The Sunday Tribune

Music zone
Kanye West — Yeezus
(Def Jam)

What makes Kanye’s sixth solo album compelling despite its throng of haunting shrieks and leftist production is that he manages to remain as entertaining as ever. On Site opens the disc with distorted synths and once the beat kicks in, Kanye raps furiously about some of his most familiar subjects. In addition to Rick Rubin as executive producer, Kanye has enlisted an elite production team to bring the album to its full potential. The end result is a mixed bag of beats that range from the aggressive Send it Up to the slow-burning Hold My Liquor, and everything in between. Yeezus is Kanye’s shortest album yet and features fewer guest musicians compared to his previous albums, making it nearly 40 minutes of pure Kanye. The first half of the record leans more towards the heavier side, with Black Skinhead carrying the weight of the political obstinacy. The best and most epic song on the album is Blood on the Leaves, which juxtaposes a heartbreaking Nina Simone sampling of Strange Fruit with Ye’s familiar auto-toned croon. On Sight is thrilling, a call to action that sears and jeers, when a gospel children’s choir abruptly enters. Kanye most effectively exclaims his views with New Slaves, a soapbox manifesto that addresses the counterproductive consumerism and oppressive constructs that promote racism. Kanye isn’t the first artiste to fuse rap, politics, and industrial soundscapes but because of the position he commands at large, he is, perhaps, the most important and subversive artist to do so.

Best track: Blood on the Leaves

Worst track: I’m in it

Laura Marling — Once I Was an Eagle
(Virgin Music)

British folk singer Laura Marling’s last album, 2011’s A Creature I Don’ Know, had a gleaming polish, courtesy of Kings of Leon producer Ethan Johns that pushed her close to soft rock, but with her new outing, she opts for a tougher sound to fit her tougher outlook. There are two primary things that make Once I Was an Eagle take flight, lyrics and progression, which together make the album confident, intelligent and recursive. Recorded with producer and collaborator Ethan Johns, the album finds her in top form, taking on more risk both musically and conceptually, almost all of which pay off brilliantly. While the opening section sweeps-in orchestral folk, Laura goes into deeper modal folk on Little Love Caster, and recalls ballads like The Two Sisters with the melody and imagery of Undine. On Love Be Brave, one of the album’s best-written tracks, she sings, "In a world you can’t get lost in, I find my way to him." Devil’s Resting Place harks back to her early days, comfortably sitting beside more contemporary developments. Title track I Was an Eagle is the album’s most emotive track, tugging at memories of heartbreak, idealistic philosophy of romance, and the beauty of the moments worth keeping. Laura’s character begins to slowly open up as a new love interest enters the picture until she reaches the point where things begin to feel normal again. "Thank you, naivety, for failing me again/ He was my next verse," she sings on the final track, Saved These Words.

Best track: Undine

Worst track: Interlude

Rating: * * *

Queens of the Stone Age — Like Clockwork
(Matador)

Since 1998, the band’s only constant member, singer/guitarist Josh Homme and his ever-rotating supporting cast have fabricated booming music that continues to be embraced by wide listeners. On Like Clockwork, Josh introduces us to a handful of guest stars that have been invited to this reunion party of sorts. Some names are familiar like Dave Grohl on drums, Mark Lanegan, and Alex Turner while others come as a bit of a surprise, such as Sir Elton John, Trent Reznor, and Jake Shears. My God is the Sun continues the band’s custom of releasing some of their hardest-rocking tracks as singles, followed by Kalopsia with some of the quietest moments the band has ever done, opening with just piano, bass, quiet guitar, and soft harmony vocals. Trent’s vocals are concealed in the background of Fairweather Friends but the moment Sir Elton John’s hands hit the piano, the propulsive touch takes the track from good to great. I Sat by the Ocean is pretty straight until the chorus when the dreamscape elation of the guitars and Josh’s high-pitched voice raise eyebrows. The band hasn’t fully forsaken brawn and ballast but those qualities are now being harnessed for greater emotional impact, particularly on the penultimate I Appear Missing. The piano-driven The Vampyre of Time and the closing title track take the biggest detours, venturing into rock opera grandeur. Every track is rendered with admirable precision, retaining the attributes that have always made the band’s music such a precious commodity.

Best track: My God is the Sun

Worst track: Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Rating: * * * *

Boards of Canada — Tomorrow’s Harvest
(Warp)

Tomorrow’s Harvest is unmistakably a Boards of Canada record. All of the essential elements we’ve come to expect from the duo’s music, hip-hop-inspired drum beats, whirling, organic synth melodies, the occasional jarring vocal samples, are utilised as strongly as ever. Musically, Scottish brothers, Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, don’t wander off too far from their own beaten path. The opening track Gemini arrives amid incredible pressure, with the duo facing up to a gap in their discography of some eight years. The majority of the album is dark and sinister, especially compared to some of the tracks on their earlier effort The Campfire Headphase. The album is packed with whispered static swarms (Reach for the Dead), echoing drones (Uritual), minimalistic robotic snaps (Jacquard Causeway) and rattling hip-hop beats (Cold Earth and Sick Times). Various rhythms and melodies slide past one another haphazardly but they nonetheless feel essentially linked. The remarkable New Seeds revolves around a thrashing synth buzz which later blends well with chimes and string layers. Palace Posy, the playful number that sits at the album’s centre, is a playful masterstroke that sounds like a kid’s TV show soundtrack. Come to Dust intensifies the rhythm flow until a luminous wash slowly overtakes the track at the midway point, leading into the solemn closer Semena Mertvykh.