What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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You wanna talk about a red herring. DSVII's first promotional push came conjoined to 'Temple Of Sorrow,' an impressive monolith combining M83's sterile, Brian Eno-esque Ambient textures with a majestic, Post-Rock capstone. It was single-handedly better than anything off Junk not named 'Go!,' and invited quite a deal of anticipation on my behalf. Turns out, 'Temple Of Sorrow' was nothing more than a farce as Anthony Gonzalez spends the majority of DSVII's 57 minutes meandering around well-trod New Age cliches that evoke the primitive state of Progressive Electronic in the 1970's. Think Tangerine Dream or the aforementioned Eno atmospherically, but with a greater emphasis on Berlin School and Modern Classical. Pianos come unchecked on DSVII, taking part in almost every song and attribute to some of the LP's worst, most stark affairs ('Jeux D'Enfants,' 'Lunar Son,' 'Taifun Glory').
Truthfully, criticisms aside, if New Age speaks to you on the spiritual level and you're desperate for an itch long since abandoned, DSVII will do the trick. There are brighter, more involved spots not named 'Temple Of Sorrow' which help brighten and saturate though, and those tend to occur midway through on efforts like 'A Word Of Wisdom,' 'Lune De Fiel,' and 'A Taste Of The Dusk.' The former is perhaps the most quizzical, as the whimsical humming and jaunty melody evokes the purity and bourgeois of 70's family sitcoms. The short duration helps drive home this belief even further. 'Lune De Fiel' (along with 'Feelings,' the other two lead singles) is likely the most involved moment here, with frantic drums and stabbing synthesizers that recall some grand-scale fight amongst beasts. It's the closest thing, stylistically, to the cover. Lastly, 'A Taste Of The Dusk' follows a similar path to 'A Word Of Wisdom,' but stretches it into territory we're more accustomed to with M83, with short, breathless chants interspersed by acoustic guitars and twinkling melodies.
DSVII has its moments, there's no refuting that. Mixing those highlights with the general aura - which one can't deny is totally singular in 2019 - creates a unique experience of notable highs and lows. Which, as we know with the inconsistency of Ambient, is rather commonplace. I'm not sure what setting DSVII is best for, but it exists somewhere out there. Not here with me, but somewhere.
C-
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2019 | Industrial Hip-Hop | Listen
LIVELEAK TORTURE VIEWED WITH VAUNTED PAGEANTRY
At this stage in their (hopefully) early career, every clipping. album has turned into an event. A must-see showcase of Experimental Hip-Hop pitted only against the likes of Death Grips. Despite introducing unforgivable alarm clocks as beats ('Get Up'), Gospel as statement's on slavery's enduring measure (Splendor & Misery), and harsh Whitehouse samples to satirize dance culture ('Wriggle'), nothing will prepare you for There Existed An Addiction To Blood. It's not the group's best project - CLPPNG's sublime concept and genre-vaulting enjoyment still holds that crown - but it's certainly their most impressive. While Daveed Diggs has garnered much of clipping.'s notoriety, and rightfully so, There Existed An Addiction To Blood is really the William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes show. Never before has Hip-Hop witnessed sound design at this level. The incorporation, no, adulation of every Noise sub-genre known to man helps elicit the themes of obsession, vehemence, and barbarism rampant in Diggs' intricate, mind-melting prose.
For the sake of time I won't delve too far into Diggs' lyrics, as they're unsurprisingly wieldy, wide-ranging, incisive, and dense. In other words, magnificent as always as one would expect from a top tier emcee. Numerous call-backs to clipping.'s early work (namely the concept of ghosts within society) can be heard, along with the usual fanfare combining graphic depictions of violence with commentary on society's dark underbelly. clipping. has always remained committed to engrossing concepts, and that's on full display with There Existed An Addiction, though Diggs sometimes retraces old steps. This is most notable on 'The Show,' which bears a disappointing resemblance thematically to 'Body & Blood.' Regardless, there's still plenty to feast on in regards to Diggs, and the album's best effort ('Blood Of The Fang') wouldn't be a quarter as remarkable without him.
But Hutson and Snipes, my god. In previous years people regarded clipping. as the group willing to insert Noise into Hip-Hop, not realizing that they had only just scratched the surface. There Existed An Addiction To Blood goes all out by incorporating standard Noise ('Attunement'), Harsh Noise ('La Mala Ordina'), Indeterminacy ('Piano Burning'), Field Recordings ('Run For Your Life'), and Microsound ('Story 7') into the fold. The execution is near flawless, sans 'Piano Burning' but that's an expected measure when you get into pretentious genres such as these. By using entrenched Noise acts such as The Rita, Sarah Bernat, and Pedestrian Deposit, clipping. effectively abrogated the potential for ridicule or scorn from each side of the coin; The Noise community and Hip-Hop one.
How they're used, be it The Rita's methodical but tenacious erasing of Diggs on 'La Mala Ordina,' Bernat's torturous screams on 'Club Down' (which, disturbingly, reminds me of the Orlando club shooting), or 'All In Your Head's' disjointed, Industrial cacophony ('Dominoes,' anyone?), is exceptional and undeniably shrewd. None are more clever than 'Run For Your Life' though, where Diggs - stationed on a rowdy, no-good street corner - uses the surrounding rhythms to flow. Cars with muddled beats, barking dogs, an ice cream truck, ambulance, and breathy joggers move in and out of view, before taking the concrete perspective of La Chat - the suspected deviant Diggs chronicles - on her way to some nefarious action a la Kendrick Lamar's 'Backseat Freestyle.' It is genius. But so is the rest of this album, and so is clipping.'s entire discography. Yet another wholly original Experimental Hip-Hop record that further pivots clipping. into true curators of unconventional art.
A-
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2019 | East Coast Hip-Hop | Listen
ENCASED IN FEAR, SHIELDED BY DEFIANCE
Billy Woods' second LP of 2019 finds the gruff, street-savvy enigma returning to his comfort zone after the branching, and utterly wonderful Hiding Places. There, Kenny Segal affixed Woods to the deprave, Rock and Metal outlook he's been in desperate need of. Here, the sterile, circular production emphasizes why. By and large, Terror Management reduces the incisive, alarming nature of Woods' lyrics with tame, monotone production that rarely interests or deviates from the path set forth on History Will Absolve Me, Today I Wrote Nothing, Known Unknowns, etc. And the times in which it does, like the Western fray of 'Blood Thinner,' the schizophrenic Noise Rock of 'Dead Birds,' or the uncomfortable basal of 'Gas Leak,' Terror Management thrives. It's just rare that the beats match Woods' atmospheric woe and resentment.
The predictable structuring doesn't help Terror Management either. Yet another collection of two-minute ideas - many, like 'Myth,' 'Dog Days,' 'Birdsong' nothing more than filler - entrenched with Woods' complex, bold observations on inner-city desolation. It's an avenue often ventured by the Washington D.C. transplant, and one that was eschewed by Kenny Segal's necessity for evolvement and expression on Hiding Places. This, regrettably so, is more of the same. A supremely-gifted emcee sifting through subpar production, content in the quagmire of dreariness.
C
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