Brat - Charli XCX Review

The Ranking
71.00% Genres: Pop/Rock, Left-Field Pop, Pop / Release Date: June 7, 2024

Review:
In an effort to secure herself as a pop stand-out and because she is feeling like nothing special, this British brash bad-girl-but-not-really is pushing herself to look like an icon and finds the answer in the same syncretism that was responsible for the evolution of pop since its inception. She finds a stable enough place somewhere between EDM, club-pop and dance with just the right touch of industrial to let you know she's worthy of attributing herself to the self-deprecating single-word description that is the album title. The result is something not special enough to make all this effort worth it or make pundits bother finding out what all the fuss is about. But it doesn't matter. Because for you and me the result is the kind of pop music eventful enough to make it interesting and therefore distracting from whatever dark liminal space reality frustratingly keeps setting us in.

Grandaddy - Blue Wav album information

Grandaddy is back with a fresh album titled “Blu Wav”. This musical offering, set to release on February 16, 2024, via Dangerbird Records, explores an intriguing blend of bluegrass and new wave genres. The album’s title itself is a literal fusion of these two distinct styles.

Here are some key details about “Blu Wav”:

Release Date: February 16, 2024.

Number of Tracks: 13 songs.

Musical Exploration: Grandaddy combines the twang of bluegrass with the electronic vibes of new wave.

Pedal Steel: Seven of the album’s tracks are waltzes, featuring an “inordinate amount of pedal steel” according to frontman Jason Lytle.

Emotional Context: The album also carries the weight of heartbreak, including the loss of long-term Grandaddy member Kevin Garcia, who passed away suddenly in 2017.

Review Scores: 79/100

IAMX - Album Discography

IAMX is the solo musical project of Chris Corner of the band Sneaker Pimps. Founded in 2004 in London, it is an independent music project which also focuses on and experiments with visual art. Musically, IAMX spans multiple genres from electronic rock and dance music to burlesque-influenced songs and emotional ballads. Corner's striking and wide-ranging voice, and his way of programming sounds and beats, make up the obvious characteristic of the IAMX sound.

Blackfield - Album Discography

info: Blackfield is a collaborative music project by the English musician and founder of Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen. Together, six albums have been released under the moniker. The first two records, Blackfield and Blackfield II, saw Geffen and Wilson working together as equal partners, while the third and fourth, Welcome to my DNA and Blackfield IV, saw Geffen take on a leading role, writing all but one track across both albums and providing a significantly increased share of lead vocals. Despite initially announcing his intention to leave the project in 2014, Wilson instead worked again as an equal partner on a fifth album, Blackfield V, which was released on 10 February 2017. A sixth record, For the Music, was released on 4 December 2020, with Geffen again taking a leading role.

Weezer - Discography

The discography of Weezer, an American rock band, consists of 15 studio albums, two compilation albums, one video album, nine extended plays, 37 singles and 40 music videos. Weezer's self-titled debut studio album, often referred to as The Blue Album, was released in May 1994 through DGC Records. 

The album was a commercial success, peaking at number 16 on the US Billboard 200 and spawning the singles "Undone – The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly", both of which were responsible for launching Weezer into mainstream success with the aid of music videos directed by Spike Jonze. It has sold 3.3 million copies in the United States and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the band's best selling album to date. Following the success of their debut album, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays.

Ottmar Liebert - Nouveau Flamenco (1990) Album

9/10 - info: Nouveau Flamenco is the title of Ottmar Liebert's first album, released in May 1990, written in a subgenre of flamenco known as new flamenco, fusing pop music forms and call-response structure together with flamenco elements.

Iggy Pop - Every Loser (2023) album

9.3/10 - review: "Every Loser is a consolidation of his entire career, wrapped up in songs that eschew the modern celebrity’s tendency to be grateful for everything in favour of complaining about everything." The Times

Belle and Sebastian - Late Developers 2023 album

8/10 - 8 months after their studio album in 2022, they came out with a brand new and melodic album.The album has a lot of synth pop and chamber pop sounds.  

Brett Anderson - Wilderness 2008 album

9.5/10 - Great record, emotional songs, some very moving, spiritual and poetic lyrics, coupled with Brett's beautiful voice.

John Cale - American Psycho Soundtrack 2000

8/10 - review: Like any cd ever released, this could have been better, plus or minus a few songs. What's missing most are the "Phil Collins", and especially "Huey Lewis" songs. "Hip to be Square" was THE song of the movie. However, what's included is all good stuff, be it 80's tunes, or more modern rock. You can't go wrong with "The Cure", "David Bowie", or "Daniel Ash" (from "Love&Rockets"). The tracks from "Eric B. & Rakim" and "Tom Tom Club" are fun, and the "Information Society" song, well that's pure energy of course. Probably what makes this soundtrack a "cut" above the rest, are the monologue's from Patrick Bateman himself. He covers everything you need to know about diet and exercise, emotions, and "Whitney Houston". Bloody good movie too.

Bruce Springsteen - Only The Strong Survive 2022 album

2/10 - review: Lou reed is right to say this guy is a piece of shit, he's put out a bad album. A bunch of stupid love songs. 

Brockhampton - The Family 2022

5/10 - review: This record consists mostly of unfinished, unpolished songs. Not to mention the lack of input from anyone else in the group. Some tracks like "Big P&ssy" and "The ending" had potential but get cut short. I don't understand why they had to make an entire album out of one mins long songs.

If you're going to listen to this record, do yourself a fawour and skip any song that doesn't go pass the two mins mark. That's pretty much all that record has to offer.

Bill Callahan - Ytilaer 2022 Album

8/10 - review: Simple, sparse, low key/low-fi and immediate songs and performances on "Reality (spelt backwards)", that imbues reflectiveness, at times on the borderline of light/acceptance and darkness/resignation. In an interview Bill said, “I wanted sounds and words that made you feel and that lifted you up”; a bit of a different experience than listeners will have, but not THAT different. Most songs are relatable, while some songs are too personal to be relatable.

Overall, a very worthwhile listen, if you are up for the gentle shifts in colour/light of Bill's music/thoughts. Among his best music.