Boards Of Canada is a Scottish electronic duo and Tomorrow’s Harvest is their fourth full length LP and first album in eight year with last being The Campfire Headphase. Boards Of Canada are known for their ambient analog sound and eclectic samples that add a special since of personality to their music.

       Tomorrow’s Harvest isn’t a break in the usual style or technique for the duo there’s still a nice analog sound and beautiful ambient soundscapes. The main difference is the feel and tone of the album which is said to be influenced by lots of 80’s and 70’s dark films. This sets the stage for BOC’s most eerie and chilly album to date. Though they are nicely detailed and tracks like ”Reach For The Dead”  that really progress into  very epic pretty moments that can be awe inspiring. For the most part the album albums tracks have a moody and unsettling feel to them in the best way.”Gemini” really sets a dark tone for the mood of the album.

     I really like this album and though it feels familiar it kind of has an opposite mood of stuff like ‘‘Music Has a Right To Children which felt pleasant and quirky to me. Tomorrow’s Harvest also feels a little more vast in it’s atmosphere and maybe a tad less immediate. I wouldn’t say it’s grower though if you already like BOC than this group of tracks will be right up your ally. If you want some chill and classically produced IDM than I’d have to recommend this album. As much as I liked the album and it is great but it’s a tad more of mood album for me than some of their earlier work. I find the individual tracks just to be a little less memorable than on previous efforts but overall a very good album that’s worth a few listens.

Rating: 8.0/10

By: Patrick Griffin II

Chrisette Michele - Better (Audio) (by ChrisetteMicheleVEVO)

Chrisette Michele is an R&B artist and Better is her fourth full length LP released on Def Jam. Chrisette has been steady growing in popularity and as a vocalist since her debut I Am back in 07. Is Better actually Better than previous efforts?

      For one the album is in good spirits mentally with the theme of it being ready to take on and handle new found love with maturity. I do like the upbeat and fun seeking mood of the album. Musically she works within r&b soul and pop, it’s none to different than other big artist in the contemporary R&B genre with Mary J being the closet comparison I could draw. Her voice, though is solid isn’t nearly as emotive and as rich as Mary’s. She can’t belt it out and still a show on vocals alone but she does have charisma and some decent lyrics to sing on this LP. The album does tend to suffer from being a tad long and when the lyrics just aren’t there like on the track ”Couple of Forevers” it make an otherwise catchy song as tad cringe worthy.

      There are some catchy numbers on here and some good ballads like the title track. Still Chrisette fails to keep me emotionally engaged throughout the album. Either I think ”I’d rather hear a better vocalist sing this” or ”These lyrics are a bit off”. When the songs don’t have a obvious issue they’re nice, pleasant but very generic. Still there’s some strong singles in there and If you’re really into mainstream contemporary r&b you’ll probably like this album more than I did and I’d give it a shot. 

Rating: 5.5/10

By: Patrick Griffin II 

The music has changed quite a bit over the last decade, is there any other drastic changes you’d like to see? I’d like to see album prices go down. I don’t think any album should be above 10$ especially if it’s a digital copy. Maybe 12$ for deluxe albums and 15$ for double disc albums. Other than that just a wider range of balance across genres when it comes to radio play. I’d nice to see radio stations take chances on artist and expose people to different types of music.

”Word is Bond”  Is a new single from Joey Bada$$ off his up coming Mix-tape Summer Knights. Joey sounds as hungry as ever. He’s still working in his comfort zone on top of 90’s boom bap beats with dirty drums. Very good track.

Mars and The Massacre - Party Song (by MarsandTheMassacre)

Mars And The Massacre is a psychedelic/garage rock trio from LA. I believe this to be their debut EP entitled EP A. MATM is a band that creates emotive songs that may start simple but tend to build into sprawling climaxes and adventurous song structures. EP A is very well crafted.

      ”Party Song” is the first song on the album and it’s exactly what it sounds like a high energy song bursting with exuberance. Even from the first track you get a sense of how tight the band is as the jam out in the end of the track. The guitar work is great along with the drumming. I wasn’t certain of how I felt about the vocals on first listen but after giving the EP a few more listens they easily grew on me.

       ”Four Loko Blues” comes right after that track and that’s when things go from good to impressive. The band shows more psych rock touches in this song and there are just a lot shifts in song structure and pace as the song moves along. That really made the track feel longer and like more was going on within the four and a half minutes it lasted. The solo in that track is a highlight it was very nice. ”Pete and Pete” is the final track on the EP and it’s a seven minute track that’s both epic and mixes melancholy melody’s with instrumentation that really rocks out.

      Even though the EP is only three tracks long the details in the songs make them very impact full. Each track had a different feel and all three were well played. Quality is definitely better than quantity and  what really impresses me is the band doesn’t come off sounding nearly as amateurish as a lot of the stuff I get sent from and camp or soundcloud. MATM is well polished. I enjoyed this EP quite a bit and I’ll be looking out for their next project for sure. If you’re into garage rock or psych rock I’d give this a listen.

Rating: 8.0/10 

By: Patrick Griffin II

  http://marsandthemassacre.bandcamp.com/

Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - ‘Not Enough Words’ (by Action Bronson)

Anarbor - Who Can Save Me Now (Lyric Video) (by HopelessRecords)

Anarbor is an up an coming pop-punk band out of Phoenix Arizona and Burnout is the bands second  full length release on Hopefuless Records. Anarbor has a tendency to make very catchy tunes in a pop punk/power pop style that can get stuck in your head but can they put together a solid album?

       Upon listening to this album a couple things stood out at me the vocals and the choruses. Slade Echeverria(lead singer) is very charismatic and has a nice sized range on these tracks and even shows some nice falsetto’s on the album. The choruses pop on nearly every track  on the album which is a key to any band working in this genre. Lyrically the band can be a tad weak, tracks like ”18” and ”Damage I’ve Done” are a tad cringe worthy to me but for the most part the lyrics which are mostly about heartbreak don’t from the songs to much.

     Instrumentally the band is where the band was a bit lacking to me. Some of the tracks came out just flat as far as guitars and drums are concerned. I thought the production was a little to glossy on some of the tracks cause even though the vocals were good I would’ve liked to see the guitars match that energy. Still this album feels like it’s meant for an audience a bit younger than I am and audience that can get really into the adolescent lyricism and feel of the album.

     Anarbor have a lot of potential and I just think they need to develop their sound a bit more and not be afraid to give some of these tracks a bit more of live feel. If you’re into bands like Boys Like Girls or The All-American Rejects early work I’d definitely recommend giving this album a shot.

Rating: 6.5/10 

By: Patrick Griffin II