Hi, everyone! Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! March was another wonderful month of listening, and it was definitely something to write home about. Across the first quarter of music (January-March), I’ve listened to a lot of promising new stuff from musicians. Whether we’re talking about artists who haven’t released music in a while, or new artists that are hopping into the scene, Hopefully that same momentum can continue as we advance into the second quarter. Here are some of the albums I listened to this month, and my opinions on each:
Modus Viviendi- 070 Shake
One of GOOD Music’s newest talent acquisitions has already entered the music world with a head of steam. 070 Shake is the moniker of Jersey rapper and producer Danielle Balbuena, who got attention for her work on Kanye’s Wyoming Projects a couple summers ago. She received production credits on “Ghost Town” and “Violent Crimes”, two of the better cuts from ye, in my opinion. I didn’t really know too much about her music before learning that, so I sought to hear a bit more of what she’s done. I was really surprised with the level of technique that Balbuena is showing with her music. The heavily reverbed production gives off a futuristic vibe, and mashes really well with her Auto-Tuned vocals. She reminds me a lot of the Weekend being a female. She’s also not a bad lyricist either, for being only twenty-two years old; she was penning some pretty decent verses on here, and I DEFINITELY felt some sad-boi vibes. I really liked tracks like “Come Around”, “Morrow”, “Guilty Conscience”, “Rocketship” and “Under the Moon”, and they really hit you right from the second you dive into them. I think it’s a great start for her, but there’s still a bit of room for improvement. Some of the tracks seemed a little under par compared to the rest, I guess; I felt that way about “The Pines”, “Divorce”, and “Daydreamin”, specifically. All in all, Modus Viviendi has a few good standouts and proves that GOOD Music has plenty of potential for the future. 8/10.
Eternal Atake- Lil Uzi Vert
After two years of arduous waiting, the popular Philadelphia rapper released his hotly-anticipated sophomore full length. I was pissed, because I was busy the day it dropped, but sat down to listen to it a couple days late- spoiler-free. Considering all the hype for this, it was basically like any other record that he’s put out before (sorry Uzi stans :/). I think the spacey beats are cool, and he’s got some good verses here and there. It’s a nice change in direction from his more bouncy beats from the past. Some of my favorites were “Baby Pluto” or “Homecoming” on the front end, “Celebration Station”, “Bigger”, “Bust Me”, and “Prices” around the halfway point, and “Venetia”, “P2” (a sequel to the world-famous “XO Tour Life”) and the popular single, “Fustal Shuffle 2020”. You might be thinking, there’s a lot of great tracks, so why aren’t you impressed? My answer? That goodness is ephemeral and inconsistent. On a record with eighteen tracks, there is a fair amount of fat that he could have scrapped altogether. I mean, Jesus, his flow and musical choices can really blow at some points on here. You can see this especially on “Lo Mein”, “Silly Watch”, “Pop”, “Urgency” with Syd from the Internet, and “Secure The Bag”; While I’m not saying it’s a “bad” record by any measures, Eternal Atake left me feeling a bit empty upon a few listens. 7/10
Man Alive!- King Krule
This is the first record from UK singer-songwriter Archy Marshall in almost three years, and one that I have been anticipating for a while. I’ve been a Krule fan for a couple of years now, and this is another record that progresses the sound for an artist. If some recall from my end-of-year letter from December, I said I wanted artists to begin changing the norm for sounds into the 2020s. So far, I haven’t been let down. While Marshall’s music still holds on to his lo-fi, experimental roots, he adds such a drastically new tone to the point where it feels refreshing. I was digging a lot of the psychedlic compositional choices on here, and his usually depressing, nihilistic lyrics are put on display here. Some of my favorites from the project were “Cellular”, “Stoned Again”, “Comet Face”, “Airport Antenatal Airplane” and “(Don’t Let the Dragon) Drag On”. I think that the only two duds on here were “Supermarche” and “Slinky”, but other than that, Man Alive! feels like another complete and coherent project from Archy. I’m really glad I got to check this out, and I now I feel like going back into his older stuff once again! 9/10.
Miss Anthropocene- Grimes
Like Kevin Parker, Claire Boucher has not released a full-length in almost five years. She, like KP, has dropped a few singles before this to get the hype going before its drop in mid-February. From the cuts I heard, it’s certainly safe to say that Boucher took a big artistic shift with this record. I think the biggest thing that can explain was the hidden meaning behind that character of “Miss Anthropocene” that she created for this record.(which you can read more about here). This record feels really PC-music heavy, and reminds me a lot of contemporaries such as FKA Twigs or 100 gecs. It’s got an interesting sound, certainly a lot darker than her earlier albums like Oblivion and Art Angels. Some of my favorites from the project “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth” (easily the best), “Violence”, “4 ÆM,” and “New Gods”. At the same time, that great sound seems to get held back by a lack of identity. I felt like at some points, she doesn’t want to let go of that sound and feeling she’s built up over the 2010s. She has such a big following, so why wouldn’t she want to completely commit to this new character and sound? I definitely felt this way about a couple of artists last year that tried to experiment, yet didn’t want to completely let go of what makes that artist sound like themselves; this was most notably seen in my reviews of Big Thief across their two 2019 releases. Anyways, I think that was most notably seen on the 100 Gecs-sounding track “Darkseid”, the acoustic ballad, “Delete Forever” and “You’ll miss me when I’m not around.” Overall, I think Miss Anthropocene was a perfectly fine record, but I just wanted to hear more of that newer, progressive sound that Boucher was aiming for. 7.5/10
UNLOCKED- Dnezel Curry x Kenny Beats
I must have been living under a rock or something, because I was gobsmacked to find out that Zel was releasing something new last month. While the eight-track project clocks in at around 18 minutes, it’s a nifty little collaboration that left me feeling very satisfied. I think one of my biggest reasons for giving rap collaborations favorable scores is if the producer and rapper are consistently working on the same wavelength for the entire record. That was apparent here. Kenny Beats brings a more techy, futuristic prodcution style to the table, which I thought was pretty neat. On the rap side, you’ll all know damn well how much I love Denzel Curry… well, provided you’ve read any reviews or listened to the bazzcast; to me, he’s one of the best modern rappers and has one of the most incredible flows in the game right now. I can’t even begin to tell you how much energy and bombast he brings to any track; the drynamic instantly changes. The producer-rapper tandem came together to craft some real bangers on here-- “Take It Back”, “Lay Up”, “Diet”, “So Incredible”, and “Cosmic” were just outstanding. Overall, I feel it safe to say Zel and Kenny UNLOCKED their full potential with this collab (ha ha!) 8.5/10.
SONGS OF THE MONTH:
Over- Drake
1999 She- Deaton Chris Anthony
Take It Away- RL Grime
Venetia- Lil Uzi Vert
Diamond Durag- Thundercat
Lady- Modjo
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey- Fats Domino
Liverpool Steet in the Rain- Mall Grab
Here’s The Thing- Girl Talk
Slip- Autechre
So, do you agree with my takes? Was there an album you thought should have been higher, lower, or one I should be reviewing next? If so, feel free to reach out to me! I always love talking about music, and I am always interested in having new recommendations. Whatever the case may be,
I hope you guys were able to find something new to enjoy from this list,
I also had a couple of quick announcements: Along with a new BRBC up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, I also intend on doing a few livestream interviews this weekend on Instagram. Be sure to go follow me if you have not done so already- @bazzreviews. Once I finalize who is coming on, I will post more about dates and time. In the meantime, be well, and stay tuned for more bazzreviews content coming soon!