Yeah, so, mixtapes exist. Why do I not listen to more mixtapes? A$AP Rocky’s Live.Love.A$AP is probably better than Long.Live.A$AP.
Here’s Drake, sampling Kanye’s “Say You Will,” and crushing it.
Drake - “Say What’s Real”
#123/200: Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
After Eminem and Girls, I think we’re at the third vertex of the music genre triangle.
I’m so confused right now.
But this is a fantastic album. Great for frantic working.
#122/200: Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
I like Girls, and I like this album more than their first one, but it’s quite jarring to listen to after Eminem. My bad.
Girls - “My Ma”
#121/200: Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
In the future, we’re going to remember Eminem for the pure shock value of his lyrics. His lyrics make today’s rappers look like domesticated kittens. That being said, I hope we don’t only remember him for the shock value. He’s an incredibly gifted lyricist, and we don’t value that enough anymore in rappers.
I’m not going to be curmudgeonly about it. I love Kanye and Drake, but it’s clear that Eminem is on another plane.
#120/200: Real Estate - Days
“Days” is a perfect lazy summer album.
Unfortunately I’m trying to get a lot of work done at the moment, so it may not have been the best choice.
#119/200: Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
The one thing that crossed my mind while listening to this album (and don’t get me wrong—- I like the album) was how one would really differentiate between bands making this kind of music. Just a thought.
#118/200: Weezer - Pinkerton
I am far from a Weezer fan, but that’s only because I grew up to Buddy Holly on the radio every thirty minutes. “Pinker” is a display of a much more charismatic and nuanced garage band.
Say what you will, but Pitchfork points me to many great things that I wouldn’t hear about otherwise.
Rhye - “The Fall”
#116/200: Feist -The Reminder
Back-to-back Canada.
It’s a very good album, but there aren’t a lot of moods that I could be in to want to listen to it.
Feist - “The Limit To Your Love”
#115/200: Destroyer - Kaputt
This album was released as I was slipping out of my New Pornographers phase, but I’ve forced myself to listen to it a number of times and I’ve always been very, very satisfied with it. I really need to stop pretending to not like stuff that I like.
In other news: I completely non-ironically listened to Fall Out Boy’s “From Under A Cork Tree” today while walking around campus. 70 degrees and sunny. Seemed like a good time for some FOB.
Destroyer - “Chinatown”
#114/200: Justin Timberlake - “FutureSex/LoveSounds”
JT’s new album is going to sell something like a billion copies, but (indie) critics are going to needlessly compare it to Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, et al. But… why? To what end?
I’ve been as infatuated with Frank Ocean as the next guy, but JT seems to be in a different league than Frank and Abel. It’s not a “better” league, just a different one. This is preemptive, but let’s all just enjoy the music and go on living our lives.
All things considered, FutureSex/LoveSounds is probably the first pop album I really loved in my “indie” phase.
Justin Timberlake - “LoveStoned”
