1. El Mal Querer —
Rosalía
“The Romance of Flamenca”
is thought to be the first modern
novel. Developed in the 13th
century, it tells the story of a
woman imprisoned by her jealous
fiance — a twisted love story
fraught with peril.
El Mal Querer, the second
studio album from Los Angeles-
based but Catalonia-born singer
Rosalía, is based on “Flamenca”,
with each of the album’s 11 tracks
serving as a chapter that details an
increasingly doomed relationship.
It begins with “MALAMENTE
(Cap.1: Augiurio),” which Rosalía
states serves as “a premonition
— this moment when you know
in the beginning of the story how
it’s gonna end, but even then you
go and do it.” Indeed, the song
inspires a certain foreboding, with
the lyrics of the chorus roughly
translated to “Badly (that’s it)
(like this) / Badly / Bad, so bad,
so bad, so bad, so bad…. (look)!”
The trailing piano underneath a
steady, rhythmic clapping leads us
into the first verse, and Rosalía’s
teasingly abrupt lyricism spins
over the production with grace;
much like the woman within
“Flamenca,” we are helpless to
follow this narrative to its end, as
hopeless as it may be.
The devices Rosalía uses to tell
El Mal Querer’s story are pieces
pulled from all across the world.
The bassline in “PIENSO EN TU
MIRÁ (Cap.3: Celos)” was created
in
Spain.
“BAGDAD
(Cap.7:
Liturgia)” was inspired when
Rosalía went to a club in Baghdad.
The title of “DI MI NOMBRE
(Cap.8:
Éxtasis)”
was
pulled
straight from Destiny’s Child’s
“Say my name, say my name.” This
album stitches together sounds
that have roots in flamenco’s
expressive
storytelling
and
organic dynamism yet still have
contemporary pop’s global reach.
El Mal Querer is a masterpiece
of expert production; within the
canvas of each individual song,
all of the sentiments behind
“The
Romance of Flamenca” — all the
love and loss and betrayal — have
been immortalized, universal and
accessible to all.
— Shima Sadaghiyani, Daily
Arts Writer
2. Be The Cowboy —
Mitski
Mitski’s album Be The Cowboy
is, at its most basic description,
a magnum opus. Although her
previous records Bury Me At
Makeout Creek and Puberty 2
were critically acclaimed and
works of art in their own right,
nothing thrust the songwriter
into the spotlight like this year’s
spectacular collection of songs.
Mitski’s command of the concept
album is unparalleled in indie
rock, and songs like “Nobody”
and “Geyser” showed her skill for
writing to these concepts (in this
case, love letters to herself), with
remarkable ease and ingenuity.
She manages to marry the classic
markers of rock, synth and even
folk music together to create
unique narratives of sound within
every track, winding mazes of
meaning and catchy hooks that
lead a listener down paths full of
love, longing and self-realization.
Hearing Be The Cowboy is like
opening someone’s diary and
finding they have written a novel
of their own thoughts Mitski takes
her experiences and builds them
into spectacular poetry, offering
her
audience
a
confessional
through the prism of truly great
music.
— Clara Scott, Senior Arts
Editor
3. Dirty Computer
— Janelle Monáe
For several years now, the
public
has
followed
Janelle
Monáe often through the lens
of her android alter-ego, Cindi
Mayweather. In Metropolis, Cindi
fell in love with a human and was
chased through the streets of
her city. In The ArchAndroid and
The Electric Lady, she became a
revolutionary messiah. But Dirty
Computer is the fullest and most
realized crystallization of Monáe’s
aspirations yet, a dazzling project
in which the artist sheds Cindi’s
narrative but retains many of her
futuristic
preoccupations.
Not
so much a union of the past and
the future as it is a convergence
between them, Dirty Computer is
constantly owning its homages
— both to those who inspired the
album, like Prince, and to a future
that this album will no doubt help
to inspire. This future is one of sex
positivity and acceptance, one of
dynamism and color and verve.
This album marks the moment
at which an already daring and
independent
icon,
breaking
barriers
with
her
cybernetic
characterizations and embrace
of
gender-nonconformity,
has
truly come into herself. We had
come to feel like we knew Cindi
Mayweather. Now, we are this
much closer to feeling like we
know Janelle Monáe.
— Laura Dzubay, Daily Arts
Writer
4.
OIL
OF
EVERY
PEARL’S
UN-INSIDES
—
SOPHIE
In
a
piece
that
almost
functioned as a portion of my
application to The Michigan
Daily two and a half years ago,
but which I wound up scrapping,
I attempted to review SOPHIE’s
first album (more accurately a
compilation of singles). Released
as
Product,
the
collection
introduced
the
world
to
SOPHIE’s characteristic sound.
It’s sometimes grating, and often
thinly layered, but with nuggets
of irresistible melody and an
odd, uncanny-valley allure. In
one word: plastic.
After a two year break from
releasing solo material — a break
which saw her producing work
by Vince Staples, MØ, Cashmere
Cat and Charli XCX — SOPHIE
returned with “It’s Okay To
Cry,” whose video marked the
first time her face had featured
in her art. In June, as OIL OF
EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES
arrived, a newly vulnerable,
more immediate version of
SOPHIE emerged. She allowed
us to see her, to begin to make
guesses at who she is, to identify
with her.
OIL, for its cinematic scope,
possesses just as much violent
thrashing as SOPHIE’s previous
work, if not more. But there’s
also an aquatic element to the
album, and not just in the title
of “Is It Cold In The Water?”
but in its sub-bass and in the
way tracks like “Infatuation”
and “Pretending” wrap you
up in them. Listen on a nice
pair of headphones and you’re
suddenly left feeling small,
far from in control — there’s
a senseless of “it’s safe here”
and more of “it’s here here” or,
maybe, “it’s real here.” The best
you can do is cede control to
the massiveness of it all. Until,
of course, the synth swells that
round out “Pretending” give
way to the club-ready bounce
of showstopper “Immaterial,”
a track on which SOPHIE
declares “I could be anything I
want.”
And that’s what OIL is,
ultimately: a declaration. One
in which SOPHIE boldly claims
her identity, while questioning
the substance of identity itself.
After “Immaterial” fades out,
SOPHIE’s “Whole New World/
Pretend World” is upon us. I
hope she shows us more of it.
— Sean Lang, Daily Arts
Writer
5. DAYTONA —
Pusha T
DAYTONA
is,
above
all,
incisive. The first of the Kanye
West-produced,
seven-track
albums born out of the Wyoming
sessions, Pusha T and Kanye
came out the gates swinging.
In direct contrast with Kanye’s
indefatigable Twitter ramblings,
DAYTONA is sharp and lean.
Pusha T doesn’t veer far from
his traditional lyrical themes
of selling drugs and being a
generally threatening guy, but he
doesn’t need to — on DAYTONA,
he perfects the form. It all lies
in his delivery. Ice-cold menace
drips off of every syllable, and
he makes you believe all that he
claims.
The real genius of the album
lies in the production, as Kanye’s
skeletal
sample-based
beats
are minimalistic masterpieces,
stripping down the music to the
very essence of hip-hop. “Come
Back Baby” is this philosophy of
production taken to its logical
extreme: a relatively unaltered
George Jackson sample gives
way to a gaunt pattern of raw
808s and drums, over which
Pusha T discusses his love for
the sale and distribution of
cocaine.
The combination of Pusha T’s
lyrical excellence and Kanye’s
knack at production based around
the sampling of simple melodic
phrases is lethal and exhilarating,
and the result is an album that
feels like the thesis of Pusha T’s
career.
— Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts
Writer
6. Bark Your Head
Off, Dog — Hop Along
Hop Along’s Bark Your Head
Off, Dog is an insanely ambitious
endeavor. Narrative, poetic and
biblical in lyric and even more
complex in composition, it’s truly
unlike any other alternative record
released in 2018. They’ve always
been excellent and cherished
songwriters,
expertly
layering
rhythm and melody guitars, but
with the introduction of complex
string arrangements and deft
tonal shifts — often within the
course of a single song — Hop
Along has produced a work of epic
magnitude.
Their
versatility
is
best
showcased on fourth track “Not
Abel,”
opening
with
tender,
rollicking folk before collapsing
into uptempo rock ‘n’ roll. Every
track is a thorough joy to listen
to, as unexpected twists and
turns constantly keep listeners
on their toes, forcing them along
the journey. In reference to Bob
Dylan’s influence on their writing,
lead singer and guitarist Frances
Quinlan said in a Rolling Stone
feature, “Fuck me. There’s no
rules. I forgot. You make them up,
and then you realize that you have
to obliterate them again,” and Hop
Along do this time and time again
throughout the entirety of Bark
Your Head Off, Dog. The past year
was saturated with a lot of indie
rock, and thankfully Hop Along
decided to shatter the status quo
by shattering all expectations.
— Dominic Polsinelli, Daily
Arts Writer
7. Golden Hour —
Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour is a landmark work
of pop-country; a well-crafted
tribute to the sublime. Traditional
country
instrumentation
and
themes
mingle
freely
with
the
psychedelic
and
subtly
experimental,
making
Golden
Hour
as
accessible
as
it
is
innovative.
The production on Golden Hour
is notable not just for the lustrous
glow infused throughout, but
for its great use of negative space
— a scorching electric guitar
or beautiful fingerpicked banjo
swells like radiant light into the
emptiness for just a few seconds,
as beautiful and fleeting as the
namesake of the album. Kacey’s
emotive voice is 24-karat Nashville
gold, tastefully draped across the
2B — Thursday, January 10, 2019
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The top albums of 2018
are as inspired as the year
Last year’s top songs, in
all their despondent glory
SONY MUSIC
MSMSMSM
GOOD
1. “Immaterial” —
SOPHIE
It is not an overstatement
to say that “Immaterial” does
more in its just-under-four
minutes than any other song
released in 2018. On the sur-
face, “Immaterial” is pure fun, a
club-ready banger that leaves no
stone unturned, sonically. The
harsh synthetic pots-and-pans
that
characterize
SOPHIE’s
earlier work are almost con-
stant throughout, if subdued,
but the song is also sleek and
atmospheric. “Immaterial” is a
masterclass in maximalist pop:
It builds from nothing, adding
layer after layer, and allows us
to bask in the whole organized
mess for a full chorus before
peeling back to let the progres-
sion repeat.
After the second chorus, the
sound is filtered down to nearly
nothing. From that nothing,
guest vocalist Cecile Believe’s
voice rises. “I was just a lonely
girl / In the eyes of my inner
child,” she sings, as the song
rebuilds around her, before pre-
senting the central revelation of
OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-
INSIDES: “I could be anything
I want.” The same declaration
appears in the chorus, followed
by “Anyhow, any place, any-
where, anyone / Any form, any
shape, anyway / Anything, any-
thing I want,” confidently and
plainly divorcing identity from
physical form.
Given that, alongside OIL’s
release in June, SOPHIE pub-
licly came out as a trans woman,
“Immaterial” functions as the
album’s central affirmation of
her identity. But it feels reduc-
tive to point to SOPHIE’s com-
ing out as the sole impetus of
OIL, or to try to use it as a prop
to convince you, the reader, to
listen, because “Immaterial” is
deserves your attention for so
many more reasons than that.
As a final note, SOPHIE claimed
back in July that she had three
more albums coming out before
the end of 2018. Fingers crossed
that we’ll get them soon.
— Sean Lang, Daily Arts
Writer
2. “Sicko Mode” —
Travis Scott
It begins with a menacing
advancement of synth. Waver-
ing tantalizingly in the dis-
tance, the notes signal the
approach of something. The
specifics of what is approaching
aren’t clear but Drake is men-
tioning something about Louis
belts and the beat is spiraling,
faster and faster — anticipation
growing by the second — until,
abruptly, the beat switches, the
song splinters apart and hun-
dreds of eager listeners collec-
tively lose their shit.
“Sicko Mode” is instantly
recognizable. Whether you’re
a fan of Travis Scott or not,
you’ve heard this song: the
Swae Lee chorus “Some- Some-
Some- Someone said” bouncing
off house party walls, the brief
Luke sample from “I Wanna
Rock” bleeding out from Ricks’s
dance floor. Its power comes
through its unexpectedness.
Within an album that swims
through a muted psychedelic
haze, its sharp twists — from
Drake to Travis to B.I.G. to the
constantly shifting beat — slap
you in the face.
“Sicko
Mode”
embodies
everything Travis Scott was
working toward since Owl Pha-
raoh, when his music always
contained a desperate note of
desire to not just dream about
fame but to be consumed by
it. Now, nearly five years later,
ASTROWORLD
is
certified
platinum, “Sicko Mode” con-
tinues to top charts and Travis
Scott is not just dreaming any-
more.
— Shima Sadaghiyani, Daily
Arts Writer
3.
“Shallow”
—
Lady
Gaga
and
Bradley Cooper
Anyone who has seen the
trailer for 2018’s box office
hit “A Star is Born” knows the
words to “Shallow” “I’m off
the deep end / Watch as I dive
in / I’ll never hit the ground!”
Lady Gaga sings as her charac-
ter Ally, immediately lodging
the song’s chorus into every
viewer’s heart for weeks and
even months to come. The
song served as the first single
for “A Star is Born”’s incred-
ible soundtrack, and set up the
success and critical acclaim
that both the album and movie
received before and after its
release. Even without the con-
text of the movie, “Shallow” is
a heart-wrenching ballad that
fuses folk with rock and pop to
form one memorable expres-
sion of freedom. It’s a song that
taps into the universal desire to
crash through the things that
hold one down to find some-
thing else in the world, and
will likely remain a classic for
years to come because of this.
The music is fantastic, but the
song’s message is even stronger
it tells the listener that they can
go deeper anytime they choose,
and find something beautiful
within the risks they take to
break free.
— Clara Scott, Senior Arts
Editor
Read more at MichiganDaily.
com
Read more at MichiganDaily.
com