@trouble you wanna do this one time? just post an album that got you through a hard time or the first album you ever bought

Do i just drop the albums now or wait?

Ita fulfilling if they don't keep calling it mid !!

yeah

Album for a hard time - A Kid Named Cudi

First album I ever bought - Arthur Rubinstein The Chopin Collection but that's a classical album so you can remove it and sub in the first "contemporary" album I got which was Pink Floyd's The Wall

Wait why’d you change the theme

I have never been helped through any hard time so he made a theme I could participate in

I just must accept living in a constant state of confusion here

death's dynamic shroud.wmv - I'll Try Living Like This

Electronic album mixed with lotta different genres

Chopped and screwed korean voice samples tie everything together

Fun listen never got boring cus every song is trying something new

8/10

Lioned tracks:

we need one more person

The Strokes - Comedown Machine (2013)

I’ve always heard people talk about The Strokes throughout my life but I’ve never listened to them. I’ve heard Julian’s vocals before though via Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, thought as a kid I remember not being super crazy about his vocal delivery on that song off of RAM (“Instant Crush”) but I’ve warmed up to it these days. Anyways, I went into this album fairly neutral, but still open-minded. Still hungover.

Tap Out is a decent starter. I think its writing is the best part about it. The feeling of wanting sexual gratification without an emotional connection was pretty nice and reminded me a bit of Novacane by Frank Ocean, (mainly cause I was drunkenly listening to that last night and it was kinda hitting hard though). Production reminded me of Instant Crush too, which isn’t surprising since Julian was literally a co-producer of it. I did find Julian’s higher pitch a little distracting though. I actually really like his lower register especially in the second half (“decide my past, define my life”). I’m writing this review between songs so hopefully I get to hear more of the lower pitch.

Well, I got my wish lol, All The Time is more my speed. Really like the punchy drums on this. I was head-bangin a bit to this. A lot more satisfied with Julian’s vocals on this…only problem is that I’m not really sure what this song means. My first guess was that its calling out fake activists but honestly looking at the lyrics in its entirety, they kinda look like a bunch of platitudes strung together. The grungy opening makes me wonder if this is like an homage to Nirvana (in the cynical, kinda abstract, intentional contrast of platitudes you see in Smells Like Teen Spirit or Come As You Are—okay if it’s not clear now, I really don’t listen to a lot of rock music so if I’m way off-base in this a***ysis….sorry). The long pause at the end to let the song kinda “wash” over the listener was nice. Actually liked the subtle sounds of one of the guitars being plucked gently, and the sound of the musicians shifting around a bit.

Aw yeahhhh One Way Trigger might be my favorite so far. Loving the sound of the synths, plus the dramaticness really matches Julian’s upper register and knows how to tone it down for his lower register. The lyrics in the chorus (“find a job, find a friend”, etc.) really resonated with me. All my friends are older than me and they’re “settling down” but that’s like the last thing I wanna do right now. Song had me thinking about my plans for the future. Damn. Anyways…

Welcome to Japan feels like a pretty accurate portrait of the ups and downs of touring. The disappointment of your friends not supporting your shows, hitting people up when you’re in town, etc. Not that I would know much about any of that, though I did start learning how to DJ recently and learned pretty quickly who my real friends were after inviting people to support and seeing who showed up. A******s…anyways, good song!

Title track is a nice bittersweet track about someone you can’t help but keep trying to love you but it’s never gonna work. Resonates with me a pretty amount though honestly I was just getting lost in the dreamy production, walking around my room. Favorite production so far, I think.

50/50 is a short, sweet punk track. I felt the energy instantly. Chorus got me in that mindset of “fuck what y’all think, i do what i want”, which I need more in my life.

Damn… Is Slow Animals really what I think its about? If its about the hypocrisy of older generations not wanting to address or call out rape culture but still wanting to be protective of their daughters, that’s incredibly ahead of its time (it was only 10 years ago but you know what I mean). Song has a great melody especially in the pre-chorus (“they’re always scared of where their daughters been..”) too. Ngl tho, the laugh at the end of the recording feels a little out of place tonally.

Partners in Crimes reads to me like a portrait of a night out with friends and all the drunken weird s*** you might say throughout the evening. I think. I can’t rationalize what tigers wearing pants would be in any other context lol.

While Chances is nicely produced and performed, s*** I started singing “will you GOOOO”, this song does feel like its just hitting the same themes as the title track. Also, I think I’ve heard a variation of “stay with me/will you go/i have to leave” on like half of these songs which could be an intentional motif but also at this point in the album it’s starting to feel a little uninspired to do so…

After listening to Happy Ending I’m also starting to notice a motif of guns throughout the album’s lyrics which is an interesting choice too, though unfortunately I’m starting to lose focus as these songs are starting to blend together for me. Happy Ending is also solidly produced, but the only lyrics that really stand out to me is the ending verse where Julian just admits that he’s selfish and tired of seeing the people around him become so successful (which I fuccing FEEL that, man). This is a weird pull too but Julian’s delivery and vocal mixing reminds me of a bit of Jai Paul. Kinda wonder if there was any intentional influence on Jai’s work.

Call it Fate, Call It Karma’s lo-fi production is a nice departure from what I’ve heard so far. There’s like a slight tango/Spanish dance vibe to it that I like and the chorus lyrically sounds like melancholic, self-aware delusion which I can totally get behind. That being said, I kinda zoned out throughout the verses.

Overall this album was fine. I think the production was always well-done but a decent amount of the songs in the second half start to blend together for me. The lyrics were hit or miss too, as they tended to either hit the same themes a little often or be a little too abstract for me where I legit wasn’t sure what was going on. That being said, there were moments where the lyrics did hit or resonate, but more often they fell into the former. There were a couple songs that I could see myself returning to in the future but I’m not sure if I would listen to this album in its entirety on my own though. Ah well.

Rating: 6/10

Favorite Tracks: Slow Animals, One Way Trigger

Least Favorite Tracks: Chances, Happy Ending

@Cowboy
@saveme

Week 3 Sub:

Charlie EP - The Phantom's Revenge

my first album (off itunes) was actually an instrumental french house EP lol but I think it's worth sharing regardless

title track isn't on DSP cause of sample clearances (you'll understand once you hear it) so to whomever reviews this please listen to the title track first it's essential listening

the whole ep is also on yt

Serotonin II by Yeule
Album still gets me through hard times to this day

well since we got two subs since i said that we need one more person

wanna join

been busy as f*** but i will be pairing everyone later today

@saveme

on the way

Aqua - Aquarium @Extraterrestrial <-> Collision Course - Linkin Park & Jay Z @Zoobooks

Death Race For Love - Juice WRLD @Hndrxx_Free <-> It Won't Be Soon Before Long - Maroon 5 @YungPapi

Armin van Buuren - Imagine @RVI <-> Serotonin II - Yeule @DJ7A7A

Charlie EP - The Phantom's RRevenge @hemaglox <-> Day to Remember - For Those Who Have Heart @ruckus

Woman - Rhye @saveme <-> Greatest Hits - John Denver @Bruises

The Sun's Tirade - Isaiah Rashad @tears4fears <-> Love Angel Music Baby - Gwen Stefani @twinkletoez

A Kid Named Cudi @trouble <-> Crazy Hits by Crazy Frog

@tears4fears

So real

me listening to john denver's greatest hits

First time listening to a juice Wrld project this should be good

f*** i need a partner for trouble

guess it'll have to be me

@Trouble your album is 400 degreez by juvenile

@twinkletoez

Review:

Jay-Z & Linkin Park - Collision Course

I remember this era extremely well. Both HOV and LP were in their primes and mash-ups were going crazy in the blogosphere at the time. Danger Mouse had just released The Grey Album not too long before and it was dope af.

Listened to this album on the way to work today and it’s aged like the finest wine.

On paper, HOV & Linkin Park mixed together sounds terrible but they somehow were able to make it absolute flawless perfection. Every track is an absolute banger.

Ultimately, HOV & LP capitalized on the mashup craze and showed us what you get when you mix 10/10 songs from two almost entirely different genres together.

You get a 10/10 CERTIFIED CLASSIC.

Favorite song: Numb/Encore
Worst song: None

@Zoobooks
@saveme