So today happened. Have pictures. Continue reading
Matt Vs. “Culdesac” by Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino is the rap name actor/writer/comedian Donald Glover works under. Before I get into this review, I want to preface that I love Donald Glover. He’s the new thing in comedy. Dude’s got a future. In comedy. Music? Well, that’s a different story.
“Culdesac” is what you’d expect from a rap album influenced by most mainstream artists. It’s filled with incessant loops, usually features soulful backup vocals, and has songs with titles like “I Got This Money.” The actual instrumentation of these songs is pretty good. The backing band that Donald has working with him isn’t really the issue here.
See, my main problem with “Culdesac” lies with Donald himself. He started off doing short comedy skits for youtube with his troupe Derrick Comedy. It wasn’t too long until we started seeing Donald’s name and face on such shows as “Community” and “30 Rock”. This guy got famous quick. And he worked his ass off to do so. And, god damn it, is he ever proud of him self. So proud, in fact, that he’s going to rap about how fucking awesome he is at you for an entire album.
Yes, most of the songs in “Culdesac” are of the same theme: “Yo, I worked so hard to get here, and now all these people are up in my business.” “I’m so talented in so many fields. I’m so awesome.” And even though I love Donald, I can only take so much of his self congratulatory nature. An entire album is about too much for me to handle.
For a guy who is such a talented comedian, I would think he’d try a different angle with his songwriting. Maybe try a more Beastie Boys approach and have fun with it. Don’t take yourself so seriously. But, alas, we get the same old drivel we do from other rappers. A guy and a mic rapping about how hard it is to be successful and how everyone around him doubted his future. Alright, we get it. It’s hard being you. Who gives a fuck?
I like the rap genre, as far as to say it’s my favourite style of music to listen to. But the problem I’ve always had with most rappers is the subject matter they choose to talk about. Donald has some skills. Boy knows how to spit rhymes. He’s got a good handle on the wordplay, and has a surprisingly good voice, singing wise and rapping. I just wish he’d be more creative.
WINNER: MATT
WHY: Because while fellating yourself into a microphone may be fun for you, it’s tiresome for the rest of us. And kinda gross. Stop it.
Filed under Matt
John Vs. “King Of The Beach” by Wavves
Listening to the new Wavves leaves me feeling like I’ve failed. Like, there was more I could’ve done to stop this. The brother is from San Diego, and he’s representing both poorly and really well. Wavves Guy is a self-centered amateur who likes to grandstand in odd ways, like the girl in her bra and jeans during a pool party. The attitude he has is really really San Diego.
The first thing to understand about King of the Beach is that if the thing you liked about Wavves (if anything) was the lo-fi-ness, well fuck you friend. Even though that sound made Surf Rock In The Oughts work due to how washed out and harsh it sounded in the face of the world, Wavves Guy got the band Jay Reatard left behind to invalidate everything his old sound implied. If there was ever a time that blurry, painful surf rock could have worked, it was 2010. But no. The “clean” album, instead.
FIRST TANGENT OF THE NEW BLOG: I can’t help but feel that all of this surf rock and “chillwave” and whatever bullshit about how cool the ocean is coming at a shitty time. The gulf coast is right there, and you’re making an album about how awesome it is to have fun seaside? Come now.
There’s a few traces of the fuzzy peak festival he left behind on this new album in his vocals, but that doesn’t really cut it when four tracks in some 60s pop drums start up as he whines about whatever When You Will Come is about. I’m sorry that I’m not feeling him growing as an artist, because where he’s growing is in a place where he doesn’t excel: songwriting.
I was entranced by the first two albums because it seemed that what he was hitting on was almost accidental. Some vein of a rare mineral stripmined, and it could be that it emptied out. It’s what made his approach to pop structure interesting, and it’s the thing that gave him a voice, and it’s a shitty thing to run out of in that case. Clean Deliberate Wavves. I’m struggling to think of something less appealing.
Maybe some people are just satisfied that he’s finished being caustic.
WINNER: JOHN
WHY: Everything he liked about Wavves is in a trash can somewhere, and he wasn’t done seeing how deep those ideas went.
Filed under John
Fermata over Whole Rest 