scaryblog

Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #23 :  Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples Big Fish, the almost-title track of Staples’ second record, seethes at injustice over amusingly bouncy synths that blend old-school rap with bleeding-edge electronica. Staples takes this kind of combination to great heights on the album, which climaxes with the staggeringly brilliant Yeah Right, on which tinny trap entwines with bizarre pop parody by producer Sophie (listen for a guest spot by Kendrick Lamar). Vince Staples sounds like he should be a school janitor or something rather than a young(-ish), trendy US rapper. I'm somewhat surprised to see this is only his second mention (after appearing as a guest artist on a Gorillaz album ) - I'm certainly aware of him, but couldn't tell you whether I've heard anything by him. And now I have - so all I need to do is describe it! It's certainly rap based, but there's all sorts of other stuff mixed in there. Did...

Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 03/03/17 : Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists OK, so I knew I bent the rules last time to avoid something - so why on earth aren't I doing the same to avoid this? Tbh, I'm not entirely sure - I think curiosity has got the better of me. Oh yes, this is not good - with one notable exception. "Can't Stop The Feeling" is an absolute banger and sounds like it's existed forever - you can quite imagine someone like The Jackson 5 having recorded it in the 70s and it having been covered by multiple artists since. And if that had been the case, I'm pretty certain it still would have appeared on this album because most of the rest of the tracks are covers, sung in character (thankfully, I've never seen the film, so have no idea who the characters are) with some of the lyrics changed to make the references more troll-relevant. It's quite interesting that Anna Kendrick provides voc...

Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #26 :  After Laughter -  Paramore The perpetually feuding emo band returned last spring with a surprisingly jovial collection of tropical house-tinted powerpop. Revelling in the funky guitars and frantic synths of the 80s, the trio channelled their emo roots into the lyrics, which retain the raw drama of their previous work and share stories of romantic tension and torturous experiences with depression. Finally, almost halfway through the chart, we get to the first album we've already met  - and I liked it and have no problem with its position on the list. #25 :  Sleep Well Beast -  The National Music designed to soundtrack a midlife crisis was injected with unexpected exuberance on the Ohio band’s seventh record. From Turtleneck’s gnarly guitar-shredding to the breakneck tapestry of beats backing I’ll Still Destroy You, Matt Berninger and co transformed the sorrows of middle age into something ...

Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 10/03/17 : Windy City - Alison Krauss Our first ever visit with Alison and we've had to somewhat bend the rules to do so - not because I desperately want to listen to Alison, but you'll completely understand why when I explain later. However, I am expecting to quite like her, but also find it all a bit too much from time to time. Hmmm - no. I like her voice, but I find the whole package too much all the time. There is country music out there that I like, but this is not it - sorry Alison. I'm also intrigued by how bad the album cover is in terms of lighting, but have to admit to a grudging respect for her hair.  We're all the way down at #6 with a new entry in the chart this week on the start of a very brief four week run (which I believe is the shortest of the year so far). The top five this week were the wildly varied  Ed , (a new entry starting a run of 377 weeks in the chart - it's currently at #44),  Rag...

Continuing my trip up  The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2017 . #29 :  Antisocialites -  Alvvays This Canadian crew channel the spirit of C86 with their jangly tunes – yet on their second record they embrace the slickness eschewed by their predecessors. Antisocialites might be a paean to indie’s formative years – In Undertow features Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake; Lollipop (Ode to Jim) is directed towards the Jesus & Mary Chain’s Jim Reid – but it is also a blast of fresh air. We met Alvvays on a later Guardian list and I liked it, so I'm hoping to like this one as well. Yup, this one was also definitely enjoyable. It's 80s style jangle-pop (think Lush or The Primitives) so it instantly takes me back to the old days, but there's not too many people making that sort of sound these days so it sounds kinda new as well  (although Amazon Music played a Wednesday track after the album and the sound was very similar) . If you like that kinda sound and haven't checked ...

Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts. 17/03/17 : Gang Signs & Prayer - Stormzy Our third visit with Ol' Stormzy and it's safe to say it's not aimed at me, but I can at least recognise the man knows what he's doing, so I will admire some of it, but definitely not love it. Yeah, it's really not aimed at me, but he certainly knows how to put over a track - he has strong cadence and powerful delivery. He also works well with other artists, although  I wasn't expecting to see Lily Allen pop up. There's a decent amount of variety across the album, but none of it hits the spot for me and 58 minutes was definitely a bit too long for my liking. We're at #4 in the charts this week on his third week of an impressive 67 week run, with it having peaked at #1 in its debut week becoming the first grime album to top the chart - so yeah, we're going to see someone other than Ed at #1 very soon. The rest of the top five are obviously  Ed ,  Rag...