album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
The Rocket[TAPE] Review
As an A&R for Rocketship Records, my very first tape of the New Year was something special. Different. (In the great way)
Rocketship RecordsPublished 3 years ago in BeatThe Birth of Dark Earth
Every artist has a nichè. Every artist is inspired by other artists and different genres. Then there are artists that pave their own path. With the world of music growing daily, new sounds emerge. Let me introduce you to Dark Earth, and it's first creator - Annábla.
Math Rock EPs & Albums That are Perfect for Productivity
The two important things you need to do in order to make it through an all-nighter is to find ways to stay awake and of course, have fun while you're at it.
M. DaniellePublished 3 years ago in BeatWelcome to Hotel Diablo
A review and interpretation by Shelly Slade, edited by Jaclyn DeBonis. Full disclosure: what you are about to read is a review of an album by my favorite artist. Yes, I am biased. Everybody is. More importantly, I am familiar with nearly all of his music from teenaged mixtapes to collaborations to EPs to albums.I have seen the progression musically and I think it’s time that everybody else takes notice of Machine Gun Kelly. He’s a polarizing artist - rapper, musician, actor, model. People love him and other people hate him. There are, though, a lot of people like me who had never heard of him or heard his music until recently (I discovered him in the fall of 2017). I would like to introduce you to his latest project, Hotel Diablo. This album is, essentially, a portrait of Machine Gun Kelly (real name Colson Baker) in musical form.
Shelly SladePublished 3 years ago in BeatPlacebo Albums Ranked
Why I Love Placebo How many bands do you know have lasted 25 years? Placebo are an English rock group that mean a lot to me. Their songs of angst, drug addiction, and melodrama hit me on a personal level. There’s a lot of bands that do indie rock, and there’s plenty of bands that do angst-driven songs. Placebo stand out to me because I think they’re great, they’ve got this star quality about them. The French would call it: Je Ne Sais Quoi.
Chloe GilholyPublished 3 years ago in BeatAlexander Hamilton The Musical Soundtrack Review
"What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot Poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not" Alexander Hamilton the Musical was released to Disney Plus due to the pandemic and I cannot express in words how much this musical has inspired me to keep moving forward no matter the distractions, challenges, or judgments around me. Delivering greatness with its all inclusive cast of mostly Latinos and African Americans; the history shown in Hamilton is the perfect representation that there has been little change between then and now.
Blue DymondPublished 3 years ago in BeatFoo Fighters - 'Medicine At Midnight' : Worst to Best
Dave Grohl is clearly a legend but that doesn't mean that every song bangs. Most of them do though, let's be honest. 9. 'No Son Of Mine'
Cronan ParryPublished 3 years ago in BeatRostro del Sol - Rostrol del Sol
Becoming kissed by the sun can leave one delirious, left in a daze fuelled by a dizzying olfactory concoction of melting tarmac and flora in full bloom. A state of wandering intoxication heightened by the alarming midday heat unveils a nonsensical universe of curiously bizarre organisms; wandering in plain sight hidden only by sobriety's sheltering lucidity, a veil now burnt to a crisp, their resemblance to the conscious world is familiar yet somehow tenuous: something feels remarkably unusual in this place, these creatures feel different to the touch - fuzzier, more colourful - and their stare comes from somewhere other than their eyes. Are these their truest incarnations, or just playful trickery inflicted upon our perception? There's no real danger in finding out for yourself but luckily there exists a pathway without incurring heat stroke: found within the frenzied jive of Rostro del Sol's equally sun-drenched frequencies, theirs is a jubilant highway of sound unlike any you'll ever traverse within three lifetimes.
JC Cansdale-CookPublished 3 years ago in BeatSonic Flower - Sonic Flower + Rides Again
It's a psychedelic boogie showtime! Shaking down in the vaults for nigh on 16 years would test the mettle of even the hardiest of tunes, for being bereft of sunlight and outside company does peculiar things to wildly free minds. But with just one listen to the jams kicking down these solid doors it is clear they've been the soundtrack to their own eclectic shindig as carefree and as out of their minds as before those same doors were bolted shut. Who the hell knows just what kind of kaleidoscopic and epileptic light shows jived to the crazed, tripped-out ideas birthed from Tatsu Mikami's warped brain, waiting to ensnare any passers-by in their mind-bending exhibition! Now that these tunes have finally been let loose unto an unsuspecting public, they are free to join their brethren in Sonic Flower and morphing the humdrum of any night into one scorching psych-fuelled freak-out as they Ride Again! Sonic Flower are back baby!
JC Cansdale-CookPublished 3 years ago in BeatMiss Lava - Doom Machine
Primordial once were the forces commandeering this planetary body, a chaotic governance of fire, of magma, of thunder and of lightning. A swirling ball of turbulence and darkness for aeons, it would take millenia for a recognizable if not continually changing view to form where we now call home. Much like our rampant geological history, Miss Lava's sprawling journey to the present has been an explosive one, filled with a fervent, raucous energy much akin to the genre godfathers, dominated by a driven electricity surging from their fingertips deep into our auditory canals; theirs has been a sound ejected from stacks to keep the huddled masses in an endless dance, firing grooves out of all cylinders with bombastic force. But ever since 2016's Sonic Debris the Portuguese powerhouse have pursued bigger and bolder visions, channeling a gaseous resonance pulsing from the depths waiting for just one spark near the surface. As a result, what you hear on Doom Machine is not simply just more voluminous or expansive: these are tones so dense and fluid they flood the senses, dragging you down towards a world of everlasting love by the feet.
JC Cansdale-CookPublished 3 years ago in BeatWhich Lana Del Rey album reigns supreme?
There is not long to go until the release of Chemtrails over the Country Club, Lana Del Rey's seventh studio album which is due in March 2021. Del Rey has wowed with an impressive album discography that has her fans wowed in droves, but also drawing in a new league of fans through her impact in mainstream pop, most recently alongside Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande in the Charlie's Angels soundtrack. Lana Del Rey exudes a vulnerability in her songs with a theme around the sad cost of heartbreak, often masked by the promise of renewed vigour and a future unproblematic love. Her album records will be analysed and ranked below, with the exception of her debut album Lana Del Ray, her EP Paradise and her vocal album Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass. I also have to add that as a major fanatic of her work, it was extremely difficult for me to rank her albums, because they all form a part of her truly unique story.
Elijah SimonsPublished 3 years ago in BeatBobby - ‘LUCKY MAN’ Album Review
In many ways, 2017’s Love and Fall should have been a catalyst for greater solo success for iKON’s Bobby. A former winner of the famous Show Me The Money television show - and the only K-Pop idol victor in the rap competition’s run thus far - his floaty, highly accessible full-length debut was never going to be perfect, but it still showcased the young rapper in a broader, more sonically refined space. However, opportunities were seldom afforded to the Korean star in the time that followed the release, seemingly unfairly sidelining the upstart, and potentially stunting his growth too.
Nathan SartainPublished 3 years ago in Beat