Woman
Released: March 1, 2013
Genre: Alternative R&B (ooo la la)
Label: Polydor
Producer: Rhye
(again, cant post a photo cuz of le ipad)
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Week 94: Rhye
So, usually I start with a "this week's album" post, but my ipad is being a bum and wont let me post a picture of the album cover, so I'm just gonna skip that one. My friend Ross told me about them last night and played me the whole album and I dug it super hard. I'm surprised I hadn't heard of them before seeing as Woman (which was released last year) was critically acclaimed all over the place. From my one listen, Rhye seems to have a really unique sound that's interesting. Looking forward to taking a more in-depth listen to the record.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Final Grade: B
This was a pretty solid album from St Vincent. The first half of the album was really fun and had a cool edge to it, but I felt as though that edge was lost towards the end of the album. I just wouldn't have expected the album that started off with a track like "Rattlesnake" would end on a dud like "Severed Crossed Fingers." There was a lot of potential for this album to be great, but I don't think it tried hard enough. That's what it is! - the second half of the album sounds kind of lazy. That being said, St Vincent definitely has her own sound, and a lady can respect that in a world where conformity seems to win. "Prince Johnny" might be my favorite track, it was stuck in my head all week. Some tracks will definitely be on continued rotation, but I'll forget about some of the others. I feel as though this was a good first look into St Vincent, and I'll definitely keep my eyes and ears open for this fellows Berklee alum.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Songs of the Day
Got the final 3 songs up for review today: "Psychopath," "Every Tear Disappears," and "Severed Crossed Fingers."
"Psychopath" isn't one of my favorite songs. I don't know what it is exactly, but there's a corniness to it that isn't working for me, and said corniness isn't catchy enough. I also don't really dig how the melody is purposely out of tune at the beginning of the verse, but maybe that's just me being a stickler. The chorus also doesn't do much for me either, the strings don't help the groove. And the somewhat random guitar solo in the middle kind of comes out of nowhere - it's confusing. No to the end modulation as well. This track is very "eh," especially compared to some of the other songs on the record.
"Every Tear Disappears" goes down the same kind of "just ok" route as the previous track. I think the groove is a lot cooler, but the whole thing just comes and goes without any leaving any particular kind of impression. The track starts off promising - I really dig the opening line of "oh a smile is more than showing teeth;" preach, honey. The whistle thing in the chorus is a little wack. I don't know, the vocals are a little to airy and therefore get kind of lost, and the groove isn't cool enough to stand alone. The groove switch at the end is also nothing special. I had to listen to the song a couple times because I kept getting distracted with something else. It's that kind of song.
Fortunately, the final track of the album is a little more solid than the previous two (but it's not much). I was a little surprised that "Severed Crossed Fingers" ended up being one of the slowest songs on the album, not only because of the title (um, hello, that's weird/gross), but because I thought she would have wanted a more upbeat track to end things on. I think the correct elements are here to make a really cool groove, but some of the synth/effects on the track are a overused and kind of beginner-sounding. The best part of this track is how it goes into this weird, white noise ending building up to the chorus again. Cool, but the ending chorus could have had some more umph. Ok track, but it could have been stronger.
"Psychopath" isn't one of my favorite songs. I don't know what it is exactly, but there's a corniness to it that isn't working for me, and said corniness isn't catchy enough. I also don't really dig how the melody is purposely out of tune at the beginning of the verse, but maybe that's just me being a stickler. The chorus also doesn't do much for me either, the strings don't help the groove. And the somewhat random guitar solo in the middle kind of comes out of nowhere - it's confusing. No to the end modulation as well. This track is very "eh," especially compared to some of the other songs on the record.
"Every Tear Disappears" goes down the same kind of "just ok" route as the previous track. I think the groove is a lot cooler, but the whole thing just comes and goes without any leaving any particular kind of impression. The track starts off promising - I really dig the opening line of "oh a smile is more than showing teeth;" preach, honey. The whistle thing in the chorus is a little wack. I don't know, the vocals are a little to airy and therefore get kind of lost, and the groove isn't cool enough to stand alone. The groove switch at the end is also nothing special. I had to listen to the song a couple times because I kept getting distracted with something else. It's that kind of song.
Fortunately, the final track of the album is a little more solid than the previous two (but it's not much). I was a little surprised that "Severed Crossed Fingers" ended up being one of the slowest songs on the album, not only because of the title (um, hello, that's weird/gross), but because I thought she would have wanted a more upbeat track to end things on. I think the correct elements are here to make a really cool groove, but some of the synth/effects on the track are a overused and kind of beginner-sounding. The best part of this track is how it goes into this weird, white noise ending building up to the chorus again. Cool, but the ending chorus could have had some more umph. Ok track, but it could have been stronger.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)