Quick Music Reviews

Taylor Swift - 1989 (2014, USA) | Rating: 5/5

Favorite Tracks: Blank Space; Style; All You Had to Do Was Stay; Out of the Woods; Clean; Wildest Dreams; This Love; Bad Blood

Taylor Swift's music has often been a guilty pleasure for me. Red was the favourite album until the release of 1989. There have been times when this album has been the soundtrack to my drive home. This is one of those albums where I enjoyed every song from start to finish. Miss Swift knows how to craft catchy songs that really sink into your memory. I'm pretty sure there are people who have Shake it Off or Bad Blood stuck in their heads even if they don't like her music. Her lyrics are well crafted and memorable. Some might try to take credit for her success, but it rests firmly on Miss Swift's considerable charms. She's the girl next door singing about the relationships that come and go throughout her life.

Highly Suspect - Mister Asylum (2015, USA) | Rating: 3/5

Favorite Tracks: Mister Asylum; Bath Salts; Bloodfeather; Lydia

This was a band that I was made aware of through listening to a local modern rock station. The song that I heard first was Lydia. I keep going back to it over and over. Every time it's on the radio, I crank the volume up and sing along at the top of my lungs. Bloodfeather had the same effect on me. The comparison to bands like Queens of the Stone Age are fairly accurate as far as the gritty style the band has. Johnny Stevens, vocalist and guitarist, has a memorable voice that blends well with their slightly chaotic sound. It's an ambitious first album. I'm looking forward to seeing how they follow it up.

X Ambassadors - VHS (2015, USA) | Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Tracks: Renegades; Unsteady; Gorgeous

This is another debut album that has been quite successful as far as the singles go. What makes the songs so catchy though is the lyrics. Unsteady is quite poignant with lyrics about a potentially broken family. There's one sad thing that has stuck with me throughout listening to the album. The songs would be so much better stripped down to the way that Renegades, Unsteady and Gorgeous were for the Upstate Sessions that the band posted to their youtube/vevo channel. I find myself going back to those versions over again.

Raglaia - Creation (2015, Japan) | Rating: 2/5

Favorite Tracks: Remember; Break Down

Raglaia is the band that brings us the return to music for the former vocalist of Aldious. Rami has paired with K-A-Z (SADS), Ery (KillKills) and YOUTH-K!!! to form a band a bit similar to the one she left. One of the strengths of Raglaia is having K-A-Z on guitars. He's a skilled guitarist who has spent years working with a visual kei legend (Kiyoharu). My issue with this band lies entirely with Rami's vocals. There are times when it feels like she's stretching herself beyond her limits to hit notes that she shouldn't attempt. I'll stick with them a bit longer as I'm a fan of K-A-Z's guitar playing.

L'Arc~en~ciel - Wings Flap (2015, Japan) | Rating: 3/5

Favorite Tracks: 

When L'Arc~en~ciel releases a single, it's easy to have expectations on what the song will sound like. Wings Flap fits in quite well with what I'd expect from Hyde and co. However, that's also where the downfall comes in. It's a decent song with all the usual flare from Hyde's vocals. Yet, it's not memorable for those reasons. Honey ~L'Acoustic version~ falls into that same feel. I don't know if I would seek these out on my ipod, but I wouldn't skip them if they played.

Top Five Recommended Music Videos

It's rare that I listen to the radio these days. Usually, I just pop in a cd or listen to my ipod. There were a few days last week when I was a bit tired of hearing the same things over again. I decided to give the radio a chance which led to hearing some songs I wouldn't have otherwise. Below, you'll find the songs and videos that stuck in my head or made an impression.


Grizfolk - Troublemaker
I'd never heard of this band before. Troublemaker is from their debut album, 'Waking the Giants'. It has quite a catchy chorus that gets stuck in my head. There's something else about the song that I like, but can't quite put my finger on. I might have to check out the rest of the album to see whether it holds up to this catchy song. The video features a familiar face in The Walking Dead's Josh McDermitt (Eugene). I'm not sure how the kidnapping plot of the video relates to the song though.



Silversun Pickups - Nightlight
For a band that formed in 2002, Silversun Pickups didn't manage to show up on my radar. Their debut album was released in 2006. The song in question is from their fourth album, Better Nature, which was released in September 2015. Nightlight was one of those songs that slowly grew on me. I wasn't sure if I liked it at all. The more I heard it, the more I liked it. The dual vocals work well on the song. Their sound is pretty reminiscent of 90s bands like The Smashing Pumpkins. It was later that I discovered the video stars Meg Steedle (Boardwalk Empire). In seven minutes and forty-five seconds, the director has captured everything Ryan Murphy wished he could have done with American Horror Story: Hotel.



Miike Snow - Genghis Khan
My next choice features a James Bond inspired video. Miike Snow is a Swedish indie pop trio that formed in 2007. Once again, I'd never heard of them despite two of the members being responsible for songs like Britney Spears' Toxic. Their debut album was released in 2009. This song, however, was released in December 2015. From the opening seconds, it's quite an earworm. The lyrics depict a man who feels irrationally jealous about someone he's not quite sure he wants to keep in his life. I'm quite amused by the video! It's so campy and fun.



Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - S.O.B
Where have I been for all these artists? Nathaniel Rateliff has been doing folk-pop since 2005. He formed Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats in 2013. Their self-titled release came out in August of 2015. The lead single, S.O.B., reminds me of old soul and blues songs. It's quite fun to sing along with. The video is a hommage to The Blues Brothers film from 1980. I'm quite curious to hear more from this group with their soulful sound.



Highly Suspect - Lydia
This trio traces their beginnings back to 2009. I'm really starting to wonder why I'm not listening to more modern rock radio. They released their second full-length album, Mister Asylum, in July 2015. Lydia was the first single from the album. It's a song that quickly stuck with me. It's not surprising that it peaked at number 4 on the mainstream rock charts. The video features a woman submerged underwater and unable to escape. It's quite a concept that ties in well with the lyrics.