PIMP, PIMP: HOORAY!
An hour or so before midnight on Thursday, March 3, Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise album aptly titled untitled unmastered, providing an unexpected, but much-needed source of procrastination from the typical Thursday night frenzy of problem sets. The album is mostly demos from last year’s wildly successful To Pimp a Butterfly and contains songs he premiered on Colbert and Fallon. You’ll hear a lot of Lamar’s distinctive jazz-funk style and casually flaunted lyrical brilliance, but good luck trying to reference any of the eight songs on the album all titled with “untitled,” followed by a date (maybe he’ll bring back the numbering system of classical music).
BOUNCE
Near the end of last week, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne also dropped an album titled ColleGrove. “Bounce” is arguably the standout track on the album, with a trap beat and samples that do proper justice to its title. The song has a music video, with a hilarious four-minute rap battle between the two. Also check out “Gotta Lotta” and “100 Joints,” where Lil Wayne sings, “No matter what they say, I smoke 100 joints a day.”
Pinegrove
Check out this young quasi-emo indie rock band from New Jersey that sounds like early Wilco and Built to Spill meets the indie-pop of Rilo Kiley and the post-teen depression of Conor Oberst. They put out a new album named Cardinal a few weeks ago and all the critics are loving it for some reason—perhaps for its raw and relatable quality and its at times uplifting acoustic jams. According to its Bandcamp bio, Pinegrove sees itself as a band “hard at work in the promotion of introspective partying!” Don’t worry, I’m confused too.
Some good electronic music to listen to while studying/prepping for quals:
Aphex Twin — Richard D. James is a pioneer of the electronic form, with a wealth of styles ranging from acid techno to ambient house to drill n bass, which shine through in his more-than-ample discography of ambient treasures. Recommended albums: Selected Ambient works 85–92, Syro, Richard D. James Album, …I Care Because You Do (heads up for the covers of the last).
Four Tet —There Is Love in You: Probably their most pop-flavored album, but it’s filled with invigorating and ultramodern beats. If that doesn’t do it for you, check out the more abstract Rounds or the two-song album Morning/Evening that came out last year.
Booka Shade—Movements: This is an album of perfect beats, both danceable and motivating, a master in production, with a flowing sonic passage till the end. It’s frequently cited as one of the most important electronic works of the 2000s and you’ll see why on each listen.
AFROFUTURISTS FROM KINSHASA
To me, the term “Afrofuturist” has a very cool ring to it, but more amazing still is how the music itself sounds. Mbongwana Star is an Afrofuturist band from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and they sound like no other artists today (quite a feat if you think about it, not even too hard). On their debut album From Kinshasa, released last year, they fuse hypnotic percussion to distinctly Congolese rhythms with blues, distorted synth effects, remnants of sixties psychedelia, ominous bass lines, and vocal harmonies intertwined with soaring cries, all wrapped in tremendously masterful studio work that gives it an otherworldly, ahead-of-the-times feel. Standout tracks for me are the gorgeous “Suzanna” and the groovy, fuzzy “Kala.” The album is a very respectful approach towards African art forms, so I’ll cross my fingers and hope more people appreciate its unique genius.