Archive by Author

2 Chainz – Pretty Girls Like Trap Music

10 Jul

It’s not surprising that the upswing of trap music resulted in 2 Chainz’s best album to date, but it is a little surprising just how good an album it is. It takes full advantage of the A-list cast that 2 Chainz assembled. In particular, Nicki Minaj does a great job on “Real Lies” and the full cast on “It’s a Vibe” build an actually incredible vibe that 2 Chainz himself converts beautifully before Jhene Aiko ends it perfectly. Drake bounces off 2 Chainz excellently in “Big Amount” one moment and Migos team up with him to make the addictive “Blue Cheese” the next. Additionally, there are some standout solo moments sprinkled through the album. The chanted hook of “Rolls Royce Bitch” swaggers well and I personally love the statements on fungibility in “Sleep When You Die.”

There is just a little too much filler for me to recommend this album without reservations however. The rapping is a little pedestrian in places, and there are extended stretches where nothing that interesting happens. However, there is more than enough here to get your teeth into. If you’re looking for some good trap in an age of good trap, this is a great place to start.

– @murthynikhil

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The Afghan Whigs – In Spades

28 Jun

Gentlemen is a fantastic album, and one that holds up after all of these years. You want bands like this to manage a resurgence. I personally really wanted them to pull it off. When the singles for In Spades started coming out, I really thought that they might do it. Sadly, this isn’t their album.

Some of the songs on this are exceptional. “Arabian Heights” and “Oriole” and excellent rock and plenty of other songs have their moments. As a whole however, there is a little too much filler here for me to recommend the album. Definitely check the singles out though.

– @murthynikhil

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Girlpool – Powerplant

23 Jun

Excellent lo-fi indie rock in the style of Speedy Ortiz. It’s clever, cutting, precious lines sung sweetly in front of indie guitars and drums and it does it very well.

Powerplant is wonderfully human. The excellent “Soup” is startlingly vivid and “It Gets More Blue” is cute and sad and funny all at once. These are quiet songs about low-stakes issues and are beautiful at that. You should really try them out.

– @murthynikhil

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Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa

11 Jun

This is a good, strong pop debut. Songs like “Be The One” and “New Rules” are classic dancefloor pop and have rightfully been monopolizing airwaves for quite a while now. Her voice is stellar, holding its own against Miguel just fine in “Lost In Your Light.” Despite its many strengths however, the album lacks any factor that distinguishes it enough to make it a must-listen. It is a good, strong pop album and makes for a reasonable listen, but that is all it does. It’s still fun though.

– @murthynikhil

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Kendrick Lamar – DAMN

26 May

At this point, it almost feels like a foregone conclusion that a new Kendrick album will be Album of the Year. The only real question is whether it is another classic. Personally, I don’t think DAMN is quite that strong. Kendrick Lamar has set an impossibly high bar for himself, and I think this is the album that finally fails to hurdle it. I’d be shocked if it there’s another album this year to touch it though.

There are so many strong parts to this album. I love the flow and the submerged beat of “FEEL.” “LOYALTY.” features an excellent Rihanna. The more rap that we get from her, the happier I will be. “FEAR.” is genuine in a way most confessionals aren’t. It’s eye-opening to hear Kendrick’s mother on the verse and to hear him speak about still being worried about money. His storytelling is still the best in the game. Also, these videos are the best of his career. TDE is doing really amazing work right now.

However, there are just more weak points to this album than to its predecessors. “YAH” is honestly weak, despite giving us the excellent nickname of Kung Fu Kenny and while the harmonizing of “LOVE” is interesting, it’s just not that good a song. Every Kendrick album has weak points, but this is the first one that seems to lack a purpose and so these faults feel exaggerrated. GKMC was his breakout and TPAB was breathlessly innovative but DAMN just doesn’t seem to have as strong a raison d’etre and so can’t help but feel a lesser album.

This is still a great album. This will almost certainly be Album of the Year. This is something you should listen to right now. Even if you’ve already had it on repeat all year, you should listen to it again. This is not quite a masterpiece, but is still close enough to deserve reverence. It’s a bold and innovating album that showcases a top-tier rapper at the top of his game. I highly recommend it.

– @murthynikhil

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Vagabon – Infinite Worlds

8 Apr

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Infinite Worlds is the beauty of minimalism. Almost every sound and word has purpose. It makes a wonderfully succinct argument for the value of brevity.

“Cleaning House”, for instance, uses a simple background to allow Laetitia Tamko’s voice to really shine. She draws out notes perfectly and the quiet periods of the song do a lot to emphasize this skill. Similarly, her vocalizing in “Cold Apartment” just sucks you in. Unfortunately, I feel that this focus on sound was taken too far on “Mal a Laise”. It’s just a little too long and a little too repetitive, but that’s really the only fault I could find with the album.

Albums like this are the reason to listen to indie rock. I highly recommend you try it.

– @murthynikhil

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Jidenna – The Chief

22 Mar

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Jidenna’s chief gimmick of dressing up makes it tempting to write him off as a one-hit wonder, but that would be unfair. He’s had at least two. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to carry a full album.

He gets points for variety, but not many for imagination. There are some interesting snippets, like learning that he refused Harvard, some decent stunting, and some clever lines, but nothing really compelling anywhere.

As a whole, The Chief is just not really worth a listen. I look forward to hearing Jidenna drop a verse on the occasional Kendrick or Janelle Monae track, but that is probably the most we should hope for from him.

– @murthynikhil

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Bria Skonberg- Bria

30 Jan

42471c_2d54c26fe7cd45fa8150c9955310985bmv2Bria is a charming Jazz album well worth a listen no matter your experience with the genre. The music is very listenable and packed full of interesting moments. The Arabic tint of “Curious Game” is intriguing and the trumpet solo into vibraphone solo of “I Was A Little Too Lonely” is excellent.

Bria Skonberg herself has a wonderful voice for Jazz standards and it really sells songs like “Don’t Be That Way” and “You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me.” Her chanting is the lovely and intricate “Malaguena” is also of note. None of this is to diminish her trumpet playing or the rest of the musicians, all of whom are irreproachable.

The album is a whole is laid back and not very challenging, but nevertheless quite good and packed with interesting little moments. Highly recommended for people looking to get into Jazz and worth a listen from those already invested.

– @murthynikhil

Joey Alexander – Countdown

1 Dec

Joey Alexander’s second album continues the clean, proficient jazz that defined his previous one. The piano sparkles in tracks like “Smile” or “Sunday Waltz” with a sound that feels simple, but perfect. This holds true for “Soul Dreamer” where every note is individual and the music takes on a wonderful clarity. Even in the up-tempo “City Lights” and “Countdown”, the pace increases and the music constantly moves, but the sharpness of the notes keep you moving with it. This version of Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” is also fantastic with superb work on the saxophone by Chris Potter.

This album lacks a little of the fire of the true jazz classics, but that’s really the only criticism that can be made of it. This is a fantastic album and worth a listen from anyone keeping up with present-day jazz. Joey Alexander is an incredibly promising young talent, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

– @murthynikhil

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Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book

10 Sep

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This is the album that moves Chance from outsider to establishment for me. He’s been doing well for himself, from opening Kanye’s The Life Of Pablo to being the centerpiece of 2015’s Surf and that’s great to see. His raps are so sincere and so joyful that he’s impossible to hate. He’s just a lot of fun to listen to.

Coloring Book takes all of him, adds a number of star collaborators and a ton of gospel and blends it together into an undeniably excellent album. He goes from running his verses with a laid-back Weezy verse over an upbeat vocal backing in “No Problem” to posturing with Thugger and Lil Yachty on “Mixtape” to heartfelt in the slower “Juke Jam” and highly personal tale of growing apart “Same Drugs.” Despite some more forgettable cuts to fill the album out, this is one of the best rap albums of the year and definitely worth a listen.

– @murthynikhil

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