This is a list of my favourite albums post-2010. It's a basic "introduction" into the type of music I enjoy. I find that I'm asked quite often what type of music I like. It's hard to pinpoint as I enjoy a very, very sparse range of genres and styles, some that are quite opposing. Most people listen to one style and prefer it, but for me, I enjoy music that has great meaningful, clever or sophisticated lyrics or an interesting and different sound. I really recommend the albums I've listed below and have included some other materials such as videos. They're a great introduction into the artist, and a great way to explore music you would've never known about otherwise.
(remember to click to continue reading!)
"BORN TO DIE"/ PARADISE EP- LANA DEL REY
(remember to click to continue reading!)
"BORN TO DIE"/ PARADISE EP- LANA DEL REY
track listing: Born to Die | Off to the Races | Blue Jeans | Video Games | Diet Mountain Dew | National Anthem | Radio | Carmen | Million Dollar Man | Summertime Sadness | This is What Makes Us Girls
Ride | American | Cola | Body Electric | Blue Velvet | Gods & Monsters | Yayo | Bel Air
Lana Del Rey always gets mixed reviews. Initially I wasn't a fan of the monotonous sadness leaving her mouth, but the more I listened, the more I was enchanted by her melancholic tunes. Her albums are an experience complete with nostalgia, sadness, angst and glee. She's certainly different- her lyrics and style is quite unique and her music involved a lot of dynamics that compliment each other very well. Her music videos in particular are elegant narrative spectacles that must be seen to experience the full effect that is her music. If you want to try something different, I'd definitely recommend her songs. Here are my favourites with their respective music videos.
NATIONAL ANTHEM- beautiful m/v emulating JFK's assassination featuring ASAP ROCKY. Lana Del Rey re-enacts the infamous "Happy Birthday Mr. President" performance as Marilyn Monroe in this masterful but tragic pastiche of past and present.
BORN TO DIE- very interesting music video ft. gorgeous model Bradley Soilel
RIDE- beautiful and original music video with a thoughtful, emotional monologue.
Her songs aren't only songs. As illustrated in her unique music videos, they're a narrative of emotions. Lana Del Rey constructs an image, a world we immerse ourselves into and that is true musical artistry being illustrated.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
TRILOGY by THE WEEKND
Lana Del Rey always gets mixed reviews. Initially I wasn't a fan of the monotonous sadness leaving her mouth, but the more I listened, the more I was enchanted by her melancholic tunes. Her albums are an experience complete with nostalgia, sadness, angst and glee. She's certainly different- her lyrics and style is quite unique and her music involved a lot of dynamics that compliment each other very well. Her music videos in particular are elegant narrative spectacles that must be seen to experience the full effect that is her music. If you want to try something different, I'd definitely recommend her songs. Here are my favourites with their respective music videos.
NATIONAL ANTHEM- beautiful m/v emulating JFK's assassination featuring ASAP ROCKY. Lana Del Rey re-enacts the infamous "Happy Birthday Mr. President" performance as Marilyn Monroe in this masterful but tragic pastiche of past and present.
BORN TO DIE- very interesting music video ft. gorgeous model Bradley Soilel
RIDE- beautiful and original music video with a thoughtful, emotional monologue.
Her songs aren't only songs. As illustrated in her unique music videos, they're a narrative of emotions. Lana Del Rey constructs an image, a world we immerse ourselves into and that is true musical artistry being illustrated.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
TRILOGY by THE WEEKND
(House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence)
I'm proud to admit I downloaded this guy when he was free on soundcloud and it was probably the greatest decision I've made in a while. The Weeknd is a gifted singer-songwriter from Canadia who made his rise to fame on soundcloud. He's only 23 but expresses the anguish of someone who has loved and lost at great expenses. I'm absolutely enraptured with all his songs, they're atmospherical, lyrical and strung with emotion. I first came across a mix of his song Rolling Stone and I thought it was brilliant. After stumbling upon his soundcloud, I was disappointed to see he was a hip hop artist (personally not my thing), but after listening to his mixtapes, I thought, hey, this guy is REALLY deep.
I never thought I'd love R&B/Hip Hop this way and he's probably the only R&B/Hip Hop artist that I truly appreciate. He's paved his way in the world at such a young age, self accomplished and rising to the top. Critics describe his music as "dark", and I agree. He captures angst and other cravings of lust, desire and loss and wraps them in eloquently entangled lyrics. His songs and melodies are diverse and musical. There is no overbearing in-your-face crassness about his style nor is there excessive swearing or a huge vilification of grammar and english. Although the dark complexities are not to everyone's tastes, that is what is truly unique, engaging and admirable and one of the main reasons I can love his music without reservation.
Trilogy, The Weeknd's official record will contain remastered versions of the tracks in his three mixtapes: House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence as well as a few brand new songs. It is set to be released on November 13th and even though it hasn't even been dropped yet, this album makes my list because his three mixtapes are seriously works of art. Although most of his songs were available for free, I'm sure most of his fans will purchase the album to support him.
Trilogy tracklist:
Disc: 1 High For This | What You Need | House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls | The Morning | Wicked Games | The Party & The After Party | Coming Down | Loft Music | The Knowing | Twenty Eight
Disc 2: Lonely Star | Life of the Party | Thursday | The Zone (feat. Drake) | The Birds Part 1 | The Birds Part 2 | Rolling Stone | Gone | Heaven or Las Vegas | Valerie
Disc 3: D.D. | Montreal | Outside | XO / The Host | Initiation | Same Old Song (feat. Juicy J) | The Fall | Next | Echoes of Silence | Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun) | The Zone (Closed-Captioned)
I'll leave you guys with his most recent release entitled Kiss Land, a strange infusion of Japanese pictographics smothered into the angst of a modern day urban poet.
diversity: ✯✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
CHANNEL ORANGE (2010)- FRANK OCEAN
wiki
I'm proud to admit I downloaded this guy when he was free on soundcloud and it was probably the greatest decision I've made in a while. The Weeknd is a gifted singer-songwriter from Canadia who made his rise to fame on soundcloud. He's only 23 but expresses the anguish of someone who has loved and lost at great expenses. I'm absolutely enraptured with all his songs, they're atmospherical, lyrical and strung with emotion. I first came across a mix of his song Rolling Stone and I thought it was brilliant. After stumbling upon his soundcloud, I was disappointed to see he was a hip hop artist (personally not my thing), but after listening to his mixtapes, I thought, hey, this guy is REALLY deep.
I never thought I'd love R&B/Hip Hop this way and he's probably the only R&B/Hip Hop artist that I truly appreciate. He's paved his way in the world at such a young age, self accomplished and rising to the top. Critics describe his music as "dark", and I agree. He captures angst and other cravings of lust, desire and loss and wraps them in eloquently entangled lyrics. His songs and melodies are diverse and musical. There is no overbearing in-your-face crassness about his style nor is there excessive swearing or a huge vilification of grammar and english. Although the dark complexities are not to everyone's tastes, that is what is truly unique, engaging and admirable and one of the main reasons I can love his music without reservation.
Trilogy, The Weeknd's official record will contain remastered versions of the tracks in his three mixtapes: House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence as well as a few brand new songs. It is set to be released on November 13th and even though it hasn't even been dropped yet, this album makes my list because his three mixtapes are seriously works of art. Although most of his songs were available for free, I'm sure most of his fans will purchase the album to support him.
Trilogy tracklist:
Disc: 1 High For This | What You Need | House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls | The Morning | Wicked Games | The Party & The After Party | Coming Down | Loft Music | The Knowing | Twenty Eight
Disc 2: Lonely Star | Life of the Party | Thursday | The Zone (feat. Drake) | The Birds Part 1 | The Birds Part 2 | Rolling Stone | Gone | Heaven or Las Vegas | Valerie
Disc 3: D.D. | Montreal | Outside | XO / The Host | Initiation | Same Old Song (feat. Juicy J) | The Fall | Next | Echoes of Silence | Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun) | The Zone (Closed-Captioned)
I'll leave you guys with his most recent release entitled Kiss Land, a strange infusion of Japanese pictographics smothered into the angst of a modern day urban poet.
diversity: ✯✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
CHANNEL ORANGE (2010)- FRANK OCEAN
Start | Thinkin Bout You | Fertilizer | Sierra Leone | Sweet Life | Not Just Money | Super Rich Kids | Pilot Jones | Crack Rock | Pyramids | Lost | White | Monks | Bad Religion | Pink Matter | Forrest Gump | End/Golden Girl
Frank Ocean shot to fame with the track "Thinkin Bout You" featured in this album, Channel Orange. I first listened to this album, not really expecting anything. My first impressions were- chilled, wacky, and not really my type of music. But this album really grew on me, yes it was chilled, then I was thinking, 'hey, this is really deep'. Ocean's lyrics are sophisticated to say the least, creative and inspiring. I think anything that explores the figurative use of language in today's music is fabulous, but this album is not just a fanciful bundle of words. The beats are diverse, some slow, solemn, and others offbeat and quirky. Some songs I definitely like more than others, but overall a very solid, high quality album.
diversity: ✯✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯
VOWS (2011)- KIMBRA
wiki
tracklist:
Settle Down | Something in the Way You Are | Cameo Lover | Two Way Street | Old Flame | Good Intent | Plain Gold Ring | Come Into My Head | Sally I Can See You | Posse | Home | The Build Up
Everyone must be thinking, 'Angie, what's with all the doom and gloom? God, how can you only listen to such sad and angsty music?'. My answer to that is this album. I do love some 'cheerful' tunes such as Kimbra's Vows. I've only recently come to enjoy Vows by Kimbra despite having heard it quite a while back. I like where it takes me, and I would describe her album is very colourful. Kimbra really displays her range with a combination of mysterious dark tracks, lollipop happy indie and also quirky-beat conscious tunes. She's quite young and her style is very sophisticated but also fresh. My favourites off her debut album include Cameo Lover, Two Way Street and Old Flame.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯
tracklist:
Settle Down | Something in the Way You Are | Cameo Lover | Two Way Street | Old Flame | Good Intent | Plain Gold Ring | Come Into My Head | Sally I Can See You | Posse | Home | The Build Up
Everyone must be thinking, 'Angie, what's with all the doom and gloom? God, how can you only listen to such sad and angsty music?'. My answer to that is this album. I do love some 'cheerful' tunes such as Kimbra's Vows. I've only recently come to enjoy Vows by Kimbra despite having heard it quite a while back. I like where it takes me, and I would describe her album is very colourful. Kimbra really displays her range with a combination of mysterious dark tracks, lollipop happy indie and also quirky-beat conscious tunes. She's quite young and her style is very sophisticated but also fresh. My favourites off her debut album include Cameo Lover, Two Way Street and Old Flame.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯
COEXIST (2012)- THE XX
tracklist:
Angels | Chained | Fiction | Try | Reunion | Sunset | Missing | Tides | Unfold | Swept Away | Our Song
Okay, so The XX have to be one of my all time favourite bands and most likely my number one favourite trio that ever was. Their atmospheric, melancholic beats are like no other. Sad music always has a way with me. Coexist is perfect for vibing or just a good cry in the corner. In comparison to the band's eponymous first, their second full-length album is darker and the lyrics are definitely more mature. All of the songs are within varying degrees of low-key and are great in their original form and also awesome in the many remixes that exist on the internet. The XX is very remixable and I not only enjoy the original but also am very fond of different style mixes. That, I think is very rare. I love all the songs on the album as they take you on a musical journey, giving their songs a try are definitely a must.
My favourites change constantly, mostly according to how I'm feeling. I think the strength of Coexist lies in the diversity of the songs expressing different shades of the same sort of emotion. I'm a fan of everything they do. And with that being said, below are some of my favourite mixes of their songs. They are really different experiences to the originals and that makes their songs accesible to such a wide audience whom prefer other genres.
Cover of Crystallised by the Gorillaz- The iconic band give us their take on a fan favourite tune from the XX. This version offers a more tinkering animated beat yet still stays melancholy as fuck. Creepy. I love it.
This is a meshup/medley of Kanye's rap from Touch the Sky with the XX's infamous intro instrumentals. I'm not a fan of this usual ass-hat but I have to hand it to him, these two elements mesh perfectly together. Uncanny. You might've heard the XX's "intro", it sounds familiar because it's been featured in a billion movies as a background track. Project X ending scene, anyone?
The XX's Fiction is host to a solo vocal by 1/3 of the trio, Oliver Sim. In this remix, DJ Loki has produced a transient, beat-heavy rehash of moody and ominous original. I think trance lovers would enjoy this as compared to their moody originals. The same applies for the track below, entitled Shelter.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
Now if you've gotten this far into my post, congratulations! And thank you for taking the time to read it (and hopefully listen to something different/new).
Stay tuned for my future post on up and coming independent/unsigned artists! It'll be a good one!
Honourable mentions:
Codes & Keys- Death Cab for Cutie ✯✯✯✯
Vices & Virtues (2011)- Panic! At the Disco ✯✯✯
Would it Kill You? (2010)- Hellogoodbye ✯✯✯
K+ - Kilo Kish ✯✯✯
Flesh Tone (2010)- Kelis ✯✯✯
Okay, so The XX have to be one of my all time favourite bands and most likely my number one favourite trio that ever was. Their atmospheric, melancholic beats are like no other. Sad music always has a way with me. Coexist is perfect for vibing or just a good cry in the corner. In comparison to the band's eponymous first, their second full-length album is darker and the lyrics are definitely more mature. All of the songs are within varying degrees of low-key and are great in their original form and also awesome in the many remixes that exist on the internet. The XX is very remixable and I not only enjoy the original but also am very fond of different style mixes. That, I think is very rare. I love all the songs on the album as they take you on a musical journey, giving their songs a try are definitely a must.
My favourites change constantly, mostly according to how I'm feeling. I think the strength of Coexist lies in the diversity of the songs expressing different shades of the same sort of emotion. I'm a fan of everything they do. And with that being said, below are some of my favourite mixes of their songs. They are really different experiences to the originals and that makes their songs accesible to such a wide audience whom prefer other genres.
Cover of Crystallised by the Gorillaz- The iconic band give us their take on a fan favourite tune from the XX. This version offers a more tinkering animated beat yet still stays melancholy as fuck. Creepy. I love it.
This is a meshup/medley of Kanye's rap from Touch the Sky with the XX's infamous intro instrumentals. I'm not a fan of this usual ass-hat but I have to hand it to him, these two elements mesh perfectly together. Uncanny. You might've heard the XX's "intro", it sounds familiar because it's been featured in a billion movies as a background track. Project X ending scene, anyone?
The XX's Fiction is host to a solo vocal by 1/3 of the trio, Oliver Sim. In this remix, DJ Loki has produced a transient, beat-heavy rehash of moody and ominous original. I think trance lovers would enjoy this as compared to their moody originals. The same applies for the track below, entitled Shelter.
diversity: ✯✯✯
lyricism: ✯✯✯✯✯
vocals: ✯✯✯✯
repeatability: ✯✯✯✯✯
Now if you've gotten this far into my post, congratulations! And thank you for taking the time to read it (and hopefully listen to something different/new).
Stay tuned for my future post on up and coming independent/unsigned artists! It'll be a good one!
Codes & Keys- Death Cab for Cutie ✯✯✯✯
Vices & Virtues (2011)- Panic! At the Disco ✯✯✯
Would it Kill You? (2010)- Hellogoodbye ✯✯✯
K+ - Kilo Kish ✯✯✯
Flesh Tone (2010)- Kelis ✯✯✯
No comments:
Post a Comment