Music Recommendation #5

3/6/11-3/12/11

First things first.  This week is Radio 1190's Spring Pledge Drive.  We're an independent radio station and in order to keep it that way, we need our listener's to support us.  All we ask is the bare minimum which helps us keep the promotions going, the lights on, and the music playing.  If you have a minute, go to Radio 1190's website, check it out, and if you can spare a few dollars, donate what you can.  Also, check out this awesome shirt design you could get!

Onto the blog.  I know it isn't Sunday yet, but I have a busy weekend and I've been productive, so I thought I would drop next week's new music on you now.  Sound good?  I thought so.  This week I'm bring you two new albums, Brown Recluse's "Evening Tapestry" and Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx's "We're New Here."

“Evening Tapestry” is the debut LP from Brown Recluse out of Slumberland Records.  The band formed in the early 2000s and self-released their first EP, “Black Sunday,” in 2007.  Their second EP, “The Soft Skin,” was released in 2009, shortly after they released a cassette-only release on Dead Format called “Selected Hymns (Of the Evening Tapestry).”  They combine narrative lyrics with a psychadelia-tinged indie pop creating lighthearted, flowing tunes.  Brown Recluse does a good job of making their music seemingly innocent on the surface.  At first I thought it was really fluffy and light, and nothing at first glance really gave me the impression to believe otherwise.  However, when I went through it again I noticed some of the lyrics are deep, profound, and some times disturbing.  "March to Your Tomb," the closing track of the album (contrasting the opening song, "Hobble to Your Tomb"), has an upbeat, light guitar melody, but the opening lyrics are as followed: "Smeared my blood on the neighbor's fencepost/ Dragged my arm like a limp fraying paintbrush/ Trimming hedges by her briars/ They gashed my pale flesh like barbed wire," after which a twangy guitar solo follows.  Brown Recluse's lyrical content is without doubt the best feature of this album and each and every song has interesting insights not only vocally, but instrumentally as well, a plethora of sounds strung out across the album.  Brown Recluse has a number of interesting stories to tell and "Evening Tapestry" is a strong debut LP for the band.

“We’re New Here” is a collaborative effort between Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx from The xx.  What the duo did was take Scott-Heron’s “I’m New Here” (released in 2010) and remixed it by putting a thick, electronic, bass filled sound behind Scott-Heron’s raspy, hip-hop inspiring spoken word vocals.  This is without doubt the epitome of combining old and new to make something both versatile in sound, yet somehow familiar.  While seemingly far apart, Scott-Heron and Jamie xx are connected through XL Recordings and owner Richard Russell who connected the two.  This album blew.my.mind.  It seems like an odd combination especially because Scott-Heron and Jamie xx are so different: one is black, one is white; one is young, one is old; one is British, one is American; one is a vocalist, one is a instrumentalist.  However, surprisingly, when the two of them come together they create a wonderful fix of old fashioned singing and new age electronic instrumentals.  If "I'm New Here" wasn't already incredible enough, Jamie xx puts a wonderfully innovative twist on the entire album.  The sounds across the CD have a wide variety, each of which has it's own unique feeling.  The trance like, bass flooded, standout favorite of the album, "NY Is Killing Me," alters some of Scott-Heron's vocals with strong reverberation and compliments them later in the song with a high-pitched, repetitive shrieking.  Put that together with the thumping bass, synthesizing, and bells and you get a sound that engulfs you and throws you into a musical chemistry experiment gone horribly right.  "My Cloud," in contrast, shifts both instrumentally and vocally.  In this song, Jamie xx slows it down and has longer drawn out chords with a softer back beat that compliments Scott-Heron's decision to sing instead of use spoken word.  "We're New Here" is an incredible mix of new and old and Scott-Heron puts it best in "I've Been Me" when he says, "If I hadn't been as eccentric, as obnoxious, as arrogant, as aggressive, as introspective, as selfish... I wouldn't be me, I wouldn't be who I am."

So, there's next weeks new music and hopefully I'll be able to bring some of the other music I've been listening to on here in the next week or so.  Look out for a DeVotchKa review in the next week or so along with maybe some other stuff if I decide not to be a lazy college student.  Keep listening and thanks for reading!

Music Recommendation #4

2/27/11-3/5/11

Alright, music time is back on my priorities list and I'm getting some stuff from 1190 that I can share with you.  The first two albums I have for you this year are Paris Suit Yourself's "My Main Shitstain" and The Posies "Blood/Candy."

“My Main Shitstain” is the debut album from Paris Suit Yourself.  Paris Suit Yourself is a French-US collective rock band, the first ever rock band to be signed to Big Dada Recordings.  The combine aggressive, yet funny aesthetics and are a bit like a mix between Public Enemy and mid-period Bowie which is clear by their unique sound.  Lead singer Luvinsky Atche brings his French roots into the album on more than one occasion making for an interesting clash of rock instrumentals and French lyrics.  The album definitely has a unique feel to it: one minute it's very fast passed and has an almost Latin feel to it ("Craig Machinsky") and the next its very minimalist with only echoing lyrics and a slow, steady, repeating bass line ("Soliloque").  What is maybe most exciting about this album is the French lyrics.  While most listeners may not be able to understand what Atche is saying, the way in which he sings the lyrics convey a gradient of emotions ranging from excitation to anguish.  When I was first listening to this album, I almost thought it was going to be FCC clean, but PSY does an incredible job of slipping in uncleanliness in the most surprising ways.  Upon a second listen I realized that every single song has some sort of swear or vulgarity in it, which isn't to say that it's spewing them left in right, but that they're used strategically and almost secretively; you really have to listen to catch them.  Overall, Paris Suit Yourself's "My Main Shitstain" is a very unique and interesting album.  They creatively juxtapose various sounds and melodies without sounding sloppy and the album is definitely a fun listening experience.

“Blood/Candy” is The Posies’ seventh LP, coming from a band that first found its sound in 1988 with their debut album “Failure.”  The band has switched between various labels, but may have found home with Rykodisc, the same record label they released “Every Kind of Light” with in 2005.  Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow (both on guitar and vocals) are the only remaining members from the original Posies, but, thanks to Matt Harris (bass) and Darius “Take One” Minwalla (Drums) taking control of the rhythm section, managed to have a revitalizing comeback in 2001.  At first listen, "Blood/Candy" didn't seem much different than any other alternative rock/pop group, but as I listened to it a second time, I found myself digging it more and more.  What's awesome about The Posies is that their songs fluctuate in meaning.  One minute a song could pump you up and get your blood boiling, but that very same song could be very relaxing and calming in another circumstance.  It's noticeable that the vocals of Auer and Stringfellow are the backbone of the group.  More so than any of the instrumental melodies, the vocals convey the most most complexity and versatility throughout the entire album.  On another note, the album artwork has to be one of the coolest I've seen in a long time.  I would highly recommend snagging this album if you get a chance.  They started back in the late '80s, but have managed to keep their sound fresh and definitely give any contemporary alternative group a run for their money.  My top picks from the album are "Plastic Paperbacks Feat. Hugh Cornwell," "Notion 99," and "Cleopatra Street."

And thus concludes the first music recommendation post of 2011.  More will be coming in future weeks and lookout for other album reviews outside of what I get from the radio.  Currently I'm listening to Destroyer, Braids, and Radiohead, so watch for reviews for any and possibly all of those.  Thanks for reading!

Hey, it's 2011!

I'm Back!

I promise my month long hiatus wasn't due to laziness (not entirely at least).  This whole "future" business has slowly been creeping up on me and I enrolled myself in an LSAT class to get ready to go to law school, err whatever.  Thanks to Jeremy for snapping me back into a music groove.  To give you an idea of how little time I have to do things, I've reviewed one CD this year for 1190 and by this time last semester I'm pretty sure I had reviewed about five.  No bueno.  Just because that has been the case with 1190 though doesn't mean I haven't been picking up some new music on my own.  On the contrary (forgetting how much music I get when I go on a downloading binge) I have downloaded too much music.  Now, some of you may be saying that isn't possible, you can never have too much music.  It's possible when you download something and NEVER listen to it; I hate doing that.  I'm making my way through as much music as I can that I've snagged, but it's tough keeping up some times especially when a couple albums in particular ensnare me for days on end.  Over the past couple of weeks I have picked up Aloe Blacc, Iron & Wine, Cage the Elephant, Professor Green, The Decemberists, J. Cole, The Dears (1190), Cake, Yuck, and Zonoscope.  I've listened to maybe about three or four of those albums out of the ten in total.  Well, time to get on my horse and get to work!

First, I need to talk about the two albums that I haven't been able to stop listening to in the past week or so, the first being Aloe Blacc's Good Things.  Recently I've become infatuated with Conan O'Brien and a week and a half ago he exhibited Aloe Blacc, a tall, lanky, well dressed man with a silky voice.  While on the show I wasn't terribly impressed by Blacc's performance, I really liked his sound and style.  He definitely has a heavy jazz and blues background in his music and it shows throughout the entire album.  Some of the songs fall into a similar theme as a lot of the others, but others stand out in bright red bow ties among the mob of monotonous music.  Blacc's single "I Need a Dollar" may be the best song on the album, with an upbeat melody, but somber song content involving sorrow, alcoholism, unemployment, and, of course, the blues.  Blacc manages to juxtapose upbeat melodies with counter intuitive lyrics in several of his songs, "Loving You is Killing Me" being another standout favorite.  "Miss Fortune" (possibly my favorite track) has a decidedly darker tone than the rest of the album and the guitar scratching in the background is almost hypnotic.  While most of the album isn't terribly impressive or ground breaking, something about Blacc's voice keeps drawing me in; it's not the best, but it just sounds right.  Check him out here.

The other album that sucked me in is Professor Green's Alive Till I'm Dead.  I get bi-daily newsletters from this college info site that sends me updates about cool websites, events, stores, and the like.  A little while ago they told me about a website called We Are Hunted (possibly a Pandora challenger?).  The website essentially takes name drops of various artists from all over the web and tallies which ones are the most frequent.  You can look at the most popular songs, the most popular artists, and divide it up by genre along with several other options.  One night I was strolling around the Hip-Hop section and found Professor Green, a young, fiery UK rapper.  The rapper's subject matter at times is very reminiscent of Eminem and even his flow mimics Eminem's at times.  However, Green's album is aimed at more of a party crowd with the first three songs of the album having more dance oriented beats and more light hearted subject matter.  The rest of the album is much more rough and dark.  "Jungle" in particular has dark subject matter mixed with a heavily synthesized almost dubstep like beat.  "Monster" is maybe where listeners will hear Slim Shady the most, Green starting out by saying "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/ Saw a chick walk in with a big behind/ Now I'm stalking my victim out/ Unrecognizable 'cause I'm in disguise," although noticeably more tame.  While it's clear that Green has a little polishing up to do, he definitely has a strong start with his first LP (he's reached #2 on the UK charts).  I would definitely check him out if you're looking for someone fun and a little different to listen to.  Check him out here.

Alright, I got my feet moving and that post didn't take too long.  Maybe I'll get a more formal review for something up here in a bit, but until then I'll try to keep updating you with the stuff I'm listening to and hopefully after posting this I can pull myself away from Blacc and Green.  See you soon and thanks for reading!

Top 10 Albums of 2010

Quick note, I want to point out that I customized my title bar and am very pleased with it.  Everyone look at it.  You look at it?  Alright, moving on...

At first I didn't think I would actually do a Top 10.  I've gotten a lot of music this year and I haven't given all of it a really good listen.  However, over the past few days I've made an effort to listen to some albums that I've been meaning to get to.  With that being said, there's still a handful of albums I didn't listen to as much as I would have liked and those albums will not be on my Top 10 unfortunately.  Then, I almost didn't want to do it again because I found myself grinding my teeth and pulling my hair as to which albums would be in my Top 10.  I picked out twenty albums and narrowed it down from them, but even as I'm writing this, I'm trying to figure out which album will take the last spot in my Top 10 and I'm torn between three albums.  What's even harder is taking those albums and ranking them against one another.  Fortunately, I've managed to narrow it down and am proud to present my Top 10 albums of 2010.

First, I want to start off with a few honorable mentions that didn't make the list and I'm sad that they didn't:

• The Black Keys - Brothers
• The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
• Philip Selway - Familial
• Soft Circle - Shore Obsessed

10. Spoon - Transference

For anyone that knows me, it was hard for me to put Spoon in the tenth spot.  As much as I love them and as much as I would love to put them at #1, I just couldn't.  Fortunately for them, they still made the list and it isn't because I'm in love with them (in a completely platonic way, of course).  Spoon started out creating rock music with an incredible amount of experimentation and versatility.  In Transference, released early in 2010, they seem to have settled down into a comfort zone, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  While experimentation is almost completely absent, the band still manages to juxtapose their rock side and their soft side with songs such as "Got Nuffin" and "Good Night Laura" respectively.  Other songs play with awkward melodies such as "Written in Reverse" showing that the band may still be using a bit of implicit experimentation.

9. D-Sisive - Vaudeville

D-Sisive is my dark horse this year and Vaudeville is the only album to make it on the Top 10 from the radio station (not saying they gave me bad music, incredible music is just hard to come by).  Making the album after a bout with depression, D-Sisive blew the doors off with three full length albums and one EP.  He has a passion and drive for hip-hop like Jay-Z and a funny bone like Eminem.  Not only is his flow smooth and his voice unique, but he's versatile.  The amount of emotion in Vaudeville is incredible with several heart felt songs as well as bone crushing ones.  He also knows how to generate success, with certain tracks catering to a more main stream audience ("I Love a Girl") and others to a more independent one ("Ray Charles").  He's creative, smart, powerful and is definitely going to make a name for himself.  Who knew Canada could have a hip-hop movement?

8. The National - High Violet

I have some people that are going to be mad at me for this one.  Okay, maybe not mad, but... well, you know who you are.  High Violet is one of the albums that I didn't really get a chance to listen to it when it first came out.  The first time I heard it I was on a road trip and didn't really listen to it.  However, over the past couple of days, I've managed to really give it a solid listen and appreciate it.  While at times Matt Berninger's vocals might seem like a monotonous drone, what he's saying is deep and meaningful.  One lyric in particular caught me off guard in the song "Conversation 16" when he states "I was afraid, I'd eat your brains/ 'Cause I'm evil."  Once I heard that, I started the album over and really started concentrating on the lyrics.  The melodies do a good job of either mimicking Berninger's unique tone or contrasting it, both of which manage to work successfully for The National.  The most powerful blending of the two has to be in the song "Sorrow," especially when Berninger sings "Sorrow found me when I was young/ Sorrow waited, sorrow won."

7. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Again, this was an album that I didn't really give a good listen to until recently and was one of the albums I was pressed to put on the Top 10.  Arcade Fire has an incredible sound with their eight members and manage to make songs that are more like works of art.  While The Suburbs may not be their best album to date, it definitely manages to put a gold star on their repertoire of music.  Win Butler's vocals in "Rococo" are hypnotic and full of fervor as he makes slight alterations in the repeating of the song's title, ranging from shouting, to whining, to wailing.  The song is a masterpiece and definitely my favorite off of the album.  Furthermore, with a grand sized band comes a large scale sound and vision.  The Suburbs plays out like a story throughout, something no doubt planned out by the band with the last song echoing the opening track, "The Suburbs."

6. Cee-lo Green - The Lady Killer

Cee-lo almost burned me bad on this one.  Right before this came out, I downloaded one of his past albums and was blown away.  When I found out that The Lady Killer was nearing its release date, I lost my mind.  Unfortunately, at first, I was disappointed; The Lady Killer didn't have the same raw edge to it that Cee-lo Green is... the Soul Machine did.  Fortunately, as I continued to listen to the album, I realized that Cee-lo had a completely different approach to this album.  The Lady Killer features passion and sensuality instead of playful funk and sex.  "Bodies" is full of raw emotion and seduction, "I Want You" is a powerful love ballad, and "Bright Lights Bigger City" starts the album off with a funky search for love.  He still manages to have some more fun and sexy songs such as "Fuck You" (an unfortunate victim of Glee) and "Love Gun."  While Cee-lo isn't as playful and sexual as in his previous album, he's more mature and passionate, making The Lady Killer have a smooth, seducing sound. 

5. Atmosphere - To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP's

Alright, anyone who REALLY knows me knows that it was hard for me to put Atmosphere at number five.  However, I had to put them here because I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted them here because the album is actually great or because I'm in love with them (in a completely sexual way, of course).  While this album is technically titled as a collection of EP's, I am an avid listener of Atmosphere and never before have I ever heard any of these songs.  With that being said, To All My Friends captures each and every aspect of Atmosphere: their aggressive, down to reality side; their fun loving, well wishing side; their oddly cynical side; and their lyrically creative, story telling side.  Slug, the lead rapper of Atmosphere, has a way of telling stories that is seldom heard in the hip-hop world and To All My Friends is no exception.  In one song, Slug tells a story of deceptive friends, expressing regret, anger, and frustration in "The Loser Wins," where as in "Hope" he curiously wishes someone a good day in a sarcastic, almost arrogant tone.  Atmosphere's versatility and longevity still manages to amaze me and they easily make this list.

4. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

It almost pains me to put Kanye above Atmosphere, but I had to.  Kanye West definitely surprised me with his newest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy; I had almost gone on strike against the man until he released this thing.  West manages to breath life into his career with the song "POWER" which is an intense, dynamic, slightly narcissistic song with a heavy bass and infectious sound.  He also manages to show musical prowess concerning mood with "Monster" and "Runaway," songs that are almost complete opposites in terms of feeling and vibe.  "Monster" is aggressive and primal, with smooth, yet unrelenting verses coming from Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj.  "Runaway" almost humbles West with his tribute to douche bags and is easily the high point of the album with the simple yet profound piano melody.  What strengthens this album, however, is West's incredible supporting cast with artists such as Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Pusha T, Rick Ross, and John Legend all making an appearance.  While this may not be the strongest album in West's discography, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Family will always be remembered as a successful album that came out of a torrential downpour of bullshit and an ever present negative spotlight.

3. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

I'll be the first to admit that my favorite person from Outkast is Andre 3000.  I'll even say that Andre 3000 is one of my favorite rappers and I wouldn't even consider Big Boi in that category.  Well, Sir Lucious Left Foot shut me up.  This album, while highly anticipated, came out of no where for me.  While the production quality of the album is shocking, what is more surprising is Big Boi's new found musical versatility.  I always took him as the more aggressive, gangster like of the duo, but songs such as "The Train Part II (Sir Lucious Left Foot Save The Day)" and "Hustle Blood" (easily one of the best songs off of the album) show that he too has an emotional side to rival that of Andre 3000's.  "Shutterbug" and "Tangerine" are reminiscent of "The Way You Move" from Outkast's Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below and show that Big Boi still knows how to get a crowd going, in particular the women.  However many times I listen to "Shutterbug" I will never get sick of it; Big Boi's flow is as sick as ever in his homage to memories and good times.  "Tangerine" is sexy, smooth, and dark with the ever present tribal drum beat and guitar line, with an occasional appearance from the tambourine (an element echoed in the lyrics).  "Shutterbug" will go down as a viral club hit and "Hustle Blood" shouldn't be forgotten as the album's most surprising and successful song, coming together to make an incredibly versatile solo album for Big Boi.

2. Foals - Total Life Forever

People will be confused by this pick, most likely because not many people have heard of them.  I've even second guessed putting them here because of that fact.  However, whenever Total Life Forever comes on, I can't stop listening.  Every track stands out in my mind when I listen to it and while earlier this year I said I only picked them as a top album contender because I really like them, that no longer holds true.  Foals manage to create an interesting sound in Total Life Forever that can't really be pinned down.  They parallel bands like Friendly Fires at times with their more upbeat, staccato infested songs and high pitched vocals ("Blue Blood"), but other times they sound like Ratatat, utilizing a more floating, ambient, synthesized melody ("Alabaster").  At first glance, nothing about Total Life Forever seems incredibly ground breaking or even new, but the way they layer their sound and contrast certain timbres and sounds is without doubt fascinating both technically and musically.  Some people may disagree with me about this pick and may not even enjoy them as much as I do, but in my opinion, Foals is on the upswing and creates a complex, yet pleasant masterpiece with Total Life Forever.

1. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

The ArchAndroid is an album that has received high praise from me and just about everyone this year.  It has received stellar reviews from critics and everyone I know who has listened to it has loved it.  I almost forgot how great this album was, but when I saw Janelle Monae open up for Of Montreal, I remembered how much I not only loved this album, but how much I loved her.  Janelle Monae is an entertainer to say the least and she loves doing what she does.  While this isn't straight from the horses mouth, I have a feeling that she not only does what she does because she loves it, but because she is constantly striving to change what music is.  Monae has an incredible voice and can without doubt belt, such as in "Come Alive (War Of The Roses)", but has a decent rap flow that can be seen in "Dance Or Die" and "Tightrope."  She's not only enchanting, but at times confusing and I sometimes struggle to understand how the same quirky, weird, sexual person I heard in "Wondaland" is the same elegant, smoky siren in "BaBopBye Ya."  While I haven't managed to listen to her past works, I understand they're extraordinary and I plan to listen to them immediately.  Monae is not only exciting on her album, but she is an incredible performer.  Never before have I been to a concert where I liked the opening band more than I liked the headliner.  Without question, I will see Janelle Monae when she tours through Colorado on her own.  She's sexy, fun, quirky, aggressive, smooth, smoky, rough, weird, inspired, passionate, intelligent, funky, and soulful and Janelle Monae's The ArchAndroid is easily my number one album of 2010.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

"I think I just fell in love with a porn star"

Kanye West's newest release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, has been receiving stellar reviews so far, averaging a Metacritic score of 92.  The album so far has been most well known by its two singles "POWER," featured with The Social Network, and "Runaway," a song West introduced at the 2010 VMAs.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really like Kanye West that much.  I liked "College Dropout" and "Late Registration" wasn't all that bad.  However, when West released "Graduation," I lost interest; I didn't even attempt to touch "808s & Heartbreak."  West only made the situation worse for himself after the whole Taylor Swift debacle and at that point he had lost any sense of credibility he may have had with me.  Upon the release of his new album, however, as I was watching the high reviews pile up, I figured that I might as well give it a listen and see what all the hype was about.  In all honesty, "POWER" was enough for me to give the album a shot.

To start off, it would be insulting NOT to say that this is easily one of Kanye West's best albums.  It's not just because of the production value, it's not just because of the stellar guest appearances, but mostly it's because of the versatility of the album.  The first thing that impressed me most was the surprisingly "gansta" sounding track, "Monster."  From the get go it has a hard, heavy pounding bass to it, with a little bit of grunge.  The raps are tough and powerful and the featuring artists (Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj) all do a great job with their respective verses, reiterating the raw, ruthless feel of the song.  Other stand outs on the album include one of the albums singles "Runaway" as well as "All of the Lights," "Hell of a Life," and "Blame Game."  "Runaway" is an anthem to douche bags and other assholes.  The overall feeling of the song is great and the chorus is infectious.  The only problem with the song is it's about four minutes too long.  "All of the Lights," featuring Drake and Rihanna, is your typical pop song, but has a catchy hook and a relatively interesting, funky beat.  "Hell of a Life," has more of a rock feel and a steady synthesized beat that gives you sort of a rough feel.  It's also one of the most vulgar songs with lyrics like "I think I just feel in love with a porn star" and "Make your knees shake, make a priest faint/ Make a nun cum, make her creamate," yes, "creamate;"  Not to mention the hook: "No more drugs for me/ Pussy and religion is all I need."  "Blame  Game" is easily the most sentimental song on the album, in large part because of the voice and piano stylings of featured artist John Legend.

Unfortunately, as can be expected, where the album has a wide array of colorful moods and feelings, it also exhibits the undeniable arrogance and pretentiousness of Kanye West as well.  Like in much of his other albums, West exudes an air of greatness which he has to tell you about.  To tack onto that, after a surprise concert during which Kanye performed his entire album, he took ten minutes at the end of the show to both speak his mind about George W. Bush's recent interview, as well as to somewhat retract his apology to Taylor Swift stating that "If I wasn't drunk I would have stayed on stage longer."  As much as I want to like this album, it's hard to do with Kanye West glorifying himself every chance he gets.  During his rant, he even went so far as to say "I never thought I'd say this: I want to thank the magazines for perfect scores across the board," which is far from the truth.  While West did receive perfect scores from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, as well as others, he received lower marks from other reviewers as well (Note: Metacritic isn't showing the various critic scores at this point, but once I get them, I'll put the lower scores up).  While My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is still getting incredibly high reviews, it is far from, as Mr. West puts it, "perfect."  

Kanye West's new album is arguably his best to date.  Because of the versatility in mood, as well as a stellar cast of guest appearances (Jay-Z, Pusha T, and John Legend being my favorites), and solid production quality, West has succeeded in making a likely early contender for next year's Grammy Awards (the album didn't make the cut off date this year).  Unfortunately, West, as always, has to add that little spice of self-obsessiveness and pretentiousness.  Maybe one of these days he'll come out with an album that doesn't include his outlandish tabloid persona, but that's not in the foreseeable future.  Take a listen here.

The Lady Killer

"Love Gun!  Oh, you shot me baby!"

Cee-lo Green, better known for his work with Danger Mouse in the group Gnarls Barkley, released his third solo album, "The Lady Killer," yesterday, November 9, 2010.  The soulful singer gained popularity with the huge success of "St. Elsewhere" (2006), known for its hit single "Crazy," which he released under Gnarls Barkley.  His fame continued to climb with their 2008 release of "The Odd Couple."  However, before there was Gnarls Barkley, there was plain ol' Cee-lo Green.  In 2002 he released "Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections" and in 2004 released "Cee-lo Green... Is The Soul Machine," both of which climbed the charts successfully in the US and the UK.  Six years since his last solo release, "The Lady Killer" has received overall positive reviews from critics, averaging an 81 on Metacritic with scores of 80 from BBC Music and The Rolling Stone.

Now, onto a more personal note, I have been anticipating the release of this album since I heard of its release this summer.  Cee-lo has always fascinated me through Gnarls Barkley, but not until this year did I get into his solo work, mainly because I never thought of trying to find it.  Though I have never listened to "Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections," I haven't been able to put "Cee-lo Green... Is The Soul Machine" down for months.  Everyone knows Cee-lo is an incredible singer with and epic set of pipes, but what impressed me from "Soul Machine" was his vocal versatility and the variety of his works.  (The song "Sometimes" is performed in spoken word and is by far my favorite track.)  Cee-lo also manages to spread the album out in terms of mood, rapping/singing, and also has some notable guest appearances, Timbaland and Ludacris among them.  With the release of his new album, I was stoked and expected the same diversity.  I think you know where I'm going with this.

I had high expectations going into "The Lady Killer."  Not only had I been incredibly satisfied with Gnarls Barkley as a whole and "Soul Machine," but I had also been incredibly enticed by the release of Cee-lo's single from the album, "Fuck You."  I have to say, unfortunately, that I'm a little let down by the album as a whole.  Let me reiterate that, just to clarify: as a whole.  The album, overall, pretty good;  half of the album, excellent.  Where "The Lady Killer" falls short is with its versatility and creativeness.  The overall production of the album is incredible and each and every song is well worth a listen.  However, where "Soul Machine"'s songs ranged from harder rap ("Glockapella") to spoken word ("Sometimes") to romantic songs ("All Day Love Affair") to club hits ("I'll Be Around feat. Timbaland"), just to name a few, "The Lady Killer" seems to consist of a much narrower variety of song.  This may be more of a personal issue, but, with the amount of creativity Cee-lo has expressed both in his past solo work and with Gnarls Barkley, I was expecting more.

Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, onto why the album is still worth a listen.  The album starts off with a bang and really sucks you in.  By far one of the best tracks on the album, "Bright Lights Bigger City" has a big, sexy sound and subject matter.  As mentioned before, the production is great and Cee-lo sounds fantastic.  Other song shave the same quality of grandeur, such as "Love Gun," "Fuck You," and "Bodies."  Unfortunately, all of these songs are within the first half of the album.  As the album progresses, it seems to lose it's direction and falls into a bit of monotony.  The second half of the album, while still a good listen, seems to be a constant drone of hopeless romanticism as can easily be seen from the song titles: "I Want You," "Cry Baby," "Fool For You," "No One's Gonna Love You," etc. (hardly "The Lady Killer" I was anticipating).  However, that's not to say that these aren't great tracks.  "I Want You" is sure to get stuck in your head and definitely has the sexy, yet dark mood I've always associated with Cee-lo.  Possibly the strongest song in the second half of the album is "Fool For You," which has a heavier feel than several of the other songs on the album and is quite possibly the most soul filled song on the entire album, in particular when Cee-lo belts "Oh, sweet sugar, I surrender/ I don't want no other woman, oh baby you win!"

"The Lady Killer" definitely isn't Cee-lo's strongest album to date, however, that doesn't mean it isn't great in and of itself.  "Fuck You" will undeniably be a hit both in the independent and popular music scenes.  The grandeur and sexiness of "Bright Lights Bigger City" and "Love Gun" stand out as the best tracks on the album, while "Fool For You" and "Bodies" show that Cee-lo is still a master of emotion and knows how to bring out his more serious side as well as his darker side.  The lyrics of the entire album are without doubt a work of are and show that Cee-lo is still a lyrical genius and poet at heart.  The beats are fantastic and each song has it's own character, mood, and story to it.  While "The Lady Killer" doesn't express the same versatility as "Cee-lo Green... Is The Soul Machine" it manages to stand on its own as a great album that will undoubtedly be successful.  In the end, there's no way I can be mad at Cee-lo.  I just love him too god damn much.  So, go on.  Listen to it.  Now.