Death of the Critic

January 2017

The Last Text - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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I am always baffled when so-called “social media stars” cross the boundary from weird videos to trying to make music. Much like any celebrity that tries their hand at making an album, it invariably turns out terribly. Jacob Sartorious, teen “heartthrob” and former Vine “star” (RIP Vine) is one of the more famous examples, and his latest outing,
The Last Text, takes on junior high romance like only a 14 year old, pre-pubescent celebrity can - poorly.

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Dim Mak Greatest Hits 2016: Remixes - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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I spent a long ten hours in a car this weekend, and due in part to my own self-loathing, I decided that I would use that time to listen to some of the worst albums that I have in a long time. First up was
Dim Mak Greatest Hits 2016: Remixes which probably should have alerted me with its album art. Much like a brightly-colored poisonous animal, the album cover here is a garish collected of outdated memes slapped over a rip-off of the already terrible The Life of Pablo cover. It is, honestly speaking, the worst piece of product related art that I’ve ever seen, and it feels like a bad photoshop that someone put together to be as shitty as possible, but some memo got lost along the way and it was actually used.

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Godfather - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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I’m rather new to grime, so it has been an interesting ride to strap myself into. Wiley brings a good set of bangers to the table, and the heavy, dark, and industrial beats help set an amazing tone that is carried through the majority of the album. There are a few really fantastic tracks here and I always like hearing a callout to Skepta, who introduced me to grime last fall.

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When Black is not Black Enough - Drake and Coding in Hip-Hop

Written by: Tom Blaich

There is a really big problem with gatekeeping in the hip-hop industry. We like to draw a sharp divide between “real” fans and most listeners, and that attitude frequently extends to the way we treat artists. This discussion is so often highly racially code. It is why Eminem is treated like a marvel, because he is the “one good white rapper.” There is a high barrier to entry to the industry and it is all about how “black” an artist can present themselves as.
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I See You - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich



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With
I See You, The XX takes a lot of the things that I really like about the music that they make, and strips out almost everything else. It is a sparse and spacey album where the sounds of silence say as much as every line or gently throbbing synth. It is a barren soundscape and it gives the trio room to express themselves. In a lot of ways it is everything I like about alternative pop, and lying back in the dark and letting the music flow was relaxing in the truest sense of the word.

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Run the Jewels 3 - Review

Written by: Tom Blaich

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It took me a long time to finally get into this album. On my first five or ten listens, I simply didn’t like it. It didn’t hit me in the same way as I wanted it to. It almost felt flat. This stands in stark contrast to
Run the Jewels 2, which hit me like a hip-hop locomotive from the very first line, “I’m gonna bang this bitch the fuck out.” It grabbed a hold of me and demanded my attention, holding my face to the road, and loving it. It was one of my favorite albums of 2014 and barring, “Love Again”, I loved every second.

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