Hey, fair enough. I just think they sing with a lot of piss and vinegar, which makes for a great live show. I find their lyrics meaningful but they can be a little in your face with… all of it. But that straightforwardness and honesty is what I like about their music. Would I see them live again? Yes, only so I can catch the full lineup finally lol (first time Joe had a cold and the audience sang more than him, second time Mark had just had a kid and they had replacement).
Joy As An Act of Resistance is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s more straight punk-rock than anything, where as recently on Crawler and TANGK, they are experimenting a lot. Perhaps you finally appreciate the experimentation? Some of their early stuff is rough but there’s a value in the kind of raw energy they have.
Feb. 22nd: Mos Def - Brooklyn
Under the Bridge is one of my favorite songs, so strong start with the cover in the beginning.
I can’t say I’ve listened to much Mos Def but I am a fan of hip-hop and this sounds right out of the 90’s (does '99 count?).
This song has strong transitions within it that almost make it sound like 3 different songs. Around 2:30 there’s suddenly a different backing beat and tone to the song. I got distracted with my dog while listening and honestly thought I zoned back into a different song.
And once again around 4:15, we get another beat with some keys and what sounds like a flute. Tight lyrics and flow through this section, Mos Def can certainly lay it down.
4/5
Feb. 23rd: Sturgill Simpson - Remember to Breathe
This is honestlg a calming song for me and when I hear the chorus I do remember to take a breath. And then Simpson just lays down an absolutely psycedelic guitar solo. This is more rock than anything but as Gizz fans, I’m sure we can appreciate being all over the place.
I guess this album also released along side a Netflix anime? So let’s just say he has quite a Simpson-verse going on with his music.
4/5
Feb. 24th: The Large Professor - I Juswanna Chill
3.5/5
1 Like
Feb. 25th: DOPE LEMON - Kimosabe
I’ve been listening to DOPE LEMON for a minute but TIL that he’s from Australia. I appreciate his chill tunes while still keeping a bit of edge and experimentation. He reminds me a lot of Mac DeMarco but a bit stronger in his beats.
This is the title track off his album released in 2023 and I hadn’t touched it yet.
Not a big fan of the reverb (distortion?) on his voice in the verses of this song but otherwise a pretty classic DOPE LEMON song.
Maybe his location down under is why I haven’t seen any offerings of a North American tour?
3.5/5
2 Likes
You might know him better as Angus Stone:
I think they must have got pretty big outside Australia too. Dope Lemon seems to be about taking it easy and sidestepping big industry success, so I would be surprised if he made a big deal about international touring.
Feb 26th: Odd Future - Rella (feat. Odd Future, Hodgy & Tyler the Creator)
I like the backing beat and flow but lyrics are a little tacky. I could have sworn that Childish Gambino was in Odd Future singing on this track until I watched the music video, which is certainly something.
3/5
Feb 27th: Caravan Palace - MAD
I could have sworn I did one of these early yesterday but I guess I missed a day. Oh well, we soldier on.
I’ve listened to Caravan Palace since… forever. Probably when the Lone Digger video came out and became an internet sensation. On a whim one weekday a few years ago, I drove two hours to a jazz festival in a city I had never been to just to catch these guys.
I’m so glad I did. It was an incredible show that had everyone dancing in the streets (where the stage was setup). Wonderful energy and incredibly talented musicians who have done a lot for the genre of “electro swing”.
That being said, an innovation this song is not. It’s almost a dubstep style swing song but the tempo just drags so much. Caravan Palace songs are full of the cartoonish, vaudeville backing vocals but for some reason in this song they just grate on me.
Zoe’s vocal performance here is just disinterested and flat. Usually she hits a couple brighter notes but not here.
This is not a strong lead to the album.
2/5
Feb. 28th: Caravan Palace - Reverse
While I’m here… This is a MUCH more interesting song with a faster tempo and more complex production.
I’m sad that the top comment on YouTube is " A 4-minute song in 2023 is a bold decision…". Has TikTok really reduced our collective attention span that much? Is this really that “bold”?
Anyway, theres a lot more going on here and it is more electronic than swing most of the time. Not a bad thing at all, at this is a fine song with plenty of little solos from the horns section and some good fades from the string section.
Not terrible but not exceptional.
3/5
Feb. 29th: Boston Typewriter Orchestra - Selectric Funeral
An odd entry for an odd Leap Day.
This is an incredible creative and talented act. I want to love it but there just isn’t enough that differentiates each of the typewriters in the main parts of the song.
On the squeaky foot solo there’s little bit of variety in the range of the instrument but it mostly just sounds like alot of percussion to me.
Thats not to say that this is bad: it brings an interesting twist to the electronic genre. Dare I say the “analogue electronic” genre?
3/5
For weeks now I’ve been getting recommendations on YouTube for Dope Lemon’s show at Brixton Academy. I finally gave in and…gotta say it connected to me. Didn’t make it through the whole show, but that bluesy, psychedelic, subdued sound I can get into. Then I learned they’re from Australia and of course they became even cooler in my book. I’m going to dig into their albums.
Mar. 1st: KNOWER - It’s All Nothing Until It’s Everything
Sudden surprise string section for the win
3.5/5
Mar. 2nd: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - That Life
Groovy. Definetely going to have to check out some more of their songs. Add it to my “I’ve been meaning to” list
4/5
Mar. 3rd: KNOWER - I’m The President
3/5
Mar 4th: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Hunnybee
Man, life and scheduling has just been terribly busy lately… Hopefully back to regularly scheduled programming soon.
I promised more followup on Unknown Mortal Orchestra and here we are. This song is probably the chillest song that isn’t instrumental that I’ve heard in awhile. Simple beat with what sound like string accents in this song really make some moments pop. For most of the song though, the repetitive lyrics and flat vocals aren’t doing it for me.
There’s a quick guitar solo to break up the tempo but it’s not exactly a solo to write home about. Odd to me that this seems to be their most listened to song…
2.5/5
Mar. 5th: Wand - Help Desk
Beautiful song. If you’ve noticed, I’m not the largest softer song fan but I can definetely see myself enjoying this on more listens.
4/5
Mar. 6th: Fiona Apple - Fetch the Boltcutters
4/5
1 Like
March 7th: Otoboke Beaver - Don’t Light My Fire
I first found these gals on KEXP (if you haven’t checked out their channel on YouTube, go do yourself a favor) and was fascinated from the start. I’m a sucker for an energetic live act and my understanding is that, 3D camera swinging widely about excluded, they are just that crazy and off the wall.
They toured with the Chili Peppers and are coming to my town next week, so I was preparing a bit here with their most popular song on YouTube music. As I had only listened to the KEXP but loved it, I was ready to commit to not going into this blind.
This is pretty solid music with that sort of “kawaii” feel. I know that might turn some people off and it certainly isn’t my top genre. But where BABYMETAL (who I caught in September) is kawaii metal, this is kawaii punk. Guitar riffs crashing along to chaotic drumming and screaming punk lyrics from the four piece.
They speak very little English but you do get bits of “GO TO HELL” in the lyrics. This clashes with their general bubbly and happy live appearance. So I can’t tell if they’re actually angry.
And I’m certainly ready to catch a live show but I don’t know if I would listen to this casually. It’s a great punk song and chaotic, so I would listen to it to fire myself. So I’ll be ready to mosh next week and see if it improves my opinion of the song. That’s the only way I can give it a proper review.
4/5
2 Likes
Mar. 8th: sayanything - Do Better
You can Do Better than this repetitive song
0.5/5
1 Like