The Best: Wild Flag- Wild Flag: After their much-hyped and consequently acclaimed prime-time slot at this year’s South by Southwest festival, legions of riot grrrl enthusiasts awaited the first release of Wild Flag’s first album. And needless to say, the wait has most definitely been worth it. Wild Flag is vintage fist-in-the-air post-punk that incorporates discreet pop-undertones a la The Breeders. Then again, what else would you expect from a supergroup that is the spawn of Sleater-Kinney and Helium? “Racehorse” was a tune that stuck out to me because of my Fugazi fandom, the verse (“I’m a racehorse/you put your money on me”) and chorus (“We’re in the money! We’re in the money!”) resembled a chant that would have come out of the Ian Mackaye songbook. The musicianship of the group as a whole should not be slighted, the beautifully woven leads of Mary Timony soars over the syncopation of Carrie Browstein’s rhythm guitar. These ingredients along with the pulsating beats of Janet Weiss create a tasty concoction of power-pop bliss.
The Disappointment: Kanye West and Jay-Z- Watch the Throne: This album is sort-of like your mother-in-law’s meatloaf; your wife has been telling you since you two met that it’s the most delicious thing you will ever taste. But then you try it, and it’s like you’re tasting banality. But you can’t say that because your wife will not have sex with you for a month. I was thoroughly looking forward to this album because, I mean, c’mon, it’s Kanye and Jay-Z; arguably two of the greatest MC’s that this century has ever seen, without hyperbole. But what myself and audiences received was processed glam-rap that featured absolutely no tenacity from the most tenacious rapper alive in Jay-Z. From the opening track (“No Church in the Wild”) there was no sense aggressiveness or creativity from Hova, it was just his regular lines about Michael Jordan, his New Jersey Nets, and “having more hits than a Now 11”. I will say this though, Kanye West is on a whole different level than Jay-Z especially when it comes to the quality and density of his rhymes. It seems as if the king has officially passed the crown down to the prince, and now the prince has taken over the throne. West had to have been the main creative force behind this record due to the presence of auto-tune (“New Day”), dub-step beats (“Lift-Off”) and glossy production that had been previously featured on his masterful My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I hate to drink the hate-orade on one of my favorite artists, but it’s the Kanye show in this effort. Although I enjoyed the Run-DMC-esque chemistry between the two artists, Watch the Throne was too light and too bright to live up to my expectations.
The Worst: Jeff Bridges- Jeff Bridges: I know exactly what you’re saying, “c’mon! It’s The Dude!” And I agree, Bridges seems like too much of a lovable guy to get panned on his first go-around in the music biz, and I’m pretty sure Future Peter will slap Present Peter in the face when he reads this review. While Bridges didn’t go too crazy by staying in his comfort zone of mid-tempo country rock, he is a neophyte when it comes to songwriting and it shows through on his self-titled debut. Major props to producer T-Bone Burnett, once again, for bringing a Wall of Sound to country music, the instrumentation compliments the worn voice of Bridges perfectly. The bottom line is while many of songs written by Bridges (“Tumbling Vine” and “What a Little Bit of Love Can Do”) contain vivid imagery as worn as my horse’s saddle and are arranged beautifully, the album lacks texture and richness that would denote it as a significant piece of work.
Stray Tracks:
Soulja Boy- “So Fresh (You Can Suck My Nuts)”: Mark this as about the tenth song in the Soulja Boy catalog that is so bad it’s funny. All I can hope is that he’s not being serious. Between the “I’m so fresh you can suck my nuts”s and the “swag”s is a lame beat and incoherent banter that can only be heard from an inebriated homeless man in Times Square. As for Soulja Boy, I’d like to quote the classic film Billy Madison and say “may God have mercy on your soul.”
Neutral Milk Hotel- “Oh Sister”/”Ferris Wheel on Fire”: For those of you have wanted Jeff Mangum to come out his twelve year hibernation may have finally gotten their wish (no one? Just me? Alright…). These two previously unreleased tracks are vintage Neutral Milk; unique and esoteric imagery blended with folk-punk. These tracks are currently available for streaming only on the band’s revamped website but it will see future release as part of box set featuring re-mastered versions of NMH’s two full-length LP’s (On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea), un-released tracks and other rarities.
Heavy D and the Boyz- “Now That We Found Love”: This song is just awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNEgUPKxk7A&ob=av2n
Commissioner Spence’s Pick of the Month
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFN-nc23v9c
3 guesses who is in this video. I know, I know, I know. The song sucks. But Taylor cutely says the “Zach Galifianakis” line and just barely tops it by saying “and watch how good I’ll fake it” on top of a little hair flick. To quote “David after Dentist”, “Is this real life?” It goes without saying that my roommate had to splash water on my face and force feed me a capri sun to get me back to coherency. Seriously. Hottest freaking thing I’ve ever seen.
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