LP1
FKA twigs
(XL Recordings)
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The orgasmic hums of Fka twigs are on total display inside the R-neg-B album of the year. A bit trancey for any radio format, LP1 is a celebration of fantasy sex romps, retro clap tracks and whistle register coos. "Give Up" and the album standout "Two Weeks" shows a type of creative brilliance that isn't afraid to bend the rules of urban contemporary R&B. Even when the beats and eerie sounds start to sound chaotic ("Numbers"), Fka's Aaliyah-sequel pipes bring clarity to the blight of confusion. The whole event actually sounds like Aaliyah speaking to us from a faraway galaxy. |
Ultraviolence
LANA DEL RAY
(Interscope)
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Inside the hazy hallucinating rock of Lana Del Ray is stories of lamentation, rage and "fuckin' crazy" heartbreak rollercoasters. She turns up the scorn on Ultraviolence, a full-length disc set entirely to a continuous midtempo rhythm. Although the pace remains the same throughout the whole record, Ray's emotional episodes are quite lucid. "Pretty When You Cry" is as colossal as it gets when it comes to painstaking rejection. Ray's pain hits its peak on "The Other Woman," pushing her to sing with an operatic tremble towards the closing. And when she sings "Money Power and Glory," she turns it into an exceptionally devilish worship hymn: "Alleluia, I wanna take you for all that you got." Each song, writ with tranquil and mellow arrangements, is autographed with a raw ink etched in drugs, booze and blues. It's the ultimate pity party for the troubled college kid anxious to experience a rite of passage into the chaos of adulthood. |
It's Album Time
TODD TERJE
(Domino Recording)
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Fans of Gorillaz' Plastic Beach got a sudden surprise when they heard Norwegian DJ Todd Terje dropping artsy disco nu-disco beats and synth grandeur on his debut album, It's Album Time. From the paradise-sounding “Leisure Suit Preben” to the ‘80's marathon swag of “Delorean Dynamite, each track fits perfectly into that type of soundscape collection. Then he throws in a marvelous funky ball of space-age disco with “Strandbar,” a tune worthy to fit in a classic Deodato playlist. Of course, he pays tribute to his namesake – 80's dance innovator Todd Terry. The almost-all instrumental music showcased here – a sweet blend of house, Italodisco, Giorgio Moroder-esque synth craftsmanship and futurama EDM – deserves to be linked with such club royalty.
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The Unexpected
LIV WARFIELD
(1860 Property)
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To be discovered and touted by Prince is something most emerging artists would wish was on their resume. Liv Warfield – a singer dressed with sexy bluesy pipes and a musical style so rebelliously different from her peers – is one of the lucky ones. On her sophomore LP, The Unexpected, she comes out swinging with bold live R&B and daring female-led rock funk, the type of brew that a New Power Generation alum should be drop. With a big Zeppelin power jam penned by Prince (“The Unexpected”), sensual slow tempo grooves (“Stay – Soul Lifted,” “Your Show,” “Come Back”) and a hearty dose of colossal funky soul worthy of a Ledisi cameo (“Why Do You Lie,” “Lena Blue”), it's hard to knock something so infectious. An arrival this bold in R&B hasn't been heard since Janelle Monae's Electric Lady.
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The Feast of the Broken Heart
HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR
(Big Beat Records/Atlantic)
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Flexing their muscles in the face of gluttonous EDM, Hercules and Love Affair drops a four on the floor dance getaway fused with 80s house, Todd Terry Project workouts ("Liberty") and plenty of wicked New York attitude ("That's Not Me"). It's a marvelous follow-up to the mixtape of DJ-Kicks. Group mastermind Andy Butler totally understands the importance of dance music's re-emergence on the masses. Hardly a dry spell contained here, there's plenty for dancers to feast on.
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The London Sessions
MARY J. BLIGE
(Capitol)
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The New York-bred Queen of Hip-hop ditches her sovereignty to her homeland for a one-time offer with some of UK's best on The London Sessions. Most saw this coming, after the successes spawning from her duet with soul crooner Sam Smith (“Stay With Me”) and electro duo Disclosure (“F for You”). But this effort shines brighter than anything she's possibly released on her own since The Breakthrough, even making the Think Like a Man Too soundtrack look infantile. There's plenty that Blige should be celebrate for: The Disclosure-produced “Right Now” is a brilliant dance record, “Not Loving You” ranks in line with the gravitas of his own emotional ballads; the Emeli Sande-penned “Whole Damn Year” is sleeker than a Alicia Keys headbanger. She proves once more to be a commander on the dance floor with the futuristic garage sounds of “Follow” and captures the attention of the ear using her emotive soul on the Sam Smith contribution of “Therapy.”
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Nikki Nack
tUnE-yArDs
(4AD)
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Count Nate Brenner and Merrill Garbus may have mastered the art of cool worldbeat. On Nikki Nack, the New England duo follow in line with Vampire Weekend jams by dropping a fun record sparkling with melodic songs generating hip-hop swag (“Water Fountain”), Middle Eastern bounce (“Time of Dark”) and poetic charm (“Hey Life”). Nikki Nack is a strange assortment, a mix of Beach Boys adventurism and Graceland templates, to the average ear. But the band finds clever ways to make this crazy music so inhabitable. Although something like “Wait for a Minute” is too wayward from conventional radio, it feels like blue-eyed soul of Hall & Oates dropped in the imagination of Frank Ocean. “Left Behind” could easily fall inside Sean Paul's “Gimmie the Light.”
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White Women
CHROMEO
(Big Beat Records/Atlantic)
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Musicians aren't exactly proud to have their albums associated with nostalgia, but electro-funk band Chromeo does a splendored thing with White Women, a set that plays like an anointed New York playlist trapped inside a late 70s-mid 80s bubble. The tunes are all charmed with fun and adventure. Turn to their Jamaroquai funk (“Fall Back 2 U”), the joyous exuberance of “Come Alive” and the ‘80's R&B pulse of “Old 45's.” And with it's time to play with the course of midnight slow grooves, they master the class by applying the sexy sounds of Solange to the curriculum (see “Lost on the Way Home”).
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Turn Blue
THE BLACK KEYS
(Nonesuch)
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Turn Blue, the Akron, Ohio-based rock duo's fifth studio LP, is somewhat of a departure from their last two sets, but it's far from disappointing. The canvas is spread with lava lamp psychedelic vibes and sweltering Southern blues. Things feel druggy on the "Weight of Love" and continue into "Bullet in the Brain" and the sweltering title track. The riffs inside "Fever" and "Year in Review" return us once more to their most powerful aesthetic, the sound that has defined their genre-spanning rock. But as always, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney show no fear in bending the rules. For this effort, they do it without compromising or destroying their hard work. Every band needs an escape record; Turn Blue was theirs.
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Black Messiah
D'ANGELO & THE VANGUARD
(RCA)
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It's not Super Fly, nor is it What's Going On, but D'Angelo doesn't want it to be. Black Messiah is a Roots-esque jazz jam session powered up with sexy inaudible lyrics, Sign o' the Times funk and hints of his neo-soul past. But he is a more evolved and sober creature, surrounded by Questlove's rock-funk wisdom and a band of complimentary souls ( The Time's Jesse Johnson, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer John Blackwell). Nothing on Black Messiah is pop ready, which is a bit puzzling for the former soul crooner. There's not even a decent “Untitled” follow-up to play with. But this effort is all about making something that could easily eclipse something enigmatic and genius as Voodoo. Hearing the smooth sounds of “Betray My Heart,” the chill vibes of “Back to the Future” and something as delicious as “Sugah Daddy” gives this disc a certain kind of undeniable satisfaction. It's as if the twelve years of hiatus was more of an investment. |
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