Jam of the Day: Ariana Granda ft. Nicki Minaj - "the light is coming"

Bloopy and breezy Pharrell Willams-produced track from Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj.

Video: Nicki Minaj - "I Am Your Leader"

Lyrically NSFW song from Nicki Minaj. Has a fun, technicolor Dr. Suess-esque video.

Album Review: Justin Bieber - Believe

Justin Bieber
Believe
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Yes, you read correctly. I am giving the Biebs album a good review. Surprised you say? Well, no more so than me. Based on his limited output so far, I was expecting another treacly tween pop record that would be completely forgettable and dismiss-able. I have to give credit to Bieber, and whoever is advising him, that they are making all the right moves for his career. His second album Believe is a transitional record, designed to move him from his tween base into a, perhaps mature is not the right word, more older skewing audience. While there are still remnants of his previous output present, most notably in the over-reliance on syrupy ballads, there is a slightly edgier leaning towards slicker R&B and EDM sounds, which points to the direction he is heading.

Like the new Usher (Bieber's role model and mentor) album, there is a broad range of styles and approaches on Believe, and also a monstrous phalanx of songwriters and producers in tow. But whereas Usher's album, while good, seemed too scattershot and tossed together, Believe is surprisingly consistent, positioning Bieber as the heir to Justin Timberlake's throne. In fact, it often reminds me of Timberlake's first solo record, which had about the same amount of success to failure ratio, but made a statement that Timberlake was not going to be limited by his former boy band credentials.

Obviously for me, Believe works best when the album goes off the grid a bit. Tracks like "As Long As You Love Me," with its buzzing synths, slippery drum programming, and interplay of multitracked vocals, show a maturity that has not been evident so far.



"Take You" merges lovely acoustic guitars with stutter-step beats, dubstep flourishes, and a husky vocal turn from Bieber.



The R&B duet with Drake "Right Here" combines their two distinct styles perfectly.



Especially on the three deluxe edition bonus tracks, Bieber really allows his producers to run with it, and thankfully, Bieber appears up to the challenge, showing more confidence and that he is comfortable being a little more edgy. "Out Of Town Girl," is a slamming R&B track with lots of bizarre electronic textures pushing against the grain of the song.



"She Doesn't Like The Lights" addresses live in the spotlight with Bieber, turning the flash and whirr of cameras into a percussive instrument.



While "Maria" touches on the paternity drama Bieber faced, turning the event into a modern day updating of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."



The rest of Believe jumps back and forth between uptempo pop songs like first single "Boyfriend" and "All Around The World," which shows a debt to current Euro-dance trends, high profile collaborations like "Beauty and a Beat" with Nicki Minaj, and an unfortunate plethora of sugary-sweet ballads ("Catching Feelings," "Be Alright," "Believe"). But overall, the album slides by smoothly and slickly, with these ballads providing momentary speed bumps.

Believe is not going to be the second coming. I am sure it will sell like hotcakes and rule the top of the charts for the rest of the summer. More importantly, it shows that Bieber is not a fool. He may be the butt of many a joke, but the guy knows what he is doing, or at least has the right people advising him on what to do. Believe shows a willingness and desire to move forward and not make the same songs over and over again. So yes, I am giving this album a good review. It is pretty damn good pop/R&B record. Nothing wrong with that.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

It's been a nice/long/weird week. Yay for the weekend. Here are the videos that made existence more bearable:



The NSFW new video from A$AP Rocky gives back some old school bling and swagger.



More strangeness from Black Dice.



Welcome return for Neneh Cherry, working with jazz band The Thing. Here is their cover of Madvillain's "Accordian."



Haunting song from Lower Dens.



Over-the-top video for Rihanna. Kind of love it.



Looks like Minaj had the same budget/director as Rihanna.



Cool video from Blood Orange.

Video: Nicki Minaj - "Starships"

Silly, stupid, and fun, here is the video for Nicki Minaj's single "Starships."

Album Review - Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

Nicki Minaj
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Nicki Minaj is just too weird and too strange to be placed within a structured pop environment. Her guest turns on others' tracks have usually been the best representation of her talents; her wild abandon such a breath of fresh of air in an otherwise staid room. When she tries to reign in those wild impulses is when she tends to falter. Her debut album Pink Friday, which should have been an unqualified triumph, was a middling work, hemmed in by too many drab/bland R&B ballads and did not feature enough of her bizarre personality. She's kept up though, mostly through several more guest spots, and a crossover single "Super Bass," which was the perfect mix of a great hook and her goofy attitude. Does Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded fix the errant problems of her debut, or does it provide more of the same? For half of the record, you almost think Minaj is on par with equalling the genre busting albums from Missy Elliot, laying down track after track of mind-boggling weird hip-hop. But then she begins to lose her nerve. Perhaps emboldened by the success of "Super Bass," the album gets mired in its back half with too many safe, pop songs, that find her being thrown into the same big pot as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Ke$ha.

But for a brief instant you hear what could have been. "Roman Holiday" is a schizophrenic hyper electro-hip-hop track, with Minaj adopting a strange Cockney accent and spitting out rhymes over a frenetic bass heavy beat.



The album reaches its peak of outright cracktastic brilliance on "Come On A Cone" which has Minaj smack talking all her detractors, before the song drops out and she starts singing like she's a finalist on The Voice, bringing hilarious gravitas to the line "Put my dick in your face," while the songs revs up again with whiplash inducing beats and rhymes.



On "I Am Your Leader," Minaj keeps up with and surpasses rhymes from Cam'ron and Rick Ross, flashing more attitude than her pint-size would seem to allow, riding strong over a pounding bassline.



"Beez In The Trap" is a bass rattling schoolyard taunt that should be Minaj's bread and butter by now.



"HOV Lane" is a caffeinated blur of synth stabs and burbly electronics; Minaj outpacing her nearest competition.



"Roman Reloaded (with Lil Wayne)" is all heavy boasting over gunshot beats, Minaj silencing all her detractors.



And rounding off one of the best opening salvos in recent history, the first half of the record ends with the midtempo track "Champion (ft. Nas, Drake, & Young Jeezy)," which hits all the right somber notes and should have been the gateway to back-half brilliance.



The back-half of Roman Reloaded finds Nicki in the same quandary she was in for the last album; how to keep her individual personality while still maintaining enough mainstream appeal. What bogged down Pink Friday was the over-reliance on drab, treacly ballads and pop songs that just didn't seem like her, and also tried to push her singing voice over her rapping, which, while her voice is serviceable, it is not strong enough to carry an entire album. Here, again, the second half of the record dissolves into a fizzy mix of collaborations, the dreadful Chris Brown duet "Right By My Side," and silly "Sex In The Lounge" with Lil Wayne, or a bevy of Top 40 aiming pop confections. New single "Starships" has the Lady Gaga collaborator RedOne adding a sugar bomb beat and raved up synths which all but buries Minaj under the mix. No doubt it is completely catchy but any D-list diva could sing it and make it a hit.



And it continues with "Pound The Alarm" which sounds like the latest Ibiza summer anthem, overwhelming Minaj under a phalanx of laser sharp synths.



The album continues its avalanche of club-ready tracks, losing Minaj in the swirl of four on the floor beats, swirling cotton candy synths, and banal party lyrics. From the pounding "Whip It," girly-girl diva lite antics "Automatic," and dark electro-house track "Beautiful Sinner" which sounds like a Rihanna reject and completely renders Minaj nameless.



And that is the most telling part of this half of the record, that it the tracks are so indistinct that any vocalist could do them with a little tweaking. "Marilyn Monroe" could easily be an Rihanna track with booming drums, strings, and understated vocals,



"Fire Burns" has Kelly Clarkson written all over it,



and "Young Forever," with a little more skeeze could make Ke$ha salivate.



But I want to reiterate that these tracks are all catchy and memorable, but more so for the production values and not from Minaj. She gets lost in all the high-end studio tricks and sheen, that you forget you are listening to a Nicki Minaj record. It is not until the final track, the so bad it's brilliant "Stupid Hoe," where Minaj returns and snaps you back to attention.



There is no doubt that Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded will be a huge hit; it has already knocked Madonna's new album MDNA out of the Number 1 spot on the charts. But like that album, this record also seems to be holding back from being something special, too scared to truly go out on a limb. Which is what is ultimately disappointing about the album is that the balls to the wall first half, which can do no wrong, is thrown under the bus by the second half, which hides Minaj's personality far beneath all the high-tech studio wizardry until she becomes another nameless/faceless pop diva. I have hopes Minaj realizes that her gifts lie in going for broke and avoiding the cookie-cutter pop mentality. So far, she is halfway there. So close, yet somehow so far.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Jam of the Day: Nicki Minaj - "Come On A Cone"

3:00 of batshit brilliance.

Album Review - Madonna: MDNA

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Drake: Take Care - Album Review

Drake
Take Care
Rating: Grrrr

Canadian rapper/singer Drake has said that he was upset with how his debut Thank Me Later came out, wishing it were more polished and deliberated over. Based on the high quality of that album, Drake must be an unforgiving perfectionist. His tracks are thoughtful, unlike most high-profile rappers, relentlessly pursuing new, fresh sounds, willing to skirt the fence between pop music and more experimental textures. And his verses and rhymes, while boastful at times, are also surprisingly self-depreciating and sincere. Take Care, the follow up, continues that trend, finding Drake still dealing with becoming successful, rich, and famous, enjoying the trappings of success, but wanting more. Drake is still utilizing producer Noah "40" Shebib, but finds room to use friends The Weeknd and Jamie xx for other tracks. While there are plenty of pounding, dancefloor beats on Take Care, the majority of the album is muted and minimal, focusing on mood and nuance.

The first track leaked from the album, "Marvin's Room" is a perfect example. Recorded in Marvin Gaye's Hollywood studio where he dissected his divorce from wife Anna Gordy, veering from regret, pain, bile, sadness, and spite. Drake similarly dissects a past relationship, turning to the ultimate drunk-dial fantasy, imploring his ex to "fuck that ni**a that you love so bad/I know you still think about the times we had/I say fuck that ni**a that you think you found/And since you picked up I know he's not around." But knowing he has lost her for good, his refrain of "I'm just saying you can do better/tell me have you heard that lately" becomes lonelier and lonelier as the track progresses.



Drake sings more than raps on Take Care, and while his range is fairly limited, his voice is silky and smooth and imbibes the songs with the right amount of sadness and pathos. The standout track "Doing It Wrong" has Drake lamenting the loss of a girl, but knowing he has to get away from her if he will ever heal, singing "so cry if you need/I can't stay to watch you/it would be the wrong thing to do." Drake enlists Stevie Wonder to end the track with a hauntingly sad harmonica solo.



"Shot For Me" lays Drake's velvet voice over skittering mid-tempo beats, telling off the woman who left him for another man.

Shot For Me - Drake by worldhiphopfirst

The most interesting tracks are those where he goes outside of the mainstream. His collaboration with Jamie xx and Rihanna on the title track is particularly successful. Jamie xx takes a sample from his own collaboration with the late Gil Scott-Heron and adds it to a light, moombahaton beat and dark, house piano chords.



And on "Crew Love" he takes a cue from The Weeknd, creating a track full of the paranoia and darkness associated with the Toronto R&B collective.



Drake is still game for his style of boasting, but looking at it from a distance, both loving it, appreciative of it, but curious as to why it is happening to him. A series of tracks shows Drake's increased confidence in his rap style. "Headlines" is a buzzy rap/sung track dissing the people who don't believe in him.



"Underground Kings" chronicles Drake's rise to the top, laying a lowkey flow to busy programmed beats and twinkling guitars.



"We'll Be Fine" is a hard hitting lament that fame is fleeting and Drake is going to enjoy it while he can.

Drake - We'll Be Fine by pashaivanov

"HYFR (Hell Ya Fuckin' Right)" has Drake dizzily rushing through the opening verses showing his improved flow.



Some of Drake's other collaborations are somewhat predictable, but don't suffer because of it. I love the bouncy, rapid-fire flow of "Make Me Proud" with a typically hyper-freaky rap from Nicki Minaj:



"The Real Her" is a gorgeous ballad, with stuttering beats and treated pianos, featuring lovely guest verses from Lil' Wayne and Andre 3000.

Drake Ft. Lil Wayne - The Real Her by LitoStarr

Take Care shows Drake with improved confidence in his rapping/singing, and being more focused with his music ideas. At 16 songs and 80 minutes, there is a bit of bloat to the record. The first half is such perfection that the back half has to suffer from it. Aside from that small issue, Take Care is one of the best records of the year, and for those looking for rap and R&B with something more substantial to it, this is the record to buy.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Rating: Chilfos

Yes, Kanye West is a world class douchebag and jackass, as he seems to prove over and over again, and yet, as much as I want to dislike him and discard him, he keeps putting out amazing music. His latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is no exception. Taking it's emotional cue from his previous album 808s and Heartbreaks, the album still finds West mired in his own fragile mental state, but instead of the limited auto-tuned palatte of 808s, he broadens the canvas to extreme widescreen, putting all of his baggage out for the world to sift through.

After a year of troubles following his ridiculous outburst during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMAs, West retreated within the studio trying to figure out why he was universally despised after his actions. Most mainstream artists would have gone on a public relations offensive in an attempt to salvage their reputations and get back within the public's good graces. Kanye, however, used the experience to confront his demons and to reveal those inner workings in his music. Dark's 13 tracks are an amazing portal into the creative process.

First song, "Dark Fantasy," sets the tone quickly with a wicked intro from Nicki Minaj, and jumps deep within Kanye's head:

"Sorry for the night demons that still visit me
The plan was to drink until the pain over
But what's worse, the pain or the hangover?"



Throughout Dark, Kanye keeps returning to his perception in the music industry and his attempts to control his image, and his final realization that it's not up for him to control, and that he has to be who he is, whether that is popular or not. In "Power" he raps

"Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic
He know, he so, fucking gifted
I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts
Got treasures in my mind, but couldn't open up my own vault
My childlike creativity, purity and honesty
Is honestly being prodded by these grown thoughts
Reality is catchin up with me
Takin my inner child, I'm fighting for custody
With these responsibilities that they entrusted me"



In one of the centerpieces of the album, "All of the Lights," West puts all of his deficiences under the microscope:

"Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights"



Featuring almost 42 people backing him on the track, it never feels overstuffed, even with the martial drumming and horns, everything is perfectly in sync, showing West is still one of the most in control producers in the industry today. He creates a slamming bass track in "Monster," featuring Bon Iver, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and and almost track stealing rap from Nicki Minaj, who could have used more tracks like this on her own debut.



The production throughout is just jaw-dropping in its complexity and ability to perfectly fit the mood and emotion of each track, and also to fit the breadth and mood of the album as a whole. From the haunted strings of "So Appalled" where he ends up relishing his perception as villan:

"All of y'all can suck my balls through my draws
Dark Knight feeling, die you be a hero
Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain
I went from the favorite to the most-hated
But would you rather be underpaid or overrated?"



or "Runaway" which begins with the loneliest piano notes and ends with a dense, almost Robert Frippian vocoder solo, with Kanye taking his own shortcomings and turning it into a universal call for understanding:



to "Blame Game," with the beautiful piano sample of Aphex Twin providing a suitable frame for this lament to relationships gone bad:



Dark is the sound of a major artist wrestling with his demons and letting the world watch. Each track is a window into West's head, seeing the good and the bad, and him arranging the mess into art. In this age of artists trying to be so in control of how they are seen and perceived, it is refreshing to see someone let down those walls, saying take me for what I am, warts and all. True art is always about naked, raw emotion. You can't get that from having your music made by committee. As far as I am concerned, Kanye can remain being the jackass he is, as long as he continues to make music as brilliant as this.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Mini-Reviews

David Sylvian
Sleepwalkers
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Probably the only constant throughout David Sylvian's over 30 year career has been his supple and gorgeous baritone.  He has effortlessly moved through glam punk, new romanticism, pop stylism, new age, extreme experimentalism, and back again, making the kind of music he feels like making.  Sleepwalkers is not a "new" David Sylvian release, but mainly a compilation of collaborations he has made over the last decade.  Strangely, considering the myriad of styles he has engaged in over the last ten years, the album is remarkably cohesive.  The highlights of the cd are the blues lament "Ballad of a Deadman" (a duet with Joan Wasser of Joan as Police Woman), the gorgeous and haunting ballad "World Citizen (I Won't Be Disappointed) (a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto), and the minimal/harsh "Transit" (with Christian Fennesz).  Sleepwalkers is definitely not the place to start with Sylvian.  For that, I would suggest the double album Everything and Nothing.  But for those who can't get enough material from Sylvian, Sleepwalkers is a welcome addition to his catalogue.

Curren$y
Pilot Talk
Rating: Grrrr

I rarely feel qualified to review rap cds, so I tend to just give short reviews to them, and it is more based on whether I enjoy the beats and the production of the songs, rather than anything having to do with the flow of the rapper him or herself. A friend recommended Curren$y to me, and, for me, it falls squarely in the stoner rap category. Most of the songs have something to do with smoking pot and playing video games, and aside from this less than brilliant subject matter, I find myself laughing at the simple stupidity of it all. And the production is just very laid back and head-bobbing. There is something to be said these days for a record that is just nice to put on and relax to, without any huge expectations.

Rihanna
Loud
Rating: Meh

I am pretty huge Rihanna fan I will admit.  Though I will also state that I think she is much better singles artist than an album artist.  She tends to try and please every listener on her full lengths, and as such, her albums have been very hit or miss for me.  When she comes out with a greatest hits collection, that will be the one release of hers to own.  Following up last year's harder edged Rated R, Rihanna quickly follows up with Loud, which instead of showing a more in control artist, shows Rihanna falling back to the same problems I have with her other albums.  Usually there are 4-5 brilliant singles mixed in with a lot of filler, however, here there are only about 2 standout tracks, and they are even of lesser quality then usual.   I liked the somewhat silly, I am into wild sex "S&M" and her duet with Drake, "What's My Name."  But then the album just meanders for the next 45 minutes with dreck like the Avril Lavinge (wtf?????) sampling "Cheers (Drink to That)," Fergie-esque balladry like "California King Bed," and the almost laughable reggae-tinged "Man Down."  Even her collaboration with rap-minx Nicki Minaj, "Raining Me," appears warmed over and out of date.  Here's hoping Rihanna recovers from this misstep and gets back to her usually impeccable choice of songs to use as singles.

Nicki Minaj
Pink Friday
Rating: Meh

Sort of a cross between the surreal rhymes of Missy Elliot and the sexy/slutty camp of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown, Nicki Minaj is anything but predictable.  I first came to hear her on Kanye West's new, amazing cd, and was really intrigued to here what she would come up on her own.  After listening to single "Did It On 'Em," with the hilariously vuglar lines "if I had a dick/I'd pull it out/ and piss on 'em."  Her insane delivery and the air-raid siren production attack I was practically salivating.  Then I get my copy of Pink Friday, and the words that come out are a decided, so what?  It sounds like the cd was made by committee.  Almost erased are the sassy bravado and smuttiness that make her stand out from a crowded field of other singers.  Aside from "Did It On 'Em," the out of the pocket boasting "I'm The Best," and the surprisingly decent collaboration with Eminem "Roman's Revenge," the remainder of the cd sounds like Rihanna-lite.    Oddly, there is a collaboration with Rhianna, and at times it is difficult to determine who is singing.  The cd just goes more downhill from there; the "Video Killed The Radio Star"-sampling collaboration with will.i.am is plain embarassing,  along with the nauseatingly banal balladry of "Save Me," and "Your Love."  Only the late in game collaboration with Kanye West "Blazin," seems to inject any life into this release. 



Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.