TranscendNoise

Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron Schoolboy Q is a charismatic dude – this is what makes Oxymoron a great record. But if you actually look behind, maybe lack in depth can also be attested. Oxymoron was widely discussed before it was released, by the media as well as Q himself. What stuck to me was his statement that he didn´t want to create an answer to Good Kid and stopped pursing a more storytelling way of writing songs. A statement paired with him saying he is the new Puffy, pretty much sums up Oxymoron . This is gangsta and rap about drugs with much swagger and highly enjoyable without much narrative and meat to it. The album starts off with the old school alluding “Gangsta”, a murky piano line, simple drums and chorus. Intriguing however, and what shows up again and again is Q´s really energetic delivery. For a man who almost every time looks high and talks chill, his rapping is steadily approving and the mash of ad-libs, we all know the catchy “YAWK! YAWK! YAWK!” and...

Nguzunguzu - The Perfect Lullaby Vol.2 They best comment to start this one off: I´m not the mix kind of guy – Remix or a compilation of original tracks. Not only because most mixes tire me out, but additionally seem to have a lack of depth or originality.  Missing their first mix and even hearing about the DJ duo Nguzunguzu, my first introduction to their unique sound was through various productions work for the likes of Le1F or last year’s excellent debut by Kelela. As one might tell from those releases, Nguzunguzu stand for some forward thinking production combining dance music, r´n´b with a huge amount of quirkiness. And that is exactly what to expect from Perfect Lullaby . Clocking in at nearly 50 minutes, the shifted vocals and droning bass at the beginning indicate that you´re in for a ride. The duo mixes and matches everything from house beats, reggeton, old and current r´n´b vocals together with great expertise and sense of atmosphere. The bumping...

Pharrell - Girl When first starting, I never expected to really write about releases I didn´t like, or at least be gentle on those which I didn´t like, but then Girl happened. Don´t get me wrong, I´m a great admirer of Pharrell. Even before knowing what a producer in music was, I adored every song he was on and still really dig his approach on culture and art (even though it can be seen as a very consumerist and not well thought out approach on being different). I even own a fake pair of Ice Creams, a Bape and BBC hoodie, great stuff if you didn´t pay 300 Bucks on any of them. His first solo music endeavor was very much to my liking too: Numbers might say what they want, but In My Mind was a solid rap / r´n´b record, with great beats, lyrics, moods and especially a record showing why Pharrell was at the forefront of creating the sounds of his genre, for him and especially for others.  When I first heard “ Happy ” on Despicable Me 2, it was fresh in a way: A ...

Millie & Andrea - Drop The Vowels Since Luxury Problems and catching on to the Modern Love imprint, every release is something to look forward to and be excited about. Calling them a staple as of yet might not be right considering their quantity of releases, but when it comes to quality and pushing the boundary a bit further, Modern Love deserves to rank among the gods.  Stotts name had me sold about two seconds in after the releases got announced and after hearing some of Demdike Stare´s stuff, I knew this release would be frantic and strange in the best way possible. On top of that, Drop The Vowels was a huge first in terms of the listening experience too. As someone who started collecting Vinyl for value of having some great packages, extras and huge artwork, I only decided to really actually play my collection later on. Still it had never occurred that the physical copy was what I listened to first. Normally there is the pre-download of the digital version...