As fun as it is to complain about “music these days,” and how it’s all been downhill since The Chronic came out, it’s even MORE fun to listen to — wait for it — good music. Every Tuesday, a.k.a. Music Release Day, we’ll highlight five albums worth (legally) downloading or driving to the local Best Buy (lolz) for.
Today, we’ve got albums from Lil B, Rick Ross, the Toadies, Blur, and more.
Obama BasedGod by Lil’ B
Well, at least we know someone who won’t be voting for Romney. Lil’ B released this mixtape on his website yesterday, and it’s a passionate, typically boastful love letter to Obama, with a stream-of-consciousness flow and unobtrusiveness ambient production.
Play.Rock.Music. by the Toadies
Yes, the Toadies. Nearly 20 years after their breakout hit, “Possum Kingdom,” the Texas-based band continues to bluntly crouch along. Play.Rock.Music is their fifth album (best since reforming in 2006), and although it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does encapsulate what the Toadies do so well: scratchy, full-mouth alt-rock.
God Forgives, I Don’t by Rick Ross
Like Ross, God Forgives is a very BIG album. The guests (Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Ne-Yo, Drake) are big; the production is big; the lyrics are big; even the song titles (“911,” “3 Kings,” “Ten Jesus Pieces”) are big. For the most part, Ross pulls off the album’s size, particularly when he’s being self-reflective. Occasionally, however, his bravado weighs down the songs — but when that happens, I’ll just put on the Wilson Pickett-sampling “Ashamed” again.
More about the album at the Smoking Section.
The Murder Murder Kill Kill EP by Necro
Think Eminem, if Eminem wasn’t as clever and ONLY rapped about killing and/or having sex with celebrities (sometimes in the same line — when discussing Kim Kardashian, Necro mentions a car crash then wanting to “f*ck her gargantuan ass.”) I feel like I’m an angry 15-year-old teenager again when I listen to Murder Murder, which is fine; I can’t ALWAYS put on “Break Stuff.”
Blur 21 by Blur
To celebrate their 21 years together, Brit-pop greats Blur put together this boxset that collects nearly every song they’ve ever recorded. It’s OK: I haven’t listened to Parklife in awhile, too, but holy moly does “End of a Century” still sound fantastic. Blur 21 was the reminder we all needed.
