Kanye West: Yeezus Review

Album: Yeezus
Artist: Kanye West
Genre: Industrial Hip-hop

3.9/10





UH HUH HONEY!!

     It's actually pretty funny how Kanye could go from making one of the best pop-rap records ever to a complete mess in a short 3 years.  I've always respected Kanye West's unique ability to inject a true R&B/soul flair into his music.  It was something the industry definitely needed in the early 2000s.  But here we are in 2013, with hip-hop reaching new heights in both popularity and quality, and it seemed as if Kanye would be one of the leaders.  With his new record Yeezus, however, everyone's favorite rapper has brought messy sample splicing, hollow synth leads, and some of the worst mixing/mastering I've ever heard.
     From the very beginning Yeezus seemed doomed, even with help from all-stars like TNGHT, Daft Punk, Justin Vernon, and Rick Rubin.  Opener "On Sight" begins with laser-synths and overblown drums contrasted unpleasantly with Kanye's smooth flow.  Halfway through the song "Sermon (He'll Give Us What We Really Need)" begins to play by itself with no context, and then is abruptly cut off seconds later.  This messy sampling style is rampant throughout the record.  Tracks "I Am A God" and "Bound 2" both feature heavy samples.  "Bound 2" utilizes the track "Bound" (probably why it's called Bound 2) by Bobby Massey as the entire beat for the verses.  "I Am A God" contrasts  "Forward Inna Dem Clothes" with Kanye's weak screaming.  "Send It Up" actually breaks out a dub track to work as an outro.  
    And this leads me to the next criticism: the vocals.  Kanye does everything from vocoder crooning to outright screaming, but each line and flow seems tired and undynamic.  Even Kanye's screams on "Black Skinhead" and "I Am A God" seem forced and even gimmicky.  Chief Keef's vocals get a good little autotune, but are way too slow and unrhythmic to be enjoyable.  Vernon shines on "I'm in It" however, as well as Assassin.  Both bring their unique styles to the track.  
     There are some redeeming qualities, even if each track has glaring issues.  "Blood On The Leaves" samples the incredibly dark "Strange Fruit", a song about a slave hanging by his neck from a tree.  Kanye executes this sample alongside the amazing brass line from TNGHT's live-only track R U Ready.  The result is something dark and captivating, even if only for part of the track.  "Bound 2" has a great soulful chorus that is cut mid sentence by the "Bound" sample.  "New Slaves" boasts an actual synth line and chord progression that serves as the only solid instrumental for Kanye to work off of.  These small blessings prevent the total flop of this record.
     Yeezy has tried something different, something that casual listeners may believe is fresh.  But if you take the time to check out truly great industrial hip-hop artists like Death Grips, dalek, or Techno Animal, you'll find that Kanye has merely grazed the surface of the true darkness, and cohesiveness, of the genre.  It's not the worst hip-hop album of all time, but it's the worst industrial hip-hop album of all time.  3.9 gods out of 10.

Fave Track: Blood on the Leaves

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories Review

Album: Random Access Memories
Artist: Daft Punk
Genre: Nu-Disco


7.9/10




      Random Access Memories is my "overrated but still quite good record" of 2013 thus far.  This prestigious award went to channel ORANGE last year, another album that was surrounded by hype.  Unlike channel ORANGE (which had some serious hiccups), every one of these tracks actually has merit to them, it just fails to keep its energy and vitality up in certain points.
     Daft Punk have been accepted as innovators in the electronic dance music scene.  Their focus on intense repetition and catchy, hooky, vocal and vocoder lines helped establish a precedent for other house acts to follow.  On Random Access Memories, Daft Punk craft a radically different sound than their previous efforts, calling in a large amount of collaborators and instrumentalists as well as blending a large amount of influences to create an organic, analog experience.  Opener "Give Life Back to Music" starts with grandiose drum and piano breaks alongside Nile Rodgers' signature tight guitar work.  It's incredibly danceable but hardly electronic, save for that signature robotic vocoder lead.  "Lose Yourself to Dance" pushes Pharell to the top of his range and layers climbing vocal and synth leads.  It also accomplishes a shift in tone, bringing up images and feelings of age and the loss of youth.    "Touch" boasts the best chord progression on the album, played in a variety of ways, from jazz piano and trumpets to a mournful electric piano.  Paul Williams brings his best to the track, fluctuating his voice to adapt to the natural swells of the tune.  "Doin' It Right" brings the signature Daft Punk repetition and combines it with the reverb-bathed and Beach Boys-inspired voice of experimental musician (and drummer/vocalist of Animal Collective) Panda Bear.
     It's important to note that there are no strictly bad songs on this record, just songs that have interesting components but perhaps don't combine them in the best way.  "Instant Crush" brings a weirder production style, bending Strokes' singer Casablancas' voice to near-unrecognizable pitches.  Guitars are featured in a palm-muted and are frequently heard run backwards.  The song structure follows a predictable pop verse-prechorus-chorus pattern, which wouldn't be an issue if the production wasn't so wonky.  "The Game of Love" has a great drum part and a powerful mournful atmosphere, but the lack of dynamics leave me wanting more.  "Beyond" boasts an incredibly out-of-place and cheesy string part, as well as incredibly similar tones and melodic ideas as previous tracks in the album.
     So did I expect more out of a new Daft Punk record?  To be completely honest, no.  When I first heard the snippet of "Get Lucky" (summer pop jam of the year btw) I could tell that they were going to do something different, and when bands make a radical shift, bumps are expected.  These bumps prevent this album from truly being that great album that everyone wanted.  There's a few truly amazing tracks on this LP, though, and it definitely deserves a listen.  It's got something for everyone that's for sure.

FAVE TRACKS: Give Life Back to Music, Get Lucky, Lose Yourself to Dance, Touch, Doin it Right