Yo have you ever heard that Univeria Zekt project by them that I posted last week (I think) ITT? Curious to see what you think about it

nah i havent, ive heard about it tho

This week's submission:
Black Messiah by D'angelo and the Vanguard

I was gonna submit this one too

Bon Iver - i,i

I’ve heard of Bon Iver via Kanye’s discography but have never sat down and listened to an album by him (them?). I’m writing this slightly earlier than i usually do because I’m attending an anime convention this weekend and I probably won’t have time or the sobriety to do this then. Running on like 5 hours of sleep though so if I sound a little incoherent, apologies in advance. Anyways, on to the review:

Yi is a great opening. The intro with the introduction makes the song feel spontaneous as if these emotions were in-the-moment. The studio talk makes me think a bit of untitled, unmastered by Kendrick or that Miguel song off of Kaleidoscopic Dreams about p**** ownership (only done way more believably).

iMi continues with that harmonious sound collage atmosphere from Yi that I can only describe as sounding like a beautiful collision. I immediately recognized the vocals from f33lLikeDyin off of Whole Lotta Red, which is a beautiful song on its own. Listening/reading alongside the lyrics, I felt an atmosphere of resignment to loneliness, learning to embrace it and take comfort in it, but also a willingness to open up to people about your feelings for them in the second half of it. At first I wasn’t big on the different pacing of lyrics being sung (some sounding kinda time-shifted), but as the song went on I realized they work alongside the sound collage atmosphere and reflect the themes that I was interpreting, sorta the confusion of figuring your feelings for someone and the insecurity of loneliness. Great opening.

There are some aspects I like about We, mainly the vocal delivery and the melody throughout, but I find the lyrics a little too vague for me to pin down. I do like abstract lyrics (see previous paragraph lol), but even after two listens I still am not really clear what this song means apart from wanting some form of vengeance/justice. I noticed traces of condemning gentrification, but that’s about it :dontcareifitdoesntexistanymore: Oh yeah and what’s with the screaming male voice at the beginning and near the end? They stick out a little and kinda sound like stock samples.

Holyfields, I interpret as an expression of undeterred optimism against toxic friends, family, and ageism, especially how “the dawn”/”the land” represents happiness/unhappiness. The urban ambience in the background throughout the song too reminds me of Futura Free by Frank Ocean or 48 by Tyler the Creator, and the synths gave me early Oneothrix Point Never vibes too. Solid tune.

Well I read Hey Ma as Vernon possibly processing the death of his mother, especially with the opening beeps and melancholic melodies throughout imply that she’s hospitalized, and I thought the “tall time to call your Ma” meant that it was too late to talk to his mother, but quick Google searches show no implication that she died. Well if its not that then my guess is that its a more cryptic sentiment on Vernon’s relationship with his mother in possible phases of his life. I don’t know, it’s a little too obscure for me.

--- the following remainder of this review was written after attending the convention I mentioned earlier, ended up splitting the album listen into halves due to time constraints, sorry---

I’m not really sure what U (Man Like) is about. I guess I could look it up on Genius but I feel like I’d rather be able to interpret the song on my own. I’m getting hints of midwestern/rural life (wanting to show someone something “down the back of the ridge”) and maybe something homo-erotic too. (“phallic repetition”?) Opening melody feels very Bound 2, starting to see why Kanye was working with this dude a lot in the MBDTF/Yeezus era though.

Similar issue with Naeem. Lyrics seem a little clearer talking about ageism/fear of getting older (I think), but the production feels a little weaker compared to U (Man Like), opening melody reminded me a bit of Lean On Me, and the flow of the chorus reminds me a little of Imagine Dragons. These songs are starting to blend together for me at this point. Also it’s like 4 AM though, forgot to finish this album today and spent most of the day playing TF2 and Tetris. My bad….

Picking up with Jelmore though. Short and sweet, really like the bittersweet sound and jerky momentum of the synths in the instrumental. I’m interpreting some of the lyrics as apocalyptic (mention of “gas masks” and “we’ll be gone by the fall”). Nice.

Faith is also re-engaging me with the album too. Mainly for its themes of rebuilding confidence in being yourself and its usage of religious imagery to convey that. The electronic flourishes throughout the track are nice too. I wish the guitar in the instrumental did a little more though, there’s something about it during the chorus that reminds me a little of stock music. Everything else about the track I really like.

I like the (harmonica? melodica?) in Marion but not a bunch else. It’s just an interlude but that there’s just not much to it lyrically and Vernon’s voice actually comes off a little grating in some parts in it. I’m not sure if his voice fits this type of instrumental.

Yeah uhhh Salem I don’t really know what it means either. I googled the phrase “anorberic dream” and the Bon Iver subreddit said it was His Dark Materials reference which made me not want to bother searching anything else about it. I’m starting to piece together what makes the instrumentals on this album sound kinda “stock music”-like to me. I think it’s the drums sounding very generic alongside the chorus going for this uplifting sound. Of course, there’s definitely more care put into the instrumental than actual stock music, but sometimes on this album (and on this song) it tends to remind me of stock music.

Oh hell yeah the piano and sax on Sh’Diah. This dreamy instrumental is definitely one of the best off the album. The lyrics are again abstract, but I think they have a clear direction in wanting to know the meaning of life–whether it be through devotion to God, wanting to make money, accepting mortality, etc.

Rabi continuing with the theme of accepting mortality and the possibility of there not being an after-life is good. I prefer Sh’Diah’s production but I think the message is a lot clearer in Rabi and maybe the most coherent and poignant message on the entire album. That lyric about “if you wait, it won’t be undone” is something that I’ll probably be thinking about for a while.

Alright so overall I think this album is hit or miss. It did feel slow to go through and a decent amount of the cuts felt too cryptic or vague lyrically. Sometimes Vernon’s falsetto or lyrical flow felt a little off-putting, and the production ranged from being gorgeous or sounding a little like stock music (he says, for like 3rd time in this review lol). However, when it all does come together, the songs on here can resonate with me emotionally a decent amount, mainly on the tracks about grappling with negative emotions/thoughts. Can’t say I’d want to revisit this album as a whole (not at least for a while), but there are definitely stand-out tracks that I’d like to revisit and digest further. Plus, Bon Iver is someone that I’ve heard of for a while now and I’m glad I’ve gotten the chance to take a chance on their work. I’d be open to checking out For Emma soon too. Thanks for the recc! @Echiham

Overall Rating: 6/10

Favorite Tracks: Yi/iMi, RABi, Sh’Diah

Least Favorite Tracks: We, Marion, Salem

dam y'all gotta quit writing these good ass reviews cause mines keep looking like trash I like how u a***yzed it lyrically and seemed to do a bit of research in regards to some songs and the artist himself Glad you seemed to enjoy it tho! For Emma is one of my fav album oat and it's more indie/acoustic based before he started mixing more electronic into his songs. 22AMillion is a good mixture between both which is another good one to checkout!

Enjoy your convention sounds dope!

@Kriminel

Mach-Hommy - HBO

I'm pretty new to Mach-Hommy, having only really listened to Pray for Haiti and enjoyed it. I don't really like Griselda's stuff much otherwise. I went into this looking forward to getting into Mach's earlier stuff, but the theme this week made me apprehensive that it wouldn't click on a first listen, but man this ruled, I instantly connected with it.

Mach's flow is so conversational and effortless, he makes the craziest bars sound like he just came up with them off the top of his head. The sped-up scratched sample on Plenty was pretty annoying, but the rest of the beat was great, felt like an old Hanna-Barbera cartoon, when Mach switched into singing the hook it made me realise that this whole album sounds like one big freestyle, just a totally smooth experience.

Bey Six is incredible, I'm gonna stop the live reaction thing now but this is a total masterclass top to bottom. I'm a dusthead at heart and this album is like catnip to me, definitely the best Griselda project I've heard yet. The beats are INSANE, perfect boom bap with wonky samples, and then there's stuff like Fresh Off the Boat, which is barely a beat, but Mach flows over it like it's nothing. The autotune on Band Anna works seamlessly, only real low point for me was Michele Ma Belle since I don't like Keisha Plum's spoken word interlude stuff in general, but the whole experience is fantastic.

Absolutely gonna relisten to this and dive into more of Mach's stuff, 8/10, my fave album from this challenge so far.

My submission for this week @op

The Angels of Light - How I Loved You

sorry for the delay y'all.. making pairings right now

my submission for this week is

vs. by pearl jam

oh my god this first song is gorgeous

@Bruises would you like to submit an album with a black and white cover for this week?

PAIRINGS FOR THIS WEEK

Untrue by Burial @hemaglox - How I Loved You by The Angels of Light @Fries

Reality In Black by MAMA MOO @Echiham - Vs. by Pearl Jam @saveme

Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division @EXTRATERRESTRIAL - All Mirrors by Angel Prince @DJ7A7A

De Todas Las Flores by Natalia Lafourcade @YungPapi - Black Messiah by D'Angelo & The Vanguard @Zoobooks

Self Titled by Slowdive @Orangutan - Needle Paw by Nai Palm @SlapFiend

The Stranger by Billy Joel @Trouble - A Place Like This by Majid Jordan @davey

The theme for this next week will be one of your favorite artists favorite albums so this one is going to take a bit of research if you don't already know one. Have fun with this one and please make sure to let us know which artist it is. And if y'all could post your submission with your reviews it would make this so so so much easier for me, thank y'all for participating y'all really are amazing. Some of the reviews you guys write are just amazing and I promise they don't go unnoticed. Love y'all

I submitted an album

me tryna find that mf right now

what was it

@op

Think this week I may try to listen to everyone’s album

omg f***

@Bruises @Trouble @ruckus @RVI @Hndrxx_Free @davey @Sk8brdKee @SlapFiend @tears4fears anybody wanna participate this week and submit an album with a black and white album cover

Instantly came to mind

Idk album

you're the best fam

your album is Self Titled by Slowdive, cool? if you could post a review, doesn't have to be anything fancy just give some thoughts and a score out of 10.. and if you wanna participate next week the theme is one of your favorite artists favorite albums

fine

@Orangutan this is your album king

slowdive? F*** yeah