Hey there readers! Apologies for the delay in sending this bad boy out, but here it is now. We've got a classically eclectic selection for you today, so read, listen, and enjoy!

- Lucy Talbot Allen, Music Writing Director

The Garden - Kiss My Super Bowl Ring

Whether or not you’re a fan of The Garden -- the almost ten-year musical collaboration between twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears, veterans of the OC music scene and YSL runway -- one thing is certain: they don’t care. After spending five prior albums defining themselves as equal parts experimental and artistic, their latest full-length release instructs listeners to do as its title says: Kiss My Super Bowl Ring.

At times, the album’s unwillingness to compromise creative vision, while admirable, can compromise its sonic clarity. While their last LP, 2018’s Mirror Might Steal Your Charm, utilized unconventionally rhythmic synths and kitschy sound effects to create a lush and unique soundscape, Kiss My Super Bowl Ring is erratic and often unpleasant to listen to. The record opens with its only pre-released single, “Clench To Stay Awake,” which transitions haphazardly between ambivalence and intense hardcore at whiplash speeds that render its actual contents all but uninteligible.

Anyone hoping for more of their previously synth-heavy landscapes may feel discouraged when they hear the track list’s following one-two punch: “A Struggle” and “Sneaky Devil,” which both uphold this new thematic erraticism. However, coherent lyrical themes start to emerge that will frame the record as a whole. “I still cringe at my reflection/ As I push everybody away” Wyatt admits, albeit through incoherent screams before relaxing his tone for the song’s more forgiving chorus: “A struggle, if you want to call it that/ Hate to burst that bubble, but it is that.”

Slowly, these chaotic elements subside and give way to tactful features and heavier synths, almost as if the band had planned to use their first few tracks to scare away the ‘fake fans’ all along. By “AMPM Truck,” the record’s center, The Garden appear to have hit an unlikely peak. The track embodies all the potential of a drum-and-bass punk band flexing their capacity for modern production techniques. Essentially, it's a song that could only have come out of the Shears cannon.

By “Hit Eject” the album has finally hit its stride. The list of collaborative credits that follows (like Dylan Brady of 100 gecs fame and Ariel Pink) ultimately give the ‘dark’ side of the Shears twins the direction it needs. Later, on “Lurkin’,'' a feature from rapper/producer Le1f provides a vocal texture that was previously missing. The album’s second half sees hyperpop (a la Brady) and lo-fi (a la Pink) production styles nicely meet the Shears’ rage and anxiety at a common ground, on both counts hyperbolically emotive yet cohesive.

While utterly piercing at times, The Garden have successfully crafted an aesthetic both sonic and visual that matches the juxtaposition of fantastical weapons amid discarded Modelo cans on their album cover, as well as their newfound mascot, Trash Goblin. Released right at the onset of nationwide lockdowns, Kiss My Super Bowl Ring (though unintentionally) translates the listlessness of social distancing to music, and has (for me) become almost a soundtrack to the current, unfortunate time.

- Barbara Rasin, Assistant Music Director

RIYL: George Clanton, Show Me The Body, Slater
Recommended Tracks: 6, 7, 9
FCC: Explicit (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)

Photay - On Hold

Evan Shornstein, known by his stage name Photay, had quite a busy month of March. Shortly after the protocols and safety regulations regarding the coronavirus pandemic got amped up here in the US, Photay surprise released his fourth project, On Hold. A week after that he released the first single from his upcoming studio album, Waking Hours. Photay released On Hold earlier than he anticipated because he felt the album would provide a listening experience that would ease us in these stressful times, and he was right. Further, all the profits made from this album go to the Food Bank for NYC.

Photay takes a hard turn from his past albums on this new project, focusing much more on a feeling of warmth and calm, rather than the left of center dance tracks he usually makes. This does not mean the project doesn’t sound like Photay though, as his synth sounds and use of white noise are still reminiscent of his older works. However, what On Hold sounds most similar to is Oneohtrix Point Never, namely his album Replica. Both albums are made up of sounds and samples a listener would generally tune out. While Replica was composed of samples from old advertisements, On Hold samples and manipulates the music played when a caller is put on hold. Each of these albums executes its concept very well, with On Hold being the more ambient and calming of the two.

As far as being a successful ambient album goes, On Hold is special as it rewards those who listen closely. Many of the tracks are scattered with heavily manipulated vocals that the listener can sometimes barely notice. However, there is a sense of comfort created when you finally do notice these human voices that allows Photay’s songs to transport you to a peaceful place. In the song “March 10th, 1876” you can notice the melody from some hold music that has been stretched and filtered so much that it becomes a ghost of what it was. Ultimately, On Hold does exactly what Photay’s Bandcamp description says it will, which is to provide “comfort and hope during this uncertain time and beyond.” This is one I will definitely keep in rotation when I am feeling stressed or anxious and need some relief.

- Nick Calahan, DJ

RIYL: Oneohtrix Point Never, Brian Eno, Tim Hecker, William Basinski
Recommended Tracks: 3, 9, 10
FCC: Clean

Westside Gunn - Pray for Paris

DISCLAIMER: DON’T EXPECT MUCH FROM THIS REVIEW

Unfortunately for me, Anthony Fantano, the PREMIER source of musical opinion has already given this album a review, and, unfortunately for hip hop fans (music fans in general too, I guess) there is little chance in hell that Papa Joe (Rogan) is going to tell us how to think freely about the latest effort from the Undisputed King of Contemporary New York, Westside Gunn, the head of the modern Voltron known as Griselda Records.

DON’T LISTEN TO PITCHFORK. GO WITH ME, THE LITTLE GUY

Pitchfork is wrong when they claim that Pray for Paris is novel for the rapper by having high art themes. Anybody who’s known Westside Gunn for more than a week knows that the Griselda crew has built its niche by describing the dirty work of the criminal underworld being performed in designer fashion. The difference now is that they’ve finally been recognized and cosigned by a designer: Virgil Abloh. Abloh designed the cover and cosigned Gunn with the use of his music at an Off-White (Abloh’s brand) show during Fashion Week this year.

ACTUAL REVIEW STARTS HERE

To be brutally honest, Pray for Paris is standard for a WSG project. It opens with a long, uncut audio clip, this time from the Christie’s Auction sale of Da Vinci’s “Salvador Mundi,” which is really sick and completely fits the Griselda theme, as we know, but is never really worth going back and listening to again, just because there’s little nuance in its “I AM HIGH ART AND HIGH WORTH! SEE????” statement. But that’s exactly why we love WSG, isn’t it? His lyrics are not very substantial, or topically varied, but are so clever that they come off as smart in their near-satirical nature. I can’t think of any from this tape that are worth highlighting. You shouldn’t listen to WSG for the lyrics, though. WSG’s appeal is in his jealousy-inducing list of features and scalpel-like ear for pure hip-hop beats. The stripped back simplicity of Gunn’s vision allows maximum space for the samples to shine and the drums to knock. In short: if you’re a production nerd like me, then this album is for you.

- Cole Mckisson, DJ

RIYL: Benny the Butcher, Roc Marciano, Conway the Machine, LNDN DRGS, Boldy James
Recommended Tracks: 2, 4, 5, 8
FCC: Explicit (all tracks)

NEW ADDS: The Garden, Photay, Westside Gunn