Lana Del Rey"Doin' Time"Sublime OST (out soon on Universal)If you grew up in California in the early 2000's, it was just about impossible to get in someone's car or go to a party that wasn't playing one of those two Sublime albums. Evidently, the same was true in wherever Read more
Stormzy"Vossi Bop"Digital SingleAfter a little while away, the London kingpin looks to be getting back in the game. "Vossi Bop" is a perfect comeback track because it is such a pure distillation of what makes Stormzy a true-one off. Over a tasty, yet simple beat, Big Mike goes in Read more
Even though we're a solid week into the second quarter, better late than never right? Here's a quick round-up of some of my favorite songs of the last three months. To keep numbers manageable, I didn't include anything from any of my favorite albums list and prioritized songs I Read more
Gah, I can't believe we're already 25% through 2019. That said, Spring is in the air, and we've enjoyed an excellent, diverse crop of music during these first three months. Have a look at some of my favorite LPs of the year so far in no particular order.
Dawn Richard
“New Read more
Chief Keef
"Ain't Gonna Happen"
GloToven (Glo Gang / RBC)
The Chicago stalwart's new project with the legendary Zaytoven is unsurprisingly full of weird and wacky sounds, moving in innumerable unexpected and exciting ways. Its most powerful moment is its starkest, as a heartbroken Keef floats freely over Zay's gorgeous piano.
"Face dried Read more
Millennials. Aren’t they just the worst? With all their goshdern cell phones, emojis, and lack of eye-contact. T-Pain certainly thinks so. On his new single, the Tallahassee Hero decries courting in the Snapchat era. He spends the song shaking his walking stick at a 23 year-old he meets in a club who has the cheek to ignore his beautiful face and focus on the warm glow of her iPhone. The lyrics are predictably ridiculous (sample line: “Emoji. Emoji.”), but that’s never derailed his singles in the past, and it certainly doesn’t here. It might be hella dumb, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun.
Instead of just rolling through the best of March, let’s round up the finest music of the first quarter of 2016. Coming off last week’s Best Tracks list, here’s are my favorite albums of the year.
Kanye West The Life of Pablo G.O.O.D. Music
Hottest Jams: “Ultralight Beam” / “Father Stretch My Hands 1 & 2” / “Real Friends” Is it an album? A living, breathing performance art piece? An ad for another shitty streaming service? Whatever you want to call it, Kanye continues to be this generation’s greatest musical innovator and a guy who is working completely in his own space. At his MSG record release show, West quipped that people were flocking to the arena to see him play “one on none,” and it’s true. He’s not competing against other artists, rappers, or musicians anymore; he’s stretching his hands (I mean…) in ways we’ve never seen.
The Life of Pablo is an album that only Kanye could have made — a sonic manifestation of what life is like inside one of the world’s most creative minds. This thing shifts from the divine halls of the Sistine Chapel to an Atlanta trap house (I’m talking Metro, not Desiigner, btw) to sitting shotgun in a convertible speeding down Lincoln in Marina Del Rey… and that’s only the first 13 minutes. Though it’s not perfect, there are too many great moments to cover here, but he sums up where he’s at on the Weeknd feature, “FML.” “I’ve been living without limits. As far as my business, I’m the only one that’s in control.” That’s the Kanye mission statement in a nutshell, and we are goddamn lucky that we get to experience it.
Rihanna ANTI Westbury Road Hottest Jams: “Close to You,” “Yeah, I Said It,” “Love on the Brain”
Rihanna albums tend to feel huge — packed with big ideas, massive stylistic shifts, and A-List guest appearances. However, for her eighth album, the 28 year-old decided to scale things back, crafting an album that feels intimate, emotional, and 1000% hers. She left off recent smashes “Bitch Better Have My Money” and “FourFiveSeconds” and only gave out two features.
By stripping things away, the focus is fixed on the artist, her writing, and that fucking voice. That criminally underrated voice. She’s never mentioned alongside the Adeles and Beyonces of the world, but her versatility and powerful vulnerability are untouchable. She effortlessly shifts from the raspy, upper-register soul of “Love on the Brain” and “Higher” to the restrained, smoky sensuality of “Needed Me” and “Yeah, I Said It.” She caps off her virtuoso performance with the pure, heartbroken closer “Close to You,” which is still one of the best songs of the year.
Lontalius I’ll Forget 17 Partisan Records
Hottest Jams: “It’s Not Love” / “Glow” / “Selfless” One of the many interesting aspects of TheFader’s must-read Kaytranada feature was his struggle to move from a Soundcloud producer/remixer into a full-fledged artist. It must have been a similarly strange shift for 18 year-old Eddie Johnston, who rose to digital fame a few years ago with emotional, stripped-down covers of his favorite R&B and pop songs. While his debut maintains his early work’s confessional nature, I’ll Forget 17 is a massive step forward, both in construction and composition. His signature Casio keyboard is mostly replaced by loose, strummed guitar chords and subtle electronic dynamics, which add depth and variation to his arrangements. Songwriting-wise, he’s light years ahead of where he was, crafting a record full of relatable, insightful looks at growing up, falling in love, and moving on when young love invariably lets you down.
Kamaiyah A Good Night in the Ghetto Self-Released
Hottest Jams: “How Does it Feel?” / “Break You Down” / “I’m On” More than anything, the Oakland newcomer’s debut tape is a celebration. It’s a celebration of her humble past (“I’m On,” “How Does it Feel?”) and exciting present/future (“Out the Bottle,” “Fuck it Up”). But this is far from just party music. Cuts like the slithering slow jam, “Break You Down,” and the reflective, “For My Dawg,” highlight her rare versatility and keep the collection balanced. Kamaiyah’s vocals are a throwback to the sound of the 90s: clean, relentlessly melodic, and likely to appeal to those suffering from auto-tune fatigue. It’s an exciting first statement from an artist with massive potential, and it’s yet another win for an East Bay scene that is thriving right now.
Julianna Barwick
“Same” (f/ Mas Ysa) Will (out 05.06 on Dead Oceans) Today, we got the second taste of the Brooklyn musician’s highly-anticipated third LP. Featuring the faraway vocals of Thomas “Mas Ysa” Arsenault, “Same” has a more orchestral feel than Will‘s synth driven lead single, “Nebula.” Over innumerable layers of strings, the two vocalists intertwine their voices to perfection, creating a mournful, affecting lament that feels like a miniature aria.
Nite Jewel
“Boo Hoo” Liquid Cool (out 06.10 on Gloriette)
The world just got a little more #blessed today, as Ramona “Nite Jewel” Gonzalez announced that her long-awaited follow up to 2012’s excellent, One Second of Love, is just around the corner. Lead single, “Boo Hoo,” is the kind of stylish synth jam that she’s made her name on, and the Angelino’s voice is as slick as ever. That said, the arrangement bangs harder than her previous stuff, thanks to rumbling sub-bass throughout and the driving percussion on the hook. It’s a tasty update to an already potent sound, demonstrating how great artists can subtly tweak their sound without compromising what made it work well in the first place. All hail.
Instead of just rolling through the best music of March, let’s round up the best music of the first quarter of 2016. We’ll kick things off with the best tracks of the year so far. My album list should be out later this week. And so as not to repeat myself, I didn’t include anything from any of those albums on this list.
Last Japan
“Ascend” (f/ AJ Tracey)
Digital Single Two of the biggest young talents in grime link up for one of the biggest choons of the year. Last Japan has been cranking out gorgeous, powerful tracks for the last few years. But he rarely works with vocalists, so it’s great to hear one of the best MCs in the game lend vocals to his work. We’ll see if this will be a one-off or a sign of things to come. Hopefully, it’ll be the latter.
Jordan Raf
“Duvet” Double Negative (out soon on POW) Undoubtedly one of my favorite new artists of the year, the LA-based singer-songwriter has been on fire recently, using his gorgeous, clean tenor to sing dirty little love songs. His work reminds me a lot of eternal TP favorite, Dan Bodan, unabashedly exploring the oft-seedy, visceral aspects of real sex and relationships.
Silk Road Assassins
“Vectors” Reflection Spaces (out 04.15 on Planet Mu) Of all the exciting new album news this year, nothing beat the secretive London neo-grime trio announcing their forthcoming debut EP on Planet Mu. I’ve been lurking on their Soundcloud for more than a year, inhaling their icy, Neo Geo synths and monstrous, rolling percussion. And while “Vectors” isn’t anywhere near new, it remains one of most exciting, futuristic tracks of recent years and is an exciting roadmap to how far these three could really take this. Roll on April 15th.
Future
“Fly Shit Only” EVOL (out now on Freebandz) After an all-conquering 2015 (and 2014 and 2013), Future Hendrix shows no signs of slowing down, dropping two full-lengths in the first quarter, EVOL and Purple Reign. While neither will remembered as a classic, they are full of highlights, namely the former’s mid-tempo, guitar-driven closer. The DJ Spinz weeper recalls my favorite song of last year, “News or Smthn,” and continues to hint at how special an all-slow jam Future album would be.
ERAS
“Angels” (f/ Grace Hall) Purified (out 05.27 on Track Number) Two Angelinos link up for a harrowing journey through a place as dark as death. Producer Nathaniel Eras’ gloomy waves of synth wash over the Skin Town vocalist, leaving her no choice but to repeat the mantra “it’s really dark outside.” “Angels” highlights the simultaneously disquieting and soothing nature of darkness in a visceral way that’s hard to shake.
Søren Juul “Dear Child” This Moment (06.17 on 4AD)
After one album under the unfortunate moniker, Indians, the Danish songwriter is going back to his given name for his second effort for 4AD. Crafted after three turbulent years following the release of his debut, This Moment finds Juul back on home soil in the picturesque, seaside town of Svendborg. That peace is evident on the disc’s placid first single, which pairs his evocative tenor with languid acoustic guitars and windswept melodies.
Fear of Men
“Island” Fall Forever (out 06.03 on Kanine)
Anxiety has always been a core ingredient of the Fear of Men experience. From their name to their sound, the Brighton trio’s previous work is dripping with concern. Anxiety is a relatable emotion, but it’s also a self-sabotaging one. And as cozy and affecting as their early work is, it always felt like they were holding something back, self-conscious about trying to do too much or play too loudly.
For that reason, the first line from their second album’s lead single feels especially powerful. “I’m like an island, I don’t need to feel your arms around me” sings vocalist Jess Weiss, her vocals newly high in the mix and confident. What follows is the group’s most ambitious single to date, featuring a stirring guitar-line and a lush earworm of a chorus that recalls the Cranberries’ seminal “Dreams.” As the song moves and they really go for it, you can feel the anxiety melt away and all the light come streaming in.
Though they are both still frustratingly slept on over here (what else is new?), Last Japan and AJ Tracey are a couple of grime’s fastest rising stars, and they combine to devastating effect on this anthemic new single. West Londoner AJ Tracey raps like a man with a literal unlimited supply of bars — like if you left him in a booth with a track on loop, he’d just keep rapping forever, until someone cut the power. His endless talent is a perfect match for Last Japan’s monstrous beat, which pairs skittering percussion with explosive sub-bass and a twinkling, catchy keyboard melody. It’s the kind of song made to be blasted out of a wall of speakers in a sweltering room. Hopefully, I won’t need to get on a transatlantic flight to experience it for myself.
I rarely think about contributing to Kickstarters for people I do not know — especially ones by musicians — but Linda Perhacs’ recent campaign has me considering a change of tune. Besides the fact that she seems like such a lovely woman, the LA resident’s story is the kind you’d want to support. After releasing her psychedelic folk debut, Parallelograms, back in 1970, she disappeared from music for years working as a dental hygienist. She only found out about the disc’s cult following after she was contacted by a small Brooklyn label following a near-fatal case of pneumonia in 2000.
It took another 14 years for Parallelograms to get its worthy successor: 2014’s beautiful, The Soul of All Natural Things, put out by Sufjan Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty. And it appears that she still has a lot of music in her. She’s working on a follow-up, led by finger-picked lead single, “The Dancer.” Now well into her seventies, Perhacs’ voice has a warmth and softness that seems to get more affecting as she ages.
If she can raise 16k in the next six weeks, she’ll be able to finish the album, and we’ll be able to hear it. That sounds like a cause I can get behind.
Contribute to her Kickstarter and learn more, here.
T-Pain
