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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2019 | Experimental Rock | Listen
A MANIAC'S MANIA AROUSED BY CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Swans' 15th LP Leaving Meaning could be recategorized as the sounds of a man spiraling in and out of sanity. At times, Michael Gira speaks with the gentle mirth of a renaissance zealot, ushering lines of affectionate reinforcement as seen on 'Annaline' and 'It's Coming It's Real.' These two tracks, along with a few others like 'Amnesia' and 'What Is This?,' draw out Gira's Angels Of Light era like none other, acting as the modernized, composite pair of How I Loved You's standouts 'Evangeline' and 'Two Women.' The similarities could be criticized, but no more than tracks like 'The Hanging Man' and 'Sunfucker' which invoke Swans' last era spearheaded by The Seer. In these instances, Gira loses all connection with comprehension, resorting to psychotic yelps, grunts, and hollers interspersed with ceaseless shibboleth's amounting to nothing ("Believer, believer, believer, believe or not").
The combination makes for riveting art, much like Swans' entire discography. On Leaving Meaning, Gira doesn't so much as reinvent himself - and the band - but rather accumulates the knowledge, wit, and drive he's learned through Swans' nearly four decades. This makes it Swans' most diverse and erratic project since Soundtracks For The Blind, though most certainly not to that extreme. The undulating pacing, especially on disc one, is of note given the clear schizophrenic intention of crash-slamming the lovely 'Annaline' into the demented 'Hanging Man,' the desultory 'Leaving Meaning' into the sacrificial 'Sunfucker.' It makes for a jarring listen that doesn't go over so well when the lows - namely 'Leaving Meaning' and 'Cathedrals Of Heaven' - stonewall the momentum with prominent relapses.
Thankfully Leaving Meaning recoups that vacillating moment with an excellent four-track run to close things out. Lead single 'It's Coming It's Real' remains the best moment here, with its blissed out ascension. But one can't go without mentioning 'What Is This?' and its uplifting, Christmas-like chant or 'My Phantom Limb's' total recall into claustrophobic paranoia. Once again, the uniformity is nonexistent but that's of no matter when the quality - and more importantly, given Swans' modus operandi since day one; the emotional and artistic provocation - is nearing the peaks of what Gira and company have accomplished.
B
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2019 | Christian Hip-Hop | Listen
THE MODERN GOSPEL: PRAISING AMERICAN CAPITALISM
For the first time in Kanye West's career, an unexpected, hypocrisy-ridden move has left me unperturbed. Perhaps it's a case of saturated outrage but to me, the greatest failure of Jesus Is King comes not from the bum-steered take on religion, but rather the total apathy and mediocrity that came in its wake. Sure, the same applied to ye, but that train wreck had the benefit of daringness on its side, in the sense that it was Kanye's first album where negligence and disinterest were deemed artistic statements. The vehement reaction on behalf of his fanbase was warranted. On Jesus Is King it's just disheartening, witnessing the collapse of the greatest artistic mind of the 21st century. Mind you, I don't speak in hyperbolic soliloquies like that often. In this case, it's true. Kanye West is no more, and it's not for typical reasons like redundancy or losing one's charm, but total insouciance on making an impact in the music world.
As for Jesus Is King, it's exactly what you'd expect from a Kanye West Christian album. Textbook Gospel that comes out quite well on 'Every Hour' and 'God Is,' mixed with flaccid Pop Rap that would be long-forgotten if it weren't Kanye and appalling discourse on Christianity that can't be seen as anything but brash and hypocritical. The reasons for the latter are damn near infinite, and not worth repeating and revisiting. What's interesting about Jesus Is King though, is that while it strays from conventional Christianity - something Kanye admittedly professes consecration towards - the crude language, lust for greed, and infatuation with materialization are all facets of the modern, half-hearted Christian. Those donning crosses while out clubbing in their most expensive garments. So even when Kanye fails to make instate provocative commentary his way, provocative commentary still follows. In other words, Jesus Is King's aphorisms and belief constructs are sensible to the present state of affairs. They're just deplorable things to commend.
As per usual, it wouldn't be a Kanye West review without a large chunk speaking on everything but the music. So I apologize for that, though to be fair, musically there isn't much here to discuss. Again, mediocrity runs the gamut with the occasional abomination thrown in. For me, these are 'Closed On Sunday,' the song that best exemplifies the motives of Jesus Is King with its corporate teet-sucking, 'Hands On,' and 'Use This Gospel,' a song only getting a pass because of Clipse, even though Pusha T and No Malice are both indisputable examples of the modern, fallacious Christian. As for standouts, while nothing will join the ranks of Kanye's best, 'Follow God's' savvy and addictive flow, 'Everything We Need's' hook courtesy of Ty Dolla $ign, and the impassioned Soul of 'God Is,' aren't half bad. Still, a pathetic LP that further scars Kanye's discography, though not as bad as ye.
D
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