I love it when music gets you questioning the core of things. If an album can instantaneously shift my thoughts elsewhere, I know that it is moving, effective, and worth my attention. But yet, when it comes from a source that isn’t expected. N.E.R.D. – No_One Ever Really Dies released December 15, 2017 ******** 8/10…
I’ve been humbled once again. I bought a record on a whim, made some initial judgments based on the cover art and what I heard as I listened for the first time to a lean thirty seven minutes of modern country music, except that’s not what this is, at all. It’s an escape plan marked…
If you could name an up and coming country artist that’s done it all already, who do you think would fit that bill? I’ll give you two guesses for albums that have done that in 2017. But you only need one answer. Chris Stapleton – From A Room: Volume 2 released December 1, 2017 ********…
If you love something, you should let it go, and if it returns it was meant to be. A fitting line for this new album by the infamous Noel Gallagher, and his High Flying Birds, and consequently my return to the high-paced world of popular culture and social media. What have I been up to,…
Every once and a while, we all need a hug. Especially when it gets weird and dark. Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder released July 7, 2017 ********* 9/10 Broken Social Scene are a Canadian indie rock band (yay for Canadian content!) formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Sometimes they have six members,…
If I owned a sports bar, clothing line, sports agency, and multi-millions in real estate and art investments, people would probably come running to hear me too. JAY-Z – 4:44 released Jun 30, 2017 ********** 10/10 Sean Corey Carter, bettter known by his stage name JAY-Z, which has also been written as Jay-Z, Jay Z, Jay:Z and Jaÿ-ZJay-Z, Jay Z, Jay:Z and Jaÿ-Z,…
Every summer features an album that perfectly establishes what that feeling should sound like, but the challenge for me is that I eventually tire of summer and want to cool off with fall weather. This summer we’ve found our winner. Calvin Harris – Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 released Jun 30, 2017 ******** 8/10 Adam Richard…
Philosophy is a wonderful thing. Rich, compelling, and full of room to experiment, because there isn’t one world view per se. Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory released Jun 23, 2017 ******* 7/10 Vincent Jamal Staples, better known by his stage name, Vince Staples, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop group Cutthroat…
It’s important to make music that you care about dear readers. And it’s essential to listen to music that fires you up inside. And man does this music ever do that for me. Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark? released Jun 16, 2017 ******** 8/10 Royal Blood are an English rock and roll…
Time to pull out the sports equipment, latex paint, and fishing line, we got ourselves a planetarium to construct! Sufjan Stevens – Planetarium released Jun 9, 2017 ******** 8/10 Planetarium is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens, composer Nico Muhly, drummer James McAlister, and guitarist Bryce Dessner. A supernova, modern art, super group, if you will….