By: Kwase Lane, Features Editor
[Sub Pop Records; 2020]
Rating: 5/10
Key Tracks: “’96 Neve Campbell”, “Looking Like Meat”, “Eaten Alive”
clipping.’s commitment to fictional perspectives could be really interesting if Daveed Diggs bothered to put any energy into his delivery. Visions of Bodies Being Burned is a testament to how flaccid an album can be if the artist sounds terribly bored by the concept of making music. Every featured artist rides the beat far better than Diggs ever allows himself to, much to the album’s detriment. This project’s production is as unique as ever, but I can’t help but find myself wishing anybody else was responsible for rapping over it.
Category: Reviews
Album Review: boy pablo – Wachito Rico
By Maddie James, Contributor
[777 Music; 2020]
Rating: 7/10
Key tracks: “honey”, “te vas // don’t go”, “mustache”
Wachito Rico sounds like either incredibly well-produced brain candy or sexy elevator music. The newest release from boy pablo, Wachito Rico is the debut album of the indie-pop project headed by Chilean-Norwegian artist Nicolas Muñoz.
Album Review: The Mountain Goats – Getting Into Knives
By Ethan Bloomfield, Contributor[Merge; 2020]Rating: 6/10 Key Tracks: “The Last Place I Saw You Alive”, “Bell Swamp Connection”, “Getting Into Knives” What can be said about The Mountain Goats that hasn’t been? John Darnielle and company have created 13 studio albums and some of the biggest indie classics for the better part of three decades….
Album Review: Ariana Grande – Positions
By Lauren McCain, Columns Editor [Republic Records; 2020]Rating: 7.5/10 Key tracks: “positions”, “34+35”, “safety net (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, “pov” After the whirlwind of her albums Sweetener and thank u, next less than five months apart in 2019, in 2020, Ariana Grande brings a more intimate, sultry R&B sound to the table with Positions. Positions makes…
Movie Review: The Trial of the Chicago 7
By Ben Lindner, Contributor
[Netflix; 2020]
Rating: 7/10
From the opening minutes of The Trial of the Chicago 7, a story of the aftermath of the riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, it is clear exactly what the film is trying to be: an acting showcase with a fast, exciting script. It’s a movie made for people, like myself, who enjoy pointing at the screen and saying, “Hey, isn’t that the guy from that thing?” In that sense, the movie works extremely well.
Album Review: Tricot – 10
By: Kwase Lane, Features Editor
[cutting edge/8902 Records; 2020]
Rating: 9/10
10, Tricot’s second album of the year, demonstrates an almost unbelievable amount of technical and conceptual refinement compared to their previous projects. Like always, the quartet weaves together complex polyrhythms, gentle melodies and impassioned cries, but 10 is marked by the sense of ease that each piece generates. The album flows from aggressive guitar riffs to mild, barely whispered vocals, all the while being imbued with an intricate serenity that feels unknowable and familiar at the same time.
Album Review: Touché Amoré – Lament
By Jonah Krueger, News Editor[Epitaph; 2020]Rating: 8.5/10 Key tracks: “Come Heroine”, “Reminders”, “Limelight”, “Deflector” Touché Amoré has rightly become an emo A-lister, managing to vary its approach to songwriting while remaining remarkably consistent in quality with each release. Yet, the glamorous rise of the band was abruptly halted with the release of their fourth album. …
Movie Review: Mulan
By Ben Lindner, Contributor
[Disney; 2020]
Rating: 2/10
Disney needs to stop. Their live-action remakes are complete failures, no more than obvious cash grabs at beloved childhood stories, and though they all pale in comparison to the originals, Mulan (2020) is the worst of them by a mile. The idea behind this one seems to be a more serious take that is more faithful to the original myth. This is not your grandpa’s Mulan. No more talking dragons voiced by Eddie Murphy, no more songs, no more fun stuff.
Album Review: Machinedrum – A View of U
By Kiah Easton, Editorial Director[Ninja Tune; 2020]Rating: 5.5/10 Key tracks:”Kane Train”, “Believe in U”, “Inner Eye” Machinedrum, a.k.a. Travis Stewart, delivers a product fitting for his moniker. A View of U is a clean, percussion-heavy project hosting a total of nine different features, from Father to Tigran Hamasyan. Reflecting this lengthy list of collaborators, the…
Album Review: Teenage Halloween – Teenage Halloween
By Jonah Krueger, News Editor
[Don Giovanni Records; 2020]
Rating: 7/10
Key tracks: “Drown”, “Racehorse”, “Turn Right, Goes Straight”
New Jersey power-punk collective Teenage Halloween may have just served up the sweetest existentially-concerned cocktail this side of Jeff Rosenstock. One part Pacific Northwest indie, two parts California ska/pop-punk, with a dash of Springsteen and modern folk-punk for garnish, Teenage Halloween’s self-titled debut is a satisfyingly melodic crowd-pleaser.
Album Review: A.G. Cook – Apple
By Kiah Easton, Editorial Director[PC Music; 2020]Rating: 6.5/10 Key tracks: “Oh yeah”, “Beautiful Superstar”, “The Darkness” Apple is the second full-length album from PC Music founder A.G. Cook. His first LP, 7G, came out less than two months ago and consisted of 49 songs, lasting more than two and a half hours. Apple fits much…
Album Review: Field Medic – Floral Prince
By Ethan Bloomfield, Contributor
[Run For Cover Records; 2020]
Rating: 7/10 Key tracks: “-h-o-u-s-e-k-e-y-z-”, “older now (it hurts)”, “before your body goes” 2020 is not a year for connection. Amidst the pandemic and months of isolation, it is sometimes hard to feel a true, heartfelt connection with others. During this time, though, music remains one of the main defenses against boredom for many people, and reminders of humanity and closeness still shines through in it. This is more than evident on Floral Prince, the new full-length project from lo-fi musician Field Medic, aka Kevin Patrick Sullivan.
