18+ - Fore
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
Guy-n-girl duo's homespun protean sprawler where their respective roles as frail whimperer and spurious seductress are reminiscent of a twisted and amateur xx-portrayal -- which leaves trap-banger renditions lying somewhere between hazy art-school caricature and self-aware dork-fest, exercises in understated glitch-tronix sluggish flounderers, and latecomers "Love Was Like"+"Glass" I-swear-it's-true beautiful. The biggest bummer being their too-cool passivity becoming a real bore -- cuz for what it's worth, in spite of some awkward bumblings, they've got something here that's vital and invigorating; from the trap-rap takeovers to the ambition and track-flow. Plus they make me laugh and wonder and roll my eyes and sympathize with their mental pickles all at once. See "Sour" for a particularly-classic hook-n-line from each of 'em: spurious seductress goes for stutter-'brrr's and asks how you'd like her "butterfly flapping on your face", frail whimperer spits out the gem "Katy Perry / dysentery" and pledges to "keep her squawkin' like a crow". Er, not Katy though, someone else I assume. 6.5/10
Betonkust & Palmbomen II - Center Parcs [EP]
Don't be daunted by the cumbersome appellation alliance or leery of the initiatory shlock-hoots, for this is an estimable little dollop of haze-crust house and other electro-etceteras -- you've got your summery alfresco romps and sunset jams, cogitative dream-land lingerers, a spooky slinking-in-space 6-minute ender, volume oscillations and queasy surroundings reminiscent of a faulty VHS tape. A fun+varied instrumental 27-minute EP that doesn't drastically alter your life either way, worse comes to worst. 6/10
Cavern of Anti-Matter - Void Beats / Invocation Trex
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
A lengthy and enthralling smorgasbord of amalgamated electronic+organic jammy groove-work; where despite half-the-album-title expectations and a sinister-sounding band-name, the beats avoid voidness at all costs and are oft-chummy if not downright coltish and/or pretty. It very much calls upon the persuasive repetition and cautious progression of krautrock (the Neu! worship is strong with this one) -- and with Stereolab representatives lending their renowned velvety precision and sweeping+subtlety-stuffed synths aplenty, even the multiple 9-to-13-minute trek-trax glide by with ease. Much like any proper kraut, though they're more-or-less permanently sailing through space, there's always a firm sense of tangibility and diligence that keeps 'em grounded. Rare vocalized guest-emergences include a rather hollow/might-as-well-be-Deerhunter Bradford Cox cut and Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom as highfalutin spoken worder-turned-robot. Titular clues towards them being total gear-heads/sound-doods include "Melody in High Feedback Tones" and "Hi-Hats Bring the Hiss". Titular clue towards them just havin' fun during all this: "Blowing My Nose Under Close Observation" -- which could also explain the whole spoken worder-turned-robot thing. 8/10
Charli XCX - Vroom Vroom [EP]
Sophie's production is as sleek as the whip on the cover but refuses to approach grandiose, instead opting for the minimalist battiness of percussive booms/bubble bursts/woozy synths/cattily clarion yips -- which serves as quite the felicitous vehicle for Charli's mix of can't-be-caught by bitches/can't-lose to bitches pugnacity and baby-voiced sky-ride sugar-rushin'. Percipient and proud when it comes to bubblegum brashness and innovative clubby obnox; and in the sensibly small space of 12 minutes at least, makes for a pretty scrumptious joyride. 7/10
Ray Lamontagne - Ouroboros
Atmospherically, tone-wise, flow-wise, it's attentive and winsome: fragile+pensive acoustic+piano sounds like a bliss-float dream-state, slinkin' strut cool-guy repeato guitar hooks are soaked in brittle-crunch distortion, forays into mountainous psych-rock and slowed-to-a-crawl holy om-choirs show initiative. The songs themselves, however; adequate but not exactly the epic riveters able to prop up all the sonic treatments, or justify Pink Floyd-esque melodrama and a sluggish pace -- something established once the second half ups the listlessness and generic-realm spout-outs. That is; starlings and their apparent murmurations, spending the day in his own nondescript lethargic way and having the sleepy tune to match, nature-scene rhapsodizing and correctly assessing that he doesn't have much to say on this other day, etc. And though instrumental focus certainly lies elsewhere, does the drummer really have to sound bored evermore? And though "hey, no pressure" doesn't make for the most absorbing mantra, it beats the pants off the conclusive "never gonna hear this song on the radio". Like, yeah, but do they want it tho? 6/10
Mary Lattimore - At the Dam
I mean hey, consider me down with improvised plain-ol-echoey-harp layerings that occasionally metamorphose into reverse-zip electro-manipulations and bleary conceptual works as much as the next guy -- but this is some of the most languorous music to ever un-grace my ears with its presence. Pretty and dreamlike collaging, sure, but also longwinded, ponderous, and hypnagogic to the point of frustration through-n-through. Always be wary of the impromptu visionary. ~*~meh~*~
Anna Meredith - Varmints
A dizzyingly incessant opening salvo that could be used as an exuberant-yet-terrifying rally-theme for medieval plunderers is followed by cordial-n-cute dual-vocal clicker-pop, midway shmup-plug "R-Type" allows formidable gee-tar wail fireworks to blossom from an elegant techno escalation only to succeed it with the plain-n-true brilliant-n-beautiful pop song "Dowager" in all of its weeping and semi-extended glory. So yeah; between the instrumentals and non-, the 'lectronic and organic, meandering and diligent classical propensities vs. complex and cunning candy-pop, it's a jumble and a bit exhausting to boot. But there is a melding of discipline, delicacy, and weirdo cartoonish pomp that consistently captivates throughout, plus space-soaring and seemingly always having something ticking or ringing the night away helps too. 7/10
French Montana - Wave Gods
Having seemingly seized an upsurge from his Max B-camaraderie/Kanye's recent wave-based wrangling and resultant consensual-call-as-intermission via the incarcerated B-man himself, French Montana's bailiwick remains quite rooted in the aesthetics and persons of yesteryear (i.e. ~a decade ago) -- chipmunk-beats run rampant, he wonders why street rap ain't sellin' like Kendrick, "old men" Puff+Jadakiss join forces for some wildin' while almost-as-old men Kanye+Nas dispense particularly-substantial hook-n-verse work. But due to the presumable desire for relevance and bodacious-for-a-mixtape budget, there's also your conventional Future+Travis Scott spots and grime-steeped auto-tune slathers and handful of beats-n-choruses to absolutely die for. So sure, French lets others do alot of the work, and um, listening to the Silver Surfer babble from a prison-phone is becoming painful, and yeah, there's an inordinate amount of track-skipping going on; but at the very least the highlights are well worth the jaunt: the angelic Kingdom Hearts 2-exploiting shelter-seeker with an amazing/awful hook, a rippin'-remix finale that boasts unswerving flows and fancy vehicular zooms, and French's trismic back-n-forth with young-buck Kodak Black; the latter of whom I hereby declare chief cake-taker. Not bad for being barely legal/conscious. 7/10
Prins Thomas - Principe Del Morte
Sporting 9 compositions over nearly 90 minutes, the unhurried pace and conscientious composure of these lean-n-subtle electro-behemoths are concurrently hindrance and highlight: uber-gradual escalations+tear-downs compel without ever approaching overly overt and he consistently does alot with a little; whether it's continuing to command attention during extended sections of glaringly sparse rigidity or reluctantly slithering its way towards a fundamental funk-groove. Any likelihood of mucking up the mix outside of your ol' token spacey synth-play is renounced in favor for simple mucking about, bringing about an endearing aura of expertly vigilance turned lax and content to ramble. I endorse the ample space supplied here for such a thing, and acknowledge that it's just as (if not more) ignorable as it is mesmerizing. But at a dilatory and reiterative hour-and-a-half, ramble it can, and will. 6.5/10
Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evolution
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
"Watch this pretty girl flow", her initiatory magma-coated declaration, comes off as both sassy standpoint and open challenge: Spalding's jazz-bass whiz-skillz fused with a consummate clan of choral harmonizers forge fluxes beauteous+knotty enough to melt your heart and dazzle the senses; and when fellow Berklee-affiliated gitaroo-man and decisive drummer-dudes are feelin' spunky, we get whiffs of wildness in the form of mathy-metal flourishes and lionhearted jerk-funk, the peaks of which leave your face chillin' in the same puddle as your ticker. Though some digging is required, lyrical acumen is also there for the taking -- the profoundest perhaps contained/cached in the sections of mile-a-minute spoken word and the plainest coming from the playful Willy Wonka-borrowed ender "I Want It Now", the latter's adamant demanding and conclusive guttural yelp presumably clues that she's seeking musical domination. Or normal ol world domination, either way. 8/10
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