Weekly Roundup - Unreviewed Releases: May 5-26, 2023

 

Calliope Music Weekly Roundup

Unreviewed Releases

May 5-26, 2023

Rated Albums

billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps 

8/10

Best Tracks: Soft Landing -- Blue Smoke -- Babylon By Bus -- Year Zero -- Hangman -- Baby Steps -- FaceTime -- Agriculture -- Houdini -- Waiting Around -- NYC Tapwater -- As the Crow Flies

The second collaboration between abstract rapper, billy woods and Hip-Hop producer, Kenny Segal is another incredible collection of dour eclecticism and conscious jazz vibrations. billy woods' complex and methodical reference filled lyricism coupled with the expressive darkness of Segal's instrumentals paint highly vivid environments of solitude and travel. It is almost wicked the way woods effortlessly navigates multiplex concepts through smooth wordplay and encyclopedic vocabulary. These references and stories are given backbone with sinister bass grooves, moody piano loops and subtle sampling. Collectively, woods and Segal complement one another's darkness, manifesting in a marinated mixture of begrimed beats and stirring lyricism. While not every musical progression accomplishes such balance, well rounded guest features add seasoning to an already tremendously flavorful stew. Every listen invites one to discover another interpretation to woods' words while Segal's production gives a consistent emotive theme, allowing the listener to sink deep into the extensive dusk that is Maps.

Jeromes Dream - The Gray In Between

7.5/10

Best Tracks: South by Isolation -- Pines on the Hill (with Guests) -- AAEEAA -- On Holiday with Infinity -- The Future of Memory -- The Last Water Pearl

Screamo band, Jeromes Dream returns once again post their two decade hiatus throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The Gray In Between serves as a dividend of the time gone, delivering on the anguished noise and screeching violence the group is known for. With the help of Deathheaven's former producer, Jack Shirley, Jeromes Dream forms a new pathos, building radically shrill soundscapes of blistering anger and wallowing misery. Unabating kick drums move bodies of raucous guitar, ruthless in its pursuit of emotional release. Short and rhythmic screams add to a savage festering of noise, letting all negative energy out into bloodbaths of grinding guitar and woofing bass. It is this emancipation of built up ire that becomes cathartic, despite such corrosive instrumentation. However, the LP does stand at a brief 24 minutes and a few sonic developments share such brevity. Such movements breeze by, adding to the chaos of the album, but subtracting from the overall progress of sentiment being displayed. Regardless of such pithiness, The Gray In Between keeps its beauty in purgative rescue, making for an enrapturing modern screamo project.

Kesha - Gag Order

6/10

Best Tracks: Something To Believe In -- Eat The Acid -- Only Love Can Save Us Now-- Peace & Quiet --  Happy

For the first time in her decade long career, Kesha leaves the comfort of standard Electronic and Dance Pop for more experimental Alternative Pop variants. Gag Order sees Kesha become a Singer-Songwriter, opening up about the mental strain and depression that stems from being a product of an unethical music industry. A wide variety of influences, ranging from Charli XCX to Fiona Apple supply an exploratory flow to the album as Kesha navigates powerful synth refrains, mellow piano sections and even Pop ambience. An array of midi selections display pleas of prolonged anxiety, instituting large soundscapes for high-powered vocals to pour upon. Where Kesha is able to traverse new concepts while still being able to arrange formidable choruses, not every idea feels entirely indigenous to her own identity. The Pop star relies heavily on their influences, not quite separating themselves from the originality of her contemporaries. Regardless, Gag Order remains a compelling statement of intrapersonal conflict, becoming Kesha's most commanding and diverse project yet.

KAYTRAMINÉ - KAYTRAMINÉ

5/10

Best Tracks: 4EVA -- UGH UGH -- EYE -- K&A

Rapper, AMINÉ and producer, Kaytranada combine for bubbly, yet uninventive West Coast Hip-Hop in this collaborative LP. Kaytranada's beats are what stand out the most on the 33 minute album, forming smooth RnB rhythms and sunshine Hip-Hop instrumentals. Utilizing bongo drumming, trap hats and vibrant synths the imagery of summertime is at full display through the production, establishing a mood of relaxation and merrymaking. Some guest choruses and samples also provide memorable melodies that complement the laidback vibrations of the instrumentals. Then there's AMINÉ, who's confident and convivial vocals add to the positive haze of the beats, but poor lyricism subtracts from replay value. Largely focused on sex and hustle culture, AMINÉ raps with loose flows, using minimal wordplay and relying more on vulgarities to get lighthearted lyrics across. While AMINÉ's cadence and voice fits the temperate synths and bells of the production well, an extreme lack of depth or imagination in the lyrics prevent the project from exceeding indifference.