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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2020 | Horrorcore | Listen
BLACK TAR ARMS RISING THROUGH SMOLDERING ASH
This is exactly what Trap needs to survive. Leave it to the underground to advance the art form forward, as per usual. From Zambia to Canada, male to female, Backxwash's perception on societal and cultural changes has helped manifest God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It into the seething, acrimonious, no holds barred attack on conservatism that it is. Fusing the antagonistic tendencies of Trap and Horrorcore into a Trap Metal fusion - the best that embryonic genre has seen, mind you - Backxwash dominates the 22 minutes allotted with reckless abandon and scathing condemnation. The production is bombastic and gargantuan, best seen on standouts 'Black Magic' and 'Into The Void,' while the doublet 'Hell' and 'Heaven' interlude help set the stage with sacrificial lambs, necromancy, and repent, leading into God Has Nothing To Do With This' only reflective moment; Closer 'Redemption.'
For an album of this brevity, the ideas are bountiful and intense. Backxwash never lets up off the pedal, pouncing on the imagery of an angel and devil dueling temptations on either shoulder. There are no tracks worthy of exclusion, as even the weakest of the bunch, 'Adolescence,' still manages a thunderous breakbeat across the brief 90 seconds. The torturous vocal samples on the opening title track, 'Spells,' and 'Black Sheep' all add to the infernal brouhaha, like spirits screaming for an exit never in sight. Unlike those, Backxwash is a voice that demands to be heard. A long career as alternative trendsetter could be in the cards.
B+
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On paper, Baauer's career has been quite bizarre. PLANET'S MAD only exacerbates that more so. Four years since Aa, which in and of itself was four years removed from his first single and irrefutable high point, the disappointingly-memed 'Harlem Shake,' and Baauer has evolved into a mainstream EDM producer straying from conventional norms. Do not underestimate the selling point: PLANET'S MAD is unequivocally Jungle Terror, a sub-genre of House that emphasizes wild tendencies and tribal drums. Baauer's second LP is that to a tee, all the way until the quaint, reflective 'HOME' interrupts the proceedings. Question is: Does Jungle Terror have a reason to exist in 2020? There's no denying Baauer's careless attitude, as popularity won't be gained from such aggressive bedlam, especially at a time when club usage is at a low, but there still lingers a charm in chasing your inspirations regardless of outcome.
That being said, the overall product is quite average. This, due in large part, to predictability. Again, excluding the outcast 'HOME,' this purely instrumental affair adheres to Jungle Terror's principles without deviating for even a breathe. Once 'PLANCK' spends its first minute or so setting the scene, everything from there to 'REMINA' is pure, ravenous, undomesticated energy. The title track is a banger, incorporating some Alternative Metal guitars seen nowhere else, while the vocals on tracks like 'PIZZAWALA' and 'REACHUPDONTSTOP' help give them a unique identity. Though I'm finding similarities to Clap! Clap!'s continent-bridging work in UK Bass, though not his latest, the quaint and intimate Liquid Portraits. Outside of the title track, 'MAGIC' and 'HOT 44' are likely the two next best with their lofty and imposing percussion, which rattles the floor at BPM's that'll quickly get one drenched in sweat. Still, enough mediocrities like 'YEHOO' and 'AETHER' that mire the tracklist with recurrent appearances prevents PLANET'S MAD from achieving critical stardom in the Electronic scene, despite the commitment to a peculiar aesthetic.
C
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2020 | Baroque Pop | Listen
OVERLOOKING THE GALA FROM THE PRINCESS' TOWER
Obviously I don't know a single word, but that hasn't stopped me before. Especially when it comes to piercing female vocalists, who seem to transcend language barriers much more effectively than their male counterparts. Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab, Gal Costa, and more recently; Ana Frango Elétrico and the girls of Cocoaha. Add Klô Pelgag to that list, the French, fairytale princess who, in photoshoots, fantasizes herself as a romanticist-era Björk. In reality, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs fashions itself more concretely to the Baroque Pop renaissance, with contemporaries like Weyes Blood (Titantic Rising) and Julia Holter (Aviary), and the Progressive Pop legend Kate Bush. The former comes out in abundance on songs like 'À L'ombre Des Cyprès' and 'Soleil,' while Bush's outward theatrics and gaudy extravagance emerge in Notre-Dame's shaky second half with songs like 'Mélamine' and 'La Maison Jaune.'
When Pelgag moves inward towards standard Singer/Songwriter contemplation, seen on 'J'aurai Les Cheveux Longs' and 'La fonte,' the album's held together by wayward strings and grand orchestration that recalls medieval royalty. However, from an outsider to the language of French, it's not all that compelling. The splendid hooks and festive gala of 'Rémora,' 'Umami,' and 'À L'ombre Des Cyprè' is where the true splendor lies. Fewer diversions, more of the grandiose measures, and Notre-Dame could've been a centerpiece addition to Baroque Pop's reemergence.
B-
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