Artist: Ivy Dye
Album: Lyme Tymes EP
Release Date: 17/7/2012
A resoundingly grandiose and pretty debut EP from Chicago one man project
The ability to single- handedly conjure up the sound of a
full band is a remarkable and not often acknowledged feat. Self- recording
artists generally prefer to sink into their own shells and create their own idiosyncratic
dimensions in which only they really function and only they will ever really
understand (Ariel Pink, R. Stevie Moore and such ilk). That obviously isn’t the
intention of Chicago based musician Chris Adams however. From the sounds of his
debut EP “Lyme Times”, he’s shooting for a resounding, universal sound.
Pleasingly, he gets most of the way there.
All the songs on “Lyme Times” are half way to being fully-
fledged bangers. Coming across like a more refined Titus Andronicus with
inflections of My Bloody Valentine and Grandaddy, many moments here swoop and
soar with diligent grandiosity. This is exemplified most brilliantly by the
opener “Yankee”, which has a gorgeous guitar line and a huge whooshing synth
hook, as well as the beef of a full band behind it. “Heart” widens the influential
spectrum with its glacial ‘80s synths, whilst “Statue” has what sounds like
horns resounding in the background during the chorus over bubbling Nintendo- esque electronics.
With every track sounding proportionally large, one wonders
what Adams might achieve if he did ever endorse in a full live band. Musically
there’s no correlation between “Lyme Times” and the dusty, lo- fi crackle of
the works of the aforementioned self- recording luminaries. But he’s worked
some wonders here on his own, and thus either way an intriguing and most likely
tuneful future awaits.
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Album: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Release Date: 23/10/2012
2012's most conscious rap album explores human emotions and violence to a backdrop of heart stopping beauty
As the “gangsta” tag lugged so audaciously on Hip Hop since
it started begins to disappear and replaced by a swathe of brilliantly
creative, honest and forward thinking minds (Death Grips, Shabazz Palaces,
Danny Brown etc.), few can claim to be as bright or lyrically valuable as
Kendrick Lamar. Lamar is a realist- he tells everything exactly like it is.
He’s incredibly sharp musically too, always finding new ways to do things, new
ways to make things sound. His seemingly effortless ability to match emotion
with the most wonderfully paired production is what gives him so much space to
pull off an absolute odyssey like “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.”
Throughout its entirety, Kendrick tells a thrilling,
depressing, raw and most importantly honest about life growing in that most
infamous of American suburbs, Compton. Anyone familiar with Lamar will already
know this before hearing the record, but “Good Kid…” is not even a close
relative to the sentiments of NWA (although Dr. Dre does appear on the closer
“Compton”).
Simultaneously through these 12 tracks Lamar speaks of love, self-
loathing, alcoholism, death, violence and religion and shows considerably
extensive understanding of all. His well- weathered experiences and outlook on
life have allowed him to write some gritty, some heart breaking and some
uplifting tales here. This is an album that spans almost all the spheres of
human emotion.
The production is absolutely gorgeous throughout, and acts
as mood- perfect catalyst for whatever Kendrick is rapping about. On “Bitch,
Don’t Kill My Vibe” the beat is suitably reflective as lush, replicated guitar
chords swirl around and wispy thin layer of synth mist and Kendrick starting
from an emotional standpoint as he raps “you don’t know what pain is.” On
“Poetic Justice,” the album’s “love” song, a beautiful, sensual and smooth
female vocal harmony is bought in and to tug at the heart strings.
At the other end of the spectrum sits the albums’ party
track, the hugely audacious “Backseat Freestyle”, with a rumbling low and
clashing, crisp cymbal sounds as Lamar steps into a braggadocious, laddish teen
as he raps “I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel tower/ so I can fuck the world
for 72 hours.”
Lamar’s word play is the crucial element however, not only
because he’s a fairly incredible rapper, but because his raw, honest and
literal imagery gives you an otherwise inaccessible insight into his mind like
not many other rappers can do. Whether he’s addressing weakness on “Good Kid”
(“I recognize I’m easy pray, I got eaten alive yesterday”), his alcohol
problems on “Swimming Pools” (“All I have left is my new appetite for failure”)
or joyous realization as on “I’m Real”, he hits a tantalizing nerve that will
more often than not leave a lump in your throat.
There’s not much chance that “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” will
be considered a classic in the future. What it definitely is though is the work
of a man who, even at a very young age, has had enough experiences to create a
rollercoaster ride drenched in storytelling and a very real sense of life in
Compton. Lamar’s lyrical and musical sensitivity makes him one of the sharpest,
most talented young men in Hip Hop, and it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll run
out of ideas anytime soon.
Download: 1) Swimming Pools (Drank), 2) The Art of Peer Pressure, 3) Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe, 4) Backseat Freestyle
New York crew launch their rather incendiary assault on modern Hip Hop in a slightly brilliant debut
Having a persona and character is an absolutely crucial
ingredient in Hip Hop, and for the 19 year old Wiki Morales to realize this as
diligently as he does is quite remarkable. On paper Ratking are a New York
4-piece Hip Hop outfit, comprising of MCs Wiki and Hak and producers Sporting
Life and Ramon, but it’s Wiki’s frantic energy that sits at the core of
“Wiki93.”
Almost straight away on the opener “Retired Sports” he
sounds venomous and unhinged, churning out lines like “I’ve been through all my
shit” and “I’ll suffocate ya ‘til you very pale” to a backdrop of cacophonous
bleeps and noisy whooshes. “Comic” is furiously intense, a rumbling jungle-
esque bass line rolls throughout, accompanied by disorientating screams and
ear- piercing synth swells. “Piece of shit” is brutally self- deprecating, as
Wiki yelps “I’m a sucker for love/ made me a sucker for drugs,” getting more
and more irate as the song continues.
Even though “Wiki93” is only 7 tracks long, keeping this
level of intensity throughout its entirety proves to be a little too much for
the quartet. It would also be nice to hear more from Wiki’s co- frontman Hak,
who sounds pivotal when he does appear, however those occurrences are rare.
Nevertheless, Ratking’s fusion of concrete modernity and old school New York
Hip hop will most likely have both new and old fans of the genre enthused, and
Wiki is certainly a kid to pay attention to. A damn good start.
If you’d asked anybody in 2005 whether they thought that in
a few years’ time there would a healthy bunch of artists churning an
innovative, sometimes challenging take on R’n’b, the chances are that 98% of
music critics would have scoffed and quashed your suggestion and told you that
you ever did have the intention of something like that happening, you’d have to
do it yourself.
Such knee- jerk cynicism is customary in the world of music
fandom, but it’s the type of reaction that’s almost always proved wrong. Ruling
things out is a dangerous thing to do, and the emergence, talent and success of
artists like Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and even Drake is testament to the idea
that even in the most seemingly mundane of scenes, innovators can not only
exist, but accomplish as well.
Although AlunaGeorge certainly aren’t offering a style of
r’n’b that incorporates 20 minute drones or chainsaw guitars (that needs to
happen one day!), there’s plenty of room for their dynamic and aesthetic,
brought to the fore in a rather missionary statement on the short but
effervescently sweet “You Know You Like It” EP. George’s production is not
overblown or aggressive, but it certainly contains a wealth of ideas. “You Know
You Like It” is unashamedly soft, sensual and reflective but also outwardly
groovy. “Just a Touch” is slightly more conventional given the R’n’B context,
but the layers of tropical lushness brought in on the chorus add large bites of
flavour. “Put Up Your Hands” sees the pace quicken again in an almost robotic
but memorably melodic style, like a more understated Grimes.
More emotive though is the performance of Aluna. Vocally she
subscribes to the Grimes school of thought in that interesting is better. Her
vocals are rather childlike, but not in an obnoxious way. They’re as smooth as
they are robust. Her lack of breathy sensation often indulged in by r’n’b
singers is given even more prevalence when you take the lyrics into
consideration.
In many ways, “You Know You Like It” is a very anti- r’n’b piece
of work. It’s cold hearted. It pushes away any notion of love, sex or excess,
an entire dimension away from the ramblings of The Weeknd or Usher. “I’m not
hard as a rock, I’m just not easy to break/ But don’t take that as an
invitation to try” she coos in the opening line of “Just a Touch.” On “Put Up
Your Hands” it gets even less enticing as she sings “You won’t get nothing from
me/ Baby don’t look back to me.”
At only three songs long, “You know You Like It” makes any
judgement or prediction of success seem completely pre-emptive. However, a
penchant for explosive hooks and lyricism that is consciously valuable
(certainly a rare thing in mainstream r’n’b) both show a large portion of
potency within Alunageorge that is bursting to be realized. Here’s to hoping
that said potency is fully utilized on their debut full- length next year.
Nothing Given Back The first ever film review on The Riviera, and an important question asked: is this the end of creativity in modern cinema?
Film: Taken 2
Directed by: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
Released date: 3/10/2012
A fascinating point often made, and one that is especially true of the Movie and film industry that we have today, is that creativity and popularity do not necessarily have any correlation between them. That used to be the case of course. Celebrated works like The Shining, Apocalypse Now or Alien are thus revered because there had never been anything before like them. Throughout the cultural revolutions of the '60s and '70s, the cinema attending masses were much more willing to have their own personal boundaries of what was acceptable pushed and twisted into disorientation. Nowadays people are much more accepting of "meat and potatoes" adaptations and works of media art, meaning that essentially, they just want to be pleased. It means that usually the more creative films begin to garner more a cult following and fan base, quite undeservedly a lot of the time. It also means that there is plenty of the mentality who love to lap up things like Taken 2.
Taken 2 is the sequel to, err, Taken, the 2008 film by Olivier Megaton, in which a man's daughter goes on holiday to Europe and gets kidnapped and turned into a forcefully Heroin- addled prostitute. Thus, our action man Liam Neeson embarks on an epic adventure across Europe in search of his daughter, killing, torturing and making ominous phone calls as he does so. Taken was exactly that kind of "meat and potatoes" action film, although it was expanded and made more colourful by some incredible inclusions of tension. In Taken 2, we're back in Eastern Europe (Istanbul), and the relatives of those who Neeson (character name Bryan Mills, an ode to creativity indeed) killed in the search for his daughter are hunting him and his family down in search of revenge.
A bit like the Hostel franchise, Taken 2 essentially relies on the basics of the story line of the first, only this time it's the mother and Mills' wife Lenore (Janssen) who gets kidnapped. So, the first problem with Taken 2 is the aforementioned lack of creativity. Secondly, just as he so often does, Liam Neeson looks as emotive as a wooden plank most of the time, ironically especially so at a particular scene in which the situation would probably send any man into a murderous rage. Thirdly, Kim's (Maggie Grace) turn as a Lara Croft- esque action girl simply doesn't suit, not to mention the ridiculous rescue "tactics" she employs towards the end of the film. Finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, for the most part Taken 2 is completely passionless. There's none of the tension or suspense that the first film managed to weave in its favour.
Most worryingly of all however is the fact that this will almost definitely be one of the most popular films of the year. That's not necessarily a worrying fact because audience's tastes have been dumbed down. People will watch what they like. But it confirms that the cash cow now dominates modern mainstream cinema, and thus suggests the conclusion that perhaps very soon there won't be any room for creativity in mainstream cinema at all. Go and see Taken 2, you may very well enjoy it.
