Here and There - October 2024 Album Reviews

Madvillany - Madvillain

Even though MF DOOM is one of my favorite artists, I haven’t taken the time to listen to his entire discography. I had only heard a few songs off of “Madvillany” before I decided to listen to the album in full this month, and that was all due to this video. I was made aware of the fascinating production behind this album between DOOM and MadLib, and I was inspired to further appreciate the iconic art they made together. I definitely recommend watching that video, even if you haven’t listened to the album. It gives valuable information about some of the greatest minds in production, lyricism, and artistic creativity in the world of music. It’s no surprise, but the album itself is incredible and worth every accolade it has and continues to receive.

Micah. - Micah Dailey-White

You might know Micah from his comedic TikToks, but his music is even better! I’ve had “One On One” on play for the last few months, so I was excited and curious to hear his new songs. To my surprise, he turned to a more alternative route with the rest of the songs on his debut album, but this direction was welcomed and just as entertaining! Micah is a great musician with songs you can’t stop listening to and passion in his messages. I’ll definitely be adding these newer songs to my rotation, and I’ll be excitedly looking out for future projects.

ZUSHI - Dean Blunt

I was inspired to revisit this album in full after (you guessed it) watching a YouTube video about Dean Blunt. He’s kind of a mystery, and a very talented one. He produces great music, and “ZUSHI” is a testament to that. I want to make it a goal to become more familiar with him and his music because there’s something mesmerizing about it. I’ve thought so ever since I heard “7” earlier this year.

Elite Vessel - Lexa Gates

I’ve been waiting for this one! I recently discovered Lexa Gates and her music, and I was impressed from the start. Apart from her nonchalant flow and the mesmerizing production, her stylistic and artistic choices are incredibly apparent. I think this is one of the reasons why she’s so appealing, at least to me anyways. She shows that she knows herself and how she wants to be perceived. Not to mention, her work as an artist has grown so much over the years, evolving with herself and the times.

I was so excited earlier this month when I checked Lexa’s Apple Music page and saw this album had dropped. It’s a great testament to her talent and passion for the art form. Something I noticed was that she tends to explore the motif of solitude in this album, something I would be curious to hear her speak on in the future.

ORQUIDEAS PARTE II - Kali Uchis

Earlier this year, Kali Uchis came out with “ORQUIDEAS”, and I absolutely loved it. This project came after her 2023 album “Red Moon in Venus” which, personally, wasn’t for me. One of my favorite albums is her 2020 album “Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)”, and I missed the nostalgia her earlier music gives me. That’s not to say that “Red Moon in Venus” was bad, it was objectively incredible, and it was arguably a turning point in her career that gave her a tremendous amount of success. However, her and I were not on the same wavelength when it was released (she was/is in love, and I was depressed).

When “ORQUIDEAS” was released, I was hooked from “Como Asi”. For me, it was a great balance of the person she is now and the person/style she embraced a few years prior. She offers a diverse range of Latin music genres, features from other incredible artists, and various emotions between songs. There aren’t enough good things I can say about this project.

More recently, Kali released an extended version of “ORQUIDEAS” called “ORQUIDEAS PARTE II”. It’s all the same songs with a few additional tracks in the middle, including a KAYTRANADA remix on one of the original songs. It’s just as impressive as the original, and it gives me an excuse to talk about this project!

epistolares - AKRIILA

Hot gays listen to AKRIILA! This is one of my favorite albums of 2024! It feels reductive to even call it an album, as it can be labelled better as a “project” if not an overall “experience”. I could’ve linked the album through a streaming service like Spotify, but what I linked instead is a short film that accompanies each song on the album. I highly recommend taking half an hour to watch it, this way you get a better sense of AKRIILA’s personality, artistic choices, iconic fashion, and the intricate and intelligent world she creates through her music. I was saddened when the video ended, as I was so enthralled and inspired the entire time.

Data - Tainy

I was recommended by Andres Medina to listen to this album and give my thoughts on it. He was curious to know what a non-Latin person thought about the album, and I was happy to provide my thoughts! But first, here’s what Andres said about this album of which he is very passionate about:

“The genre is called ‘género urbano’ which translates to urban genre, which encompasses all genres Latin artists play around with. This includes, but is not limited to: reggaeton, Latin-trap, dancehall, pop, rock. This genre is basically Latin artists' take on other genres, but never leaving behind their roots: reggaeton. While this album does have reggaeton, I wouldn't call a reggaeton album since there are other albums more reggaeton-heavy and this one just feels different. Tainy is a music producer from Puerto Rico who's worked with the greatest artists and rising artists within the Latin music spectrum. He's significantly helped shaped the ‘género urbano’ and released ‘Data’ in summer 2023. Being the heavily influential and impactful figure he is, he gathered the greatest artists of the current Latin industry scene, as well as a few rising artists to create this record. He is solely a producer, so he doesn't sing, but he is behind all of the tracks. The concept of this album is the songs being uploaded as data to an android called Sena.”

I’m really glad I was put on to this album because it’s not something I would’ve listened to or discovered on my own. I was really impressed with the production; it’s so diverse and I’m amazed that there are so many creative ways Tainy incorporated various genres and styles of music. It’s also telling of how influential and talented he is that he had so many great artists featured on the tracks! Thanks so much Andres for recommending this album!

CHROMAKOPIA - Tyler, the Creator

You know I HAD to include this album. I’m honestly afraid to talk about this project too much because I feel like it needs something longer and more personal…

Let’s just say, it’s incredible and that’s no surprise to anyone. It’s so good it kind of pisses me off because I don’t understand how he thought to put all these sounds together. My only critique so far is I need GloRilla’s verse to be longer.