Atlanta cloud-rapper Thouxanbanfauni splits a short record into bad-and-good halves on October 34th.
Following up the prior Seeing Colors with another 7-song project, Fauni improves upon this previous release, however slight the difference may be. Kicking off the record with “State of Emergency,” we receive a trap beat that stales out within the first few minutes and remains unenjoyable with additional listens. Further, the vocal performance on the track provides no breath of fresh air from a generic flow and even more generic lyrics. Normally, I feel like I wouldn’t pay as much attention to lyrics in a song as I did with this one, but the production that quickly fades into the background leaves me with nowhere else to go. Perhaps this is not necessarily a bad thing - maybe I should thank Fauni for being one of the few artists to help me notice the lyrics more than the production. My thoughts on this track also make their way on to the nearly identical “Destroy Em,” whose play is practically indistinguishable from the previous track aside from a more aggressive delivery in lyrics. Another instrumental misstep is seen on the first half of “Killin Shit/ Saiyan Pride,” which provides no elements of interest save for an unidentifiable singing sample throughout. We get our first enjoyable moment on the record with the latter half “Saiyan Pride,” where Thouxanbanfauni finally tracks down a delivery that indicates he actually enjoys rapping. This marks a turning point for the project, as everything from this moment on isn’t as absolutely forgettable as the first leg. The haunting production, memorable lyrics, and purposeful delivery all align here to form a good song for a change. The following “Solid Pt II” is decent at first, but ultimately melts as it comes across as a replica of many other songs from his discography. The chorus is the best up to this point on the project, however. “On My Mind Valentine” signifies the moment at which the record becomes very good to great. Here, we get a hint of some of Fauni’s music that was soon to come after this record, with the crooning, long-hitting vocal notes delivered. My favorite chorus of the album comes with this track, with the easily remembered “I was thinking ‘bout you all day, yeah, yeah, yeah,” quickly chiseling itself into my mind. Another excellent Fauni track comes with “Diet Plans,” with more of the same great things about it as from the prior track. The most memorable lyrics appear here, with the somewhat self-aware, somewhat misogynistic “She want me under her spell, I want her under my command” topping them all. Another evidence of his evolution toward his future sound, “Best of Me” ends the record on a great note as Thouxanbanfauni goes 3 for 3 on the back end. Though the first half of this review may seem like I hate Fauni, his following two projects were among my favorites of 2020 and propelled him into one of my most listened to artists of all time. I can, however, appreciate this project in terms of his artistic progression toward the sound I came to love him for. Songs to listen to from October 34th are “Diet Plans,” “On My Mind Valentine,” and “Best of Me.”
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Peggy’s proclivity for guns and autotune raps deepens on this sequel to 2020’s EP!
Teased with the single “LAST DANCE!,” I expected a much more hardcore rap project than what we received in either EP! or All My Heroes Are Cornballs. However, what we received was a pleasantly surprising sound much more closely resembling the autotune ballads and melodies of Cornballs. The distant, low-down rattles of the wind chimes in the beginning of the song resemble some sort of hollow chamber in which this project lurks. JPEGMAFIA unleashes bars in an infectious flow throughout his verse, setting the tone for the horns, fit for a video game boss battle, to thunder in. Heavy bass is also introduced at this point in the song, making the track just that much more wicked-sounding. The second single from the project “FIX URSELF!” is split into two parts on the EP, with “INTRO!” bearing the mumbling introduction (who would have guessed?) of the original track. The horn sections here sound far more prideful and delighted in sharp contrast to the previous song.This one undoubtedly has the best chorus and song structure on the entire project, with the crooning autotuned melodies making for a very catchy track. A message to a relationship partner, the track also serves as a reminder to himself that JPEG has his fans, affectionately labeled “refugees,” to rely on when he has no one else. “KELTEC!” is a flat-out diss to much of the music business, particularly rappers that sell out or make themselves slaves to the industry. Proud of having made a name for himself by being 100% himself, Peggy flexes the fact that he owns all of his music and has carefully crafted every aspect of it, whereas most other artists can’t relate. In the first reference I’ve ever seen to the origin of his stage name, Peggy also makes a clever comparison to other rappers merely being “PNG” files that need to get their quality up. Although I believe this to be the weakest track production-wise here, it’s still great lyrically. This is followed up with the delightful “THIS ONE’S FOR US!,” which includes the best rapping on the record, with the grimy flow throughout the second verse as well as the ending in the third verse. With help from James Blake on the production end of “PANIC ROOM!,” we receive another dark and murky track with aggressive lyrics. The sonar melody throughout the song fits in well with the “emergency” theme provided by the title, which is likely a reference to how terrified he makes other rappers feel due to his artillery. This track has the most beautiful and unexpected ending on the EP, where we hear a lone acoustic guitar to combat the abrasiveness of JPEGMAFIA’s rap lines. The project closes out with “FEED HER!,” a cut that greatly appeals to me through its slow but sure build up to a climax. This is one that I continue to return to, as it seems like Peggy taking the best from most of the previous tracks and combining them into one: sticky bars, potent flows, and great melody through production. Overall, this is an incredibly solid end to a likewise amazingly consistent project. With the recent release of LP!, I'm glad to see that JPEGMAFIA is still using similar ideas from this project to branch off of. Tracks to listen to from here are “FEED HER!” and “FIX URSELF!”
Taking a page out of Mac Demarco’s book, Loving crafts a gentle, lo-fi indie rock project in their self titled debut. The sunset vibe of many of the cuts here provide for an incredibly relaxing and enjoyable listen.
Many slow, stumbling guitar passages are found on Loving, including on the record’s opener “Sweet Fruit.” With the folk tone of the vocals and part of the production on this track, it has me questioning if perhaps I treated folk too harshly when I tried giving it a listen not too long ago. This track segues into the slightly frightening opening vocals of “Forgot Again,” which soon give way to dreamy production and intonation. Though the lyrics here are likely describing the feeling of being at a loss for words as a result of being in the presence of someone very beautiful, I wonder if the writers were simply inspired by the phrase “I forgot what I was going to say.” Although the vocals of “The Not Real Lake” are trying on my ears from the get go, with a dull oral delivery and a vocal filter that even further magnifies this lackluster quality, the production is quite beautiful. Again, this one would bode well when played outside in the evening (perhaps even at a lake?) while the sun goes down. “A Long Slow Little Wave / Citizen, An Activity” offers no lyrics, but once again shines on the production front. The first song that stuck out to me on the project, the simple but dreamlike chords make for one of the better instrumental performances throughout. Conversely, we see one of the better vocal performances on the next cut “She Refused to Say.” Engaging imagery of shadows dancing and tin can telephones contribute to a very poetic lyrical set, which seem like a direct translation from the music itself. My favorite cut here, “Bowlly Goes Dancing Drunk into the Future” was my introduction to Loving. The boyish tonal delivery taken with a few of the lyrics feel especially confidential, with the request of the listener to “talk freely” in a very shy and self-conceited manner. The project sadly saves the worst for last, with the awkward “Where Everybody Goes” not having much going for it at all. Thankfully, the track seems to be over before I know it most of the time. Additional problems arise on this project when trying to distinguish what it is about each track that makes them great individually. Overall, the record is solid - however, this doesn’t entirely excuse Loving from using really quite similar sounds over and over on the record. The tracks are enjoyable, but what good does it do to repeatedly create the same songs? I do like this record. The personal vocals paired with the equally warm production makes for a great listen (almost) all the way through, and has me excited to listen to more of the group’s music. I just hope that, going forward in my listening experience of other music by Loving as well as with the group’s music going forward, that the songs are more distinguishable from one another. Tracks to listen to are “Bowlly Goes Dancing Drunk into the Future” and “She Refused to Say."
Even though I was disappointed to see that the new Paris Texas project was an EP rather than a full length project, the few new songs that come with Red Hand Akimbo are good at worst and spectacular at best. The duo’s follow up to BOY ANONYMOUS, a short record which I loved at first and have only become more enamored with since, Red Hand Akimbo delves even deeper into the rock/hip-hop crossover the group has become known for.
The lead single for the project, “girls like drugs,” threw me for a loop upon release; although the track makes sense sonically in Paris Texas’s catalog, it seemed a bit lacking in song progression, save for an instrumental changeup in the last 30 seconds. The track has grown on me a bit since then however, due to the earworm-inciting chorus and palpably solid guitar lines. Only recently did I realize through the lyrics that the title of the song is actually a comparison (girls are like drugs) rather than a statement of what women want. Project opener “Dr. Aco’s Miracle Bullets” sees Louie Pastel addressing comments on the group’s genre classification, as well as a line about how people think he sounds like Baby Keem, the latter of which had me dying laughing as I recall thinking the exact same thing after hearing “FORCE OF HABIT” for the first time. The banger production returns to the hardcore guitar chords and punching drums of “HEAVY METAL,” which, when paired with the scream-worthy chorus of “Woah, bitch I’m geeked,” makes for a track that would go crazy in a live show. Felix’s verse is quite sticky, as per usual, but nothing absolutely mindblowing. “RHM” takes a more emotional turn, with Louie expressing the desire to trade money for friends instead. This indicates that the title of the track stands for “right hand man,” although it could still have to do with Red Hand Akimbo. The shoegaze-like production makes for an especially dreamy and intimate soundscape, quickly making it one of my favorite songs the group has released so far. The following “BULLSEYE” commits fully to a garage/emo-rock sound, given the especially whiny and filtered vocals delivered by Louie and Felix. Admittedly, this song initially stuck out like a sore thumb, giving me the impression that I’d never want to listen to it again. I’ve since come around to it however, and recognize it as a very important step in Paris Texas’s artistic progression, should they choose to further pursue this sound. At just 5 tracks long, one of which is a postlude (“Epilogue”) and another of which was released before the project came out, Red Hand Akimbo was destined to fail to live up to my hype and expectations of a concentrated full-length effort. That’s not to say that the project is greatly flawed, however; each song offers something that no Paris Texas song has offered before. With that being said, I’m still highly anticipating the group’s next strides as they (hopefully) work towards releasing a full body of work. Songs to check out from Red Hand Akimbo are “Dr. Aco’s Miracle Bullets” and “RHM.”
At the age of just 16, Maryland native redveil crafts a surprisingly solid conscious-trap project in Niagara.
Maybe I lied: conscious-trap is something I just made up right now. Simply saying “trap” invokes thoughts of vapid or non-complex lyrics over throbbing bass and sharp hi-hats, whereas only saying “conscious hip-hop” depicts redveil’s lyrical approach accurately, but incorrectly denotes the production as boom-bap or “old school.” Whatever the case, redveil infuses soul samples, elements of trap, and lyrics about his aspirations for success into this primarily self-produced, self-written record. Alternating the track listing for the first leg of the record in jazz rap vs. trap styled production, Niagara gives off an extremely cohesive and alluring feel to the progression of tracks. “Campbell” is a hopeful, confident start to the record, and indicates this project will see redveil setting himself aside from many of the monotone-delivery tracks presented on his prior album, Bittersweet Cry. His newfound love for more varied melodies is paralleled by the increased use of soul and R&B samples on this track and in most others, like “Badnews” and “Revolutions.” On these two, redveil continues to promote political consciousness, discussing how the daily injustices he sees on TV factor into his everyday life. “Weight” gives a taste of the soul-trap direction that redveil takes with many of the tracks, all the while continuing his elaborate technical rhyme schemes and topics of political awareness. The verse on this track sees some of redveil’s better flows throughout the album, reminiscent of Lil Uzi Vert’s fire-spitting cadences. The distorted, damn-near clipping bass distortion on “5500” makes for a perfect car playlist song to go crazy to with your friends. This is both a blessing and a curse however, as some of the lyrics here or there are imperceptible due to the sound barrier given off by this distortion. A slightly darker turn is taken in the second half of the project, with the haunting underlying melodies in “Clench” giving a spooky feeling to the track. This track has some of the more aggressive deliveries seen by redveil, with bars calling out white America and the nation’s severely damaged governmental infrastructure. One of the better features on the album is provided on this song as well - more on this later. The downward-spiraling piano sections in “Grass” continue the darker production themes, which conclude with the rock-bottom “Fastlane.” Here, redveil discusses navigating around the pitfalls presented in the road towards success, and how he has the hunger to stay motivated and push on. The stumbling piano progression in this cut marks the lowest point in the record emotionally. On any normal album, Chris Patrick’s feature on “Clench” would have a great shot at being considered the best feature verse. However, both Donte Thomas and D’mari Harris on “Drown” absolutely blow every other guest artist out of the water, with D’mari Harris edging out Donte Thomas by quite a bit. The heartfelt, intimate performance by Harris on the bridge will forever remain a personal favorite of mine. In contrast with the previous three tracks, “Drown” takes an incredibly bright tone in production, with a wailing synth lead conducting the song. This feel-good quality of the track helps make this song become, quite literally, one of my favorite songs I’ve ever heard; it absolutely blows my mind that this isn’t redveil’s most popular song by miles. I’m unsure if any amount of analysis on this cut will do it justice, so I’ll let you take a listen for yourself. Closing out the album with “Pigeonman,” a track which I severely underrated for far too long, redveil shows off his ability to write slick double-entendres and catchy choruses. Though likely my least favorite on the record instrumentally, the song makes up for this for the most part with its clever lyrics. The novelty of an unfamiliar sound such as the one crafted in this project is something I only get to experience 2 or 3 times every year. Although a majority of the tracks here are less than 2.5 or 3 minutes in length, I don’t see it making much sense to extend them simply in order to add an extra verse or two. Niagara makes a strong case for redveil to not be written off merely as an “Earl Sweatshirt clone,” but rather a unique artist paving the way for a new sound to come. Tracks to check out from Niagara include “Drown,” (!!!) “Weight,” and “Badnews.” |
AuthorEnrique Cardenas III Archives
November 2021
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