Myriad Muzik

Reviews

Travis Scott ‘Rodeo’ Album Review

by Leave a Comment

Rodeo is a true journey not only musically but it is the sonic metaphor for Scott’s leap of faith and subsequent rise to stardom. Southern Hip-Hop king and label boss T.I. narrates the entire album and concludes the opening track ‘Pornography” with  the line “La Flame says let your ambition carry you” this can be seen as Travis Scott’s mission statement.

Rodeo plays as a dark rebellious nihilistic anti-establishment opus. It’s no surprise that Scott lists deceased Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious as an inspiration to his style and persona, many themes on the album touch on sex, drugs and Rock & Roll. Rodeo comes off very Punk for a major label  commercial Hip-Hop release. Even musical heavy weight Kanye West stops by to show his rebel side and voice his frustrations further on “Piss On Your Grave” La Flame showcases his broad musical palette as well sampling the late great Jimi Hendrix’s  most notoriously rebellious anti-establishment anti-war track “Machine Gun” from his last band and album Band OF Gypsys. Subtle musical touches flesh the album out and take it further than the releases of his peers. The additional stadium-Rock 80’s electric guitar on single “3500”, a song which boasts one of 2 Chainz hardest verses and another hard hitting introspective verse from Future, takes the otherwise standard song to new heights along with it’s unconventional long length.

La Flame rarely keeps the beats in one place, placing many departures and complete 180 beat switch ups mid-song.  His eclectic taste in soundscapes also spills over into features as he has Hip-Hop’s most eccentric trap star Young Thug and worldwide pop sensation Justin Bieber trading verses on the same track.  ‘Pray 4 Love’ and ‘Flying High’ are the only glimpses of light in this grim tale Scott has weaved together. Travis has mastered the art of walking the line between styles, at times rapping songs with complete non-stop hooks and at others switching immediately to your standard live-in-the-radio-studio- 16’s. The only notable surprise is the fact that Scott, an artist who for most people is known for his beat-making and production on Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” , didn’t do any of the beats on his debut. Perhaps Scott is waiting  til his next journey, as T.I. says to conclude the project “Will he make it? Was it worth it ? Did he win? Will he survive? ..The Rodeo”

 

Rating 8.1/10

UMO ‘Multi-Love’ Review

by Leave a Comment

‘Multi-Love’ manages to be multi-faceted amid a myriad of musical influences the multi-layered sound more than unravels with each listen. Unknown Mortal Orchestra originally was quite unknown when they first came to be, leader singer Ruban Nielson left one band and started releasing his solo musical escapades on Bandcamp, only to have them blow up and have bloggers search for the band behind the sound. UMO’s latest release has blossomed into more than a sole creator’s musical demos, with their third release they have a strong foot hold on a solid sound.

The title track kicks off the album, an upbeat love song that sets the tone for tracks to follow, stating that “it’s not that this song’s about her -all songs are about her”. With a slight disco influence it’s not hard to imagine that Nielson states he was heavily influenced by black female disco and soul singers.  Short elements of slowed down house and electronic music drop in and out of ‘Multi-Love’, the album and song, sporadically but always purposefully. Lyrically ‘Multi-Love’ seems to be multi-layered as well the millennial anthem ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’, an upbeat dance heavy track -what one would get if they put Donna Summer, The Beach Boys and Remy Shand into a blender- is either entirely non-sequitur or the rambles of someone rushing through an unwanted phone call half-assed to speed through the annoyance.

With a great combination of sounds, moods, and emotions ‘Multi-Love’ delivers a wide array of successful songs all strung together to mesh perfectly. From moving to melancholy and back to moving this LP is another one worth critical acclaim by the UMO trio.

Rating 7.4/10

 

Montage Of Heck Review

by Leave a Comment

With any cultural icon there are many documentaries, and with those who are no longer with us they are all second hand accounts of what happened. In their effort to reveal they ironically add to the mystique.  Fans will never truly understand their favorite musical heroes, the public is only given a portion of what makes up these icons and in most tragic cases documentaries and biopics tend to only focus on the more sensational aspects of their life.

‘Montage Of Heck’ still falls victim to these traps but it does have one ace up it’s sleeve, this is the first documentary about Kurt Cobain to have involvement from the Cobain family. His daughter had a hand in producing the film. The documentary brilliantly, and literally, illustrates a young Cobain’s troubled and alienated childhood with anime-like animations beautifully narrated by Cobain’s own personal journal entries from the time. All the pre-Nirvana footage and clips do a great job setting the state of mind of this iconic musician, and as the documentary proceeds the viewer sees how Kurt was not able to shake this mind state even with stardom.

Drug use and depression are apparent in the film, even the root causes of them are, but one aspect that is absent is really his passion for creativity- his true genius. Only glimpses are given, a short animation of Kurt working solo in a dark room on various musical projects is briefly. All and all the film is very will done and does open some of the closed doors to what it’s like being at the top of the world as a musician who’s hangups are very well still present. It does tend to keep a keen eye only on the sensational and unfortunately manages to keep the other many doors to Kurt’s personality shut from viewers.

Rating 8.5/10

 

 

Hiatus Kaiyote ‘Choose Your Weapon’ Review

by Leave a Comment

Following their acclaimed debut album ‘Tawk Tomahawk’ Australian Electronic Neo-Soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote release a more focused and refined sophomore album. ‘Tawk’ mostly served as an EP and introduction to the newly formed band, still feeling their way toward a precise sound, it seems now that they have chosen their weapon of choice with the new LP “Choose Your Weapon”. An authentic amalgamation of an array of art forms, the band has skillfully combined all their influences into a unique sound of their own.

(Hiatus Kaiyote perform “By Fire” on Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B,  and Jazz seamlessly mix with un-quantized electronic rhythms and mystical choruses. Lead vocalist Nai Palm at times sings as if her vocals were chopped and sampled by Hip Hop producer J Dilla or Flying Lotus, hitting each new beat as soulful and powerful as can be. Most tracks are constructed in non-linear ways, lyrically and structurally, standard pop radio cookie cutter format is thrown out the window with this LP in return the band presses the listener to keep up with songs and melodies that are constantly changing and evolving. Every track is a journey that can only truly be appreciated through replay and repetition. Time signatures change and stutter creating a unique sonic hook that grows with each listen.  Lyrically this album is very cryptic and song titles read as chapters in a science fiction novel. Messages of love and unity ring out throughout songs on “Choose Your Weapon”. Perhaps the message of unity is most noticeable toward the end of the album when an actual owl stops by and lends his/her vocals to a track.

“Choose Your Weapon” is a great LP and true piece of art that continues to grow with each listen, opening up and revealing something new with each spin. With a band as eclectic as Hiatus Kaiyote, with so many influences to pull from it will be interesting to see which weapon they choose next.

Rating 8.6/10

D’Angelo ‘Black Messiah’ Album Review

by Leave a Comment

It seems the new trend for artists is to drop your new album out of the blue with little to no prior promotion. D’Angelo as of now is the reigning king of this tactic, he surpasses Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, and even Beyonce with the sudden miraculous unannounced arrival of his 3rd studio album 15 years later! That really is out of the blue. The wait was so long a portion of fans had actually given up. But ‘Black Messiah’ returns in true messianic form, like “a thief in the night” . Long time collaborator and semi musical overseer ?uestlove stated in many a interview before the album’s release that this album would be “this generation’s ‘There’s A Riot Going On'” and much like Sly Stone D’Angelo is working on his own time. Perhaps D’Angelo is working beyond time actually, as ‘Black Messiah’ could very well have come out at the same time as ‘There’s A Riot Going On’, both records share that timeless quality. Both also speak, quite ironically, poignantly about present society and current events. But ‘Messiah’ has more in common with the idea of a Messiah than just it’s timeless feel and sudden appearance, the album literally speaks to your soul and connects emotionally to the listener by bypassing the need for audible lyrics for a good portion of the tracks.

‘1000 Deaths’ delivers a dangerous and decisive message even if the lyrics are almost completely fogged. Immediately after ‘Charade’ continues the social commentary, eerily fitting right into today’s current news cycles, certainly sad as this album has been in the works for over a decade, this is one place where timeless subject matter is not a plus. The fearlessly funky ‘Sugah Daddy’ follows next, here D’Angelo lays down some grown game and once deciphered some of the lyrics may catch the listener off guard. Then we have ‘ Really Love’ which concludes Side A and is a good combination of D’s vintage sound with a touch of his new musical direction layered on top. Something to wet the whistle of the Neo Soul era fan’s who may not be accustomed to hard distorted guitar riffs and just as distorted lyrics.

One of D’Angelo’s strong suites is his ability to twist, bend and alter his voice to fit any musical landscape, but an even more valuable asset is his ability to create such authentic landscapes to play in. ‘Prayer’ is grim, gritty and grimy, the most ‘Riot’ like track on the album an uplifting tune only in title. D sings he “believes some day we will rise” but if the drums are any indication of our journey it is going to be a loose, misguided, bumpy ride. ‘Betray My Heart’ is another heartfelt tune with a message and backing track that perfectly mesh. Side B ends with ‘Another Life’ the release at the end and the second and final spoonful of sugar for those stuck in the Neo Soul era, a great track where we finally hear D’Angelo back on his original instrument of choice, the keys.

All and all D’Angelo and The Vanguard (his new backing band, the first to be credited on an album with him) manage to release a timeless album in an era and climate that seems to really only be focused on the now. It’s safe to say that this record will stand the test of time for as in some ways it already has.

Rating 9/10