Myriad Muzik

Reviews

Travis Scott ‘Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight’ Review

by Leave a Comment

“Dropped the ‘Rodeo’ I dodged the bull like ole” Scott raps on one of the early standout tracks on ‘Mcknight’, a fitting line as now he is getting adjusted to stardom after years of hard work, dedication and ‘bull’. ‘Rodeo’, Travis’ 2015 debut album, plays as an autobiographical journey from rags to riches heavily influenced by the pressures and plight of any enduring up and coming independent artist. Most artists debut albums play as a catharsis of their complete life journey up until that point, and then the sophomore release displays only the emotions and trials in the time between. ‘Rodeo’ was a young Scott trying to make it in the world, a picture of his fears, goals, failures and triumphs up until actually fulfilling his dreams. ‘Birds’ finds itself in a strange place, the angst and frustration that lead to Travis’ socially awkward but sonically and artistically phenomenal product has subsided due to his success.

Scott’s pop sensibilities however remain sharp as ever, the diversity in sonic pallets has constricted but he pinpoints on the natural catchiness previously displayed on his debut and zeros in on the dark ominous anti-song-sound that has become his staple. Melodies are made mostly by repetition of ambient sounds and distorted basslines with bent 808 kicks, all with Scott’s keen, and evolved, sense of song structure and choruses. ‘SDP interlude’ is a prime example, here he sheds all other song elements simply for a hypnotic hook which hovers over a minimal synth bassline and a looped vocal sample. Ironically Scott admits to not doing any hard drugs and rarely drinking or even smoking, he regardless is able to tap into the current ethos and nail the vibe and mind state of the masses, one of the only traits that carried over into ‘Mcknight’ from ‘Rodeo’.

‘Birds’ boast a strong line up of guest stars, still eclectic Scott gives us an Andre 3000 feature along side the likes of Hip Hop newcomers Bryson Tiller and 21 Savage a range most artists could not successfully pull off. ‘Goosebumps’ features a song structure that’s only strange once read on paper, choruses and verses blend together to create an intoxicating track that’s only amplified once heavy weight Kendrick Lamar appears. ‘Pick Up The Phone’ and ‘Way Back’ also feature Scott’s signature expanded sound with extra instrumentation added and minimalist solos subtlety take the listener to new heights during both songs outros. Rightfully so none of the tracks list the featured artists (except ‘Phone’ with Young Thug) as Travis explains that he looks at each guest verse as a sample rather than a feature, just another element he adds to his music like the live instrumentation hes known for on the production side. In comparison to ‘Rodeo’ ‘McKnight’ lacks wide content and a diverse sonic landscape but it makes up for these changes with a more focused sound and a more honed game plan: Get The Vibe Right, and as Scott says “they can’t kill the vibe it’s immortal”

 

Rating: 6.7/10

De La Soul ‘and the Anonymous Nobody…’ Album Review

by Leave a Comment

Hip Hop as a genre is relatively young compared to it’s musical relatives. As a genre gets on its feet the founding fathers and original innovators usually get left behind in obscurity as commercialism, mainstream and social acceptance latch on. This leads to De La Soul, born in the right time this Long Island trio released it’s groundbreaking debut at a time still reminiscent of the unadulterated glory years and also the nascent ascension of a culture into a full-on mainstream product. They dodged being too early and, to their artistically creative culturally true core, missed being too late. This allowed their debut ‘3 Feet High And Rising’ to be as critically acclaimed and respected as it was commercially successful, breaking boundaries in a very dominant boisterous alpha-male environment ‘3 Feet’ cracked open a door for outsiders as being the antithesis to the norm.

Fast forwarded about 30 years and these ‘Anonymous Nobodies’ are still the antithesis to the norm. De La Soul have showcased a new aspect of their multifaceted talent with every release, they have gone from psychedelic, sporadic, resurrected, mature, frustrated, fun, contemplative, dedicated and all the way back to psychedelic. In many ways ‘Nobody’ sounds like ‘3 Feet High & Rising’ has been living a life of it’s own unknown to the listener and has finally come back to the public eye as a grown man years later. Again cracking the door open for outsiders ‘Nobody’ dabbles in Synth Pop, Alternative, Punk, Rock & Roll, B-Boy Hip Hop, and even Orchestral Spoken Word. Evolved beyond a time when sampling Hall & Oats was as unheard of as it was groundbreaking, De La have now literally incorporated the actual current living diverse elements into their brand of Hip Hop. Alternative Synth Pop band Little Dragon appear as the living breathing descendants of a vinyl Hall & Oats sample allowing fans of other genres to dive into this refreshing LP.

The legendary Long Island trio also pull from their own catalog and bag of tricks as well, Atlanta Trap star 2Chainz appears on ‘Whoodeeni” to trade bars with Pos and Dave, a match up as head-scratching as Redman teaming up with the ‘Hippies Of Hip Hop’ almost 20 years earlier- the result is just as amazing! The Spitkicker.com robot-voice also reappears on a track, Estelle and Pete Rock also add their talents to a track that could easily be a ‘Stakes Is High’ hidden track reupholstered for current day. Due to all their sampling woes the constraint of legalities forced De La to think outside the box (something they have years of experience at) and figure out a way to sample and not have to get caught in another lawsuit -the result they sample themselves! Bringing in a band and having them jam for hours on hours they later go in and flip their own jam sessions with producer Super Dave West. Most De La albums require some sort of indulgence and  conscious aware thought while listening and ‘Nobody’ not only holds up it flies far beyond its predecessor ‘The Grind Date’ as a complete unique piece of art that forces the listener to play catch up while enjoying the complete flowing artistic soundscape that it is. A genius victory lap for one of the genres most slept on legends.

 

Rating 9.2/10

‘The Life Of Pablo’ Review

by Leave a Comment

Kanye West has many attributes that factor into his greatness. In a little under a decade Kanye has managed to become one of, if not the, biggest names in music. His contradicted personality has always sparked intrigue and curiosity, this dichotomy allows him to reach broad and polarized fan bases.  “Call him Kweli or Kwaali I put him on songs with Jay-z” -Kanye has known this from the beginning as he stated in this lyric from his debut album “The College Dropout”, bridging commercial major label Hip Hop with the back-pack Underground scene. What is more admirable than this rare talent of combining conflicting communities is his ability to reinvent, embrace and adapt to new styles, as he most recently showed on “Yeezus”– “Pop a wheelie on a zeitgeist” –it seems he is also pretty self aware of this ability as well. These two sections of his skill set reach their max on “The Life Of Pablo” and to some they exceed their limit to the detriment of the brand he has created.

“Ultralight Beam” opens the album up, Kanye’s eclectic -and sometimes perplexing- features borderline a caricature of his former albums. Kirk Franklin and Chance The Rapper, who delivers a show stealing verse, almost seems normal compared to El Debarge and Young Thug on “High Lights” both brilliant songs, the latter truly showing Kanye’s genius and madness all in the same verse. Ye goes from wishing his “dick had Go-Pro” to referencing Ray’s sad attempt of a diss song, to comparing his family to the “new Jackson’s” , himself to Farrakhan. dropping subtle- or not so subtle- hints to Fear Of A Black Planet by advising “all niggas impregnate Bridget, so when she have a baby she gone make another nigga”, the Fruit Of Islam, and Black Chyna & Rob Kardashian all within a 20bar span. Subject matter that when looked at on paper one would certainly conclude was a mistake, a sort of stream of consciousness lyricism that only is dwarfed by the following track “Freestyle 4” a Lil B-esque track that makes the lyrical lunacy of the last track seem logical. “Pablo”, like “Yeezus”, has polarized fans, some feel his genius has fully tipped into madness and that Kanye has completely lost touch with reality, “I Love Kanye” is Kanye’s brilliant way of showing he knows exactly what he is doing, and also exactly what you are thinking.

Kanye’s attempts to embrace the future become quite literal on “Pt.2” where Ye completely takes hit record “Panda” by young star (and new GOOD Music signee) Desiigner and raps on it and simply adds it to his album. Reaching a younger generation Kanye restates his mission statement in about 16bars or less before letting the song basically play out as it is aside from some additional adlibs, another polarizing stroke of genius. Keeping with the theme of embracing the future Kanye vowed to no longer release physical albums and released “Pablo” solely on streaming services- first as a Tidal exclusive- this allowed for the album to constantly be updated. Songs have been mixed, changed, and tracks even completely added on weeks after its “release date” something that, in keeping with the contradictions, is both good and bad in a climate when the industry is so focused on the now. True fans continue to go back to hear each addition while many fair-weather fans may not even know the album has a new final track “Saint Pablo” a reflective piece that clears up any confusion that the album or recent interviews may have created.

“The Life Of Pablo” when the smoke clears will be looked at as another classic in the discography of one of music’s newest icons.  A complete culmination of what makes Kanye, Kanye. All West’s positive attributes are turned up to  the max on this LP and to most it’s too much at first listen. It’s interesting to see how many risks were taken on this album as it is the follow up to the risky “Yeezus”, originally planned to be more commercial and accessible as to reel fans back in Kanye has tossed aside convention and firmly sits at the peak of genius and madness without a care of catering to what the consumer thinks they want.

 

Rating 9.1/10

 

Vic Mensa ‘There’s Alot Going On’ Review

by Leave a Comment

As Hip-Hop continues to age and generations grow up only knowing it’s current mid-life crisis those who have seen it mature- and in some cases immature- know there is one main element mysteriously missing from the original formula. With the passing of Muhammad Ali we are all reminded of the power celebrities have simply within celebrity. With all the raw data the internet allows that distant past is no longer distant, the days of Prince battling the entire music industry and Tupac sparking a revolution are as alive as ever on uploads of decade old interviews and TV appearances. Enter Vic Mensa, a unique combination of the raw self aware social commentary of  the golden age of Hip-Hop naturally mended with the millennial mind-state of rapid cultural fad overload that comes with social media and instantaneous internet information.

Being influenced by every genre that has music available to be torrent-ed can find an artist torn and struggling to find their voice. Vic’s debut single “Down On My Luck” a brilliant up-tempo light-hearted House track is miles from the raw sounds of his Roc Nation debut EP ‘There’s Alot Going On’. From front man of a band to literally making sure the public knows that Tupac’s Thug Life mission is “Still Alive” a tat purposefully displayed on the cover art over Mensa’s abdomen symbolically unscathed by the bullets. “16 Shots”, the track which eludes to the cover, is also dedicated to Laquan McDonald and is one of the most straight forward revolution tracks since “Holla If Ya Hear Me”. “New Bae” is a dark down-tempo drunkenly auto-tuned sung song about carnal pleasures pulling much influence from mentor and collaborator Kanye West’s “Im In It”.

There is a lot going on on “There’s Alot Going On”: a resurgence of social commentary, explicit and vivid love songs, a call to arms for victims of police brutality and to wrap it all up the title track concludes it all with some self reflection. Accompanied by a video that in line with the lyrics doesn’t ever move the focus from Mensa, Vic chronicles his journey in the music industry detailing the personal peaks and valleys he has trekked through triumphantly to arrive at this point.

 

Rating 8.1/10

 

 

 

Tame Impala ‘Currents’ Album Review

by Leave a Comment

When it comes to making trippy modern day psychedelic music it’s easy to evolve as any new twist or turn that spawns from the  intoxicating obstreperous labyrinth of sound can only be understood as a step forward to the untrained listner’s mind. Programmed hand claps and heavily automated filters and effects, though minor additions to most music, vastly change the soundscape of such a vintage analog based (one man) band. The album’s ascension begins with the nascent “Let It Happen” an opening track that continually expands while it carries the listener on it’s journey. Rightfully so it is accompanied by an equally trippy music video.

Interludes make a welcomed appearance on this album,  short tracks with luscious textures and ambient sounds can only evoke serene scenery in the mind of those with synesthesia when played. “Nangs” “Gossip” and the opening to the metaphysical love track about reincarnated lovers “Past Life” do this all too well.  The most potent of partial tracks “Gossip” leads directly into “The Less I Know The Better”

A song where the title perfectly describes it’s partner visuals. A music video hailed as a “Feminist Masterpiece” but can easily be categorized as an erotic cross between “Donny Darko”  “Napoleon Dynamite” and “The Holy Mountain”. Ambiguous surrealist  visuals rightfully pair with the audio on this LP. ‘Currents’ plays less like individual currents and more like one beautiful cohesive body of water.

Rating 7.8/10