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Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Review
The Arctic Monkeys released their sixth studio album earlier this month, after a five-year hiatus. In truth, no two Arctic Monkeys albums are alike–the band’s discography has a unique, but not an entirely consistent sound. That being said, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is definitely the band’s boldest effort so far, deviating from the harder, more psychedelic rock sound of the critically acclaimed AM. However, this comparison does not mean that Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino does not deserve its own acclaim. The end result of Alex Turner overcoming his writer’s block, this album is unique in that Turner used a piano to compose it, rather than his usual guitar, which explains the softer sound…
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Young Thug Revolutionizing Hip hop… Unintentionally
Young Thug has recently dropped his newest mixtape Jeffery. The mixtape is a great one and I can already picture myself hearing many of these tracks in the club while sipping on my rum and coke. Although full of bangers, the tape is somewhat strange as well. Firstly, the songs are all named after idols of his, which apparently include Wyclef Jean, Kanye West (which features Wyclef), Riri, and Harambe. Why is Harambe one of Young Thug’s idols? I doubt that we’ll ever know because the lyrics to the song have nothing to do with Harambe or gorillas. However, the aspect of this mixtape that has drawn the most attention is the cover.…
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BLM: Critical Review of To Pimp a Butterfly
Yesterday, Tumblr acknowledged that it’s been two years since the Ferguson protests began, which had me start thinking of Black Lives Matter, a movement I stand by closely. Last semester, I wrote a critical review on my favourite album of 2015, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly for my pop culture class in reference to the current social turmoil. Here it is. Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, was a favourite to win Album of the Year at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, topping many critics’ “Best Albums of 2015” lists, including Rolling Stones magazine’s (2015). Described as a “masterpiece of fiery outrage, deep jazz and ruthless self-critique” (Tate, 2015, n.p),…
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“Sluggish, Lazy, Stupid, and Unconcerned”
Who else could blatantly read a whole generation like that and be praised? Thank God Endless was released at the beginning of this weekend to absorb part of my overly ecstatic reaction to Frank Ocean finally dropping his new album. But for some reason, what I wasn’t prepared for is how perfect this album would actually be. *listens to #Blonde one time* pic.twitter.com/iduMLdaflU — Wantickets (@Wantickets) August 20, 2016 As I have mentioned of Ocean before, he is able to have the listener reflect on their own self while listening to his inspired tracks. Blond has substance; the overall subject matter of the album is able to have every listener rationalize with Ocean’s own thoughts and emotions.…
