Jay-Z / The Throne / Kanye West - "Lift Off" Featuring Beyoncé

Through it all, I’m glad this blog will have more posts already in August than the month of July. It’s been a sad couple of months for relationships and still, thriving in some scenarios. It’s strange for a myriad of reasons. This album hasn’t nearly died down yet, here’s more ranting on another song and more.

The way Yeezy allows the strings to declare the beginning, like some kind of fanfare is truly creative on its own. The album is segued with these panther roars and an old sample that West inflects after/before some of the songs and here it leads into those aforementioned strings perfectly. There’s a bellowing horn and then “All engines running.” Some would call it typical, others call it amazing, while I mostly think it’s genius for artists to surround themselves with amazing artists and here, Jay-Z and West bring in Beyoncé for what is definitely one of the album’s extreme highs.

It’s the kind of song that will surely get ton of radio play once everyone realizes that behind the coincidence of the artists, the song is flawless in every kind of pop sensibility. West allows the drums to take over with more rapid snares and although people forget he’s made so many albums on his own, his drums are the magic behind his production. You see, Watch The Throne isn’t just a duo album where they phoned it in, West produces most of the album’s highest points and him and Jay-Z were relentless in ensuring they worked together, face to face. This makes for moments on the album where the energy is bursting with chemistry and brilliant skill. There’s another song that showcases that better than no other which I can hopefully mention soon.

This particular song is, for me, a highlight in Kanye’s compositional skills. The booming of the synth that background’s Beyoncé’s voice is married beautifully to the backing vocals and they all just melt away. It’s masterful the way he cuts the bass away in various parts – revealing his awkward voice and a jittery piano sometimes, or just Beyoncé in other parts – the way a true composer would take works and re-craft them to create both not just highs and lows but changes in mood, style and theme. Here it’s done with artists that are making music in the here and now. I don’t think there could be anything more terrific than that last fact: that there is gorgeous new music being made now and here.

By the way, I mean, they did whatever it took to prevent a leak. We all got to hear this and are getting to hear this exceptional album at the same time. That’s petty for most but for me, it’s astonishing. Being able to allow artists to dictate when we hear their music is talk for another day but boy, no leak, so we all get to hear it together, hell yes. – Bryan

Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Beyonce - Lift Off from XOXOXOXOXOXO on Vimeo.

Jay-Z / The Throne / Kanye West – Watch the Throne: The Beginnings

I hadn’t bought new music in so long. I’ve been writing much much more. I feel as if it could possibly get somewhere pretty great if I really keep pushing. But I needed to pick up the Yeezy album after hearing it in entirety over the weekend. (Part of the absence comes in seeing so many movies at the Plaza Classic Film Festival. Part of me wants to write about some but part of me says not to, either way, awesome thing they have here) I heard it and was so sad I couldn’t finish all of it right then and there! It’s mind-blowing the strength that Kanye West blows into all of his albums. It’s no wonder why both the aficionados and lame masses can combine in really admiring West’s skill, this time with Jay-Z. So here are some songs from it until more digesting can be done.

By now many have probably already had enough time to blast “Otis” and hopefully we can sort out how stunning it is. The liner notes say ‘featuring Otis Redding’ and well, Jay-Z starts off by saying “sounds so soulful don’t you agree?”— and later on he asks “I guess I got my swagger back?” Hell yeah. You’d think that the bitterness of haters would tear at you til it took over (they can really be annoying as hell) but instead, West’s ability at placing the perfect samples, the perfect hooks and aligning them with something both fresh, refreshing and simply sublime – there’s nothing but genius going on here. Picking apart the way they each rap within each other’s spectrums, playfully borrowing ideas and chantingly singing together, “What more can I say?”, there is absolutely nothing but greatness going on here. Or something the other, here is “Otis,” officially:


After the ornately lush ending to “Made in America” (where the strings are left to bounce against the backdrop with absolutely zero support) there’s a brief half second pause before the intensity of “Why I Love You.” It’s fair to take the immediately catchy chorus and throw it out there:

“ooooh, I love you so but why I love you, I’ll never know…”

The ooooh is pretty important, too, because it just screams of emotion. Many of us live our lives with sordid relationships that never reach that maximum output and whatever it may be, the longing for more is felt. It’s like a wicked kind of love that teases you while never fully satisfying you at the same time either. Here you take Jay-Z and Kanye West rapping in between this hyper-melody that features Mr. Hudson’s maddening vocals and a celebratory, 80s-flowing drum machine. There are so many lyrics that jump out at you; part of the album’s greatness is how well Jay and Yeezy compliment each other. And here they are rapping about how people are fake and how the closest ones to you will tear at you when you’re least looking. It’s sad, really, how jaded we allow ourselves to get and they never cease to mention how we’re all human, all filled with flaws. There’s one line where Jay-Z questions, “What do you do when the love turns to hate?” and West quickly replies “(Gotta separate from these fuckin’ fakes).” Here they are breaking down life and relationships and showcasing their stronger-than-ever unity (The Throne) – they’re both amazingly flashy – but amazingly great, no doubt. – Bryan

Revolution Mash Good Night: The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)

Back when music was still beginning to really pull me in, The Beatles was were foundations seemed to bridge my inner strings. It’s not as if it’s the most cliché of choices but I’d come right out and admit that this is my favorite album. . The second dot is because that’s a pretty huge statement…even if it is superficially cliché. Don’t judge me! But I found the album during a time when my surging feelings for music were just initiating and it’s always maintained as something that’s quite perfect, in my eyes.

Mostly, when you hear about The Beatles, it’s about how versatile it is. That’s a huge bullet point that always needs to hashed out and well understood. But why talk and talk about something that’s already been talk, talk talk talk, talked about so much before? I heard their producer insisted they slice the material down to one disc. I’m not sure. There’s talk that leaving all the music in was ego and nothing more. I don’t think so. But what I am sure of is that I could talk and talk talk myself all day but instead, let’s get to some of it now and more later.

I mean, I don’t know but The Beatles weren’t just amazing because they were so significant – for gosh’s sake, their music was actually magnificently created. I think we could sit here and probably break down the sheer breakthrough of their arch but that would mostly be far too objective and well, some people think ALL music is subjective. Regardless, there are some concrete beauties to point out: sequencing for their part was probably as close to perfection as possible (there’s songs that go hand-in-hand with each other simply because of their placing in the massive albums they crafted), the pure fact that every album since Rubber Soul was an attempt to re-invent, re-create, re-define the boundaries placed on their music and well, pair just those with each musician’s ability at illustrious songwriting that was and still is, beloved. These are just a few of the reasons why The Beatles, in it of themselves, were awesome and still, each one of those is never more brighter than on The Beatles. Everything just seems so much sloppier, sure, but there’s great chemistry behind the stress they were living in that even in separate studios, in separate musical worlds, in separate dimensions, they were bringing the best in each other out to the world. All of that spills onto the album’s 30 essential songs – each one a budding gem of wonder – where each one sprawls with exceptional diversity.

Part of what makes something like “Revolution 9” (I’m throwing in the easier-to-enjoy-I-guess “Revolution 1” [still wow!] at the bottom too) so appealing to weirdos like me is the way it just swirls around this tremendously trippy motif of atmospheric sounds and twitchy, jagged patterns. Instead of piecing the song together through the act of rhythmic movements that incorporate melody and harmony, the beauty of this song is the utter collage of sounds thrown against the wall to make a whirlwind of noise. You can hear crowd chatter, screeching yells, aristocratic mumble and the repeat of “number 9, number 9” and still, it’s never quite complete. I think that’s why it’s over eight minutes long, because it needed to be embellished to ever have any sort of impact. It really is genius, I think, especially when you consider the way it blends into the closer, “Good Night,” with sublime precision. The latter is nothing more than string and harmony but after the clutter and clank of the former, it just sounds sweetly like heaven. The fact that Ringo’s the only Beatle on it (singing at that) really matters little because it’s obvious the flow and closure was far more important than who was present. – Bryan

The Antlers – Hospice: Part1 (Two)

Bad writer’s block. The kind that sort of grips and pulls, before it sucks you in and drags you through its aching path. Don’t worry, I’ve opted to start keeping a journal where I can try to piece together some, hopefully, splendid words. But ugh sometimes it’s like being a sheep in fog – I get it. Still, there’s not much reason to really drag such affairs out and although there’s a lot in terms of personal affairs, why bore here with niceties. Ha, life can be a drag sometimes and still, there’s music like Hospice so why drag this out even more…

Tremendous, really, the beauty of The Antlers’ music is many, many things; a myriad of varieties of greatness – Hospice was where it began for me. Dissimilar from Burst Apart, like, well, two fine albums that highlight dark and light with brilliant displays of musicianship, it’s outstanding on its own spectacular levels. I’ve been writing all of this about one song in particular, “Two,” so here is some ranting on it because I have a feeling there’s more to say about this album later.

Entering with a guitar that strums away to the background of a chugging drum and with a spinning, swirling and enveloping style in Peter Silberman’s singing, the song almost – as its style would like it – passes you by. The lyrics are downright stunning in the way they convey the even, whole feel of ‘TWO’ and how it takes at least two people to develop a relationship, a friendship, a partnership. It’s cruelly beautiful the way he’s watching her slip away knowing that there is nothing he can do, it’s bitterly cruel in how he’s aware of what can make her happy and it’s even poignantly cruel for the way it points out how everything, including our sordid pasts, continue to shape our present lives. The music swells and encircles with the same aforementioned flow and before you know it, the complexity is best noticed in this fitting selection:

“Two ways to tell the story (no one worries)
Two silver rings on our fingers in a hurry
Two people talking inside your brain
Two people believing that I'm the one to blame
Two different voices coming out of your mouth
While I'm too cold to care and too sick to shout”

There’s solace in the delivery, even through the puns, it’s a clever idea that amazingly displays a vicious but complicated truth. The doctor calls out that “enough is enough” and the enduring battle is finally put to rest. One of the strongest points about Hospice is the way emotions and words marry crushing sounds and although most of “Two” is about as ‘bright’ as it gets, the words completely crush you themselves.

The ending, with a lulling and almost droning cadence is ominous as a concluding sentiment. The beginning of the song rises with a chiming guitar and here the ending is fifty seconds of translucent sound: dense, foggy and bleak. It’s a stark contrast from where it started and quite possibly, the other half to complete the being. – Bryan