Jan 11 2022
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
A beautifully passionate indie rock album, with gorgeous instrumentation and captivating lyrics. I love the guitar tones, driving basslines, and how Michael Kiwanuka manages to breathe life into topics with like perseverance, love, and social injustice.
BEST TRACKS: You Ain't The Problem, Rolling, Hero, Hard To Say Goodbye
WORST TRACKS: N/A
5
Jan 20 2022
Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything?" is a personality-driven pop-rock mixed bag. The record sports a lot of eclectic instrumentation, like the juxtaposition of the gospel vocals and swaggering guitar lines on "Black Maria". The high-energy tracks like Wolfman Jack and Song of the Viking are also a blast, sporting Rundgren's quirky vocals and cute melodies. These qualities aren't present on every track, such as slogging ballads like "I Went to the Mirror" and "Torch Song", and some songs go on for too long for their best attributes to save them (see "The Night the Carousel Burned Down"). There's still great power-ballads and stripped-back cuts like "Dust in the Wind" and "One More Day", along with soul and jazz fusion on "Hello It's Me" and "Slut". While the duds make the 90-minute runtime feel bloated, the sonic range and charm that the record offers largely makes up for it.
BEST TRACKS: Wolfman Jack, It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls), Little Red Lights, Dust in the Wind, Slut
WORST TRACKS: The Night the Carousel Burned Down, I Went to the Mirror, Torch Song, Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me
3
Jan 20 2022
Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
Something/Anything? is 65% mediocre/boring pop songs and 35% kick ass rock songs. With it being 90 minutes that makes for an excruciating listen. Feel free to just grab the best tracks and ignore the rest.
Favorite Tracks: "I Saw The Light", "Wolfman Jack", "Black Maria", "Couldn't I Just Tell You", "Dust In The Wind", "Piss Aaron", "Hello Its Me", "Slut"
2