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Safari Man
Just a music lover. If it's done with passion and soul (and a strong bassline too), then probably it's some good quality vibrations.
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Safari Man's Album Reviews
One of the most anticipated Jazz projects from the newer generation in the British scene is out, and it's all it promised to be. Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes joined minds and talent to create a project that really stands out from the rest of the pack, which they've shown capable to do with the singles that they had released in the upcoming weeks leading to launch day (24th of April), with some collaborations in between, like the third tune on this LP, which has the vocals of Fredie Gibbs, in a smooth groovy jazz tune. The two interlude tracks do a good job off preparing us for one of the most amazing instrumental songs made in recent times, and after hearing it time and time again, is no surprise to see that it had the collaboration of another musician that is concerned as one of the most brilliant minds of today Jazz scene as well, the son of the legendary Pino Palladino, Rocco, which collaboration after collaboration with many other artists that are making their way to the top, like Alfa Mist, shows that the genius (and the groove) runs deeply in the blood, with an absolutely amazing performance on this one. To summarize, the first half of this LP is pure gold. After "Lift Off", the album slowly runs off meaningful content, which isn't bad per se, but compared with all the 7 first tunes, is notch down in terms of overall sonority and creative structure ("Kyiv" is the exception, product of a jamming collaboration between Tom, Yussef and Rocco)."I did it for you" is the one that comes next, as so much the of that "summery" groove and classic guitar from Geography, but with the vocal decay that is so much present on this record when Tom is singing, which could be a turn off for some folks, but it melts itself so well with the all vibe of this experimental jazz fusion. It's great to see that both artists managed to cooperate in a full length and not losing their trademark sonority. The last track "Storm before the calm" is a perfect way to end this project, in a low tune and melancholy vibe, giving its listeners the sense of the end of the journey that this album was, with jazzy saxophones being borrowed from Kaidi Akinnibi In short, this project was a beyond a success with many of its tracks sounding so different, so experimental, so good. The production on this is top-notch, with all the sounds present (and many of them really peculiar) having a purpose of existing in the context of each song, and for that, props for Yussef, a mind like-god in terms of drumming and musical structuring on the british Jazz scene. TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: From the catalogue given to us, two tracks really stood out from the rest, being those "Lift off" and "Tidal Waves" and what makes this decision so difficult is that they are so different from each other: one has lyrics, the others does not; one carries so much bloom and sentiment, the other is pure instrumental brilliantism. And I cannot really differentiate one from another in terms of musical value. They are bot
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The new full length project called "Obsidian" from the fathers of goth metal is out. Grab it.
Before listening to the English band Paradise Lost, I must recognize my lack of knowledge about Goth or this more "doomish" approach to Power Metal. But nonetheless, some things and sounds always translate into a good message if they are worthy of our time.
The album begins with such an epic banger, really setting the bar really high for the rest of it. And "Fall from Grace" begins even heavier and powerful with this perfect cadence to headbang to and perfect harmony between the growls and the more subtle voice in the chorus that culminates with an incredible guitar solo. The third track "Ghosts", unfollows itself after the other two, always seemed linked together and thought as of one big song, with no transitions being felt, and that's a really hard thing to put together with such quality behind it, in any genre of music.
The production on this is really tight, capturing all the raw depressive emotions. Track after track its delivered this smooth low-toned metal that always exploded into something bigger than life epic piece of music. But, in a 56 minute album, there has to be more to it. Different paces, different messages and maybe a more slow approach to give us a chance to breathe a little, since every single track on this is epic journey into what best can be done in Doom Metal. The last track on this album shows a sonority more energetic and more uplifting vibe from Power Metal, which makes me wonder if this album couldn't contain more of this.
To summarize, it's an excellent project that has one flaw; itself, and, in this case, being to much of the same, generically talking (even though being all so constantly and technically excellent).
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: For me, "Fall From Grace" is the a 10/10 on Doom Metal. Such a perfect put together song with heavy instrumentation always supporting a more graceful voice that builds up to a chorus that couldn't be more in your face.
Before listening to the English band Paradise Lost, I must recognize my lack of knowledge about Goth or this more "doomish" approach to Power Metal. But nonetheless, some things and sounds always translate into a good message if they are worthy of our time.
The album begins with such an epic banger, really setting the bar really high for the rest of it. And "Fall from Grace" begins even heavier and powerful with this perfect cadence to headbang to and perfect harmony between the growls and the more subtle voice in the chorus that culminates with an incredible guitar solo. The third track "Ghosts", unfollows itself after the other two, always seemed linked together and thought as of one big song, with no transitions being felt, and that's a really hard thing to put together with such quality behind it, in any genre of music.
The production on this is really tight, capturing all the raw depressive emotions. Track after track its delivered this smooth low-toned metal that always exploded into something bigger than life epic piece of music. But, in a 56 minute album, there has to be more to it. Different paces, different messages and maybe a more slow approach to give us a chance to breathe a little, since every single track on this is epic journey into what best can be done in Doom Metal. The last track on this album shows a sonority more energetic and more uplifting vibe from Power Metal, which makes me wonder if this album couldn't contain more of this.
To summarize, it's an excellent project that has one flaw; itself, and, in this case, being to much of the same, generically talking (even though being all so constantly and technically excellent).
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: For me, "Fall From Grace" is the a 10/10 on Doom Metal. Such a perfect put together song with heavy instrumentation always supporting a more graceful voice that builds up to a chorus that couldn't be more in your face.
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Ding ding ding! We've got the best rap album of the year, so far!
Interesting enough, we are getting this duos of producers/rappers that is inspiring such good works lately, such is the case of Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats for example, and now, with "Alfredo", Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist gives us a gold.
For this one, I'm gonna start from the ending conclusions because there are things that must be said about this collaboration between the "cocaine rap" king and the white producer from California; it's incredible how The Alchemist can produce such well put-together beats for Freddie to rap on the same vibe and direction. That's great, but even better is the skill of making tracks that sound unique one from another, and each and every one of them has the most sublime sonority to it, going from the grimiest and nasty groove to a more evangelical tune, hitting all the spots in between, with subtle organic sounds almost all the times on the background that make so much difference. In a producing point-of-view, this is one of the best projects this year in the rap genre, even better than Mac Miller "Circles" (even though "Circles" isn't purely a rap album), with the ending of each song serving as and introduction to the next with a defined purpose.
There are so many skinny moments, from the epic opener that was pre-release as a single - "1985" with a guitar so precise on delivering the state of mind that Freddie pretended - and this guitar is sublime and present on more tracks, which proves that more traditional sounds can and should be a part of rap in order to explore corners of the genre yet undiscovered . The second track "Perfect God" as such a dark, hard-hitting groove that Freddie absolutely kills, followed by "Scottie Beam", and then a more easy chilled tune "Look at me", that really didn't hit me as much as the previous one. The next songs have several colabs, such as Benny the Butcher, Tyler, The Creator and Conway The Machine, with all of them participating and filling their spot as they were supposed to do, with various "sonority canvas" being painted.
Until the end of the 35 minutes record, there's another incredible piece of music intitled "Skinny Suge", and once again, such sick strings behind carrying the flow of a melancholic tune. And when "Alfredo" ends, we fell blasted away from what it felt a 3 hour ride throughout an entire spectrum of emotions, although, has some moments that really didn't matched up the unique compositions of some bangers in here, feeling almost like fillers (behind extremely good music nonetheless)
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: between "Skinny Suge" and "God is Perfect", it really was a tough decision to, even more because there were more 4 tracks (at least) with the potential of being the one that's closest to the perfect score. Personally, "Skinny Suge" is such a wonderful mix of beat and percussion, with low key yet obscure synths on the background making this almost depressive vibe... just fabulous.
Interesting enough, we are getting this duos of producers/rappers that is inspiring such good works lately, such is the case of Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats for example, and now, with "Alfredo", Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist gives us a gold.
For this one, I'm gonna start from the ending conclusions because there are things that must be said about this collaboration between the "cocaine rap" king and the white producer from California; it's incredible how The Alchemist can produce such well put-together beats for Freddie to rap on the same vibe and direction. That's great, but even better is the skill of making tracks that sound unique one from another, and each and every one of them has the most sublime sonority to it, going from the grimiest and nasty groove to a more evangelical tune, hitting all the spots in between, with subtle organic sounds almost all the times on the background that make so much difference. In a producing point-of-view, this is one of the best projects this year in the rap genre, even better than Mac Miller "Circles" (even though "Circles" isn't purely a rap album), with the ending of each song serving as and introduction to the next with a defined purpose.
There are so many skinny moments, from the epic opener that was pre-release as a single - "1985" with a guitar so precise on delivering the state of mind that Freddie pretended - and this guitar is sublime and present on more tracks, which proves that more traditional sounds can and should be a part of rap in order to explore corners of the genre yet undiscovered . The second track "Perfect God" as such a dark, hard-hitting groove that Freddie absolutely kills, followed by "Scottie Beam", and then a more easy chilled tune "Look at me", that really didn't hit me as much as the previous one. The next songs have several colabs, such as Benny the Butcher, Tyler, The Creator and Conway The Machine, with all of them participating and filling their spot as they were supposed to do, with various "sonority canvas" being painted.
Until the end of the 35 minutes record, there's another incredible piece of music intitled "Skinny Suge", and once again, such sick strings behind carrying the flow of a melancholic tune. And when "Alfredo" ends, we fell blasted away from what it felt a 3 hour ride throughout an entire spectrum of emotions, although, has some moments that really didn't matched up the unique compositions of some bangers in here, feeling almost like fillers (behind extremely good music nonetheless)
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: between "Skinny Suge" and "God is Perfect", it really was a tough decision to, even more because there were more 4 tracks (at least) with the potential of being the one that's closest to the perfect score. Personally, "Skinny Suge" is such a wonderful mix of beat and percussion, with low key yet obscure synths on the background making this almost depressive vibe... just fabulous.
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The first project of this decade for one of the main bands in today's metalcore scene is out and it's a "gift" for the older fans of the American band.
The new Trivium album, "What the dead man says", begins with an epic intro that really set's up the tone for the first real track, with the same name of the album that show the more pure metalcore side of the american band, with a really powerful bass line and pounding drums all over it. The next tune, "Catastrophist", unfortunately shows the problem with the more recent Trivium projects. It's clear that, some of the times, the band runs out of creative or edgy/agressive material, and when that happens the band tries to produce more easily digestible music and commercial hits, with weak lyrical content and lack of general and interesting direction on this really showing up, with Matt Heafy singing not being the greatest of its career either. It's frustrating for some of the more older fans that grew up listening the 00's projects of Trivium (that catapult them into the spotlight of the metalcore scene), like the "Shogun" and "Crusade", and even the masterpiece that "Vegence Falls" was, to see them now taking such an easy way to make new music. "Bleed into you" is another clear example of this. Nonetheless, if one can ignore this severe lacks on the structuring of their music, there are moments of instrumental geniality on this record sprinkled across this 10 tracks LP. There are also some moments when the band approach a more power metal alike vibe with their lyrics and instrumental, and even a more fast paced style of heavy metal, but always lacking something more genuine, recalling the past days of the band's discography. The band has this amazing foundations into metalcore/trash/power metal that were so significant to their rise into this global status and this LP must be the project when they tried the most to track back those days and to flee more from the generic and flavorless metalcore sonority that stagnated the growth of the band since "Silence in the Snow" and "The Sin and the Sentence". Beyond this, the production on this is as good as could be, and the bass lines by Paolo Gregoletto are always on point and pushing the sound on this into a more raw state. Summarizing, this album shown that the band didn't lose the inteirity of the original metalcore fast and aggressive pace that make them such stars, but also maked clear that they are way pass beyond the "Shogun" or "In Waves" catalogue, which isn't necessarily bad if they made consist and relevant music and projects from start to finish, which they've strugled to do in more recent years. Still, a really decent album, a generic one with some "spice" to please the more hardcore fan base of Trivium that are so eager to see them go back some year
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: The single of the same name of the album is the one that really stands out by being the most consistent track in terms of pace and direction from the first second.
The new Trivium album, "What the dead man says", begins with an epic intro that really set's up the tone for the first real track, with the same name of the album that show the more pure metalcore side of the american band, with a really powerful bass line and pounding drums all over it. The next tune, "Catastrophist", unfortunately shows the problem with the more recent Trivium projects. It's clear that, some of the times, the band runs out of creative or edgy/agressive material, and when that happens the band tries to produce more easily digestible music and commercial hits, with weak lyrical content and lack of general and interesting direction on this really showing up, with Matt Heafy singing not being the greatest of its career either. It's frustrating for some of the more older fans that grew up listening the 00's projects of Trivium (that catapult them into the spotlight of the metalcore scene), like the "Shogun" and "Crusade", and even the masterpiece that "Vegence Falls" was, to see them now taking such an easy way to make new music. "Bleed into you" is another clear example of this. Nonetheless, if one can ignore this severe lacks on the structuring of their music, there are moments of instrumental geniality on this record sprinkled across this 10 tracks LP. There are also some moments when the band approach a more power metal alike vibe with their lyrics and instrumental, and even a more fast paced style of heavy metal, but always lacking something more genuine, recalling the past days of the band's discography. The band has this amazing foundations into metalcore/trash/power metal that were so significant to their rise into this global status and this LP must be the project when they tried the most to track back those days and to flee more from the generic and flavorless metalcore sonority that stagnated the growth of the band since "Silence in the Snow" and "The Sin and the Sentence". Beyond this, the production on this is as good as could be, and the bass lines by Paolo Gregoletto are always on point and pushing the sound on this into a more raw state. Summarizing, this album shown that the band didn't lose the inteirity of the original metalcore fast and aggressive pace that make them such stars, but also maked clear that they are way pass beyond the "Shogun" or "In Waves" catalogue, which isn't necessarily bad if they made consist and relevant music and projects from start to finish, which they've strugled to do in more recent years. Still, a really decent album, a generic one with some "spice" to please the more hardcore fan base of Trivium that are so eager to see them go back some year
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: The single of the same name of the album is the one that really stands out by being the most consistent track in terms of pace and direction from the first second.
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Simbiatu 'Simbi' Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, the very talented artist droped the newest release after the massive success that "GREY Area" was. And it's a shame that it's only 13 minutes long.
Ironically, the first two tracks sound very similar to the first two ones on "GREY Area" album, with the opener showing all the groove of the british grime scene mixed with a more eddy and experimental vibe, which is more or like the sonority with which Little Simz was first recognized for. The second track also show that Simz excels in producing some sick basslines, alongside with some good lyrics and rapping.
But what really shined and surprised me was the other three tracks on this EP; they showed this low key jazz-rap that suits her voice so damn well. To be honest, she did tried to imitate this Mike Jenkins or Saba vibe in Grey towards the end of that project, but not with this cohesion on the beat, the rapping and the overall structure. Really impressed, especially with the last two songs, and I'm eager to hear more of this from the british lady.
Even though this is a very short project, it shown the range that, musically, Little Simz can touch, from the british grime to the american jazz-rap, always with some very talented bass behind the composition.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: The colab with Alewya "where's my lighter" is such a brilliant introspective rap song, with one of the best fitted basslines I've heard this year. The lyrics, the message of humility while being one of the greats in the game, the chorus with Alewya voice in the background, all explodes into something so beautifully powerful that I almost have no words to make summarize it more
Ironically, the first two tracks sound very similar to the first two ones on "GREY Area" album, with the opener showing all the groove of the british grime scene mixed with a more eddy and experimental vibe, which is more or like the sonority with which Little Simz was first recognized for. The second track also show that Simz excels in producing some sick basslines, alongside with some good lyrics and rapping.
But what really shined and surprised me was the other three tracks on this EP; they showed this low key jazz-rap that suits her voice so damn well. To be honest, she did tried to imitate this Mike Jenkins or Saba vibe in Grey towards the end of that project, but not with this cohesion on the beat, the rapping and the overall structure. Really impressed, especially with the last two songs, and I'm eager to hear more of this from the british lady.
Even though this is a very short project, it shown the range that, musically, Little Simz can touch, from the british grime to the american jazz-rap, always with some very talented bass behind the composition.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: The colab with Alewya "where's my lighter" is such a brilliant introspective rap song, with one of the best fitted basslines I've heard this year. The lyrics, the message of humility while being one of the greats in the game, the chorus with Alewya voice in the background, all explodes into something so beautifully powerful that I almost have no words to make summarize it more
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The american quintet The Buttertones is back to present its audience with the fifth project.
Right off the back, it's quite we are presenting with an oppenner that will set the tone for pretty much the full length of the whole album, with a fast paced tune that remind us some bands that began the movements of punk rock in Britain - like The Clash - but with the "uneasiness" of the american bands that dominate the late 70' of the postt-punk scene. "Phantom Eyes" is a nostalgic track being all this said. The album goes on to presenting us pretty good songs with a pint of jazz here and there, which makes up for a really enjoyable record, but a pretty forgettable one also, since most of the tunes on this one sounds like the previous one. In the end, the tracks that really stand out are the one's that runs a little from the conventional sound that the band try to emulate, otherwise, you would shake your head through out this LP without remembering a single title on this.
To summarize, it's a decent album that fells like a long song, with every 3/4 minutes changing a little on it's vibe or pace, which is a shame, because this could have been so much more in terms of experimentations and music growth and so much spicy in terms of the vision and creativity... A shame truly.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: Like I said before, the tracks that really stand out for its originality are the most jazzy one's, and "Rise and Shine" really gets the job done on that department, adding some symphonies from jazz saxophone to the generic pace of the post-punk.
Right off the back, it's quite we are presenting with an oppenner that will set the tone for pretty much the full length of the whole album, with a fast paced tune that remind us some bands that began the movements of punk rock in Britain - like The Clash - but with the "uneasiness" of the american bands that dominate the late 70' of the postt-punk scene. "Phantom Eyes" is a nostalgic track being all this said. The album goes on to presenting us pretty good songs with a pint of jazz here and there, which makes up for a really enjoyable record, but a pretty forgettable one also, since most of the tunes on this one sounds like the previous one. In the end, the tracks that really stand out are the one's that runs a little from the conventional sound that the band try to emulate, otherwise, you would shake your head through out this LP without remembering a single title on this.
To summarize, it's a decent album that fells like a long song, with every 3/4 minutes changing a little on it's vibe or pace, which is a shame, because this could have been so much more in terms of experimentations and music growth and so much spicy in terms of the vision and creativity... A shame truly.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: Like I said before, the tracks that really stand out for its originality are the most jazzy one's, and "Rise and Shine" really gets the job done on that department, adding some symphonies from jazz saxophone to the generic pace of the post-punk.
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The new work of one of the most exciting bass players to emerge in the last decade is out and Stephen Lee Bruner aka Thundercat did a good job presenting us some new fresh material .
The Grammy winner starts off this album really genteelly with some nice jazz vibes in the opener "Lost in Space/ Great Scoot/ 22-26" which follows up with the first real song of the album. Then, on the third track, Thundercat really shows all his intergalactic funky vibe and weird fast paced fusion of R&B and Jazz, which is his trademark sonority, where Louis Cole features in. The album follows up with good features from other artists, being the best the one from TY Dolla Sign, always melting the air with his characteristic voice in the last minutes of this project in a sad ballad. Overall, besides the tracks that served as fillers in the middle of the album with less than 2 minutes, this album present us a good structured and well written piece of music project that could be so much, if it wasn't for its short duration, sometimes repetitive thematic and lack of new ideas for its lyrics, and like I said, some fillers that really didn't had a purpose of existing. Also, the lack of something new shows that Thundercat sound progression could be stagnating.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: "I love Louis Cole" is by far one of the few tracks when we can clearly hear what makes S.Lee so different and so special in nowadays R&B and Jazz Fusion scene. It's fresh, it's overwhelming in a good way and I can't wait to hear more of that!
The Grammy winner starts off this album really genteelly with some nice jazz vibes in the opener "Lost in Space/ Great Scoot/ 22-26" which follows up with the first real song of the album. Then, on the third track, Thundercat really shows all his intergalactic funky vibe and weird fast paced fusion of R&B and Jazz, which is his trademark sonority, where Louis Cole features in. The album follows up with good features from other artists, being the best the one from TY Dolla Sign, always melting the air with his characteristic voice in the last minutes of this project in a sad ballad. Overall, besides the tracks that served as fillers in the middle of the album with less than 2 minutes, this album present us a good structured and well written piece of music project that could be so much, if it wasn't for its short duration, sometimes repetitive thematic and lack of new ideas for its lyrics, and like I said, some fillers that really didn't had a purpose of existing. Also, the lack of something new shows that Thundercat sound progression could be stagnating.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: "I love Louis Cole" is by far one of the few tracks when we can clearly hear what makes S.Lee so different and so special in nowadays R&B and Jazz Fusion scene. It's fresh, it's overwhelming in a good way and I can't wait to hear more of that!
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The fourth length album of the Canadian writer Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is out and is some-what intriguing.
The opener is an epic track that really catches your attention for what, one could imagine, a work about love and all its mischiefs and disappointments. Although the later it's true, your hype goes away really fast, since the first half of the album turned out to be a really monotone vanilla R&B piece of work, with its lyrical content being very blend, with come silly rhymes in between, which really doesn't help. Fortunately, the album reemerge from the moment the single "Blinding Lights" start to play, with its funky beats and synths, reminding us the of the classic sound from the 80's. The following tracks also show this nostalgic sound, mixing it up with jazzy tunes and some more weird synthesizers. Another great work coming out "After Hours" is the track with the same name, which really is a piece of art, mixing electronic with pop (and a sublime basseline). The album ends with a sad ballad, and, although appropriate, it remind us that the first part of this LP was really a turn down with no spice whatsoever. Sadly it also revels the lack of general direction of this project, which the latest two works of The Wekeend didn't.
So, for me, it really is a step-back in terms of artistic evolution, in spite of some really good tracks on this.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: Not being an easy pick, since "After Hours" is such a good thought out work and incredibly well put mix of two genres, the single "Bliinding Lights" win this one. What a thrilling banger this is. Almost a 10/10 track! It immerses you with catchy synths and a really nice beat behind it. It makes you fell like you are illegally racing on your Nissan R32 with your pick shirt. Great tune really.
The opener is an epic track that really catches your attention for what, one could imagine, a work about love and all its mischiefs and disappointments. Although the later it's true, your hype goes away really fast, since the first half of the album turned out to be a really monotone vanilla R&B piece of work, with its lyrical content being very blend, with come silly rhymes in between, which really doesn't help. Fortunately, the album reemerge from the moment the single "Blinding Lights" start to play, with its funky beats and synths, reminding us the of the classic sound from the 80's. The following tracks also show this nostalgic sound, mixing it up with jazzy tunes and some more weird synthesizers. Another great work coming out "After Hours" is the track with the same name, which really is a piece of art, mixing electronic with pop (and a sublime basseline). The album ends with a sad ballad, and, although appropriate, it remind us that the first part of this LP was really a turn down with no spice whatsoever. Sadly it also revels the lack of general direction of this project, which the latest two works of The Wekeend didn't.
So, for me, it really is a step-back in terms of artistic evolution, in spite of some really good tracks on this.
TRACK OF THE SPOTLIGHT: Not being an easy pick, since "After Hours" is such a good thought out work and incredibly well put mix of two genres, the single "Bliinding Lights" win this one. What a thrilling banger this is. Almost a 10/10 track! It immerses you with catchy synths and a really nice beat behind it. It makes you fell like you are illegally racing on your Nissan R32 with your pick shirt. Great tune really.
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