STREAMING // (Album) Jaimie Branch – “FLY or DIE LIVE”

Listen Here – BandCamp

Trumpet, Vocals, Vibraslap: Jaimie Branch

Cello, Vocals, Tiny Cymbal: Lester St. Louis

Bass, Vocals, Egg Shakers: Jason Ajemian

Drums, Vocals, Mbira: Chad Taylor

Engineered By: Thierry Looser

Mixed By: Dave Vettraino

Mastered By: David Allen

Track List: Birds Of Paradise, Prayer For Amerikkka Pt. 1 & 2, Lesterlude, Twenty-three N Me Jupiter Redux, Reflections On A Broken Sea, Whales, Theme 001, …Meanwhile, Theme 002, Sun Times, Leaves Of Glass, The Storm, Waltzer, Slip Tider, Simple Silver Surfer, Bird Dogs Of Paradise, Nuevo Roquero Estéreo, Love Song, Theme Nothing

Classic Day – No Fun

The love language that appears on Faith No More’s King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime is more fitting to putting 10 different records into a playlist and setting that playlist on shuffle each time you reappear.

While Faith No More on their previous records had heavy metal elements through Angel Dust or the longer, more drawn out tracks like on The Real Thing, King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime is those same elements but reworked into an entirely new, almost impossible to pin down animal.

There is grace and also the ugliness, the eloquent paired with the muddied. Opening with “Get Out,” a rapid-fire almost villainous debut for sound. The percussion and guitar all played in these strong major chords and progressions are tuned low, fitting for the vocals to match in this poppy and energetic blast of performance.

The work from Mike Bordin on drums includes Roddy Bottum on keyboards and guitar. Billy Gould piles on with the bass and guitar, finding Trey Spruance on the guitar as well. The final component becomes Mike Patton who was well known for appearing in more bands than there are days in the year. Together as this conglomerate of sound, King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime is a shapeshifter of genres and styles but in the best way possible.

Tracks like “Star A.D.” could be fitting for a Japanese club bounce with these Ska-level horns and funk-fueled guitars. It is almost comedic at first until realizing that Faith No More are poetic through the structure and creation for the atmosphere. The audience is constantly being warped and pulled in these different directions, making King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime energized, but also intricate across each visit.

Other pieces like “Take This Bottle” have Patton delivering more of a ballad in the sense of vocal shouts and lyrical content. The guitars which focus on being a doo-wop, almost callback to early Rock ‘n Roll chord progression, the waves of sound here reflect beautifully. Patton is not just poetic here, but he describes, “Take this bottle, take this bottle and just walk away. The both of you, and let me feel the pain – I’ve done to you.” As the instrumentation ramps up and becomes more honed to matching his explosive vigor, the pianos and violin chords behind him sculpt pure passion to the record.

But finally, “Just A Man” is the stand-out for King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime as it combines the theatrics of Faith No More’s instrumental methods, but also the gorgeous nature that Patton can produce.

He explains, “And every night, I shut my eyes. So I don’t have to see the light, shining so bright. I’ll dream about a cloudy sky, about a cloudy sky,” while this symphonic orchestra constructs from the gloom below him. As Patton becomes more and more extreme in his delivery, a chorus accompanies him while he changes his demeanor, becoming more hopeful with each word.

He finishes by illustrating, “And every night, I shut my eyes but now I’ve got them open wide. Shining so bright, I’ll dream about a cloudy sky, about a cloudy sky.” Faith No More almost takes the audience to church with “Just A Man” and continues to repeat the rephrased chorus until it becomes the gospel to sonics.

King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime is by no means a quick record spanning in at 14 tracks and nearly an hour of both the extreme up’s and shallow low’s. Faith No More quickly makes King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime become a personal favorite for its engaging writing, solid instrumentation, and desperate need to be heard over and over again.

Listen To King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes

STREAMING // (Video) Christopher Hoffman – “Discretionary”

Listen/Watch Here – Youtube

Video By: Christopher Hoffman

Cello + Compositions: Christopher Hoffman

Vibraphone: Bryan Carrott

Bass: Rashaan Carte

Drums: Craig Weinrib

STREAMING // (Album) Hailu Mergia – “Tezeta”

Listen Here – BandCamp

Remastered By: Jessica Thompson

Design By: Ricardo Parker

Special Thanks: Kidanu Mekonnen + Tessema Tadele

Track List: Tezeta, Endegena, Zengadyw Dereku, Gumegum, Mestirawi Debdabe, Nefas New Zemedie, Atmetalegnem Woi, Ou-Ou-Ta, Aya Belew Belew

STREAMING // (Album) End Game – “Demo 2020”

Listen Here – BandCamp

Drums Recorded By: Andre Urquidi

Guitars, Bass, + Vocals Recorded By: Seth Shimp

Mixed + Mastered By: Chris Dimas

Guest Vocals By: Luka Sladoje + Nikki Leigh

Artwork By: Rachael Artz

Track List: Intro, Above The Law,  Hourglass, Fool’s Play, No Mention

Misc. Day – Shattered Idols

In the spirit of celebrating some of the better artists this side of the century, Young Thug has definitely not spent enough time in the writing section of the site. And frankly, I apologize that it took this long for me to really focus on how immaculate JEFFERY really is.

One of the first records by Young Thug that stood out for the controversy of wearing the Alessandrro Trincone dress, JEFFERY takes what makes modern rap interesting and then capitalizes on those key factors. The production, the shine, and the unique lyricism, Young Thug has all of those elements and controls them like a master of the components.

Opening with “Wyclef Jean,” each track seems to be named after each of Young Thug’s influences, and while Wyclef Jean doesn’t appear till the mixtape’s near-final track, Young Thug carries over this bosa-nova soul like a prince of sound.

He opens up the track by illustrating, “Okay, my money way longer than a NASCAR race, I told her keep going on the gas, fuck the brakes. Only here for one night, let me put it on your face.” As the production spins like the wheels on a big body, Young Thug opens to explain, “All my children spoiled, yeah, they got it all. Daughter sexy and my son got the broads, spent racks on my son and his squad. Daddy boy, never play with his toys.”

As the method continues, the track “RiRi” features one of the best beats on JEFFERY, produced by Wheezy and Billboard Hitmakers. Taking Young Thug at first can be difficult as his inflection is definitely eccentric, especially on the hook here where he explains, “Do the work baby, do the work. Tonight, baby, do the work do the work,” where he squeaks out through the lines. But as “RiRi” continues to repeat in the head, Thug’s inflection actually becomes distinctive in a positive way through something that stands out and is entertaining behind what could be a simple delivery.

This individuality adds to the best parts of JEFFERY and continues through the mixtape to the track, “Kanye West” where the writing here is hard to follow through his speech structure but flows on the production from Wheezy and Cassius Jay. It takes time for Young Thug to grow on the ears, at least it seems like it did for me personally, but when it finally makes sense and reaches, JEFFERY becomes a record to revisit for its sonic excellence and expression.

With 10 tracks and over 40 minutes of performances from Young Thug, JEFFERY is a great way to jump into the pool of his discography. The stance, the style, the approach, it’s all a guise of making steps into becoming the icon he is today.

Listen To JEFFERY Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes

SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “06/20/2021″

Listen Here – Spotify

“A playlist of tracks that were featured on MattsMusicMine.com from the week of June 14th – 20th. From Reviews to Streams, never miss a track with these playlists that are uploaded every single Sunday till I drop dead.”

Featuring: POW!, Joe Armon-Jones, Kidnapped, Vinnie Paz, Soccer96, Alice In Chains, Cerebral Rot, Karol G, Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Adé Hakim, DARKSIDE, Jaubi, Ovlov, Migos, Tvær

Track List: Back On The Grid, The Razor, Pray, Circling The Drain, Guilty Remnant Cigarettes, Dopamine, Got Me Wrong, Brother, Vile Yolk Of Contagion, Tusa,  Loving You, Fire Flower, Gets Better, The Limit, Insia, The Well, Avalanche, V

STREAMING // (Album) Ovlov – “Am”

Listen Here – BandCamp

Guitar + Vocals: Steve Hartlett

Drums: Theo Hartlett

Bass: Jon Hartlett

Produced By: Michael J Thomas III

Mastered By: Keith Freund

Track List: Grapes, The Well, Nü Pünk, Where’s My Dini?, Milk, Really Bees, Moth Rock, There’s My Dini!, Blue Baby, The Great Alligator

STREAMING // (Album) Jaubi – “Nafs At Peace”

Listen Here – BandCamp

Mixed By: Rhys Downing

Mastering: Paweł Bartnik

Executive Producer: Łukasz Wojciechowski

A&R: Łukasz Wojciechowski, Sebastian Jóźwiak, + Oliver Reeves

Photography: Ali Riaz Baqar, Uzma Rao, Sebastian Jóźwiak

Graphic Design: Animisiewasz

Calligraphy: İlkay Kanar

Track List: Seek Refuge, Insia, Raga  Gurji Todi, Straight Path, Mosty, Zari, Nafs At Peace

New Music – Devil May Cry

Cut your hands and weep as the blood drains from those shallow palms and begins to paint prisms of somber decadence, Rabbit Rabbit Radio is the sadistic soundtrack to a demise.

On their newest collection of sorrow, Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am is able to open with beauty from vocalist Carla Kihlstedt but also tie in some sense of emotional scarring where the body hides.

Here, the track “Carapace” is gentle curtain pull is an elaborate ruse where the strings begin to slice like a razor against the pale flesh. Increasing the tension until the blade is making indentations, Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am is brutal in the atmosphere and building of environmental takedowns. The shadows rush the audience on “Carapace” and create this drowning of mental structure. While the waters constrict and shake the foundation, the following track “Loving You” is much more approachable for sound.

Instead of being depressive and drained, “Loving You” is fairly lively considering Rabbit Rabbit Radio’s first introduction. The lyrics that describe, “Set a trap, set a trap and stand back. Whistle when it springs, when it springs I’ll come deep in” as if the band was some vengeful and twisted hunter.

When the trap does spring in the form of rugged strings that undertone and fit more towards this grunge style, the vocals are higher pitched when not in spoken-word format. Ultimately, Rabbit Rabbit Radio takes Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am as an adventure through sonic abilities. The atmosphere that is painted oftentimes reflects cracked marble and gives a sense of always being watched by wandering eyes.

Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am is especially fascinating when the track “Radial Life” enters and uses these watery synth progressions to create methods of sneaking and creeping behind windowpanes and spotlights in pitch-black clothing. When the percussion appears, the watery synths are faded out and become less aggressive, colluding with the percussion to live alongside the fierce violin-esque strings.

The build-up and continuation of sounds on “Radial Life” glow into this afterlife almost where the first recognizable methods become warped beyond belief. When they fade into the nothingness, Rabbit Rabbit Radio makes use of their expertise transitional power to trade tracks in such a natural fashion that Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am seems almost to be one long track.

Similar to a play or operatic structure, Rabbit Rabbit Radio is simply gorgeous at times, but desperately frightening and animalistic behind the tension. On Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am, they strike gold and continue to dig until the mine isolates the obsidian and slate that blackens the eyes and strikes fear into the soul.

Listen To Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Volume 4 – The Animal I Am Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon