Listen Here – BandCamp
Engineered, Mixed, + Remastered By: Gianluca Guidetti
Featuring: Yurodivy, Decultivate, Storm{O}, + Joliette
Artwork By: Alessio Santagata
Produced By: INFALL + Gianluca Guidetti
Track List: Chamber, Back Home Early, The Random Butcher, In The Mess, (Who) The Hell’s Inside My Head, Gift, Palindrome, CYD, Decay, Birth, Silent
Embracing the Columbian roots fully like never before, Kali Uchis leans hard on her newest record, Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞ as a medium for both expression and self-identification.
Sung primarily, (nearly 95%) in Spanish with even the tracklists in her native tongue, it is engaging for an American audience but translates through the production and emotional display on each piece. Beginning with “la luna enamorada,” Uchis is able to showcase and power through a performance that is eye-catching even from the first verse. She begins, “La noche y tú, vive la luna enamorada.” With backing vocals to not only concentrate a spotlight onto the range that Uchis has, but the rather subtle instrumentation is reminiscent of a campfire tale. Something that is both simple, but has a message which peels back the layering into the often somber or gentle crescendo of sounds at her disposal.
The following track, “fue major” features PARTYNEXTDOOR and he has about the only English that is present on the record. While the instrumentation behind both him and Uchis are strictly built for love-making in the pale moonlight; “fue major” can’t help but feel sensual here. The 808 that is layered through warping but still coherent scales and the easy listening operatic flairs are beautiful. If nothing else, Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞ is enthralling for its raw grace.
In one of the more upbeat displays on the record, “telepatía” is calming and is the perfect setting amongst the sun and ocean scene. Uchis’ inflection here on the track has these moments of sudden sparks where she describes, “You know I’m just a flight away if you wanted you can take a private plane.” She continues on to illustrate, “Y me prendes aunque no me estés tocando, you know I got a lot to say.”
Hearing the Spanish vocals that seem to mix with a mostly modern bedroom dream-pop sound is fantastic and through each listen adds a layer of discoverability with Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞. From her original work on Por Vida or her debut studio release, Isolation; Uchis is headed in this positive direction that not only shows growth but allows the audience the privilege of growing with her.
A shining example of this ability to use her voice and image to conquer an industry, Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞ is an extension of all the prettiest parts from her past two ventures. The gloss and gleam fits Uchis well and it makes sense why she is always weighing heavy on the heart.
Listen Here – Spotify
Featuring: Earl Sweatshirt, Tha God Fahim, Your Old Droog, Navy Blue, Young Queenz, Tvoy
Track List: SBTM (Sweeney Been Told Me), Soon Jah Due, Marshmellow Test, Smoked Maldon, Photocopy Sloppy (Dump Fraud), Pour House, Clout Dracula (Remix), Squeaky Hinge, NJ Ultra
Listen Here – BandCamp
Track List: iswear., bofeezne., nodoubt[S.I.T], 8thstrike_, no-ceiling_, we.are, fear., snow_, dntellnobdyPRT2., dadadada_, rice&peas[rthru], sonik_, wakeup[tro], steek_, wntunderstand_, othr24hrs_, basio., loveisthepowr[w8’onu]
Listen Here – BandCamp
Vocals, Guitar, Synth, + Harmonium: Ascalaphus
Vocals, Guitar, Bass, + Synth: Bezaelith
Drums: Maleus
Album Cover: Benjamin A. Vierling
Engineered, Mastered,+ Mixed By: Jack Shirley
Track List: Following Light, Nightbridge
In the wee hours of the desperate night, feeling hopeless and lost, a sound can be heard that exemplifies and is able to separate itself from the cityscape that surrounds the madness. Somewhere buried between pots of black coffee and enough cigarettes to choke a degenerate, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited spins like a pale rider amongst the obsidian night.
Through emotional dissonance and the want to revolutionize oneself, Dylan pushed his sixth album to become more electric. This slight change was as if the wheel had been redesigned as if sliced bread was at its inception; Highway 61 Revisited chronicles both the poetry of Dylan wrapped in a fresh coat of paint.
The opening track, “Like A Rolling Stone” is iconic enough to be covered by more than just those who experienced a guitar and despair together. “Like A Rolling Stone” is still powerful enough even 55 years later to bring a tear to the eye and wash over the audience as if Dylan was speaking directly to the individual. With an electric gleam and an organ chord structure heavy enough to break hearts, Dylan describes on the chorus, “How does it feel? How does it feel? To be without a home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone.”
While simple on the delivery, having such an emotionally draining first track that sets its roots into the audience is a bold choice for his redesign. As Dylan marches on into “Tombstone Blues” where the more upbeat and comedic poetry is reminiscent of a folk standout, its reliance on the hook verse structure that is buried by a ragtime organ of sorts becomes illusionary.
Dylan describes in this barn-burner of an instrumental, “The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course, the city fathers they’re trying to endorse, the reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse.” As the music picks up like a storming hurricane, Dylan moves on to say, “But the town has no need to be nervous. The ghost of Belle Starr she hands down her wits, to Jezebel the nun, she violently knits. A bald wig for Jack The Ripper who sits. As the head of the Chamber of Commerce.”
While Highway 61 Revisited is such a monumental album and will be recognized as one of the greatest pieces of Dylan’s career, the writing here always manages to either bring a flurry of either laughter and smiles or absolute dread. It is almost astounding to see the style switches that occur through Highway 61 Revisited and just how well they identify Dylan’s career.
There is a plethora to love disguised under Dylan’s passionate sixth studio release, especially with “Queen Jane Approximately” which is dreamy and somehow packs this love ballad into a digestible dichotomy. Five-and-a-half minutes is surrounded by ’50s plucking electric guitars that would make Chuck Berry glimmer. Dylan’s harsh harmonica wails are present on the track and give “Queen Jane Approximately” this undertone of unity between his two persistent sounds. On one end, a folk writer and legend, and at other times, an eclectic rebel who remains enigmatic through each release.
Inspiring more than just the generation that followed him, Bob Dylan is certainly an acquired taste that becomes more approachable with both Highway 61 Revisited and his Blonde On Blonde record that soon followed. While hated for its complete change of mantra, Dylan’s experimentation led him to a crossroads where he eventually blended the two pathways to crunch under his leather shoes.
Listen/Watch Here – Youtube
Sound Recorded By: clipping. + Christopher Fleeger
Filmed By: Cristina Bercovitz + Christopher Cichocki
Edited By: Christopher Fleeger
Color By: Cristina Bercovitz
Listen Here – BandCamp
Recorded By: Peter DeBoer
Mixed By: Colin Marston
Mastered By: V. Santura
Track List: The Curtain Pulls Back, The Crimson Rider, The Iron Horse, Fire & Gold, Masquerade Of The Gunslingers, Intermission, Vaudeville
Listen Here – BandCamp
Written, Mixed, + Mastered By: YL
Photography + Cover By: Derek Balarezo
Featuring: Yungmorpheus, Starker, Koncept Jack$on, Theravada, Mid
Produced By: Chuck Strangers, Zoomo, Yungmorpheus, Grimm Doza, Unlucky Bastards, Beven Stary, Jack, No Face, Argov, YL, Roper Williams, LastNameDavid, Rob Chambers, Navy Blue, Benji Socrate$, Foisey, Saint James
Track List: July Raps, Kriss Kross, Player’s Ball, 3LW, Big Picture, Mirage, Citibike Drive, In A Haze Like Isaac, 2 Pair, Riverside Freestyle, Green Light, Homme / Angel Interlude, Life After Death, The Maury Show, Clicqout, Switch, Time Worth More Than Money, Hills Have Eyes, Ghost Ride, Pray On It
Listen Here – BandCamp
Listen Here – BandCamp
Written + Produced By: Greg Kubacki
Lyrics By: Michael Dafferner
Mixed By: Adam “Nolly” Getgood
Mastered By: Ermin Hamidovic
Recorded By: Alexis Berthelot, Greg Kubacki, Jamie Uertz, + Jon Modell
Drum Recording Engineers: Alexis Berthelot + Jamie Uertz
Creative Consultant: Joseph Duplantier
Recording Consultant: Johann Meyer
Track List: Start, Fade Out, Vague Skies, Scattered Sprites, Dissect Yourself, Xoxoy, HeLa, Blackened Battery, Mordial, Eyecide, Antipatterns, Naked Fuse
Listen Here – Soundcloud/iTunes
Featuring: OJ Da Juiceman, Yung LA, Juugman, Chief Keef, G Herbo, Jack Harlow, Boosie, NLE Choppa, Pastor Troy, Playa Fly, Quavo
Track List: EA LEGENDS, MOMONEY, DID ME BAD, TENNESSEE FREESTYLE, STALKIN, FREESTYLE, AMBER ALERT, SAME OL G, YAEE