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It took me some time to jump into this one, but once I did, I was pretty glad to see where they’ve gone with it. Orange Is The New Black is the newest series made in-house by Netflix, who has already won my heart through the David Fincher led House of Cards. I was leery, since this show was created and produced by the mind behind Weeds, which I didn’t care for despite the immense popularity. For some reason I buy a woman getting thrown into prison for 15 months over drugs than I do a housewife running a drug cartel through her suburban house for 8 seasons. But what do I know?
Here’s a new segment I’ll be starting to do each month. Towards the end of each month I’ll put together a post of records that I had some things to say about, but didn’t warrant a full review. A lot of people ask me for quick recommendations on new music and I think this will be a great way to shed light on some records that some people might be missing each month. This will not be instead of regular reviews, but rather an extension so I can cover more music and let you know more about it! Let’s dive in...
You could easily say that hip-hop has definitely changed in the past five, maybe even ten years. The leader of the change could be Kanye West, as evidenced by the innovative yet flawed Yeezus, which I've reviewed here on this blog. Where Kanye was all about pushing the envelope, and trying new things in the name of creativity, the stark contrast is sticking with what you're good at, and what works. Jay-Z returns with not nearly the amount of flair West did, and boasts a sprawling 17-track album of, what many could consider, traditional hip-hop. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, reigns true for Hova.
I’ve been spending some time lately going back to old music I used to listen to when I was a kid. While most of it is Christian contemporary and punk music, there’s definitely some gems in there. Most of these bands are still going, and there’s been a lot of changes for many of them. Relient K is one of those bands, and after six records, they’ve outlasted many in their genre, and still manage to stay relevant. Their seventh full-length, Collapsible Lung, just released and showcases a bit of a different band than what most of us might be used to.
Through previous Oh, Sleeper albums, we’ve seen the band get more raw, and more focused musically. Vices Like Vipers was arguably their most raw and frenetic recording, as well as emotionally gripping. Go listen to “The End of a Dark Campaign” and tell me that doesn’t just rip your heart out. Son of the Morning and even Children of Fire were very clean and produced well, giving Oh, Sleeper their signature sound. As a Christian band, they’ve always stood out to me as some of the more technical and thought-provoking groups in the genre. So where does The Titan EP fall in line? In fact, I think it shows an even more mature and concept-focused band, primed for even more popularity than where they are now.
