The indie rockers from Brooklyn finally release their followup album to 2009's pleasurable It's Frightening with this 11-tracks disc.
After the paranoid-sounding opener, "Heavy Metal," which goes overboard on the random guitar licks and synth loops to create a song that is more jarring than pleasing, the album draws you in with the feedback-heavy "I'm Not Me" with its rollicking guitar work and catchily sung chorus.
The electric guitar work and the music in general is even more creepy and beguiling (in a good way) than on their previous works with frontman Stephen Patterson's piano also playing a more prominent part in creating lush and spooky melodies. Patterson shares vocal duties as usual with lead guitarist Alexander Even and the band's subdued vocal style is even more effective on this disc matching the more eerie melodies with greater aplomb.
Overall, Milk Famous isn't as consistent as the band's 2009 release but it is still a disc worth your money with better constructed songs and obvious growth in the band's style. There are a couple of tracks like "Are You Free" that seem like the band is holding itself back from unleashing its full potential but those tracks are in the minority on this generally pleasurable album.
Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "I'm Not Me", "Hold It to the Fire" and "Danny Come Inside"
The lads from Leeds rework their available-only-through-import-to-American-customers album The Future Is Medieval for release here on the U.S. shores with a different ordering to the songs and tracks that were not available on their official release.
Originally, before the Medieval album was officially released in the UK and Europe, fans had an option of creating their own version of the album by picking ten songs from an available list of twenty with customizable artwork and everything. Fans were then able to share their version of the album with others, earning £1 each time their version was bought by another person.
Both the U.S. and UK versions have 13-songs and begin with the track "Little Shocks," which is the first single from the album. From there the two versions differ quite substantially with four different tracks from the original pool of twenty (plus at least one song not in that pool of twenty) and a different track order.
Overall, this album still isn't the band's best by any means with their first three albums all being superior. I do enjoy the U.S. version of this album more than the UK one with fun songs like "On The Run" and "Problem Solved" being more enjoyable than the tracks they replaced (the lone exception being the spooky but enchanting "Out of Place") and with songs like the toe-tapping "Kinda Girl You Are" being pushed up earlier in the order for greater impact. I gave the UK version a 6.5 while this version with its slightly better songs and better ordering gets...
Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "On The Run" and "Problem Solved" [sample it below]
The only South Bronx hip-hop/rap artist that I know of with his own weight loss blog, Chaundon releases his fourth studio album.
Chaundon releases a disc of solid jams and well-written lyrics although his rapping style can be very non-distinctive at times, like a poor man's Common. But there is a solid energy that Chaundon brings that runs throughout the duration of disc that helps elevate even the more monotonous tracks.
This isn't going to be Chaundon's breakout album by any means but it is a very consistent release with solid and entertaining hip-hop songs from beginning to end. The songs have musical nods to the past, especially in the samples he uses, but you never lose the feeling of being in the here and now.
Song(s) to Sample: "Possession" [sample it below] and "Hindsight"
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