne, and remember being pleasantly surprised. In fact, looking back I think I enjoy that album more now than I did initially. It was a great mix of Dream-pop and Brit-pop that was just so much fun. Now we have Life of Pause nearly four years later and mastermind Jack Tatum is shifting the band's direction quite a bit. The jangly guitars are all but gone, instead replaced by thick synths and that call back to not only the 80's, but also Nocturne's more dreamy moments.

In my opinion, this shift in sound goes over pretty well, because underneath the synths and reverb, Jack's songwriting still shines through, especially on early album cuts "Lady Blue" and "A Women's Wisdom". These tracks are the kind that make you want to gently rock your shoulders back and forth while wearing your favorite striped sweater and sipping on the finest of store-bought green teas.

That image aside, I think this album has a lot of solid moments. Aside from the aforementioned tracks, the album does pick up the energy a bit, such as on tracks like "To Know You" and  "TV Queen" which will get stuck in your head, I guarantee it. And luckily, the majority of this album is this solid, though there are a couple of moments that dip into the more drab parts of the spectrum, such as the opener "Reichpop" which is okay, but overstays its welcome a bit; the same can be said of the closer here as well. But these moments don't bring this album down all that much, and I still think this album is great, in spite of them.

Is it better than Nocturne? Ehh, maybe not; but that has more to do with personal preference than the objective quality of the music on offer here. Both this album and Nocturne are great examples of modern reverb-laden pop that is actually palpable and strong-spined; essentially music that is more than just an after effect at work, and I really think any fan of this style of music should give Life of Pause a try.

7.5/10

Wolfmother: Victorious ALBUM REVIEW

I remember a cold morning in Wisconsin back in 2006, my brother and I were watching VH1 (back when they used to play music on that channel) and we came across a song called "Woman". That song was a big surprise; here among tracks from Coldplay, The Fray, and Seether was a rock song that strutted like a true classic tune, reminiscent of bands like Led Zeppelin. Sure, it wasn't the smartest or most original tune out there, but that track was enough for my brother and I to purchase the band's debut, self-titled album. And the album itself wasn't bad either, though the same criticism of "Woman" could be applied to the entirety of that album.

However, a lot has happened since the release of that album, not just for me, but also for Wolfmother. The band followed that debut with an equally strong sophomore release, titled Cosmic Egg, but then tensions were at an all time high and the band ended up calling it quits, at least everyone but frontman, Andrew Stockdale, who trudged on with a new band. Andrew followed Cosmic Egg up with an album I honestly didn't know existed until doing my research for this album review. However, that isn't surprising since the album never actually got a proper release. Alas, we do have this, the fourth album under the Wolfmother name, titled, Victorious.

With a title like that, you'd expect this to be the record where Stockdale proves he can still conjure up the solid rock tracks of the first two albums, without the aid of his former bandmates, or in this album's case, hardly anyone else, save for a studio drummer or two. In fact, this album is pretty much an Andrew Stockdale solo effort, and it shows.

The album kicks things off with two really solid tracks, "The Love That You Give" and the title track "Victorious". Both of these tracks showcase how well Stockdale can emulate rock classics without outright copying them, and the fact that these two tracks ignited that original fire for the band is no surprise. However, it doesn't take long for this album to take a turn for the mediocre. "Baroness" is okay, but it's a pretty bland affair with some medieval themed lyrics that don't go over so well. But the following track "Pretty Peggy" is where things go full on terrible. It's an acoustic tune; which is fine, but instead of sounding like a Houses of The Holy cut, it comes off as a bad impression of the Lumineers. Plus, the lyrics are horrendous, with Stockdale literally saying "Roses are red/ Violets are blue".

The rest of the LP alternates from passable ("City Lights", "Best of a Bad Situation", "Gypsy Caravan") to patently forgettable ("Eye of the Beholder", "Happy Face") and that's a shame, because the start gives you the impression that you're in for a solid, if not entirely unique Rock album, but instead, Victorious is incredibly inconsistent.

5.5/10

Rihanna: ANTI ALBUM REVIEW

ANTI is the long awaited 7th full length from pop star Rihanna, and with it, the expectation of experimentation and growth. This is because for the longest time, Rihanna was releasing full length projects year after year. almost as if she were on a clockwork schedule to maintain relevance. However, ANTI breaks that trend, since it took nearly four years for it to be released. But, the real question is; was the wait worth it?

Well, as someone who has enjoyed a good amount of the singles that Rihanna has put out in the past decade or so, but never found anything too compelling in here full length efforts, ANTI is a bit of a mixed bag. This is do to a lot of factors, most notably, the fact that a lot of the songs here are sort of bland and by the numbers, which is a shame, because a lot of the singles that were dropping before the release of this album had a lot of promise. Most notably, "American Oxygen" and "Bitch Better Have My Money" both of which showed a darker side to Rihanna, and were pretty catchy to boot. There was also the polarizing "fourfiveseconds" which I liked quite a bit for how raw Rihanna sounded on it. Unfortunately, none of these tracks landed on ANTI, and the album suffers for it.

Instead, the only single was teased pre-release that ended up on the finished product is the 'just okay' single "Work" which is brought down by mediocre Drake feature and a sort of flaccid beat. In fact, the latter complaint about "Work" can be applied to pretty much the entire first half of this album. "Desperado" especially, is such a plodding track, that just meanders for three minutes before calling it quits. Also, the lone Travis $cott beat here, the one on "Woo" is easily the albums weakest instrumental; in short, the shrill sample and unenthusiastic moaning display the worst qualities Travis possesses.

After this point in the album, the tracks just blend together, though I did find "Same Ol' Mistakes" interesting... for the first three minutes. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel; in fact, the album hits a rather nice stride from "Never Ending" until the last track "Close To Me". And the reason these four tracks work is because they have a very similar quality to them that "fourfiveseconds" did; raw, emotional power. Rihanna's vocals are given a nice place rest and she takes advantage of it; especially on the track "Higher", a track that perhaps the most passionate that Rihanna has ever laid to tape, the only drawback being its brevity.

Aside from a strong finish though, ANTI is a disappointingly drab affair that rarely rises above the quality that is expected of mainstream pop albums.

5.8/10 

Kanye West: The Life Of Pablo ALBUM REVIEW

It's hard to believe it has been a little over two years since Yeezus was released and the Kanye West fanbase was split for the second time (808's had a very similar effect), and to tell you the truth, I was on the side of the people saying that Yeezus was... meh. To me, it sounded like a watered-down "experimental" album that was only experimental if you only listen to mainstream music and, well, Kanye West. And to further my point, Yeezus is the only Kanye album that I think gets worse with each revisit. Even tracks that I thought were pretty good ("Black Skinhead") are entirely passable to me now. To put it bluntly, I needed to see Kanye either push forward with his sound, or go back to what he does best, and with his latest, The Life Of Pablo, we get a bit of both.

Now I'm not going to run through all the various titles that this LP has had in the past few months or even the multiple TRACKLISTS... instead, I'm evaluating this project on the merits of what we were given, in the way we were given it. And, for the most part, it's pretty darn good!

In fact, the early portions of this album are absolutely fantastic. The opener "Ultralight Beam" is incredibly soulful and features a verse from one of my personal favorite ChiTown MC's, Chance The Rapper, who absolutely kills his feature. This is followed by the two part "Father, Stretch My Hands" and the controversial "Famous" which has been getting a lot of buzz for it's line about Taylor Swift...*shrug*... I couldn't care less, but at least the song is great with a nice banger beat and a really nice feature from Rihanna singing a Nina Simone song.

The next few tracks are where the album kind of loses some steam for me. I do like the track "Feedback" and "Lowlights" has a decent beat, but honestly, the tracks in this middle section are all pretty short and tend to bleed together, but not because they are cohesive.

After this slight deadzone, we get the track "Freestyle 4" which is the only remnant of Yeezus that seems to have survived, and it's pretty good for the most part. But the album really hits a nice stride after the interlude "I Love Kanye" with tracks like "FML", "Real Friends", and "Wolves". Especially "Real Friends" which dropped a couple of weeks before the album release and seemed to signal a change in the way Kanye was going to be portraying himself on this album.

After "Wolves" the album goes into what are in some parts of the internet to be the "bonus" songs, though only three of these tracks are actually worthy of being bonus material. Obviously the track "No More Parties In L.A" is fantastic; it has a great verse from Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye sounds hungrier than he has in nearly half a decade. "30 Hours" is good too, but it goes on a little too long, and the closer "Fade" is really catchy, and manages to make Post Malone bearable!

Phew... So, in the end, I think Ye came through pretty well on this album, it isn't the greatest thing I've ever heard, in fact it could have used a slight revision to nix some of the more forgettable short tracks, but the truth is, I haven't enjoyed listening to a Kanye in full for about 5 years and the fact that I can say that about Ye in a post Yeezus world says a lot about how great this album can be.

8.3/10