Greetings, music fans! I trust that you have enjoyed summer as much as I have. With music festival season still in full-swing, I am here to help guide you toward your inner music fanatic. After all, there’s all kinds of weird sounds out there, and you probably need all the help you can get.
A lot of music was released these past months, making my summer soundtrack as enjoyable as it was diverse. Granted, some tunes have been better than others, but there’s plenty to be excited about for fans of all genres. Let us remember some of the notable albums that dropped over summer, and look forward to a new school year that will surely provide us music lovers with even more beats and jams to bother our neighbors with.
Flo Rida – “Wild Ones,” June 22 3.0
Atlantic – Hip-Hop / Pop
Rapper Flo Rida released his fourth studio album — the much-anticipated “Wild Ones” — at the top of the summer, providing Las Vegas DJs with plenty of songs to play over and over and over.
This album’s invasively catchy songs are a shining example of the unfortunate drift of electronic dance music into the mainstream. On “Wild Ones,” tracks produced by house-music giants Avicii and Axwell are tainted by superficial and shallow lyrical content. The album’s title track typifies Flo Rida’s rapping ability: “After bottle, we all get bit and again tomorrow/Gotta break loose cause that’s the motto/Club shuts down, I heard you’re super models.”
Tragically, the raps and rhymes on the album do no favors for the hip-hop genre either. But anyone who has visited The Library downtown can figure out that drunk nightclubbers love to hear songs like these about — you guessed it — getting drunk in the club (though this is an improvement from topics such as Apple Bottom jeans and boots with the fur). It’s an artist-fan relationship that I’m glad to take no part in … not before a few drinks, anyway.
Passion Pit – “Gossamer,” July 23 7.5
Colombia – Electronic Rock / Indie Pop
On July 16, just a week before the album’s release, Passion Pit fans held their breath in worry when lead singer Michael Angelakos announced on the band’s website that the group decided to cancel six tour dates so that Angelakos could “take the time to work on improving (his) mental health.” In an interview with Rolling Stone in August, Angelakos admitted that the difficulties of the touring lifestyle while living with bipolar disorder can be overwhelming.
Amidst the chaos of these events, I was pleasantly surprised to find the songs on “Gossamer” more enjoyable than those on Passion Pit’s previous album “Manners.” Even though I’ve never been a fan of Angelakos’ wailing falsetto (“Sleepyhead” was grossly overplayed for far too long), the vocals from songs such as “Constant Conversations” and “Cry Like a Ghost” go down smoother. Passion Pit brings back its characteristic bouncy synths and thumping rhythms in “Take a Walk” and “Carried Away.”
The Temper Trap – “The Temper Trap,” June 5 8.5
Liberation – Indie Rock
I harbored some doubts as to whether The Temper Trap’s second album would repeat the success of the Aussies’ debut, “Conditons” (2009) and its hugely popular single “Sweet Disposition.” I remember seeing them perform at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in 2010, and was impressed with the energetic “Fader,” among others.
The band’s self-titled sophomore effort absolutely exceeded my expectations. The first track, “Need Your Love,” explodes with a rush of trumpeting synths and lead singer Dougy Mandagi’s piercing voice. Mandagi’s vocals, the driving force behind the band’s scintillating sounds, are impeccably executed in the album’s second single “Trembling Hands.” The album’s seventh and eighth tracks “Where Do We Go From Here” and “Never Again” are surprisingly danceable and upbeat.
Frank Ocean – “Channel ORANGE,” July 10 6.75
Def Jam – R&B
I’m not a fan of R&B, so I didn’t think I was going to be impressed with Frank Ocean’s “Channel ORANGE” when it came out in July, but the Odd Future member changed my opinions about the direction of the genre.
The most intriguing part of “Channel ORANGE” is Ocean’s knack for being an engaging storyteller. His songs have been under intense scrutiny ever since Ocean shared a post on his Tumblr that involved him having romantic feelings for a man — a rather unprecedented move for a member of the hip-hop community. This revelation inspires a new appreciation for Ocean’s lyrics, particularly in the popular single, “Thinkin Bout You,” which has emotionally powerful verses.
Ocean also demonstrates his storytelling prowess in “Super Rich Kids,” a track that reflects on the impacts of a materialistic lifestyle with shallow interactions: “Too many joy rides in daddy’s Jaguar/Too many white lies and white lines/Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends/Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends.” The lyrics are flavored with dry humor and complimented with a piano rhythm reminiscent of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.”
Lastly, I really enjoyed “Pyramids,” which is tinged with electronic influences, displaying the New Orleans native’s willingness to branch out into other genres. With a groovy bass line and dream-like synths, it’s a little more upbeat than the rest of the album.
Keep an eye out for this young talent.
Purity Ring – “Shrines,” July 20 8.75
4AD – Electronic
Strangely entrancing, Purity Ring’s space-age, synth-pop tunes left me unable to properly describe what I was hearing when I first heard the band’s debut album. The group merely consists of vocalist Megan James and her beat-composing counterpart Corin Roddick, but that’s where the group’s simplicity ends.
Characterized by ghostly synths and the disparate trap-style beats made famous by southern rap tunes (currently seeing a revival in electronic dance music), Purity Ring takes listeners on an underwater journey with bizarre songs that I’m eager to see performed live. “Ungirthed,” “Fineshrine” and “Crawlersout” are all fantastic tracks that play with the senses.