An innovative voice in indie music for more than 30 years, PJ Harvey’s 2023 release I Inside the Old Year Dying is an album that’s equally beautiful, captivating and disorienting.
Listening to the album feels like you’re lost in a fog while wandering alone through the mountains on horseback. It’s almost as if you’re in a dreamlike state at times, with a constant undercurrent of nervousness and vulnerability.
The album sets PJ Harvey’s book of poetry, Orlam, to music. The book, and the lyrics it creates, is written in a Dorset dialect, which pays homage to her time growing up in South West England. The uncommon vernacular and troubadour instrumentation makes the album feel almost like it’s from Medieval times, or made up of old-world Pagan stories. The phrasing and unfamiliar inflections create a surreal experience, especially when combined with her sporadic vocal performance.
Musically, every song is enthralling without having more than an ounce or two of upbeat energy to it. Harvey, her vocals and her guitar are always in the spotlight, and the album’s producers, Flood (backing synth work and loops) and John Parish (subtle but always present percussion), do a great job of adding textures without ever being noticed.
The opener, “Prayer at the Gate,” sets the album’s tone perfectly, with creepy atmospheric synths in the distance, guitar reverb buzzing in and out of focus, and the subtlest of drum beats beneath her raw vocals that are performed more in the spirit of trip-hop than rock music.
The majority of the record, though, is folk and acoustic influenced, with hints of eerie ambient noises and rumbles in the distance, like a storm slowly rolling to shore, with an occasional crackle of thunder here and there — like the fierce (and brief) title track and the tormented closing track “A Noiseless Noise.”
Scaring the Hoes is probably the most creative, experimental hip-hop album to come out over the past 10 years, and it makes sense given two of the most unique talents in hip-hop from the past decade joined forces to create it.
Nothing sounds quite like it, from its super sped up, hyperpop-esque samples and electronic elements, to the out of nowhere beat switches, the deep bass drops, the disorienting mixing that sometimes buries the vocals and the chaotic wordplay and delivery from Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA.
At 37 minutes, only three of the 14 tracks are over three minutes long, but they each are bursting at the seams with production elements, noise and lyrical lines delivered seemingly at 2 or 3 times natural speed. The songs have the attention span of a 7 year old who just broke into a secret stash of Skittles, mixed with the frantic energy of a crackhead who’s about to crash down from a high if they can’t get their hands on more stuff.
Peggy is unhinged as a producer here, with the freedom to move wherever he wants from song to song and even within the same verse sometimes. He constantly layers these blaring synths that smack you over the head, overweight drum hits that rattle the inside of your ears, and his signature deep, rolling bass notes that you feel in your gut. Every single time that bass kicks in on this record is near perfection. The album’s music is all about catching you off guard, because you can’t anticipate some of the beat switches, or the delayed basslines, the off-tempo rhythms, syncopations and speedups.
Songs like “Kingdom Hearts” have so much going on: diced up heavenly, ethereal vocal samples; heavy, sinister walking basslines; distant rhythm guitar strumming that gallops in and out of sight like a unicorn through the fog; and sporadic tempo and time signature changes that transition between verses.
“Fentanyl Tester” uses a chopped up sample of Kelis’s “Milkshakes” throughout as percussion, with a gentle staccato synth melody that evolves into a buzzing, mechanical bass and drum line. “Burfict!” has a catchy, confident horn fanfare that sounds like a stadium tune, with drums and bass that would shake the bleachers.
“God Loves You” uses a tremendous interdenominational choir sample over and over again that becomes an earworm, while Danny Brown says some of the filthiest lyrics you’ll ever hear directly attached to biblical references.
JPEG sings a bit on “Jack Harlow Combo Meals,” which could abstractly be considered a jazz-rap song with a piano sample that could be called waiting room music played over these offbeat, clanking kitchen utensil drums.
Even when Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA slow their flows down, there’s so much packed into their verses that it’s almost impossible to keep up or even hear their sometimes off-beat rhymes over the beautiful mess of sounds.
Danny Brown is great here throughout, but I want to focus more on Peggy. Always an encyclopedia of sports, wrestling, pop culture and political knowledge, on this record references are his language.
Here’s a list of just the direct references by JPEG on the album, ignoring the samples and interpolations scattered throughout the record, the unspecific callouts to things like dentist, pharmaceuticals, brands, NATO and locations, TV, movies and videogames, the song names that reference Vontaze Burfict, Jack Harlow and Run The Jewels, and any additional references by Danny (and there are several).
Fuck Elon Musk
Feel like Papa John (Insane)
Laughin’ straight to the bank, Tony Khan
Pussy gettin’ beat up like Gibbs
Don’t fuck with niggas, like Hulk Hogan
Rittenhouse with the shot
Stretchin’ your girl, Iron Sheik
Go from Elon to Ye in a week
Kai, one twitch and banned
Feelin’ free as speech, Colin Kaep
Late night like Conan
Dance like Gotenks
Takin’ shots everyday like DeRozan
Raekwon, stick to the cream
Servin’ niggas like Paula Deen
Hook shot, Kareem
Get rocked like Chrisean
Lost like Gilligan
Got Jay for Bey
‘Bout thе money, Mr. Slate
Put together like Danity Kane
Take shots like Klay
Singing like Bilal
Gimme that Nancy,
Gimme that Ruth,
Gimme that Barbara, take out the tooth
Feel like Trump
Drippin’ like Rudy
Cover they face, Mach-Hommy
Gimme that Rogan
Hit it like H-Town
Frank Lucas, feeling blue
Look like Olivia Munn
Addicts attached like Tom Holland
Faker than Andy Kaufman
Shia LaBeouf in all these problems
Smack your bitch up like Prodigy
Smack my bitch ass to Prodigy
Black AOC
Made real fuckin’ Gs like Eazy-E
Underground like a young Bun B
Pyrex living like Digga D
Black Marjorie Taylor Greene
Deep throat sound like Reese
Budd Dwyer before they do that
Choppa, Kendrick-size
Champ one time, Bisping
Felonies like Ezra
Hunter Biden, stay out my sink
Feel like P!nk
Form up like Danity Kane
A pic with Ghislaine
A feature with Drake
Kyrie your car
Ezra my name
Won’t be like Mike
Made beats with Tribe
Singing like Aaron Hall
shoulder leanin’ like Dro
Wipe like Boosie
Keep thinkin’ you Bruce Lee
Put you on the screen like Christopher Nol’
Goin’ out like The Crow
Like AB give Gisele the whole ruler
Keep one eye open like Slick Rick The Ruler
On your bitch like Darby
Tongue out likе KISS
Choppa young as Matt Gaetz b-
That’s 68 I found on one listen through, and I’m sure that’s missing a few. If you consider the record is only 37 minutes long, and that Peggy only has 50% of the lines, plus another 20% of the record is probably just instrumentals, that’s four and a half shoutouts a minute, not including the other crazy shit he mentions. It’s an impressive amount of information to cram into such a concise package.
James Blake‘s newest record Playing Robots Into Heaven is a haunting collection of abstract, minimalist dance numbers that are heavy on the electronics and light on vocals. James Blake drifts away from the hip-hop, R&B-heavy production he’s dabbled in over the past seven or eight years and re-introduces some of the more glitchy electronics and piano of his early days. It creates something with a new feel, with glistening notes, quirky twirls, bouncing bass and scattered samples played over these sparse mixes.
“Asking to Break” is a pretty traditional James Blake piano/singer-songwriter track, and “Fire The Editor” is similar but with more electronics. “Loading,” “Tell Me,” “Fall Back,” and “I Want You To Know” are ambient influenced dance songs that are heavy on drum loops, distant synths and samples. Sandwiched in the middle of the record are two hip-hop influenced songs , “He’s Been Wonderful” and “Big Hammer.” And the record ends with the beautiful ambient title track, which sounds like a demented carnival ride’s flutes working like a dystopian siren’s call drawing you towards the end of time.
James Blake has spent the better part of the past decade proving he’s a uniquely talented singer, songwriter and producer for a variety of genres. Overall, this album is cool because you get a nice compilation of the different things Blake has worked on over his career. But you don’t get a smooth blend of it on any individual songs, which makes for a choppy record.
The mix here is also cold throughout. That’s obviously intentional given the sparse instrumentation on most tracks, but it leaves some of it feeling bare or unwelcoming (which isn’t usually what you’d want in dance music). Part of that is a lot of the songs don’t really feature Blake’s vocals, or if they do his voice is used more as a sample or texture instead of a melodic line. Blake’s voice typically conveys a lot of emotion, and tracks here with more traditional melodies like “Fire The Editor” and “Loading” work as really moving moments. But, without the vocals doing as much heavy lifting throughout, it leaves songs feeling cold and a little hard to grasp, even if some of the drum loops, samples and electronics are really engaging.
Endless Summer Vacation is the most average of average pop records. Miley Cyrus provides fine vocals over clean pop production, making for easy commercial appeal. There are a few pretty good tracks — “Flowers,” “Thousand Miles,” “Used to be Young,” “Handstand,” and “Wonder Woman” — that show a decent range of modern pop styles. There are some pretty lame ones — “Violent Chemistry,” “Muddy,” “Wildcard” — that are generic with some overdone, forced vocals. I think the hits are a little weak and low energy here overall, which holds the album back, but it gets the job done, and with a pretty crisp runtime, it’s more enjoyable than the typical, bloated pop record.
Do you want to go back to 2005 and feel like the coolest kid in your high school math class again? Do you want to accidentally drive a little too fast through a residential area with your windows down, your sunglasses on and a big smile on your face? Spiritual Cramp’s self-titled record is 26 minutes of near-perfect post-punk revival nostalgia. It’s not particularly original, but it’s good fun, with riffs that rock, drums that pound and a performance by vocalist Michael Bingham that’s full of energy.
Whether it’s the pop punk and emo rock they started their careers with, the pop rock they moved on to in the 2010s, or the harder, more mature alternative rock style they’re enjoying in 2023, Hayley Williams and Co. really know how to make music.
This is Why, Paramore’s first release in almost 6 years, is their loudest record since the early days. It mostly consists of fast-paced, guitar-driven songs with straightforward rock instrumentation and mixing and raw vocals.
The title track, which serves as the album’s opener and lead single, reminds fans right away how hard the band can go and that they don’t need poppy sound effects or gimmicks to catch your attention. “Figure 8” is the coolest song here, with a neat repeated circular effect during the verses and a heavy chorus that has some real edge to it. The album’s other stand out is “Crave.” It’s a mid-tempo rock song when compared to most of the others on the record, it has a little more musical depth and color in the mix. Soft verses make the more emotional delivery during the chorus really pay off, while some warmer notes scattered throughout give the song life.
That more complex mix on “Crave” I think stands out because the majority of the album’s fast tracks lack some color. “The New,” “Running Out of Time,” “C’est Comme Ca” are all solid rock tracks that are structured well and performed with energy, but they’re a bit simple.
“You First” probably does it best because it has a little of that old, pop energy sprinkled on top, which may have been welcome throughout the album.
Model/Actriz’s 37 minute debut record Dogsbody is dense both musically and lyrically. It’s a cool (and cold) industrial, post punk record with some sick, dancy grooves, manic, thrashing energy and a lot of tense, uncomfortable moments.
The noise rock instrumentation almost revs like a motor, with pulsing bass lines and roaring, gritty guitars that work more rhythmically than melodically. Pitchy, screeching notes creep in and out from time to time to give an unnerving sense of dread to both explosive tracks and more subtle moments.
Lead singer Cole Haden’s evocative poetry over and over again mentions sexual cravings as well as twisted imagery involving metal objects (knives, hooks, wire), blood (whether referencing mosquitoes as bloodsuckers or red tears), and death in the form of ghosts, bodies or dreams. There are constant reminders of darkness and nighttime, as well as references to the sun, whether it’s being blocked in the sky or providing some kind of hope or warmth.
Of the frantic, high-energy tracks (and there’s a lot of them), “Mosquito,” “Crossing Guard,” “Slate” and “Amaranth” are the ones that I find the most captivating. The two standouts on the record though are the two that close the album. “Sleepless” is a haunting slowcore track with ambient-influenced electronics and droning guitars furiously strumming in the distance that slowly bury Haden’s echoing vocals. “Sun In” feels almost like a song to play over the closing credits of a horror movie, with eerie, yet warm, guitar chords and a highly-emotional vocal performance that seems accepting and ready to move on in any way he needs to. A high-pitched ring that holds through the last part of the track serves as a warm ending note. That same exact note had opened the top of the record, but with a much more sinister feeling, which is an interesting little detail that I thought was clever on repeated listens.
I appreciate the overall sounds and energy of Dogsbody — like a Nine Inch Nails work that’s somehow darker — but feel like the mix is too noisy and not melodic enough for me to really appreciate the full intricacy of Model/Actriz’s work. And, Because of its relentless darkness and unnerving feeling, I don’t think I’d say it’s an “enjoyable” listen or something I’ll crave going back to too often, but it’s absolutely interesting and worthwhile to check out.
I’ve always found Caroline Polachek a little too uninteresting to be a great indie artist, and not fun or dynamic enough to be a great pop artist. I feel like that still carries over to 2023’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. I don’t think her voice or lyrics really carry some of the lower-energy tracks, and the upbeat pop tracks feel a little too clean and flat for me production-wise to have that “it” factor I’m looking for.
But, I do think Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is an improvement on what she produced on her 2019 record, Pang, and she shows maturity in her songwriting and a more fully-formed album overall. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is a set of solid tracks and is far more consistent in quality than a typical pop record, even if the high-end hits aren’t there for me. It’s pleasant pop music with very clean, mostly warm production.
The opening track “Welcome To My Island” is a good, bouncy opener, even if it has some unnecessary, kind of annoying vocalizing. “Pretty In Possible,” “Sunset” and “Smoke” could all serve as ready-made pop radio singles of slightly varying styles. “Hopedrunk Everasking,” and “Crude Drawing of an Angel” are a bit too ethereal and dreamy to hold my attention, but sound pretty; “I Fly To You” featuring Dido and Grimes injects a little more energy into a similar styled song.
Overall, I like all of it enough, but I don’t love any of it.
Teaming up with legendary producer Brian Eno, Fred Again’s Secret Life is an ambient record to the max, with humming synth harmonies and endless keyboards with echo reverb. Vocals are scarce and percussion essentially nonexistent other than rhythmic mumbles and sounds similar to bubbles popping at the surface of a calm lake. The music is calming, pretty, warm and a great background atmosphere setter. The lack of melody and unvaried soundboard prevents me from getting particularly excited about it, but it’s a fine record that does what it set out to do.
From start to finish, Ooh Rap I Ya feels like you’re melting into a warm bath, with wave after wave of good vibes smoothly running through you. It’s electronic vapor and chill wave with a level of effects and synths poured on top of one another akin to the most dense shoegaze tracks. Vibrant, thick synths, slow, repetitive percussive elements and epic, echoing vocals all blended together for 38 minutes. I don’t care that 10 times through the record I still fully don’t know the songs from one another, or if it’s all pretty same-y. George Clanton has created a warm, easy to listen to record that’s great to just set, forget, relax and enjoy.
Fresh Out The Deli 