Album Review: Jill Scott Embraces her inner "Woman"

First and foremost, Jill Scott is JILL SCOTT!!!, the Neo Soul chanteuse/poet who delivered classics like "Womanifesto", "Hate on Me", "Golden" and my personal pic,  "Gettin' in the Way". Say whatever you want about Jill (most especially with all the backlash on social media from defending Bill Cosby, someone that comes from where she comes from - north Philadelphia) one thing you cant deny is her ...

Album Review: Taylor Swift's "1989"

 

When Bob Dylan went electric, he didn't stop being Dylan. "Like a Rolling Stone" broke a few barriers in 1965—including the radio-frightening six-minute mark—but the writer behind it remained the same, quick with an elusive metaphor and a sneer.  Still, Dylan was 24 then, the age Taylor Swift is now, and he was anxious to ...

Albums to Listen To Right Now

I was recently comparing the listening to music today to say ten years ago and it is glaring albums literally sell a fraction of what they used to (except your Adele or Taylor Swift) and the question is why? Because the vast innovation and evolution in music today is unparalleled but then again it seems the more we evolve, the less our attention span lasts and let’s not forget that every penny counts so with all that in mind, these are some albums that are out now that deserve to be on rotation.

Album Review: Capital Cities' "In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery"

Tot the article was close to accurate! enjoy (by Jordan Webb)

I would be lying if I said there was an enormous amount of variety enveloped within this album, but for a debut album by the Los Angeles based band, it really isn’t that bad!
First and foremost, anybody that can include Andre 3000 on a record is bound to ...

Album Review: Lady's "Lady"

Happy New Year everyone! hope u enjoyed the holidays, iv been away for a bit but i got this review (from Pitchfork) just for you. All i have to say is since my friend Nnamdi introduced me to this group, i cant put the record down!!!
In the States, the popular perception of soul is that it’s the sound of nostalgia, as defined by Blues Brothers dance-offs, Big Chill soundtracks, California Raisins commercials, Duckie serenades, and the countless dusty hip-hop samples that trigger back-in-the-day remembrances. Even its most visible modern-day adherents-- like Bruno Mars or Justin Timberlake-- reinforce the throwback assocations by using soul music as an opportunity to anachronistically dress up in suits and employ large, identically attired backing bands seated behind large name-plates. But in England, soul has been a ...

Lady Gaga, 'ARTPOP': Track-By-Track Review [Billboard]

While most mainstream musicians care deeply about both the details of their music and the way that music is presented to the world, Lady Gaga is the hardest-working artist in pop music because she makes absolute certain that every inch of her craft evolves and innovates. Her first major hit, "Just Dance," is a cleverly constructed account of being deliriously drunk but ....

Album Review: Demi Lovato: 'Demi'

According to Demi Lovato, her fourth studio album has the potential to be her "next level" moment; a record capable of extending her fanbase beyond the mostly young US crowd and turn her into a global mainstayer. She's already gained a decent footing by becoming everyone's surprise ...

Album Review: Stooshe's "London With The Lights On"

The long-awaited debut album from Courtney, Karis and Alexandra, also known as Stooshe, has finally landed. We find out if London With The Lights On was worth the wait.

Album Review: Demi Lovato's 'Demi' [BILLBOARD]

At this point, Demi Lovato's story of success is well-known and does not need to be further dissected. In 2012, the 20-year-old scored her biggest hit to date with the sumptuously simple "Give Your Heart a Break," headlined a well-received summer tour to support her 2011 album "Unbroken" and increased her national profile by sitting on "The X Factor" judges panel; Lovato was a musical star to those who didn't know the details of her prior personal struggles, and many of those who did viewed the singer as ...

Album Review: New Kids On The Block's"10"

As the music video for their new single 'Remix (I Like The)' shows, New Kids On The Block still own a brilliant sense of humour. What's more, while the clip - which sees an initially shy fan played by It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia actress Artemis Pebdani strutting her stuff at a pool party - is a knowingly self-aware nod to them and their fans entering their mature years, the song itself is a ...

Album Review: Imagine Dragon's ‘Night Visions’ (by Jack Ryan)

I was let on to listening to this good record by my best Mate, Nnamdi and it just stuck with me. i wanted to give you another evaluation of the record that specifically spoke to me. enjoy:

Following in the slipstream of The Killers, Imagine Dragons are the latest rock band to emerge from Las Vegas and head off into stardom. The quartet, with vocalist Dan Reynolds as the only surviving founding member, released three EPs before finally being signed onto Interscope Records in late 2011. Yet another EP was then released and the album opener, It’s Time, was release as a single. Both did well in the US and created a ...

Album review: Laura Mvula's 'Sing To The Moon'

Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse are among the lofty comparisons that have so far been made to Birmingham singer Laura Mvula. She recently insisted that "with utmost respect" she ignores such comments, but acknowledges as a newcomer the need for musical points of reference. 

A likeness to the greats arose when Mvula released 'She' last year, a slice of minimalist soul backed by a cooing choir and twinkling xylophone that nods to Billie and Nina as well as her personal fondness for choral music. Like them, her voice rarely reaches belter mode, instead remaining quietly composed yet still utterly compelling. That said, the ease of which she conquers the stirring strings on opener 'Like The Morning Dew' proves there's plenty of power in her.

Album Review: Kate Nash's "Girl Talk"

Let me begin by saying that this is undoubtedly, a rebelliously bad album. Her previous album "My best Friend Is You" was too good an album so you can understand my frustration upon hearing how bad her follow up "Girl Talk" sounds (great concepts but a very poorly produced and quite confused record altogether). Finding moderate fame in 2007 with indie-pop hit Foundations, London-born Kate Nash has returned with her third album, Girl Talk. Opening track Part Heart instantly shows a different side to the 25 year-old Nash: an echoed and almost unfinished sounding offering with a bizarre, ...

Album Review: Dido's 'Girl Who Got Away'

Dido has a reputation around some parts as not the most exciting of singers, but there are plenty of surprises to be found on her fourth studio album Girl Who Got Away. Yes, the lead single 'No Freedom' - with its pleasantly folky midtempo ...

Album Review: Justin Timberlake's 'The 20/20 Experience'

When "FutureSex/Lovesounds" was released in September 2006, Justin Timberlake was 25 years old, in a relationship with Cameron Diaz that was about to end, and for all intents and purposes, still a kid trying to prove himself and sustain the post-*N SYNC momentum of 2003's "Justified." Today, Timberlake is 32 years old, married to Jessica Biel, and has nothing left to prove. He has, in fact, been hounded for a half-decade to release new music, and not been frantically tossing out stopgap singles to remind the world of his presence. When Timberlake announced his ...

Album review: Emeli Sandé, Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Accompanied by strings and backing vocalists, Live at the Royal Albert Hall offers a suitably grandiose showcase for 2012's biggest breakthrough act. This is Emeli's confirmation, with the anthemic clout of songs like “Where I Sleep”, “Heaven” and the Labrinth duet “Beneath Your Beautiful” greeted with hysterical cheer . Contrarily, the new song “Enough”, a love plaint set to a hypnotic piano motif and strings, is greeted like a hit single, as is Emeli's tribute to Nina Simone, a rather heavy-handed “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”. Ironically, amid all the orchestral and choral grandeur, some of the more effective performances are the most spartan, particularly a compelling version of “Suitcase” carried by little more than a bassline. A Grammy-worthy Performance by a deserving artist.

Album Review; Ellie Goulding's "Halcyon"

The have and have not of artistic credibility used to be pretty clear cut in the UK music scene in the 1980s. You had your pop stars, appearing on Top Of The Pops, wearing ridiculous costumes, spending (in the case of the really successful ones) hundreds of thousands of pounds on the blossoming music video phenomenon. Then you had your surly looking ...

Record Spin: Adam Lambert's Trespassing

Trespassing is the album that fans of the former American Idol runner-up have been wanting from him. More cohesive and personal than 2010's For Your Entertainment, it finds Lambert drawn to

Record Spin: Rye Rye's 'Go! Pop! Bang!'

The 21-year-old Baltimore rapper has been rocking clubs since she was 16, and after five years of paying dues and touring with mentor M.I.A., she unleashes her booty-shake-inducing rhymes on mainstream listeners. Once you put it on, there is no point in ...

Pink Friday: Roman reloaded (Roman Is Released)

Last week saw us diving into critical music buying as Midge's MDNA was released 2 weeks ago and now the hottest/most anticipated hip- hop album for the first part of the year has also been released for our digestion. First let me say that Nicki is a genus! That in place this album also shows her business woman savvy but I’ll get to that a bit later.

Roman Reloaded Is a Hip Hop record but the first thing you get from it is that it transcends ...