Skip to main content

The Voidz, Virtue

The VoidzVirtue



Formerly "Julian Casablancas and the Voidz," the former Strokes frontman’s new band has removed its most famous member’s name from the title, asserting its identity as a unit. It’s a good move, because the Voidz are not a backing band; they are an original, experiemental, genre-confounding powerhouse of unpredictability. They are also nothing like the Strokes, and frankly, while the Strokes were great at what they did, the Voidz are infinitely more interesting. The band goes wherever it wants to here and there’s not always a lot of rhyme or reason to it. This album is messy and jagged and not the most cohesive record ever made, but in terms of raw creativity, it’s a marvel, and it’s worth every twist and turn. Highlights: “QYURRYUS,” “Pyamid Of Bones,” “All Wordz Are Made Up”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kanye West & Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts

Kanye West & Kid Cudi ,  Kids See Ghosts After his listener-alienating,public declarations of profound ignorance, it was inevitable one Kanye album had to bomb. And so we had  Ye,  full of bluster, short on insight and impossible to listen to without remembering its maker’s missteps. One week later comes this collaboration and suddenly, West seems willing and able to wrestle with his demons and, if not apologize, at least acknowledge what he’s wrought and try to move forward. Kanye does the lion’s share of the rapping and the production, while alternative rap icon Kid Cudi does most of the singing. Cudi’s presence and his vocal contributions seem to temper Kanye and guide him to higher ground, while Kanye sharpens Cudi’s focus. I don’t know if this album is enough to reassure anyone about where Kanye’s head is at, but it does suggest he‘s got better influences in his life than a delinquent president, and the music is unassailable. Highlights: “Reborn,” “Fe...

Fantastic Negrito, Please Don’t Be Dead

Fantastic Negrito ,  Please Don’t Be Dead With the sophomore effort of the third incarnation of Xavier Dphrepaulezz’s musical career, the eccentric bluesman surges ahead on a wave of confidence bestowed by the long-sought success of his 2017 release The Last Days of Oakland. This album is one of a kind; blues is Fantastic Negrito’s homebase, but for the purposes of this album it’s simply springboard to a fantastically diverse array of sounds. From soulful paeans of resistance, to all-out rockers with theatrical guitar wigouts, to off-kilter grunge progressions, to anthemic chanting in exotic scales, Dphrepaulezz is unpredictable and impossible to pin down. Sometimes the only things tying the album together are the progressive message and the personal mojo of its artist, but that’s all it needs. Highlights: “A Letter To Fear,” “A Boy Named Andrew,” “A Cold November Street”

Saba, Care For Me

Saba ,  Care For Me The most passionate rap album of 2018, Chicago rapper Saba’s sophomore effort channels the artist’s heartbreak over the senseless, random murder of his best friend into nine enthralling compositions that only deepen in their impact on repeat listens. The songs aren’t all about this loss — and in fact the album displays a tremendous range of tone, style and subject — but they are all informed by it. Every song is meaningful and each song is its own thing; it’s Saba’s examination and elucidation of his own life that gives the album its momentum and its cohesion. Saba’s lyrics are deep, they’re soul-bearing, they’re funny and they’re profoundly humble and self-effacing for a rap album. And for all this focus on the lyrics, the music is every bit as striking. Mutli-instruentalist Daoud and producer DaeDaePivot blend largely piano-based jazz sounds with trap sounds for a feel that’s both organic and modern. Saba raps a lot more than he sings but his flo...