Album Reviews
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ALBUM REVIEW: Tash Sultana touches down on ‘Terra Firma’
Watching Tash Sultana on YouTube–which more than 100 million people have done at this point–it’s equal parts obvious and arcane why the Australian artist has made such a global impact over the last half decade. The guitar playing is at virtuosic levels but there are no guitar hero cliches…
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REVIEW: JPEGMAFIA stews in anguish on exploratory ‘EP2!’
There’s something to be said regarding the rise of awareness regarding mental health in hip-hop over the last few years, with an array of artists covering it with grace or with all the tact of a bull in a china shop. JPEGMAFIA followed up to his November EP! with the similarly…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Florida Georgia Line underwhelms with ‘Life Rolls On’
Florida Georgia Line has consistently pumped out country hits for a number of years now, leaving its mark on the genre in many ways. The duo’s 2012 hit “Cruise” was certified diamond, meaning it sold over 10 million units. Five years later they broke genre barriers with crossover hit…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Slowthai plays it safe on sophomore album, ‘TYRON’
By Mason Meyers After his incredibly well-received and critically acclaimed first album, Nothing Great About Britain, Slowthai had cemented himself as an artist that wasn’t afraid to shy away from difficult topics and controversy. Cancel culture then took its shot at Tyron Frampton after he tried to fight a…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Pale Waves give pop-punk a makeover on ‘Who Am I?’
Despite its delayed launch, Pale Waves’ sophomore album, Who Am I? is not a record that was consumed by the pandemic—it was born in the face of it. The Manchester quartet stared down the barrel of death following the tour bus crash last year that could have claimed the…
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REVIEW: Hayley Williams cultivates quarantine intimacy on ‘Flowers for Vases’
Hayley Williams thought she exorcised the memories of broken love on her debut solo effort, Petals for Armor, but it seems that the Paramore singer had more to uncover. Like just about every other artist, instead of touring her 2020 record, Williams was forced to call off hitting the…
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REVIEW: Jon Foreman of Switchfoot ‘goes on and on’ with ‘Departures’
If you were a part of the youth-group, church-basement set, you may fondly remember the rise of alt-rockers Switchfoot from Christian act to a cross-over success. Led by Jon Foreman, Switchfoot sold over 2.7 million copies of its 2003 mainstream debut album. While enjoying the success, Foreman found himself…
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REVIEW: The Pretty Reckless find new life in ‘Death By Rock And Roll’
The Pretty Reckless, courtesy. It’s quite impressive how unassumingly Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless have made their way to the upper echelon of the modern rock world. They’ve done it with steady consistency, growth and solid rock and roll songwriting. This reviewer had to double check his own…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Sia fails to strike a chord with ‘MUSIC’
It took five albums and a hiatus from performing before Sia’s jarringly profound voice and style took off with American fans. Her songwriting and features on David Guetta’s “Titanium” and Flo Rida’s “Wild Ones” elevated the songs to the level of success they enjoyed. However, it wasn’t until 2014’s…
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REVIEW: Fela Kuti lives on with 2-LP tribute by Femi Kuti and Made Kuti
L: Femi Kuti, ‘Stop The Hate.’ R: Made Kuti, ‘For(e)ward.’ Fela Kuti was a force of nature. The Nigerian percussionist blended potent anti-colonial political messages with endlessly groovy drum rhythms into a genre known as Afrobeat. In the process, he influenced everyone from early hip-hip DJ Afrika Bambaataa to…