Long Over Due Reviews

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEWS:

The Black Keys - Brothers

Rating: 83/100

Enjoyable from start to finish, Brothers is the Black Keys doing work.

High Point Tracks: "Next Girl", "Tighten Up", "Sinister Kid"

Drake - Thank Me Later

Rating: 71/100

After the incredible So Far Gone mixtape and a handful of promising singles, Drake delivers a somewhat disappointing major label debut that reveals the young rappers fatal flaw: he just doesn't have much to say.

High Point Tracks: "Over", "Up All Night ft. Nicki Minaj"

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

Rating: 80/100

While somewhat repetitive and noisy, a healthy number of strange and satisfying tracks redeem Crystal Castles' self titled sophomore album.

High Point Tracks: "Baptism", "Suffocation", "Not In Love"

Sleigh Bells - Treats

Rating: 94/100

Treats is unabashedly loud, inventive, fun and easily one of the best albums of the year.

High Point Tracks: "Kids", Infinity Guitars", "Rill Rill", "Crown On The Ground"

Eminem - Recovery

Rating: 84/100

Relapse was only ok; Recovery is much better.

High Point Tracks: "Won't Back Down ft. P!nk", "No Love ft. Lil Wayne", "Almost Famous" "Havoc"

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

Rating: 89/100

Big Boi's hip-hop epic is fresh and flawlessly executed.

High Point Tracks: "Daddy Fat Sax", "Shutterbug", "Fo Yo Sorrows", "Shine Blockas"

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Rating: 98/100

The Suburbs is another remarkable release from one of the best bands of the past decade; I believe there is no stopping them now.

High Point Tracks: "Half Light II (No Celebration)", "We Used To Wait", "Month of May", "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP

Rating: 83/100

The title track which is more than 11 minutes long makes two appearances on the EP and they're both different, and uniquely enjoyable in a way only Sufjan Stevens can deliver; as is everything else in between.

High Point Tracks: "All Delighted People (Original Version)", "Enchanting Ghost", "Djohariah"

M.I.A. - Maya

Rating: 73/100

The chaotic splashes of noise and sound effects over deeply effected pop melodies sometimes seem more like a schtick than an artistic choice here, however they still seem work for her most of the time.

High Point Tracks: "Steppin Up", "XXO", "Meds and Feds"

I have a few more to do. Stay tuned.

Some Crazy-Ass Stuff for a Wednesday

M.I.A. - "Born Free"

New super-super-NSFW and extremely violent music video

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Also, this is cool and weird:

EMINEM - DESPICABLE (FREESTYLE)

REGINA SPEKTOR - "NO SURPRISES (RADIOHEAD COVER)"

SOUNDS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Have you ever wondered what the solar system sounds like? Some dude made a scale-music box thingy that lets you hear the music of the planets. Its crazy. Check it out here.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - DRUNK GIRLS MUSIC VIDEO

BRAND NEW STARS SINGLE - "FIXED"

Download the MP3 for free right here.

MGMT vs SNL

(SPOILER ALERT: MGMT wins)

"Flash Delerium"

"Brian Eno"

Drake ft. Eminem, Kanye West, Lil Wayne - Forever

Well isn't this is a MidPoints dream come true. Someone decided to put the four dudes I seem to blog the most about on one insanely hot track. It's just shy of 6 minutes long, giving plenty of time for all four of these guys to do their thing and do it right. Drakegrassi sings the hook and gives us the lead off verse about how awesome he is and how quickly he got to where he is. Not particularly original, but still fun to listen to. But after the three other guys get their shot at a verse, Eminem flat out kills it. Drizzy, Yeezy and Weezy might be good at what they do, but this track reminds us that they all pale in comparison to Em's lyrical and flowdacious prowess. I mean he threatens to literally eat your face. What more could you want?

Download this ish. Now!

Thanks again to my buddy Kia for the tip.

Eminem ft. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent

I'm so excited for Relapse.  I just want it to be here already.  I posted an earlier demo of this track under the name "Number Ones".  This version is polished, sped up and features some sick verses from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent.  There have been two leaks from the forthcoming Relapse and so far Eminem is two for two.  This song is so great.  Eminem sounds simultaneously out of his mind, at the top of his game and extremely wasted.  Actually, all three of them do.

Download Crack A Bottle ft. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent

"Number One" - Eminem produced by Dr. Dre

New Eminem leak.

Dre produced it.

A dude at Interscope records said the following about Eminem's next album:

"We only tried to put him out this year to replace Dr. Dre, but we got into a quagmire. Eminem was always coming next year. But what happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem. Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem's album. Eminem hit a streak, and when a guy like Eminem gets on fire, you stop everything."

I can't wait for Relapse.

Download "Number One"

New Eminem!!!

This morning a song from Eminem's long awaited sixth LP, Relapse, hit the blogosphere. We've been hearing for some time now that the album would be entitled King Mathers, and based on this title alone I assumed that this would be a return to greatness.  Although I wouldn't describe any of his albums as weak, the latest few have failed to capture the extreme controversy and genius present in his first slew of albums.  The new song, titled I'm Having A Relapse, isn't bad.  I haven't had a chance to listen to it enough to disect the lyrics, but after a first listen, I'm definitely a fan.  It's only two minutes, but hey, its two minutes from a dude we've been waiting a long time to hear.  The leak has been surrounded by some unsubstantiated rumors that new albums from 50 Cent, Eminem, and Dr. Dre will all be released in relatively close succession starting late 2008 and continuing into early 2009.  Apparently, Dre has produced most of Relapse (awesome) which has allowed Mr. Mathers to spend most of his time working on lyrics (awesome).  But let's be real, Dretox/Detox is the one that we are all waiting for.  50 Cent's album is set to be released December 9, but neither Relapse, nor Detox have any confirmed release dates.  Enough chit-chat, snag the I'm Having A Relapse mp3 here.