Category: Quickspins

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THEESatisfaction – EarthEE

THEEsatisfaction - Earthee

THEESatisfaction – EarthEE (Sub Pop; 2015)

With tracks like “Planet For Sale,” “No GMO” and “Post Black, Anyway,” it is clear that the genre-bending Seattle-based duo, THEESatisfaction, have strong opinions on the current state of affairs on their sophomore record, EarthEE.

As queer black women, rapper Stasia “Stas” Irons and vocalist Catherine “Cat” Harris-White, strive to challenge the listener with concepts of interconnectivity, feminism, race and politics.
The album blends neo-soul, jazz rap and hip-hop, with a jangly intergalactic haze of synths and airy vocals. The spot-on collaborations with Shabazz Palaces and Meshell Ndegeocello add a familiar touch to the afro-futurist psychedelic beats and spoken-word poetry style flow throughout.

What makes EarthEE so exceptional is that it manages to transcend the narcissistic tendency of hip-hop and overall cynical trend in mainstream music with its challenging political-minded content, undeniable positivity and originality.

Trial Track: “Sir Come Navigate (feat. Tendai Maraire)”

Rating: 8/10

-Paul Traunero

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Quickspins

BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul

BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul (eOne Music Canada; 2015)

For what seemed like a no-brainer, it’s unfortunate just how disappointing Sour Soul is. A joint album by rising Toronto jazz fusion trio BADBADNOTGOOD and prolific, cartoonishly rugged Wu-Tang mainstay, Ghostface Killah, the resulting collaboration ignores either party’s strengths and instead settles for an incredibly brief and insubstantial assortment of lukewarm jazz-rap. While BADBADNOTGOOD provide a reliably intimate backdrop and occasionally demonstrate flashes of inspiration, their signature, energetic sound feels compromised in favour of pared-down arrangements more in line with the previous two Ghostface Killah records; it’s an unfortunate decision given BADBADNOTGOOD’s effortless penchant for controlled, moody chaos. Ghostface, on the other hand, simply sounds bored, vanishing from most songs after a single verse while providing an ambitiously stunted version of his enigmatic persona. While Sour Soul isn’t particularly bad or entirely without merit, the lack of cohesion and synergy amongst its two halves renders the entire project limp and airless. It’s less sour and more milquetoast.

Trial Track: “Ray Gun”

5/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

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Quickspins

Bob Dylan – Shadows in the Night

Bob Dylan – Shadows in the Night (Columbia Record; 2015)

 

There simply isn’t anybody like Bob Dylan. The idiosyncratic singer-songwriter’s 36th studio album represents another odd detour, eschewing his greatest skill, his writing, in favour of his most polarizing trait; his signature, nasally wheeze. While that wheeze may now resemble a weary croak, Shadows in the Night is nowhere near as tangled or confused as Dylan’s last left turn, 2009’s Christmas in the Heart. A collection of traditional pop standards, Dylan is stripped of the over-zealous trimmings that have sometimes jeopardized his more recent works; sparse, intimately minimal arrangements provide a hauntingly moody backbone to the singer’s vulnerable vocals. Brittle and raw, Dylan’s voice feels surprisingly relaxed and at home, transforming traditional mid-tempo standards into drifting, melancholic ballads of downtrodden vulnerability. Despite encompassing no original material, Shadows in the Night never feels like a meager tribute album; Dylan turns these classics into an atmospheric noir tableau, infusing each song with experience and effectively making them his own.

 

Trial Track: “The Night We Called It A Day”

Rating: 8/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

 

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Quickspins

Fat Mike – Home Street Home

fat mike

Fat Mike – Home Street Home (Fat Wreck Chords; 2015)

As the name implies, Home Street Home: Original Songs from the Shit Musical, is the score from a musical starring street punks. The songs are mainly written by NOFX frontman, Fat Mike, and performed by a slew of punk artists, namely members of The Descendants, Lagwagon and the Dropkick Murphys among others. Musically, the album sounds similar to many NOFX tracks. The vocals are raw, but this fits the themes of the musical. The lyrics are the highlight of the album, as they comically explore drug use, prostitution and BDSM culture. The album’s biggest problem is that without having seen the show, the tracks do not tell a proper story on their own. While the album will probably bring a smile to your face, if you are interested it would probably be best to save the tunes shock value for the actual stage show.

 

Trial Track: “Safe Word”

Rating: 7/10

 

-Justinas Staskevicius

 

fat mike
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Quickspins

José González – Vestiges & Claws

José González – Vestiges & Claws (Mute; 2015)

 

For his third studio album, José González drew inspiration from the world around him: nature, humanism and the solidarity of human existence. Self-produced in his home studio in Gothenburg, a clear focus was put on ensuring that the songs conserved a certain rawness and warmth to preserve the visceral quality of González’s songwriting.

Vestiges & Claws features the Swedish singer-songwriter’s trademark soothing voice and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, but expands his musical palette with additional vocal and guitar overdubs, in addition to percussion. The album also channels new influences ranging from ‘70s Brazilian productions and American folk rock to West African desert blues music.

With its philosophical lyrics, simple yet endearing melodies and undeniable focus and complexity, Vestiges & Claws is a notable evolution of an artist who never fails to charm.

Trial Track: “Let It Carry You”

Rating: 8.5/10

-Paul Traunero

 

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Quickspins

Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth

Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth (Atlantic Record; 2015)

 

Forget the ill-conceived electropop production of Lasers. Forget the laborious politically dense drivel of Food & Liquor 2. Tetsuo & Youth has arrived and with it, the Lupe Fiasco we once loved and cherished has seemingly returned, older, wiser and ruthlessly refuelled. While its sprawling length (a whopping 78 minutes) never quite justifies itself due to a few less than stellar pop-rap tracks that, while never as offensively bland, recall a more confused Lasers-era Fiasco, and its seasonal motif never quite comes to fruition. Lupe nonetheless showcases some of his most focused and ambitious songwriting yet. Take “Mural,” the album’s aptly-titled opener, for example; free of hooks, Lupe paints a vivid, densely packed canvas and effortlessly navigates a lush piano-driven sample from Cortex’ Troupeau Bleu for nearly nine whole minutes, devoid of breaks. It’s a stunning showcase of virtuosic flow and lyrical dexterity and a reminder that, when focused, Lupe Fiasco can rap with the best around today. He’s almost there.

Trial Track: “Mural”

Rating: 7/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

 

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Quickspins

Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (Sub Pop; 2015)

Though I Love You, Honeybear wears its humorous lyrics and playful arrangements like a colourful veneer, it is a highly confessional album, full of self-loathing, narcissism and contradiction. In the press release for the album, singer-songwriter and former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman explained the concept behind his sophomore release as being “about a guy named Josh Tillman who spends quite a bit of time banging his head against walls, cultivating weak ties with strangers and generally avoiding intimacy at all costs.” With a description which could probably be preceded by #whitepeopleproblems, his self-confessional approach is repeatedly clouded by a holier-than-thou treatment of the subject matter.

It is undeniable that Tillman is a hugely talented (albeit sarcastic) songwriter, but I Love You, Honeybear ultimately reveals itself as totally pretentious, misogynistic and insincere.

Trial Track: “Bored in the U.S.A.”

Rating: 5/10

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Quickspins

Fall Out Boy – American Beauty/American Psycho (Island Records; 2015)

Maybe it’s because the whole idea of pop-rock seems like a self-contradictory disaster to me, but Fall Out Boy’s new studio album American Beauty/American Psycho appears to be a last attempt of high school anthem-writers to stay relevant. Mixing teen angst with dance pop, Patrick Stump’s annoyingly eccentric vocals coupled with a rushed lyricism really drives home the feeling that the band has made no progress over the last 10 years. The album offers a weird nostalgia for those who know Fall Out Boy’s older albums and even has the potential to be good, but on the whole, offers nothing new or exciting. As made clear by the lyrics of the album’s first single, “Centuries” (a reimagining of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner”), the band is too focused on being remembered to create anything worth listening to.

Trial Track: American Beauty/ American Psycho

2.5/10

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Quickspins

Viet Cong – Viet Cong (Mexican Summer; 2015)

Born from the ashes of acclaimed noise-rock band Women, Calgary quartet Viet Cong is a veritable post-punk smorgasbord. Their self-titled debut LP essentially serves as a history lesson for the genre, gathering sounds from such disparate eras as the revival/dance-punk explosion of the early 2000s and the cold, clanging chaos of early ‘80s no wave. While it’d be easy to reduce the band’s work to mere pastiche, Viet Cong nonetheless prove themselves more than a one-trick tribute act thanks to the raucous, unbridled energy they bring to every concoction. “Pointless Experience” and “Silhouettes” flawlessly recreate early Interpol, while doubling down on downright incisive guitar tones. The album’s showstopper, “March of Progress,” conjures up a gorgeous cacophony strongly indebted to This Heat, before transitioning into an unexpectedly joyous and blissful finale. Say what you will about Viet Cong’s strict adherence to fidelity; not since Iceage stormed onto the scene has a band so seamlessly and powerfully replicated a bygone era.

Trial Track: “March of Progress”

8/10

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Quickspins

Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat (Century Media; 2015)

This year marks West Midlands grindcore pioneers Napalm Death’s 34th year as an outfit. Despite a revolving door of personnel early on (most notably on their 1987 debut, Scum) and a complete lack of original members, the band has hardly suffered or changed, retaining a fixed lineup and delivering a singular, uncompromising sound since the early ‘90s. Apex Predator – Easy Meat, the band’s 15th studio album, is by all accounts another typical Napalm Death album. All of the pieces are in place: ferocious blast beats, chunky, blistering riffs, violent mid-tempo grooves, Mark “Barney” Greenway’s reliably gruff vocals, and socio-politically charged lyrics. If Napalm Death don’t cover any new ground (would you want them to?), they’ve assembled the cream of the crop for their 15th album. Few bands sound this overpowering a decade into their career, let alone upwards of three decades; the fact that Napalm Death could go toe-to-toe with their peers is a testament to their earned experience and unrivalled maturity in the genre.

Trial Track: “Stubborn Stains”

8/10

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