The Wichitan is taking a big step this year in the arts & entertainment area by launching The Wichitan Music as its online host of anything and everything music-related. From album and song reviews, artist features and local coverage, The Wichitan Music plans on covering it all. But before looking forward to all the upcoming releases this fall, let’s look back at what has been a great summer for some, and bad one for others.
The Good:
Frank Ocean – Channel ORANGE
Channel ORANGE is everything that any artist would wish for out of a debut album. Frank Ocean’s soulful croon, heartfelt lyrics, and smooth production have helped him exceed every expectation expected of him from the sample he gave the world with 2011’s Nostalgia, Ultra, and also create what may be the album of the year. While it can be debated that Frank’s coming out about past feelings for another man may have boosted interest in his album before its release, there’s no doubting that Frank’s quick wit and sincere honesty more than carry the weight of this album.
Standout tracks like “Thinkin Bout You,” “Pyramids,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Bad Religion” are prime examples of Frank’s supreme songwriting. Guest spots from Andre 3000 and Earl Sweatshirt give a hip-hop edge to this pure R&B album, and John Mayer also makes a great appearance playing a guitar solo over the interlude “White.” The only complaint I can come up with for this album is that the excellent “Voodoo” is drowned out in the closing track from the tape hissing and whirring that was made novelty on Nostalgia, Ultra. From start to end, Channel ORANGE is a near perfect masterpiece that puts Frank far above his peers and signifies a bright future for his career.
Beach House – Bloom
In 2010, Baltimore gained another superstar indie band in Beach House with the release of Teen Dream. With this album, the music world witnessed Beach House come into their own, writing one of the most emotionally gripping albums about love and desire and ending up at the top of many Best Of lists that year. Two years later, the band has shown the continuation in lush sound exploration and higher quality recording with Bloom. Tracks like “Myth,” “Wild,” “Lazuli,” and “New Year” demonstrate the bands ability to pace a track and let it breathe and build up as it progresses, as well as the new full sound the band has embraced.
The tracks no longer cower within the bedroom walls they were recorded in, but breakthrough them and fill up as much space as they can – something people were never sure the band would learn how to do. While I’ll still hold Teen Dream as a better album, there is no denying the quality and growth that Bloom has. Expect this album to once again land them near the top of many year-end lists, and don’t miss out on seeing them in Dallas at the Palladium on September 21.
Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel…
This year finally saw the return of Fiona Apple after eight long years. Her last album, 2005’s Extraordinary Machine, left a bitter taste in critics’ and fans’ mouths alike after she broke up her musical relationship with producer Jon Brion, the driving force behind her previous efforts. With Brion out, producer Mike Elizondo, famous for working with Eminem and Dr. Dre, was brought in to restructure the songs Apple and Brion fleshed out. As you can expect, the results were as awkward and forced in some places as it sounds on paper. So for The Idler Wheel…(the full title is really long), Apple made the logical move of making this album on her own. Gone is the over-produced, almost hip-hop-like tones of Elizondo, as well as the lush string arrangements Brion was known for. In their place is what may really be the first full-fledged Fiona Apple album she’s released. Many tracks are simply Apple and her piano (“Every Single Night”,” “Werewolf”), an approach so simple that it’s a wonder she never did this before. The payoff is a more intimate, personal album from an artist known for being intimate and personal. Apple is much older and wiser than the young lady she was when she wrote hits like “Criminal” and “Paper Bag.” While still angry and as fiery as ever, she comes off as more subdued, at times understanding, when it comes to love and relationships (“Valentine,” “Johnathan”). To sum it up nicely, The Idler Wheel… is an excellent album that shows the growth of a talented young lady into an even better, matured woman and all the struggles she’s survived.
The Bad:
Maroon 5: Overexposed
At this point, is Maroon 5 even a band or just a moniker for Adam Levine? It’s not a secret that Levine’s become a huge star off the success of the NBC show The Voice, but with this new stardom has obviously come a new muse for Levine. Gone are the instruments and what sounds like the backing of his band, Levine is front and center over C grade electro-pop for over an hour on what can only be described as a “WTF?!” album. From the awful appearance of Wiz Khalifa on “Payphone” to “Moves Like Jagger,” this whole album feels like a stab in the heart of those who were fans of Maroon 5’s former quick-witted and sophisticated rock from the Songs About Jane era. For his band’s sake (if he even has one), hopefully this was just a one-off that Levine had to get out of his system before they could move on to bigger and better things.
Justin Bieber: Believe
I’ll be the first to admit that Believe isn’t that bad, at least in the sense of everything else that is out there in the pop world that’s at Justin Bieber’s level. The thing that puts this album on the bad side of the summer spectrum, though, is Bieber’s age and new image. It’s understandable that as he ages, Bieber doesn’t always want to make music as bubblegum as “Baby” or “One Time” – I get that. But the makeover was not very well calculated. It seems like he went from an innocent 12 year-old singing innocent pop songs to this 18 year-old yelling “swag,” beating photographers, attempting to rap/hanging out with rappers and trying to act older than he was with hardly any transition in between. Many have already compared this album to the transition that Justin Timberlake made with Justified and Future Sex/Love Sounds. The main difference in Timberlake and Bieiber (other than true talent) is that Timberlake was a lot more believable in his new role as a smooth adult crooner bringing “Sexyback” than Bieber is on any part of his latest album. Timberlake proved himself effortlessly with each new song he put out and every live performance. Bieber on the other hand appears to be trying too hard to remind people that he is 18 now. Is it fair to base the opinion on his album by perception and comparison – Maybe, maybe not? But considering the generic dance-pop sound used throughout all of Believe, it’d be a far stretch to consider it anywhere near the good spectrum.