A quick review from Top Five Records…
Little Simz takes this short, almost entirely collaborative EP to try a more popular sound. It works well. It’s not her most individual or her most interesting work but it’s a new and effective mode for her and a fun 13 minutes.
A quick review from Top Five Records…
Like all of us, Vince Staples is working through America. He’s not new to this. Baldwin once said that to be conscious is to be in constant rage. Vince is more fatalistic. He holds resignation in the standout chorus “White flag / I don’t wanna fight no more” and yet he cannot help but speak.
He speaks well too. The rapping in Cry Baby is never as challenging as his best work but the album is consistently propulsive and the slight move into party rap for “Go! Go! Gorilla” works well for him as does the combination of funk and politics of the song. Cry Baby is not Vince at his most experimental but it’s nice to see him a bit relaxed and he does great work in any mode.
A quick review from Top Five Records…
“STAMPEDE” has the energy a song needs when it channels TV on the Radio. When the album has energy, it is very strong. “LIFE KEEPS GOING” has a great beat, a great beat shift and a fun dash of Robyn. “THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE” raps well and has fun voiceovers. “DEATH CULT ZOMBIE” is a fun Clash-style song. Unfortunately, the energy flags too often and so an album with lots of styles and lots of ideas sags under its own weight.
A quick review from Top Five Records…
I find myself surprisingly emotional listening to The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The best of the Beatles albums, Revolver, turns 60 this year and the best of the Beatles will turn 84 and somehow Sir Paul is still making music. He’s more bluesy than in his youth and his rock is harder and his voice is rougher. He’s often searching for the beauty of his truly great melodies and he never finds them and the rock never gets as complicated as one would like. It doesn’t matter. This is Paul McCartney, making music that he clearly enjoyed making and that I truly enjoyed hearing. This is a delight.
Top Five Records 