Artist Of The Day: Frank Ocean

It’s difficult for me to imagine Frank Ocean being in any way associated with the Odd Future collective. I mean no offence to fans of said collective, but I haven’t found anything particularly worthy of note from its members. For the most part they sound as you’d expect: young, amateurish hip-hoppers - Tyler, The Creator being the most juvenile and naive of the lot. It’s surprising, then, that the visionary of the group would be working in the realm of R&B, a genre that, aside from Abel Tesfaye, hasn’t seen much innovation for quite some time.

Instead of asserting sexuality and themes of misogyny and ‘club life’ (or what have you) as many of his contemporaries are wont to do, Ocean presents us with themes of unrequited love and class disparity (“Super Rich Kids”). He’s something of a lyrical virtuoso in how he employs literary devices and details his songs through emotional confessionals. He’s also rather culturally and economically conscious; in “Super Rich Kids” he speaks of economic inequality: “The maid comes around too much / Parents ain’t around enough / Too many joy rides in daddy’s jaguar / Too many white lies – and white lines.” His cattiness is amusing and very refreshing. Channel Orange is a definite must for fans of the genre, and possible a stepping-stone for those unsure.

Stream Channel Orange here.

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Artist Of The Day: Rush

Simply put: Clockwork Angels is Rush’s best album in 30 years. Moreover, it’s an album that challenges Rush’s heydey material and sees a return to the concept album. Neil Peart, through a loosely tethered narrative, casts a young man pursuing his dreams in a world of chaos and fantastical steampunk themes. I shan’t delve too much into it, but know that it’s typical Rush (that is to say it’s goofy but awesome). The music at hand far overshadows that of Rush’s 2007 misfire Snakes & Arrows; it’s far more proggy (but doesn’t compromise the hooks), focused, and polished. Through a convoluted plot, Clockwork Angels (unsurprisingly) comes full circle in the end, and, beyond its intrinsical narrative, it’s very musical. Neil Peart is at the top of his game: his acuity of technicality makes his playing sound second-nature to him -- so unmanufactured and instinctive. Likewise, Geddy Lee’s bass playing is masterfully mixed and given more prominence than on previous albums, easily servicing to be a highlight. It may be a little difficult to digest at first, as Rush albums are wont to do, typically being exhaustively long, but it’s a ridiculously strong musical statement, and a fine, fine return to form. In fact, I’d like to amend my original statement to this: Clockwork Angels might just be Rush’s best album, period.

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Album Review: Soulsavers - The Light The Dead See

Album Rating: B+

“I can feel the presence of God occupying my intentions/In my soul, within my thoughts, and in ways too dreary to mention/These thoughts torment me; they mould and shape me/There's a man that I should be!” Deep stuff, right? Such are the kind of lyrics to be found all throughout The Light The Dead See. To their credit, the British duo known as Soulsavers have crafted a profoundly deep (but not suffocatingly so) album here thanks to the enlistment of lead vocalist/lyricist Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. The aforementioned lyrics might seem like a facile grab at poetic authenticity, but what Gahan’s done here is present us with short confessionals dabbling in personal woes of morality, faith, regret, etc. Having been pronounced clinically deceased for six minutes in the late ‘90s and surviving a malignant bowel tumor just three years ago, it’s safe to say that Gahan has come close to - and, well, technically experienced - death, and his trauma is written all over The Light The Dead See. His contemplative and bleak lyrics are foregrounded as the journey unfolds, and his vocal work is just as good as it was back in the heyday of Depeche Mode.

Artist Of The Day - Killer Mike

Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music plants its flag high for all to see, imparting new life to the realm of hip-hop in doing so. Mike, via El-P's production, simultaneously channels the contemporary styling of Big Boi and peak '90s Ice Cube, drawing on the compositional prowess of the former and honing the powerful emceeing abilities of the latter. This blend of nuanced sounds and slick beats juxtaposed with Mike's engrossing narrative produces great results, and Mike's convictions are in plain view: "Mother fucker, my dad was a cop/You don't think I know a dirty ass cop when I see one?/Shake down, take down, disrespecting the badge!" ("Don't Die"). His words are poignant, and the music itself feels like some grand hip-hop revitalization; made to be be huge but fated to be overlooked by many. "Rap is my religion" ("R.A.P. Music").

The album can be heard here.

Album Review: mewithoutYou - Ten Stories

Album Rating: B+

As a devout mewithoutYou fan I have to admit, I was taken aback by the band’s previous album when I first heard it. Their decision to do away with their signature brand of post-hardcore in favour of folksy, baroque-pop numbers initially seemed like an ill-conceived plan, and even though they managed to ruffle some feathers in changing their style, the fanciful whimsy of It’s All Crazy! It’s All False!... eventually had a spellbinding hold on me. See, despite some of the criticisms fans of the band lobbed at It’s All Crazy! It’s All False... for being uninspired, a miscalculated ode to campfire sing-alongs (this is my personal favourite), etc., that album proved a pivotal point to all of the naysayers: mewithoutYou is a band incapable of being pigeonholed. They’ve been drastically changing their core sound from album to album, but their previous one marked a stark departure: all of a sudden, the band that brought us the emotionally charged [A--> B] Life was playing in the vein of Neutral Milk Hotel, and people were stunted. Aaron Weiss, a man once entrenched in writing on themes of loss and pain, was writing about fictional portrayals of insects and animals. Aside the quizzical nature of it all, the only real carryover seemed to be the religious connotations in the lyrics. It was unlikely that they’d keep to the fantastical storytelling angle of It’s All Crazy! It’s All False!... though - they’re a band discontent with sticking to the same formula. So, the question seems like an obvious one: Where have the beloved purveyors of post-hardcore decided to go this time?

Interview With mewithoutYou

On May 15, 2012 mewithoutYou will release their fifth full-length LP "Ten Stories." We at Muzik Dizcovery were fortunate enough to conduct an interview with guitarist Michael Weiss, asking questions pertaining to the new album's sound, lyrical direction, favorite albums of 2011, memorable moments, and much more can be read below.

Artist of the Day: Maps & Atlases

Of the criticisms lobbed at Beware and Be Grateful, the one that sticks out the most to me is that Maps & Atlases’ mathy sensibilities have fallen by the wayside in favour of a poppier sound. Well, it’s kind of inescapable; Beware & Be Grateful does sound like a pop album, but it’s still incredibly nuanced and technical - much more so than people are going to give it credit for. Besides, it’s the band they were destined to evolve into; small glimpses of this poppy, care-free nature are found when tracing their older material (even 2010’s Perch Patchwork). Even in their cerebral nature, a lot of the songs on Perch Patchwork actually seemed incredibly warm and undeniably catchy, so why then are so many surprised by the direction of their musical progression?

Beware & Be Grateful is a peppy album full of songs soaked in gorgeous rhythm guitars, jubilant electronics, and funky choruses that beg to be sung along to, and like I said, it’s still technical. See, I like to compare Maps & Atlases’ approach to music to prog rock aficionados Rush. Think about it, Rush is a band able to keep broad appeal without compromising their technical integrity. Their music is accessible and fun, but also convoluted and nuanced. Beware & Be Grateful is much the same: easy on the ears but difficult to wrap one’s head around. So even though Beware & Be Grateful has the unfair disadvantage of people not favouring their direction and too easily dismissing their brand of music as simple, it’ll reward those who stick with it long enough to gorge on all of the neat little quirks. Listen more attentively and it’s like hearing two bands play at once: a tamer TV on the Radio mixed with the technical prowess of a band like Rush.  
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Album Review: Maps & Atlases - Beware and Be Grateful

Album Rating: B+

It’s fairly easy to dismiss Beware and Be Grateful as a by-the-numbers pop-centric album, one riddled with feel-good hooks and infectious choruses. Truth is, it sort of is, but it’s also so much more than that. There’s something undeniably admirable about how Dave Davison and co. write. Their music is readily accessible, emulating a tamer version of TV on the Radio, except that it’s rather intricate and surprisingly technical. That’s the thing that I love most about Maps & Atlases though: their music is technical and mathy, but not suffocatingly so. We can compare them to artists like TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend because they’re user-friendly, and later, when we’re listening more attentively, we can pick out all of the cool little nuances. Akin (contextually, not in sound) to a band like Rush, Maps & Atlases can -and do- include subtle complexities in their music that most people won’t notice, but they’re able to retain a broad appeal while maintaining integrity, and that’s something to be commended.

Artist Of The Day: Grimes

Grimes' 2012 album, Visions, is unquestionably a product of the internet age. That isn't to say it falls under the category of by-the-numbers electronica albums being pumped out nowadays. Quite the contrary; Visions is a dream-pop album worthy of every bit of praise it receives. Unlike the inconsistencies found within Grimes' other albums, Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, Visions is a wholly enjoyable, focused effort from Grimes, seeing the young female artist find a pleasing middle-ground between the resplendent child-like nature of her voice and the pulsating bass and electronics that refuse to sit still. The end result is an album that draws from several genres such as: IDM, Industrial, New-Age, Pop, etc. Highly recommended.
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Frenchy's New Muzik Monday (2/13/12)

Here’s some new music for y’all to take in. Just a quick warning though: it’s not all immediately accessible (especially Sigh) and one of the songs is 2 years old, but I’m sure many of you are unfamiliar with it so I’m posting it regardless. Enjoy!

Burial - Kindred
Stream here

Firstly, let’s start off with a song so fresh that it still has that brand-new car scent. You’ll all no doubt have heard of Burial by now. Letting all of us become familiar once more with Dubstep’s presence in 2007 via Untrue, Burial helped us get in touch with a genre we almost forgot existed and has since been satiating the craving for those pining to hear more of his signature style of Dubstep through the release of EPs. Somehow (almost impossibly) redefining a sound that was already redefined, “Kindred” (song and EP) sounds like it’s charting new territory, fleshing out Burial’s brooding side and focusing heavily on atmosphere. On an EP with songs that constantly meander, “Kindred” is decidedly the most straightforward of the three. The other two are available for stream right below “Kindred”, assuming you like said song.

Album Review: Gonjasufi - MU.ZZ.LE

Album Rating: B

Gonjasufi (aka Sumach Ecks) has risen to the top in a considerably short time. Presenting us with his left-field entry album A Sufi and a Killer, Gonjasufi immediately found a sound that was all at once challenging and accessible. Splicing wispy, ethereal elements with his grimy vocals, Gonjasufi nestled into a cultural medium and exercised the dichotomy between restraint and release. Speaking of the title of his debut, Gonjasufi said, “The Sufi side of life has helped me with my killer side so I try not to attach myself to any label. There's a Sufi and a killer in everybody, man.” And that sentiment is apparent all throughout said album, specifically in the contrast between the more jaded, emotionally driven tracks (“She Gone”) and the happier moods set (“Klowds”). Choosing to produce his new album on his own (without the talents of LA producer Gaslamp Killer), MU.ZZ.LE takes a considerably different direction and focuses more on mood (on the surface, at least).

Album Review: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

As a person who typically dislikes most things R&B it’s fair to say that I approached Abel Tesfaye’s entry mixtape, House of Balloons, with skepticism. And even though House of Balloons is - at its core - hedonistic, it veiled the most obvious stereotypes of its genre with meticulous production and Tesfaye’s angelic croons. Shortly thereafter, Thursday was released and helped expand on this potent blend by somewhat breaking away from the aesthetic of its predecessor to feel a little more emotionally resolute and, at times, kind of... creepy. As noted by many a reviewer, Thursday drew from a much darker atmosphere and thrived on its story-telling tendencies. Still though, both mixtapes come across as filthy, grimy sex music on the surface, but there’s something undeniably emotive about them. Beneath Tesfaye’s walls of drug-addled sexism lies a dangerously self-destructive person (“The Knowing”) - one who - knowingly - uses and abuses drugs and women, and even though Thursday saw Tesfaye’s character find a muse - one whom he created and destroyed a relationship with - his character’s demeanor inevitably led him back on the same path. So, after the fallout of failed relationships, finding Tesfaye placed (once more) exactly where he started, the inevitable question is: where does he go from here.

Album Review: The Roots - undun

The Roots are the most consistently great hip-hop band of all time. Such a statement is daringly bold, but I can’t at this time think of any other group out there who’ve managed to keep in with the current trends of hip-hop without sounding somewhat disingenuous in doing so. How I Got Over is the most obvious indicator of this: The Roots made their sound considerably more streamlined, but they were still able to one-up the vast majority of their contemporaries in doing so. Now, undun still retains that new-age sound, but it also brings the quirks - coming hot on the heels of their 2010 record, undun sounds surprisingly consistent and ingeniously crafted. It’s the Roots’ first concept record, detailing the life of a fictional protagonist named Redford Stephens. Through cultivated beats and introspective lyrical rumination, several guest vocalists lend their voices to help channel energy to breathe life and give a piece of themselves to the role of this character. The end result is an atypical hip-hop concept album that threatens to not only be a huge success, but one that also challenges some of the Roots’ best material to date.