Music Reviews

So I have an extremely brave confession to make – AJR, their music, everything about them? I can’t stand them, not even one bit. So saying I was excited for this would be a flat out lie, but I was at least intrested to see where AJR would take their sound next – from the few singles dropped before the album, you could already hear a few improvements, so maybe AJR would stop absolutely sucking ass and start to make listenable music, right?

Well, that statement holds up to an extent – there is still an enormous ammount of overblown passages, that more often then not, just sound absolutely unexcusable and unlistenable. But this time around it’s actually mixed in with a few listanable passages and even whole songs?? Is this even still AJR we are talking about here? Well yes, they said it couldn’t be done but here we are – OK Orchestra sees AJR make their most consistent bunch of songs so far. Now there are still so manz things about this I can critique, but truly and honestly, my biggest complain this time around is definetly some of the one liners hidden in the lyrics – the politics on this album are sometimes just borderline enough for me to turn off the album (prime example being the song „3 O’Clock Things“). All of that is ballanced though, by the sound being way more richer and sounding like actual piece of music then on their previous efforts. To kind of take it track-by-track, we have the absolute mixbag that is „OK Overture“, which is like the definition of the word mixbag – there are some absolutely great passages on this song, burried beneath some absolute horrible ones, that make up for just one giant mess, that actually kind of works as an opener though. Nothing terrible, but nothing great either – one could say it’s just OK. Then the song „Bummerland“ is uh… Okay?? I guess?? The thing with AJR songs is that one never really knows how to feel about an okay-sounding song from them. Is it great? Hell no, not in you wildest dreams. Is it listenable? Well, yes, and that is kind of an accomplishment in of itself for AJR. Also by this point in the album, you start to take notice of the weird vocoder thing AJR has been experimenting with lately and well it’s not great, but at the same tame, it serves as kind of a breath of fresh air if I’m being honest. Now the song „My Play“ is, at least for me, actually one the songs that are just good. Yes, you heard me right – an AJR song that is legitemately good. There are a few things holding back from being actually just great, like some of the vocal lines and melodies, but the chorus on this song is legitemately one of the most statisfying and explosive things AJR has probably ever done. The follow up „Joe“ is a weird song, it uses beatboxing instead of actual percussion and mainly play-ground-like melodies on piano and sub-bass is also added on the chorus, but that’s pretty much it – it feels kind of rough and empty, though it’s not the worst thing in the world. The song „Adventure Is Out There“ uses some pretty impressive instrumentation at parts actually, especially the background guitar melodies are a nice touch, but overall it’s not the most impressive thing in the world, especially when you take into consideration some of the lyrics literally just being about socks. But at the end of the day, it is one of the more instrumentaly fulfilling songs on here, so I can look past that. What I CAN’T look past, is the absolute abomination of a song that is „BANG!“. The quality drop from the previous to this one is actually quite impressive – this song is just an unexcusable mess. Fortunately the next song „The Trick“ pickes up thing a bit, though not by much. The guitar plucking and orchestral instrumentation are legitemately beautiful, reminds of something Sufjan Stevens would do on „Carrie & Lowell“, which definetly was a huge inspiration for this one, though once again the song is plagued by some AJRisms, that just kill the vibe. The song „Ordinaryish People“ is so forgetable it’s actually painful. There literally isn’t anything I could tell you, I just finnished listening to it and I don’t recall a single passage or a note from this song, except the drum breakdown towards the end of the song, that was actually somewhat cool. „Humpty Dumpty“ is definetly a song, that’s for sure – though not a really good one. The instrumentation has some cool elements here and there, but the chorus instantly reminds me of something of „The Click“ – it’s just stomach-turning and giving me PTSD everytime I listen to it, which is a shame, because with a better chorus, this could’ve been one of the more enjoyable and, more importantly, listenable songs on this album. „World’s Smallest Violin“ just sounds like an accoustic Twenty One Pilots song with some extra trumpets added in – I’m sorry, but it just does. That being said, it’s not as insulting as some other songs here, so props to that. Now, the song „Way Less Sad“ is your typicall AJR formula, but done RIGHT. Once again it isn’t anything ground-breaking and on the surface sounds like something of of „The Click“, but it just for some reason sort of works. Not my favorite here, but at least it’s up there. Now we get to the closer „Christmas In June“ which is an OK (get it) way to close of the album. Definetly sums up the more mature, but still childish sound of this album pretty well. And the chorus is also catchy to an extent, so why the hell not, it’s a good vibe overall.

So I have done, I listened to a full 40+ minute AJR project without wanting to vomit more times then I can count on one hand – this definetly isn’t something I’ll be returning to, but it at least deserves some credit for being the most consistent and listenable thing AJR has done.

Decent 3/10

Kevin Parker’s third studio album „Currents“ was what originally introduced me to the mastermind project that Tame Impala is – the production on there was very drugy, psychedelic and instant and conceptually it was really cohesive – what made me fall in love with Kevin’s music though, was it’s predecessor „Lonerism“. That album was just a pure psychedelic bliss, with some really relatable themes going on, talking about self-isolation and loneliness in general – it really is a one-of-a-kind listen.

So maybe it was because of my high expectations going into this record, but I’m kinda conflicted on this one – for once, the production doesn’t feel as instant and explosive as on Kevin’s previous efforts (with some exceptions, but I will get to that later) – it’s rather more low-key or dance-oriented, trying out different sounds and experimenting, so it just comes off as not that cohesive of a work. Though I will say, some of the band’s best material to date turn up on this album, such as on the song „Posthumous Forgivness“, where the experimentations really pays off – the wall of psychedelic synths comined with that heavy kick and compressed drums on the chorus sound like being transfered to another dimension. The lyrics on this one hit as hard as the sound of the song, if not harder, talking about the passing of Kevin’s father – the vocals feel tortured even through all the layers of effects on them. It just hits all the right notes for me. On other tracks, the experimentation doesn’t alwys work out so well – a greay example of that being „Tomorrow’s Dust“, which isn’t per say bad, but with those gentle guitar melodies, sharp drums and layers of compression, just end up being really boring – like, the song has no bussiness being 5 and a half minutes long. Some other dancier tracks turn up on here, such as „Borderline“ and „Breathe Deeper“, which both feature some really nice keys and melodies – the production is rich, the imagery painted is beautiful and it’s just a good vibe overall, with „Breathe Deeper“ also featuring some really catchy basslines and more intresting structure to it – it end up being one of my favorites on here. Then we have the two pre-released singles „It Might Be Time“ and „Lost In Yesterday“, both of which are great in their own categories – It Might Be Time is perhaps the most experimental song on this whole project, making it a questionable leading single, but c’mon, this thing is a banger. It has probably the rawest mixing on here and is somehow pretty intense, even though it doesn’t sound intense at all – it starts off really laid back actually and plays on that note for most of the song. Lost In Yesterday on the other hand is one of the more dancable track here, with it’s slick bassline, sharp drums and godly vocals from Kevin Parker – it’s just a nice laid-back Tame Impala song, what else is there to say. The song „Is It True“ is as direct as it gets on the album, being one of the only instantly-catchy songs on here, with some heavy synths and electric guitar melodies, that just won’t leave your head for days to come. The most intresting songs conceptually though, are the opening and the closing tracks „One More Year“ and „One More Hour“ and how tie into each other. The opener sets the mood for the album just right, being one of the more low-key cuts here, it leaves a lot of room for the story/message to get across. The conept is pretty simple, with the protagonist on the first track just wanting to enjoy his year and on the last track just reflecting on it within the last hour. Both songs play off of each other very nicely and really tie this otherwise unorganised and somewhat disoriented album together.

And with that the album concludes, finnishing as strongly is at started. Now does this feel like a little bit of a let down from Kevin’s previous work? Kinda, but more then that it jsut feels like another natural artistic progression his music goes through – and even though this one is probably my least favorite of thos progressions, I stile enjoyed it quite a bit and genuinely can’t wait to see where Parker decides to go from here – whatever it is, I’ll be there for it.

strong 7/10

Gorillaz will forever have a special place in my heart, even though their, up to this point nearly flawless, discography was kind of dumbed down by the virtual band’s last two LPs „Humanz“ and „The Now Now“, both of which have their own problems – Humanz was blouted with features, safe production choices and really uncohesive structure, while The Now Now was in my opinion just really boring and only had a few stand-out tracks – it more felt like Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind Gorillaz, was just trying to cover up for the mixed reception of Humanz with an even more mixed release. But here we are now, Song Machine is finally out, so let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Right of the back the album kicks off with the keys-heavy „Strange Timez“, which is just a great opener – it sets the dark, but still that remarkable Gorillaz sound, with those haunting piano melodies and wirling keys, while Robert Smith give us a pationate vocal performance, with some fitting lyrics, that compliment the sound pretty well. Then it explodes into these walls of sytnhs towards the end of the track, with 2D and Robert Smith singing the chorus – by the end of it, it just comes full circle and feels like a complete song, but more importantly a grand opener. The following track „The Valley Of Pagans“ is just a good time, with the track’s up-beat sound and fast tempo – also the featured artist Beck really kills his performance here. I also can’t stress enough how insanely detailed the sound of not only this song, but the whole album is – the layers of pianos, guitars and sharp drums just sound so refreshing and sweet to the ears. What also sounds sweet to the ears is the follow-up track „The Lost Chord“ with it’s spacy and mysthy production and the absolutelly GORGEOUS ascending vocals on the chorus. It’s a nice more slow-paced moment on the album and it somehow still keeps the momentum going. The next song „Pac-Man“ is easily the most catchiest tune here – the chorus on this thing is absolutely phenomenal and could go toe-to-toe with something of of the band’s „Plastic Beach“. The ScHoolboy Q feature was also a nice touch, with the second half of the track changing from the electronic crispy beat, to a more natural and free production, where ScHoolboy really shines and takes on a more introspective last verse. The next song „Chalk Tablet Towers“ is probably one of the weaker ones here, especially momentum-wise, where the song is basically just a filler. Though it features some really good production and vocal melodies, but you could say that for the whole album really. Though the next song „The Pink Phantom“ picks things up again, with that absolutely stunning Elton John feature, low-key production and some really impresive vocal layering in the later half. 6LACK is also on here, but he is just kinda there, even though he compliments Elton surprisingly well. The song „Aries“ was probably one of my favorites released prior to the album’s release – the gentle guitar plugs, the synth-based summer-oriented beat and 2Ds passionate vocals make up for one of the best songs in the band’s catalog. „Friday the 13th“ is an intresting one, because originally, I didn’t really care about this one, but damn if this isn’t a huge grower – this song is the definition of „the more you listen to it, the better it gets“, because it really grows on you substantially with each listen – the summery production with the off-beat Octavian feature combine into a pretty laid-back expirience with a nice piano beat-switch in the second half. The song I was most worried about, when I first heard it though was probably „Dead Butterflies“ – right off the back the more trap-inspired beat made me kinda worried at first, but once those pianos come in and 2D starts singing, then I instantly knew this was going to be one of my favorite here – and I was right. This is the most passionate 2D’s vocals sounded since the Plastic Beach era – like seriously, those vocal melodies and the overall performance are just stunning. It also smoothly transitions into the next track „Désolé“, which is a French ballad, with some of the best and most gorgeous produciton I’ve heard this year – the sharp drums with the gentle guitar melodies make for a haunting, yet somehow soothing atmosphere. And don’t even get me started on the feature – Fatoumata Diawara absolutely kills her vocal performance here, easily one of the best features of the whole album (which is saying a LOT). The closer is the one song, that started it all – the first single released before the album itself „Momentary Bliss“, which if that isn’t a statysfying finnish, then I don’t know what is. It is perhaps the most raw-sounding song of the whole album, which compliments slowthai’s rather agressive style really well. The booming guitars and agressive keys just make for a banger of a tune, that is a worthy closer, for such an amazing album.

This album is what you call learning from your mistakes – it takes everything the last two Gorillaz albums failed at and makes it succeed at every single one of those things. The production is top-notch, the features are amazing and it all comes together by the end – it just felt like a really cohesive compilation of songs. That’s right, I said compilation, because if there is something to be left desired on this album, then it’s the fact that it doesn’t really feel like a Gorillaz studio album and more just like a collection of Gorillaz songs – though great songs at that. But beyond that, there is nothing negative I can really say about this one – it’s just a hit after hit and I’m only curious, where the band take their sound from here.

light 9/10

My introduction to Neil’s music was through the emerse praise his last album „Mouth Dreams“ recieved in the music comunity – I found that album to be really enjoyable and succesfull at colliding all those different songs into each other – the mix on that project was surprisingly rich and cohesive and the whole project was overall just a really fun listen. It’s a shame really that I can’t say the same about this new project over here – don’t get me wrong, there are still a handfull of songs that work quite well – but this album is essentially an album of high and lows, where the lows just can just easily take you out of the whole vibe this album goes for. Maybe it’s partially due to the high expectations I had when going into this, but I just found some of the mashups and experimetns on here kinda bland and unintresting. Also in the later half of the album features these weird transitions, where the song just completely cuts off out of nowhere and the next song just starts playing – I don’t know what Neil was trying to do here, but it just comes off as really akward and unfitting.

To take it track-by-track, the opener „Yahoo“ is actually a really nice kick off to this album – the spacy synth-orianted production works quite well and it sets the mood just right. After the short-winded „Mouth Dream – intro“, that doesn’t really add anything to the expirience, we get the next song „Sponge Rock“, which is just absolutely hillarious – in a good way though. It’s a combination of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song with Queen’s „We Will Rock You“ and even though it’s a little rough around the edges, it just comes off as really funny. The follow up „Just a Baby“ is easily one of my favorites here – it’s a really well constructed ballad featuring the classic 2000s rock tune „The Reason“ by Hoobastank and vocals from the Johny Cash classic „Folsom Prison Blues“ with some additional vocals/instrumentation from Justin Bieber and MGMT. It really plays into the whole aesthetic of this album and comes around full circle by the end. „Superkiller“ is a funky banger with the sample of the 80s classic „Super Freak“ by Rick James, with the additional Can’t touch this vocal lines we all come to know over the years and the absolute bagner of a song that is „Psycho Killer“ by Talking Heads. But from here is where the album starts to get really forgetable – except the intresting sample choice, the next few songs are just not that remarkable. The album looses momentum quick and there are only couple highlights in the later half. There are some cool ideas here and there, like the mix of Foo Fighters and Aerosmith on the song „Aerolong“, or the amayingly-titled „Where is my Mom“, which as the title suggests features „Where is my Mind“ by Pixies and Fountains of Wayne’s „Stacy’s Mom“, but both of those song have a runtime of an interlude and have those exact weird transitions I was talking about before – the ideas are great, but the executions is just not there (which basically sums up the album pretty well). One of the highlights later on though is definetly „1000 Spoons“, which features one of the wildest combinations of songs here: Black Sabath’s „Iron Man“, Alanis Morissette’s „Ironic“ and the Knight Rider theme? As ironic as it sounds, this is actually one of the most well-put-together songs here and offers a really nice and intense change of pace from the other poorly mixed and just downright boring cuts here. The album finnishes of with the super unintresting „Ain’t“, which for some weird reason just feels very weirdly paced and kinda anticlimactic – which is everything that a closer shouldn’t be.

So yeah, this one is kinda middle of the road for me. If I had to give this album something, it’s that it stills is one of the better examples of mash-ups in proffesional music scene – but as I said before, the weird transitions, boring songs, the slow pace of the album and just the execution overall is what brings this album down from me. I still found it to be somewhat of an enjoyable record, but it’s far from the quality of it’s predecessor.

decent 5/10

After the mixbag that was 2015s „Starboy“, The Weeknd realy needed a new direction to go to. And I don’t think that anyone expected the direction to be 80s inspired R&B dream pop. Though this album still has that signature The Weeknd sound, with its overuse of hi-hats, structured trap beats and obviously the godly voice that The Weeknd offers. The album sounds nostalgic yet somehow futuristic – this new approach resulted into The Weeknd’s most conceptually realised album yet, with its simple yet powerful songwriting and broken aesthetic through out the whole album, with few exceptions here and there.

One of the exceptions is definetly the first single „Heartless“, which is easily the biggest banger of this whole thing. But even though this song just slaps, it still has that significant dark undertone, that’s present through out this whole project. The opener „Alone Again“ on the other hand is a slow-paced low-key track, with some really captivating production – and then when the actual instrumentation kicks in? Oh boy, you know you’re in for something special. The song „Hardest To Love“ features some of the most beautiful vocal melodies I’ve heard all year and it really shows how much has Abel grew as vocalist over the years. „Snowchild“ is this gentle and sweet track with moody synths and raging hi-hats, that has some big potential, but is kind off ruined by the second verse of the song – it just felt really out of place and disengenious. „Escape From LA“ is another miss for me – while the song’s introspective lyricism might be enough for someone to keep their attention through out the whole thing, I just find the instrumentation surrounding it to be really weak and forgetable, that I really just can’t pay attention to the message of the song. But it’s truly only hits from here – „Faith“ is a beautiful and heartbreaking gem in the track list, that always manages to make me teary-eyed, „Blinding Lights“ is an absolute 80s inspired masterpiece with melodies that will be stuck in your head for days to come (same goes for „In Your Eyes“, but with a more thick instrumentation this time around) and „Save Your Tears“, even though it sounds like a more well-produced rip-off of Post Malone’s „Circles“, still has that emotional power to it, that you just can’t deny. The only weak track in this half of the album is the interlude „Repeat After Me“, which is, in two words, just forgetable. But then we get the absolute best song on the album, the title track „After Hours“. This 6-minute behemoth of a song is really something else – from the atmospheric and genuenly haunting intro, to when the drop finally kicks in and you just feel like you entered a different dimension. The keys and bass in this are absolutely out of this world, the singing feels tortured, yet gorgeous and the lyrics really tie this whole album together. Then plays the last song „Until I Bleed Out“, AKA the last cry for help – truly a teriffying, yet somehow fitting way to close off the album.

Abel has once again proved, that he isn’t just another cash-grabbing face in the never-ending pop crowd – he proved that he cares about the art that he makes and that he can manage to make a conceptual maserpiece, such as this one, while experimenting with other styles and genres. This really was a ride, from start to finnish, even though I didn’t feel like every song hit the nail on the head, it still was a fulfilling listen through out and in the end felt like a complete and statysifing expirience.

Decent 8/10

George Miller, famous internet YouTube star turned proffesional artist, AKA Joji, was someone I never expected to like, After the colosall failure that was in my eyes Joji’s debut EP „In Tongues“, I pretty much wrote him off as another face in the ever expanding sad boy trap genre. But Joji came back swinging – with his 2018 single „Slow Dancing In The Dark“ he proved that he had potential – great potential in fact. The follow up album „Ballads 1“ didn’t necesarry meet the expectations that Slow Dancing set the bar for, but it still was a reasonable effort from Joji – more then In Tongues anyways. But now we’re here, on Joji’s second studio album „Nectar“.

Before I start to talk smack about Joji like I usually end up doing, I would like to just say, that this is EASILY Joji’s most profound, well-produced and admirable record to date. The singles tha dropped before the album’s release all showed that Joji is taking this whole music career thing really seriously and that he is taking the steps to become a better not only vocalist, but artist overall. „Sanctuary“ is a synth-driven 80s inspired ballad with some really sweet vocal harmonies and melodies. „Gimmie Love“ is your classic lo-fi Joji sad-boyish song with an accoustic twist in the second half, while „Daylight“ is a little pop tune with some amazing production choices from none other then „Diplo“. And don’t even get me started on „Run“ – that’s, in mz opinnion, easily Joji’s best song, period. But this is also the biggest sin that this album commits – releasing all the absolute best songs as singles before the albums’s release. Not gonna lie, I had some prettz big expectations for this album when it came out – but what we got wasn’t anything like what the singles promised. Instead, it’s an 18-track long lofi hip-hop album, when it could’ve been just 12-tracks long. Also when I say lofi hip-hop album, I REALLY mean that – at least half of the songs on here follow the absolute same formula and sound. And to be honest, it gets really tiring – like what do songs like „Nitrous“ or „High Hopes“ truly and honestly bring to the track list?

That being said, there are still some highlights in the tracklisting here and there: the opening track „Ew“ is a moody and powerful opener which sets the tone for the whole album really well. The following track „MODUS“ is the start of the lo-fi hip hop tracks trend on this album, though this one actually has some nice melodies and especially instrumentation. The same goes for the songs „Afterthought“ and „Mr. Hollywood“, which both again feed into the same formula as MODUS but actually have some substance – especially Mr. Hollywood, that song is just gorgeous. „Tick Tock“ is another intresting one – it starts with this corny low-pitched rapping that is luckily quickly over and this nice accoustic beat comes in, while Joji is giving us those nice vocal harmonies. Then there is the surprisingly crushing „Like You Do“, which is this piano ballad about one’s persons love being more then the love of all the others – „no one loves me like you do“. It’s definetly a beautiful moment in the album, but the album could really use some variety – the closest thing to that we get on „Pretty Boy“, which is easily the catchiest song on the whole album – the beat’s pretty simple, but it works in the song’s favour. Also Lil Yachty’s verse is surprisingly awesome, the two of them with Joji have some really nice chemistry. Finally the song „Your Man“, that closes the album off is a trendy EDM banger, which is a overall a nice send off to the whole thing.

Now there are a LOT of things I didn’t like about this album – some of the songs, like „Reanimator“, should’ve really just been longer and some other songs like „Upgrade“ should’ve been just cut completely. But while there is a lot to not like about this album, there is still a lot to enjoy here. And I can only commend Joji for trying new things and experimenting with his voice and his music aswell. As I said, I still think that this is Joji’s best realease yet and I can’t wait to see where he takes this next.

light 7/10