Terrace Martin - Fine Tune
Genre: Jazz; funk; R&B
Review
Terrace Martin was one of the first artists I ever found by myself! My start into finding my own music was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, which has Terrace Martin production on almost every single song. Even though I’ve been following him for close to a decade, I was always hoping for him to go back into a jazz direction. It’s been 7 years since his last jazz-focused release, and Fine Tune is his first foray back into this sound! Thankfully, it ended up just as great as I hoped! There are more covers here than I expected, three to be exact. All of them are by current day R&B artists, and Terrace is even featured on the original Leon Bridges song that he covers here with Cory Henry. There’s also a 10-minute full out jazz track with Kamasi Washington giving a 4-minute saxophone solo! I’m pretty sure his super group, Dinner Party, did this song at Coachella earlier this year, and the studio version is just as extravagant as I hoped for it to be! Sure, an hour might be a little too long, and not all of the more R&B-influenced cuts in the middle hit quite as hard, but I’m just more than excited to finally hear a majority jazz album from Terrace!
Favorite Songs: “Final Thought” (Feat. Kamasi Washington, Robert 'Sput' Searight & Larry Goldings), “Degnan Dreams” (Feat. Keyon Harrold, Justin Tyson & Dominique Sanders), “Sweeter” (Feat. Cory Henry)
If You Like: Jazz-fusion; accessible jazz-influenced music; soulful funk
Lil Uzi Vert - Pink Tape
Genre: Trap; hip-hop; metalcore
Review
Uzi has been a staple from the Soundcloud rap era that I have never fully understood. Sure, they’ve had plenty of songs that I’ve enjoyed, but I’ve never gotten the hype of sitting through a full Lil Uzi Vert project, until now. First, let’s get the obvious negative out of the way, this album is almost 90 minutes long. Even if you take off the three bonus songs, there are still 23 full length songs that make up this album! Even with the sonic explosion of sounds on this album, that is too long. But thankfully, Uzi experiments with the sonics on most of this album. “Fire Alarm” with Snow Strippers shouldn’t work. Their voice is pitched down over what sounds like an actual fire alarm that was flipped into a trap beat. Babymetal even makes an appearance on the final track for the most chaotic beautiful ending track I’ve heard from a mainstream album in a long time! “Suicide Doors” is easily one of the most insane tracks from this new rage-rap sound, and I’m sure having Arca helping produce the track is part of the reason why! Now, not every experiment on here works. Uzi covers “Chop Suey!” and even though I don’t hate it like most of the internet does, I definitely don’t enjoy it. “Endless Fashion” with Nicki Minaj samples the “I’m Blue” melody for the entire track to similar results, not awful, but not a success. But for what this album is, I love how many risks Uzi decided to take on here! I love how they’re not being stagnant with their sound, and still managed to be extremely popular
Favorite Songs: “Nakamura”, “Suicide Doors”, “Fire Alarm” (Feat. Snow Strippers)
If You Like: Whole Lotta Red; experimentation
Killer Mike - Michael
Genre: Southern hip-hop
Review
This is Killer Mike’s first solo album in over a decade! Since then, he’s been one half of the duo Run The Jewels, who’s brand of politically savvy hip-hop has taken people by storm. Michael is a return to Killer Mike’s more gospel and soulful influenced hip-hop that he used to make, instead of the futuristic feeling of Run The Jewels. Everything about Michael is solid. The southern-influenced production is almost always fantastic. The gospel singers he has all over this album really bring everything together! There are features on almost every song, to the point where it feels overbearing at times. Killer Mike’s subject matter is exactly what you would expect. Some tracks are heartbreaking to listen to, while others are just decent bragging tracks. The only real thing I can criticize about this is that Michael is not above and beyond in any way. It’s just a good album from a good rapper, there’s not much on here that rises above that.
Favorite Songs: “Down By Law” (Feat. Cee-Lo Green), “Motherless” (Feat. Eryn Allen Kane), “Spaceship Views” (Feat. 2 Chainz, Curren$y, and Kaash Paige)
If You Like: Outkast; Atlanta hip-hop
Mike Dimes - Texas Boy
Genre: Trap; southern hip-hop
Review
Texas Boy is the follow up to Mike Dimes’s breakout album, In Dimes We Trust. Released only twelve months later, it does feel like Mike could have spent more time on these tracks. The production here is a step down for the most part, which is a big part to the middling feeling that this album gives off. Most of these beats are just solid trap-inspired beats. Even when he gets someone like Denzel Curry on a song, the beat is just ok. That still doesn’t mean this project is without highlights though. The aforementioned Denzel Curry-featured “Arsenal” is a banger with Zel going absolutely bonkers for his verse. Even people like Wiz Khalifa, Joey Bada$$, and Maxo Kream make sure to deliver quality verses, a bit part of that reason has to be so they don’t get embarrassed on a track with Mike Dimes. Mike’s lyrics are still not much to write about, but his energy is still infectious on almost every track here. So while this project is a step down from In Dimes We Trust, it’s still an enjoyable southern hip-hop project with plenty of bangers for this summer.
Favorite Songs: “Hatchback” (Feat. Joey Bada$$), “Arsenal” (Feat. Denzel Curry), “Whisky and Weed”
If You Like: Texas hip-hop; UGK
The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does
Genre: Indie-pop
Review
Dubbed as “sad people music” by my mom, I knew I had to check this out. I do love myself some “sad people music”, but I have also seen plenty of hype and acclaim about this album from both fans and artists alike. After a couple listens, this album didn’t strike me as overall sad or moody. There are plenty of sad ballads, but there are just as many, if not more, upbeat indie pop tracks. She reminds me more of Muna (who is featured on the record), or even where Maggie Rogers should be at. I don’t know if I can fully call it sad girl indie, but it’s at least adjacent to that. Either way, no matter what you want to call it, it’s a fantastic listen! When she does slow it down is when I enjoy it the most, but even the more upbeat pop tracks are still good. Every listen so far, it’s grown on me, so hopefully it continues to.
Favorite Songs: “Over There”, “You always get what you want”, “Sunshine Baby”
If You Like: Maggie Rogers; boygenius; Muna
Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings
Genre: Folk; alternative
Review
Speaking of “sad people music”, Julie Byrne’s newest folk odyssey falls directly in that line of thinking, just in a less ironic way. Everything here is beautiful, but is marred by the subject matter. Her collaborator, Eric Littman, passed away in 2021 as the record was nearing completion, which caused her to alter what would have been released into the project we have now. There are absolutely cutting lyrics, including the line, “If your absence remains, I feel it right here, what eternity becomes,” on “Moonless”. Julie’s voice is airy, but it fits well over these minimal instrumentals. This isn’t the type of project that will be casual listening for many people, myself included, but it’s a beautiful look into what it’s like losing someone close to you.
Favorite Songs: “Conversation is a Flowstate”, “Lightning Comes Up From The Ground”, “Moonless”
If You Like: Cassandra Jenkins; beautiful folk music
Nas - Magic 2
Genre: Hip-Hop
Review
Sure enough, before 12 months could go by from the release of KD3, Nas and Hit-Boy are back again with their fifth collaboration album in three years! Magic 2 may be slightly worse than the last three projects by them, but it’s still fantastic! It’s nice to have a Nas album that you don’t have to overthink. Sure, there are still plenty of fantastic lines and song ideas from Nas on here, but for someone that is considered one of the greatest lyricists in history, this album is easy listening compared to most of his discography. Hit-Boy’s production is fairly similar to the previous projects. Nothing about Magic 2 breaks new ground for what they’ve done together in the past few years, but it’s just another fantastic helping from one of the greatest rappers of all time!
Favorite Songs: “Abracadabra”, “What This All Really Means”, “Black Magic”
If You Like: The previous albums
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Scaring The Hoes: The DLC
Genre: Experimental hip-hop
Review
Just when we thought we were safe, JPEG and Danny decided to bless us with four more songs just before their joint tour starts. All four of these tracks would fit right in with the original album. These don’t feel like throwaways, even though they very well might be. The Spongebob sample on, “Guess What Bitch, We Back Hoe!” was a great start, and the gospel sample on the final track (which is called the word “no” 32 times), is absolutely fantastic! “Tell Me Where To Go” is the most introspective track here, with Danny even using his deep voice on here. It’s the only time on both projects he does it, and I hope he does it more often. It helps it cut through the often chaotic production of JPEG. This little project just confirms that chemistry is even better than I could have imagined! I hope they end up becoming an actual duo, because it would give us plenty of amazing music!
Favorite Songs: “Guess What Bitch, We Back Hoe!”, “Hermanos”, “Tell Me Where To Go”
If You Like: The original album; ecstasy; chaos
Glaive - I care so much that I don’t care at all
Genre: Alt-pop
Review
At only 18 years old, this is the debut album from artist Glaive. Even though he’s only 18, he has been making music for long enough to have an artistic evolution from more electronic hyperpop bangers to more angst-driven alt-pop. I’ve never listened to a full Glaive project before this one, and maybe this wasn’t the best introduction. It’s not bad, but this is just not my type of music. There are some replayable tracks, including the anthemic, “the car” and the more accessible, “all i do is try my best”, but overall, this just isn't for me. The lyrics are so teenage angst that it makes it hard to listen to. Trigger warning here, but the very first lines on the album are about how he wants to kill himself when he turns 23. I hope the music is helping young people that feel in that state, but it’s so cringy and honestly uncomfortable to listen to. I guess that’s the point though, all art is supposed to be enjoyed the same way. I hope that this album and Glaive as a whole is helping not only others, but also himself to feel better about life.
Favorite Songs: “The car”, “all i do is try my best”, “tiziana”
If You Like: MGK; black skinny jeans
Blake Mills - Jelly Road
Genre: Indie; Alternative
Review
Producer Blake Mills is back again with his first solo album since working with Pino Palladino and Marcus Mumford on their respective albums. Jelly Road shows how talented Blake Mills is as an actual producer. He is no longer restrained behind the other artist, and it allows him to break song structures. Sure, why not have a three minute guitar solo at the end of your lead single, or a three minute long instrumental named after a former Prince’s band, The Revolution. Blake’s voice is never the highlight of this project, but it works. It’s his production and instrumentation that makes Jelly Road stand out. Most of this isn’t even him getting other people on his work, he is the one who is playing the majority of the instruments on the record. This isn’t an album to listen to all the time though. For example, there are too many weird and calm moments for this album to be played in the car. “Breakthrough Moon” is just one example, where the vocals on the verses are panned and slightly out of sync to create this unnerving effect. Hearing something that weird might scare some people, but this album will unravel itself beautifully to anyone who gives it a try.
Favorite Songs: “Skeleton is Walking”, “Press My Luck”, “There is No Now”
If You Like: Music theory
Paris Texas - Mid Air
Genre: Hip-hop; rock; indie
Review
After two fantastic Paris Texas EPs in 2021, Mid Air is their debut album! Judging by their reviews, people aren’t quite loving this album, but I don’t understand what there is not to love. Sure, their flows are fairly samey and the lyrics aren’t always that great, but the energy here is one of the best I’ve heard all year! Their production mixes rock, rap, indie, and so much more into a sound that while isn’t revolutionary, doesn’t sound quite like anything else out there. Their energy is easily infectious, and both of the features absolutely kill it. Kenny Mason especially brings a more introspective vibe to “DnD” that Paris Texas has never had before. I could nitpick the little things of this project, like how they could have had a couple more melodic tracks, but Mid Air is a thrilling ride from start to finish!
Favorite Songs: “DnD” (Feat. Kenny Mason), “NüWhip”, “tenTHIRTYseven”
If You Like: Teezo Touchdown; Kenny Mason, JID
Tainy - Data
Genre: Reggaeton, Latin-trap
Review
Tainy is likely reggaeton’s biggest producer right now, mainly because he is behind the majority of Bad Bunny’s material. Because of Tainy’s status, he was able to have almost every big name in this genre available. The second song on the project Arcangel, Jhayco, Arca, Mike Towers, Omar Courtez, and a surprise Bad Bunny feature at the end! And just to reiterate, all of these people are on one song! Other features include Rauw Alejandro, Skrillex, Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, the Marias, and many more that I can’t count. Both the positive and negative with all these features is that the quality of them varies greatly, but there are plenty of gems on here. Bad Bunny especially sounds fantastic on everything he does on Data. This album is an hour of summer vibes for people to enjoy from one of the genre's great producers!
Favorite Songs: "Pasiempre" (Feat. Arcángel, Jhayco, Arca, Myke Towers and Omar Courtz), "Mojabi Ghost" (Feat. Bad Bunny), “Mañana” (Feat. Young Miko & the Marias)
If You Like: Bad Bunny; reggaeton
Comments