Her Loss (2022)
Drake & 21 Savage -By Kris Blumberg Canadian rapper/hip hop artist Drake and American rapper 21 Savage recently released their new album, Her Loss. The 16 song collection was highly anticipated by fans, but has received mixed reviews. I will be reviewing Her Loss to see what it’s all about. The album’s opening track “Rich Flex” received exposure via Tiktok, where people used it in the background to trending dances. The song has a catchy rhythm that makes it a fan favorite, but the wordplay leaves a lot to be desired. It seems almost as if Drake was singing random lyrics, rather than telling a larger story. The song still had a smooth beat and flowed well, which ultimately saved it. Another song that caught my attention was “Circo Loco”. Sampling the Daft Punk song “One More Time”, Circo Loco’s rhythm fluctuates tempo throughout, starting slow, and then speeding up during the chorus. I thought that the flow was great, and this was probably my favorite song from the album. The last song worth reviewing was “P**** and Millions.” It begins slowly with Drake mumbling some lyrics, transitioning into a faster pace. As with much of the rest of the album, The lyrics lacked meaning, but the energy of the song was high and kept me engaged. The album's many fillers, including “Spin Bout U,” “On BS,” and “Hours in Silence” weren’t of note. I thought that the album really hit with its top songs, which are now in my playlist. Besides those tracks, I thought that the rest of the album was generally weak. Overall, I would give the album a 3.5/5. The hits saved the rest of the underwhelming album for Drake and 21 Savage. Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs (1959)
Marty Robbins -By Tommy Gass Marty Robbins was a singer songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist and also a NASCAR driver who was born in Glendale Arizona in September of 1925. Robbins taught himself the guitar while serving in the navy during World War II. Over his music career, Robbins wrote 500 songs, recorded 60 albums, and won two Grammy awards. In September 1959 Marty Robbins released one of his most famous albums, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. Throughout this album Robbins focuses on storytelling. He is one of the best story based songwriters to this day. In the songs on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs he focuses on having main characters -usually cowboys of gunfighters- who look to win over a love interest. One of my favorite songs, El Paso, sees the main character persist to protect his female love interest, “Felina”. The lyrics tell the tale of Felina being captured by a band of outlaws. The hero chases after the gang to help free his ladylove. In a predictable sequence, the main character gets struck by a bullet singing out, “Something is dreadfully wrong for I feel a deep burning pain in my side.” He later reassures himself by singing, “But my love for Felina is strong and I rise where I've fallen.'' The gunfighter character showed his passion and true love for Felina, putting his life on the line, but at the end of the song the gunfighter dies while cradled in her arms as she kisses him one last time. Overall, this is one of my favorite songs because of the storytelling and imagery. I would rate El Paso 4.5 out of 5. |
In The End (2021)
Poor Man's Poison - By Tommy Gass Poor Man's Poison is a band from Hanford, California that formed in 2009. Their musical genre is disputed but, Spotify says they are “death-grass” while Google calls them “folk.” I’m reviewing In The End, their current EP that was released in 2021. Poor man's Poison has announced they will no longer release albums and will only release singles. The EP starts off with the title track “In The End.” This song is really more of an instrumental that is around a minute and a half long and really is more of a backstory narration and sets up the next three songs. The song is set up by having an audio news report and displays audio clips of the other songs in the extended play. With most albums or extended play I listen to I always skip the set up but for this EP I listened to the set up and the outro. The three songs with lyrics start with “Good People,” and to be truthful I don't really love this song. I find it to be too long and repetitive. The next song “Give and Take” is really one of the best songs I have heard in years. It starts off with sounds of marching and a mandolin rift, and sets off at a faster pace than most of their songs. The third song in the EP is “Stronger Than The Whiskey.” I don’t love this song but I don't hate it. It’s slower than the others and a lot less chorus based. I’m an overall fan of the EP. I like the opening when all the songs are teased from the news report. The songs are tied together from the very start. Overall, I would give all of the songs within this EP a 4.6/5. You and Me (2012)
Disclosure -By Kris Blumberg As an athlete, music is an essential factor to getting your “head in the game.” Playing volleyball has led me to listening to fast, upbeat and loud music to get me pumped up and prepared to perform. In the past, I have found that it helps prepare me, and I've been on a hunt to expand my pre-game playlist so I don’t get bored by the same songs. Not too long ago, I stumbled across a song that seemed to fit the criteria of my much needed pump up song. Today, I will be reviewing You and Me, by Disclosure. Released in 2013, the song You and Me, has recorded 70 million views on Youtube, and has been streamed globally on Spotify and Apple Music. The slower pump up song begins with a rhythmic beat that generally carries the background of the sound. Although many of my favorite pump up songs are faster tempo, it doesn’t generally matter if the song has other positive contributing factors. It has a great beat drop to initiate the chorus of the song. The poised, yet energetic vibe of the song is what makes it an effective pump up. Although the song's lyrics are very broad and repeated throughout the song, the purpose of music like this isn’t to blow away your audience through rhetorical lyrics, it is to create a surge of energy for the listeners. I listened to this song last weekend before my tournament, and I felt super zoned into my warmup and could feel gusts of energy through my body. I thought that the song did exactly what it needed to do, and that was to get me mentally and physically prepared for my games. With that being said, I recommend this to athletes who are looking for a boost before a match. I rate this song a 4 out of 5. I thought it fit the genre well, but the slower tempo and less developed lyrics deduct a couple of points in my rating. |