The Tape

I have no idea what to think of this album. I don’t know if I love it or if I hate it. I feel like them rushing this album made it feel more like a mixtape, than an album. But on the other hand, there are a bunch of good tracks. Every time I listen to this album it grows more and more on me.

The album starts off with “Ares” which sounds like Bloc Party trying to replicate Silent Alarm, but on a more extreme level. Of course being Bloc Party, I find this song extremely catchy. The song has this breakdown that is so reminiscent of A Weekend In The City, it seems like the producers divided the song between Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City. Next comes Mercury, and there isn’t anything more to say about this song.

The next song, “Halo” is one of the best on the albums. Bloc Party makes pop punk so good by adding interesting guitar hooks and melodies. Every time I listen to this song it grows more and more on me.

After this comes my second favorite track, “Biko.” This song has the electronic feel of “Mercury” or “Flux”, but it’s so soft spoken and just great. For the chorus they add these hand claps that belong on a Top 40 hip-hop song, but somehow fit.

“Trojan Horse” is the first time I’ve ever heard Bloc Party use a tambourine. Weird.

The next song “Signs” doesn’t really do it for me. I don’t know what it is, it’s just boring. I just think of Hot Chip’s “Over and Over” whenever the song begins.

“One Month Off” is the standout track on this album. This song could have easily been one of the better songs on Silent Alarm, which doesn’t feature a bad track. This song has an extremely catchy chorus with creative lyrics…

“I can be as cruel as you, fighting fire with fire wood.
I can be as cruel as you, fighting lights with lights.”

This song has a Silent Alarm feel, but the way it ends says that they’re moving in a new direction, which I feel leads into the next song, “Zepharus.”

While I was writing this review, I forgot how much I love this song. There is something about the electro beat and then the choir that kicks in that makes it so epic. This song belongs in a Spiderman chase scene, and I absolutely love it. I normally dislike bands going for something epic, but Kele really holds his own against a whole choir… It gets absolutely fantastic at about 2:40 when the drums drop out and it’s just Kele belting out the chorus, with that choir. The song only gets better from there.

“Better Than Heaven” sounds like the entire middle part of A Weekend In The City, but remixed. I really don’t like this song, but once again Kele sings a dynamite chorus… The only highlight of this song. Although this song does get better towards the second half of it, I still don’t like it. Kele literally has a catchy chorus on every single track. I’ve probably sung a chorus from each song while I was in the shower, at least once.

Although I don’t particularly enjoy “Ion Square”, I can understand why they closed the album with this. It sort of sums up what has happened throughout the album, and blends all the ideas together for one final conclusion.

Overall , I liked this album more than I thought I would… But it wasn’t fantastic like Bloc Party can be. Coming from a drummer, I found this album disappointing, especially with the talent Matt Tong has shown on the past two albums. If you don’t own this album, I say go for it because it’s only $8.99, and there are a few tracks worth that cost alone.

Bloc Party- Halo

Bloc Party- One Month Off

Bloc Party- Zepherus (Zshare)

GZA is one of the most famous Wu-Tang members. He has also released the best solo albums from the Wu-Tang Clan (in my opinion), and this is no different. The self proclaimed “genius” really lives up to his humble nickname with his latest album. GZA is known for his lyrical mastery, but I couldn’t help but notice how tremendous his beats were on his latest album. They all had a similar vibe to them, but they all had their own personality. Oh yeah, and the lyrics were straight fire as well.

It’s really hard to outdo his masterful album “Liquid Swords”, but he came as close as you can with Pro Tools. I didn’t expect this album to be half as good as it is. I expected a piece of junk that was created to circulate hype, and get GZA a little bit of extra money. But that was rash and unfair of me to judge GZA, The Genius like that.

A few odd things I noticed on this album:
#1 No Kung-Fu movie samples
#2 half of the album is under the alias “GZA” while the other half is under “GZA The Genius”
#3 Many of the songs revolve around the theme of “Cinema,” or “Movies”

Anyways, here are a couple of standout tracks.

GZA The Genius- Paper Plate

GZA- Columbian Ties

GZA- Cinema

Santogold really knows how to make the blog world happy. She has taken the internet by storm with an array of attacks. She has released an album with many potential singles, a song with N.E.R.D. and Julian Casblancas, and now has teamed up with Diplo to make a mixtape. Mine arrived yesterday, so pardon my lateness. Anyways, everything Diplo touches will turn to, or already is gold. Example: Kanye West- Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix) Don’t ask us how he does it, it just happens. This mixtape is no different. The blending between tracks is top quality, along with the track selection. A few of the tracks stand out, so if you don’t mind I will give them to you.

Probably my favorite song on this mixtape, Diplo puts an Amanda Blank rap over the vocals from Santogold’s “I’m A Lady.” This is one of my favorite Santogold songs, and Amanda Blank is awesome*.
Santogold- I’m A Lady (Diplo Mix Ft Amanda Blank)

Diplo this isn’t fair, you’re too good. Santogold mellowly rapping/singing over Panda Bear’s “Comfy In Nautica.”
Santogold- Lights Out (Diplo’s Panda Bear Mix)

The original of this is one of my favorite songs from her new album. The remix is shit. But Kid Cudi makes it awesome. I don’t know why, he just does.
Santogold Feat. Kid Cudi- Find A Way (Graeme & Switch Mix) / Lunar Camel

This song has nothing to do with Santogold, but it’s awesome. It’s one of Diplo’s global artists rapping over a Ratatat song. I really wish that this song was longer than 1:41
Richie Spice / Ratatat- Marijuana

This song has been on literally every blog, so why not ours.
Santogold- Guns Of Brooklyn

I’ve really only heard of this guy through Santogold’s music, but this is a good song.
Trouble Andrew- Run - Hide

*Spank Rock- B.O.O.T.A.Y.

This guy shot us an email a few weeks back, with some tracks that I really dug. He then sent us a cd which I got lazy with, so my apologies with this late post. He has some very interesting music. I’d call it a mix of Beck inspired vocals, a lot of funk, some electro flair, while still being super poppy. He has an Album entitled “Babies Dream Big.”

Check out these tracks, and let us know what you think. Also check out his myspace.

Alan Wilkis- Milk and Cookies

Alan Wilkis- Bad Mamma Jamma

Sometimes I hear music that just begs to be heard alone, at night, while pondering general existence and other miscellany. It is at these moments that I find refuge in artists that have provided me with such an experience in the past, Sufjan, Dntel, and Hot Chip to name a few. Ladies and gentlemen I am proud to announce a new addition to the lineup: We Are Jeneric. Perfect, intimate, folky bedroom music for musing on your future and singing along to under your breath. The kind of music you want to share with your friends on a mix cd with handdrawn artwork and a meticulously scribbled track list. It’s precious and beautiful and I think you’ll like it. Head over to their aforementioned myspace and pick up their album “In The Parlor With The Moon”.

Oolong Tea - We Are Jeneric

In The Parlor With The Moon - We Are Jeneric

Let me start off by saying that this is one of the most interesting, inspiring, and flat out cool albums I’ve ever heard. Emmanuel Jal was a Sudanese child rebel soldier, who later escaped and is now living in London. Here is a little bit of background on Emmanuel.

“Emmanuel was recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Ethiopia. The camp was disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight. Emmanuel spent several years fighting with the SPLA in Ethiopia, until war broke out there too and the child soldiers were forced back into Sudan by the fighting and joined the SPLA’s efforts to fight the government. When the fighting became unbearable Emmanuel and some other children decided to run away. They were on the move for three months, with many dying on the way, until they reached the town of Waat, which was the headquarter on a small group that had separated themselves from the main SPLA.”

Emmanuel was later adopted by a lady by the name of Emma McCune, and she smuggled him into Kenya. Emmanuel wrote a song off his new album about her and in memory of her, because she died in a car crash shortly after he was adopted by her.

He has an absolutely amazing story, and I highly recommend this album to absolutely everyone even if you aren’t a fan of hip-hop. Here are a few mp3’s for your sampling pleasure from his new album (released yesterday) entitled Warchild.

Emmanuel Jal- Shadow of Death

Emmanuel Jal- 50 Cent

Emmanuel Jal- Emma

That was probably the longest post title in The Tape history. But I am here today for a very special occasion. I finally got Asher’s picture of the Tokyo Police Club concert at the Troubador and decided it would be a good time to review the album as well. Let’s start with the concert - as Dave (bass/vocals), Graham (synths/backup vocals), Josh (guitar) and Greg (drums) all fucking killed it. They blasted through most of the Smith and A Lesson In Crime EPs, as well as playing many cuts of their forthcoming album, /em>Elephant Shell. We’ve briefly mentioned Elephant Shell before, when I put the album as the #1 thing I loved in March. So here are some pictures.

Graham busting a move on the “Don’t Mess With Texas” synth. It is actually an Alesis Micron.

Dave cringing. I think its a stylistic choice.

Graham in mad scientist mode.

Now for the album, which I bought a download of at the show. It starts with a bang. “Centenial” brings a similar sound to the single, “In A Cave” and its a somewhat new sound for the band. Less noisy, cleaner and more centered on Dave’s vocals. “In A Cave” is the next track, and I’m sure you’ve all heard it, and know how good it is. “Graves” and “Juno” continue the feel and trend of the album, both are very good, very solid tracks. The drum part on “Juno” appears to have been taken from the song “Untitled” on their iTunes Live At SoHo EP. The next song is “Tessellate”. It is one of the best on the album without a doubt, and it’ll be the next single. Check a few posts back for the video. Unfortunately, the next two songs, “Sixties Remake” and “The Harrowing Adventures Of” drop off considerably. It picks right back up though, with my second favorite “Nursery, Academy”. I love this song so much, and I think its a high point for the band. Dave’s vocals have a really good sound and the lyrics are great. “Your English Is Good” was originally a non-album single, but the response was so positive, it ended up on there anyway. Good choice. The next track is another really strong one, “Listen To The Math”. It is much slower than their previous tracks other than “A Lesson In Crime” but I like it a lot. It has a haunting yet somehow uplifting feel. The album ends with “The Baskervilles”, a track which I am indifferent to, but it ends the album nicely. Unfortunately, we have no mp3s off the album for you as we were asked to take them down when I posted “Tessellate”, but I do have an acoustic performance of the song via a YouTube video. Enjoy!

Cadence Weapon’s new album is amazing. Cadence Weapon is amazing. Afterparty babies are amazing. The newest release from Cadence “Fucking” Weapon is so ridiculously different from his debut album “Breaking Kayfabe”, the only recognizable part is his voice. It seems as though Cadence Weapon has really broken through with a new idea for this record. There is a distinguishable difference in his last album which had a very minimalistic yet interesting vibe to it. This album has a more electronic/house music vibe to it, it even has a track on it called “House Music.” I’ll just briefly talk about my three favorite tracks.

Coming in at number 3 is track number 3 “True Story.” This track starts out with a little bit of spoken word, and then bursts into Cadence rapping about rumors. His loud, dramatic, annunciated voice really makes this track exciting.

Cadence Weapon- True Story

Number 2 is the opening track of this album entitled, “Do I Miss My Friends?” This song has a ridiculous beat. It starts out with a loop of him singing “Mmm Bup.” Next comes in a little loop of him singing about him missing his friends. He proceeds to rap over his own acapella beat.He continues to sing the chorus sort of out of tune, but it’s alright because it’s damn catchy.

 Cadence Weapon- Do I Miss My Friends? (mediafire)

My favorite track on Cadence Weapon’s new album “Afterparty Babies” is called “Getting Dumb.” I guess I love this track so much for two reasons. The first being that the beat is sick. It starts out with this really heavy drum pattern, with a dirty sounding synth layered on top of it. But the main reason I guess I love this track, is because it reminds me of a better version of Lupe Fiasco’s “Dumb It Down.” I feel the lyrics in Lupe’s track are far superior, but Cadence Weapon just brings this vibe to the track that a ringtone beat doesn’t bring to a song. Even though Lupe used such a shitty beat to protest average, radio rap music, the beat still sucks. Lupe is still my favorite hip-hop artist, but I think Cadence Weapon does a better job of presenting his protest then Mr. Fiasco does.

Cadence Weapon- Getting Dumb (mediafire)

9.2/10

An australian musician who mixes a folky rock style with electronic influences. He sounds a lot like Sufjan Stevens. His CD “The Submarine” is a great rainy day album, that has a real feel good vibe. He loops electronic beats and interesting instruments over his popy vocals. I was first unsure about his CD, “The Submarine” but the more i listened the more interesting it got. A few negative points I don’t find anything about the music to particularly stand out. I just although I have a good time listening to it, and don’t get me wrong I think its a good album, but their is something about it that feels a little bit, “disposable.” So just check him out and make your own mind up.

7/10

Two of the most interesting songs on Whiley’s album, “The Submarine.”

Whitley-A Shot To The Stars

Whitley-White Feathers Strange Sights

If yo like what you hear you can purchase his CD at Whitley Myspace

The only tagline to rival Juno’s “Silencio, old man!” is the album title of the Los Campesinos debut, Hold On Now Youngster. The way I’ll be doing this review is taking you through the tracklist as I listen to it. Let’s begin. The review and two tracks after the jump. (Read more…)