Cities Aviv - Working Title for the Album Secret Waters

-
Still mad that I never got the vinyl release of his last album.


Every time I review something that ended up being a surprise release, I always talk about how nice surprise releases are. Even if it’s by an artist you’re not a giant fan of, a surprise drop is always something cool. Memphis rapper Cities Aviv is one I got real excited about. Then again, I was always gonna be excited to see what he did next after his two-hour-long epic MAN PLAYS THE HORN, which is in my top 10 favorite albums of this year. I would’ve never expected there to be a new album so soon given just how large his last project was. Now, we have Working Title for the Album Secret Waters, a damn good surprise release that genuinely caught me off guard. Knowing that this project is only a fraction the length of HORN, does that addictive, hypnotic sound translate into a shorter project? Let’s tread into Secret Waters.

What I think stands out here the most is the production, more specifically the sampling done here. I like the more clean-cut sound with the beats on here, even if I prefer the more fuzzy mixing on MAN PLAYS THE HORN more. The reason why I don’t mind this change is because Aviv’s rapping and pen game just continue to impress me. In the case of HORN, I had to dig a little bit to find the lyrics, even if they’re still great. On Secret Waters, though, they’re more clear and have just as much impact as hearing what those lyrics on HORN are. Simply put, Aviv just has a good ear for this abstract sound and it enhances the music. Since I’ve dug into more of Aviv’s music in between this and HORN, I think some of his best material appears on this, especially “Chozen / The Prevalence of Issues” and the closing track “Strange Ways a Coming.”

While I prefer MAN PLAYS THE HORN for its overall ambition, Working Title for the Album Secret Waters is the album that cuts down the fat from that album to be at least a little more accessible. Even if I prefer HORN, I have to admit that Cities Aviv is a genuine talent that shouldn’t be slept on anymore. Secret Waters is a great epilogue to one of the best albums of the year so far.


9/10


Listen here

Spotify

Apple Music

Bandcamp




Working Title for the Album Secret Waters is self-released.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here. ALBUM REVIEW

-
Image
I gotta keep holding to my promises about reviewing. I always love it when an artist takes a risk with their material. Whether or not it works out, I usually admire the risk and appreciate the fact that any artist can do something out of their comfort zone. Either way, the artist in question today is Lil Yachty, a rapper that has basically become a joke the longer his career’s gone on. However, going into a new genre out of left field isn’t totally new to rap. Childish Gambino jumping into the world of neo-soul with Awaken, My Love! , along with later projects from Mac Miller and Tyler, the Creator having more jazz influences, have proven that turning to a new genre for new ideas has worked out pretty well. Yachty, however, has turned to psychedelic rock in the vein of Tame Impala for this new album, Let’s Start Here. to mark the new chapter of his career. Let’s get into it. Having stuck around with Yachty during the rough patches, I can easily say that Let’s Start Here. is his best
Read more

Porter Robinson - Nurture ALBUM REVIEW

-
Image
I wanna just lay in a field of grass, but I’m allergic to pollen :( I’ve always had a very strange relationship with electronic music. The bad music I’ve heard in the genre has been some of the worst music I’ve ever heard, and the good stuff is some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard. For some context, we have artists like The Chainsmokers on one end, and Daft Punk on the other. There are some subgenres in here too that work. Electropop is one of them, being an obvious fusion of pop and electronic music. In the little community of the AOTY website, the users there have been hyped as hell for this Porter Robinson album, Nurture . It’s apparently his first in seven years, and I’ve only heard one single from it, titled “Musician.” While it wasn’t the best electropop song I’ve heard, it’s certainly an interesting sound that I think can work pretty well. So, with how anticipated it is in the AOTY community, I figured I should take a listen and see what all the fuss is about. Let’s get in
Read more

Talking 'Bout a Real Love: Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE [10 Years Later]

-
Image
Honestly, the fact that you’re reading this review now is a big deal to me. I *very* rarely mention anniversaries of albums that I love, but this is simply different. To go even further, hearing channel ORANGE for the first time as a kid was transformative. I saw this little orange CD on the new release stand at the local library and decided to pick it up. Again, I was literally 10 when this came out, so I had no idea what the intricacies of love and romance even were at that point, but putting that little disc inside my shitty portable CD player was certainly something. I literally didn’t know that a song could as perfect as “Pyramids” was and still is. Let me just be honest with something: This is my favorite album of all time. I gave it a relisten last night/this morning just to see if it’s in the running, and it easily took the cake. The only thing that bothers me about the digital version is that the final track doesn’t include the hidden track, “Golden Girl” with Tyler, the Crea
Read more