ALBUM ROUNDUP JANUARY 2016

When I started this blog I also made a decision to change the way I buy and consume music. I wanted to buy more physical copies of new music and listen to lossless, uncompressed audio sources wherever possible. Which means buying CDs or paying for a lossless download. This is fairly picky of me but I think it's justified for two reasons:

• I genuinely have a better listening experience when using lossless audio; and
• I believe my "relationship" (for lack of a better word) with the album is enhanced through the process of actually pulling the album off the shelf, popping it into my disc drive or the CD drive in the car, flicking through the liner notes etc.

Neither of these things are revelations - in fact, you're probably thinking "well, duh". But I think that while the internet has given us easy access to more music than any other platform before it, the way we consume music has not changed for the better in all aspects. I have plans to address these points in further depth in a standalone post. 

What this has caused is a bit of an unforeseen difficulty in writing this blog: buying music legitimately is way harder than it should be. Unless an album is fairly mainstream, it's not going to be on shelves here on release day. Okay, fair enough, I'm into some pretty obscure stuff. But putting in special orders and getting an album weeks after release is tiresome, especially when I know I could sail the high seas of the internet and have it for free in a matter of minutes. And it's especially annoying when you want to dive into an album and digest all it has to offer before writing about it in your blog that nobody reads (except you, you awesome person). So I could pay for a download, right? Convenient, quick and legal, right? Well, sometimes, but there are other issues with that which are perhaps better suited for that other post I mentioned.

What all that crap means is that these blogs will invariably always be late and pretty much never contain all of the albums I wanted to talk about for the month. I'm not really complaining too much, this isn't some serious thing with a serious deadline and serious consequences. I'm just making some observations, some preliminary thoughts about something I think I'll address in more detail later. This blog aside, I find it absurd that legal access to music isn't as straightforward as it should be. And I have some ideas about why that is, about the shifts in the industry and technology that are the cause of this. Anyway, I'm getting carried away. Some other time.

These albums though:

Saul Williams - 'MartyrLoserKing'

Genre: spoken word, hip-hop, poetry, experimental

Favourite tracks: 'Horn of the Clock-Bike', 'Ashes', 'The Bear/Coltan as Cotton', 'Burundi', 'Down for Some Ignorance'

Saul Williams is a figure that has long stood at the fringes of the hip-hop and poetry worlds. He has won awards for his writing and poetry and collaborated with many big-hitters, most notably Trent Reznor on 'The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!'. Saul Williams has always excelled in pushing himself artistically rather than pursuing commercial success and his latest full length album proves his dedication is unrelenting. 

From the outset there aren't any surprises in the themes explored on this album. Williams's poetry and music has always been focussed on social and racial inequality (Martyr Loser King/Martin Luther King, geddit?), which he approaches in a nuanced if not occasionally obtuse way. Williams is still a poet at heart and has never been one to base his lyrics around an idea of catchy or musical verse writing. Instead, the lyrical content of this album is mostly delivered through carefully written poetic verses and loud, chanting choruses. He knows what he's doing in this respect, but some of the delivery and content of the lyrics is probably a bit too out there for some people's taste.

This album really excels in its instrumental production. Borrowing heavily from alt-rock and drone music, Williams uses some brilliantly utilised loops and noisy synths to flesh out the tracks. Every track is rich with a full sonic palette including tribal drums, blearing electronics, distortion and clever sampling. Each song is full of intrigue and worth a close listen to hear all of the aesthetic ideas that have gone into the production of this album. It really is mesmerising. 

I'm yet to get enough of this album. There are some genuinely creative and solid songs to be found here. It is definitely my pick from this past month. 

You can listen to 'Burundi' here.

Skindred - 'Volume'

Genre: ragga-metal, alternative metal

Favourite tracks: 'Volume', 'Saying it Now', 'No Justice'

There was a time when I would have named Skindred among my favourite bands. Their unique blend of reggae and metal didn't always work perfectly but when it did it was a lot of heavy hitting fun. While not all of those old songs have aged well, the ones that have still hold up really well. Their use of rhythmic, growling verses and soaring melodic choruses with a reggae feel was creative and stood out. 

This latest album, like their previous release 'Kill the Power', for the most part doesn't feel as fresh and daring as their earlier albums. This is a case of too much filler not enough killer. There are a few good tracks that feel like the Skindred of old but the rest feel a bit weak. The bounding, heavy riffs are still there but they feel very generic and unimaginative, mostly indistinguishable from a lot of popular hard rock and alternative metal out there. The guitar tone is a bit messy in places as well, the overdrive falls flat and feels like it's missing some punch from the mids. The vocals are also missing that unique reggae flair on the filler tracks and some of the melodic hooks are downright boring and repetitive. 

If you're a fan already or into the genre this album is worth a listen, but after a couple of listens you'll realise which tracks are worth skipping. 

You can listen to 'Volume' here:

マクロスMACROSS 82-99 - 'Jutsu' 

Genre: electronic, funk, pop, dance, vaporwave 

Favourite tracks:  'ミュン・ファン・ローン', '『82.99 AM』', 'Idol Talk Pt. II'

In an alternative universe ABBA were Japanese and someone remixed their songs into modern dance tracks that sound like a funky retro-futuristic video game soundtrack and it sounded like Macross 82-99. That's pretty much what this is. 

Taking samples from everything from anime soundtracks to the Stone Temple Pilots, this EP provides a lot of high energy fun in short bursts. The beats are heavy and danceable, with enough layers to keep things interesting. Despite how busy these songs are and all the samples used, the tracks are masterfully mixed and crystal clear letting the detail shine through. 

Give this one a go. It's catchy, fun and somehow nostalgic even if you haven't heard the sampled works. (It's also available on their Bandcamp and you can name your own price, so quality music for free or a few bucks, up to you).

You can listen to '『82.99 AM』' here:

There was one other album I was going to review this month but I've barely had the chance to listen to it and this post has gone on long enough. I'll leave it for next month :) 

Thanks for reading. If you share this blog post I will no joke give you like, ummm some magic beans. No scam. 100% legit not drugs actual magic beans for a limited time offer*

Have nice day.

*offer expired I'm so very sorry