Myriad Muzik

Reviews

UMO ‘Multi-Love’ Review

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‘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

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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

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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

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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

Run The Jewels ‘Run The Jewels 2’ Album Review

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Contrary to what is mostly believed about the genre of rap, the older you get the more refined your skills become. Turns out Hip-Hop is just like every other genre. Yes it, like all art forms, emerged from youth culture but true skill and artistry can only truly be attained through countless hours, days and years of dedication and work. Killer Mike and El-p both put their ten thousand hours in and more. These vets have been at it for close two decades each, and where most veterans fall off or lose touch the pure chemistry between El and Mike has sparked the beginning of some sort of creative reincarnation. Both emcee’s seem to really be restarting their careers, as if their first artistic life wasn’t fruitful enough, Jamie and Mike seem to have found the secret to reinventing yourself and reappearing fresh. The audience Run The Jewels reaches has more than likely surprised both emcees, not only are die hard fans of the Def Jux era El and the ‘Akshon’ era Mike still along for the ride the duo has picked up a whole new generation of supporters as well. The break through success of this sophomore LP has gone so far as to being the music in the unveiling of NBA star Steph Curry’s new sneaker in a commercial playing during Allstar weekend, and we commend the NBA, Under Armour, and any other associated generally responsible corporation for including the instrumental of a song in a prime time commercial which in it’s entirety includes the lyrics “when you niggas gon’unite and kill the police motherfuckers?”. Such anti-establishment themes are prevalent throughout the entire album which makes the success and acceptance of this record that much more sweet. As a duo Mike and El-p ‘compromise’, for lack of a better word because the content surely is not a step down for either, in a beautiful way managing to make digestible hardcore avant-garde Hip-Hop hit in an era where straight forward hardcore Hip-Hop is nonexistent in this form. The album starts off at a low tempo, and this tag-team slowly raises hell one track at a time leading up to the track “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)”, one of the hardest Hip-Hop records to come out in years, the track literally has guest artist Zach De La Rocha (of Rage Against The Machine)’s vocals weaved into the instrumental giving the listener no time to catch up to the mayhem this three heavy hitters are unleashing. Slowing down momentarily the album picks right back up with “Lie, Cheat, Steal” then dips back down for a detailed story of a day in a dystopian present with “Early” featuring BOOTS, a track with two strangers going about their days and the life changing events that follow. This is followed by possibly the second hardest Hip-Hop song to come out in years with “All Due Respect” which features Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker pummeling the percussion. The album is littered with punch lines, political statements, ‘Pulp Fiction’ references, and with the following track “Love Again”, pussy references. A throw back to the underground classic by Akinyele this track features Gangsta Boo and has Run The Jewels showing their soft side, or lack thereof. The album comes to a close with “Crown” and Angel Duster” both much needed mellow tracks in comparison to the majority of the album. All and all this project is a giant step ahead of Run The Jewels (1) and a good candidate for the best Hip-Hop album of 2014.

Rating 9.2/10