The Weather Station – “Humanhood” review

The Weather Station are a singer/songwriter band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada consisting of bassist Ben Whiteley, keyboardist Johnny Spence, guitarist Will Kidman, guitarist Christine Bougie, saxophonist/clarinetist Karen Ng, drummer Evan Cartwright, drummer Kieran Adams & frontwoman Tamara Hope. Self-releasing their debut The Line in the spring of 2009 only to further introduce themselves with their sophomore effort All of It Was Mine as well as Loyalty & an eponymous LP, the latter of which resulted in Fat Possum Records signing the band & elevating them on their debut for the label Ignorance & recording the follow-up How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars around that same time. 3 years later, Tamara’s returning for her 7th album.

After the “Descent” intro, the first song “Neon Signs” is this artsy piano rock opener singing about it never being enough in a world without trust relying upon the lightning flash of lust whereas “Mirror” fuses art rock, trip hop, jazz fusion & jazz-rock comparing God to that of a reflection. “Window” balances art & jazz rock admits to feeling like her heart’s racing leading into “Body Moves” bringing together sophisti-pop, post-rock & jazz fusion after the “Passage” interlude addressing an individual seeing too far away.

“Ribbon” hooks up some heavy pianos singing that her pain is ordinary & being like anyone else followed by a fantastically lush outro but after the “Fleuve” interlude, the title track colorfully details diving into Lake Ontario & being shocked into a sense of the present. “Irreversible Damage” offers a heavy trip hop vibe reminiscent of Portishead while “Lonely” calmingly realizes what it was not to be alone. “Sewing” after the “Aurora” interlude closes Humanhood by clarifying it’s too late to take it all back.

Managing to be this cinematic widescreen record that tells a story going from dense to open to loud to silent, Humanhood returns 4 years after Tamara & company made their Fat Possum debut making commentary on the global climate crisis to showing a predominantly more personal side of Tamara & do so in such an ambitious manner showing influences of art pop, art rock, jazz-rock, post-rock, sophisti-pop, jazz fusion, trip hop & piano rock.

Score: 4/5

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Elucid – “Revelator” review

Here we have the 3rd full-length solo LP & Fat Possum Records debut from Queens, New York emcee/producer Elucid. Since 2007, he’s been making a name for himself whether it be his 10 mixtapes & 2 EPs that he’s released by himself or becoming 1/2 of the abstract duo Armand Hammer. His debut album Save Yourself came during the spring of 2016 & he returned a couple years ago for the sophomore effort I Told Bessie. Armand Hammer released a highly acclaimed sequel to Shrines through Fat Possum last fall called We Buy Diabetic Test Strips & Elucid has inked a solo deal through the label for Revelator.

“The World is Dog” is this self-produced, industrial abstract hip hop opener with additional elements of rock and a hint of drum & bass talking about a forced past will eventually eat us all whereas “CCTV” featuring Creature maintains an industrial vibe instrumentally courtesy of August Fanon wanting y’all to tell them the lies are really the truth. “Yottabyte” hooks up a piano-heavy beat fighting fire with fire, but then “Bad Pollen” by Armand Hammer reunites the duo over a crooning vocal sample saying you’re crazy if you think you’re crazier than them.

The fusion of cloud rap & sound collages on “Slum of a Disregard” are pretty cool showing no surprise to abuse of power since Elucid’s landlord happens to be a Zionist leading into the buzzing “RFID” talking about knowing where to dig if it’s a war & where to lay if it’s love. “Instant Transfer” by Armand Hammer from the BLK LBL sessions flexing they the one’s just before “Ikebana” returns to the boom bap feeling like everyone new with him.

“In the Shadow of If” on top of this slow, guitar-driven instrumental talking about taking a chance with no reminder while “S.K.P. (Some Kinda Power)” embraces a darker atmosphere makes it clear to not confuse him at all. “Hushpuppies” serves as more of an interlude within the track listing setting out to find fried fish while “14.4” featuring Skech185 is this drumless, industrial hip hop hybrid with a switch up during the last minute telling those who wanna run up on him that’s a no go.

Starting the final leg of the LP, the song “Voice 2 Skull” takes it back to the basement mixing heavy sampling with kicks & snares flexing he gets up before everyone else & loses his mind first while “Xolo” by Small Bills hops over these blaring guitars from The Lasso cautioning to get the fuck back & stay down. “ZigZagZig” ends the album on a dark-industrial note thanks to DJ Haram talking about surviving like a moving target.

Save Yourself has always been as my favorite Elucid solo effort even above I Told Bessie. That said, the raw crackling urgency that runs through Revelator like an underground power line brimming with the energy of now with a refusal to look away is enough to have it surpass both it’s predecessors. Intellectual rabbit holes have been filled in with concrete & reverb with nowhere to hide & no off ramp from the audio Autobahn that Elucid has fashioned.

Score: 4.5/5

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Armand Hammer – “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” review

This is the 6th full-length LP from New York underground duo Armand Hammer. Consisting of Billy Woods & Elucid, they formed together a decade ago already off their only mixtape Half Measures & the debut album Race Music. The pair would go on to release an EP & 4 more albums worth of abstract political hip hop, with the last one Haram fully produced by The Alchemist becoming the most critically acclaimed within their discography. But after signing to Fat Possum Records recently, these guys are commemorating a decade as a unit in the form of We Buy Diabetic Test Strips.

“Landlines” starts off Armand Hammer’s debut with Fat Possum with JPEGMAFIA behind the boards sampling “No Sleep Tonight” by Mýa clarifying that life’s basically tomorrow’s breakfast & they’re doing ok whereas “Woke Up & Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die” works in elements of cloud rap as well as wonky & vaportrap talking about not seeing the bottom yet. “The Flexible Unreliability of Time & Memory” goes for a more stripped back sound thanks to Child Actor refusing to believe that certainty is a circle leading into “When It Doesn’t Start With a Kiss” brings Peggy back on the boards yet again delivering a tropical boom bap 2-parter asking how it feels.

Cavalier joins billy & Elucid on “Keep a Mirror in My Pocket” to tell those who don’t know their place to get up out of their grills over some heavy vibraphones & horns from Preservation & one of my favorite Elucid lines on the entire album “I like Forrest Whitaker, Triple X my signature” just before the lead single “Trauma Mic” featuring Pink Siifu is an industrial, noise rock crossover cooked up by DJ Haram airing out all motherfuckers who don’t keep they word. “N****rdly (Blocked Call)” gives off a cavernous boom bap edge to the beat thanks to August Fanon pumping ketamine through their hearts, but then “The Gods Must Be Crazy”gets a glimpse of El-P mixing elements of glitch hop & noise rap talking about money being no good here.

“Y’all Can’t Stand Right Here” featuring Junglepussy & Moneynicca finds Messiah Musikstripping the drums with co-production from Steel Tipped Dove encouraging y’all to follow the flow paying homage to the late great MF DOOM flipping a line from “Rhymes Like Dimes” while “Total Recall” weaves some woodwinds, kicks & snares into the fold courtesy of Kenny Segal referencing “Nuclear War” by jazz visionary Sun Ra on the hook & billy woods saying there ain’t no father to his style like the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard himself. Junglepussy returns with Curly Castro for “Empire BLVD” as Willie Green whips up a ghostly boom bap groove telling y’all to watch them go down prior to Black Noi$e giving “Don’t Lose Your Job” featuring Moor Mother & Pink Siifu a mellower sonic approach talking about gas being as high as it is. billy though comes out swinging by saying “Break up weed on one phone, FaceTime on the other. Break up with me? I’m a G, I stay friends with your mother.”

The song “Supermooned” is a piano-trap hybrid that Elucid himself produced alongside DJ Haram asking if it’s ok or if it’s over while the penultimate track “Switchboard” talking about knowing that something’s coming even though they can’t see it yet over a trippy Sebb Bash instrumental. On the other hand, “The Key’s Under the Mat” closes out Armand Hammer’s official Fat Possum debut by enlisting JPEGMAFIA back on the beats once more except this one’s probably the darkest of his batch talking about how that security deposit ain’t comin’ back after all.

Despite still highly recommending Haram for anyone that isn’t caught up on these guys’ discography yet, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips legitimately happens to be a spiritual successor to Shrines & one that I find myself leaning more towards in comparison to the predecessor. billy & Elucid both examine the way people are navigating through this collapsing system with the production being cohesively gritty yet denser than some of their previous material.

Score: 4.5/5

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