Category: Quickspins

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Music Quickspins

Barrio Sur – बड़ा शोक (heart break)

Barrio Sur – बड़ा शोक (heart break) (Self-released)

बड़ा शोक (heart break) lives in a cushioned stratosphere of ethereality, with sonic roots deeply grounded in a reshaped vision of past musical eras. Softly strummed timbres of rhythm and blues, drums and bass cohere into a listening experience that’s fractured at a glance, but strangely gratifying in its challenging construction. Its skeleton is digitized in nature, with a surging glow of lo-fi warbles and abstract rushes of distortion and tape fuzz. Sounds are displaced in a manner that feels both intentional and accidental; the warm quality that exudes is impeccable. There isn’t a note on this record that sounds well-arranged, but the results cohere remarkably. बड़ा शोक (heart break) marries source material in beautiful fashion, but plays out against a lingering, ever-present layer of noise. There’s time for all these moving pieces to connect, but they rarely do; folding in-and-out of frame from future-sounds into the sounds of yesteryear.

Trial Track: “redemption (7inch)”

Rating: 8.4

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Music Quickspins

Migos – Culture 2

Migos – Culture 2 (Quality Control Music)

Culture 2, the Atlanta rap trio’s followup to the Grammy-nominated album Culture, is a bloated attempt at recreating its predecessor’s success. With 24 tracks totalling one hour and 45 minutes, there just simply aren’t enough quality jams to justify the length. With tracks like “Narcos,” the intro “Higher We Go,” “Bad Bitches Only (BBO),” “Walk It Talk It” and “Too Playa,” the album is filled with songs that either sound too much like Migos’s previous album or are just completely unfinished. For instance, the song “Open It Up” is an exact melodic rip-off of the song “Deadz” from the first Culture. Another glaring problem is that the songs are mixed poorly. For a group as big as Migos, poorly mixed tracks are a big no-no. Sure, there are some great songs to jam to, but realistically, this album would have been average at 10 tracks. At 24, this album is a chore.

Trial Track: “Narcos”

Score: 5/10

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Music Quickspins

No Age – Snares Like A Haircut

No Age – Snares Like A Haircut (Drag City)

Snares Like A Haircut is the latest offering from manic noise producers No Age. The duo has spent the better part of a decade plotting and refining a cognitive paragon of punk escapism, unraveling polarities that represent a finessed vision of rock music. Drawing from these tendencies, No Age construct a sound that challenges whether dichotomies can coexist. Short answer: they can and with absolutely masterful results. Combining drilling distortion with crisp, ambient textures, the record is a sharp turn from the complex pop that permeated the band’s previous efforts. Rather, the album lands feet first toward cohesive and romping guitar rock. No Age have perfected their propensity for extremes, coalescing their intuition through remarkably imaginative sounds. Across these 12 sprawling tracks, Snares Like A Haircut tugs and pulls with leverage.

Rating: 8.3/10

Trial Track: “Soft Collar Fad”

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Music Quickspins

Porches – The House

Porches – The House (Domino)

New York-based songwriter Aaron Maine is an auteur driven by his own seclusion. Channeling the delicate chords of new wave and funk, Porches weave songs rooted in impulses that evoke natural responses. Thrust by an impetus of its own, The House, though hollowed-out in sound, contains a gamut of realized musical ideas. The album locks into grooves that are somehow catchier and more instantaneous than Maine’s debut breakout, Pool. That album pondered the state of the human condition through anxiety-ridden imagery, and The House is an album very much informed by that tension. It constructs heart-wrenching melodies that pull at the very seams of human emotion. Though not entirely halting in its structure, The House lays down some of Maine’s most gripping melodic excursions. The album’s best track, “Now the Water,” is propelled by an icy beat that narrates the social and psychological costs of isolation. The album sparks with a wilting flame, familiar to digest but not enough to get the blood flowing.

Rating: 8.1/10

Trial Track: “Now The Water”

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Music Quickspins

Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread

Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Nonesuch Records Inc., 2018)

Jonny Greenwood, known for his work with Radiohead, composed the soundtrack to the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Phantom Thread. Similar to the film, the soundtrack has an old-school vibe reminiscent of the 90s. Greenwood uses the dynamics of a large orchestra well. From percussive strings to the emotional violins and expressive cellos, the sound is impeccable. My favorite track off the soundtrack is the slow “Never Cursed.” The track manages to be atmospheric and express emotions just through the orchestra’s performance. Watching the movie is not required to fully enjoy this soundtrack; the work stands on its own. This album is perfect for a stroll out in the countryside on a brisk day.

Sample track: “Never Cursed”

Rating: 8.2/10

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Music Quickspins

Maxo Kream – Punken

Maxo Kream – Punken (TSO/Kream Clicc, 2018)

A skim through Punken, Maxo Kream’s first mixtape since 2016, listens like a comprehensive autobiography. Laced with expert storytelling and southern-fried production, the record holds a variety of aggressive instrumentals over which Kream delivers some of his most compelling bars. The narratives here aren’t shaded by cocky assertions or hyperbolized brags; rather the Houston rapper divulges a series of dark revelations with blunt sincerity. It’s an uncompromising peer into Kream’s life, chronicling his ascent from an amateur drug pusher to occupying a position of power before his incarceration in 2016. This is a project also informed by communal bonds, between friends and family. The rapper treats loyalty like an ancient proverb. His approach is unflinching, as is his faith to the hustle and his glock.

Trial Track: “Grannies”

Rating: 8.5/10

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Music Quickspins

CupcakKe – Ephorize

CupcakKe – Ephorize (CupcakKe, 2018)

Rapper CupcakKe has come out with a steller third album, Ephorize, filled with exciting, vibrant wordplay and creative beats. CupcakKe covers a wide range of topics, from sex, acceptance and support for the LGBTQ+ community, to sexism and self-analysis—all with confidence and self-assurance. One of the best songs off the album is “Self Interview,” a reflective song about the double standard women face, played over a soft-sounding piano beat. Her commentary isn’t anything I haven’t heard, like: “Females have sex on the first night, they get called a hoe for that one-night stand / Men have sex on the first night, ‘Congratulations, you got around her bands.’” However, her performance really amplifies and enhances the lyrics. The album is lively yet sharply written, and mixed with danceable beats.

Sample track: “Self Interview”

Rating: 7.9/10

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Music Quickspins

Jeff Rosenstock – POST-

Jeff Rosenstock – POST- (Polyvinyl)

While most artists spent 2017 attempting to carve a sense of purpose into our socio-political landscape, few were able to sound legitimately conscious without coming off as indulgent or incredibly self-serving. The always-humble Jeff Rosenstock stands in stark contrast to this overly politicized era of music. Still, his nervy pop-punk revivalism rings with the confidence of a seasoned rock veteran armed to the teeth with power-pop riffs and enough frenzied bombast to promote communal delinquency and the sharing of cold brews. The Nov. 8 election was a calamitous accident to some, a curse that will afflict the mentality of hopeful Americans for years. You can sense that grief-stricken energy on Rosenstock’s POST-, an album that crashed into 2018 head-on with righteous conviction and clear-eyed intent.

Rating: 8.4/10

Trial Track: “USA”

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Music Quickspins

Brockhampton – Saturation III

Brockhampton – Saturation III (Empire)

Saturation III is the conclusion to Brockhampton’s Saturation trilogy. Starting in the summer of 2017, Brockhampton burst onto the scene with the first Saturation, a mix of R&B and rap that was exciting, fresh and filled with angst. The members of the group, of which there are more than 10, don’t consider themselves a rap group, but a boy band instead. Saturation II was a return to form and another great addition to the series. Saturation III is a solid end to the trilogy, however, it seems like more of an expansion of Saturation I and II than a new album. Much of the album has the same hard-hitting, jazzy, experimental vibes as the first two, with much of the same flows and lyrical themes as well. There are definitely stand-out tracks here. The opening song, “Boogie,” is a certified banger. The crazy, siren-like instrumental and spazzy flows are exactly what you’d want from Brockhampton. However, songs like “Stains,” “Alaska” and “Team” show that, while the album is good, you’ve heard it all before.

Trial Track: “Boogie”

Score: 7.5/10

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Music Quickspins

Travis Scott & Quavo – Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho

Travis Scott & Quavo – Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho (Quality Control)

The last quarter of 2017 was dominated by trap rap collaborative albums. In October, it was Future and Young Thug’s Super Slimey. In November, it was 21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin’s Without Warning. Now, Migos’s leader Quavo and Travis Scott are finally here with their long-awaited collaborative project, and they came to play. Unlike the projects listed above, Scott and Quavo have genuine chemistry. On the tape’s best track, “Modern Slavery,” they both trade verses effortlessly. Their melodic voices swap in and out with ease and sometimes they even share verses and hooks. While the album isn’t filled with lyrical genius, it doesn’t have to be. Quavo and Scott make each song interesting, while the lavish trap production makes up for any lyrical shortcomings. On songs like “Moon Rock” and “Saint Laurent Mask,” the production features subtle flourishes that take on a life of their own. Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho is easily the best collaborative tape of 2017.

Trial Track: “Motorcycle Patches”

Score: 9/10

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Music Quickspins

Björk – Utopia

Björk – Utopia (2017, One Little Indian)

Björk’s latest album is sublime, a collection of musically adventurous songs that ponder the apathy and joy of discovering love again. Utopia showcases Björk’s incredible breadth as a singer and an auteur of sound. Its production shines, with elements of birdsong gently meandering throughout the celestial “Arisen My Senses,” to the gorgeously enchanting title-track, “Utopia.” Tracks like these allow Björk to flourish her experimental leanings, while sharpening a newfound proclivity for ambient soundscape. The album is a personal manifesto about the gestational period of dating, progressing through moments of sheer ecstasy to fascination. The textures she tinkers with in these compositions both confuse and spark the audience’s curiosity, dissolving the lines between her soft-edged timbre and the lush orchestral arrangements behind her. The most gratifying melodies on the album surge with the ebb and flow of crashing waves. If Björk’s breathtaking octave range is any indication, the musicality displayed on Utopia is pure magic.

Rating: 8.8/10

Trial Track: “Utopia”

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Music Quickspins

88 Glam – 88 Glam

88 Glam – 88 Glam (2017, XO)

After recently signing to The Weeknd’s XO label, 88 Glam, a rap duo comprising Toronto artists 88 Camino and Derek Wise, released their debut project. The album is a buttery smooth mix of rap and R&B that sees Wise do the heavy lifting in terms of rap, while 88 Camino brings in the more melodic verses. The album’s breakout single, “Bali,” featuring fellow XO artist NAV, is a great party song which has a catchy-as-hell hook from 88 Camino and some pretty standout verses from Wise and NAV. However, while the album is smooth and has no real faults, none of these songs really stand out. “Ricardo” and “12,” the first two tracks on the album, reel you in. After “Bali,” the project sort of falls flat, leaving you wanting more. The dark and gloomy trap production does nothing to support Camino and Wise’s flows, making the album a little boring.

Score: 5/10

Trial Track: “Bali” ft. NAV

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