Lioness: Hidden Treasures<\/em><\/p>\n (Island)<\/p>\n 3.5\/5<\/p>\n At 27, Amy Winehouse\u2019s 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,<\/em> we\u2019re reminded of the power of the voice behind the wreckage.<\/p>\n The album is a collection of previously unreleased tracks from throughout her career, a collection of jazz, soul, reggae, and blues that\u2019s beautiful and hauntingly painful to listen to at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cWill You Still Love Me Tomorrow\u201d and \u201cBetween the Sheets,\u201d two standout tracks, are a beautiful reminder of Winehouse\u2019s talent, yet an explosion of wasted potential that makes you want to turn back time and slap her in the face.<\/p>\n Lioness<\/em> is a bittersweet album. It highlights the striking voice behind this troubled singer, yet it\u2019s frustrating that this will be the last we\u2019ll hear from her.<\/p>\n -Charlotte Wood<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Roots<\/strong><\/p>\n undun<\/em><\/p>\n (Def Jam)<\/p>\n 4\/5<\/p>\n The Roots deliver a complex, ambitious cornucopia of music on undun,<\/em> their 11th studio album. undun<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cStomp\u201d is packed with intense, vivid imagery; the rhythm section imitates the title. The Roots\u2019 hip-hop and neo-soul gives songs like \u201cKool On\u201d a timeless sound.<\/p>\n The album ends with the instrumental Redford suite, based off of Sufjan Stevens\u2019 song \u201cRedford.\u201d The three movements – piano, string quartet, and drums – emulate both the ethereal sound of \u201cRedford\u201d and the chaos of undun<\/em>\u2019s antihero.<\/p>\n The synths, moving bass, and snare-heavy drums of the Roots are all here. Vocals from guest artists\u0143including Big K.R.I.T., Dice Raw, and Bilal\u0143give the sense that we are all, as the band says, \u201cin this crazy world\u201d together.<\/p>\n -Rose Jang<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Skrillex<\/strong><\/p>\n Bangarang<\/em><\/p>\n (Big Beat\/Atlantic)<\/p>\n 3\/5<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n In case it isn\u2019t completely clear, I am no connoisseur of the dubstep. I have Skrillex\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s dubstep: you get what you\u2019re expecting, nothing more, nothing less.<\/p>\n A highlight from this EP is \u201cThe Skrillex Orchestral Suite by Varien,\u201d a seven-minute journey through some Skrillex classics, all redone to sound like something even your grandparents would be down with.<\/p>\n – Clorisa Simpson<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/312516_10150345089040741_7310480740_8718399_541838542_n.jpg\" "\\"312516_10150345089040741_7310480740_8718399_541838542_n\\"")
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