"Lungs" by Florence and the Machine (2009) - ALBUM REVIEW

Rating: 
Album: Lungs
Artist: Florence and the Machine

In anticipation of tonight's sold out Florence and the Machine concert at the Enmore Theatre, I thought I might  do a short review on last year's debut album, Lungs.

All I can say is "WOW". Ok, maybe a little more than that... it really did take me by surprise.

This LP by pop-rock artist, Florence Welch, really is hard to define in terms of genre. It's kind of a combination of rock and epic soul music, maybe a bit of pop too. Her vocals are absolutely amazing and has incorporated a wide range of beats and instruments from pianos to harps to heavy drums. Wait, her vocals deserve a couple sentences to them selves. Maybe even a couple of paragraphs. While "the Machine", her band, provides the eclectic backing sound, the voice box on this chick is awe inspiring. No matter what instruments she is singing to, her voice takes over the song at all the right moments. It's truely a special talent and people are realising this including Florence taking home Best Breakthrough Act at the 2009 UK Festival Awards and also winning the best album award at this year's BRIT awards.

My musical taste generally hangs in the hip hop and rock departments but I first heard Florence on Triple J's live at the wireless. I heard You've got the love, and Dog Days Are Over and figured they'd be the only tracks I'd like on the album but gladly I was wrong. This album rocks. It's going to be hard to back this album up well with her next try. I hope she does though.

You might have heard this before but check out "You've got the love"


It's hard to choose but this is possibly my fave track at the moment, "Cosmic Love"

A few others on youtube:
Dog Days Are Over
Rabbit Heart
Drumming

"Distant Relatives" by Nas/Damian Marley (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

Rating: 
Album: Distant Relatives
Artists: Nas and Damian Marley

New York rapper Nas has joined forces with Bob Marley's youngest son, Damian to produce this absolutely amazing album, Distant Relatives. It follows the same style as Damian Marley's grammy award winning album, Welcome to Jamrock but with a heavy presence from Nas. It follows themes of ancestry, poverty and ties to Africa delivered with a fusion of hip hop and reggae.

It's nothing like most of Nas' previous work centred around guns and gangster raps but more about positive themes like, family, friendship, leadership and African history and culture. Like I already said, this is an amazing album that you must check out. The lyrics aren't too preachy and the beats on the tracks are phenomenal at times.

If you liked Welcome To Jamrock you'll like this... If you don't like Nas you'll still like this... and if you like this, check out Welcome To Jamrock!!!

This is one of the albums of the year for me.

Two of my fave tracks: Strong Will Continue


Count your blessings

"Plastic Beach" by Gorillaz (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

Rating: 
Album: Plastic Beach
Artist: Gorillaz

British virtual band, Gorillaz, are back after a 5 year stint on the sidelines since their breakout album, Demon Days. It was always going to be tough to make an album as good as Demon Days but Plastic Beach fell shorter than I thought it would.

Collaborating with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, De La Soul and many more, Gorillaz have produced a very unique blend of music for this LP. They've left no genre untouched with tracks involving The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music to a bit of electronic work and a hint of hip-hop with Snoop Dogg and Mos Def.

All up, it came across as a bit unstructured. The album didn't seem to flow from track to track. It was almost like they made a bunch of songs they liked and just threw them on a CD. Sort of like a mix tape, except if you don't love these songs they can just seem out of place and hard to get into. I'm not a big fan of the style of singing their vocalist 2D has, it's almost monotone to me (and not a good style of monotone like Guru). I immediately got into track 4 though, Rhinestone Eyes, but other than that, none of the other songs really caught my eye. Although, Bobby Womack does do an amazing job on vocals for "Stylo". I listened to the album a few times, went away from it then listened to it again and I started to get into it a little more. I can put up with it now but I won't be in a rush to listen to it again.

Check out my favourite track Rhinestone Eyes

Also, check out their track "Stylo", it's a pretty cool clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9vAOzYz-Qs

"Rise Up" by Cypress Hill (2010) - ALBUM REVIEW

Rating: 

Album: Rise Up

Artist: Cypress Hill

"In 1991 an artist in Compton picked up Cypress Hill's debut album. What he heard blew him away. A futuristic funk, mixed with a die hard dedication to a certain herb. This is the story of Cypress Hill..."

That's the intro to the album, right before the beat drops from their single "It Ain't Nuthin"... 19 Years after their debut album, the same can still be said for Cypress Hill's new album, Rise Up.

It's been 6 years since their last album, Till Death Do Us Part, but they've picked up right where they left off.

Cypress Hill emcee B-Real said that for this album they wanted a more aggressive sound with more dynamics and to be more uptemo. He said "in terms of the live setting, whenever we do songs that are more uptempo and aggressive people do love them and it makes for a great show. So, while making this album, we definitely had the intention of making songs that would translate well to the live aspect of what Cypress Hill is about".

They've managed to achieve their goal quite successfully with the help of a diverse collection of guests such as Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, Pitbull, Everlast, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Listening to this album can really pick you up, pump you up and get you enjoying your day. Even though a pick you up, pump you up type of album doesn't really sound like the most ideal LP to smoke weed to but as per Cypress Hill's previous albums, half of their material is "herb" related and I can definitely see pot heads getting down to it... and getting high.

I would probably rate this album as my favourite of all they've released and it has also received favourable reviews amongst many other critics. It has a bit of a mainstream sound that appeals to a wider audience but they haven't forgotten their rap history and have incorporated the rock sound really well. This is an album I will be recommending not just to my friends that are into hip-hop but also to those that are not. Whatever group you belong to, I think you should check this out.

Favourite lyric: "My steel is stainless, it will leave you brainless..." - Sen Dog

Album in stores now.

Check out "It Ain't Nothin"

More of my faves (they have links to youtube):
7. K.U.S.H.
1. It Ain't Nothin'
4. Get it Anyway
3. Rise Up (feat. Tom Morello)
15. Armada Latina (feat. Pitbull & Marc Anthony)