August 7, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

This week, we decided to try something a little different. We added a “Quickies” section of this review blog for quick, bullet point reviews. We had been discussing how we could cover more ground and talk about more music. This section will allow us, and you, to be exposed to more releases. Check it out and let us know if it’s something you would like us to continue or if it feels like clutter. Cheers!

-JR

Deep Purple – Whoosh! (Edel Germany GmbH / earMusic)

3 members of the current lineup of the band have been there since 1968. Ok, that’s a lie. Deep Purple are sort of an industry joke, with an ever-rotating cast of dozens of Class A musicians, earning its own special band members Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Deep_Purple_members). Only drummer, Ian Paice, has been on every studio release. But Roger Glover and Jesus Chri…I mean, Ian Gillan, have been on nearly all of them. 

Honestly, this album does not sound like it was released in 2020. I suppose it’s a breath of fresh air in that regard. Chock full of the goofy, intense theatricality that we would have expected of these cats back in the mid-’70s, Whoosh! is just plain fun. Who doesn’t like organ solos, choral harmonies, classic guitar tone, and sing-along grooves? Vocally, Gillan is starting to sound his age, with just a hint of Joe Walsh creeping into his voice. But what he’s singing doesn’t really need the high-pitched wails that he has been doing for 50+ years. 

This is your dad’s music, in the best possible way. It really might be the perfect feel-good soundtrack in the time of pandemic. Put the windows down in your car, stay on the highway, and take “The Long Way Round”. 

FFO: Kansas, BTO, Styx

-JR

Read More »

July 31, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Beyonce – Black Is King (Disney +, Parkwood Entertainment) 

Black Is King is a reimagining of Disney’s The Lion King, in what is indisputably the most elaborate music video ever made. The first time she explored this concept was back in 2013, with her fifth studio album, Beyonce, which was released in a series of short films. Those films had almost no discernible order or connection. It was beautiful and strange. 

That gives it some commonality with her most recent effort. This time, there is a clear and obvious theme. The presentation is visually stunning as it follows the story. The scenes are chopped up, with rapid jump-cuts, bright colors, and elaborate costuming. The art director is clearly trying to prove something. Like a great many art films, Black Is King is hard to follow from the pictorial. Beyonce and company have remedied that with dropped-in lines from the script(s), poetry, and the lyrical content of the songs. Some of the scenes are a little head-scratchy: bizarro outdoor human chess, the word “MOOD” displayed prominently on various eye-wear, and a few side-sequences. 

Many of the main characters are easily spotted in the film, including Simba, Rafiki, and Scar with his hyenas. Unfortunately, the conceptual audio is vague and obscure enough to be disorienting without the visual component. 

The music itself is excellent, but does provide its own difficulties. “OTHERSIDE”, which is an amazing song, doesn’t quite fit into the narrative. “MY POWER” is the most potent, powerful song on the album, lyrically, but is super-disjointed and hard to listen to. That song is also outside the story arc. 

I think Queen Bey did herself a little bit of long-term disservice with this film, despite the innovation and beauty. Let’s weigh the Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • The message is clear and identifiable early in the film — We are all a part of something “BIGGER”, remember who you are.
  • The art is beautiful and the poetry is poignant.
  • It is memorable, for a number of reasons.
  • The film is likely to win awards. 

Cons:

  • The rewatchability of the film is limited.
  • Most of the music loses clarity without the visual accompaniment.
  • It suffers from too large a cast. There’s as much a presence of other performers as from Beyonce herself.

The bottom line is this: watching the film is a powerful and rewarding experience. The music is solid with wonderful content, but suffers from a lack of Ms. Knowles-Carter. If you have Disney+, watch it. If not, start with “BIGGER”, “FIND YOUR WAY BACK”, “WATER”, and “BROWN SKIN GIRL”, which features young Blue Ivy Carter. 

FFO: Pharrell Williams, Jessie Reyez, Mr. Eazi, and of course, Beyonce

-J.R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwVInD2havY
Read More »

July 24, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Gaerea – Limbo (Season of Mist)

Gaerea is not a band. They are a “Vortex community”, “bestow[ing] their Undying Sigil to the masses”. 

For an act that has been around less than 5 years, this black metal quintet from Portugal is certainly making an impact on the global scene. The theatrics create a mystery about the group. Only 3 members of the outfit have been named, the remaining 2 shrouded under a hood bearing the Undying Sigil. 

Limbo takes us to Dante’s first circle, the hopeless wasteland where human chattel await their eternal damnation. This imagery is potent throughout the record, starting with the vivid depiction on the cover and continuing seamlessly through the music. 

Calling this “black metal” is a bit of a mislead, though. The theatrics and themes aside, the music actually feels more like doom metal, with plenty of sludgy breakdowns, atmospheric bridges, and a sense of guitar melody that you just don’t get with black metal. 

Whatever you want to call it, Limbo is relentless. It opens with a powerful overture of a song, “To Ain”, an 11-minute opus that sets the tone, theme, and sound that will occupy your earspace for 52 minutes over 6 tracks. The structure of the album is classical in nature, using movements to walk us through the “new” stages of grief: sadness, denial, anger, madness, and despair. The album closes with “Mare”, a 13-minute monolith that bookends Limbo with that same feeling of being held captive, but with chaos lurking overhead. 

I found myself listening with rapt attention. Limbo is an absolute masterpiece and Gaerea has created the perfect soundtrack to 2020. It really feels like we’re in the First Circle, awaiting damnation. I hope they don’t make us wait too long to experience the Second Circle, where we will be blown about in a violent storm without hope of rest.

Bring it on.

FFO: …And Oceans, Enthroned, Carach Angren

Read More »

Top Hit Songs of July 2020

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

12. Luke Bryan – One Margarita

The Brofather is back to sing the praises of a new drink. Beer alone is no good, we need tequila. Actually, we need a rewrite of Tracy Byrd’s “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo” with a little Kenny Chesney spin on it and… oh, he name checks Chesney in a verse. Well, at least he knows. It’s a song that is technically fine. His band is more than capable. A few extra points for trying to make a party song in the middle of a summer where we could all use a pick me up. But there’s still quite a hole to dig out of here. 

Read More »

The Podcast: July 2020 in Review

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

This week, we take a look at another pretty good month in music. Jeremy and Zack give us their favorite albums of the month, Dan looks at the best and worst top 40 hits and the guys play their first round of the Looks Like game.

Jeremy’s Top 3 Albums of July:
3. Mannequin Online – I Feel It
2. Gaerea – Limbo
1. Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue

Zack’s Top 3 Albums of July:
3. Gucci Mane – Gucci Mane Presents: So Icy Summer
2. Taylor Swift – folklore
1. Juice WRLD – Legends Never Die

Dan’s Top 2 Top 40 Tracks of July:
2. Megan Thee Stallion – Girls in the Hood
1. Lil’ Baby – The Bigger Picture

July 17th, 2020

monkeyhammer811 Comment

Meghan Trainor – Treat Myself (Epic)

I sat down with this record expecting, even hoping, for something to tear apart. I was not ready to actually enjoy (most of) a Meghan Trainor album. The lead single, “No Excuses”, is such a trainwreck of a song I was ready to launch into a tirade about faux-sincerity, narcissism, and banal pop tropes that are all embodied by a mush-mouthed blonde commercial puppet. 

Sure, she switches between personalities from song to song, decrying the horrors of a relationship, then wanting him back. Sure, when she sings the phrase, “Love Yourself”, it somehow sounds like she’s saying “Out dog yourself”. Sure, every song is a repetitive, four-chord, easily-digestible melody.

But…

Goddammit if it doesn’t work this time. Ignore the Nicki Minaj part of “Nice To Meet You” and the melody and beat are quite pleasing. Close your eyes and listen to “Funk” and you can almost hear Janet. “Working On It” might be the most honest a pop star has been recently about personal failings. Throw a Spanish verse into “Lie To Me” and it could be Shakira.  And the best part is, she finally has a producer that nearly eliminated the overuse of handclaps and ‘60s pop basslines. 

My favorite track on the album has to be “Here To Stay”, in which she basically says, “Yeah, I’m a piece of shit, but apparently you’re into that, so let’s do this.”

The problematic tendencies definitely still exist (“Babygirl”, “Genetics”, and the aforementioned “No Excuses”), but by and large, this is a huge step in the right direction. 

FFO: Janet Jackson, Sabrina Carpenter

Read More »

July 3rd and July 10th, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

We owe you a bit of an apology. A lot of good music happened in July, but due to some personal things that happened during that time (not going to bore you with details), we struggled to get things written. Rest assured, we were listening and intend to remedy the lapse in posts…

Right now.

Cuddle Magic – Bath (Northern Spy)

Bath is the sixth album from Brooklyn-based sextet, Cuddle Magic, and it is a damned shame that it took me six album to hear of them. As of this writing, I have not traveled back through to their origins, but if Bath is at all indicative of their body of work, they have a fan for life.

Folk-pop is a genre that doesn’t get a ton of radio play or heated discussion outside of your local bookstore or coffee shop. It’s also rare to find a folk-pop outfit that challenges the dynamics of the genre. Bath is acoustic. It is also orchestrated to be extraordinarily intoxicating. Voices float in and out at precisely the right moments. The instrumentation is consistent by changing to suit each individual song, whether that’s a harmonica (“Gracefully”), a pump organ (“This Way”, “Eleanor”), or the simple pluck of an acoustic guitar (“Hurt a Little”, “Still In Touch”), it is the perfect accompaniment to the softly sung vocals of Benjamin and Kristin. 

Yeah, I learned their names. So what?

From the first moments of “What If I”, you can feel the love. Love for the music. Love for each other. Love for the listener. 

Oh, and the fun part…

The whole album was recorded live in a bathroom. That’s right! Six people, no headphones or electronic tricks. Just microphones, instruments, and pure, unadulterated talent. 

FFO: The Shins, Bon Iver, Iron and Wine

Read More »

The Best Hit Songs of 1984

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

Yesterday, I brought out the bottom of the barrel for the year of my birth, so it’s only right to spotlight the best songs that 1984 had to offer. As a quick refresher for this series, I’m listening to the year-end Billboard Hot 100, giving every song a score, tallying those up and writing about the best and the worst. No one set the office on fire over the worst, so I’m back to do the best.

Honorable Mention: Michael Jackson – Thriller – Year-End: #78, Peak: #4
When I’ve got a tie around the #10 spot, I’ll add in an honorable mention or two so here’s this year’s. I don’t know if this song gets the respect it deserves because of the album it came from and the other chartbusting hits that preceded it. Plus, I think more people think of the music video for the track than the actual track itself. I don’t think that’s fair as the song itself is a great piece of sound theater, telling a story through lyrics and sound effects. And c’mon, Vincent friggin’ Price.

Read More »

The Worst Hit Songs of 1984

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

Since I’ve been tasked to be the site’s judge of new pop music, I thought it would be interesting to look to the past in-between weeks when I’m looking at the present. With that in mind, I foolishly gave myself the project of covering the years that we’ve collectively been alive (1982-2019) and today we start with the landmark year 1984. The world gathered in Sarajevo for the Winter Olympics, Ghostbusters hit theaters, Reagan was gonna start the bombing in five minutes and I was born. Big year.

This is briefly the nuts and bolts of how this series will go. I’ll take the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 chart, listen to each song, give them arbitrary scores and then write about the top and bottom ten on my list. There’s almost certain to be a song in the worst list that’s one of your favorites. I can guarantee you’ll question my sanity with one of the entries on the best list and that’s the point of all of this. I’m certain Jeremy and Zack will throw verbal rocks at me on the next podcast.

One of the hardest parts of looking back at songs this old is the nostalgia factor, which is probably where most disagreements will start. Looking up and down this year’s list I see a ton of songs I heard all the time growing up. We were a pop household and I’m pretty sure early Chicago was the “most rock and roll” my parents record collection got at the time. It was tough to look at many of these songs with a critical eye, but here’s the best go that I could give. Without further ado, I give you the ten worst hit songs of 1984.

10. Lionel Richie – “All Night Long (All Night)” – Year-End: #12, Peak: #1
The first single from Can’t Slow Down, this “party” track was released in October 1983, but peaked on the charts later that winter and hung around until the spring of ’84. Centered around a light yet infection rhythm and a breakdown full of nonsense lyrics that were intended to be another language (Richie admitted he didn’t have time to hire a translator like he wanted), it’s been hailed as a fun party song. I was confused that this mid-tempo meh track passed for a party anthem in the early 80’s, but then I remembered cocaine and it all made sense. There just doesn’t seem to be enough of all of the traits that this song is hailed for to justify it’s position in the 80’s music pantheon.

Read More »