Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman Review

A few years ago Ariana Grande's most rebellious act was apparently 'almost' licking a donut in a bakery.  Crazy stuff right!? However a few collaborations with some big artists, such as Bieber and Nicki plus the stint with Big Sean has now transformed her from the innocent Nickelodeon star we one knew into the 'dangerous' persona she raves about in her latest album. Dangerous Woman has managed to combine a diverse array of genres but yet still sounds cohesive. Ariana grande's third album finds the 22 year old pop star embracing her 'maturing' self with the help of  Future, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Macy Gray and others.Main stand out within the album personally is 'Everyday' featuring Future. The unexpected duo provide an electro-pop and trap song relating to the idea of sexual satisfaction featuring some explicit language and imagery. The track received mixed reviews from critics who appreciated its production, but were ambivalent towards Futures feature.
in a span of about 3 years, Ariana has proved to us with the release of 'Dangerous Woman' which followed her previous 'My Everything' album that she is in fact one of the powerhouses in the game and has sure managed to silence many haters, and we can expect music of her caliber to be continually released for many years to come. 

White Iverson - Post Malone

Post Malone is an American artist who rose to fame in 2016 overnight with the release of his song white Iverson. The song gained immediate positive reaction from leaders within the industry including Mac Miller and Snoop Dogg. The song has a mellow vibe coupled with a classic rap beat, making for a great sound. It depicts the idea of a “White” Allen Iverson, a basketball player known for his charisma on the court. Malone with white skin, dreadlocks and a very scruffy beard may not possess the same looks but definitely has the swagger for success. Post Malone seems unstoppable in his rise to fame.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!

This seminal LP from the Canadian Post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! This album came out in the year 2000, and this is why they’re the kingpins in the genre Post-rock. This album just has something cinematic in it by nature, a variety of crescendos and soft lows, but there is plenty more than that, that’s going on in this album, there’s an urgent and aggressive, a social and political consciousness happening in this album, as well as being restless. There’s a strong element of classical music, but you shouldn’t go into this album thinking it will be like a symphonic rock album, I say classical not because of the pianos and violins but more like a pit orchestra. Skinny Fists has accolades to its names but I wouldn’t call it easy to listen to, unless you love drone, surrealistic soundscapes, don’t be thinking you’ll go into this album with a pleasing smile.

The builds in this album are pretty slow, don’t expect them to go anywhere fast, as the songs can go for 20 minutes in length but in my opinion, Godspeed really knows how to keep the quieter sides of their builds pretty listenable and engaging with interesting sounds lots of dynamic playing but when it comes to the louder sides of these builds, Godspeed provides how cohesive they are of a group and how they are just detailed oriented in these songs, as they become louder and intense, just as you think they hit the apex of a song, they make it either darker or brighter and the size of the sound just ricochets into your eardrums, but also the phrases of the strings or the horn arrangements over the course of the build will change which is also really nice because it leads to an evolution of the song. This emotional ride of a rollercoaster is definitely a must listen.

  

Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel is an experimental indie and folk rock band from rustic Louisiana, they only came out with a couple albums from their very short discography and the second that they dropped, just so happens to be one of the most celebrated releases in underground music, released back in 1998, people still go nuts for this album. This album has a lot of great qualities, built out of inspiration from noise rock, from psychedelic rock and folk music. On top of that it’s colourfully arranged with singing saws, horns, accordions, keyboards, bagpipes as well and the usual suspects are here, the acoustic guitar, warm heavy distorted overblown bass with booming drums, these instruments compliments each other, which create a spiral of aggression with tenderness and beauty. Aeroplane has a daunting sadness that is hard to deny, and it’s hard to deny because it does not let up. The imagery is so vivid, how exactly does a person imagine a little boy in Spain playing pianos filled with flames?

The lyrics are what builds this really surreal world of two headed boys, ghosts, radio wire, tomatoes and rivals stories of books like Alice in Wonderland. The King of Carrot Flowers Pt.1 is a fantastic opener, it’s kind of like opening up a book, the transitions to Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 just start with this ominous drone that just layer and build up to something epic. This album brings a range of different feelings, it excites, depresses, soothes, inspires in one 40 minute listen and I will probably love it for my foreseeable future. If you haven’t heard this album definitely give it go.

Don't Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers

Since my mention of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ in my previous post, some people have asked me why I like it so much. It’s simple. The haunting guitar hook is amazing. The vocals are amazing. The backing track is amazing. But it’s the fact that all the elements are cohesive that make this song exemplary. The epic guitar loop never fights with Daya’s powerhouse vocals. One is subdued to showcase the other. And the duo don’t repeat the loop endlessly like other artists have done just because it’s the only good part of the song. By the time the bridge comes up, the hook is gone, and that’s perfectly fine, because it lets the intensely layered electronic track shine.

The result: Grammy Award for Best Dance Track awarded to the Chainsmokers. Enough said.

Closer - The Chainsmokers

Closer was the longest running number 1 single in 2016, which also meant it became the most overplayed song of the decade.

It has all the makings of a classic summer track, with a catchy hook, happy-go-lucky lyrics and a classic boy-girl storyline. But apart from that, it doesn’t have that much substance. The chorus is both monotonic and unsyncopated, which are musical terms for ‘boring’. And the lyrics aren’t any better, but I do like the reference to rock bank Blink-162. Halsey’s vocals work, but Taggart should definitely not sing, because he can’t. There’s a reason a lot of DJs like Zedd and David Guetta always employ featuring artists.  And while the EDM backing is nice, it doesn’t pack the punch that other Chainsmokers songs do, like ‘Don’t Let Me Down’.

It’s not a bad song to dance and sing to, but it definitely isn’t on my list of favourites.

Click on the video to listen to Closer.

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

                                                Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Bringing to you another stellar review of UK’s art-rock band, Radiohead. Their newest album A Moon Shape Pool, following their last full-length album The King of Limbs which garnered mixed review. Their singles Burn The Witch, which featured very fluid percussion, beautiful string arrangements, it wasn’t synthetic and Daydreaming with its somber arpeggios, Thom’s voice sounding heart wrenching, swirling and psychedelic effects such as the reverse vocal effect. Radiohead’s new album was heading towards a subtler, nuance and perhaps even depressing. The following songs follow this suit, however amongst this very vast and nocturnal landscapes that they create, Thom and co. make sure that these songs don’t get boring through it’s interesting chord progressions.

The final string crescendo on this track is extremely beautiful, the albums final moments are intriguing I love the eerie melodies and the Latin rhythms on the song present tense, Thom sings about distance being a weapon, using distance to hurt other people by depriving them of your presence, there are also these fantastic images of him dancing with the world crashing around him, but I’m mostly enamored with the instrumentals with the classy guitar arpeggios or beautiful background vocals the shuffling rhythms its just a really put together tune, instantaneously catchy and captivating and yet like other songs in the track list it’s subtle and so soft.

Click on the video to listen to Present Tense