Run the Jewels - "RTJ4" (2020)

I've known of the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels (comprised of Atlanta rapper, Killer Mike, and New York rapper and Producer, El-P) for a while by their political activism and the critical acclaim that met their previous 3 self-titled records. This is my first time ever listening to them however, and wow I wish I dived in when I first was made aware of them. This record is 40 minutes of intense, charismatic, political hip hop; paired with equally colourful and powerful instrumentals. The record just pops, it commands your attention and will not lose it at all in the whole runtime.

The duo have always made political music, yet the context surrounding the release of RTJ4 brings so much significance to this record, and is why I gave it a listen myself. Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests across the globe, and an emotional and powerful speech by Killer Mike himself, the duo decided to release the album two days early on the 3rd of June, and for free via a download on their website. This record feels like the soundtrack to the moment, like they have captured the zeitgeist, but still stands on it's own as an excellent release outside of the current context.

I think what's really special about this album is not just that the production and beats are imaginative and varied, and the lyrics and flows are technically impressive and strikingly poignant; it's the way they all wind together and interplay off each other. Beat switch-ups and visceral sonic moments are paired with every statement of intent or punchline Killer Mike or EL-P raps, with elements introduced into these songs just for one time to match up with the lyrics at that precise moment and then done away with in favour of something more appropriate for the next mic drop moment. Most of the tracks are fairly short (10 out of the 11 are under 4 mins), and they roll up one after another without a single moment of silence inbetween. It never lets you breathe, almost as if it's telling you to think about it after the record is finished, in it's entirety, not piecemeal track by track.

Despite the serious subject matter, the record is still a very fun listen. The album is very loosely framed by the opening and closing tracks as a sort of 'duo on the run from the cops' TV show, which gives the album a slight sense of separation from reality which aids in making some of the more humorous bars work. The first few tracks focus more as an introduction to Killer Mike and El-P themselves, while still referencing the broader themes of the record. yankee and the brave (ep. 4) opens the album with an introduction to these two characters who are on the run, before ooh la la follows it up with an incredibly catchy woozy piano sample and the earworm-y hook of "ooh la la, are we wee". The flows on this track ebb and flow just like instrumental. It's easily the most chilled out of the tracks, with throwback record scratches closing it out.

As the record moves on, it dives further into the political themes, and by the time goonies vs. E.T. closes out it is fully immersed. Killer Mike's final verse on this track sees him call out the preformative activism of 'woke twitter' and the counter-productiveness of internet tribalism. Following this is the hardest hitting and probably the best track on the album, walking in the snow. Mike and guest Gangsta Boo roll out bar after bar, calling out the treatment of children at the Mexico-US border, how cages aren't built for just one group, institutional racism and police brutality, and the public's general apathy to the injustices of the world. The lyrics "And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me, Until my voice goes from a shriek to a whisper "I can't breathe"" feels like a gut punch considering how George Floyd was killed. This song was written back in November, and yet feels like it could've been last week. It's genuinely moving.

It's one of a few tracks which feature really heavy, grimy guitar samples. ground below samples post punk band Gang of Four, and pulling the pin features guitar work and ethereal, psychedelic backing vocals from Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme. The track also features vocals from Mavis Staples, which gives the track a real sense of weight and urgency. It feels like the internal gut-wrench of an individual who is finally standing up against the injustices facing them and others. The back half of the record really feels oppressive and smothering, as opposed to the bounciness and stomp of the first half. JU$T rages against the systematic oppression of minorities, America's prison-industrial complex, the political elite's links to child sex trafficking and the general public's perpetuation of these systems by their willingness to play along and 'be a slave to the system'. Rage Against The Machine's Zack de la Rocha roars "Look at all these slave masters posing on your dollar" in the most direct chorus on the record.

The final track, a few words for the firing squad (radiation), switches back to the yankee and the brave characters from the start of the record, about to be gunned down police, making their last stand. The track builds and builds until its final moments, where it all comes crashing down in a crescendo of dissonant strings and wailing saxophone before the hidden title theme plays letting you know it is all over (and supposed to be a TV show fantasy, but unfortunately is the reality we live in).

This record is relentless. It is relentlessly fun and listenable, yet relentlessly heavy and profound. This record is 2020, and also can be set apart from the context and still stand on its own. The first thing I did after finishing is pop on Run The Jewels 2 because I just wanted more of this. This record is absolutely fantastic.

Top Tracks: yankee and the brave (ep.4), ooh la la, out of sight, goonies vs. E.T., walking in the snow, JU$T, ground below, pulling the pin, a few words for the firing squad (radiation)

9/10

Blur - "13" (1999)

After listing to Blur's Parklife, I moved on to listening through the rest of the group's 90s discography (their 'original stint' of sorts). I was exited when moving onto 1997's self-titled record and this one, as the group moved away from the jovial Britpop sound that characterised the 'Life' trilogy, into sounds of noise rock and art rock.

This is evident from opening track and lead single, Tender. The track is a nearly 8 minute, gospel inspired affair with choral vocals. The lyrics detail Damon Albarn's very volatile and public breakup with Elastica front-woman Justine Frischmann, and the soothing nature of the tune feels very cathartic - like a friend being there for you when you're down. A good chunk of the tracks on the record are this vulnerable and personal, which I feel sets it apart from other Blur releases. The second single, Coffee & TV, sung by guitarist Graham Coxon, details his routine for overcoming his alcohol addiction and the struggles along the way. It also is an incredibly soft and gentle song. There are more moments on the record that are this gentle and soothing, which I think makes it comparable to the Post-Britpop era of Coldplay and Travis which was just around the corner.

The track which follows Coffee & TV, Swamp Song, while addressing similar themes, could not be any different musically. It's a loud, noisy, neo-psych song which references Damon Albarn's heroin usage. It sounds delirious and confusing. The record continually switches up it's sound like this. The noisy and fuzzed out Bugman is sandwiched in between Tender and Coffee & TV. The incredibly trippy and melodically minimal 1992 and Battle slide either side of the punk-y and straightforward B.L.U.R.E.M.I. Battle in particular sounds phenomenally psychedelic and confusing, and it is then followed up by the closest thing the album has to a simple acoustic ballad in Mellow Song.

The record gets increasingly dark and sinister in the second half, with the aforementioned battle and the slowburning but cathartic Caramel. Albarn sings in hushed tones about wanting to get better, get over his drug issues and recover from the heartbreak he's feeling, but at this moment he's succumbed and claims he'll "love you forever". This is matched up with an echo-y and swampy mix and a delirious guitar line. All the tension and darkness builds to a cathartic release in No Distance Left To Run, where Damon dives deep into the breakdown of his relationship and provides some incredibly bitter and cutting lyrics referencing Frischmann's drug use in particular. "I won't kill myself trying to stay in your life" and "When you're coming down, think of me" are as sharp as a razor-blade. 

The only real drawback this album has is that it's quite long, and I feel a couple of the slightly less impactful songs on the second half could've been cut to make the record a little punchier overall. They're far from bad, but I can feel a distinction in quality between the best this record has to offer and these couple of moments. On the whole, it is just really great. It's deep and emotional, yet incredibly creative and unique. It very much rewards multiple listens, due to both it's length and the indirectness of some of its darkest moments.

Top Tracks: Tender, Bugman, Coffee & TV, Swamp Song, 1992, B.L.U.R.E.M.I, Battle, Mellow Song, Caramel, No Distance Left To Run

9/10

Massive Attack - "100th Window" (2003)

Continuing on with Massive Attack's discography into the 21st Century, 100th Window makes a unique stylistic shift for the group. The record came after a period of tension within the group, with only Robert Del Naja (aka 3D) and producer Neil Davidge working on the record, with no involvement from Andrew Vowles or Grant Marshall. As a result, the record is far less indebted to the sounds of dub, soul and hip hop than the group's previous albums, instead heading of the direction of ambient and minimal techno. The record is still just about trip hop, but as a sign of how different it is, the album contains zero samples.

What results is a an incredibly low-key album that feels very serene and measured. The tracks fade together, all occupying similar tempo, sonic pallets and tones. The Vocals in particular have much less emphasis on them. All the tracks have them, yet the only track where they really draw attention is Special Cases. Most of the time, they float about in an ethereal fashion, almost as if their purpose is to be an additional instrument rather than a lyrical focus. The tracks also feel very synthetic, with their emphasis on rigid techno beats. Take for example Butterfly Caught, a track which has these flourishes of strings as additional layering, but the core of the track (the repetitive beat and 3D's vocals) feel so mechanised and sterile. The best tracks have something to grab you're attention, for instance the aforementioned more intense vocals on Special Cases. Everywhen has a more organic feel to it; and A Prayer For England has a prominent, much more groovier bass guitar line which feels like it gives the track some more heft compared to some of the other cuts

The record has been great to have in the background while working, the tracks are busy enough to not feel like droning, but ambient and minimal enough to not be distracting. But unlike the rest of the group's records, I don't really want to listen to it while not doing anything else. It feels so sterile and passive. The cover represents the album well, clean, glass-like, varying shades of grey. It's like a brand new skyscraper in a world city; impressive and elegant, yet characterless and unremarkable. I'd say only check it out if you're really into checking out the group's entire discography, although the record still maintains a decent quality and the best moments are pretty good. It just feels a bit one note and uneventful compared to the genre-sprawling of Massive Attack's 90's work.

Top Tracks: Everywhen, Special Cases, A Prayer For England

6/10

David Bowie - "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1972)

Despite David Bowie's biggest singles playing a part in my childhood and me utterly adoring them, I have always been quite intimidated by his studio album discography and so before now I just never listened to any of his records. It is such a monolithic body of work, with so many eras and characters and stylistic shifts that I never knew where to start. There doesn't even seem to be a uniform consensus on 'the best Bowie album' as an easy jumping off point. So I'm pretty glad that my '100 albums to listen to' poster decided where to start for me.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is Bowie's 5th studio album release, where he assumes the character of Ziggy Stardust, an alien rockstar who has arrived on Earth to save humanity with peace and love and rock'n'roll. Across the 11 tracks he goes from mysterious figure the people on Earth are weary of, to a superstar hero, to a tragic saviour who sacrifices himself for the Humanity's survival. On first listen, I didn't quite get it. I really enjoyed the record, but I was expecting something more profound from what is considered one of the greatest albums of all time with a "big, rock opera story". But after a few listens I realised that it isn't supposed to be profound, it's just a fun story about a space alien rockstar who's come to earth to play some jamming tunes.

And damn it is fun. The record goes at breakneck pace, with riffs and hooks galore, and with such a charming personality. Five Years sets the scene, dramatically building up Earth pre-Ziggy's arrival. Swooning strings and Bowie's strained vocals sell the idea that this a world on the bring of the end, with only five years left. Ziggy is introduced on Moonage Daydream, with such a attention grabbing vocal performance from Bowie. You can tell the Ziggy really means business by the way Bowie performs the character. I really like the way the piano and drums build up to the chorus in a heavy, important way; and the guitar solo at the end of the track that is so very 70s in the best way. Following this is Starman, one of Bowie's most iconic tracks, and in the context of the album develops his relationship with the people of Earth, showing their various reactions to him.

The rest of the record continues in this fun, dramatic, but elegantly arranged fashion. It Ain't Easy has a stomping blues rock chorus and restrained verses to compliment the massiveness of the hook. Lady Stardust is a simple piano ballad about Ziggy finding love with a singalong chorus. Star, Hang on to Yourself and Suffragette City have an energetic straight-forwardness to them in a proto-punk sort of way. The guitars roar and the songs are short and sweet. Ziggy Stardust is a semi-hard rock tune with that iconic riff and a more retrospective tone, looking back on Ziggy's blaze into the spotlight and the ensuing rock'n'roll life. The Closer, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide continues this theme, as now Ziggy has died to save the world, and the track is a slow, acoustic one to accompany the more morbid subject. Triumphant horns and soaring strings come in as Bowie's vocals become more pained and dramatic. He is basically shouting at the end of the song.

This record is simply a blast. It's short, fast-paced and bursting with catchy riffs and singalong hooks. While it's been deified to the point that you'd might expect it to be profoundly about something, it isn't. So go in expecting it to be a rocking good 38 minutes about a space rockstar and his escapades and you wont be dissapointed.

Top Tracks: Five Years, Moonage Daydream, Starman, It Ain't Easy, Lady Stardust, Star, Hang on to Yourself, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide

9/10

Hayley Williams - "Petals For Armour" (2020)

I've never really been into much 2000s pop-punk and emo pop, so I never had much interest in checking out Paramore's discography. That changed with 2017's After Laughter, a catchy, fun and emotionally expressive new wave throwback record that got me interested in the band. So when frontwoman Hayley Williams lead single for her debut solo record was channelling some serious Radiohead vibes of all things, I was incredibly intrigued about this album and how it would turn out.

The track, titled Simmer, takes its influence from the groovier, more rhythmic side of late-2000s Radiohead, but places that style within a more pop context. Williams hushed and inflected vocals build to this punchy, staccato chorus with the catchy as anything hook "Simmer simmer simmer down". This is the first track on the record and followed by something equally Radiohead-y in Leave It Alone, but would be far more at home amongst the acoustic ballads of A Moon Shaped Pool. The track is gentle and soothing, yet melancholic and angsty. Track 3, Cinnamon, takes the album in a wildly different direction. The track is built around loud, racketous percussion, whacky vocal manipulations and Hayleys off kilter vocals. Slowly a new-wavey groove is brought into prominence as the track progresses. Initially I didn't like the track, as it felt like it was being weird for the sake of it, but it has really grown on me with it's batshit mentality and off the wall production.

However not every experiment on the record goes this well. The over-emphasised choruses of Creepin' and Sudden Desire come of awkward and irritating, instead of dramatic and attention grabbing. The loud multitracked vocals on Sudden Desired's chorus in particular don't match with the sensual, restrained verses. A lot of the tracks in the middle of the record don't quite land for me. They feel like underwhelming imitations of various styles including: new wave and 80s pop (Dead Horse, Over Yet and Taken), restrained and serene art pop (My Friend, Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris), and wacky experiments (Creepin', Sudden Desire).

However, for the most part Hayley's lyrics and presence on these tracks saves any of them from being particularly mediocre. This record effectively dives into topics such as mental health, femininity and Hayleys's divorce; it provides a real emotional backbone and melancholic yet driven atmosphere to the record. The themes of the record for the most part tie the incredibly disparate and erratic musical ideas of the record together.

The back half of the record does start to pull all these ideas into more compelling songs, starting with the 80s acid house dance track, Sugar On The Rim. The song swaggers about with an infectious groove and sassy, confident vocals. The song is about those unexpected moments of bliss when out partying and is just so glitzy and fun. Following this is Watch Me While I Bloom, a song which sounds somewhere between the off the wall drama of Cinnamon and the more restrained groove of Simmer. The track bounces along with a direction not felt on all of the tracks here. The closer, Crystal Clear, isn't quite as exiting as these two preceding tracks, but it wraps up the album well with its building chords and Hayley's reverby vocals singing "I won't give into the fear".

Aside from a couple of experimental misfires, nothing on this record is particularly bad. It's just feels like it's not quite sure what it wants to be. It has it's hands in so many different styles and genres, but it doesn't feel like they're truly mastered or explored fully on this record. It starts and ends strongly and Hayley's lyrics and perspective are enough of a draw for a few listens, but its erratic and all over the place feel doesn't make me want to really come back to it now I've talked about it here.

Top Tracks: Simmer, Leave It Alone, Cinnamon, Sugar On The Rim, Watch Me While I Bloom

6/10

Little Simz - "Drop 6" (2020)

Little Simz 3rd record, GREY Area, was my favourite record that I heard last year. She's a charismatic and captivating MC on the mic, and that record had dense and emotional lyrics and awesome, dramatic live instrumentation that commanded your attention. This EP follows that record by heading in a different sonic direction. As a continuation of her 'Drop' EP series, Drop 6 has been written and recorded recently from Simz's home during lockdown. Aside from references to the current world situation in the lyrics, this is reflected in the sound of the instrumentation here. The lush, jazzy and dramatic live instrumentation from GREY Area is replaced with more lowkey and simple beats. There's a dreamy atmosphere to tracks like you should call mum and where's my lighter.

The EP opens with might bang, might not, a track built around a jungle-ish beat with Simz's hardest hitting performance out of the 5 tracks. The track is simple and effective, and I particularly like some of the vocal inflections in Simz's braggadocios performance. you should call mum delves into Simz's reaction to and opinions of the Covid-19 situation and lockdown, and is really expressive and relatable. She details her boredom, desire and struggle to be creative, and her anxiety and worries about the socio-political context of the the entire situation. damn right and wheres my lighter have a dark psychedelic atmosphere to them that makes them feel like a sort of fever dream to compliment the surrealism of the lyrics.

This EP lacks the meticulous attention to detail of GREY Area, and all of the tracks are short and you know exactly what you're getting from them in their opening moments; but the dark, dreamy atmosphere is great and Simz kills it in her performance (as she always does). At 12 minutes, its so short and sweet that its easy to just throw on again straight after its finished playing.

Top Tracks: might bang, might not, damn right, you should call mum, wheres my lighter

7/10

New Order - "Power, Corruption & Lies" (1983)

Last year, after I got more familiar with Joy Division's Closer, I moved on to the discography of their successor group, New Order. Despite loving their biggest hits, I never really explored the group's studio albums before this point. Power, Corruption & Lies was the band's second LP after the death of lyricist and front man, Ian Curtis, and the first one to really set New Order apart as something different than Joy Division. It's the record from New Order's discography that really grabbed me, and I've listened to it far more than any of the other records.

PCL sets itself apart from the two Joy Division records and New Orders first LP, Movement, primarily by the use of synthesises and other electronic instrumentation. Synths had been part of the group's sound since Unknown Pleasures, but here they have a far more prominent role playing lead melodies and replacing a lot of the guitar instrumentation that was on previous records. Some tracks are almost entirely synthetic, with drum machines and multiple synth parts. The record also differs in tone and atmosphere. The haunting darkness of Curtis' lyrics (and the accompanying music) and then the darkness of the band dealing with his passing on Movement is replaced with sweet, new wave love songs and straight up dance tracks. There are introspective moments, but on the whole the record is much more upbeat than what came before.

The opener, Age of Consent, imbues this new optimism evidently. The track opens with this driving bass riff, quickly joined by a propulsive drum beat and jaunty lead guitar melody. Euphoric synths glide on top of the track and Bernard Sumner's upbeat vocals make the track such a joyful and fun way to start the record. The Village is equally blissful. The main hook of the song, "Our love is like the hours, the rain the sea and the flowers" is so catchy and sweet. Its simplicity makes it such a great, fun pop song. Sandwiched between these two tracks is the slower and moodier We All Stand. The wobbly bass sound of the song gives it a playfully weird nature, with the percussion rattling above it in the mix as more of an accentuating feature than a grounding aspect of the track. It makes the track seam sort of dream-like, like those weird dreams that make no sense that everyone has occasionally.

5 8 6 re-purposes a section from the band's biggest hit, Blue Monday, and reworks it into another synth pop dance track; but retains the core of the beat that made that song so unbelievably catchy. I would argue that while 5 8 6 is a good track, what makes it good is exactly the same thing that made Blue Monday timeless, so it's hard to think of the song as anything other than a slightly less fantastic alternate version of Blue Monday (although the synth explosion towards the end is also pretty damn cool). Ecstasy is also more of a dance tune, with its 4 to the floor beat and simple guitar and synth melodies. The track lacks any vocals, outside of some unintelligible robotic vocal noises.

Your Silent Face is very synth heavy, and it uses particularly open and heavenly tones to achieve a very transcendent and spiritual atmosphere to one of the more reflective and introspective moments on the album. The lyrics reference the band's increasing use of synthesises and the difficult transition into New Order, with Sumner reflecting on how fans might take the bands new identity. Ultraviolence, on the other hand, contains some of the heaviest guitar tones on the record and some of the more spacey, alien sounding synths found more frequently on the Joy Division records. The track has a very mechanical feeling to it, it chugs and wurrs and clatters. The closer, Leave Me Alone, is perhaps the most melancholic the album gets, with the moody and bittersweet guitar melody, the much more downtrodden chord progression and Sumner's aching vocals. "For these last few days, leave me alone", Sumner sings as the last line, before the guitars swell up for an emotional outro.

Power, Corruption & Lies is such a great album, filled with catchy and excellently written songs. It hits the right moments of blissful highs and more introspective, calmer spot, and it feels like nothing is wasted or unnecessary across its 8 tracks.

Top Tracks: Age of Consent, We All Stand, The Village, 5 8 6, Your Silent Face, Ultraviolence, Leave Me Alone

9/10