Mos Def

I remember back in the day when Mos Def put out Black on Both Sides ( wow was that an amazing album), it was hard for anyone that compiled a best rappers list to keep Mos Def off and still be taken seriously as a hip hop fan. Then something happened, he put out the New Danger, which I didn’t think was as bad as some made it out to be, but it wasn’t the most def that we wanted. The next album True Magic was the full-time rapping Mos Def that we wanted, but it wasn’t the same, he wasn’t as good as we remembered on BOBS. So we waited and now we have The Ecstatic. This one while better than the officially unreleased, more like recalled (It was sold in stores for about a week) True Magic, it’s not BOBS level. There are a few things that hurt this album, one is the production. Some of the beats are so damn boring. Sure BOBS used the hottest underground producers too but they didn’t produce boring beats. Another thing is the short songs. There is about five songs that clock in at less than three minutes. The Standouts on this Ecstatic is “ Casa Bey”, ‘Life In Marvelous Times” , ‘History ft Talib Kweli , “Auditorium” ft Slick Rick and “ Twilite Speedball”. If you’re a Mos Def fan than Mos Definitely pick this one up.

Little Boots

I have to say when I first say video for” New in Town” video I hopped on to Wikipedia to read up on Little Boots, and was as giddy as a school girl when I found out that her debut CD was coming out in June. So I patiently waited, and waited, what seemed like months was actually just under less than a month. Now this album is very electronic heavy, it’s a very pop album with hook heavy songs that are crafted for sing-alongs, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As she has said before in interviews, Little Boots wants to get played on pop music. She not one of those new artist some of which are blatantly overdrive pop, who “rebel” against mainstream acceptance, she actually wants her music to be heard. Hmm an artist who is making a career in the music industry who wants their music heard by a wide audience, what a novel idea. While some of the songs on this album fall short out of the 14 songs there are some great ones. “New in Town, “Remedy” “Mathematics”, “Tune into My Heart’ and the piano driven “Hands” among other standout songs. If you like Lady Gaga then you’ll like the toned down (lyrically and vocally) Little Boots just as much. Give “Hands” a listen and you might like it.

Passion Pit

When I first heard Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” it was in a form of a video about three months ago, I was transfixed on not just the visuals but the sounds also. This song is infectious and deeply addictive. So to say that I was looking forward to their full length release “Manners” was huge understatement. Well on first listen I was disappointed as I just couldn’t get into it, especially with the voice of lead singer Michael Angelakos. Where his voice added to the uniqueness of the ‘Reeling” it detracts to some of the songs on the album, making some great sounding songs enter the realm of skipability, but after a few runs through this album his voice becomes less of a distraction. My standouts from “Manners” are of course “The Reeling”, “Moth Wings”, ”Little Secrets”, and “To Kingdom Come” and “ Swimming in the Flood” among others. After a few listens, I have to say that although this isn’t a great album, it’s pretty damn good. Catchy but never redundant, danceable but not mindless, sometimes it can be a bit overbearing, but that’s their style and that’s what makes Passion Pit unique. I like Manners, give it a listen and you might like it too.