Dogs in Sweaters

Fashawn - Boy Meets World

I’m not sure when or why Lupe Fiasco became the proper successor to Common’s vulnerable rapper throne, but I surely was not consulted on it. Sure, I dug Food & Liquor, but I just don’t get how people eat up this style of rap music the way they do. This album has been getting rave reviews, but I just can’t swing with it. Exile’s production is actually pretty excellent, and “Samsonite Man” and “Bo Jackson” are great tracks, but Fashawn even cops the 10 minute closing shout-out track from Food & Liquor. “When She Calls” reads like Linkin Park, and “Lupita” is as bland as “love songs” come. Fashawn isn’t a particularly talented or tenacious MC, and this is one of those “first rap albums”. It’s safe enough that white intellectuals can identify with it, secretly racist punk rockers can start thinking “Well, maybe…”, and backpackers will credit it as a somewhat literate, well-produced album. (2.5/5)

emcum:

i don’t really see the purpose to this

They found out how to make the iPhone fart.

(via the-mu)

Not an amazing collection, but worth it for “Holy Shit!” and the cover of “Sally MacLennane”.

Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP

One of the more divisive bands of late, Animal Collective have certainly had a banner year. They’ve accomplished a surprising feat in becoming one of the most high profile acts in the country with a sound that would have been far too abrasive and abstract for such success only five years ago. Even today, there isn’t another band who can convincingly imitate their sound. “Graze” and “What Would I Want? Sky” both sound like they could have made it on Merriweather Post Pavillion, while “On a Highway” is a reject from the Feels era. “I Think I Can” is the real standout from the EP, closing out the record with the kind of emotion filtered through nonsensical jibberish that only AC are capable of. Animal Collective really are the American underground’s response to Sigur Ros, and Fall be Kind sees them following that path a little more clearly while still maintaining their own identity. (4/5)

Cunninlynguists - Strange Journey, Volume 2

Falling somewhere between a mixtape, a rarities collection, a live album, and a proper LP, Cunninlynguists’ Strange Journey series of albums this year have been the most ambitious and high concept projects in the album format. There’s a really strong narrative strung throughout both records, and the remixes aren’t gratuitous, and the group uses them to fir the narrative. In fact, the Blue Sky Black Death remix of “The Park” is instantly better the original. The new tracks, particularly “Imperial” with the fantastic Freddie Gibbs and the J-Zone produced “Cocaine”, provide a great sense of where CL are headed. It’s not perfect, and there are moments that don’t really work, though the Barack Obama sketch is kinda hilarious, but the idea behind it is impressively executed. (3.5/5)

huskerdont:

This is directed towards Gazeatyourshoe

Grand coalition