Cordavision Music Reviews

Why is there no blur on the tomatoes? Aren’t they being thrown at him? I’m not gonna get into the Machine Gun Kelly discourse because if I’m being honest, I really don’t care about it. MGK’s time as a musician has been genuinely weird. From pop-rapper to pop-punk rocker who claims to have brought guitar-driven music back, it’s certainly been an interesting timeline for him. When it comes to his last album, Tickets to My Downfall , I’m actually in the minority in the music-nerd space when I say I kind of liked it. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it seems like MGK tried to justify this new direction. He’s now giving it another go with Mainstream Sellout , so let’s get into what I thought about it. This might be considered a hot take, but I don’t think this is all that good. Then again, I really don’t know what I expected either. Even if Tickets to My Downfall seemed somewhat genuine to me, this just all seems fake. Even if some people can’t accept it, MGK is the biggest rock musician in the...

Dog. So, I know what you’re thinking. Who the hell is Nigo? Nigo’s actually a producer and entrepreneur. He founded the BAPE brand and he’s also a member of the Teriyaki Boyz, who made "Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious).” I’m pretty sure it’s one of the most recognizable songs in pop culture at this point. Either way, Nigo has teamed up with Pharrell to make this DJ-curated album I Know Nigo! which has features from Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Clipse, Pusha T, Gunna, A$AP Ferg, the late Pop Smoke, and Lil Uzi Vert. Let’s get into what I thought about it. Right out of the gate, this is what a good DJ Khaled album should be. Some good curated songs while teaming up with a talented producer to pick beats that they’d sound good over. I think the massive highlight on this is Tyler’s “Come On, Let’s Go,” which is pretty easily the best song on this album to me. The tracks with Rocky and Pusha T are also pretty good, but the rest of the tracks simply didn’t do much for me. I think “P...

Okay, I melted my eyes, what’s next? Denzel Curry has been one of the most exciting rappers working right now, mainly because of how consistent he is. His last official album, 2018’s Ta13oo , is one of the best and most complex albums of that year in all of music, and his projects ZUU and UNLOCKED with Kenny Beats showed off more of his creativity. I’ve been very excited about what he’s been cooking, and now we finally have Melt My Eyez See Your Future , the album that Curry himself has described as his true next project after Ta13oo . Let’s not waste any more time and get into it. I just have to say for the sound of this album, I really enjoy the more boom bap approach to the production on most of these songs. It fits Denzel’s voice very well to me, along with the lyrical content he has on this project. I also think that this is his best-produced album out of everything he’s released. The songs flow well within the tracklist, but the true highlight here is Denzel himself. His writin...

Rivers Cuomo’s really in his elven bag for the promo. So, we have an interesting project here. Beloved indie rock group Weezer, who recently put out one of their best projects [ OK Human ] and one of their worst projects [ Van Weezer ] in the same year, are putting out four seven-track EPs this year, each of them representing one of the four seasons. The series is called SZNZ , which I finally learned the actual spelling of. They’re all set to drop on the first day of that corresponding season, and we’re starting off with springtime. Not really that much of an intro, so let’s get into SZNZ: Spring . If I’m being honest, there’s not a lot to say about it since this is part one of a project. For lack of a better term, this very much sounds like springtime. It’s more acoustic and inspired by folk music, and I think that’s a good direction for Weezer to go in for a full-length album outside of this project. The Shakespeare lyrics on “Opening Night” are pretty bad, though. One of the other ...

Finally got some musicians to commission some work from my little cousin, she loves it! I’ve said in the past that I’m not drained, as they say. I’ve covered both Bladee and Ecco2K on this site, and out of what I’ve heard of them, I think that I prefer Ecco2K over Bladee at this point. It may be a voice thing, but the neurons fire more when I hear Ecco, especially his E and PXE projects. Even if they’ve worked together quite a bit before, this is actually the first time they’ve worked on an entire album where it’s just them two. Crest was a surprise release, so not that many expectations are tied to this. Let’s get into what I thought about it. It may not be the first time someone has said this, but I think these two work really well together. It’s genuinely scary how good they are together at times. Like the other Drain Gang projects I’ve covered, my favorite part of this album is the production. I believe the producer of this is Whitearmor, and he’s just as big of a part of why th...

Catching up on the lore, don’t mind me. Whenever I’ve covered Australian band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, I’ve tried to keep up with their insanely large output. However, for the first time in almost two years of this brand’s existence, I’ve failed. King Gizz has already announced a new album that’s set to drop next month. It’s all satire, I know, I’m not genuinely that upset, but King Gizz albums have their own loose lore to them that I really don’t know yet. Anyway, Made in Timeland is yet another turn in the band’s varied discography. What did they do this time? Let’s see what happened. So, even in a unique discography, this album is quite different: this is intermission music. For context, the band were originally set to do a bunch of long shows in 2020 tied to their own Timeland Festival. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but it’s still set to happen later this year. There are only two tracks on this album, and each of them run for 15 minutes on the dot. They essentially mad...

This album cover is already iconic, no matter the quality of the album. I genuinely have no clue on how to start this review. Charli XCX is an artist that I admire from an artistic standpoint but really hasn’t connected with me that much. The closest I’ve connected to that music was her last album, how i’m feeling now , but that may just be because it was released at the start of the pandemic and that album is so tied to that time. Even with liking some of the singles from this new album CRASH , this has been getting a pretty divided response. Let’s get into what my thoughts on this are. Right off the bat, I think I know what the biggest issue was with this album for me. The production on this just didn’t hit me at all. I know it’s popular to hate on this because it’s a more standard pop project compared to her other albums, but there are very good producers here like A.G. Cook and Oneohtrix Point Never on this. It just seems way too amateur to come out like this. I also just think tha...

Because of listening to this, I found out that ROSALÍA and Frank Ocean lived together for a bit. Let me tell you this right now: I’ve been insanely excited for this album for a while now. ROSALÍA has been on my radar for a few years, especially after her two breakout albums Los Ángeles and El mal querer . Even her collaborations with Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd have all hit pretty well with me as well. Ever since MOTOMAMI was officially announced, it immediately shot to the top of my most anticipated list. Even with the rumor of Frank Ocean being a feature ending up being false, that didn’t slow down the hype for me one bit. Let’s not waste any more time and get into MOTOMAMI . In a word, this is explosive. The direction of experimental pop thrown in with reggaeton and R&B is some of the most creative music I’ve heard this decade so far. Each song is genuinely different, and especially with ROSALÍA having a hand in the production on every song, it just cements the fa...

Oh no, he’s hot. I’ve never really heard of Lucky Daye before this album. Even if I’ve heard the name before, I haven’t heard any of his music before. This is a classic example of only listening to an album because of the cover art, because admittedly, this cover’s scratching an itch in my mind. I know he’s a neo-soul/R&B singer, and that’s really all I know. I don’t know how to properly segway into the review, so let’s just get into what I thought about Candydrip . Right off the bat, my favorite aspect of this album is Lucky Daye himself. His vocals are rich and they fit the experimentation in the production. When it comes to the production, it’s a mix of digital modern production and live instrumentation, and it’s some of the best R&B production I’ve heard in a while. The slower R&B tracks really do fit Lucky Daye’s sound and with the mix of new and old production, it makes for a pretty unique sound. Overall, that’s pretty much all of my thoughts on Candydrip . Lucky Daye...

I honestly don’t know why this cover is so low quality, I can’t find a better version. This is the first time I’ve covered a Lil Durk solo album, mainly because this is the first one I’ve heard in its entirety. Yes, I heard the album he did with Lil Baby from last year, and even if I originally gave it a 6/10, it’s surprisingly grown on me since then. However, I do think that there are a few elements of Durk’s music that don't work for me. It may not be his fault, but I think he needs some better beats to go over at times. Even if the Morgan Wallen collab “Broadway Girls” left a bad taste in my mouth because of Wallen’s presence, it’s not the worst thing I’ve heard. It’s been interesting to see how well Durk’s career has gone, and I feel like 7220 could be a major point in his career. Let’s get into how I feel about it. I’ll say this one positive thing about the album, and it’s that I liked how Durk got more personal in his lyrics. It really gave a good emphasis on what he wanted ...

Zappa? Ocean? Sinatra? Even if I don’t know much about him, I’ve been pretty excited for Fly Anakin’s first big debut album. It may not be his first album, even his first solo album, but this is his major-label debut. The first time I had heard of him was his work with Pink Siifu, especially on the FlySiifu album and the $mokebreak EP, and they’re both pretty good. I’ve been waiting on Frank for a while, and I’m very glad that we have it now. Let’s get into it now. Like most of the songs he’s involved in, I just love Anakin’s voice. His animated voice really breathes life into some already unique production too. Beats from Madlib, Jay Versace, Evidence, DJ Harrison, and more give this a unique identity, and it’s a good plus to see Pink Siifu keep up the collaborations they’ve been doing. It’s also worth mentioning the album cover, which might be my favorite of the year so far. I’m very glad that Frank has lived up to the expectations I’ve had. Fly Anakin deserves your time with one...

Oh, the Ho99o9! Ho99o9 [an absolute joy to type] are a group that are genuinely unique in a big crowd of unique musicians coming out these days. The first time I had heard them was on clipping.’s amazing 2020 album Visions of Bodies Being Burned , and since their feature on that album, it’s been a wild listen for me. I think that their debut album United States of Horror is pretty good, and ever since their next album Skin was announced, I’ve been ready. I haven’t heard any of the singles, so I’m fully ready to dive into this without warning. Let’s just do it right now and get into Skin . It’s worth noting that Travis Barker from blink-182 produced this entire album and is the first official release on his own label, DTA. Admittedly, that kind of worried me for a second because of Barker’s inconsistency recently, but I think his production nailed it. The mix of trap, metal, and industrial music is a damn-near perfect blend of each genre. Even with the features from Bun B and Slipknot...

Honestly, this cover’s fantastic. Got nothing else for the intro. I feel like I’m going through deja vu while writing this upcoming sentence: Benny the Butcher needs no introduction. I’ve covered enough Griselda releases to know that the label continues to grow stronger and stronger with each release. Benny’s arguably the most popular of the group, with this album’s predecessor Tana Talk 3 being one of the most beloved releases from the label. Now, we have Tana Talk 4 , an album I’ve been anticipating for a while now. It’s entirely produced by Daringer and The Alchemist, along with some Griselda features like Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Stove God Cooks, and Boldy James. Also along for the ride are one of Benny’s frequent collaborators 38 Spesh, and features from J. Cole and Diddy. It’s a star-studded event at this point, so let’s just get into Tana Talk 4 . For the past couple of Benny’s projects, the production has been on the lighter side of things. Sure, Hit-Boy and Harry Fr...

If you want to see my *spoiler-free* thoughts on The Batman , click right here ! If there were any movie releasing this year, I’d have to cover the score for this one. For those that don’t know, The Batman is a movie I’ve been excited for on the level of Spider-Man: No Way Home . By the time this review releases, I will have seen the movie itself and will most likely have loved it. Now, though, we focus on what surely will be a highlight from the movie. I’ve covered Michael Giacchino’s work before, specifically his score for No Way Home , and ever since the middle of the pandemic, the four notes that he created for Matt Reeves’s new film has been an earworm. Two years after the first trailer for the film, we finally have Giacchino’s work for The Batman . Let’s get into my thoughts on it. Giacchino has already created an amazing theme for both Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, but they were due for something new like this. Batman isn’t. Even if Hans Zimmer’s score is known by most, Danny ...

Pretty sure I gotta learn how to skateboard to listen to this now. The 2000s were truly something else. I was too young to remember a little of it, but there are a couple things that stand out. Since nostalgia typically goes back for two decades, it seems like 2000s style is coming back, especially in the music. We have the good stuff like WILLOW’s last album, and we have the bad stuff like nearly everything Machine Gun Kelly has done within the past two years. One artist that seemed prime for a *huge* career resurgence is Avril Lavigne, where her songs like “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi” have been etched into the style so much that it’s become that style. Lavigne seems to know this since we have her return to that 2000s pop-punk sound with Love Sux . I haven’t heard any of the singles beforehand, but with MGK and blackbear as features on this, it’s not like I have that high of expectations to begin with. Let’s just get into it. If you’ve been living under a rock, pop-punk is mainstream...

Since I like these guys and I am on Earth, am I an EARTHGANG member? I’ve always thought that EARTHGANG have stood out among J. Cole’s Dreamville label. The duo consisting of Olu and WowGr8 have always shown massive talent, and along with their features on other Dreamville artists’ songs and albums, their debut album Mirrorland began to show their potential. Now, after a tiny delay, their second album Ghetto Gods is here for the masses. Does their potential as album artists finally become realized? Let’s get into my thoughts on Ghetto Gods . In comparison to Mirrorland , I do appreciate more experimentation in the production when it comes to creating a soundscape for this album. The entire concept of finding yourself in God and vice versa is executed very well here, and it shows that the duo’s writing and lyrics are improving as well. The one thing I’d think would hamper this album is that there are a good amount of five-minute songs and that they’d slow down the album, but they actu...