DJ Khaled, Atmosphere, Young The Giant and More Music Reviews

— -- intro: This week Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere drop a new album, DJ Khaled’s latest receives a physical release, Young The Giant explore concepts of national pride while perfecting their mixture of indie-rock and pop, the band Blind Pilot releases their first album in five years and psych-rockers Of Montreal continue their prolific career.

Here we have another week and another batch of records to discuss. Dive in.

quicklist: 1title: Atmosphere’s “Fishing Blues” ****text: Like 2014’s exciting album, “Southsiders,” “Fishing Blues” finds Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere doing what they do best. There’s punch and excitement in the beats to “Like A Fire” and “Ringo,” but those early tracks stand a little like outliers. The majority of the rest of the record is more ominous in tone finding Slug at his most introspective.

On “Seismic Waves” he mentions both Prince and Trayvon Martin and decries a political system that has caused a divide. “The S--- We’ve Been Through” has a heavy tone to its beat, as Slug raps about a relationship gone wrong as he tries to call a girlfriend at a tense time in an attempt to make peace.

This is also a set with an impressive guest list. The truly ominous “When The Lights Go Out” somehow manages to put underground hip-hop legends Doom and Kool Keith together. Doom’s verse has his cryptic style intact, while Keith in typical madcap form delivers a somewhat rambling spoken paragraph of sorts instead of a traditional verse. Elsewhere, The Grouch makes a strong appearance on the title track and Aesop Rock appears on “Chasing New York.”

Fans of Atmosphere’s previous work will find plenty to love here and it has plenty of thought-provoking, deeply diving passages. Slug has always been one of hip-hop’s most introspective emcees and this record proves he’s still as compelling as ever.

“Fishing Blues” is a consistently fascinating record that should get a lot of attention. Atmosphere represent Minneapolis with pride, with a unique narrative style that has earned them their status as underground hip-hop trend-setters.

Focus Tracks:

“Chasing New York” (Featuring Aesop Rock) This is the best beat on the album, complete with a bouncy bass-line and some jazzy piano chords. It begins with Slug’s ear-catching verse, “I used to be in love with Brooklyn. / Way before I ever got to go to Brooklyn. / And I really enjoyed the first time I stayed there / But disappointed by how clean the trains were.” To hip-hop heads outside of New York, the five boroughs of the city really cast a long shadow. As a life-long native Brooklynite, remembering the graffiti-laced trains of my youth, I can understand (from an iconic perspective) his disappointment.

“When The Lights Go Out” (Featuring Doom and Kool Keith) This track is ridiculously eerie-sounding but notable for its guest list. Doom’s verse in particular is an ear-catching linguistic exercise.

“Ringo” The brightest- and bounciest-sounding moment on the record is a tongue-in-cheek track about waking up feeling hungover trying to piece together what happened the night before. It’s refrain of “Everybody wanna see a falling star” is a clear indictment of our tabloid-driven culture.

quicklist: 2title: DJ Khaled’s “Major Key” **1/2text: This record finds the hip-hop and club DJ joined as expected by a wide variety of guests. Sure, Drake gets a lot of attention for his hitmaking turn on “For Free,” but DJ Khaled does really well here with emcees who focus on their lyrics over the flash. Nas, for instance, nails his guest turn on “Nas Album Done.”

Mostly, this album shows a battle between hip-hop’s old-guard and the new club-hopping set. If you don’t like Autotune and vocoder effects this record probably isn’t for you. The opening track, “I Got The Keys” with Jay Z and Future will likely turn off as many people as it entices depending on which side of the gate their tastes reside. The presence of the polarizing Chris Brown on the cameo-heavy “Do You Mind” will also likely turn off some folks.

By its nature, this record is only as good as its guests, which means that it is extremely uneven from track to track. And it is kind of obnoxious to hear every track either begin with the same shout of “We the best music!” or “Another one. DJ Khaled!” But that is all part of the modern hip-hop club experience. If nothing else, this record finds some artists making some interesting bedfellows. It’s kind of interesting hearing Meghan Trainor on the same track as Wiz Khalifa and Wale.

With “Major Key” Khaled tries to please both hip-hop worlds. If you don’t dig Drake and Future, maybe you’ll like the tracks with Rick Ross, Fabolous or Busta Rhymes. This album will upset hip-hop purists but then again, this album wasn’t really made with them in mind.

While “Major Key” has a few really strong cuts, Khaled is still dangerously close to being the hip-hop world’s answer to David Guetta.

Focus Tracks:

“Nas Album Done” (Featuring Nas) Nas is in top form here, spitting dizzying rhymes over Khaled’s electro-influenced beat. To say this is the album’s biggest standout moment is an understatement.

“Holy Key” (Featuring Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar and Betty Wright) Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar each do really well here, too, but on the second half of his verse, Kendrick gets unhinged and proves exactly why he is a future legend.

“Forgive Me Father” (Featuring Meghan Trainor, Wiz Khalifa and Wale) A prayer and a request for forgiveness, this track does well mixing hip-hop, pop and touch of gospel.

quicklist: 3title: Young The Giant’s “Home Of The Strange” ****text: For three albums now, the members of Young The Giant have been surfing between the indie-rock and pop worlds. Their latest offering “Home Of The Strange” may be their strongest and most sophisticated album to date. This is a slightly stronger offering than 2014’s “Mind Over Matter,” with highlights that match or exceed the high points of their self-titled 2011 debut.

This album too has a very marketable sound. “Something To Believe In” sounds like a superior cousin to the kind of work that Imagine Dragons have been releasing. Vocalist Sameer Gadhia packs some incredible confidence here and delivers one of his most powerful performances to date.

This is a more nuanced cousin to middle-of-the-road radio pop-rock. “Elsewhere” is going for the same lite-R&B and funk-flavored rock sound of Maroon 5, but the piano line adds a stately quality and Gadhia has a much fuller, richer voice than Adam Levine.

“Mr. Know-It-All” has a slightly Indian-influenced flavor while having musical nods to Bowie and Mozart, while “Jungle Youth” is a surprisingly polished track that verges on synthy sludge-rock in place. “Titus Was Born” revels in its delicate backdrop, whereas “Silvertongue” is a stomping party jam.

If “Home Of The Strange” makes any clear statement, it’s that Young The Giant aren’t leaving until they climb the pop charts. This is a rare kind of album. Indie-rock fans who liked early standout single “Cough Syrup” will still like this album quite a bit, but it will also appeal to a newer audience. It would seem like the band members have pinpointed their sweet spot.

Focus tracks:

“Amerika” This album really is an exploration on American identity and this track and the title track, along with the occasional bits of Indian-influence heard through the record paint an interesting cultural mixture. This is no doubt very personal for Gadhia, as a California-born son of Indian parents and drummer Francois Comtois who is from Montreal. Guitarist Jacob Tilley is British. Each of the five members of the band can relate to the immigrant experience in some way. This opener in many ways serves as the album’s thesis statement.

“Mr. Know-It-All” I don’t know if this was recorded before or after David Bowie died in January, but it stands as a strong love letter to his legacy, particularly with its stylistic referencing to “Young Americans.”

“Art Exhibit” This is quite simply a beautifully put together piece of music. It is unpredictable and serene at the same time, proving that the members of Young The Giant have a musical prowess that surpasses many of their musical peers.

quicklist: 4title: Blind Pilot’s “And Then Like Lions” ****text: The third album by Blind Pilot and first in five years finds leader Israel Nebeker delivering what is perhaps his most delicate and understated collection yet. “And Then Like Lions” is a smartly written set that belongs side-by-side with work by like-minded acts like Iron & Wine and “Makers”-era Rocky Votolato. Anyone familiar with Nebeker’s Blind Pilot work won’t find this to be a surprise. But this is an album that is filled with slight nuances. If you don’t listen to it deeply, there are layers you might miss. He’s an intelligent writer from a folk tradition, but a song like “Moon At Dawn” is packed with slow-burning power as it rises, whereas “Packed Powder” achieves an excellent moving shuffle.

This is mid-tempo, singer-songwriter pop with a subtle core. If this album grabs your attention, it will keep it, but it never hits you over the head. Cuts like “Seeing Is Believing” and “It Was Enough” are equally gentle and sweeping. There’s a coffeehouse charm to Nebeker’s approach and I mean that in the best way possible. One can imagine that Blind Pilot are probably quite spellbinding in the live setting.

This is a record all about song-craft with little sense of flash. It doesn’t make it a key candidate for a pop crossover, but that obviously isn’t Nebeker’s goal. This album is, however, ripe for licensing in indie films. Fans who went nuts for the “Garden State” soundtrack a decade ago would find much to love here.

Three albums deep and Blind Pilot still seem like a secret that needs to get spread. As subtle as Nebeker can be as a writer, he is also extremely skilled and deserves a wider audience. This is a collection crafted from a very strong singer-songwriter tradition.

Focus Tracks:

“What Is Yet” This orchestral track has a stellar slow-build and a few masterful, minor key edges.

“Joik #3” This track shows Nebeker at his most folky and quiet and as it slowly rises, his sense of melody is given room to shine.

“Packed Powder” Probably the track on the album with the most commercial appeal, this again shows a really strong rise and from the beginning the song has an engaging rhythm that sets it up as a possible hit.

quicklist: 5title: Of Montreal’s “Innocence Reaches” ***1/2text: Maybe it is the effect of listening to Of Montreal for well over a decade now, but their latest album seems to find them at a semi-commercial-sounding happy-medium, which is a good thing. Leader Kevin Barnes has always been prone to wild experimentation with his high, sometimes jarring vocals and his affinity for psych-rock textures, but there is something that seems almost streamlined about this collection.

If you found this band to be a difficult sell before, this album probably won’t change things. I’ve found they are an act people either love with a level of fanaticism or can’t stand. That polarizing quality still most likely exists here, but there is still some post-punk-meets-modern-synth-pop charm in opener “Let’s Relate,” while the rocking textures of “Les Chants de Maldoror” have a wonderful glam-rock quality. Barnes is still open to experimentation, but this collection seems more focused than usual. He’s experimenting with the mid-range and the lower-portions of his voice more often here. There’s even kind of a scrappy sense of anger in the deadpan vocal delivery on the verses of “Def Pacts.”

Sure, this album isn’t without its forays into the bizarre. (Listen to that oddball, rinky-dink beat on “A Sport And A Pastime.”) These kinds of touches have become a hallmark of Of Montreal’s work. Anyone wanting to hear one of their records will expect such elements. There are also moments here that sound a bit like a broken video game, but that is part of Barnes’ psychedelic palate.

The bottom line is, if you are down for a woozy, edgy collection heavy on disco-funk and glam-rock textures, with a few offbeat detours, this might be a collection for you. Of Montreal’s music remains an unquestionably acquired taste, but “Innocence Reaches” is packed with some fascinating moments.

Focus Tracks:

“Les Chants de Maldoror” The psych-rock heights of this album as well as its knack for experimentation are firmly on display here on this six-minute rocker.

“It’s Different For Girls” No this isn’t a Joe Jackson cover. This is a quirky synth-pop song designed to tear apart and explore cultural gender roles. It is as thought-provoking as it is catchy.

“Def Pacts” This song has a wonderful sense of disdain during the verses. That is contrasted well with a softer, gentler, vocally driven section that turns into something more psychedelic. The interplay between these extremes paints a compelling sonic picture.

Next Week: New music from Ed Harcourt, Tobacco and more.

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