The Daily Spin: Volume 8
I will not forgive Eli for August 3
Welcome back to The Daily Spin, hosted by David Peterson of The Low Major. Each day, David picks an album (from reader suggestions, new releases, or his own personal favorites) and reviews it, alongside fellow TLM writer Eli Powell and myself. Today, we’re looking back at the month of August, both here and over there!
Note: albums with gold dates were recommended by me. Albums with purple dates are from Saturday Nights at the Club, suggestions made by a group of friends on Discord.
Best Album
Nominees: METRO BOOMIN PRESENTS SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (SOUNDTRACK FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE MOTION PICTURE) (9.3), Fine Line (9.1), Djesse Vol. 2 (8.9), Dopamine (8.9), Memories of Tokyo-To (8.6)
Genre bias has always been a factor in music reviews, both in what records get reviewed in the first place, and what ratings they can be given. Different genres have been favored at different times, but one factor that's been pretty constant throughout the last century or so of musical criticism is dismissiveness of instrumental albums, especially soundtracks. They're often seen as a mere part of whatever they're used to score, and the occasional preexisting songs featured in a film or series are often given way more attention than the original music written for it.
That’s a shame, because soundtracks are a fascinating genre with demands and opportunities that no other genre has. Seven of my ten most-played albums on Apple Music are scores, and there are probably a few Nintendo scores that would be on the list if they weren't withheld from western music services, another problem no other genre deals with to the extent this one does. Soundtracks capture my imagination in a way no other genre consistently does—the very best ones are evocative and captivating in a way you almost never get from other types of music. Obviously, it doesn't make sense to treat them exactly the same as other albums, but they certainly deserve to be treated equally.
I've said before in various forms that I think the best album in any genre has a very strong case for being the best album ever. I can provide reasons I like, say, art rock and indie pop and soundtracks more than other genres, but that's only the basis for a subjective opinion. Ultimately, in any form of art that's been attempted as many times as any major genre has, some artist or group will have achieved virtual perfection. As somebody who's listened to a truly staggering number of film scores, I don't say this lightly: when it comes to film soundtracks, I think Across the Spider-Verse is that perfect album.
Worst Album
Nominees: The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) (5.5), Coffee and Ramen (5.9), Indigo Child (6.3), UTOPIA (6.9), Crack-Up (6.9)
There are so many levels of “why?” to the existence of this soundtrack that I’m not really sure how to try and review it. David admirably went for hyperbole in his review to give some sense of how bad it is, but it’s really hard to express the hellishness of the experience of listening to the actual album. Y’know what, you should just listen to it yourself. (Note: do not do this. Please.)
Personal Favorite
Nominees: This Bitter Earth (8.6/+1.6), Florida (7.5/+1.5), Choose Your Character! (8.0/+1.0)
I’m usually not one for 1990s British pop rock, but this album just works for me, for whatever reason. The instrumentation generally strikes a balance between glaring and understated that many albums of this style and era struggle to create, and Edwyn Collins's vocals over some spectacular lyrical twists and turns give the album its best moments. The things it does best, like long, overwrought tracks (“The Campaign for Real Rock”) and ballads (“North of Heaven”) are, admittedly, also among the things it does worst when it falters (“It's Right In Front of You” and “Low Expectations”, respectively), but it largely keeps itself on the higher side of a genre that doesn't often work for me.
Not for Me
Nominees: Deep End (7.3/-0.9), Cleopatra (7.4/-0.6), Fleet Foxes (7.7/-0.3)
I feel bad, and a little hypocritical, complaining that music is “cringey”, but I can't think of a better word for pretty much every track on The E.N.D. I've always had a deep aversion towards intentionally weird vocals, and this album is absolutely overflowing with them. There might be more painful autotunes and oh-so-futuristic robot voices than actual normal singing here, and that's a pretty hard dealbreaker for me that the largely unexceptional late-2000s pop sound does not bring back up very far. Maybe this rating is too low for such a nitpick, but it's a near-constant flaw, and I just can't hear much else to demand that the record as a whole should land higher.
Best Lyrics and Vocals
Nominees: An Evening with Silk Sonic, Gorgeous George, Djesse Vol. 2
A cis white man in his 20s singing about trying to be a better person over elaborate, vaguely orchestral/folk instrumentation: yeah, it’s unsurprisingly up my alley. There are a lot of different pitfalls this album suffers from at times—”10/10” never finds a clear direction to go, tracks like “Laser Lights” and “Stressed Out” leave zero impression even while you're listening to them—but when it comes together, it's lovely. Perhaps with a narrower and more immediate focus on what it does well, the sweeping strings of “Pluto Projector” and the plaintive vocals of “It's Not the Same Anymore”, Pony would be an inner-circle favorite for me, but as-is it's still a solid listen, though frankly I could skip the first 15 minutes and not really notice.
Best Instrumentation
Nominees: Memories of Tokyo-To, Fine Line, Genetic World
I’ll admit that part of the reason I think so highly of the ATSV soundtrack is because it draws on everything I personally love in an original score. Daniel Pemberton’s ability to associate motifs with themes and characters is dazzling, and the tiny Easter eggs sprinkled throughout (Gwen’s theme adapting the classic 1960s Spider-Man theme, a version of Miles’ theme incorporating a tresillo rhythm common in Latin American music) are simply delightful. But it also nails every last objective measure of musical worth I can think of—it’s moving, beautiful, innovative, masterfully arranged and produced. It’s magnificent in a way no other soundtrack I’ve heard has ever quite achieved, and there’s only one rating I can think of giving it.
Best Album Art
Nominees: An Evening with Silk Sonic, Memories of Tokyo-To, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Original Score)
If you weren’t already familiar with Harry Styles’ work, the album cover of Fine Line (shot by prominent fashion photographer Tim Walker) tells you pretty clearly what you’re getting into. He doesn’t pay much mind to barriers of popularity or scandal1 in his music, and that extends to every way he presents himself. There’s something in the freedom of expression Styles embraces that is really encouraging, a glimpse at a world where we’ve moved past the inane idea that a man wearing a dress is a cataclysm for the very concept of masculinity. Until then, he’s leading the charge forward by doing what he’s always done, and not caring whatsoever what anybody thinks.
In Short
This Bitter Earth (Veronica Swift): Flippantly upbeat, classic jazz delivery of showtunes selected to poke holes in how awfully they’ve aged.
Fine Line (Harry Styles): The lyrics are hit and miss, sure, but the whole album is just humming with energy, particularly the sensational back half.
Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Alvin and the Chipmunks): The less said (or heard), the better.
Djesse Vol. 2 (Jacob Collier): A step forward in Collier’s musical evolution, his dizzyingly beautiful choral arrangements coming together far more consistently than on Vol. 1.
I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (The 1975): I’m not sure if they’re going for bedroom pop or regular pop.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Original Score) (Daniel Pemberton): The best film soundtrack I’ve ever heard, hands down.
METRO BOOMIN PRESENTS SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (SOUNDTRACK FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE MOTION PICTURE) (Metro Boomin): Despite being effectively a collection of music from various artists, it flows better than most of the albums we’ve reviewed here.
The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) (The Black Eyed Peas): I get the nostalgia, I just don’t feel it, y’know?
How To Train Your Dragon (Music from the Motion Picture) (John Powell): An emblematic John Powell score, eschewing melodies and motifs for a nimble style that jumps to whatever the moment demands.
Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes): Too many albums these days make you waste four syllables by putting an “alternative” in front of their genre that really doesn’t justify itself.
Cleopatra (The Lumineers): Oh hey, it’s the album “Ophelia” is from.
Odelay (Beck): An album that feels both 30 years ahead of and behind its time.
Nine Circles (Occams Laser): As with most of Occams Laser’s catalogue, good music to throw on and forget about while you hammer out some mindless work.
Genetic World (Télépopmusik): A pretty dramatic style shift from one that works to another that…also works! For me, anyway.
Pony (Rex Orange County): Takes some time to find its footing, but it really gets to me when it does.
Crack-Up (Fleet Foxes): About five of these fifty-five minutes are memorable.
Choose Your Character! (The 8-Bit Big Band): Arrangement is crucial on a covers-only album, but I think they mostly nail it here.
Dopamine (BORNS): Excellent production, great hooks, great vocals. Also, lyrics.
Deep End (Doc Robinson): I’ve heard this before, haven’t I?
Gorgeous George (Edwyn Collins): I refuse to defend myself by pointing out that Rate Your Music reviewers also like this album.
Unreal Unearth (Hozier): The movement away from Hozier’s signature chamber folk sound to so much unremarkable pop rock/soul truly baffles me.
Live. Places. (Youngblood Brass Band): The sort of live album that works for me, capturing how much fun everybody involved is having.
Coffee and Ramen (Go! Child): At its best, a glimpse of the stubborn optimism that I love about Go! Child and its artists’ other ventures; at its worst, unfortunately more frequently, musically incomplete.
Indigo Child (Raury): bdgtheresnothinghere.gif
An Evening With Silk Sonic (Silk Sonic): Amid all the hype created by this superstar collaboration, this disappointment of an album is…well, still really good, actually.
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (Outkast): A vital part of the history of rap in the South, but good lord is this thing drawn out.
Maladroit (Weezer): Good music to turn off your brain to, which is just as well because you can’t tell what the vocalist is singing.
UTOPIA (Travis Scott): An attempt at creating an epic of an album that could only work in the hands of a great artist, which Travis Scott is not.
Florida (Sarah Mac Band): Not much of a standout…which is a complement to some really strong production and hooks for a band of this small following.
Spirit Phone (Lemon Demon): Much as I like Lemon Demon at its best, stretching that style over an hour (or two, counting the deluxe tracks) is a difficult feat not mastered here.
Memories of Tokyo-To (2 Mello): 56 minutes of hip-hop/electronica/funk/jazz/pop rock in a beautiful, infectiously fun tribute to Jet Set Radio.
In the “Victorian showing an ankle” sense, not the “assault allegations hastily swept under the rug” sense.
It's okay. I still haven't forgiven you for making me listen to two '90s Britpop records.
Also enjoyed the Harry Styles blurb. Dude gets way too much shit for being himself.