Tuunes

Music Reviews + Illustrations by Lily Cozzens

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KENDRICK LAMAR “DAMN.” ALBUM REVIEW

April 14, 2017

Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records

Hip Hop

The fourth studio album from American rapper Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. debuted at number 1 in the Billboard 200 to wide acclaim from a variety of music outlets. I’m not exceptionally familiar with hip hop as a genre or Kendrick Lamar as an individual, but I have heard his music before and was impressed with his gifted lyricism. Part of what really struck me about this album was how cohesive and linear it was, which is increasingly rare in popular music. 

Favorite Track: “PRIDE.” is an exceptional song. From the second the guitar dropped in I knew it would be my favorite on the album. The swaying rhythm and consistent modulating of the vocals give it a simultaneously unsettling and appealing.

Chills From: “XXX.” is a brutally honest song and Kendrick is clearly speaking his truth. This is the kind of song that hits you hard for its sincerity or hits you just as hard to remind you of your privilege, that reminds me how varying the American experience is. 

Skip Track: “LOVE." feels like it belongs least to the album. The featuring vocalist is slightly overpowering Kendrick’s lyrics, and the lyrics that he IS contributing fall generically flat. This is the kind of song that I could only really find myself enjoying when I’m drunk in an Uber at the end of the night.

Overall impressions: This album is an impressive chronicle that is both intensely personal and relatable to a wide variety of people. It’s encouraging to see that such brutally honest music can debut so high in the charts and I hope that trend continues. The music industry, particularly popular music and music that is being played on the radio, could use a little less sugarcoating and a lot more sincerity.

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Upcoming changes a.k.a. representation is key

Hi Tuunes followers! Lately I've really been considering the importance of representation, in music and in illustration. Looking back at the music I've reviewed and looking forward at my review schedule I realized that the vast majority are white men (assumed straight). This isn't due to any intentional racism/sexism on my part, just on the part of the society and more more specifically the music industry where women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color (and even more so for people in more than one of these categories) are often sidelined and outright ignored. Taking all this into consideration, I've decided to implement an additional review per month of an artist that does not fit into the archetypal "straight white dude" alternative music stereotype. Thanks for reading this and I look forward to your continued support! Nothin but love.

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Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, & Edgar Meyer : “Bach Trios” Review

April 7, 2017 Nonesuch Records

Classical

Interpretations of several Bach works originally arranged for keyboard instruments, “Bach Trios” is a massive show of force of the continued power and importance of classical music. f there was such a thing as a classical supergroup in music, this would be it - Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Chris Thile (mandolin), and Edgar Meyer (upright bass). Between the three of them, they hold a whopping 31 Grammy wins (several of which are actually shared between them, such as the Goat Rodeo Sessions, Bass & Mandolin, and Songs of Joy and Peace). All three are widely considered the best in the world at their respective instruments, and so there were big expectations for this album. I often feel that, classical music, especially when played with perfect proficiency, can be slightly cold or isolating. This isn’t the case with “Bach trios” - it manages to show off the remarkable technical prowess of all three musicians without sounding clinical. It actually has a lot of warmth and character.

Even if you claim to not like classical, just listen to the whole album, start to finish. It’s hard to recommend any one song over the others. And don’t just stop with this album - check out the massive body of work that these three have produced.

Overall impressions: The only regret I have regarding this album is that I’m unable to see them perform it live. I’ve seen Yo-Yo Ma once solo, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile on the Bass & Mandolin Tour, and Chris Thile solo or with his various projects more times than I can count, as well as meeting him briefly a few years ago. In addition to being the world’s greatest mandolin player, a talented lyricist and vocalist, and host of Prairie Home Companion, he’s also a genuinely nice guy. Chris Thile, Yo-Yo Ma, and Edgar Meyer are such impressive musicians and its times like these that I remind myself how lucky we all are to have access to the massive amount of incredible music being recorded each and every day. 

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The Shins  “Heartworms” Review

March 10, 2017 Columbia

Indie Pop

Heartworms is the 5th release of superpower indie royalty The Shins, produced by frontman/songwriter and only continuous band member James Mercer. I’ve got a special place in my heart for the Shins - they were the first band I saw the first time I went to Lollapalooza as a 15 year old and always remind me of dancing in a muddy pit in the hot summer sun (in the best way possible). I had a lot of high hopes for this album.

Favorite Track: The first single off the album. “Name for You”, remains my favorite. When I heard it, I was excited about the way it took the quintessential Shins components and interpreted them in a new and interesting way.

Side note: “Painting a Hole” has a great, swinging rhythm. The reverb Mercer applied to his vocals only contributes to the sort of vibrating sway of the whole song. This one is an unexpected dance track.

Chills From: “Maidenhall” didn’t exactly give me chills, but it’s certainly a sweet song. This also takes the most exception to the overall sound of the album and is almost knowingly placed right in the middle of the album.

Skip Track: “Rubber Ballz”, among a few other songs, is so overwhelmingly consistent with the Shins sound that I have come to known in listening to previous albums that I almost can’t hear it. Everything about it is so predictable. It sounds like what happens when songwriter write songs in a theoretical echo chamber of their own head and don’t take the time to step away from their songs and get outside opinions before finishing them.

Overall impressions: For me, this album is very much what I expected in terms of style and sound, but not in a super inspiring or groundbreaking way. In listening to the album a few times all the way through to get a good idea of it for this review, I found myself getting bored quite a few times. There’s some interesting new sounds that pop up a few times but quickly get worn stifled by the archetypal Shins-ness of it all. Side A of this album is solid, but Side B just feels like a tired imitation of Side A. It’s a good album, but that’s it - good.

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HANNI EL KHATIB “SAVAGE TIMES” REVIEW

February 17, 2017 Innovative Leisure Blues-psych rock Savage Times is one of the strongest albums this year has offered thus far. At an astounding 19 tracks, this politically and socially charged album is a relentless (and aptly titled) portrait of an artist’s growth and change. This album was a challenge to Khatib’s normal creative process, not in the least since it was released piece-by-piece as 5 EPs throughout last year, before amalgamating with the addition of a few previously unheard tracks).

I had heard of Hanni el Khatib when he collaborated with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced his second album Head in the Dirt (2013). I lost track of him musically for a year or two, but I follow him on Instagram and was quite excited to hear what he had to bring to the table with this album. It certainly didn’t disappoint; in fact, I was a bit blown away by this massive album.

Favorite Track: “Paralyzed” is just the right amount of catchy to get stuck in your head but not so much that it sounds like a cookie-cutter alt-rock anthem.  Runner Up: “Gun Clap Hero” is just an all-around great song. Clever lyrics, driving beat, good vibe.  Side note: “So Dusty” sounds like it was a long-lost Richard Hell and the Voidoids song. The vocalization on this is very similar to Hell’s yowling, which is a compliment - Blank Generation might be my favorite album of all time.

Chills From: I could very easily see myself staggering drunk down the street at 3 am belting “Miracle”.

Skip Track: “Mangos and Rice”, in my opinion, could have been about a minute shorter and been just as effective of a song. It’s not bad in any sense of the word, but I just got the feeling that it was dragged out a little past its prime. A bit of a niche criticism, perhaps.

Overall impressions: I honestly think this has the potential to become one of the classic albums of the alt-rock tradition. Far beyond the vocal similarities, this album brought me back to the first time I heard Brothers by the Black Keys - that album had a similarly breakout legendary feel. I hope that Savage Times is for Khatib what Brothers was for the Black Keys. He certainly has the chops.

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Stay Tuuned! "Savage Times" by Hanni el Khatib album review coming up.

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LOYLE CARNER  “YESTERDAY’S GONE” REVIEW

JANUARY 2017

January 20, 2017

EMI

Hip Hop/Rap/R&B

The debut album from British rapper Ben Coyle Larner, better known by his stage name Loyle Carner, follows his well-received “A Little Late” EP (September 2014). I’ve followed his career with enthusiasm for several years and always knew he would make it big - clearly, as he sells out bigger and bigger shows as the days go by. I first encountered him as a collaborator on Rejjie Snow’s song “1992″ (2013). I remember being immediately struck by his unique vocal phrasing and sincerity, neither of which has changed as he has matured and grown throughout the years.

Favorite Track: “Florence”. This track is sweet without being overbearingly sappy. It provides a welcome break from the often dreary tone of the album (although even that in itself is attractive to me).

Chills: “+44″ is 49 seconds of pure poetry - the lack of any instrumentation was a gamble, certainly, but it really paid off with this song. Absolutely incredible. Runner up: “Ain’t Nothing Changed” is the kind of song you know has the potential to really create a stir in the scene. Having seen a clip of a crowd singing along to it at a recent gig, I find myself unable to listen to it without getting goosebumps.

Skip Track: It was a stretch to find one, and I wouldn’t really recommend skipping any track. However, I think "No CD” might be the weakest link. Perhaps mainly because the tone is slightly off in terms of the rest of the album, which creates a slightly jarring transitional phase.

Overall impressions: Over the last few years I’ve lamented (to the one other person I know who listens to Loyle Carner) that I’m bummed by the lack of music that he’s been put out over the years. At a whopping 15 tracks, this more than makes up for the years of frustrated waiting. I’m quite proud of how far he has come, and I genuinely am rooting for him and excited to see where he goes in the coming years.

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Stay tuuned!

New music review up next!

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PUZZLE  “LAYING IN THE SAND” REVIEW

December 31, 2016

Experimental (?)

One of many solo efforts of Puzzle/Fletcher Shears - like me, you may have heard of him via The Garden, the experimental punk duo he co-pilots with his twin brother Wyatt (whose solo work under the name “Enjoy” I also highly recommend). This album hooked me the minute I heard it. Although it was technically released in December 2016, this album was essentially the soundtrack of January 2017 for me. 

Favorite Track: “What She Might Say to Me” was, from the get-go, the shining star of this album. Perfect top to bottom, front to back - who knew the line “some people keep their garbage in a styrofoam box” could create such a stir. I’ve listened to this song so many times I can no longer look at it objectively, so I find it hard to describe exactly what it is I love about it.

Chills From: “Look at the Moon” is one of the more relaxed songs on the album without being dull or depressing. Put this one on at the end of the night.

Skip Track: Honestly, none. I barely even knew what the tracks’ names were because when I listen to this album, I start playing it and listen to it all the way through. No skips.

Overall impressions: Having seen The Garden live a few times, Fletcher (on the drums/drum machine/co-vox) has always struck me as an exceptionally relentless musician. Between the two of them, together and solo, the Shears twins make an enormous amount of music. This album really shows off Fletcher’s writing skills, as well as his rhythmic talent.

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THE KILLS  “ASH & ICE” REVIEW

June 3, 2016 Domino

Alternative

Almost anyone who knows me could tell you that the Kills are my favorite band. If you’re looking for a short and simple album review, feel free to skip this one. I’m going into full nerd mode here. The Kills have, at the time of writing this, been a band for 15 years. They played their first show on Valentine’s Day in 2003. Since then, they’ve released five studio albums, each drastically different from the last. I can’t pick a favorite out of the five, but this album had big shoes to fill - five years had passed since Blood Pressures was released, Jamie Hince had lost use of his left middle finger, Alison Mosshart had recently finished an album with the Dead Weather, and no one was sure what exactly to expect. “Doing it to Death” was the first single, and took them in a new direction with the introduction of heavier R&B beats and production.

Favorite Track: “Bitter Fruit” is, for me, the quintessential Kills song. Can’t beat it.

Chills From: “Echo Home”. I had chills for the whole album, but this is the one that continues to give me chills. When I saw them in August of 2015, they played this one live and I remember being completely blown away by everything about it. This song feels like a late night drive on a wet, cool, summer night. Runner Up: “Hum for Your Buzz” takes the Kills back to the basics - bluesy guitar, simple beats, and Mosshart’s stellar vocals.

Skip Track: “Black Tar” isn’t necessarily a bad song by any means, but it just doesn’t strike me the way the others do. I’ll still get the craving to listen to it every now and again, but if I had to only recommend 12 of the 13 songs this is the one I would feel least awful about leaving out. + Bonus + If your favorite Kills album is ___, you’ll enjoy ___ most: Keep on Your Mean Side (2003) : “Hum for Your Buzz” No Wow (2005) : “Impossible Tracks” Midnight Boom (2008) : “Whirling Eye” Blood Pressures (2011) : “Echo Home”

Overall impressions:  I started listening to them in about 2014, so this was the first new music I had heard from them. I pre-ordered this album on double LP and got it a few days before the actual release date. After a few days of trying to prepare myself, I sat down around in the summer heat on my air conditioned porch in the pitch black, directly between my two speakers, and dropped the needle. I was absolutely blown away by this album, start to finish. It’s incredibly new and at the same time familiar. It showcases everything I love about the Kills - Hince’s raw, guttural guitar work, his drum machine expertise and intensely detailed production pairs perfectly with Mosshart’s powerhouse voice and uninhibited spirit alongside both of their lyrics. 

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Introduction

Hello there! If you’re reading this, welcome! My name is Lily Cozzens. I’m an illustrator, printmaker, and musician (https://soundcloud.com/user-860527236) currently residing in Chicago. 

Tuunes is a passion project: I love discovering music and recommending music to others. I also love illustration. I’ve decided to merge the two, and Tuunes was born. I’m starting off with two of my favorite releases from the past year, and plan on doing at least monthly reviews of new albums from genres across the board. Feel free to send me suggestions on albums you’d like to see reviewed!