ARCA ARCA Electronic, Glitch, Art Pop. XL Recordings. Listening Format: Vinyl Arca is the identity of Venezuelan Electronic musician and producer Alejandro Ghersi. He has risen to prominence rather quickly over the decade, transitioning from underground artist, to a high profile producer who has already collaborated with FKA Twigz and Bjork as well as releasing his own solo material. His first two records 'Xen' and 'Mutant' were very abstract and glitchy works favouring experimental and avant garde touches. Arca is also known for his very striking and somewhat disturbing visual imagery that accompanies not only his album artwork, but his public attire. He is often seen in videos and live performance dressed in androgynous attire, sometimes completely nude and wearing his trademark stilts. Arca has carefully thought out every aspect of his art, but will a move to a more conventional sound on a bigger label possibly dampen his craft? If you've picked up a physical copy of this album then just opening the gatefold or CD case will confirm any fears that Arca may have softened up. The vinyl gatefold presents you with a close up of his bare ass, with something ominous and obscured emerging from the crack, leaving the mind to wonder... This image seems to be taken from his equally mind shattering music video for 'Reverie'. This self titled 3rd opus is by no means commercial or contemporary though. However, unlike his first two releases, it does include what feels like actual songs this time around! Perhaps it comes from working with Bjork and FKA Twigz, but Arca successfully makes the transition from sound crafter and producer, to songwriter. 'Arca' includes for the first time, his own voice as he sings in Spanish language across a good chunk of the album. In fact the very first sound you hear on the record is his voice in the subtle and spectacular opener 'Piel', as dramatic and moody synths glide under his excellent and distinct voice. Fans of his earlier works shouldn't be worried, as the record soon transitions from dark, Lynchian voids into the glitchy and formless wonky electronic sounds he is known for. Single 'Desafio' comes close to sounding like a Pop song, but has enough menace in the air raid like sirens and stabbing synth sounds to keep it within realms of nightmares. The fact this third full length is a self titled release starts to make sense because it feels like the point where an artist has truly found themselves. Arca successfully manages to merge well written vocal pieces into abstract and head scratching jagged soundscapes that go as deep as some of Aphex Twin and Autechre's more out there works. The way he manages to pull it altogether into a cohesive 43 minute journey is pretty magical. 'Arca' very rarely misses a beat and is a rewarding and wholesome listening experience that proves definitively that we have a new heavyweight contender in Electronic music and production on our hands. 8/10.
KENDRICK LAMAR DAMN. Hip Hop, R&B, Trap. Aftermath Entertainment/Top Dawg. Listening Format: CD
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!! It's a brand new album from Kendrick Lamar and it pretty much dropped out of the blue, first on digital format and then the CD followed a week or so after. Hip Hop used to revel in hyping up a big release through singles, radio play and underground mixtapes, but times have shifted and big artists such as KanYe West, Jay Z, Frank Ocean, Drake and Beyonce just seem to drop their new albums out of the blue these days! Not that I am complaining right now, as hype ravages through social media like fire.
So... Kendrick Lamar... Easily THE most critically acclaimed and popular Hip Hop artist of the current decade. He has this incredible ability to appeal to a wide audience. He has not only earned respect from underground Hip Hop heads, but is popular among more casual Pop and radio listeners, and even people who aren't fans of the genre have approved of his music. He has already dropped two albums in the last five years that are already considered masterpieces and modern classics, 'Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City' and 'To Pimp a Butterfly' respectively. Kendrick Lamar represents the very best in modern Hip Hop production, and delivers conscious, poignant and aggressive lyrics with a diverse flow of rapping styles making him a talented chameleon on the mic. These two modern masterpieces displayed a diverse cinematic production, with all the tracks being part of a story, like a film for the ears. Can he possibly strike gold for a third time, even with such pressure to follow up two incredible albums?!
The most important thing you will notice about 'DAMN.' that is blatantly obvious from the first listen is that it actually sounds almost nothing like his previous two albums. It doesn't quite go for that cinematic, storytelling aspect quite as hard as its predecessors. That doesn't mean that it isn't as deep or diverse, but it doesn't have that feel of being a unifying concept album this time around. The biggest change in sound is that the majority of tracks on 'DAMN.' very much exploit the current "Trap Rap" sound. For those not familiar with what a Trap beat sounds like, you might have to do a little digging on YouTube or Wikipedia, but this type of beat very much stands out from the traditional Boom Bap old school style Hip Hop beat. This isn't to say that Lamar has been a stranger to the Trap beat, as 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' (taken from his 2012 opus) is a great example of that sound, with those massive drum fills in the chorus. But 'DAMN.' goes all out for those Trap beats. This is a bit of a double-edged sword because, yes it makes the album sound very current and modern, but in a few years time Trap might die out and be remembered as a fad. Will this album still hold the timeless quality that its predecessors have? I think it is less likely as even old school Hip Hoppers who have got on board with Lamar's music will find this 55 minute record a harder pill to swallow.
Whether you like Trap beats or not, it is hard to deny some of the absolute talent displayed on this album. When second track 'DNA.' kicks in, the listener is thrown into a swamp of thumping bass and hard hitting snare runs, as Kendrick Lamar absolutely tears into the microphone with a similar intensity to the way Nas kicks it on 'NY State of Mind' over 20 years prior. The following track 'YAH.' continues on a very high note, but flips the mood to a more downbeat and slower one, with a lovely dusty and atmospheric production. Songs in the latter half such as 'FEAR.' get closer to the old cinematic feel, and 'PRIDE.' is a highlight which actually does have more of an old school Hip Hop beat and vibe.
However, there are some total sore spots on this album. As good as Kendrick Lamar's album cuts usually are, he does have a tendency to crop on some rather Poppy tracks such as his collab with Taylor Swift and I think when he does this it isn't living up to the immense talents he has, perhaps making him look like a sell out. Lead single 'HUMBLE.' is just horrendous... The beat sounds like lowest common denominator Hip Hop... Remember Chuggo's hilarious (for all the wrong reasons) viral hit 'Come On Fucking Guy'?!... Yeah... As if the verses weren't awful enough, the chorus hook of "Holla, Holla, Bitch, Bitch" is just as excruciating as it sounds! 'LOYALTY.' is equally as crass, sounding like a dated mid-00s "hey we just discovered autotune for the first time!" Akon or Nelly kind of track. Why something like this has a place on a Kendrick Lamar album is beyond me. These tracks in particular stick out like sore thumbs in the tracklisting.
'DAMN.' is just a pretty good album with some great moments here and there. And whilst most people would kill to make an album with that description, because it is Kendrick Lamar it almost feels like a shortcoming for him to just put out an album that is "pretty good". His previous two albums really were near perfect. Every single track on them works, the production was cutting edge and Kendrick had something vital and urgent to express. In particular, previous album 'To Pimp a Butterfly' went beyond Hip Hop. It had some genuinely brilliant Jazz, Soul and Funk which is pretty much all gone on this album. "DAMN." feels like a one track minded affair and much smaller in comparison. I do admire that Kendrick Lamar has managed to reinvent his style in such a short time, and make a completely different sounding album in comparison. But 'DAMN.' sorely lacks that timeless quality that he is capable of. I still listen to his previous two albums frequently, and I listen to them from start to finish every time. But with 'DAMN.' it's already starting to wear off on me after just a month, to the point where I'd rather just stick on one of his other albums instead. 7/10.
CLARK DEATH PEAK Electronic, Ambient Techno. Warp Records. Listening Format: Vinyl (mostly) also CD and Digital.
When you think about Warp Records you instantly picture Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada and Squarepusher... Boundary pushing Electronic musicians who not only defined Warp, but the entire genre in the 1990s. But once Warp moved into the 00s, some excellent new blood took the forward thinking label to the next level, including Bibio, Battles, Flying Lotus and of course, Christopher Stephen Clark. Since the start of this century, Clark has been very prolific, releasing an album every two years at least, with many EPs and singles in between. Clark is blessed by not only being a distinctive and innovative composer and producer, but each of his albums are rather different in approach and concept, yet still have that unifying Clark feel and sound. [SOLILOQUY!] Before I go any further I have a slight gripe that I have with Warp Records. I have been listening to 'Death Peak' on vinyl. Clark's previous record 'The Last Panthers' was about 46 minutes long and perfectly fit onto a single vinyl disc. 'Death Peak' runs at only 43 minutes long, yet has been stretched out over 4 sides of wax! Not only is this so unnecessary, breaking the flow of the album, but they didn't even have the courtesy to make it run at 45RPM for superior sound quality!!! Come on Warp... Why you gotta play me like that??!! [END SOLILOQUY] Clark's ninth full length 'Death Peak' once again feels like it has a unifying concept running through it. The sounds and ideas try to tell a story without using words or lyrics. It certainly sounds nothing like his underrated previous album, 'The Last Panthers', which delved into Ambient music and live instrumentation, being a score for the BBC TV series of the same name (CHECK IT OUT!) 'Death Peak' is very much drawing back to a synthetic sound, with squelching synthesizers and wonky beats. Though Clark does implement (mostly) female vocals, adding an ethereal, indecipherable sound to many of these tracks. 'Catastrophe Anthem' even adds what sounds like a children's choir between the choppy synth leads. These use of vocals feel like a new tool that Clark is playing with and for the most part they are used in interesting ways and don't detract from the listening experience. The main problem with 'Death Peak' is that whilst it is full of plenty of varying ideas, it suffers from a lack of interesting cohesion, structural development and most importantly, memorable melodies and hooks. The record really kicks into gear with, 'Butterfly Prowler', lead by this swirling, detuned synth loop that sounds like the listener is being spun around on a waltzer ride. Conceptually very interesting, but on repeat listens the lack of a decent melody in this track actually makes it become more annoying each time I spin this record (which has been about 15 times now on various formats). The two winning tracks for me come directly after. 'Peak Magnetic' is a rollercoaster of peaks and troughs, where the synths and hard beats actually compliment one another, riding in tandem. 'Hoova' is a straight up techno banger which builds into hard arpeggiated synths where the beats wrap around it. Unfortunately the second half of the record enters less riveting territories. It feels like Clark is really trying to do something innovative, but if also feels like he is throwing paint at the canvas just to see what sticks. Even after many, many listens, very little other than 'Catastrophe Anthem' seems to be remotely memorable to me on this second half of the record (and I don't particularly dig this track). It just feels like an awkward mess with no clear direction. The album concludes on a ten minute long "side length" 'Un U.K.' which is literally ten minutes of nothingness... It feels like scraps of leftover ideas just stuck together with no rhyme or reason, eventually drifting off into a vague hum.
I've honestly enjoyed every single Clark album til now. Even his "Folktronica" effort 'Iradelphic' is an album of his I frequently come back to, despite critics and fans generally considering it his worst effort. Unfortunately for me, 'Death Peak' is the first major disappointment in Clark's wonderful discography. Even though some of his best signatures and trademarks are present, it feels like Clark is actually trying too hard this time around, desperately trying to grab the listener or say something bold, but actually saying very little at all. Ultimately 'Death Peak' is an album that screams in the face of the listener, but what it is trying to scream at me is totally garbled and indecipherable... 6/10.
