Reckless Hip Hop Diva Aids in Preventing Violence Against Women with Release of Debut EP “LUZY”
- Created on Thursday, 04 April 2013 19:59
- Written by Sound Garden Press
- Category: Album Reviews
Toronto rap artist Luzille Baller is joining in the fight to move women and girls out of violence, out of poverty, and into confidence by donating a portion of her proceeds from all the sales off her upcoming EP to a national violence prevention organization.
Speedboats & Big Explosions: "Keep it Simple EP"
- Created on Saturday, 07 July 2012 19:14
- Written by The Groundskeeper
- Category: Album Reviews
After intervention from Internal Affairs and confiscation of a busted up laptop we have emerged with two recordings.These recording were labeled "Keep It" and "Simple".
Chris Brown, 'Fortune': Track-By-Track Review
- Created on Tuesday, 03 July 2012 17:23
- Written by Sound Garden Press
- Category: Album Reviews
If 2011's "F.A.M.E." proved Chris Brown could still be commercially successful despite his increasingly volatile reputation, this year's "Fortune" sees Brown taking something of a victory lap.
Cryptically referred by Brown as his "last" album at Sunday's 2012 BET Awards, "Fortune" picks up where "F.A.M.E." left off stylistically by bouncing between hip-hop ("Bassline," "TIll I Die") and EDM-influenced dance pop ("Turn Up The Music," "Don't Wake Me Up"), with a couple pure pop moments ("Party Hard / Cadillac," "4 Years Old") that helped "F.A.M.E." singles like "She Ain't You" and "Next 2 You" featuring Justin Bieber cross over.
As talk of partying and rough sex pervades most of the album, Brown often asks the listener to both remember and forget his bad rep. "I - I - I'm winning / You heard about my image / But I could give a flying motherfuck who's offended" he raps on "Bassline." Later, he addresses an entire song called "Don't Judge Me" to potential girlfriends by asking, "Take me as I am / Not who I was / I promise I'll be / The one you can trust."
Ultimately designed to please the hardcore fans who've stuck by him since 2009's Grammy incident, "Fortune" is a fully adult R&B record that will likely churn out at least two or three more singles to Brown's growing repertoire.
1. "Turn Up The Music": One of Brown's most infectious (and innocuous) singles to date, "Turn Up The Music" sets the tone for the album's remaining 13 cuts right away -- who needs stress when there's hot beats?
2. "Bassline": Breezy gets his Weezy on, with helium-like giggles and ice-cold beats reminiscent of the Young Money captain, complete with a finger-snappin' chorus ("Girls like my / Bassline / Gonna shake it to my / Bassline."). If any non-single here is destined to break out among the hip-hop circuit, this is it.
3. "Till I Die," featuring Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa: The closest "Fortune" comes to recreating a "Look At Me Now" moment, two of the moment's hottest rappers trade guest verses with lines so alternately memorable and profane we won't bother quoting them here.
4. "Mirage" feat. Nas: Brown turns the drum loop of TLC's "Waterfalls" into a reggae-lite kiss-off to an ex. "Sorry boo boo you gets no love, no love / Must be cuckoo got me fucked up fucked up," he sings.
5. "Don't Judge Me": Intended as a "take me as I am" ballad to potential paramours, "Don't Judge Me" doubles as a metaphor for Brown's current PR strategy, which has seen him avoid interviews ever since a "Good Morning America" interview the day of "F.A.M.E.'s" prompted him to throw a chair through a window of the show's studio. "I don't wanna go there / We should never go there" he begins, later singing, "I won't deny what they're saying / Because most of it is true," Breezy croons.
6. "2012": It's an apocalypse-turned-sex ballad, with Brown too preoccupied by his lady's body parts to think about the end of the world. Surely this is what the Mayans prophesized.
7. "Biggest Fan": Perhaps Brown's ickiest sex jam yet, with the opening line alone crossing the TMI line ("You would think we in a waterbed / All the sheets are soaked."). While there's nothing wrong with a little raunch, it's hard not to get chills of another kind when Brown sings lyrics like, "You scream / I need / To pull your body closer / let me sex you babe / Girl you better not change your mind."
8. "Sweet Love": Another love-making joint, this one a strategic throwback to 90s favorites like Silk's "Freak Me." The lyrics are strictly single entendre, but at least the scenario depicted here sounds consensual.
9. "Strip," feat. Kevin McCall: One of Brown's biggest R&B hits ever, "Strip," is a nightclub anthem for the aughteens. It doesn't tread any material that Lil Jon or the Ying Yang Twins didn't already cover 10 years ago, but at least it's better sung (albeit Auto-Tuned.)
10. "Stuck On Stupid": The pop portion of "Fortune" kicks off in full gear with this ballad, in which Brown compares his crush to going crazy ("You got me stuck on stupid / Look what you do to me.") The couplets never rise beyond the trite ("And I'd do anything for you / You know that much is true") so the song doesn't stick long after one listen.
11. "4 Years Old": Brown goes semi-country with this acoustic guitar-backed ballad about a love that makes him child-like. "It feels like I'm 4 years old all over again / Cuz I just keep running fast should be walkin'," he sings.
12. "Party Hard / Cadillac," feat. Sevyn: A throwback to his "With You" days, "Party" is a shuffling pop song about how the girl "with the perfect lips, the perfect body" is also bit of a wild child. There may be spilled drinks, but no broken hearts when Brown sings "She's such a rock n roller but exotic / She's the life of my party." The song is accompanied by a short a capella, doo-wop ballad called "Cadillac" in which Brown sings of happiness as he knows it best" "I got a life movin' very fast / Got a girl with a big ol' ass."
13. "Don't Wake Me Up" : The kind of dance track Brown has become known for in recent years, "Don't Wake Me Up" starts off with a promising Empire of the Sun-worthy first verse before quickly O.D.ing on Auto-Tune, Brown's voice so scrambled by effects it literally sounds like someone threw up into their iPhone. But get past that and you have a dance jam reminiscent of 2011's "Beautiful People."
14. "Trumpet Lights" feat. Sabrina Antoinette: The album's most sonically adventurous track, "Trumpet Lights," rides a rubbery EDM beat with a hands-in-the-air breakdown sure to get fans jumping. "Gonna be there / I'm gonna be there / I'm gonna be there," Brown sings. Weaving effortlessly through salsa, dubstep and dance pop, "Trumpet Lights," is a fitting coda to an album more occupied with hitting genre trends than pleasing new fans.
Cheryl - A Million Lights Review
- Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 19:15
- Written by Sound Garden Press
- Category: Album Reviews
As she releases her third solo album, it’s worth remembering that Cheryl (sans the Cole part, as her profile now declares a mundanity such as a surname redundant) came to the fore as a pop star. Amidst the personal dramas and the gossip fodder and the being chewed up by the X Factor machine, A Million Lights would do well to serve as a reminder of the singer at the heart of the ceaseless interest.In practice, it gets halfway there. Lead single Call My Name is Calvin Harris by numbers, every beat foreseeable a mile off. And a handful of other songs subscribe to the safety of all-consuming radio-house, songs which could be attributed to anyone. It’s an exercise which doesn’t do her justice – for instance, the middle-eight of Sexy Den a Mutha, the only part where she sounds discernibly like herself, is the track’s high point.
For a woman whose every move is scrutinised by the murkier corners of the press, it’s understandable that she doesn’t want to lay herself entirely bare. But the infrequent flurries of sincerity provide the standout moments of the album.
The title track, an epic trance ballad which displays a genuine sensitivity, goes some way to depicting unfeigned individuality, something replicated on the stripped-down All Is Fair. And even the hip hop truisms that fill Ghetto Baby only heighten its lingering, brassy character.
It’s certainly not a ballad/up-tempo divide, though. The bleating synths and gritty squelch of Love Killer are commanding when twinned with a frank vocal, while the casual, high-spirited Under the Sun boasts a playful, summery, arguably alternative trait.
A Million Lights works well, and it works now – largely, it’s a scrapbook of 2012 trends. And while it’s not quite the same dead-eyed detachment you’d get from, say, Rihanna, it treads a fine line between noticeable passion and pop for pop’s sake. There’s far more going in the favour of Cheryl The Human than of Cherylcorp Ltd – those vast, busy pop explosions serve a purpose nicely, but the indications of artistry are significantly more appealing.
R. Kelly Write Me Back Review
- Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 19:06
- Written by Sound Garden Press
- Category: Album Reviews
Write Me Back picks up where 2010’s Love Letter left off – it’s another collection of faithful recreations, showing a quiet obsession with the origins of Motown. As creative and versatile as ever, R. Kelly masterfully collates personal anecdotes and presents them unhinged. The way he spans the spectrum of human emotion is a rare gift.
The singer’s depth of knowledge gives him the opportunity to hone in on unusual angles. On Share My Love, his stunning take on proto-disco capitulates with a tongue-in-cheek cry to “populate”. But amusing adlibs aside, the precision with which he approaches his influences reveals his perfectionist core.
Perfectionist or not, though, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Kelly trotting out a track like Beautiful in This Mirror. It seems to literally be about a couple having sex while looking in a mirror, commenting on how attractive they look. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
But that’s just his way: Kelly’s emphases are often so deliberately unearnest that they end up sounding like James Brown-style poetry. On Love Is, a phrase as seemingly mundane as “I love what you do / When you do what you do / To me” twists and twirls, its smooth delivery propelling it to a summit. His lack of brevity is enticing, and he fits the role of preacher like a natural.
The way the music itself mirrors the narrative is inspired. On the Smokey Robinson-inspired Fool for You, he moves into an embarrassing falsetto as he tries to excuse himself for behaving in a certain way. When a Man Lies is group therapy for the male fans, a lesson in how bad it is for men to fib to their loved ones, while Feelin' Single latches onto Michael Jackson’s verve with a carefree groove and affirmative, optimistic mood.
Kelly is in control throughout Write Me Back, without guest vocalists or producers, and his part-hustler, part-loner demeanour is as strong as it’s ever been. His relaxed intonation shows a talent that doesn’t need to be stretched to the limit to produce its best work.
The singer’s depth of knowledge gives him the opportunity to hone in on unusual angles. On Share My Love, his stunning take on proto-disco capitulates with a tongue-in-cheek cry to “populate”. But amusing adlibs aside, the precision with which he approaches his influences reveals his perfectionist core.
Perfectionist or not, though, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Kelly trotting out a track like Beautiful in This Mirror. It seems to literally be about a couple having sex while looking in a mirror, commenting on how attractive they look. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
But that’s just his way: Kelly’s emphases are often so deliberately unearnest that they end up sounding like James Brown-style poetry. On Love Is, a phrase as seemingly mundane as “I love what you do / When you do what you do / To me” twists and twirls, its smooth delivery propelling it to a summit. His lack of brevity is enticing, and he fits the role of preacher like a natural.
The way the music itself mirrors the narrative is inspired. On the Smokey Robinson-inspired Fool for You, he moves into an embarrassing falsetto as he tries to excuse himself for behaving in a certain way. When a Man Lies is group therapy for the male fans, a lesson in how bad it is for men to fib to their loved ones, while Feelin' Single latches onto Michael Jackson’s verve with a carefree groove and affirmative, optimistic mood.
Kelly is in control throughout Write Me Back, without guest vocalists or producers, and his part-hustler, part-loner demeanour is as strong as it’s ever been. His relaxed intonation shows a talent that doesn’t need to be stretched to the limit to produce its best work.
Tracks
- 1 Love Is 2 Feelin' Single 3 Lady Sunday 4 When a Man Lies 5 Clipped Wings 6 Believe That It's So 7 Fool for You 8 All Rounds on Me
- 9 Believe in Me 10 Green Light 11 Party Jumpin' 12 Share My Love 13 Beautiful in This Mirror 14 You Are My World 15 Fallin From the Sky 16 One Step Closer
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