Hi, everyone! Do you guys all have 2020 vision yet? I can surely say I do! I got the year started with some amazing records that I'm very excited to share with you! Here are my thoughts and opinions on my listens in January:
There Existed An Addiction To Blood- Clipping
I had a mixed opinion of Clipping after listening to the acclaimed CLPPNG, but I heard a lot of buzz around this record. It was one that I missed from 2019, and I really think I have a changed opinion about the Sub Pop rap trio after hearing their newest release. Compared to CLPPNG, the production on here does pay homage to their noisier origins, but producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson gave frontman Daveed Diggs a more diverse arsenal of beats to work with. Diggs has such a unique flow, and one that really stands out to me. He’s hitting home runs on so many tracks, including my favorites “Nothing is Safe”, “Club Down”, “Blood of the Fang”, and their album trademark “story” track, “Story 7”. I think the tracks on here are a massive improvement over what I’ve heard before, but that’s not to say the group still has a few kinks to work out. In my opinion, Clipping really struggles at finding artists to feature on their records, for many of the artists who got supporting verses were not very interesting to me. Additionally, I felt there were some songs that added a lot of weight to their 68-minute run time. If I were in charge of editing down this record, I’d have scrapped “La Mala Ordina”, the R&B track “All In Your Head”, and the bizarre, ambient closer “Piano Burning” alone would remove seventeen minutes from the record. In sum, while TEAATB has some glaring flaws, they are neutralized by some of the best songs the group has put out to date. 7/10
TICAL- Method Man
Continuing my January/July tradition of Wu-Tang albums from last year, I wanted to hear the debut solo album from one of Wu-Tang’s strongest members. Compared to some of the other Wu-Tang solo releases, this one wasn’t really doing a lot for me. Yes, I like Method Man a lot, but his flow just seemed kind of off throughout the project. I didn’t like the sound on the leadoff “Tical”, “What the Blood Clot” and “Release Yo’ Delf”, to name a few. However, I will give this album credit for having some of the more diverse, experimental beats across the entire Wu-Tang extended discography, something that a fair amount of 90s rap hadn’t really seen yet. It was also great to be hearing guys like RZA, Inspectah Deck, and Raekwon get some guest spots on here, and I think that helped add some depth to some of the tracks on here. Songs like “Biscuits”, “All I Need” with Streetlife, “Meth vs. Chef” with Raekwon reminds me a lot of Method’s verse on “Shame on A Nigga”, and the feature-heavy “Mr. Sandman” were all highlights for me. I feel bad dissing one of the stronger members of the Wu, but I think Method functions more as a great one-verse punch rather than hearing him on eight or nine songs rapping three to four verses. 6.5/10
Trilogy- The Weeknd
I’ve never really gotten into the Weeknd’s full discography before, so I figured that I would enter at the point where it all started. Rather than review all three as a holistic album, I figured it would be better to break down each of the records and give a few thoughts on each.
House of Balloons
This was really the first Weeknd project I listened to in full, and it’s really interesting to compare where he started until now. Despite being a mixtape and not an “album”, per say, I definitely think this stuff sounds a lot better than more of his poppy stuff that we’ve seen recently. The darkwavey, cinematic instrumentals sound really ahead of its time, and his vocals just sound so buttery and crisp. He kind of reminds me of a cross between 24K Magic era Bruno Mars with earlier Beach House, on records like Zebra and Bloom. There were a lot of great tracks on here, and not many I’d really consider bad. Some of my favorites were “High for This”, “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls”, “Wicked Games” and the closer “The Knowing” was also really tight too. 8.5/10
Thursday (through “Heaven or Las Vegas”)
I would say that this record sounds a lot like what the Weeknd has released recently. The sound on this project was definitely more diverse than those on HOB, but still build off of the heavy reverb and synthesizer foundation that the Weeknd built himself up on. With Thursday, though, I didn’t really find myself enjoying this tape as much as the predecessor. A lot of the songs on here seemed to drag on a little longer than I desired, and I felt as if the diversity didn’t really conceal some of the dullness on some tracks. I’m not discounting the fact that there are decent cuts on here though. I really loved “Lonely Star”, the title track “Thursday”, “The Birds, Pt. 2” and the closer “Heaven or Las Vegas”. Other than that, I’d say there was still a lot to be desired on here. 7/10
Echoes of Silence (through “Echoes of Silence”)
I think this is really a great middle ground between the best of both House of Balloons and Thursday. While EoS definitely has a similar sound to Thursday, the tracks on here just seemed stronger than those on that project. I honestly think this might be the best of the three tapes, if I’m being honest. I’d say that on here, the strongest of the Weeknd’s vocal range is brought out the best on these cuts. I’d say it seems a lot more emotionally charged than the first two outings, where I felt like that range was a little limited. You can definitely see what I mean on tracks like “Montreal”, “Outside”, “The Host” section of “XO/The Host”, “Echoes of Silence”, “Same Old Song”. The production on here is also the gloomiest as well, so I think that’s also what brought me to like this album more. Overall, pretty amazing way to finish out the Trilogy collection! 9/10
AGGREGATE SCORE: 8.17/10
SONGS OF THE MONTH:
Your Dog- Soccer Mommy
Futsal Shuffle 2020- Lil Uzi Vert
Nothing is Safe- Clipping
Colorado- Kota the Friend
Thot!- Tokyo’s Revenge
Pier Cafe- Harmless
Laughable Butane Bob- AFX
Emotional- Flux Pavilion
We’ll Let You Know- Morrisey
Wish- Trippie Redd
*SPECIAL FEATURE: DOOMED FROM THE START- MASON SUMMIT*
Mason reached out to me in early January and sent me a link to his new single, which is preparing to drop everywhere- February 14. Overall, I really like this song! I’m digging a lot of the lyrics on here (breakup song), plus he’s shredding some nice chords on guitar and piano throughout the cut. Plus, that psychedelic guitar outro is pretty awesome, too! Would say it reminds me a lot of Elliott Smith clashing with some of the Beatles mid-career stuff for sure. Hope you guys enjoy this little diddy once it comes out!
I hope you guys are able to find some awesome stuff on this list! Happy listening, and we'll see you here soon with some more bazzreviews content!
