Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
Brooklyn’s Joey Bada$$ just turned 20 but has been turning
heads since he was 17. After a series of acclaimed EP’s and mixtapes, Bada$$
arrives in grand fashion with his full length debut, B4.DA.$$ and brings with
him a touch of 90’s glory days and a willingness to showcase he is one of the
leaders of the new school. While 2014 suffered as a lackluster year for
hip-hop, Bada$$ goes firing on all cylinders at the top of the new year with
his debut. A ferocious look into the mind of someone who doesn’t seem to be in
the music for the fame but for the message.
FINAL GRADE: A+
Bjork – Vulnicura
The last time Bjork dazzled her audience was in 2011 with
her app album, Biophilia, now, the Icelandic princess who has always discussed
nature, life, and science, travels inward for the first time to discuss
herself. Vulnicura is Bjork at her most vulnerable. It is a breakup record that
plays out like the plotlines of an Oscar contending film that rips from the
headlines and heartstrings of Bjork’s own life. The album is an expression of
her breakup with artist Matthew Barney and culminates three months before the
split, the heart of the breakup, and the recovery after. With production by
Arca and The Haxan Cloak, heartbreak never sounded so bittersweet.
FINAL GRADE: A
Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love
For the first time in a decade, punk heroines Sleater-Kinney
return with their eighth album and showcase that even if life gets in the way
of this band they will not lose their touch.
FINAL GRADE: A
Mark Ronson – Uptown Special
Leave it to Mark Ronson to craft one of the best soul and
funk records of the last 15 years. The British beatmaker and producer gets
everyone from Stevie Wonder to Bruno Mars on Uptown Special and crafts a
concord of sound that will get any party started from here to whatever uptown
special you may be going to.
FINAL GRADE: A-
Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor
Marilyn Manson continues to make music but not headlines.
The God of Fuck was a textbook shock rocker in the 90’s but as the turn of the
century emerged his fame seemed to diminish. While he never left the spotlight,
he was not exactly the center of attention any more, he left that for Lady Gaga
and reality TV stars to try and shock the media. But Manson still put out music
and still worked as an artist and actor, recently appearing on the final season
of Sons of Anarchy, but the AntiChrist Superstar was not the man in the
spotlight and because of that it may have lead to a creative vein being cut
open and allowing Manson to craft one of his finest records. The Pale Emperor
is his ninth opus and doesn’t hold back. It plays like a cinematic voyage into
the mind of a man who strived for celebrity, achieved it and then wanted to get
away from it as fast as he could. It is a record as complex as the man who
crafted it and a record just as compelling as the man whose story it is.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Derek Grant – Breakdown
Alkaline Trio’s drummer goes right up to the front of the
stage with his solo debut, Breakdown. Grant, known for being the
backbone of the punk rock trio that has gained so much attention through the
years showcases his tender and emotional side on Breakdown. If you
thought you new Grant before, think again, you will look at the musician in a
whole new way from now on.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Until the Ribbon Breaks – A Lesson Unlearnt
The long awaited debut from one of music’s most promising
groups, Until The Ribbon Breaks, finally has arrived. It is hard to tell if it
was worth the wait but fans of the group who have been waiting for A Lesson
Unlearnt will enjoy what they hear, while new fans will emerge curious to the
sound and style this sexy band can make.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Bright Light Bright Light – There Are No Miracles EP
One of the most underrated songwriters, singers, and
entertainers, Rod Thomas aka Bright Light Bright Light returns teasing us with
a new EP, There Are No Miracles. This EP, like his previous efforts, showcases
his ability to make you dance and get emotional at the same time.
FINAL GRADE: B+
Belle & Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
Nine albums in and Scotland’s Belle & Sebastian are
still as cute as ever. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a fun and pun filled
record that still shows their strong writing style while keeping with what has
got this band so much attention through the years.
FINAL GRADE: B
Title Fight – Hyperview
Take what you know about punks Title Fight and throw it out
the window. Their latest, Hyperview, is a shoe-gaze rock record that shows that
they have the testicular fortitude to head into a new direction and not
alienate the fanbase that has developed around them like cult.
FINAL GRADE: B
J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
One of the last records of last year happened to be one of the
most solid and surprising and no, we are not talking about D’Angelo, it came
from J. Cole. Cole, who surprised fans with 2014 Forest Hills Drive gets
really personal and vivid about what it was like for him growing up and
developing into the man he has become.
FINAL GRADE: B
The Decemberists – What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful
World
Colin Malloy of The Decemberists has a knack for telling a
story in his songs, it has what has made him one of America’s most prolific and
acclaimed songwriters of the last 20 years. So, on his band’s latest effort,
their ninth record, he tries to find beauty in tragedy and finds tragedy in
beauty. The record, is typical Decemberists but it is Malloy who is the star of
the show. From singing about personal experiences to trying to wrap his head
around the Sandy Hook shootings of 2012, What a Terrible World, What a
Beautiful World, is his cathartic experience to get his emotions in order.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo and Youth
There was a point in Lupe Fiasco’s career where it seemed he
was poised to be the next Kanye and get on the level of acclaim that Kendrick
Lamar would get in 2012 after his debut. None of those things ever panned out.
No one is clear if it is because of label disputes or just Fiasco’s own demons
that prevented the talented emcee from Chicago to get to become one of the
biggest names in hip-hop. Yet, this gets addressed on his latest Tetsuo and
Youth. His fifth album is one of his most solid and concrete in years and not
just trying to craft singles but really try and craft a full record. On Tetsuo
and Youth, Fiasco gets personal and gets political, it is one of his most
ferocious to date and worthy of a listen.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Lazyeyes – New Year EP
Emerging Brooklyn shoe-gaze favorites, Lazyeyes, return to
start 2015 off with a new EP. New Year EP is the band at their best and
preparing fans to what is to come in the year ahead.
FINAL GRADE: B-
Madonna – Rebel Heart
While Madonna has always set trends, lately her records have
just been going with the trends. The Material Girl enlisted Diplo for her
latest album and while he is one of the biggest producers in the business now,
the icon can’t get into the groove. Rebel Heart like her last two albums, Hard
Candy and MDNA, are just derivatives of what its out now. She tries too hard to
try and stay relevant instead of trying to create what will be popular next or
the blueprint for other artists to follow. The fact that Mike Tyson is the most
interesting thing on a Madonna record is the most shocking part of this whole
scenario.
FINAL GRADE: D