Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Taylor's Choice:

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Hipster Review:

To this day, I still don't get it.
Everything about Kanye West should make me hate him. He's an arrogant, self-idolizing asshole. He knows it too, and seems not the least bit ashamed. And he constantly keeps us this image of douchery as if his life and career depended upon it.

And yet...
Kanye is unlike any rapper in recent memory. He doesn't have a pseudonym or rap name, unlike essentially EVERY other artist in the genre's history. He creates music with the highest ambition in mind, not settling for anything less than his artistic vision, which distinguishes him from most other mainstream rappers: he views his music as art rather than commodity. He is, above all else, for better and for worse, true to himself. And despite his less than savory image, he's made some pretty damn good music.
His first two albums (especially his sophomore release Late Registration) are among the best albums of the 2000's; their sprawling yet focused scope provided the decade with some of it's most captivating music, and to this day sound unlike anything else in the genre. And while his recent electro-pop detours were less thrilling, people who worked with West on his latest album began to talk excitedly, including DJ Premier who stated that West was "totally done with electro. You're gonna be surprised by what you hear."
Then "Power" leaked.
Built on a beautifully-used sample of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, the song was a surprising sudden comeback; it managed to be both self-aggrandizing and self-effacing, showing off both West's strengths and shortcomings. And that is essentially what the entirety of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is like; it's Kanye's love letter and roast to himself. He's been known in the past to write a few humble songs as a contradiction to his image, but never as much as he does here. He identifies himself as a "Monster," and still finds himself "addicted to the hood rats," even when he can find himself a "good girl." Kanye knows he's a fuck up, and he either doesn't know how to change or doesn't want to. In any case, Kanye has never been this open in his music before, and that's saying a lot about a guy who's constantly talking about... well, himself. Just look at that album cover; it says more than words ever could.
The production on these songs is brilliant; not a single one chooses to feed into the notion that the mainstream is stuck in a musical stasis, and each has it's own distinct feel and vibe that makes it stand out on it's own. All the subtleties and pokes at minimalism are completely shattered; Kanye goes after the biggest, grandest sounds on here. The guests pairings are pretty head-spinning, too: Raekwon and Kid Cudi? Jay-Z and RZA? Somehow even the craziest moments on this album come together as a whole and seem to make sense, which speaks to Kanye's talent as, if I may be so bold, an artist.
Alright, this is officially the longest review I've ever written, so I'm going to wrap this up: In essence, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the most grandiose, most flawed, most perfect album of Kanye West's career. It's not his best album, but it is his most defining and thematically consistent. It opens up Kanye for the world to see, and how much you care affects how you enjoy the album. But you and I both know that you do want to look, if even just a little bit.

Hipster Rating:

9.0

Friend Review:

Happy New Year! I hope you are doing well.

Hip-hop has always been more of Taylor’s thing than mine. However I was excited to listen to this album after seeing all the hype it got on /mu/. This decade’s ITAOTS, whodathunkit? Then I saw Kanye West perform on Saturday Night Live. HOLY FUDGE. That was seriously one of the greatest SNL performances I’ve ever seen them. If you didn’t catch it, YouTube it right now. No seriously, open up a new tab and watch it right now, he performed “Power” and “Runaway”.

The only real contact I have with hip-hop is the shit that gets played on the radio, usually heard when I’m bumming a ride off a friend. The biggest fact I know about hip-hop is that I hate that crap. There are moments in this album that very much resemble the hits that all the kids are singing out there today. Rihanna’s part in “All of the Lights” is straight up painful to listen to. The greatest moments on MBDTF are when West is aggressive and has his own distinctive sound. Listen to “Dark Fantasy”, “Power”, “Monster”, “So Appalled”, and “Runaway”. These pieces are straight-up MOVING. I know this is probably the most hyped album of the year, and when I listen to these tracks I completely understand and at some points agree, but seeing as it only comprises about half of the album, I don’t think it makes up for the slower parts of the album which just feel like filler to me.

Friend Rating:

7.4

Coming up next, Belle & Sebastian Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian!

Weezer - Hurley

Paul's Choice:

Weezer - Hurley

Friend Review:

There’s always a sense of anticipation and fear that grows in me with every Weezer release. I get excited because I want to hear what my second favorite band of all time has in store for me and fear because I know there’s always a possibility of another Raditude fiasco. Just by listening to the opening track and single, “Memories”, you can tell that my boys have definitely stepped up from their prior release. It sounds like they’re finally having fun again. The first couple of tracks have a bit of a dirtier sound reminiscent o their earlier releases while still have the fun pop-punk sound they have become accustomed to. I feel like one of the best moments of this life resides in “Unspoken”. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a track that just missed the cut off of Maladroit. “Where’s My Sex?” is a song that went a bit over my head. He’s sing about socks but calling them sex? I’m not sure man. But listen to that bridge! I know it’s only about 16 seconds, but that bit is nothing short of RAD. The best thing about this album is that Weezer has for the most part gone back to their regular practice. They’ve written fun songs that are catchy and enjoyable. Any old-school =w= fans like myself will get a kick out of their latest work. Is it as good as Blue or Pinkerton? No, and likely there will never be anything else remotely close to those classics. Is it a step in the right direction? Most definitely, and anyone who has ever considered themselves a fan of Weezer would act in their best interest to give this album a spin.

Friend Rating:

8.1

Hipster Review:

Dear God...
I'd write a message to Rivers Cuomo kindly telling him to please stop making music (it's not like he gets what's lacking in it anyway, so he might as well stop altogether), but then I stop and ask myself: does he really give a shit? Obviously not, since he's still chugging out albums that are utterly devoid of artistic value, regardless of the unanimous backlash they receive. I wish he had this kind of "fuck all ya'll" attitude back in the 90's when he was actually making music that meant something. But no, he had to have an emotional breakdown that had him in seclusion for nearly half a decade, only to emerge with a "new outlook" on songwriting. But even the Green Album, as mediocre as it was, still had something resembling a spirit. In fact, I'd rather listen to both the Green Album and Maladroit ten times over then listen to any of the terrible (terrible, terrible, terrible...) albums they put out since Make Believe even once. And despite the somewhat warm critical reception Hurley has been getting, I hate it just as much as those albums. To quote Kevin Malone from The Office, "Oh it's bad. It's REAL bad."
I have to admit though, I was curious to listen to this thing after I saw the album cover, just as I was curious to listen to Raditude after hearing about the batshit-crazy collaborations. But, just like last time it was only a ploy, and I really should have known better. You see, that's what Weezer has been reduced to: a band whose wild announcements ("Hey guys, let's do a song with Kenny G! Or better yet... Lil' Wayne!"), meme-worthy album covers, stupid song titles (does "Where's My Sex?" give you a good idea of what you're in for?), etc have been given higher priority over creating songs that are actually good. "Memories" and "Time Flies" are the only ones here that didn't either make me laugh my ass off or want to stab my eardrums with a pencil. But the latter is basically a mimickry of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the former a mere parody of what the band once was. Shame on you, Rivers. Shame on you, Weezer.

Hipster Rating:

2.8

Coming up next, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (I think? It might be a different album)!

Of Montreal - False Priest

Taylor's Choice:

Of Montreal - False Priest

Hipster Review:

My first exposure to Of Montreal, the 2007 near-classic Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?, was one of the most mind-bending, pervertedly enjoyable listening experiences of my life. Even today the album holds a special place in my heart, and through delving deeper into their discography I've gained a better understanding of the band, and the changes they've made over the years are astounding. Since the aforementioned album they've stuck to a distinct sound that has made them the unique band that they are today; a combination of danceable, disco-esque beats, funky Beatle-esque basslines, blaring synths, Kevin Barnes' hilariously garish vocals, and astoundingly abstract, ridiculously sexual lyrical themes.
Their last album, 2008's Skeletal Lamping, while highly enjoyable, was an incredibly indulgent album, and oftentimes feels exhausting to listen to. False Priest continues this wild approach, but it feels a bit more tame than the last one. Albeit, it's still crazier music than that of any other band's today, but for Of Montreal, the album is a bit of a letdown because it feels... too safe. A number of little decisions here feel tacked on and ill-conceived, like Solange Knowles' guest spot on "Sex Karma," one of the album's weaker songs. The production here is also a lot less adventurous, and while a lot of the songs still carry that signature Of Montreal spirit, some (especially near the end) feel draggy instead of lively. And listening to the album reveals another unpleasant fact: This post-Hissing Fauna sound is starting to lose steam. While there are sparks of newness during parts of the album, one can only hope that those are seeds being planted for the band to reinvent themselves again on the next album. Even the album's highs feel lesser then on previous albums, and the lows, while small in number, feel pretty lacking. 2005's The Sunlandic Twins saw the group blossoming into something beautiful by scraping off bits of their old sound and injecting newer elements, and that album felt weaker compared to the previous stunner Satanic Panic In the Attic; maybe False Priest, like Sunlandic Twins, is an embryonic album, a slight promise of things to come.
Despite my somewhat cold commentary, I still enjoyed the album. It's fun and crazy just like Of Montreal's other works, but on it Kevin Barnes sacrifices some of the artistic restraint (for lack of a better word, probably not the right one for a guy like him) that made previous albums so stunning. Disappointing for sure, but not lacking in enjoyability.

Hipster Rating:

7.0

Friend Review:

Hey-o!

I feel like I hold a lot of unpopular opinions regarding music (Make Believe is a pretty good album, Loveless is unlistenable, Third Eye Blind’s self-titled album is amazing… Actually, these are pretty much just things where I disagree with Taylor, I have no idea how they survive in general… ‘cept the Make Believe thing, everyone hates that album and I’m not sure why), and this theory holds true with Of Montreal. Many moons ago, I asked Taylor for some new music to listen to and he told me to check out Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? I immediately asked him what I did to wrong him in such a way that he would suggest that album to me. Apparently everyone loves that album, I dunno man. But anyways, I kinda developed this opinion that Of Montreal is weird, flamboyant, bright, vivid, and generally obnoxious. Generally, this holds true for False Priest. However, contrary to how negative my words may seem, I don’t find this album awful. It’s definitely not my cup of tea, so if you’re the kind of person who tends to side with me more than Taylor I doubt you will really enjoy this album. If you dig Of Montreal’s past stuff, who knows. I heard this album is less electronic than their past stuff (man, who knows what I’d have given this if it was super electronic) so y’know, keep that in mind. My favorite track was “Famine Affair”, probably the most “normal” of the bunch. Which says a lot about me more than anything. I also really loved “Our Riotous Defects”, particularly the speaking parts which is a bit strange of me. Anyways, feel free to give this a shot, but prepared for in-your-face pop with hyperactive vocals and bright music. If this music could be visually represented, it’d be represented by a rainbow in the background with fireworks in the foreground.

“X of the Year” post tomorrow!

Friend Rating:

6.8

Coming up next, Hurley by Weezer!

Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

Paul's Choice:

Jenny and Johnny - I’m Having Fun Now

Friend Review:

Hey-o!

So let’s get some news updates up in hurr:
1. Sorry for being so late. College is hard, NOBODY TOLD ME!
2. My radio show is going good, starting next semester, I’m gonna save all my shows and post them up here for you to listen to! Or you can listen live if you’d like, I’m not sure what time slot I’ll have but I’ll let you know about that when I know.
3. I’m now Assistant Music Director for the radio station! The really rad thing about that is that I’ll be reviewing about 5 albums a week for the station, so there’s really no excuse for me not to have my reviews done on time.
4. Be At Leso is planning shows and writing and all that good stuff. If you want us to play for you, let us know, we’d love to.
5. Again, sorry, I’m so late. I’ll gonna try to get caught up, and I promise I’ll be better about this next year!
6. We’re gonna have a “Best of the Year” post coming up soon. It’ll have a lot of lists. Bitches love lists.
<3 Now about the album! So, this is the beautiful Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley collaborating with her boyfriend Jonathon Rice. Cool beans. There’s not much I really know about her other than the fact that she is one of the absolute hottest women in indie rock. Seriously, man. But enough of my drooling, this album… Well, there’s nothing special about it. There’s nothing bad about it at all. It’s actually pretty enjoyable to listen to. It’s just not special. It’s about the purest form of indie rock that there is, there’s no delving into other genres or any experimentation at all. I think just about anyone can pick up this album for some simple listening, I think hardly anyone will find it brilliant or awful. If you’re looking for average you can’t go wrong with this. If you’re looking for anything greater you will but utterly disappointed.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

Friend Rating:

6.7

Hipster Review:

Many moons ago I was into a little band called Rilo Kiley, whose frontwoman Jenny Lewis I had become intrigued by (due partly to, and I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, a big crush I had on her). Her solo work was very different from that of her band, mixing her indie sensibilities with an ear for vintage country, a la Loretta Lynn. For a while I was taken by her debut Rabbit Fur Coat, fascinated by how a modern artist had so seamlessly brought such a old sound and injected it with such vigor. I could still listen to it today and enjoy it. But as time passes, old flames die out...
Today, I have little to no interest in Rilo Kiley's music. It doesn't do anything for me, and even her solo work doesn't inspire the same feeling of fascination that it once did. It was a phase, and it has long passed. So I approached I'm Having Fun Now with somewhat of an "eh" reaction; I just took it for what it was and didn't go into it expecting anything terribly gripping. Sure enough, I walked away from this safe albeit fun album with no conceptions shattered. It is a fun, cute album and not much else; the concept of having Lewis collaborate with boyfriend/songwriter Johnathan Rice pretty much spells out the album's experience. I did enjoy it more than I thought I would, but that isn't saying much in this case. Lewis fans will be pleased, all others left unmoved.

Hipster Rating:

6.7

Coming up next, False Priest by Of Montreal!

The Walkmen - Lisbon

Taylor's Choice:

The Walkmen - Lisbon

Hipster Review:

The Walkmen are a one-of-a-kind band; their echoey baroque/rock & roll mixture is distinguished from every other indie rock band today (except maybe The National), and this uniqueness provided the last decade with some of the most gripping music around. Their last two records both offered something that the other didn't: one (Bows + Arrows) throwing a rock/post-punk barrage, the other (You & Me) providing a more atmospheric, disarming sound.
Now the group kicks off in the new decade with Lisbon, perhaps their most restrained, relaxed album yet. The songs here are very exotic-sounding, pulling out more horns, drumming up (see what I did there?) more flavorful beats, and overall varying their sound pallet a bit more. While it's not a dramatic sound shift (it's stylistically similar to You & Me) Lisbon still feels very fresh, in fact fresher than most albums I've heard this year. There's a huge surf rock vibe, and that influence makes each song catchy and fluid. The band feels at their most playful here, giving each song plenty of room to breath, and while each song feels breezy they don't feel empty. And some of the compositions here rank among the group's best, such as "Angela Surf City" and "Woe Is Me". Overall, even though Lisbon isn't the Walkmen's best album, it's still one of the most enjoyable, pleasant albums I've heard all year.

Hipster Rating:

8.7

Friend Review:

Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long. I’ve been really bogged down here at school, so I’m gonna try to post a bunch of quick reviews up just to get caught up on stuff. So these’ll be short but hopefully they’ll get the point across. Again, sorry.

Oh! But first here’s some super rad news!

I have a radio show here at Texas A&M! It’s called Paulcore, and it airs Thursday nights/Friday mornings from midnight to 2 AM. You can listen at kanm.tamu.edu. I play indie pop and rock so I always make sure to throw in a few pieces of stuff that we’ve reviewed recently in there. It’d be really cool if you would listen!

I first heard The Walkmen after hearing their song “The Rat” on the radio. I feel like this song is simply brilliant and impressive and shows what they are really capable of. Before this album I listened to Bows + Arrows and the only track I really liked was “The Rat”. This album follows in the same nature as Bows, everything is very slow and it drags on a lot. Each song gets repetitive within the first minute. There’s just not much energy in this music and the songs get long very very quickly. It might just not be my thing, but I wasn’t impressed. These guys remind me a lot of The National and I’d always prefer to listen to the latter.

Friend Rating:

5.7

Coming up next, I’m Having Fun Now by Jenny and Johnny!

Junip - Fields

Paul's Choice:

Junip - Fields

Friend Review:

I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS BAND OR ALBUM I JUST CHOSE. Since being in college, I’ve found that I’m very lost in the sense of music releases and stuff. So when in a jam I’ll just try to find one album that has come out recently and use that as my choice. The good thing about this is there’s some kind of excitement in listening to an album that you know nothing about and since you don’t really know what it’s about, it’s like going into uncharted waters, it might be the most amazing album ever and you don’t even know about it. I found some of my very favorite bands by randomly choosing to check them out (The Rural Alberta Advantage and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, namely). Sadly, there’s also a counterpart to randomly choosing an album because it might just be something you hate. Place yourself in this situation, if you will: a market opens down the street from you, and you think, awesome, maybe they’ll have some berries and cherries I can eat. So you go down to the market and look around, and it turns out all they have is avocados. Ladies and gentlemen, Fields by Junip is a giant avocado.
I started listening to this album while working on calculus homework, and after three songs I was utterly bored. So bored that I had to write on Taylor’s Facebook telling him I was bored (if you’re not friends with us on Facebook, you should be! I’ll try to put up some links or something). There’s not much I can say to describe this music except that it’s dull. The instrumentation feels very repetitive. Usually if one instrument has a boring part it makes another instrument standout but it really sounds like a huge drone. What tops the cake for me though are the vocals. There’s simply no variation in them from song to song, it’s just really bland. I don’t feel like there is any individual song that stands out on this album, or really anything. It just feels like reading the same boring passage of a book over and over again. It’s boring. I think I’ve made my point.

Friend Rating:

4.8

Hipster Review:

Modern folk is kinda shaky ground for me. If a folk artist wants to get my attention, he or she has to shake the roots of the genre instead of doing the same, safe old thing, wading in the tepid pool of worn-out cliches. There's a handful that stick out (Devendra Banhart, Sufjan Stevens, Tallest Man On Earth, etc.), but overall it's a scene that I generally have little interest in.
So out of nowhere comes Junip, an indie-folk group that coats their acoustic compositions in electronic ambience in their debut(?) LP, Fields. Something on the album that really caught my attention- something that I didn't expect at all- was the beats. One can't accuse Junip's songs of lacking dynamics, as each of these eleven songs are arranged very differently from the last (there's even a bit of krautrock in "Rope & Summit"). It makes for an interesting experience for sure, and there's definitely a lot here that will pull listeners in for something truly unique. But the album does begin to drag near the end, with the compositions growing less inspired and more tossed off. But overall I found this album to be quite enjoyable, and I'm wondering where Junip are going to find themselves in the coming years. Fans of indie folk with definitely enjoy this, little doubt. It's far from excellent, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Hipster Rating:

7.5

Coming up next, Lisbon by The Walkmen!

Interpol - Interpol

Taylor's Choice:

Interpol - Interpol

Hipster Review:

After looking back at some of my previous reviews, I realize that I have a really weird way of rating my albums; there were a lot of times where I'd read a review, then look at the score to realize that it didn't exactly match my commentary, or even true feelings, on the album (prime example: M.I.A.'s Maya - by the way, that shit's a 6.3). I apologize. I promise to deliver more representative scores from now on, starting with this little number: Interpol's fourth, eponymous album.

Over the past year, Interpol has, for me, grown from a band who initially I didn't really dig into a band whose music I really love. The group's first two albums (the near classic debut Turn On The Bright Lights and their fantastic follow-up Antics) have really grabbed me after repeated listens, and the thing I love about them most is how well-balanced they are as listening experiences; both are carefully crafted and strike the perfect balance of abstraction and tunefulness (though Antics is a smidgen less of the former).
So when I heard about the group's plans to release a fourth album later this year, I became pretty excited. The first song release "Lights" gathered somewhat mixed reception as far as I saw, though personally I kinda liked it. I mean, it's not a fantastic song, but it's miles above "The Heinrich Maneuver." Then when "Barricade" was released as the first single, I got a bit more excited. I was digging both song's atmospheric tones, and expected the album to be more akin to Bright Light's moodiness. It is, but I should've known better (and maybe I did all along and just didn't feel like admitting it) than to expect something brilliant. It's even shown in the singles: "Lights" is no "Hands Away," and "Barricade" is no "Evil," for damn sure. So here it is: it's an alright album. It's definitely not up to par with their best material, but it also isn't the unadventurous bore that Our Love To Admire was. It is, above all else, disappointing, although those not exactly enamored by the first singles probably won't be too shaken. There's a couple of nice songs on here, but overall the moodiness just feels a bit... empty; it doesn't really serve much of a purpose other than to be moody. There's also no real artistic cohesion on the album that makes it anything truly special or noteworthy. It's an average album by a band that has done plenty better, and is more than capable of doing so again.

Hipster Rating:

7.3

Friend Review:

Howdy! So funny story about this new music… Interpol’s one of my girlfriend Sarah’s favorite bands so when I first heard a song on the radio I asked her, “Hey, what do you think of the new Interpol song? I think it’s pretty cool.” And then she said, “I hate it, it’s soooo boring,” or at least something along those lines. And then, I’m not sure why, but Taylor was there and he said something like, “Really? I think it’s pretty good too!” Anyways, as it turns out, Taylor and I were referring to the song “Barricade” and Sarah was talking about “Lights”. I didn’t even know they had more than one song out on the radio. Anyways, miscommunication is bad, so always clarify your conversations, kids.
Interpol is one of those bands that are kinda in the middle for me. They have a few songs that are nothing short of amazing (“Evil”, “The New”, “PDA”) but overall they don’t have enough variety in their sound to interest me 100% of the time. I still fully respect them, and if someone were to come up to me and say, “Interpol is my favorite band.” I’d say, “That’s cool, man.” I’m pretty sure this review has more dialogue than anything else I’ve ever written; pretty soon it’ll just turn into a screenplay:

Paul and Taylor Delve into Interpol: The Attack of the Hipster; part IV

Man, that’d be the coolest thing ever. Also I’m pretty sure this is the most I’ve ever written while hardly touching on the album at all. So for those of you who come here to actually read about music, I apologize. And to those of you who like to read this blog while laughing quietly to yourself, you’re welcome.
Anyways, as for the actual album, Interpol returns with the same sound they’ve shown for their past album. As sad as it is to say, there’s nothing really to write home about. If you love their past work, then I’m sure you’ll be very happy with their latest, however if you were never one of their biggest fans I highly doubt this album will change your mind. Oh, but for the record, “Lights” doesn’t suck, I rather like it. This isn’t a bad album; it just wasn’t great or noteworthy in my opinion at least. I sincerely hope that you feel differently about it. Toodles.

Friend Rating:

6.8

Coming up next, Fields by Junip!