The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Summer 2015 music releases
The music world is not always a pretty place. In fact, it’s a battlefield. It was rough, but I survived my summer as an observer on the front line. I have seen the good, I have seen the bad, and I have seen the ugly.
The Good
This summer I was afraid that my favorite artists had lost their touch. Wilco released a free surprise album, “Star Wars.” It was 33 minutes long and sounded like it was made within an hour. Beach House released “Depression Cherry,” their first album in three years and definitely their most lightweight work yet.
There were also albums so close to being great it was heartbreaking. Tame Impala returned with a new pop sound on “Currents.” It was surprisingly enjoyable. The album is excellently produced and their change in sound is pretty bold. Yet the actual songs themselves don’t do the aesthetic justice. A couple great tracks here, but also some dry musical duds.
West Coast rapper Vince Staples released his debut album “Summertime ’06,” a double album. It’s a pretty hot album overall. Disc one had me thinking this was the rap album of the summer. Disc two attempts to be bleak, but comes off weak.
Summer’s true heroes showed up in August. Indie songwriter Destroyer released a creative set of songs with “Poison Season.” Singer Dan Bejar gives colorful narratives backed by nontraditional pop instrumentation — more like a ’60s metropolitan soundscape.
I also loved the new Chelsea Wolfe album “Abyss.” Wolfe has made some great goth rock in the past, but the production here sounds gigantic. The guitars are noisier, and the songs are heavier.
The new FKA Twigs EP “M3LL155X” surpassed my expectations. It’s an even darker turn from her debut LP last year. The rhythms here are industrial and progressive. This is some legitimately weird R&B; crazy high quality work for just an EP.
Lastly, Dr. Dre released his first album in 15 years. I haven’t given “Compton” a fair listen yet. I was doing dishes at a restaurant while the head chef cranked up the album on shuffle. I thought it was pretty good. It probably would have been better if I heard it in order. Any homies out there with Apple products wanna do me a favor?
The Bad
“Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz.”
I saw The Flaming Lips in concert two years ago. It was as weird and psychedelic as I could have ever hoped. Wayne Coyne stood onstage in a purple, sparkly suit and a plastic baby in his arms. The light show gave me a headache. They launched canons of confetti at the audience. The Flaming Lips are weird. Miley Cyrus really wants to be weird.
By all means, her new album is weird. The Flaming Lips themselves helped make half of it. The lyrics, music and production are all totally random. Yet all these attempts at sounding like a drug trip just sound incredibly forced. Don’t believe anything she says for a second. The entire purpose of this album is to appeal to a minority audience. This isn’t Miley trying something new, it’s Miley doing something for shock value … again.
The Ugly
Miguel’s “Wildheart” has received high critical praise this summer for its diverse approaches to R&B. I can see why people love it. It’s got some catchy melodies and there is plenty of genre-blending throughout the album. Perhaps “genre-clashing” is the better term. The guitars sound like crap. When Miguel tries to be dirty or sexy, the music doesn’t support him. When Miguel tries to sound humble, it sounds like mediocre radio cheese. “Wildheart” would have a lot more potential if Miguel worked harder on his music than on his ego.
There are probably plenty more new releases that fall under these categories. If you find some, let me know.
— Scott Hall is a stage management major at USU. He plays guitar and cries and sings.
scottehall3@gmail.com