Hi, everyone! June was a very busy month of listening with some awesome summer records. I have lots of reviews that I am very to share with you guys. I’m sorry that I haven’t had much content to share with you guys recently, as I have been traveling for the last week and a half. Once I get back home, I will have some more interviews and web content coming your way!
I Am Easy To Find- The National
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had a National record, so I was eager to check this one out. After a first listen, I will say that it was a solid return from the seasoned Cincy rockers. I really liked the stylistic choices on here a lot. The quiet, yet dark production with gloomy songwriting makes this record really special. The band was not afraid to experiment into new styles of music, either. There are elements of dream pop, classical music, the list goes on. Songs like “Quiet Light”, “The Pull of You” and “Rylan” were some of my favorite cuts off of this album, and are some of the deepest the album has to offer. It was so hard to just pick two or three tracks that I really liked, though; they were all so well-done. What I think is great about a band like the National is that their albums stay consistently good. You would expect an indie rock band that has been around so long to begin a decline, but not them. Overall, Easy to Find was another fine outing all around! 9/10
DiCaprio 2- J.I.D.
A lot of bazzreviews fans have asked, “Have you listened to J.I.D.?”, to which I have responded no. I figured I’d change that by listening to his most recent release, DiCaprio 2. Overall, I thought this album was decent, but not out-of-this-world amazing. I wouldn’t call him the next “Kendrick Lamar” or “Anderson Paak” as many have so far. I think he tries a little too hard to mimic that style on some parts of the record, but it isn’t bad by any means. He’s a decent rapper with some pretty hard flows on a lot of the tracks. There was a lot of promising stuff on here that I did enjoy. I’d say my favorite cuts on this were “Westbrook”, “151 Rum” and “Work Out”, they all showed JID at his best. I will say that besides “Work Out”, most of the R&B stuff was not as sharp as it could have been. I personally think he should just stick to rapping in the future. Additionally, I see some of his production and writing need to be fine-tuned slightly in the future. I felt that the album seemed to lose its cohesion from time to time. He still is getting a lot of notice in the rap scene, though. I’d say getting features from prominent rappers like A$AP Ferg, J Cole, Method Man was pretty impressive so early on in his career. Also, BJ the Chicago Kid’s feature on “Skrawberries” is also worth nothing, very well done! All in all, DiCaprio 2 was a pretty solid record from an up and coming rapper! 7.5/10
This Is How You Smile- Helado Negro
I was trying to get an interview with Roberto Carlos Lange (aka Helado Negro) when he came to Cleveland in mid-June, so I reached out to his publicist to get green-lit. Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to do so. By thanking me for supporting Roberto’s music, he gave me two tickets to see his show. So, I figured it would be fitting to give this release a full listen. Let me just keep it short: I loved this album right from the get-go. While How You Smile is a very somber album, it’s super ambient and quite enjoyable to listen to. The quiet, yet lush production on a lot of the tracks complimented Lange’s soft, coffeehouse-esque vocals. Songs like “Pais Nublado”, “Running”, and “Todo Lo Que Me Falta” Are some of my favorites off of this album. I’d also like to note that the diversity of instruments he used on this album was really impressive as well. It was really refreshing to see him dabble in so many different sounds. Another really great addition to this album was lyrics in both English and Spanish. I have mad respect for those who write lyrics in multiple languages, it gives the album such a different feel. Seeing him live just made me even appreciate his musicality more. He’s such a beautiful performer that presented everything so well. All in all, I could definitely see this contending for another top-ten spot come year’s end. It’s got so many amazing tracks and technical aspects that will make it such an enjoyable relisten! 8.5/10
Flamagra- Flying Lotus
When Steve Ellison (aka Flying Lotus) announced a new release a few months back, I marked it in on my listening calendar as soon as possible. FlyLo is one of my favorite electronic producers ever, so it’s no understatement that I was excited for this record. It came in at a whopping 27 tracks long, but Ellison did a pretty good job seaming all of them together. As usual, most of the instrumental beats he whipped up were really good. However, it was the songs he did with real singers that were some of the best this album presented. Songs like “More” with Anderson Paak, “Spontaneous” with Little Dragon and “Black Balloons Reprise” with Denzel Curry are some of the strongest tracks Flamagra presents. Ellison makes beats that compliments each artists’ style, and that’s what makes him truly radical. He makes sure you’re fully immersed in each world that every artists he works with is known for. Unfortunately, the overarching complaint I have with this album is that it sort of dragged on towards the end. A lot of the instrumental tracks just kept piling on, and I was getting sort of bored 75% of the way through the record. I get it, we haven’t gotten a FlyLo release in a while, but we didn’t need a million random beats. It’s better to have quality over quanity in this situation. I would have been fine just getting some of the strongest instrumental beats and all the songs with other artists. Nevertheless, I’ve got nothing but good things to say about this record. 7.5/10
ZUU- Denzel Curry
Based on my liking of TABOO, I was pretty hyped to hear the Miami rapper announce a new album. Unfortunately I wasn’t the biggest fan of the album’s first single, “RICKY” when it dropped. I was fearing that it might be an indication that this album might not be as solid. After I listened to it, I will be very honest: I found myself underwhelmed by a lot of the stuff on here. While I like some of the lyrical choices Curry made on this record (e.g. talking about his home life in Miami, etc.), I found some of the production choices a little bizarre. I’d even go as far as saying the production on here is inferior to his debut. I didn’t know what the hell he was trying to go for on cuts like “BIRDZ” and “P.A.T.” I wouldn’t even really call any of those “beats”. It’s just a collection of loud, glitchy noises over some busy drum beats. I also wish he would have made a few more feature length songs, as this record is almost half the length that TABOO was. The features from guys like Rick Ross, Ice Billion Berg, and PlayThatBoiZay were pretty lame and not very inspired. On the other hand, I really liked the features from guys like Tay Kieth and Sam Sneak. Songs like “WISH”, “AUTOMATIC” and “SPEEDBOAT” were definitely some of Curry’s strongest showings in his whole discography, and their additions gave a lot of replay value to them. Don’t get me wrong, ZUU isn’t a bad record; I simply found it musically weaker than its predecessor. I could have seen him expanding this album and doing a lot more with what he has available to him. 7/10
Apollo XXI- Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy has been hot shit lately, being featured on many albums and having a strong showing with LA funk group the Internet. I saw a lot of promise with this album, but after listening to it? Well... it was interesting, to say the least. As I mentioned, he’s had so much promise over the last few years, and now it looks as if that’s all for naught. From the beginning, Apollo was an incredibly painful listen for me. First off, The cohesion with this album was also really lacking. It just sounded like a bunch of random tracks that don’t have a clear sound or focus. The instrumentation and production on here were very unusual and not something I would have pictured Lacy trying. The style on here sounds nothing like the sounds he went for on past singles like “Dark Red” or “C U Girl”. It was the bedroom pop/Garageband ethos that got him to prominence in the first place, so why wouldn’t he have worked with that to begin with? But, I digress. I’d also like to note that the vocals and songwriting are not great either. Each track’s vocals and lyrics seemed very forced and not genuine. In fact, it almost feels like there was not any real effort put into some of these tracks. While there are a few cuts with promise towards the back half of this record (“In Lust We Trust” and “N Side”), it’s not enough to save this trainwreck of an album. From a first listen, I personally don’t know if Lacy was really ready for a solo release yet. To me, this record came off as very rushed and didn’t show off his full potential as an artist. I think he needs to mature before he puts out another full-length. As I mentioned earlier, he’s had a lot of success as a collaborator with many artists of today. That’s not to be forgotten. I just hope that he won’t morph into more of being an artist that’s really good as a feature, but not a good solo artist. As a result, Apollo XXIhas been one of the biggest disappointments for me in 2019. 4.5/10
U.F.O.F- Big Thief
I’ve seen this album on a lot of “best-of” lists so far, and I figured I’d have to give it a listen. This is the third album from the Brooklyn folk rockers, and they did pretty well with continuing the sound they shot for on their first two outings. While I did think that this record took a little bit of time to start getting good, I still really enjoyed a lot of the stuff I heard later in the album. Lead singer Adrianne Lenker continues to win audiences over with her raspy, crooning vocals and slick guitar skills. Not only is she an amazing musician, but each member of the band contributed amazing things to this album, too. In terms of the song structures, the songwriting and instrumentals are quite gloomy, but the offerings on here are some of the best I’ve heard all year. I would say some of my favorites from this record were “UFOF”, Cattails” and “Century”. At the same time, I felt like a few tracks could have been left off (“Terminal Paradise” and “Contact” are a few examples of that). They seem to deter from the sound that the group was going for. Nevertheless, it’s still a really sharp and cohesive record. I think that U.F.O.Flived up to the acclaim it has received, and it is one of my favorite folks albums in recent memory. 8.5/10
SONGS OF THE MONTH
La Vie en Rose- Louis Armstrong
Sorry- Hala
Spontaneous- Flying Lotus
Red Balloon- Deal Casino
SUPER SAIYAN SUPERMAN- Denzel Curry
I’m Not Making out With You- Surf Curse
Scrawny-Wallows
Don't Worry, Baby- The Beach Boys
Mind- Jack Ü
Myage- Descendents
I hope that you guys have found some awesome stuff to check out from this list. Happy listening! Thanks again for checking this column out, and more amazing bazzreviews stuff is coming your way shortly!
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