Recent Listens Jan / Feb

With the current lockdown I’ve had a lot of time to listen and explore a lot of music I had neglected last year, and also have made time to go back to some of my favourite listens. I thought since I’ve been slacking with posting reviews on here, I would bring you a selection of albums I’ve been listening to recently and hopefully provide you with some inspiration for your next listen.

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Heaux Tales – Jazmine Solomon

Jazmine Solomon provides one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard on Heaux Tales and to accompany it is able to put together a well thought out album delving into what it means to be a woman for her. This album is so encapsulating and so interesting to listen to I’ve found myself going back to it time and time again and not getting bored. Not only are Solomon’s vocals impressive but overall, the album sounds great, the skits aren’t overbearing, and it makes an overall brilliant listen. I’ll be very surprised if this does not make it into my top albums list come the end of the year, it’s already cemented itself as one of my favourite RNB albums of the last few years.

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Parallel – Four Tet

This album is a full-on experience. I don’t know what I expected when I put this on, but it was not what I got. Four Tet have always been interesting to me, I find their music quite intriguing. That being said I have always wanted a bit more from them, I didn’t exactly know what that would be or how it would sound like, but they did it on Parallel. I find it hard to write about this album because I’m not even entirely sure what I’m listening to but the best way I can describe it is like someone heard the PlayStation 2 start up sound and decided to make a project around it. The album puts you in this world of computerised sounds that sound somewhat natural as if you’re inside a computer programme. It is really one of those things you need to experience to understand and definitely a project I’ll find myself coming back to time and time again.

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Peace Beyond Passion - Meshell Ndegeocello

The mix of funk, jazz, RnB and Hip Hop on Peace Beyond Passion is incredible. A true musical masterpiece this album is intoxicatingly good. Ndegeocello combines a mixture of luxurious sounds that take the best from various genres and thought provoking, agitating lyricism helping to make this album a reflection of the time. Peace Beyond Passion becomes Ndegeocello’s way of speaking out about issues within Christianity and also society touching on racism, sexuality and homophobia. This album is an example of how to break boundaries and demonstrate how music can move between genres effortlessly.

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Stankonia – Outkast

Revisiting Stankonia reminded me of the greatness of Outkast (not that I really reminding anyway) and just how revolutionary this album was. Outkast despite being pretty well known by this point in their career were able to continue to stretch the boundaries of hip-hop and provide us with a classic album as which to remember their desire to not fit into any moulds. Stankonia I’ve found is a very refreshing listen and even nearly 21 years later it still sounds like nothing ever made. This for me highlights hip-hop at its best, constantly changing and pushing boundaries, forcing the listener to adapt to it rather than adapting to what the listener is used to.

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Cubafrobeat – Lokkhi Terra, Dele Sosimi

Cubafrobeat is an amazing mixture of Cuban rumba and afrobeat (if you couldn’t tell) that will brighten any day. Addicting to listen to and puts a smile on your face instantly, the two genres are perfectly mixed on this album providing a unique listen as well as making it impossible not to dance. The whole album has been my go-to whenever I need a pick me up and has been amazing to have throughout this lockdown, especially with all the cold weather outside it’s always good to have some musical sun at least.

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Kings & Queens – Jamie T

I initially went back to this album for the nostalgia, but after getting about half-way through I realised that this was actually a good album. Jamie T is back at it with his usual pretending not to be middle class and from Wimbledon, however, his ability to blend punk, hip-hop and folk to create his own individual take on noughties UK indie rock is charming. More than anything this album is fun, and as much as there are some songs on the album that have some room for improvement it is able to fill a space and fill it well. Kings & Queens feels like an album I probably should have outgrown but I haven’t, and I genuinely believe that it is a good album that is fun and easy to listen to.

Here’s a link to a Spotify playlist with the best songs from these albums and some other singles I’ve been enjoying recently…