Sep 25, 2020 Bout to start charging $500 for each paragraph, Sony’s got the right idea Your album is up next, you always got GOAT music to share so I already know this gonna be something!
Sep 30, 2020 @Sign Language #54: Failure - Fantastic Planet [8.5/10] Sorry for the wait guys, had a lot of work lately with my patients undergoing some early fall blues. Once you take off that cape after a hard day, there is no better comfort than bumping music, especially something that you've never heard before. Leave it to Sign Language's impeccable music taste to put me onto another masterful rock album, I've sat with this one for awhile now and with every passing day I've noticed my apparel change from hoodies to dirty flannel shirts and ripped jeans, that's the power of 90's rock for ya. Seeing as this was my introduction to Failure, I had no idea what I was in for (well ok, I saw the rocket ship in the cover and clapped like a circus seal "durr hurr dis anotha space rock album"). Once that intro kicks off with a grungy guitar riff and earth-shattering drums, the rest of the album follows suit with a wide-arrange of heavy feedback guitar work and crescendoing hooks that sort of recalled something I would have expected from Alice In Chains mixed with Tool for some reason. The most impressive thing is while the formula doesn't stray too far from song to song, with a couple minor adjustments with instrumentation choice of course, the consistency never falters one bit. The lyrics, hit pretty hard to tell you the truth, it's standard fare if you know how prolific drug abuse/depression was in 90's alternative was, but the impact still remains there. What takes Fantastic Planet over the top is a couple of standout songs, particularly in the B-side where the sequencing from track to track is superb, the one-two punch of this & this is jaw-dropping, it takes a seriously talented band to pull off such a dynamic utilization of resources to create such celestial rock tunes. You won't regret listening to this one guys, I clearly haven't!
Sep 30, 2020 @Thy #55: Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow [8.6/10] Ah, this one...yeah I remember this one. There's always a certain trepidation that comes when you look at music lists and see s--- like "This is the most critically acclaimed s--- to drop this year, if you don't listen to this you're a swine!!!!" Not to s--- on certain publications or flat-out say people are wrong, but magnification can cause unrealistic expectations that lead to disappointment (*cough* TPAB *wheeze*). So that brings me to these guys, Blackalicious--composed of California underground hero Gift of Gab & producer Chief Excel--a name I saw sometime when I was in high school and at my most hungriest for discovering music I can impress myself and, well, the rest of the swine I ironically made light of. When I bumped this years ago, I was like "so what's so impressive by this?" and simply discarded it...funny thing is once you grow older and expand your tastes you look back and realize "well s---, I was wrong." So if I had a time machine, I'd go back and punch 16-year old me in the f---ing face. Blazing Arrow is peak Adult Swim bumper music if there ever is such a thing. If you're familiar with these guys, it should come to no surprise the cavalcade of random samples that Chief Excel pulls up with on their records, this album has everything from soul, vinyl scratches, phone rings, random interviews--think DJ Shadow & a bit of El-P before the Run the Jewels era. These eclectic break loops give this project a distinct futuristic sound, aided with Gift of Gab's nimble rhyme schemes and turn of phrases, altogether you get a truly elite rap record that has no shortage of intrigue. Blazing Arrow encapsulates a lot of what made alternative-rap fun; taking an extremely good rapper and situating him in an island of varying production cues, combined with the guest contributions from other underground favorites like Dilated People, Jurassic 5 & even Zach De La Rocha all to create this cornucopia of what dusty hip-hop should sound like. While it may not blow you away, it's a great project with a uniformed direction that never strays away from it's formula, if you're looking for extensive sample-heavy loops and some fantastic rapping then this will be heaven for you.
Sep 30, 2020 It has arrived! Loved the write up of this album! Nurse Who Loved Me is timeless. Lead singer said the album was basically about his relationship with heroin. Up next:
Oct 18, 2020 Been swamped with work, but I've been finding a lot more free time lately, yesterday was the most active I've been here in days lol. Hopefully I'll get around to these asap, hold the rocky!
Oct 21, 2020 @Jeans #56: Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues [9.2/10] Aight y'all let's get this s--- back started. Talking Heads, is a big deal when we look back at the bands from the 70's & 80's. Each band member is either one of the best, if not the best in their respective role. They brought international sounds to a Western audience before it became en vogue years later. Brian Eno worked predominantly with them and then went on to do Brian Eno things. David Byrne is a musical mad scientist, to best describe him...think of your talented autistic friend who continuously keeps finding all this obscure music and then pulls up to you "HEY HEY!!! Check this s--- out, NO ONE else has even gotten remotely close to discovering this!!!" I can only imagine him during the Remain In Light sessions when he was fully engrossed in Zimbra music and then coming back to his bandmates Chris, Tina & Jerry "Yo peep this African baseline, we HAVE to make this music!!" and then Tina reluctantly sighs "Lol whatever" Now I think Remain In Light is their magnum opus, sorry Jeans. By no means however, can I swear by that with my hand in the Bible, that this album doesn't come close to changing my opinion. One listen to Speaking In Tongues will warp your perception on just how freaking groovy can a band of nerdy looking white people be. This was arguably Tina Weymouth's peak as being arguably the greatest bassist in a band, it's impossible to not sit still and move along to these baselines. In true Talking Heads fashion, this album is uncompromising and David Byrne challenges every conceivable notion of conventional songwriting (heck you can almost argue he actually starts rapping on a couple tunes). Ignoring basic song-structure with bridges from out of nowhere, bizarre hook chants and multiple deconstructions of musical tropes, it's an album that keeps you intrigued from top to bottom. Also, it's home to one of the greatest love songs you'll ever hear in your miserable lives, seriously its a seminal record that merits a deep dive in it's labyrinthine lyrics and of course the guitar work. Speaking in Tongues can be a challenging listen, but once you adjust to this jungle of odd sounds, you'll be glad you decided to sit with it.
Oct 22, 2020 Great write up as always. I can admit remain in light may be the opus but from a personal stand point, this is their best album. This must be the place is the song of life. Thanks p----
Nov 12, 2020 Finally gonna be on vacation, gonna be dusting the cobwebs off and get back into it! Keep throwing albums at me, Imma be on my Future circa 2015 grind
