March Review 1

Painting With
Animal Collective
Tiger Rating: 6.0  / 10
Experimental

With ten albums under their fandangled belts, Animal Collective are still somehow managing to sound as otherworldly and bizaare as ever. In that they must be commended. There has been no dulling down, no "maturing", no diluting their oddness. If anything, 'Painting With' is possibly their most hyper, unrelenting album to date. From the gurlging, endlessly optimistic opener and first single 'FloriDada" Painting With reels, pogos and claps like a retarded seal right through to the layered, multi-voxed and schizometric closer 'Recycling', proving that the boys are more than capable of still producing sounds that the world has never heard before,

The obvious question is just because they can, does it mean they should? Who cares at this point?
I mean, we've heard this all before, even though we haven't, you know? If you can't hear what the sentiments are beyond the instrumentation, then all you're left with is surface stuff. Admittedly the surface stuff is compelling enough to warrant at least a second listen. The fact remains that they have probably peaked already in their significant career and all that remains is more jerky glitches and more layered vocals.
This is a mood album. Don't ignore it but also don't expect to be won over if you've never paid them much attention.
Highlights: FloriDada / On Delay / Lying In The Grass.

99c
Santigold
Tiger Rating: 8.5 / 10
Indie / Hip-Hop / AlternaPop

The queen of genre-spanning is back and this time she has added some pretty wicked rapping skills to her already impressive repertoire. Santi White is one of my favourite artists for her sheer determination not be pigeon holed. She's come a long way from her ska-punk band roots and is all about the sunshine, summer and the fickle nature of fame on '99c'.
If previous singles were anything to go by, this album was to be the antithesis of her previous effort (2012's 'Master Of My Make Believe'). Her new vibe incorporates all the fresh flash of her debut whilst incorporating the afore mentioned lyrical dexterity of a bona-fide rapper.

Santi knows exactly what she's doing with melody. When track 2 (Big Boss Big Time Business) opens, it's dark and pulsing, but quickly shifts to a major key for the tag, before elevating even higher, with Santi boasting "I got a mouth full of [something]  / I got da key to da system / I got the beats let it hit ya / I got the [something] wanna get some" on the hook. K...so you might not be able to catch all the lyrics, but you get the vibe.
The undoubted highlight of the album is her collabo with ILOVEMAKONNEN. His flat, lazy flow on 'Who Be Lovin' Me' is perfectly complimented by Santi's sick rhymes.
The only slight misstep is the lazy, boring, Jay-Z circa 2001 beat on second single 'Chasing Shadows'.
But here again Ms. White unleashes her vocal urgency while ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam's lacklustre, quasi reggae beat does the track no favours.

It's a very slightly patchy record (her previous two have been so cohesive), but if treated as a collection of singles, it is undeniably fun, exciting, fresh and just damn likable.
Santi is still queen in my books.

Highlights: Who Be Lovin' Me (can never get enough of this track) / the Dave Sitek vibe on Before The Fire /Big Boss Big Time Business / the melody on Banshee





I Like It When You Sleep...
The 1975
Tiger Rating: 7.5 / 10
Pop

Snotty, brash, brat poppers The 1975 are back with their sophomore album and sound like they're lost in 1991.
Not that that's a bad thing.
Taking cues from INXS, MJ, Right Said Fred, Lionel Richie, Genesis, Fine Young Cannibals and [basically insert early 90s pop group here] the English "heartthrobs" have moved deftly beyond their indie roots to embrace an altogether more mainstream sound. Mainstream if you were living in '92, but let's face it - you couldn't be more tongue in cheek now than by copying early nineties sounds (looking at you all twenty-something pop stars ever right now).

Absurd album title aside (seriously though - wtf),
'I Like It When You Sleep For You Are SO Beautiful But So Unaware Of It' is polished, catchy, obnoxious and annoyingly likable. Making it a pop album, plain and simple. It is literally all shoulder pads, shallow snares, echo vocals and stabby synths, often skirting delicately round the rim of radio R&B without ever quite sinking in that hole (possibly because pasty English white boys don't have enough soul to pull of R&B).

At 17 tracks the album is stacked. Their debut had 39 tracks on the Deluxe though, so these boys have actually learned to edit. They are prolific but unfortunately that is the biggest mistake on an otherwise polished album. 6 minute long 'If I Believe You', an ode to Jesus, comes as a pleasant breather after the onslaught of synthy dance numbers.
Unfortunately it is followed by twenty minutes of filler. 'Please Be Naked' is just noises and atmosphere, as is instrumental 'Lostmyhead' which follows, as is the title track.
And so it goes - slew of catchy pop songs, pointless instrumental tracks in between.
It can't quite be a concept album, and so, with all the filler, it's just jarring and unnecessary.

The good bits are really good. These lads know how wind down on the slow tracks too. The non-filler is basically all radio single ready.
My prediction for this band: wild success with this album (that 12-20 year old female demographic is huge), collabos with rappers, relationship with Taylor Swift (resulting in both writing songs about the other), Matt Healy becoming a bigger douche frontman than even Bono and the inevitable remix album.

Highlights: UGH / A Change of Heart (Demo) / The Sound
(Lowlight: Nana (it is has all the intelligence and appeal of the Spice Girl's Viva Forever. Unforgivable))