Shamir
Ratchet
I may be a little behind the ball here (this album was released on May 19th), but I can truly say, the wait was totally worth it.
To say that listening to Ratchet is the most fun I've ever had listening to an album might seem like hyperbole, but I assure it is not. The lead single, "On the Regular," alone has been on repeat for so long now it's basically Deee-Lite. Shamir is the best house-dance act to come around since Hercules & Love Affair's debut album.
The comparisons between those two don't just end with their genre; both use an extensive amount of Lipps, Inc. style percussion, and both use love as a theme both celebratory and funerary. The thing that separates the two is Shamir's vocals, which are so though-out and amazingly paced that you are inundated with wordplay and moribund philosophy in equal amounts until you forget which is which.
The beats here are simplistic, but carry a great danceablity, reminiscent of some of LCD Soundsystem's more techno-esque offerings (I'm thinking of "Too Much Love" or "One Touch"), and the turns in musical phrase between bridges and chorus make even the longest tracks interesting to the very end.
While a few might find Shamir's voice too high or nasally, it works with the sound of Ratchet so well, it wouldn't be possible to make the album any other way. His countertenor brings the same kind of beneficial androgyny as the band name "Queens of the Stone Age," which Josh Homme described as "good for both the boys and the girls," making the appeal universal.
If nothing else, Shamir knows what he's doing. The samples and sound effects are as ear-worming as the songs themselves, and the lyrics are the kind teens will be trying to memorize while driving to the beach in their first car.
In music, the new rule is Ratchet = Youth. Now to re-listen for the gazillionth time...
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