Cupcakke - Ephorize
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
"This rated R, not PG." Yeah yeah she's lewd and makes ya laugh. Right, not just lewd but dicks deep inside spread asses and cum as cake batter; makes ya laugh as in being the reason for your man's lotion-y phone and Bob The Builder reconstructing pussy walls. And steering it just clear of sheer shock-value novelty is how hard she spits and confidently she sells it -- the wit to push sex into the absurd, true tude for the cocky tuff stuff, touches of those 'other' topics like self-reflection. Literally jumping up+down on dicks but demanding devotion and wondering what it's all for and whatnot. Oh and a rhyme reserve and supply of similes unlimited enough to not need 100% win-lines. And even when playing profound and hailing (ahem) "the gays" comes off kinda contrived or a cereal is reduced to corny catchphrase, the beats-n-hooks continuously bang-n-bounce. Most Blush-worthy: "Spoiled Milk Titties". 8/10
JPEGMAFIA - Veteran
Amateur+disheveled Death Grips devotee who's barefaced bout all that -- while I dig some of the bodacious beat choices and altered homemade ambition, much of this is ruffled to the point where it hangs somewhere between frivolous-n-frustrating. Oddball abrasion and ODB's ghastly gurgle as ginormous guest spot and soulful transitions into doubting a car's ability to create happiness, okay awesome; the dull doodling and hollow aggression tho? He says he don't care and frankly hey me neither I spose. 5/10
Lustmord - Dark Matter (2016 release)
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
There's bound to be heaps of deep dark drone that transmit staring into the void, but I bet few have ya full-on free-floating in it. Of course not everyone is able to employ a decade's worth of honest-to-god space sound, much less sprawl three 20+minute tracks into the immense yet ignorable dread-vacuum that ol solar system deserves. This would be suitable for sci-fi soundtrack fodder yet its instillment and creepy factor are pretty impeccable, and if the right mood strikes you could drown in it. Try too hard and you may just feel dull+sullen, understandably so. 6.5/10
Peder Mannerfelt - The 3D Printed Songbook [EP]
Title+cover suggest some sort of lush journey via psychedelic symphony, but alas, it's a short stint of transformative techno. Compact and vivid deliverer of varied virtues -- mystery, ambiance, groove, thud, scuzz, squeal. 7/10
Maxo Kream - Punken
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
Dat Trap Lyfe is all Maxo knows, save for the effects of Hurricane Harvey and his inevitable oh-so-many hoes. And with his name in a news clip to prove it, his criminality is the real deal -- so with the understated beats and smooth deadpan flow to slash celebration, he's got some stories to tell and an upbringing to hash over, complete with the sketch of a sketchy family tree. Mama an ex-booster who's forever working doubles and facing eviction, Pop an ex-prisoner who's flooded out and stuck on the roof, admired Uncle Main a fatal stabber who smokes crack on occasion. Otherwise it's lots of the ol serving outta vacancies, hatin' on snitches, plain intimidation, narcotics+cash as semi-lamentable relief. Which, when paired with precision and mood and a handful of genius offhand hooks, is fine too, sure. 7.5/10
Porches - The House
Followup to the precious 'Pool' is a bit bigger and blander -- moments that are more akin to club-house (not necessarily a bad thing) and too oft-lacking the soul and horsepower to contend either way (usually a bad thing). On one hand I admire his commitment to wounded warbling but it's oh so much whiny tedium; and be it the many middling shorties within or shortage of solid hooks this just becomes a big achy blur that I can't quite recall afterwards. Not much I'd call unpleasant on the whole however. Few standouts. Auto-tune heightened. Touch of sax in tact. 5.5/10
Profligate - Somewhere Else
Ultimately comes off awkwardly dour with their frigid jet black tude and pop-up poetry and whatnot, but a noteworthy electro-mingle whose traits tangle well. The austerity-n-intricacy of straight techno with not just singing but hushed and stone-faced guy/girl singing; staticky scuzz alongside the sparse+sad and a few almost maybe dance grooves; seriously despondent sinkholes and the screeching of nails on a blackboard. 7/10
Jeff Rosenstock - POST-
Rosenstock n crew pullin' the surprise New Years drop, one that with its nine sturdy tunes and meek five-second salutation forgoes the sporadic sprawl that was 'Worry'. A pair of puissant protractions, anthemic anxieties abound, rich and noisy and perpetually proficient at amplifying the 'pop' in pop-punk -- but what the diehards die for just kinda glides on by yours truly. Maybe cuz there's no peak, no lowlight but no real highlight either. Maybe cuz what might stick with me most is "Beating My Head Against a Wall" eliciting "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". 5.5/10
Sinistro - Sangue Cassia
Though I spose Patricia Andrade's haunting+near-operatic exoticoo will surely remain the selling point, her accompanying sludgy post-metal is nothin' to sneeze at. Like so much postiness, overall pace plus a plethora of passages seem sluggish-n-safe; composure and drama slowly exhaust. But within there's certainly a fair share of beautiful bursts and soars, hypnotic roars, crusha crush, dark/shimmery atmospheric mingling, stalwart and epic crawl sprawls. Both uplifts and sucks the life out of ya, that's good. 6.5/10
Typhoon - Offerings
"Listen: of all the things that you're about to lose, this will be the most painful." So goes the introductory statement, which I'm fairly certain is supposed to pertain to memories or the world as we know it or something. A more manifest meaning however is the hour plus you're about to squander enduring this thing. Laden with tepid aughts-indie triteness, tedious whimpering, dozy dramaturgy. And given their 12-member lineup and orchestration often giving way to an exiguous acoustic, they manage to be both overwrought and impoverished. Typhoon not so much, more like Rainout. ~*~meh~*~
