Classic Day – Shattered Valves
In the expansive career that Kanye West has had over the 20 plus years in the music industry, he has covered nearly every feat possible. From Chicago to the hills of Hollywood, from Paris to Tokyo, it is fairly hard to encounter someone in the mainstream audience that has never heard of Yeezus. The 2008 record, 808s & Heartbreak, however, was a turning point in the artist’s career that almost immediately shifted all eyes on West.
Known for its crisp production and approachability, 808s & Heartbreak quickly taps into the broken and non-mendable crush of defeat in love life. But also manages to filter in a silver lining where despair creates exhilarating art. A step away from his 2007 release, Graduation which quickly rose to charts with an accompaniment of hits and singles that are still in rotation even 12 years later. 808s & Heartbreak follows a similar vein of being replayable, but ultimately the sound is so versatile that it feels as if it could have been created by an entirely different artist. The two records as a comparison sound and feel like night and day. The sunny work of Graduation that floats high above the clouds in this burning ray of sunshine, and 808s which works to become the shadowed and distant under the security of nightfall.
With the second track “Say You Will,” West is quick to illustrate the differences between him and the people that surround him. He describes even his friends and family that alienate the life of a performer and the social normality’s that come with the day-to-day lifestyle. West begins, “My friend showed me pictures of his kids, and all I could show him was pictures of my cribs. He said his daughter got a brand new report card, and all I got was a brand new sports car.” West then moves on into the third verse where he describes a wedding scene and how heartbreak truly begins, “my god-sister getting married by the lake, but I couldn’t figure out who I’d wanna take. Bad enough that I showed up late, I had to leave before they even cut the cake.” As he then draws the curtain on the track with a simple, but effective and chilling saying, “Welcome to heartbreak” while the chorus which features Kid Cudi overlays the last moments.
There is hope on 808s & Heartbreak however as even though the stories described on the record are wounded and account for loss, the music can be uplifting and truthfully create movement. On “Paranoid” which features Mr Hudson, West describes annoyance in a past relationship, but in his charismatic and comedic tone. “You be up in mine checkin’ through my cell phone, baby no. You wanna kill the vibe on another night, here’s another fight, oh here we go,” describes West through an almost audible smile. He somehow molds heartbreak into something more approachable and relatable, from the constant fights on the synth work that creates a light show for “Paranoid” and moves him to the spotlights of pop music.
Even though the record as a whole picture tackles the topic of failure within relationships, West manages this genius mentality in making the record a productive journey. From the blaring instrumentals that were far left of what West was doing at the time, making a staple for his career that continues to adapt and decode musical progress. In one of the strongest displays on a record, 808s & Heartbreak kills the production and makes no apology.
Listen To 808s & Heartbreak Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
Misc. Day – Under The Waves
In a fairly non-dominant stance, Surfing is a two-piece hailing from Down Under, a land of waves, desolation, and Mad Max-esque cinematography. Australia is simply a long, droning piece of land that relates well with the style that Surfing’s 2012 release, Deep Fantasy portrays. Somewhere between the Lemon Myrtle plants and a dawning sun, Deep Fantasy invokes interest from afar with spaced out sounds that represent cosmic rebirth.
The debut studio record coming from Surfing, the group led by both Penny Van Hazelberg and Leroy Honeycomb where the fever dreams and idealistic representation is simply transient. The record feels more drug-induced with a ride on holographic texture packs that begins with “Del Boca Vista,” a calmly building track that surveys the landscape. It is clouded and one of desert sessions, the kind of styles that are attractive on the long car rides through the outskirts of town, or on the early morning rises. Somewhere caught in a dream through the off-times of civilization, those first rings of the guitar becomes almost otherworldly on “Moonlight” where a strong balance hangs, dangling in front of the listener.
The sense of sequencing and formality is a distant, but a warm handshake. A contradiction within the often murky watered singing and the instrumentation that creates more questions than answers. The performances are present, but never truly there as they space out and becoming starry acts amongst the atmosphere. Somehow buried in the middle as a spectator and volunteer, Surfing is an entirely calm journey that does not seem to show a sign of creating harsh noise at any point. Instead, the adaptation of each sound comes from a place of tranquility and a comfortable, but still engaging confusion.
Each track piles on and adds up these layers of simplicity where the 10-track record becomes more of a subsonic art piece than a powerhouse of sound. Each time that the vocals are introduced after a long section of instrumentation, Surfing is almost an old friend that pays an unexpected but hopeful pop-up. In a mix of mostly inaudible lyrics, the vocals are more of a bassline creation than any sort of cognition through performance. The true beauty of the vocals comes from how the repetition resembles continuous strokes of paint on a page. The bounce comes easy as the tracks on Deep Fantasy are more provoked on the sense of creativity and movement than the rapid-fire of notes.
A transitional place between death and creation, Surfing basks under a red sun that seems transplanetary. Through Deep Fantasy, the motivation on the record is engaging and suddenly a sculpture of how to create a vaporwave record through modulation and correlation. As Surfing begins to ride the final foam waves, the closing curtains are just as engaging and relating to the listener as the first seconds where for a moment, Surfing was controlling land and sea.
Listen To Deep Fantasy Here!!! – BandCamp/Youtube/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Track) GODSCONNECT – “RADIO E01”
Listen Here – Youtube
Featuring: George Marauder, Wayne Valentine, haNN_11, Knxwledge, Tha God Fahim, LORD BYRON, Ahwlee, Ohbliv, S0ul Unreal, MIKE, elate, fᴸᴼᴿᴵᴰᴼᴹᴵ, bobbitopickles, realholidaystyles, ILL-SUGI, Fitz Ambro$e, kame_, NatDigga, max melanin, DFNS, KayCyphr, el.
STREAMING // (Album) Gucci Mane – “Delusions of Grandeur”
Listen Here – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
Featuring: Meek Mill, Gunna, Lil Baby, Justin Bieber, Jeremih, Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Navé Monjo, Rick Ross, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Dolph, DJ Drama, Peewee Longway
Producers: CuBeatz, Hector Chaparro, Hitmaka, Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E., J. White Did It, Kenny Beats, London on da Track, Marii Beatz, Murda Beatz, Nils, OG Parker, P.Kaldone, PVLACE of 808 Mafia, Ricky Racks, Rockin Wit Slime, SephGotTheWaves, Six7, Smash David, Southside, Tay Keith, Tee Romano, Zaytoven
New Music – Buffalo’s Bruiser
“The judge give you life and later that day, he goin’ be playing golf,” explains Benny The Butcher on “Crowns For Kings,” one of the introductory tracks on his 24-minute, seven-track release The Plugs I Met. Making an industry from his own intuition, Benny The Butcher is a closed-fist treat where open-air threats and precious stones lay the groundwork for his storytelling.
Only six of the seven tracks have a musical component behind them, the first track simply called “Intro Skit” where a narrator describes how “natives would put a blade into the ice, and the wolf would come and lick the blade.” It tricks the wolf into thinking that the predator is getting a meal while simultaneously killing it, the narrator asks the question, “You blame the wolf for trying to eat? Or do you blame the person that put the knife in the ice.” It is similar to an old Wu-Tang spiritual where the method behind the madness is explained in riddles but leads a near perfect transition into the features from Black Thought, Jadakiss, 38 Spesh, Conway, RJ Payne, Pusha T, and INDIA that back Benny The Butcher up in this steel army of lyrical aggressors.
The production side of The Plugs I Met collaborates from DJ Shay, Daringer, Beat Butcha, and Alchemist who all have this distinction behind their performances. The star of the show is, of course, the Buffalo native Benny The Butcher who is tough and rugged behind a gentle voice that is almost soothing in some way. It is a double-edged sword, similar to the one that kills the wolf described on “Intro Skit” where Benny The Butcher takes a commanding lead.
Shown especially on the track “Took The Money to the Plug’s House” where he rides the beat and is colder than ice cream in the Buffalo nights. He describes on the track’s hook, “I took the money to the plug’s house, I ran in, scraped up the money. Then double taped the money, walk in, speeding to a lick.” Somehow behind all the underlying gang activity in his writing, the instrumentation is almost as charismatic as Benny The Butcher and uses a running bass line that conflicts with these higher-pitched chords. The boom-bap percussive set is simple but hits as hard as a one-two combination punch from a heavyweight champ.
Before the checks clear on The Plugs I Met, Benny The Butcher puts himself not on a marble pedestal, but instead under the cover of shadowed nightfall. He is subtle but carries a big stick almost as if he was more keen on the details rather than abrasiveness. In a strange balance of both aggressive descriptions and a calm voice, Benny The Butcher gives the listener a buck 50 and disappears before anyone sees anything.
Listen To The Plugs I Met Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Track) Black Teenager – “VAMPIRE”
Listen Here – Soundcloud
STREAMING // (Album) Facewreck – “Sortin’ Fools Out”
Listen Here – BandCamp
THIS IS A LIST OF THE MOST RECENT STREAMS...
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
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MATT'S MUSIC MINE - MERCH FOR SALE
VIDEO REEL 2
LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY – JESUS PIECE AT BABY’S ALL RIGHT, DECEMBER 6TH, 2022
SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “12/04/2022″
(Track) Jake Mason Trio – “Rib Eye”
(Video) Lightning Bolt – “Dead Cowboy @ TAICOCLUB 2014”
(Video) The Velvet Underground – “After Hours”
(Video) Mac Miller – “10 Years Of You”
(Video) A$AP Rocky – “Same Problems”
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)