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Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 8/9

The cover for "Fear Fear"by Working Mens Club. Neon pink background with a black and white figure that seems distorted in the foreground,
#ArtistRecordLabel
1WORKING MEN’S CLUBFear FearHeavenly/PIAS
2DEV LEMONS“Autopilot” [Single]Self-Released
3ROBOT KOCH AND BLANKFORMS“Migratory” [Single]Trees And Cyborgs
4COMFORT CURE“They Told You Wrong” [Single]Self-Released
52004“To You?” [Single]3260508 DK
6I JORDAN“Always Been” b/w “First Time Back” [Single]Ninja Tune
7PJ DUBS 04VARIOUS ARTISTSelf-Released
8KY VOSSThe AfterPlay Alone
9OLANContraAnjunadeep
10TDJTDJ123Disques Durs

Afterhours Adds

ArtistRecordLabel
1WORKING MEN’S CLUBFear FearHeavenly/PIAS
2DEV LEMONS“Autopilot” [Single]Self-Released
3ROBOT KOCH, BLANKFORMS“Migratory” [Single]Trees and Cyborgs
42004“To You?” [Single]3260508 DK
5COMFORT CURE“They Told You Wrong” [Single]Self-Released
Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 8/9

A skull with text that reads "plague years" and "all will suffer."
#ArtistRecordLabel
1PLAGUE YEARSAll Will Suffer [EP]MNRK Heavy
2SERPENT CHURCHQuake of Our EchosSelf-Released
3CHAMBERCarved In Stone [EP]Pure Noise
4VOLCANDRABorder World [EP]Prosthetic
5GUILLOTINE ADBorn To FallM-Theory
6LORNA SHORE“Cursed To Die” [Single]Century Media
7IMMORTAL GUARDIAN“Echoes” [Single]M-Theory
8LIVING WEAPONParadise [EP]Closed Casket Activities
9KANINEKarnageLacerated Enemy
10BRUTTABruttaSelf-Released

Chainsaw Adds

#ArtistRecordLabel
1SUBLATIONThe Path to BedlamDeath Metal Promotions
2SLUGCRUSTEcocideProsthetic
3THE HALO AFFECTDays of the LostNuclear Blast
4ITHACAThey Fear UsHassle
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Band/Artist Profile

Unabashed Love Songs by The Mountain Goats

John Darnielle singing into a microphone on stage while also playing the guitar.
The Mountain Goats live at the Rickshaw in Vancouver in 2010. Photo taken by Visions of Domino on Flickr. Used under the Creative Commons License.

Some people enjoy The Mountain Goats for their lofi work, some listen for the shameless anger of tracks like “Foreign Object” and some are fans who are there for it all. I like a lot of what The Mountain Goats put out, but their love songs are especially potent to me. Let’s explore some of my favorites.

“Love Love Love”

The message at the core of the song also happens to be my favorite iteration of the song’s chorus: “Some things you do for money and some you do for fun / But the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one.” A hopeful song that serves as a bright spot on the emotionally-intense “The Sunset Tree,” “Love Love Love” is a beautiful testament to the grandiose and minute ways that love shows itself to us in everyday life.

“Animal Mask”

A wonderfully tender and intimate song, “Animal Mask” paints a picture of doing anything to protect your loved ones. John Darnielle almost-whispers “Some things you will remember/ Some things stay sweet forever” in the chorus. The song could be a lullaby if stripped down to just the guitar.

“Riches and Wonders”

The lyrics to this track read like a love letter or a manifesto. For the Mountain Goats, love is finding home in another person in “Riches and Wonders.” Nothing could be more romantic than having a dream life with everything you want and more alongside the person you love most: “We are filled with riches and wonders / Our love keeps the things it finds.”

“Twin Human Highway Flares”

This song paints a singular scene of driving to a motel with a lover. It describes an all-consuming and explosive kind of love. A passionate, fleeting, loud and large kind of love. A kind of love that makes all other loves feel small and pointless. The song closes with the profound statement: “On the day that I forget you / I hope my heart explodes.”

John Darnielle knows how to tap into all kinds of love. He wrote the single greatest lyric of all time in “Hair Match” (a song that I wouldn’t even consider romantic): “I loved you before I even ever knew what love was like.” These are just four of my favorites, but trust that for every The Mountain Goats song that makes you want to fight your lifelong enemy, there’s a song that will make you want to hold your loved ones close.

Categories
Classic Album Review

MF Doom’s King Geedorah Takes over the Musical Universe

Cover art for MF DOOM's Take Me To Your Leader album
Cover art for MF DOOM's "Take Me To Your Leader" album.

MF DOOM is the epitome of lyrical legend, genius and bard extraordinaire. His side projects differ little from his wacky bars that fall under his most well known moniker, and “Take Me To Your Leader” is the best album of DOOM’s if you need to fill a science fiction fix. 

This album takes many of its samples from kaiju (large monsters like Godzilla and King Ghidorah) films. Many of the samples originate from the American remakes and English dialogue kaiju films. 

The voice lines are corny and fit his beats perfectly. Loud screams from a woman in distress match up perfectly with our supervillain’s most powerful bars to date. 

Contact with the Kaiju

Not only does this album have hard hitting lines, but the sweet melodies of softer R&B styled beats emanate from tracks like “I Wonder”. 

In this track DOOM (King Geedorah) is backed up by Hassan Chop and it explores all the missed moments and mistakes both rappers have made. It’s a bit melancholy for a DOOM track, especially on a wacky album such as this. 

In “Krazy World” it’s another slow burning song without DOOM as the main featured artist. The artist on vocals is credited as Gigan, which is a cyborg kaiju from space.

The verses in this track zoom through space at light speed. Before you know it the song is over and you’ve experienced 5 minutes of music in what feels like 30 seconds. 

“Lockjaw” is the shortest track on the album with a run time of 1 minute and 3 seconds. I like this track for its lyrical content. I love how DOOM (and Trunks in this track) are able to master these insane rhyme schemes to create blistering verses and gorgeous melodies. 

Here’s a few lines from “Lockjaw” as an example:

“Then I form blazing sword and cut your mic cords

And kill them garbage rhymes only your friends get hyped for

Blitz your whole team, them n—– need to come clean

So I give ’em an acid wash like old school Levi jeans”

Quoted from MF DOOM and Trunks’ lyricism on “Lockjaw”.

The rapper, Trunks, is credited with the lyrics and vocals on this song and 16 lines in a flash. The couplet slant rhyme scheme makes up the entire track and provides a sense of instability and rush to the track. 

I cannot talk about this album without mentioning one of my favorite featured MF DOOM artists of all time, Mr. Fantastik. In “Anti-Matter” DOOM and Fantastik rhyme off one another in a call and response type song. 

The calls of Ghidorah are sampled in the background, and Fantastik’s warm, deep voice steeps my ears in a nice bath of fresh bars. DOOM and Fantastik have a wonderful synchronization in this track, and their ability to vibe with each other is heartwarming because of their rhythmic connections. 

Sending You Back into Space

MF DOOM’s deep knowledge of kaiju films and musical understanding in this entire album is so interesting to me. Taking and reusing art to create more art is gorgeous, and I love the way DOOM is able to take and give back so much love to the world through his art. 

People could write literary theses about DOOM’s lyricism in context with the 80’s and 90’s cultures. Also, the impact MF DOOM has had on the world’s music culture is next level.

For a guy that made beautiful beats in an under the radar way, he influenced millions of artists to become better musicians and cultural connoisseurs.

Stay vigilant for those kaiju

Ben

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Songs That Have a Hold on Me – “Babydoll” by Dominic Fike

I listened to “Babydoll” on a constant loop every single morning Tuesdays and Thursdays during the five-minute walk to my class at 8 in the morning. 

Does that sound like a healthy thing to do? Probably not but like the title states, this song had a death grip on me. 

It has about 104 million streams and that’s a huge number to wrap my mind around. The song itself is barely even two minutes long, with a duration of 1:40. It’s the shortness and sweetness of this song that makes it so consumable.

What I love about Dominic Fike as an artist is his ability to play an instrument. He’s a multi-instrumental artist who plays the guitar, drums, bass, and of course vocals for all his songs. It’s noticeable in all his songs and it’s quite impressive.

Another thing I love about this song is how abruptly it ends. Almost like he recorded this song the second the idea came to mind and released it as soon as he finished composing his ideas. 

The track starts with an electric guitar intro which is later accompanied by drums and Fike’s vocals. 

At its core, “Babydoll” is technically a love song. However, the lyrics give a lot of depth about Dominic’s background and his parents. His upbringing and childhood are such an interesting story to read about and he doesn’t hesitate to be vulnerable about his in any of his songs. 

With the line “Find me on Miami concrete |  Lookin’ for somebody different |  ‘Cause my daddy was a pimp |  My mama had her issues but I miss her anyway.” 

He actually released this EP while he was dropping his mom off at jail. He also wrote most of the EP while he was on house arrest. It’s crazy to imagine how differently his life could have gone if his album/EP hadn’t blown up.  

My favorite aspect of this song is the pacing. The lyrics are fast and in tune with the rapid tempo. It’s not necessarily rap or hip hop but it’s not fully alternative either. He combines various genres in all his songs and that’s what I love about his music. 

The chorus of the song is a lot slower and provides a contrast to the rest of the song. “I can’t move on, baby doll |  Waitin’ on calls, flippin’ through stations |  I’m outclassed and it’s outrageous |  And I’ll take it all, baby doll |  Whatever’s been weighin’ you down” 

This isn’t necessarily my favorite song by Dominic Fike, but at this point, I’ve listened to so much of his music that it’s hard to choose just one track.

The instrumentals of this song are really what got me hooked. I could listen to Dominic Fike just playing the guitar for hours and it’s my mission to listen to Dominic Fike play this song live. 

Categories
Classic Album Review

All Dogs Disappear after “Kicking Every Day”

Kicking Every Day album art by All Dogs
"Kicking Every Day" album cover art by All Dogs.

“Kicking Every Day” was one of the first vinyl purchases I made, and it was met with some weird looks and comments by my friends. Six years later, I don’t regret my decision to buy this album. No, it’s not the perfect indie rock album, but the charm it imprinted on me is more important than its musical significance. 

All Dogs is an Ohio band formed in 2012 who have not lasted long in the laborious music industry. After releasing “Kicking Every Day”, the band has not released a single track since then.

Their Twitter page hasn’t had any activity for 5 years, so I am assuming they’ve faded and dispersed on their own paths unfortunately. 

The band’s vocalist, Maryn Jones, initially formed the band with bassist, Amanda Bartley. The duo self-released a split with another local Ohio band, slouch.

A few more years passed and the band added two more members, Jesse Withers, a drummer, and Nick Harris, another guitarist, to the lineup. All this background info is provided by this small biography on Allmusic.

With their fourth member added, the band began to record “Kicking Every Day” on Salinas Records out of Detroit, MI, and they released the album August 28, 2015. 

Tracks and Thoughts

Thankfully, All Dogs gets right to business with “Black Hole” being the first track of the album. I am sure if I didn’t enjoy this song, I wouldn’t enjoy this album as much as I do.

“Black Hole” grinds and winds us into oblivion and the perspective of this band. It roots our thoughts for the rest of the album to Jones’ vocals and Withers’ quiet explosions on the drums. 

Another stand out track on this release is “That Kind of Girl”. It has the most classically rooted guitar riffs and pop-punk sound on the album.

By being short and sweet, this song gets to the core of the band’s talent, which are their vocals and guitar. No extra time is spent on unnecessary rhythms and intros. 

Beautiful blooming buds take time and warmth to capture the eyes of artists. In “The Garden” Jones’ lower-quality vocals combine with scratchy acoustic guitar to create somber beauty in a dew-y paradise. This song has a slow burning beauty that I find to be encapsulating. 

Concluding Musings

I can’t chop up the rest of this album to filler because some songs reach out differently to people that have unique perspectives compared to my own. 

I find much of the rest of this album repetitive in terms of sound and content. “Skin” and “How Long” aren’t the most stand out tracks, yet they still have the band’s core sound flowing through them. 

Overall, All Dogs don’t stand out compared to Pavement, Modest Mouse or any other seminal indie classic, but their strong roots and sounds make them enjoyable even if they don’t sit in the center of attention.

Yay music!

Ben

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Steve Lacy “Bad Habit” Song Review

Now that “Bad Habit” is gaining popularity, I thought it was the best time to write about it. It was released early this month and has already racked up 64 million streams.

It’s no lie Steve Lacy is one of the most talented artists of this generation. He has already worked with a handful of well-known musicians in collaborations and songwriting such as Kali Uchis and Kendrick Lamar.  

To me, this song feels like waking up on a Sunday morning and going to the farmer’s market. The song has lightness with Steve’s vocals and guitar while keeping it upbeat and vibe-y at the same time. 

The premise of the song is simple, having a bad habit of biting your tongue and holding in your thoughts.

Like Steve sings in earlier verses “I bite my tongue, it’s a bad habit |  Kinda mad that I didn’t take a stab at it |  Thought you were too good for me, my dear |  Never gave me time of day, my dear | It’s okay, things happen for |  Reasons that I think are sure, yeah”

It’s a track about not saying what’s on your mind and regretting it. A situation many of us go through constantly.  The relatability of this song along with the catchy melody seals the deal for me. Love an old-fashioned right place, wrong time situation.

It’s the perfect song to listen to without needing to put your full attention into it. A song that’s easy to jam out to.

The chord progression of the chorus as Steve sings “I wish I knew, I wish I knew you wanted me” over and over again gives the song a mellow vibe. The first verse starts off with this verse and lets the song slip into your mind. 

I find Steve’s falsetto to create an unexpected edge to the song as well. It happens towards the middle of the song when he sings “Say to me (please just say to me) |  If this could wind up | I wish you wouldn’t play with me | I wanna know (oh no)”  Right before getting back into the melody that we’ve been introduced to. 

After listening to this song I realized I’ve heard a lot of Steve Lacy’s music unknowingly. His sophomore album “Gemini Rights” was released in mid-July and it features a variety of different genres including jazz, rock, hip hop, and R&B. There’s something in it for everyone no matter what genre you prefer.

If you haven’t already, make sure to listen to “Bad Habit”. It’ll make your day a hundred times better!

Check out the music video for “Bad Habit”:

Categories
Miscellaneous Music News and Interviews

Thoughts on Lollapalooza Live Stream

WKNC 88.1 blog

I mentioned in my “Best Way to Consume Music” post that I wanted to go to Lollapalooza this year. 

It was racking my brain for weeks whether I wanted to spend money on going to Chicago and experience the adrenaline of large crowds, being squished in a mosh pit and standing at the barricade for hours to see my favorite artists perform, or sit in the comfort of my living room and watch those same performances on my TV.

Personally, after seeing how large the crowds got there I think I made the right choice. There is always next year if I want to go experience the rush in real life.

Anyway, I thought I could share my thoughts on the live stream for those who didn’t have access to Hulu or didn’t watch it.

To give more background about the live-streaming, there were two channels: Channel 1 and Channel 2. Each channel was streaming from around 2:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET.

In hindsight, being able to swap back and forth between channels to tune in to performances was much more simple compared to having to traverse Grant Park to see different artists in person. This way I could just turn off the TV or watch a different channel if I didn’t want to tune into an artist I didn’t enjoy. 

Lineups

These are the artist I tuned into and the days.

Thursday (7/28)

  • Still Woozy

Saturday (7/30)

  • Big Sean
  • Wallows
  • Tomorrow By Together
  • Willow
  • J. Cole

Sunday (7/31)

  • Djo
  • Måneskin
  • Beach Bunny
  • j-hope
  • Denzel Curry

Another thing to note, Lollapalooza has 1-day, 2-day, 3-day, and 4-day pass options if you attend in person, so it’s up to the festival attendees which days they want to go to the festival based on the lineups for that day. 

This was one thing I appreciated about Lollapalooza was, of course, the free live stream on Hulu, as well as the ability to choose which days you wanted to attend the festival whether it was on live stream or in person.

Here is a thought I had about Lollapalooza in general, especially after seeing someone of these artists perform in-person and through live-stream as well. I honestly think it takes a lot of talent to pull off performing on stages as big as the ones on Lollapalooza.

The performers kept a huge crowd entertained whether they were closer to the stage or farther back. They were able to get the whole crowd hype about the music. It was impressive to see their stage presence as well as the lights used for the evening performances.

The only downside of streaming is that due to the huge lineup, not all performances were shown. Unfortunately, I  wasn’t able to tune into Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, Glass Animals, COIN, or Claire Rosinkranz’s performances because their stages didn’t have coverage. 

Regardless, as I’ve mentioned before, the way you want to consume music is all a preference and of course, preferences can change over time. Whether you want to attend Lollapalooza in person or stream it as I did, I’m glad the options are available both ways.

Enjoy music in the way you want to and experience your life how you want to.

Categories
Weekly Charts

Top Charts 8/2

Cover art for Pocket Fantasy by Mamalarky. Image of colorful assorted seashells on a black background.
#ArtistRecordLabel
1MAMALARKY“Mythical Bonds” [Single]Fire Talk
2BLACK MIDIHellfireRough Trade
3BIG ORANGE“Love’s Not Enough” [Single]Self-Released
4CONWAY THE MACHINEGod Don’t Make MistakesShady/Interscope
5FKA TWIGSCAPRISONGSYoung/Atlantic
6FOOTBALL, ETC.Woodwork [EP]Self-Released
7MARBLEThe Shadow In MeSelf-Released
8RAAVI“Lazy Susan” [Single]Self-Released
9REDVEILlearn 2 swimSelf-Released
10ACTION BRONSONCocodrillo TurboLoma Vista/Concord
11SOUND OF CERESEmerald SeaJoyful Noise
12CURLS, THESmothered & CoveredTruth Zone
13WHEEL WORKERS, THE“Suck It Up” [Single]Sinkhole Texas
14BLYND BIRDSSongs To Sink Yachts ToSelf-Released
15ELAJAH MOUHAMMEDThe Curious Die Young [EP]PaintMeRed
16GUERILLA TOSSFamously AliveSub Pop
17MOMMAHousehold NamePolyvinyl
18PAPERCUTSPast Life RegressionSlumberland
19QUELLE CHRISDEATHFAMEMello
20SAMM HENSHAWUntidy SoulDorm Seven/AWAL
21SEEYOUSOONVIDÉSelf-Released
22HORSE JUMPER OF LOVENatural PartRun For Cover
23FRANCIS OF DELIRIUMThe Funhouse [EP]Dalliance
24SHIVAS, THE“Doom Revolver” [Single]Suicide Squeeze
25HOVVDYBillboard For My Feelings [EP]Grand Jury
26BASEMENT REVOLVEREmbodySonic Unyon
27FLY ANAKINFrankLex
28YARD ACTThe OverloadZen F.C.
29CAMP COPERunning With The HurricaneRun For Cover
30CATE LE BONPompeiiMexican Summer

Top Adds

#ArtistRecordLabel
1SYLVAN ESSO“Didn’t Care” [Single]Loma Vista/Concord
2MARBLEThe Shadow In MeSelf-Released
3BLACK MIDIHellfireRough Trade
4MAMALARKY“Mythical Bonds” [Single]Fire Talk
5INTERPOLThe Other Side Of Make-BelieveMatador
6MAMALARKY“You Know I Know” [Single]Fire Talk
Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 8/2

#ArtistRecordLabel
1FLY ANAKINFrankLex
2ACTION BRONSONCocodrillo TurboLoma Vista/Concord
3ILLISMFamily Over EverythingThe CRWN
4SEEYOUSOONVIDÉSelf-Released
5DENZEL CURRYMelt My Eyez See Your FutureLoma Vista/Concord
6LITTLE SIMZSometimes I Might Be IntrovertAGE 101
7MILAN RINGI’m Feeling HopefulAstral People/PIAS
8QUELLE CHRISDEATHFAMEMello
9ROBERT GLASPERBlack Radio IIILoma Vista/Concord
10SAMM HENSHAWUntidy SoulDorm Seven/AWAL