Changing Things Up!

Hello readers! I've been away for awhile now and am glad to be back. After much thought and consideration, I have decided that I'll be posting simple, straightforward videos for my reviews instead of lengthy written reviews. I'll be posting the videos here and let me know what you all think!
Here are my first two video reviews:

Kesha - Rainbow

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Despacito (feat. Daddy Yankee) - Luis Fonsi

The Beauty That Is Modern Latin

Seriously, I don't know why it is so hard for white people to make music as infectious and dance inducing. This song is great, and is a powerful culmination of the many songs that have come before it. Luis Fonsi is not the first to create Latin and Reggaeton pieces that flood the radio for months. Enrique Inglesias, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Romeo Santos, Pitbull, Selena, Don Omar and J Balvin have all riddled the radio with fantastic songs, and this is one is not really any better than those before it, it just makes good use of the material that has come before and is the newest hit to come out.

This song is great for a number of reasons. the acoustic guitar tempts the listener from the beginning with sounds of passion and mystery. Fonsi and Yankee come in with great vocals, well put together lyrics and flow that is impossible for a person to not sing along. The rhythm is perfect, it may be exactly like a fair amount of other Latin Pop hits, but its the genre, and that's alright. The bass goes well with it and everything is standard for Latin Pop. 

But there is something that makes this song particularly good, I would call this the balance of sound and silence through the song. Listen for when the vocals stop for the guitar to come or the drums quiet down for the chorus. Here is where the song makes some strong strides, being able to use the quiet moments as well as the louder dance moment, its a good sign of well crafted music. A fantastic song and I'm going to have to up my Latin music game.

Lastly, the song has gained a lot of popularity because a remix has Justin Bieber in it, the remix is just as good as the original actually, but I've focused more on the original for this review. Here is the remix, I recommend checking it out too.

Originality: 6

Instruments: 8

Vocals: 8

Longevity: 8

Red Score: 7.5

4:44 (Album) - JAY-Z

Back To Basics

When listening to JAY-Z, the hip-hop and rap master, you expect powerful beats and a huge amount of production value. This album takes us to a time and style of simplicity in rap. Relaxed beats on repeat as the artist raps and sings over the beat. Nothing crazy fancy or over produced, only the sublime beats and voice of JAY-Z on each track.

Each track isn't terribly repetitive, I'm just saying that they are simple and straightforward. Some of the songs are pretty mediocre, they sound alright, but the instruments used aren't that innovative and lyrics are just alright. However, there are a few songs that are more fun, more creative and I genuinely will listen to in the future. Overall, I wouldn't say the most impressive thing about the album is the music, it is the idea in general, the concept and the daring move to do relaxing, chill music instead of the modern popular radio hits. 

The message of the lyrics is raw and real, it is in your face and the language is something that we should all listen to, even if it makes us a little uncomfortable or awkward, see "The Story of O.J." as an example. My favorite song is "Caught Their Eyes" with Frank Ocean, its sound is the album's best use of simple and well made, repetitive sounds and I'll be listening to it for a while.  

JAY-Z could have written a bunch of garbage with electronic tropes to be played all the time, but this record shows how much he is in the music business to make new and innovative music. This album isn't his best and that's okay, it is the experimentation and strength in creativity that really stick out. I am excited to see what JAY-Z does down the line, and I would want to hear more music like this from him.

Kill Jay Z: 6 --- The Story of O.J.: 7

Smile (feat. Gloria Carter): 6 --- Caught Their Eyes (feat. Frank Ocean): 8

4:44: 6 --- Family Feud (feat. Beyoncé): 6

Bam (feat. Damian Marley): 7 ---  Moonlight: 5

Marcy Me: 6 --- Legacy: 5

Track Average: 6.2

Originality: 7

Longevity: 6

Flow: 8

Red Score: 6.8
(This video does have some inappropriate visuals, warning)

Saturn Barz (feat. Popcaan) - Gorillaz

Those Musical Animals Are Back

If you haven't listened to the new Gorillaz album, Humanz, you need to finish reading this review quick and listen to the whole album because the animated music kings are back. I have really enjoyed a number of songs from Humanz, but "Saturn Barz" really stuck out to me for its more relaxed and reggae influenced sound.

"Saturn Barz," like most Gorillaz' songs, takes some time to really appreciate. The first time I listen to this song, I only enjoyed it more or less. I was happy to hear new music from one of my favorite bands, but this song seemed to be good only because it was something new. However, after a few more tries, I could see the immense power and creative depth of each second of the song.

When I listened the first time to the drums starting with the bass and Popcaan with a small distortion with heavy electronics sounds, it sounded a little too far from the Gorillaz we are all used too. But then I realized that the beauty of Gorillaz is that their songs define them as a entity, not the other way around. Their experimentation and journey into wild and unique sounds and beats is what makes a song a Gorillaz song. The Fall, parts of their D and G Sides and parts of Plastic Beach all show that electro hip-hop is no where near the limit of Gorillaz, they defy genre limitations and create amazing songs that go beyond expectation.

"Saturn Barz" is a song you need to hear to love, the chorus back and forth, the choral voices mixed with chill beats create this ambiance that is a symbol of the unbelievable power of Gorillaz. Also! Check out this super amazing remix (it might actually be better than the original).

Originality: 8

Instruments: 8

Vocals: 7

Longevity: 7

Red Score: 7.5

Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran

The Good Hunt

Classic pop and 80s music is something that you can't help but love as soon as they come on Spotify, the radio or your personal playlists. Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf" is no different, an infectious song that just about everyone loves.

What makes this song really amazing is the combination of excessive 80s sound and instruments. Starting with a laugh and guitar, drums, bass and synth sounds in the background, this song punches with a strong beginning and keeps going for the entire 3 and a half minutes. The guitar riff that continues through verse and changes in chorus to chords is something everyone never gets tired of hearing. The bass is a lot more bouncy and powerful than I remember, which is always a plus to hear. Drums help power the guitar and the pop synth sounds are wonderfully 80s every second of the way.

With all that goodness, possibly the most memorable part of the song is the lyrics that everyone sings along for a few words in the chorus and mumbles nonsense throughout the rest. "I'm on the hunt I'm after you...and I'm hungry like the wolf," are totally unforgettable words, but I can't imagine anyone else really knowing the other lyrics, but that doesn't make the song and vocal work any less totally entertaining.

A seriously fun song that reminds me how much I love 80's music and how much those song are timeless.

Originality: 8

Instruments: 8

Vocals: 8
Instruments: 10

Red Score: 8.5

Lone Digger - Caravan Palace

Fantastically Entertaining and Addicting

First of all, don't look up the official video, it is very not "PG." But now, straight into the review. Caravan Palace falls into this fairly interesting sound using a number of differing techniques modern and classic. This combinations of swing and jazz raw instruments like saxophone, violin and trombones mixed with electronic samples and a more modern beat is called Electro Swing.

This isn't super new stuff though, it has been around since as early as the 1990's. I found this song a few months ago while listening to Miike Snow, and now this genre is open to me and I'm having a lot of fun with it. "Long Digger" caught my attention for a number of reasons, I was just blown away with the combination of styles and sounds. From the amazing pace that you can really only find in swing music to the EDM sound of voice changing and looping, I am still surprised every time listening to it how the combination works together.

The live instruments (which are played live), saxophone, violin and trombone, are extremely well preformed. The style is very jazz and swing authentic and well written. Not to criticize, but the drums are totally electronic, played on a drum pad in live concerts. This is not as much as a bad thing, it is amazing to see how we have come as a musical generation and we can see how well mixing genres can be. The singing and back up vocals sound great (but the live performances do show that this is a heavily "in house" produced song).

All in all, I hope you guys can enjoy this genre breaking song and dance along with it because it is almost impossible to not let the beat get to you.

Originality: 8

Instruments: 9

Vocals: 7

Longevity: 7

Red Music: 7.75

hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe) - Halsey

The Child Of Modern Pop Culture Music

Reviews are back in full force! Let us get started with the now nationally recognized artist, Halsey. If you still don't know who this is, she is the one featured in the ridiculously overplayed "Closer" by The Chainsmokers.

Now let's look at her new album hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe). In reality? It isn't horrible, it is just totally uninspired, it sounds exactly like every other generic pop song possible created by lazy producers and singers from the last two years. I know I'll get a lot of hate because everyone on Youtube loves it apparently, but I'm sticking by my guns. However, there are songs like "Alone" and "Devil In Me" which step a little bit out of mediocrity and are actually alright, but the rest of the album is just a blur.

To start on the specifics, her vocals are almost identical throughout the album. The music that accompanies her vocals do just that, accompany her. For most songs, there are fairly similar sound percussion, synths and other random noises which end up being only somewhat interesting background noise. 

Another notable thing is that Halsey's tone and tempo are almost impossible to differ from song to song. If you were to play the album in the background of a party, I'm sure some people will ask if the music is on repeat because of how repetitive it is from start to finish. The music isn't horrible or annoying, it is just dull and goes nowhere, the album is 16 tracks long for some reason, it could have been only four tracks and had the exact same deliverable altogether.

So my recommendations are to genuinely listen to the tracks "Alone" and "Devil In Me" and then go to her previous album BADLANDS which is far more interesting.

Originality: 3

Instruments: 5

Vocals: 3

Longevity: 4

Red Score: 3.7