Review Roundup - October 2012
by Jess Grant
11/5/12
Hey, did you guys see Justin Bieber on The X Factor the other week? That bro is one shit hot judge! “They're good.” “I really liked it.” “I felt it.” Repeat for every single fucking candidate. Give me a break, LA Reid! Oh...shit. I just let slip that I watch The X Factor. Shit. Moving along...
Lucky for you, LA Music Blog, BitCandy, are totez better than the Biebs when it comes to reviewing music. So scroll on down for October's Review Roundup, y'all! This month, we dig on Deerhoof, Grizzly Bear, Boys Noize and Kendrick Lamar, and smack down David Byrne & St Vincent, Flying Lotus, Bat for Lashes and Nelly Furtado (but you already knew that last one).
And that's not all...
Deerhoof – Breakup Song – Rating: 8.2
First of all, I have to admit Deerhoof has, to me, always fallen into the 'disposable indie' category. Meaning...it's an album you get and listen to so that you can be cool and knowledgeable and get your 'indie badge' so you don't look like a corn dog when you're hanging with your 'way too cool' friends (read more...).
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant - Rating: 2.7
Our reviews on music today is all about an album that is...a whole bunch of nothing. Except for two songs, 'Who' and 'The One Who Broke Your Heart.' The rest of this epic event pairing of David Byrne and St. Vincent is an "arrangement" exercise of Annie Clark harmonic complexities that no one cares about (read more...).
The xx – Coexist – Rating: 5.9
So when it comes to The xx and their new album Coexist...I was soooo looking forward to writing a positive review. But alas I think The xx, while trying to reach for the front end of the alphabet with a grade 'A' more or less made a 'C' here on their latest album. Now, I don't know if any of the band members Jamie xx, Baria Qureshi, Romy Croft or Oliver Sim have middle names but one thing's for sure: middle name here is not 'innovation' (read more...).
Nelly Furtado – The Spirit Indestructible – Rating: 1.2
You say Fur-tod-oh and I say Fur-tay-doh...Let's call the whole thing off. Exactly. Well you have to be like 80 something years old when that song was a hit. But no matter...what matters here is it's over for Nelly Furtado. That's right...spoken just like Colonel Troutman...It's Over Johnny...It's OVER! Do you know who it's also over for? Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins, who produced the majority of this monstrosity. It's over Rodney...It's OVER!!! (read more...).
Grizzly Bear – Shields – Rating: 8.8
Grizzly Bear always seemed like a band with the potential for a truly stellar album within itself. While 2008's Veckatimest was more consistent than 2006's Yellow House, you still needed a cup of coffee if you wanted to make it through either. While not a perfect album, Shields is Grizzly Bear finally delivering on its potential (read more...).
Kanye West – G.O.O.D Music: Cruel Summer – Rating: 5.3
Released just in time for Fall, Cruel Summer sees Kanye West rounding up a bunch of his buddies & business partners to make a (promotional) album for his label, G.O.O.D Music. Cruel Summer has some monster jams; unfortunately most of them were released earlier this year. 'Mercy' is the biggest anthem by far, the kind strippers will be grinding polls to all across America for years to come (read more...).
Green Day – Uno – Rating: 6.5
This new series of albums has been heralded as Green Day's return to its roots. And for the most part, Uno is a good start. The songs are upbeat, tight, and catchy: quintessentially Green Day. 'Let Yourself Go' feels as close to vintage Green Day as any song the band has released in the past ten years (read more...).
Ellie Goulding – Halcyon – Rating: 6.2
It's not that this album is mediocre. It's just that as an album piece, it's mediocre compared to the abilities and excitement from what we heard from Ellie on 'Lights,' 'Hanging On' and 'Anything Could Happen'...those 3 songs (along with 'Only You') contribute the real 'must hears' for the record...but then, we've already heard those (read more...).
Boys Noize – Out of the Black – Rating: 7.3
Finally it is here: Boys Noize’s Out of the Black hits the US after much hype. It can be streamed in full here. The album kicks off with 'What You Want,' which is sort of a slow opener in comparison to '& Down' and 'Gax,' the first tracks off of Oi Oi Oi and Power, respectively, which came out of the gates with a bang. I do like this though: it’s a dissonant groove with a few feels that sets up the differing styles of the album (read more...).
Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man – Rating: 4.3
Life Rule #182 - Wise man says, 'Don’t set expectations high on anticipated new album.' Doh! Should have seen that one coming. Natasha Khan a.k.a. Bat For Lashes has left me with blue balls. Her new album debuted a week earlier than planned. Not that it matters, but maybe if they had pushed the release date back they would have put out a more... um... inspiring production (read more...).
Of Montreal – Daughter of Cloud – Rating: 4.8
When the polls close and all the ballots are counted, it's safe to say that Of Montreal's 11th studio album, Daughter of Cloud, will not be ranked among the best music 2012. Ever since they started shilling for Outback, Of Montreal has seemingly made a concentrated effort to write songs that a) won't be played on the radio b) won't be used in any films or commercials c) will only be liked by people who want to like difficult pop music (read more...).
Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes – Rating: 3.8
The new Flying Lotus album, Until the Quiet Comes, is fucking annoying. Even Thom Yorke, Erykah Badu can't save this flat barren landscape of sonic what-ever-ness. Don't get me wrong. I've been a Flying Lotus fan! I first got turned on to Flying Lotus through his Los Angeles album recordings, which was just totally blissful urban 3 a.m. metropolitan beautifully dangerous landscapes that ultimately I found pairs well with 3+ drinks of anything (read more...).
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city – Rating: 9.2
Welcome to the 1st hip hop album of 2012 that enters the category greatness. (And...For those of you wondering....Yes, I did hear Kanye's G.O.O.D. compilation, which certainly wasn't G.R.E.A.T. .... it was merely G.O.O.D.). But enough about Kanye (Imma let you finish...) back to Kendrick Lamar. There are so many high quality, intelligent, edgy, conceptual things going on with this album, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, that it garners a 9+ review from BitCandy (read more...).
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