Album Review: Quick Update/The 80's Reborn???

Okay my many followers (LOL!!), I'm dying to write an article about next years Grammy's and who I think will be nominated and who I think should be nominated. However, this summer and beginning of Fall has been filled with alot of music I've yet to review. I have about 13 albums I want to review, and in trying to power-through I'm gonna do just a quick/SUPER-quick recap of what I've been listening to.
Note: I'm gonna use a rating system on this and future album posts, but I might not stick with that style of rating so just know that it might change (probably next year)
So I'm gonna power-through and get these quick reviews done, than I have to post about the Grammy's and than I have an updated Top 25 Favorite Artists of All Time to post. The Grammy nominations are announced in December so expect an article about that, and than ofcourse we'll have our big Year-End post which will be better than the excellent one last year.

So let's start with the reviews!
Devo "Something for Everybody"

The New Wave Kings Devo return after 20 years with an album that actually does in fact feel like a true return to form, and feels like the classic Devo the world fell in love with in the 80's. And the group actually does this in a way that doesn't feel forced, which is one good thing about the album. Tracks like "What We Do" and first single "Fresh" are fun and full of "pep" like their 1980 "Freedom of Choice" album and more of their more commercial outings in the 80's. However the album falters because there's no sense of experimentation or them trying anything new which is the best thing about their early music. Still a fun listen overall.

Rating: Three Stars
Best: "What We Do" "Fresh""Later is Now"


Prince "20Ten"

This album was actually released only in the UK, and for Free in their Weekend Edition newspaper. I'm not in London and I don't subscribe to that paper but thank god for the internet. This album finds Prince giving sonic homages to his work in the 80's, but as always he mixes those sounds with more contemporary elements. The overall feel of the album is not much different from the vibe of his 2009 3 Disc outing, there's Funk ("Act of God"), there's Pop/Rock (the pretty awful "Everybody Loves Me") and there's wannabe-Hip Hop ("Laydown"). The highlights of the album are clearly the slower tempo R&B songs "Walk in the Sand" and "Future Soul Song", and even those come off sounding a little dated for him. It's time for Prince to either bring in some new Producers to get a fresh perspective or just take more time off in between albums. The album on the whole is enjoyable, but like Devo there's just a bit o originality lacking.

Rating: Three Stars
Best: "Future Soul Song" "Sticky Like Glue" "Walk in the Sand"

Album Review: Big Boi

It's funny because I wrote an article a few months back for FullBlastMagazine.com, asking different artists to finally come out of their hiding and deliver the music their fans want. I talked about The Strokes, Missy Elliot and OutKast whose last album was 2006's "Idlewild". In the article I did note how the group always said they wanted Big Boi's first solo album to be released before they came back as a group, and finally after a few years and "promo" singles have passed and Big Boi has delivered "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" a very diverse, fun, and overall pleasing Hip Hop album. The beauty of OutKast is that they've always been unique to the Hip Hop genre, they always stayed true to the roots but added weird and very original elements to make them stand out. Big Boi, because he was less animated and not as unique in style as his partner Andre 3000, has always been overlooked in the talent department. His contributions to the duo over the past 15 years are essential to why OutKast has managed to be so popular, glimpses of his talent were shown on the feature-heavy "Speakerboxxx" side of their Grammy winning double album. "Sir Lucious" is more effective in shining a light on him and his impeccable wordplay, cadence and overall delivery. Though there are loads of features from the likes of T.I., Jamie Foxx, Too $hort, Gucci Mane and George Clinton to name a few, this album is really a celebration of Big Boi and he manages to never let himself be drowned out or overpowered by his guests or the amazing production behind the songs.

If a complaint can be made, it may come from the fact that this album at times does feel too much like an OutKast album and doesn't do all that much to separate itself. Songs like "Turn Me On" and "Tangerine" for example feel like they are only missing that verse from Andre. The difference on "Sir Lucious" is that most of the songs feel like they come from a really organic place, they might not all use live instrumentation but they feel like it. It just feels like less of a computer and technology assisted album and more like a jam-session. And though there is experimentation with the production (the stuttering backing track to the first single "Shutterbug" and the dingy underground sounding track to "Fo Yo Sorrows" -- two stand outs from the album), this album never goes too far left with their sounds. One other complaint comes from the fact that Big is making some pretty important statements on individual songs, but overall the album doesn't feel like it's saying anything. There's a bit of a lack of cohesiveness with the actual content of the songs, but the production flows pretty effortlessly. And that's quite a challenge given the very diverse sounds on the album... take the two best songs for example "Follow Us" is an R&B-ish track that's significantly Rocked out with the hook by Vonnegut, and "Be Still" almost takes a jazzy route thanks to Janelle Monae's smooth vocals on it's hook.

"Sir Lucious Left Foot" is a pretty impressive, fun and actually catchy Hip Hop album. Which is pretty amazing because with Hip Hop there is a fine line with that... if you go too Fun it's just a commercial pop album, and if it's not Fun at all it's just a boring album that takes itself too seriously. This album is perfectly balanced and the perfect running time, as it never really gets to feeling like too much. The best thing however, is that this albums release might signal the return of really the best Hip Hop Duo of all time. Let's cross our fingers.

Album Review: Surfer Blood, Beach House, The Morning Benders

The Indie scene these days gives the listener a change of pace from the mainstream stuff that dominates the radios and video programming (which believe it or not does still exist). Where mainstream is generally more calculated and less concerned with innovation or even inspiration, Indie music has the freedom of not fitting into any particular mold and can experiment with both sound and content. The problem sometimes though is if you listen to too much Indie they get the tendency to sound the same. I'd probably blame it on the fact these new groups are around the same age and have a lot of the same influences, sometimes the tone and even content of their music is very similar. Case in point, the three Indie groups I'm about to review. All three are actually really good and show promise, and their albums are also fairly outstanding but it's not difficult to mistake one for the other if you haven't listened to each album extensively to point out the subtle differences.

Surfer Blood stands out from the pack with their debut "Astro Coast", the group offers up a very strong collection of songs and are able to keep the tone the same throughout while being versatile. Tracks like "Swim" and "Take it Easy" are catchy and radio-friendly, but other songs on the album like "Harmonix" and "Anchorage" manage to be very edgy and dark while still maintaining the summer feel of the whole album. They are at once credible Rockers and also commercial enough to cross-over to the mainstream. And the vocals seem to be perfect track by track, the lead singer of the 5 piece band knows how to shift his voice and give the appropriate attitude and emotion for each song. Though at times the group comes off as maybe a harder edged Vampire Weekend, or a less fun Weezer, overall the group does let their individual talents speak for themselves. Surfer Blood is definitely a group to look out for in the coming years, and this album is definitely one of the better pieces of Music released this year.

Beach House's third studio album "Teen Dream" is a little all over the place but still a calming and interesting listen. They seem to take basic arrangements and tweek them a bit, like the single "Norway" which has an eery backing track with odd tuning and distorted sounds, the production on tracks like this, "Walk in the Park" and "Take Care" elevates what might be too melancholy songs to the next level. When the group isn't being atmospheric with their sound, they tend to get a little too peppy with tracks like "Used to Be" and "Better Times" which are alright songs but don't mesh well with their overall sound. However the remaining tracks like "Lover of Mine" and "10 Mile Stereo" are great. They give an 80's pop feel, but stripped and than mixed with elements to make the sound a little bigger and more organic. In the end it's a satisfying album, though because everything feels really "dream-like" it can be easy to forget.

Which leaves us with The Morning Benders, a local group (Berkeley, My Birth Town) whose group name feels all too fitting on their sophomore effort "Big Echo", a moody, very dark, very emotional album. On this album it feels like a group of guys waking up regretful and hungover from some good times the night before. And their morose lyrics and vocal delivery, matched with the bands very unique arrangements make for some excellent music. Tracks like the superb "Hand Me Downs" as well as "Sleeping In", "Mason Jar" and "Wet Cement" are especially effective because you can't help but feel something with the intense yet dour instrumentation. They have some upbeat commercial tracks that are not the best ("Cold War" "All Day Day Light"), but the group is at their best on the slower more introspective songs. The only downside with this group, for me, are the vocals which are a little too thin at times for such serious material. Often the vocals interrupt the flow of such full material, but it is something that can be overlooked. Great Band though, the players are genius in the risks they take with their arrangements and the way they make everything work on the emotional level.

Album Review: M.I.A., Robyn, Janelle Monáe

Apologizing for the infrequency of new posts off the top. And I'm starting another semester of school, so my blog might suffer a bit. There's loads of music I've been listening to, old and new, so I'm gonna try to cover them ALL within this week.(Although this first posting has taken me over a week to post, so we'll see how the rest goes)Let's start out with the Weird Girls I've been enjoying M.I.A., Robyn and newcomer Janelle Monáe.

"Maya" (as it's labeled on iTunes, but apparently the real title is something like "/\/\/\Y/\")

is the third album from UK's M.I.A. one of the few popular artists that lives completely outside of the box. Or at least has up until this latest album, which is a mostly great album even if it doesn't feel as new and fresh as her first two. One could call the album's second single "Xxxo" or songs like "It Takes a Muscle" as intentional cross-over attempts, and one could also say songs like "Space" are obvious attempts to re-capture the success from her US break-out single "Paper Planes". Still, once the album is finished you get the sense that M.I.A. is still staying true to herself even it's really not any better or worse than her last two albums. Since her 2007 album "Kala" it seems she's in a calmer place than the once hectic reggae/hip hop sounds of before, this new outing sounds way more contained and subdued. "It Iz What It Iz" "Lovalot" are two stand out songs that find M.I.A. flowing more comfortably over less chaotic and noisy beats like before. Even when she goes heavy punk (the first single "Born Free") there's still a sense it was produced with the idea of organized noise, not going to the maximum but editing elements out to give a more succinct vibe. Overall "/\/\/\Y/\" is a great outing, and even though for M.I.A. some of it sounds familiar, on the whole the album is still way more innovative and original than most albums released.

Robyn went from late 90's Pop Tart to Electronica/Club Queen with her last eponymous album released in 2008. The critically hailed and Grammy nominated album was obvious inspiration for the first of her new trilogy "Body Talk, Pt. 1".

The 8-track album serves as a bit of a sampler of what made the critics and fans fall in love with the last album, as songs like "Fembot", "Jag vet en dejlig Rosa" and the stellar first single "Dancing on My Own" are reminiscent of tracks from that album. Robyn again offers heavy Electronic, Club, and sometimes straight up Pop tracks under very thoughtful lyrics and melodies, like a more credible Lady GaGa or Ke$ha. With this album she stretches her versatility even further with the Diplo assisted, reggae/electro hybrid "Dancehall Queen" and the more ambient Club banger "None of Dem" with Röyksopp. "Pt. 1" more than wets the listeners appetite for the second and third installments (the second installment is due in September. Third installment has no release date as of yet) and gives a great alternative to the mindless Dance music dominating the radio.

And it's not only the established artists who are daring to be original, newcomer Janelle Monáe has delivered her first full length album

"The ArchAndroid" which is both original and eclectic. The smooth voiced Monáe effortlessly takes a crusade from different genres like Jazz, Rock, Pop, R&B as well as style influences from different decades and yet somehow it all works together to deliver a soulful and relaxing (at times) album that has very little filler. While the album on the whole is an epic and versatile journey, the versatility might be the one downfall. Though the album is a breath of fresh air, and Monáe's ability to mold her voice and attitude to the variety of sounds is impressive. However it's hard to lock down what exactly HER style is, outside of her being able to tackle effectively the vast variety of material on the album, it's hard to figure out what she's bringing to the album vocally, personality, attitude and style wise. Of course that's a very minor complaint, and her style will surely come out in the next few albums. Meanwhile, this album is a must-listen for this year as it's one of the most original and adventurous albums to surface in a long while.

2010 BET Awards (aka) My Thoughts on the Chris Brown thing.

We can discuss the actual Awards ceremony later, what's heavy on my mind -- and the mind of the Twitterverse and Blogosphere as well -- is Chris Brown's little performance last night.

First off, BET Awards devoted their entire telecast last year to Michael Jackson. The King of Pop died just a few days before that telecast, but they still managed to squeeze in about four nice tributes to MJ by Ne-Yo, and Ciara among others. So when Jermaine Jackson came on stage and talked about the tribute everybody had been waiting on, I immediately thought Usher or even Justin Timberlake. Because both of those artists are the ones waiting in the wings for that King of Pop title, and Timberlake has never done any sort of tribute to MJ since his death. Usher took part in the Grammy tribute, but I figured Jermaine might have been saying that Usher never did a tribute for him on BET. Either way, whoever it was, I also thought about how every award show since last year had a tribute to Michael in so many different ways. What on earth could we have not seen yet, that is something we've been waiting for.

And after Jermaine said "Here He is", and sometime before the white curtain showing just a silhouette was dropped, I figured it was Chris Brown. And I was somewhat excited. Brown has always been a tremendous dancer and he's always sited MJ as his biggest influence so it's a no brainer that he would do well in the dance tribute he provided to the audience. And still mid-way through I lost interest, because is that really fair? Let's just imagine if Brown's album "Grafitti" didn't tank and he was actually invited to the ceremony to perform. I would have no problem if he used his time on stage to tribute Michael since he didn't get the chance last year. But it seems obvious that BET invited him to come on and do the tribute, as a way to get him back in the good graces of the public by using the fact that he didn't take part last year (and, I wonder if they invited him last year?). Which, is basically like them giving him a do-over. And I have a bit of a problem with that. What has Chris Brown done to make BET feel the need to sympathize with him and help him out over all the other struggling artists?

I'm over the Incident with Rihanna. That's not really my issue with him. It's his behavior afterward that has soured my respect for him. His playing the victim in interviews, the trying to get people to feel sorry for him, even when he was the villain in the case was the wrong move. Even aside from that, and totally aside from the domestic abuse case, his behavior on Twitter following the disappointing sales of his album showed what an entitled cry-baby he is. He went on a Twitter tirade when he assumed that Walmart wasn't carrying his album (even though they officially came out and confirmed that they were, just not that particular store because they had sold out), and he begged his followers to boycott the chain store. He begged his fans to request his songs on radio, because in his own mind (with no proof what so ever) he felt they were blacklisting his music (and "I Can Transform Ya" actually played on radio stations and was building at a point), and than a negative piece of press from a female journalist had him going off on Twitter once again calling the woman names just like a little child would.

So what about his behavior this past year showed BET that he was this changed man? Why did they feel like he deserved a second chance? I personally don't feel like he's done anything, he put out a solid album and he should have focused on that and not the negativity and he would have possibly come out on top. Even if "Grafitti" turned into a massive, un-savable Flop, he should have known better to ignore the negativity and keep hustling. Instead he complained, whined, bitched and moaned. Acted just like a volatile kid, and here BET is giving him another shot. (SMDH!)

So back to his little tribute, after going through I think 4 different songs (just dancing by the way, he didn't even have a mic at that point) Chris slowed it down and the music for "Man in the Mirror" swelled up. And this is where #FAIL comes to play, he couldn't sing. I'm sure he was out of breath, and I'm sure he was genuinely emotional for various reasons after his dance tribute. The emotions from being back on stage, from tributing his idol, even from the lyrics of the song. Whatever it was, he started crying (Balling, literally sobbing and spitting) and he just couldn't get his vocals together to complete the song. And at a certain spot he seemed to stop trying altogether. And I don't blame him, the crowd was applauding him on as if his not-singing was a good thing!? I just feel like if you're going to be a professional, and this is supposed to be your big chance to show people what you can do, there has to be a point where you need to pull it together, look beyond the emotion or even use the emotion to help with your vocal, but do SOMETHING don't just walk back and forth crying and lipping the words.

Okay I know I may be a little harsh-sounding right now, because I understand where certain other people are coming from who said that he did a good job. For me, he did a great job in the dancing but I wouldn't have ever expected him to do less than a great job because he's a great dancer and he probably spent most of his childhood mocking Jackson's moves. The vocals were a hot mess, and I just can't forgive him for not at least trying to get it together and SING.

And than, Brandy and Ray-J (who I also can't stand, Ray-J a lot less than Brandy who I used to love but her new reality show has completely turned me off) presented an award for the best Fans (or some kind of bullsh*t award), and surprise surprise Chris Brown won. The thing that irked me about his acceptance speech (aside from Ray J. making everybody give him a standing ovation) was his "to my fans, I know I let you down but I promise I won't do it again". Okay dude just shut up! He's still on that "oh every one needs to feel sorry for me" kick and after almost two years we've heard that enough. Just let it go, Rihanna is on her world tour right now and she's gotten over it, why can't you!?

Anyway the awards show was pretty cool. Not the best. I'll post a full review later.

Album Review: Drake

He lived up to the hype!

After the entire summer of 2009 being dominated with Drake's "Best I Ever Had", I was beginning to think maybe his hype would die down and nobody would even pay attention when he finally released his solo debut. And people Need to pay attention to his debut "Thank Me Later" which was released today, because surprisingly it's becoming one of my favorite albums of the year. His stuff leading up to this debut, his work with Lil Wayne's Young Money and his Mix-Tape "So Far Gone", gave us just a little taste of what to expect on a very thoughtful first album. And what he manages to do with this album is paint a picture of where he's at, while proving he's an excellent lyricist definitely worthy of all the pre-album buzz and praise.

From the Alicia Key's assisted album opener "Fireworks" the album plays as a journey in his mind, with the plot being his move into a prime spot in the Hip Hop game. "Today it begins, I've missed them before, won't miss them again, I keep having the same dream, and I think that I just realized what it means" is the start of him pursuing his dream, while "The Resistance" he talks about how people around him change once the fame starts to come ("she miss the old me, which made me question when I went missing, and when I start treating my friends different"), and "Over" being his determination to block out the negativity and keep on "doing me, and that's what I'ma do 'til it's over". As the fame rises, he is ready to enjoy it "Show me a Good Time" and splurge "Up All Night". After he gets advice from the Leaders of the game Jay-Z and Lil Wayne on "Light Up" and "Miss Me", he feels confident enough to tell the Game to "Thank Me Now". And even though Drake does fall victim to alot of the same Hip Hop concepts, his lyrics make them feel a little more personal. Like he's just stating his reality and not showing off, which is a fine line for a lot of other rappers but he does it effortlessly here. Also he goes in and out of rapping and singing, which is a nice touch to make the album different from every other Rap album released. He's not the best singer, but his singing voice is always perfectly placed by softening up a song when his lyrical attack get too intense. A lot of times it actually feels like he's a featured artist on his own song, which sometimes make the guest appearances a little much, but it always ends up working in the end.

The production on the album, largely supplied by virtually unknown 40 with big names Kanye West Timbaland and Swizz Beatz thrown into the mix, is really seamless in keeping a Epic but calm vibe throughout. Which is probably why the Rap/Singing thing works so well, the tracks literally beg for the various changes he does with his voice. And just to add another layer, it seems like most of the songs have both lyrics your typical Hip Hop fan would appreciate, but also respectful odes to women. The mostly sung "Karoake" speaks about having to let love go because of the fame "I was only trying to get ahead, but the spotlight makes you nervous", and of course first single "Find Your Love" which finds him at the end of the album willing to put his fame aside for love. Even on "Fancy" and "Shut it Down" he finds ways to honor women instead of just using them. Something as simple as him telling his women to "put that fucking dress on" in "Shut it Down" (yeah that's right. put it ON!) is shocking in both Hip Hop and R&B these days (he does ask her to take it off once the song makes a genius turn towards the end).

I literally can go on and on about all the beautiful layers of great music and great talent that Drake has combined to make a truly Grammy worthy album. And let's not ignore the risks he took, with producers and his super long bars at times. He showed his talent, stayed pretty much contemporary, while stretching the boundaries a bit. This is my favorite album of the year and I wasn't expecting to like it, I was never all the way on board with the Drake love last year. He delivered though, he made me forget all about his "Degrassi" rep by making great music. And doing it by being himself, another thing I Love about the album is that he never tries to play the Thug (which is something I've always loved about an obvious inspiration Kanye West), he's just a guy with the passion that wants to make it big. I can feel what everybody must have been praising him about before, he has the talent to go all the way. He says in my favorite song on the album "when you get to talking about the Greatest, I just hope that you think of me, cause I'm trying to be Unforgettable" and I honestly already can't wait for the follow up album, but this will more than do for the rest of the year.

Album Review: Christina Aguilera

There was a time when acts like Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce were the newbies in the industry. Now with the Rihanna’s, GaGa’s and Bieber’s taking over as the new breed, those former newbies are all transitioning into either Living Legends or Faded Stars. At this point, Christina Aguilera is somewhere in the middle and her new album "Bionic" doesn’t seem to do much to push her towards either side. The album is by no means a Bad album, but it’s not exceptionally Good either. The first problem is that the album is way too long at 18 tracks (the deluxe edition extends that to 23 tracks), so as a whole it’s not an easy listen. Fortunately the good outweighs the bad (“My Girls” “I Hate Boys” and a few of the lifeless ballads), and when it’s good it’s Great! Aguilera molds her voice to the various genres included on this album. The Electro-Punk-Dance supplied by producers John Hill and Switch are some of the best on the album, “Elastic Love” and the title track are great examples of Aguilera stretching and shifting her power house vocals into an almost unrecognizable style that completely suits the production. Even when she goes into Latin-Dance (“Desnudate” a KILLER track that should be the next single -- should have been the FIRST single) Dance-Pop (“Glam”) and island influenced R&B (“Woohoo”) her voice provides the power without going overboard. And the choice ballads “All I Need” “I Am” and the albums best song “Lift Me Up” are among some of her best, but also show some vocal growth and maturity.
And than there’s the bad which, truth be told, aren’t bad enough to ruin the whole album but just play as unnecessary filler. The aforementioned “I Hate Boys” and “My Girls” sound like a desperate attempt to make something catchy for the radio, while “You Lost Me” and “Sex for Breakfast” sound like they could have been included on previous Aguilera albums (“Back to Basics” and “Stripped” respectively). After listening to over 90 minutes of music, the final result is a little lukewarm. And given the songs available on the Deluxe edition (“Monday Morning” being the best of the 6 tracks), it seems like the album could have been perfect If her or her label knew how to appropriately edit the album down. Leaving her with just an okay, somewhat uneven album. It definitely doesn’t push her any higher into the Living Legend circle, but it’s still good enough and shows enough promise to assure she still has a good place in the industry among her peers.

Edit:
Oh and another thing. I've actually compiled my own tracklisting of the album and have been listening to it exclusively ever since. The reason being, this album is horribly sequenced. It feels like it could have been split into two albums like her last album "Back to Basics" and worked better, but she goes from R&B/Hip Hop to ElectroPunk to Latin Dance, and than from Emotional ballad to Disposable Pop Trash ("You Lost Me" into "I Hate Boys") the album on the whole becomes a bit of a mess. I edited and have created (in my mind at least) a far superior version of the album. And I'm sure other listeners can do the same.

Album Reviews: Quick Update!!!

Finishing up my Spring semester was pretty time-consuming. And that's my excuse for
not posting in over a month, but I have alot of stuff in the pipeline because there's so much music i've listened to in the past month and have to share my reviewers for my loyal followers =)

So firstly I'm gonna do another Quick Update! A wrap up on some of the stand outs, but I promise I'm going to post more reviews, longer reviews too, really soon.

MGMT "Congratulations"

This is the album is where I caught my writer’s block. Trying to wrap my thoughts around MGMT’s sophomore outing "Congratulations" was a bit of a challenge and still to this day I can’t really think of the appropriate words to describe it. Much like their debut breakthrough, their second is also very different and very weird. While their first album was very "indie" in style – pretty dark and pretty dingy production – at least those songs had some catchiness to them. "Congratulations" strips the duo of anything that might be considered radio-friendly and gives listeners a true feast for the ears. This album and the debut both have heavy psychedelic influences; this outing softens the mood and is definitely a more calming relaxing album on the whole. "Lady DaDa's Nightmare" is especially good, and it's an trippy but laid back instrumental. However there are some major peppy moments, like "Brian Eno" and first single "Flash Delirium" which prevent the album from being a snooze-fest. Simply put, because this album isn’t simple, "Congratulations" is complex and totally entertaining, and a proper follow up album from a very creative group.

The Black Keys "Brothers"

Truth be Told, I haven’t listened to the full album. I did one of those "listen to the 30 second clips on iTunes and download accordingly" thing I often do. I really enjoyed their 2008 album "Attack and Release" (produced by Danger Mouse), and was intrigued to hear this new album "Brothers" which is now their 6th album. Unfortunately, even though the sound of this album is a little more contemporary than their very Soulful output of the previous album, it leaves me feeling like this duo is a little “one-note” in their sound. The lyricism and vocal play were for the most part not oustanding, and some of the stuff is just a little dull to be honest. However there are some shining lights on this album, "Never Give You Up" is a gorgeous R&B throwback while "Too Afraid to Love You" and first single "Tighten Up" are great at matching their sound with with more contemporary techniques. I only listened to it once, and I feel like I may go back and listen at some point. So I may have to revise this later, but for now it's just (and i hate it when i see this "word") meh!

Toni Braxton "Pulse"

Another great release this year from one of my all time favorites, in Toni’s now 6th album "Pulse" the legendary Grammy winner tackles many styles that are invading the radio (Dance in "Make My Heart", Snappy R&B in the superior "Lookin’ At Me") but the heart of this album is centered in an area that made Braxton famous in the first place; authentic R&B slow jams and Pop Ballads. And this album makes one thing perfectly clear; Braxton has one of the best voices in the industry. 17 years after her debut, her voice is just as strong if not stronger. "Pulse" "Why Won't You Love Me" prove this because they can stand with her greatest ballads "Unbreak My Heart" "Let it Flow" and "Breathe Again" as her Best, and it's over a decade later."Pulse" is more than a solid R&B/Pop album that will undoubtedly be ignored, but deserves recognition as one of Braxton’s best in her career. It shows she more than still has it, and that her voice can still span genres.

Kelis "Flesh Tone"

Please go check out my review on Full Blast Magazine. YES! I'm actually writing for an online magazine, I've evolved to the online magazine status, so let's see how much further we can go after this!


B.o.B. "B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray”

B.o.B. seemed to have come from nowhere and attacked the singles charts with "Nothin’ on You" and "Airplanes". I guess a little endorsement from T.I. and getting Eminem on the "Airplanes" remix (or the "Airplanes Part II) is more than enough to create some major buzz in the Hip Hop and Pop community, but strangely enough while really being Hip Hop B.o.B.’s debut "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" plays more like a Hip Hop/Alternative album spanning various different styles. Many a rapper has tried and failed at delivering a more eclectic album and it’s impressive that B.o.B. was able to do so while still making an album that feels like an album. And the guests, also from various different genres (Weezers' lead singer Rivers Cuomo on one the albums best "Magic", Paramore singer Hailey Williams on "Airplanes", and Lupe Fiasco) contribute greatly to the material, but B.o.B. never gets really overshadowed which is a good thing. I’m not sure if he has any extraordinary skills when it comes to his lyrics or flow, but his musical influences and his versatility are something to be commended.

TV Review: "Lost" Series Finale, Totally Satisfied!!! SPOILERS!!!

After Six Seasons, "Lost" is done. I've been saying this for a while now, and this series finale that aired Sunday confirms it, "Lost" is the best show on television. Probably one of the Greatest of All-Time. I will admit when it first aired, and I heard all the buzz on the show I wasn't interested. I generally am not into shows that have a concrete plot that you have to watch every week to slowly get answers to. Basically series that promise a resolution at some point, because if the show gets canceled you'll never know the resolution. And sometimes shows forget what their initial plot was and end up ruining the purpose of the show. Or worse, the resolution isn't worth the wait, and I'm happy (very very happy) to say that this finale was definitely worth the wait.

Even though I didn't want to get caught up, the hype was too much so I Netflix'd the first season of "Lost", watched the episodes back to back, and fell in love with the show. It was always so much more than just a show about people stranded on an island. From the start there were mysteries about the island that were so odd and compelling, but the genius thing to me about the show were the Flashbacks. Each episode would center on one character, and so much would be revealed about the person they were before the crash and why they act the way they do on the island. And these flashbacks were always synced with the action on the island with so much heart and emotion. Making the show more of a character study than a sci-fi action show.

When the Series Finale ended this past Sunday, I was more than satisfied because the important thing was that they had a great resolution and it was totally character based. One theory about the show (which mainly comes from it's haters) is that the writers really didn't have the full scope of where the show was going to end initially and were just making up new stuff as they went along. I don't believe this theory, I'm sure they didn't have everything specifically planned out 6 seasons ago, but I'm sure they had at least a vague blueprint. Even if they were making it up as they went along, they did an excellent job faking it. Not only in this episode, but this season was really great at answering a lot of ongoing questions with the show, but doing it in a pretty natural way where it wasn't just one character randomly spouting off lines that would fill up any plot holes.

Two episodes in particular stand out to me and they both went back centuries to tell their story. "Ab Aeterno" told us the story of how the ageless Richard Alpert ended up on the island, and formally introduced us to Jacob and The Man in Black and gave us an idea of their opposing views about the island. Jacob's "wine is evil" speech cleverly gave some insight into the purpose of the island while still keeping some mystery about it. "Across the Sea" was an episode set entirely in the past and showed the birth and growth and eventual separation of Jacob and his twin brother The Man in Black. This episode explicitly revealed why the Island had it's "mystical" powers, and why Jacob and his brother were on different teams and wanted totally different things. Their adoptive mother (who killed their birth mother who was shipwrecked on the island) told them their duty was to protect the "light" in the center of the island, A light she said that shines in all men but must be protected against men who were trying to take that power and use it all for themselves. However when The Man in Black (who is what the "mother" calls "special") found out what really happened between his birth mother and his adoptive mother (his birth mother's ghost showed up to him, representing how he was Special) and was filled with anger towards his adoptive mother, who also told him that there was nowhere else outside of the island. His mission at that point was to get off the island, Jacob stayed with the "mother" and became the islands official protector in her place. A fight ensued between the two brothers, and The Man in Black fell towards this "light" and emerged as the infamous Smoke Monster.

Something the "mother" did was make it so Jacob nor his brother could kill each other. So for centuries the Man in Black was trying to kill Jacob so he could get off the island. With Jacob knowing this, he needed candidates to fill his spot. Enter the cast we've known and loved for years. They were all handpicked by Jacob to possibly fill his spot. They all shared the same type of despair and loneliness and needing a purpose in their real lives. Jack (unsurprisingly) took the spot because he felt more than anybody that he had a purpose on that island. And this is both in present time, and when the show adopted the Flash Forward bits and showed him as just a truly unhappy man off the island. He came back to the island solely based on this blind faith that he was supposed to do something there. And though he didn't survive very long after becoming the new protector, in a very important and complicated way he was meant to do something and his purpose was fulfilled.

Mythology aside, this finale was like I said before very character centric.
And I have to bring up the flash-sideways the show adopted this season. At the end of the 5th season, Dan Farratay the physicist hatched a plan to set off a atomic bomb on the island which would change time and make the Oceanic crash never happen. While it looked like the bomb didn't make any difference (except it did bring everybody back into the same time. The Time Jumps in Season 5 were strange... but worked to me somehow) on the island, but instead of Flashbacks or Flash Forwards we got Flash Sideways... which was their lives if the plane never crashed. With weird circumstances though, Sawyer was a cop Jack had a son and different things were different in each persons life. All season long I was curious how these Flash-sideways would explain themselves in the end.Towards the end of the season Desmond made it his personal mission to get the Oceanic flight survivors to "let go". And little by little they showed a few characters having this moment of "enlightenment" or a moment of "love" where they are re-connected with a survivor and they see in a flash their whole life on the island. Jack ended up being the last hold out in this finale episode, but throughout there were heartwarming moments from Charlie Claire and Kate who all had their moment when the Flash-Sideways Claire gave birth. And the most effective "moment" came after Flash-Sideways John Locke had a corrective surgery from Jack and when he could wiggle his toes he flashed back to the moment on the island in the pilot where he realized that on the island he could walk.

I actually don't want to give away the ending and how those Flash-Sideways lives beautifully resolved themselves. There may be some readers who haven't seen it yet, and even though I've spoiled a lot about the sixth season that ending is so great and emotional and appropriate I want them to feel it the same way I did. It was just so great because after investing in the story and the characters so long, I wasn't let down and I was happy for all of them. And like I said before, the Finale was very character based. And even than, there are years and years of stories you could imagine happened on this magical island.

Another thing that I feel necessary to mention is the acting. Especially the acting of our main cast in their Flash Sideways life. It seemed that once they each had their moment of "love", they knew something that the viewer didn't know. It's like they were happy, and you could imagine they would be if all these great memories came flashing back, but there was something more. Something mysterious that the viewer couldn't put their finger on, and was finally revealed in the last 15 minutes of the finale. Evangeline Lilly's acting when she saw Jack in the Flash Sideways world and told him how much she missed him, even though he didn't know her, and the looks she gave him were amazing because like I said the viewer wasn't supposed to know and each actor played it as such. Just an amazing Finale to an amazing show.

And it's been two weeks since the Finale, and I could have passed in writing about it. However I'm such a big fan of this show, and this finale was so impactful and emotional personally, I didn't feel right about NOT writing about it. And seriously, trying to wrap my words around all that I wanted to say was quite difficult. It's here now though. And I just can't wait to get that Complete Collection Blu-Ray when it's released in August, so I can re-live the show forever. (In fact, a few years ago when I read that the show was ending at a certain date, it became a dream to have all seasons and watch them all back to back to see if everything fits. So maybe I'll post another review once I'm finished there)

Album Review: Erykah Badu

I'm so happy about this. I just love it when an artist you love is starting to fall off to the point where you can't defend them anymore, and than they release an album so good it makes you almost forget their past duds. It happened with Jay-Z last year, and this year Usher and Erykah Badu are making me a very proud fan.

Erykah Badu started her career 12 years ago with a totally new sound, a hybrid of Jazz R&B and Hip Hop, and the world appreciated her and the change she brought to the industry in the late 90's. Than she released the phenomenal, yet criminally underrated "Mama's Gun" and since than she's been a big question mark. Her last two albums "Worldwide Underground" from 2003 and "New Amerykah Pt. 1: 4th World War" from 2008 were both very self-indulgent, and that's putting it nicely. Those albums did have a few great cuts, but severely suffered from her not editing herself enough. Songs that might have started off good were ruined by going on way too long and meandering into more experimental territory. There were very few songs that people could actually relate to, and her political and philosophical standpoints seemed to be more important. Those two albums were just so disappointing to listen to, knowing that when she started people loved her because she was so relatable. It just seems like she forgot what initially made her hot.

Luckily, she seems to have remembered all of that while recording her now 5th album "New Amerykah Pt. 2: The Return of the Ankh". She almost completely ditches the spacey and muddled experimental sound of her previous efforts to make a really cohesive set that is simple, sweet and breezy. There's a strong Jazz influence on this album, which can best be displayed on the albums closer "Out of My Mind, Just in Time" which starts off as a very classic Jazz torch song, than turns into a very chill Be-Bop homage. There are a few instrumentals on this album that also prove her musical roots are definitely steeped in the different areas of Jazz, but she also has a lot of fun on this album incorporating contemporary Hip Hop and R&B elements into the very laid-back R&B/Jazz sound. "Turn Me Away (Get Munny)", which she should definitely consider as a single, uses the familiar backing beat to Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s mid-90's hit "Get Money" while "Fall in Love (Your Funeral)" replays the melody to Alicia Keys' "Unbreakable". However those songs don't end with the sample or replayed portions, it grows and becomes totally new songs thanks to Badu's lyricism which is at the same time fun, contemporary and very poetic even after all these years. Another great thing about this album is that while it's familiar to her older Classic material, it never sounds like she's forcing herself to recreate that old sound. She tries, and succeeds on almost every song, to push the envelope and try new things. The albums best song, and first single "Window Seat", is really one her better songs of her career, and represents the album in a great way. Very breezy, very earthy, but very urban and fun at the same time, while showing her growth as a vocalist and writer.

Who knows what was going on with Badu these past few years. Her previous albums can even be seen as risky, at least she did stay true to her own vision and didn't seem to compromise at all. However it looks like on this album, Badu reconnected with exactly what it was that made her such a force to be reckoned with when she debuted. She reconnected with the fact that her fans loved her music, they connected to her lyrics and her as a person more so as an artist. She went pretty far out there on her last two albums, and it seems on this album she's come down to earth a little more. Which is a great thing, and I really hope this continues.

And I'm sure you've heard about it, but if you haven't seen it here is the "controversial" video for this albums first single "Window Seat". Read about the controversy here... apparently she might get charged with a misdemeanor for this.



It's a little boring, but it's a trip to see in her face that she's really scared to do what she does at the end. And the guy who picked up her coat and shoes was hilarious. The message at the end is very cool though, and I give her props for being that risky for the sake of music.