Welcome to yet another Loosies Of The Week, a wrap-up of this weeks singles, throwaways, leaks, and any other loose tracks I find. A wide range of genres this week, with a well-rounded level of quality. There's sure to be something you enjoy.
__________________________________________________________
A few years back, as I ventured into the mystifying world of Post-Rock, not knowing what lied ahead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor provided a permanence that was necessary during my stay. Their pinnacle work, 2000's Lift Your Skinny Fists, still exists as one of the more ambitious albums ever made, a journey through Earth post-humans, with happiness, regret, and sorrow tumbling in along the way. It exists as the beacon of Post-Rock, for myself and others, because of its insistence on fracturing the norm. Unfortunately, in recent years, Godspeed themselves have fallen into form, releasing 2015's Asunder, Sweet, and Other Distress, a carbon copy imprint of their successful comeback 2012's Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! Formula for both began to show, something that's hampered the careers of fellow Post-Rock leaders like Explosions In The Sky, Hammock, or Red Sparowes. However, with 'Undoing A Luciferian Towers,' hope is rising. Quite literally, as the anthemic track brings a brightness, a glow, a sheen to the doom and gloom. It may be their most emotional work since 2002's Yanqui U.X.O., the last of their first era albums. Better yet, 'Undoing a Luciferian Towers' feels as if it's building to something greater. We shall wait a few more weeks to find out if it does.
__________________________________________________________
After breaking his vow of silence one year ago with his month-long stranglehold of August, Frank Ocean's career since then has resembled something many would call traditional. Curating radio playlists, working with artists as popular as Calvin Harris and Tyler, The Creator, the R&B crooner has also released a string of loosies that gazed into the vault for songs that didn't fit a theme. 'Provider' is yet another example of this, featuring a nocturnal vibe similar to Nostalgia, Ultra, but heightens the impact as a flurry of odd instrumentation and patterns keep the track on its tippy-toes. As per usual, Ocean's vocals are serene, whether they're sung naturally or with the help of a vocoder. Throughout 'Provider,' he's left to fend for himself as there's numerous instances when nothing more than some synth-driven ambience glides behind him. Unfortunately, much of the lyrics, and a selection of the delivery, are quite substandard, seen most prominently on the pre-chorus where Ocean forces "eyes low, chin heavy, every shoe gazer / moonwalking, RIP Stanley Kubrick" despite there being no rhyme in the couplet.
__________________________________________________________
In a fit of irony, for a band that declares the world a beautiful place in their name, the breadth of dysfunctionality under the hood is astounding. Since their inception in 2009, only one original member lives on, that being bassist Josh Cyr. 15 others have either come or gone. Beyond this, their political agenda remains strong, as we've seen on a few of their more recent cuts like 'Body Without Organs,' a direct Donald Trump callout, or this week's release 'Marine Tigers.' The latter, the second single for their soon-to-be released LP Always Foreign, goes even further, criticizing the country's broken status, institutions felonious ways, and xenophobic's ignorance. There isn't a single thought, as 'Marine Tigers' is bred on emotion, as confounding, complex, and irritable that can be. However, the music proudly flaunting its wealth in the background, bred off the dying Post-Rock era, is rigid, composed, and combative. It's the best of their works since 2015's Harmlessness, ratcheting up the power and upheaval through seven well-composed minutes. There's some simply bridging background vocals, akin to Son Lux, which branches The World Is... out even further. What's known for sure is that 'Marine Tigers' sounds triumphant.
__________________________________________________________
Indie heads look out, folksy fan fictions are on the rise. This, due to the upcoming collaboration between the genre's modern day Singer/Songwriter's Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile. This is a dream team for most, a treat to all those lonesome wanderers seeking out a home with an acoustic guitar by their side. For me, the anticipation was minimal. Barnett's debut album, Sometimes I Sit And Think, a pleasant surprise that incorporated various styles into her quirky nook in Australia. However, Vile's latest project, B'lieve I'm Goin Down, was quite contrived and lacked a personal flair. My worry of the two mutating, dissolving their identity in the process, becomes clear on 'Over Everything.' Apart from the six-minute length and extended outro, everything about the lead single to Lotta Sea Lice meets expectations. The single is okay. It's not bad, it's not great. And as avid readers of mine know, few things disinterest me more than mediocre. While the two begin 'Over Everything' by trading verses, the weighty finish provides a peculiar absence in the form of Barnett. Here, Vile takes over, only to impart tiny quips, piecing together the climax, which aims to be 'Over Everything's' best moment. It just takes too long to get there.
__________________________________________________________
The long-awaited return of LCD Soundsystem officially happened this past Friday with the release of American Dream, a stunner of an album from front to back. However, the group apparently wasn't done with sprawling, Dance-centric party cuts, as 'pulse (v.1),' a 13-minute tour-de-force of percussion, dropped. Unlike the breadth of American Dream, 'pulse (v.1)' feels like an abandoned afterthought, something we didn't need, and something LCD Soundsystem shouldn't have bothered releasing. After two minutes, 'pulse (v.1)' has given you everything it has to offer, that being a spiraling collage of bleeps, bloops, and tribal drums, leaving over ten minutes to accomplish virtually nothing. James Murphy, who doesn't appear here vocally, stated that 'pulse (v.1)' is "an addendum meant to go after the last track, 'Black Screen.' This, if you've listened to the record, is complete blasphemy, as that journeying track conveys the sentiment of conclusion about as well as any closing track in recent memory. Save 'pulse (v.1)' for the dance club when no one's paying attention.
__________________________________________________________
Right now, Chicago's Hip-Hop scene is in limbo, unsure of its next move. It'll take a commanding album, like Chance The Rapper's sweeping Acid Rap, to direct a new course of action, given that his leadership has now gone beyond the streets of Chi Town. There's a handful of rappers capable of such a feat, Mick Jenkins being the most prominent. His talents as an emcee, a writer, a poet, all too apparent. The production behind him, largely led by THEMPeople, concrete and distinctive. However, last year's The Healing Component was far more concerned with the internal, rediscovering lost building block of love, than taking Chicago into its next evolution. None of that has anything to do with 'A Layover,' a one-off track that finds Jenkins musing about ongoing societal problems he'd rather stay away from, but it does provide a perspective on if he'll ever be the type to lead. Choosing not to watch the news, buy into the alternative facts, or invite cynics into his fold, as he explains on 'A Layover,' may have inadvertently exposed his nonchalant state of mind. The production, highly inspired by the Cloud Rap scene, buys into this, creating an approachable sound all around, but one that's far removed from his tenacious vigor on past cuts like 'Martyr' or 'Jazz.'
__________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment