Amy Winehouse
Lioness: Hidden Treasures
(Island)
3.5/5
At 27, Amy Winehouse’s death was a tragic loss to the music industry. The British singer/songwriter was a self-abusive, dramatic mess whose stories flooded tabloids on a regular basis. But with the release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures, we’re reminded of the power of the voice behind the wreckage.
The album is a collection of previously unreleased tracks from throughout her career, a collection of jazz, soul, reggae, and blues that’s beautiful and hauntingly painful to listen to at the same time.
“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “Between the Sheets,” two standout tracks, are a beautiful reminder of Winehouse’s talent, yet an explosion of wasted potential that makes you want to turn back time and slap her in the face.
Lioness is a bittersweet album. It highlights the striking voice behind this troubled singer, yet it’s frustrating that this will be the last we’ll hear from her.
-Charlotte Wood
The Roots
undun
(Def Jam)
4/5
The Roots deliver a complex, ambitious cornucopia of music on undun, their 11th studio album. undun is a series of snapshots from the life of the fictional Redford Stevens. Dreams, memory, and mortality are the main themes of his difficult life in urban poverty.
“Stomp” is packed with intense, vivid imagery; the rhythm section imitates the title. The Roots’ hip-hop and neo-soul gives songs like “Kool On” a timeless sound.
The album ends with the instrumental Redford suite, based off of Sufjan Stevens’ song “Redford.” The three movements – piano, string quartet, and drums – emulate both the ethereal sound of “Redford” and the chaos of undun’s antihero.
The synths, moving bass, and snare-heavy drums of the Roots are all here. Vocals from guest artistsŃincluding Big K.R.I.T., Dice Raw, and BilalŃgive the sense that we are all, as the band says, “in this crazy world” together.
-Rose Jang
Skrillex
Bangarang
(Big Beat/Atlantic)
3/5
It’s dubstep! What more could you possibly want? This new EP from that gnome-sized wizard we know as Skrillex is filled to the brim with all the bwamp-bwamp you could ever need.
In case it isn’t completely clear, I am no connoisseur of the dubstep. I have Skrillex’s previous albums for when I go to the gym and just need something mindless to fill my ear holes. And, like those albums, this new EP does that.
Skrillex is also fun to listen to while driving; I can do that with this EP, too. But ask me to judge the technical skill level involved in producing something like this and I start to shrug. It’s dubstep: you get what you’re expecting, nothing more, nothing less.
A highlight from this EP is “The Skrillex Orchestral Suite by Varien,” a seven-minute journey through some Skrillex classics, all redone to sound like something even your grandparents would be down with.
– Clorisa Simpson
Venom
Fallen Angels
(Spinefarm)
1.5/5
Venom: a name synonymous with metal history and culture. On their 13th release, they prove that even a legendary thrash band can release utter mediocrity.
This album is a bulldozer coming full speed at you, only to crumble to dust metres before your feet. With loose mixing, bad vocals, and pushy solos, it all falls apart.
Then there’s the lyrics. The, uh, poetry, like “believing, receiving, exactly what we’re needing,” on “Hammerhead,” and “fuck all the fuckers” on “Lap of the Gods,” makes me cringe.
The bad decisions continue on “Hail Satanas,” which features a movie quote placed awkwardly after the chorus and before a guitar solo, making the solo and the quote detach from the song.
This album sounds like a horrible mash-up between early hardcore/thrash band Carnivore and modern-day garage rawkers the Hellacopters. Overall, a really unpleasant listen.
-Adam Price
Moka Only and Evil Ebenezer
ZZbra
(Camobear)
4/5
Moka Only and Evil Ebenezer, two west coast rap artists, have joined forces to create this soundtrack for Stuey Kubrick’s flick ZZbra. This album is a definite must-add to any rap fan’s music collection.
The Vancouver artists prove on this album why they both have huge fan bases and are well known for laying down hits. The fast-flowing lyrics in “Green” and the hard-hitting beats in “Like I Love U” alone make this a killer album. The whole disc is exactly what you’d expect from such talent.
The soundtrack was produced by the Draft Dodgers (also known as Kubrick and U-Tern). From the ridiculous intro track to the short sing-a-long session at the end of “Call 4 Some Help” you can tell the team had a good time working on this record.
This is one fun album; pick it up and inject some awesome into your music collection.
-Charlotte Wood