Young Fathers
White Men Are Black Men Too
In my quest to find music that actually challenges its listeners, I have only been mildly successful. That changes today.
Young Fathers is a hip hop group from Scotland--yes, Scotland--that are not only pushing the musical boundaries of the genre, but racking up the critical recognition as well, having won last year's Mercury Prize over heavy favorites Damon Albarn and FKA Twigs.
One could be forgiven for not believing the hip hop label that comes with White Men Are Black Men Too, but the beats don't lie. Constructed with intense care, and with a constant mindfulness for production quality and overall sound, each hook is meted out with equal measures of Prince and TV On The Radio.
The latter of those two comparisons cannot be ignored. This is the high-quality OK Calculator fans of the Brooklyn indie-rock group has always secretly hoped for, both quirky and catchy, novel and mesmerizing at the same time. From their layered vocals, to their often-strange choice of looped percussion instruments, Young Fathers owe a great debt to TVOTR and other experimental hip-hop acts such as Flying Lotus and Frank Ocean.
But don't take their heavy influences as trivializing the sound, WMABMT is a work of genius that should be celebrated as such; this is the next step forward in hip-hop, a genre that has been plagued with stagnation save for a few bright spots. Kanye, Kendrick, A$AP, make room on the top shelf for some brilliant company.
Drenge
Undertow
Two...two albums in one week? Yes, because these are both so good I couldn't wait one more day to talk about either of them. Drenge is the love-child of Duran Duran, The Cure, and Sleep that you never knew you wanted, but you totally need.
Undertow is a combination of sludge metal and Brit-pop, and if that sounds strange, just understand that it's the most brilliant melding of genres ever. Let yourself slip into a deeper consciousness and be one with the robotic rock rhythm.
Anytime a new(ish) band sounds this good, you can only hope your constantly repeat-playing their album won't crash a server. I'm sure that's not how servers work, but with a style like Franz Ferdinand covering Tool, things get confusing at an almost quantum level.
In all seriousness, Undertow is an expertly crafted album that creates an intimate space in which to pummel you with rock-and-roll. And with their sophomore effort, Drenge have made one of the most enjoyable albums of the year.
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