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Drake – Views

2 Jul

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This album needed to be great. To Pimp A Butterfly is a landmark album and while The Life of Pablo is not Kanye’s best, it remains a very strong album. Things were looking good for Drake too, he comprehensively demolished Meek Mill in their beef and “Hotline Bling” was not only the best song, but also the best meme of the past year. Views however is the kind of album that collapses an empire.

The biggest issue is how repetitive it is. A cut like “9” could have survived on a different album, but here it just reinforces the faults of the album, namely that it is repetitive and just slightly boring. We’ve heard the petty Drake for far too long and by this point his mix of hurtful and hurting is no longer interesting. He raps “Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake/ You know I love to go there” in “Child’s Play”, but really who cares? This act has gotten tiring and his monotonous beats and flow in Views does not help. I can still listen to the incredibly petty “Marvins Room” indefinitely, but half of the music of this album is tedious from the first listen.

There are some strong pieces to this album though. “Too Good” with Rihanna is quite good and has enough self-awareness to become meaningful and “Hotline Bling” is still fantastic. I just cannot recommend that people track this album down however. Overall, it just lacks in ideas and in quality.

– @murthynikhil

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Your Chin at The Humming Tree – 22/5/2016

5 Jun

As far as shows in Bangalore go, seeing Your Chin at The Humming Tree is not bad. Your Chin is essentially royalty in the Indian indie scene and The Humming Tree is the one of the few major concert venues that Bangalore has to offer. It’s just a shame that both disappointed.

via The Humming Tree

The Humming Tree has a problem. People interested in the show, people who know Your Chin and like his music, skipped this show simply because of the venue. It’s crowded, it’s expensive and it’s shaped completely wrong. The Humming Tree gives the impression of a minor bar that puts up shows simply to differentiate itself. It is not designed for people to listen to live music and doesn’t give the impression that it’s particularly enthusiastic about the fact that people do. It exists less for the show and more for the Instagram updates of the day after.

And yet, The Humming Tree performs a very important function. India has a lot of very literate people making contemporary culture. Like everything else, Indian indie music is just waiting for the one breakout success to give credibility to the others. The fact that music is doing so much better than the other fields is in part thanks to places like The Humming Tree. It is fantastic that there are places that I can go to see my favorite Indian bands, and it’s necessary for there to be a place where I can interact with my favorite musicians.

The problem is that The Humming Tree is not a satisfactory place to go for the music – it is just the place where the music happens.

Komorebi


via The Humming Tree

The opening act was actually very good. They ran some very clever music that put down excellent foundations and then chopped the weirdest interludes into them. They played like a stranger, more interesting SOHN. Their performance was possibly a little rougher than it should have been, and a couple of songs would have benefited from some refinement with fresh ears, but it was still an excellent act. The venue failed them a bit, as their lights were atrocious and Your Chin’s set-up took up much of their stage, but they nevertheless had a great live presence. They were just fun to watch and fun to listen to. I’m definitely going to check them out again when they are next in Bangalore.

Your Chin

via The Humming Tree

I actually really like the new Your Chin EP, Peeping Till It’s Noise. It’s light-hearted, it’s energetic and it just makes your day better. It could be a little smarter and slightly more varied, but it is still just fun to listen to. This is also true live, just far less so. Raxit Tewari just had no stage presence. His low-energy, laid back demeanor on stage did nothing to help his music. His visuals helped, but were overall unimpressive.

Contrast him with Broken Bells or with The Postal Service, both of whom had highly energetic shows that really helped make the experience. No matter how fun the music, if the singer doesn’t involve himself with the show, it’s hard for the listeners to have fun as well.

Additionally, his music was far too repetitive and took no advantage of being live to become varied. Part of the point of a live concert is that, as a listener, you can focus on the music. It’s then incumbent on the artist to hold up their end of that deal and reward your focus. The best concerts have their music step up, but failing that, the artist must. Swaying slightly back and forth just does not make for a compelling show.

Peeping Till It’s Noise is a fun EP and I highly recommend that you check it out. It’s free to listen to on Soundcloud and is just good, solid electro-pop. It’s absolutely the perfect thing to put on while taking some time to relax. It’s just not worth going to see live.

– @murthynikhil

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Savages – Adore Life

5 May

Savages-Adore-Life

The Savages have a very particular niche and they own that niche completely. Their music is savage and raw, but oh so intelligent. Silence Yourself is the rage of a genius and the two parts are inseparable. There are moments that are pure insight just as there are moments of pure rage, but the whole is defined most by the adjective, pure. Adore Life maintains much of the same tone, but looks a little muted, a little scattered when compared to their debut album.

It is still focused to a point beyond the reach of most musicians. “Sad Person”, for instance, is excellent. It holds a fierce intelligence, yet is primal in its savagery. Adore Life arrests the listener constantly, from the riff of “When In Love” to the scream in “Slowing Down The World” to the fascinating beats of “Surrender”, and yet, the album lacks a piece like “She Will” from Silence Yourself that can consume the listener.

Nevertheless, Adore Life is a very good album and even if not quite to the bar that The Savages have set for themselves, it is still some of the best post-punk rock of today.

– @murthynikhil

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Kevin Gates – Islah

13 Mar

KevinGatesIslah

Even in this current world of complete openness in rap, Kevin Gates’ Islah stands out as honest. This is still very gangsta rap and Kevin Gates has the credentials for it, but it’s also tender and human in the way 2Pac was. I can’t think of another rapper who would admit to giggling, but Kevin Gates throws it out there without the slightest trace of embarrassment. His voice and his music, however, keep the listener from ever doubting his toughness. His “I go to war behind you” line from “One Thing” is his album in a nutshell; loving and sincere, but in no way soft.

Musically, Kevin Gates does everything on this album and does it well. Most of the hooks and the verses are his, and those few that aren’t, like the hook in “Kno One”, are some of the weakest points of the album. There’s a little too much filler here for this album to be a classic, for instance “Jam” is just boring, but there’s enough high quality rap here to suffice all but the most demanding of listeners.

Humanity is an essential part of gangsta rap, but one that’s criminally underserved. Islah puts the complete Kevin Gates in the light and makes for fantastic rap in doing so.

– @murthynikhil

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Kanye West – The Life of Pablo

26 Feb

The_Life_of_Pablo_(Tidal_Front_Cover)

That The Life of Pablo is a masterpiece is immediately evident. There’s none of the difficulty of To Pimp A Butterfly or the earlier Yeezus here. This is approachable from the beautiful, gospel-like opening of “Ultralight Beam” to the end. There’s an attention to detail in all of Kanye’s albums that leads to quality that you just cannot find elsewhere.

This album sprawls pretty far though. Musically, it jumps from point to point incessantly and like MBDTF before it, the album features a wide supporting cast. Those artists are at their best here though. The Weeknd’s piece on the brutally emotional “FML” is the best hook of his career, the clarity of his voice plays beautifully against the breathless nature of Kanye’s rap and the menacing, sparse beat. Similarly, Frank Ocean’s closing verse in “Wolves” was exactly what that song needed to cap it. Even Ty Dollar $ign on “Real Friends” is excellent. His collaborators seem to have subsumed themselves for their songs. Even people as individual as Rihanna or Young Thug just appear as a part of the music and not the whole package that they normally provide.

This is why for an album as rambling as this one, there is a surprising consistency. Where Yeezus or 808s and Heartbreak were about single emotions, this is about the full spread of Kanye, and so this album can be difficult if you’re not so into him. You have him referencing the Kanye Fresh meme and talking about the old Kanye to being impossible to relate to when he takes needless shots at Amber Rose or chants the word “couches”. Both To Pimp A Butterfly and Beyonce were similar in how they forced a (possibly alien) viewpoint on their listeners and so can cause discomfort, but Kendrick and Beyonce are much better people than Kanye and that makes them easier to listen to. Neither of them really care if you agree with them, but they use that callousness for social progress, Kanye just uses it to be Kanye. This is how he can go from “I didn’t mean to instigate” on the heartfelt “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” to the intentionally instigating Taylor Swift line of “Famous”, it’s just who he is.

He is also a musical genius though. The music is deep enough to always find something new and things work together in ways that I have never seen before. The Life of Pablo is a magnificent album and I highly recommend it.

– @murthynikhil

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John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

11 Feb

41gYXgBUjxL

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is that rare jazz album that is not only a classic, but is very approachable as well. Johnny Hartman has a rich, warm voice that draws you close to the album and John Coltrane focuses completely on the sound, getting a perfect, luxurious tone throughout. Their interplay and that of their rhythm section is fantastic. Solos flow into each other effortlessly and the backing music sets a loose, fluid structure for the solos to work in. The music takes no effort to get into, but is nevertheless one of the great jazz vocal albums. This is essential for all fans of the genre and a great starting point for those who are not.

– @murthynikhil

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Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek To Cheek

25 Jan

Tony_Bennett_and_Lady_Gaga_-_Cheek_to_Cheek

There’s a lot of promise in an album like this. The old American standards are often fantastic and the combination of an old stalwart like Tony Bennett and a pop star like Lady Gaga getting together to record an album of just these tunes seems like an excellent idea. It probably even is an excellent idea, but this is not the manifestation it deserves.

Cheek To Cheek manages to neither revitalize the standards with a modern outlook nor to recapture any of their past glory. Show tunes require confidence, personality and chemistry and while the first is present in spades, the other two are only ever briefly seen. The two trip over each other constantly and both alternate between hammy and formulaic. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s version of the title track and you can hear a warmth and humanity entirely lacking in this album.

It’s not all lows though, the backing band does a very solid job. They lay down an upbeat, joyful jazz that is a pleasure to listen to. Also, both Lady Gaga and, surprisingly given his age, Tony Bennett are technically proficient throughout. Both of them still have great voices and are willing to draw upon them. Lady Gaga in particular has a wonderful solo in “Lush Life” that most singers, even renowned ones from the song’s own era, would struggle with.

All told, this is an acceptable album, but the standards are such for a reason and have all been played enough times to have versions that are undeniably classic. With this material, merely acceptable is just not enough.

– @murthynikhil

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David Bowie: Blackstar

18 Jan

Blackstar_album_cover

There’s a famous essay by Roland Barthes about separating an author from his work and on the futility of using the author’s identity to try to derive a single definitive meaning for a text. With Bowie, the persona was always a facet of the work, and an important one, but one that only furthered its enigma. Where some artists seem slaves to such direct analysis of their work, Bowie transcended it.

Bowie’s influence is everywhere, from the obvious trends in music and fashion to the art styles of movies, comics and video games, to even his direct influence in contemporary culture and mainstream acceptance of once-othered groups. Time and time again, Bowie pushed at the boundaries of what human culture had achieved. The world today is a far better place due to his work. His loss is tragic and heartbreaking, but his work and is influence are immortal.

Blackstar, his twenty-fifth and final album, is new territory even for him. This is a jazz album, not rock, and an excellent one at that. The music is challenging and more than deep enough to reward you for it. The variations laid down by his band are deep and interesting. The lyrics are cryptic, but highly evocative. The experience as a whole is direct and unsettling, but distinctly beautiful. His use of the form is deft and innovative, bringing in rock and spacey-electronica into a rich jazz foundation to create a work as claustrophobic as a dungeon and as difficult to escape.

His inversions of the form are fascinating. The sax solo of “Lazarus” centers the album. The slow, mournful chant of “I Can’t Give Everything Away” is cleverly undercut by the whimsical jazz strains underneath it and the guitar solo that provides much of the real variation in the song. The clear horn opening of “Dollar Days” shifts smoothly into a traditional rock ballad. This is an intelligent album and courageous enough to revel in it.

Excellent, challenging and novel, Blackstar is the swan song Bowie’s career deserves. I highly recommend it.

– @murthynikhil

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Ghostpoet: Shedding Skin

5 Jan

ghostpoet-shedding-skin

British underground rapper Ghostpoet has a sound that is distinctly his own. His rap has always been hazy and mumbled and very, very atmospheric. I loved Some Say I So I Say Light for that. His new album, Shedding Skin, is probably the only rap album to be closer to The National than to Jay-Z. Sadly, that’s not really a compliment.

While this is probably the most approachable of Ghostpoet’s albums, and his literate, urban middle-class rap is something very worth approaching, it is also the least varied of his albums. like the aforementioned National, the album is pleasant to listen to, but the alt-rock beats tend to bleed into themselves quickly. All of the songs feel the same. There are bright spots, notably the title track which could be out of one of the quieter parts of Hotline Miami and Ghostpoet’s trademark ennui is delightful in points. Only he would run a chorus of “It’s just you’re forgettable / I think that’s the issue, babe.”

If you’re new to Ghostpoet and new to alternate rap, I would recommend this as a stepping stone to the rest of this interesting little corner, but for everyone else this album might just be too forgettable.

– @murthynikhil

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The Top Five Albums of 2015: Nikhil’s List

1 Jan

2015 has been a good year. A lot of very good music has made it on to this list and lot more didn’t make it. One particular album killed everything else, as was expected, but we’ve had a lot of pleasant surprises as well. For instance:

5. Carrie and Lowell

Sufjan_Stevens_-_Carrie_&_Lowell

Given that this album is named after Sufjan Stevens’ mother and stepfather, it is no surprise that it is a deeply personal record. However, it handles its confessions with a deftness and tenderness that most could not manage. It frames its tales of depression, self-abuse, dissatisfaction and, for a brief moment in “Should Have Known Better”, happiness in gossamer threads of music to give the album a gentle, exploratory feel. This album slips ever so softly through the skin and straight to the heart. Carrie & Lowell distills a personal loss and acceptance and makes it a part of you.

4. Surf

Surf_(Donnie_Trumpet_cover)

Hip-hop can actually be this fun. Chance the Rapper is nothing short of jubilant throughout. Chanting “I Don’t Wanna Be Cool” is freeing in the way that Kanye’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” is, but so much bouncier. The jazz solos are not the most engrossing and the album lacks a little punch, but all is forgiven when things are this upbeat. Surf puts a smile on your face and keeps it there as long as the album is playing.

3. No Cities To Love

No_Cities_to_Love_cover

No Cities To Love is rock and roll. Anthemic, full of fight and always ready to go, this is music that burns away the mediocrity you didn’t realize you were tolerating. Primal but intelligent, raw but proficient, No Cities To Love is punk rock at its best.

2. The Epic

Kamasi Mike

This is 2015, we should not get a new Coltrane-era jazz album. That we did and that it is this good is unreal. At three hours, the album justifies the name handily. It draws from all across the jazz spectrum, picking up pieces of Miles, the fusion of Weather Report and even touches of Latin Jazz and gives each pieces its due before melding the whole into something entirely its own. This would be nothing without the passion and virtuosity of the band. Not a note falls out of place or lacks in energy. There have been enough jazz greats to make the term “classic” a high bar, but for an album of this caliber, nothing else will suffice.

1. To Pimp A Butterfly

Kendrick_Lamar_-_To_Pimp_a_Butterfly

It took me something like a week when To Pimp A Butterfly came out to actually figure out if I liked it or not. As it turns out, I really did. good kid, m.A.A.d city was much more straightforward, you can see the brilliance in it immediately. To Pimp A Butterfly has singles, “King Kunta” will make you move, with or without your consent, and both “i” and “The Blacker The Berry” are the work of a craftsman at his peak, but “For Free” is almost spoken word poetry. I’ll accept that from Gil-Scott Heron, but it mystified me from Kendrick Lamar. Similarly, the funkiness of the album came out of nowhere and the lyrical content has no precedent.

Listening to it now, it’s hard to believe that there was ever a moment where I didn’t like it. It’s a struggle now to find what I once found questionable. The album justfits together so well. Ideas, both musical and lyrical, are layered deeply into this album and yet it flows seamlessly between them. The album manages to encompass contradictions like the self-castigating ‘u’ and the upbeat ‘i’ without blinking an eye. Similarly, the album holds the full musical spread of the near-funk of “Hood Politics” to the hip-hop clinic of “King Kunta”. At this point, there really is nothing that Kendrick Lamar cannot do.

I thought three years ago that good kid, m.A.A.d city was Kendrick at the top of the game and I thought the same when he dropped “Control”. I’m not going to make that claim after To Pimp A Butterfly, it’s clear that Kendrick is going to take us further still and I can’t wait to see where he goes. This is the greatest rapper of his generation and he has just gotten started.

– @murthynikhil

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