GF music review club

[Carvalho Diablo]

Enjoying this Anderson Paak album. Really not my usual cuppa but it's smooth with a load of catchy hooks.

 

Full review to follow.

[halewood pete]

This would have been a chart topper in the 1940s

[easytoslip]

25 minutes ago, halewood pete said:

This would have been a chart topper in the 1940s

Just seen that in a post from a mate on FB, They both look like charming characters. 

[halewood pete]

1 minute ago, easytoslip said:

Just seen that in a post from a mate on FB, They both look like charming characters. 

Yeah,they were both quite well know characters back in the day

[easytoslip]

6 minutes ago, halewood pete said:

Yeah,they were both quite well know characters back in the day

Good though. In one of the replies some bird took offence at it saying it ruined a song from her era, wouldn't of like to have gone to her parties listening to that, and was disgusted at one of the lines about meeting your children or something. 

[Jose Jones]

Malibu by Anderson .Paak

 

Like my main man @Fluter in Dakota noted, Anderson Paak has been everywhere over the last few years, and he's one of those dudes that you think he should maybe chill out a bit, save a few things up and then produce something absolutely spot on, rather than spreading the ideas a bit thin.

 

But I think he was a struggling jazz drummer before hitting the pop big time, so fair play if he's making hay while the sun shines.  Anyway, whilst having heard a lot of him about the place I'd never listened to full album all the way through before, so tip of the cap to the GF music review club again.

 

From the title and the songs you can obviously peg this album as his having made it well enough that he can hang out in Malibu record. 

 

I'd heard a few of these songs before; Put Me Thru, Am I Wrong and Come Down - they're all really good.  I like a fair few of the others too - The Bird, Parking Lot, Celebrate.  Even the surfing interview/skits are ok.

 

He's got a great voice (touch of the Kendrick Lamar's on the faster bits) and it's got a good groove all the way through whilst also not being too samey.  It's a common complaint of mine, but over an hour is too long for an album, so if there's a criticism he should have cut a couple of the weaker tracks and knocked it down to the 45-50 minute range.  Classic hip hop behaviour that though, maybe hanging out with all those rappers has rubbed off a bit.

 

Other major complaint is that egregious full stop in his name.  Anderson Paak is a good name, doesn't need that stupid full stop for some sort of styling purpose.  Still, I'm giving this a nice 8/10.

 

[TheHowieLama]

Anderson Paak sounds like an MMA fighter name. Bad ass.

 

 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Anderson Paak sounds like an MMA fighter name. Bad ass.

 

 

That was a lot of fun. And funk.

[Carvalho Diablo]

 

Review : Anderson dot Paak - Malibu

 

Strange that Mr dot Paak should write an album based around Eddie Hitler's favourite tipple, but here we go...

 

The Bird starts chilled and mellow, sounds lovely. Nice chord progressions, bass thumping and keeping things on edge.

Smooth vocal, catchy. Good start.

 

Heart Don't Stand A Chance is more jazzy, Jamiroquai vibes.

Shagging music. Nice keys and backing vocals.

 

The Waters - I'll never get this "nigga" thing, heavy with a lyrical blitz. Not my bag.

 

The Season / Carry Me - not a fan of the artificial crackle panned hard left, what's the point?

Better than the last song, not as good as the first 2.

 

Put Me Thru immediately sounds much better, lovely guitar and bass, backing vocals again excellent, leading a sweet chorus and guitar break.

Really like this one.

 

Am I Wrong (no question mark / Mr dot Paak is something of a maverick when it comes to grammar and the bastardisation of the English language).

Really like this one, great vocals, slightly more upbeat, disco / dancey vibes. Really good, even if the brass samples sound thin and dated.

 

Without You presents another summery soundscape, somewhat spoiled by the rap barrage.

Much prefer the spacious backing vocals over the chorus.

 

Parking Lot - dreamy, swirling riff reminds me of Janelle Monae.

Favourite song so far.

 

Lite Weight - best song yet. Great bass riff and dance beat, lovely synthy melody and with the best vocal yet.

Playlist job for sure.

Not my cup of tea, but I really like this (if that makes any sense?)

 

Room In Here - nice sampled beats and piano melody, another really enjoyable chorus and the rap parts don't grate on me.

Really like this one, a nice run of strong songs.

Good stuff.

 

Water Fall - sub jazzy insomnia shuffle. Prefer the Stone Roses version.

 

Your Prime - wishy washy gives way to staccato beat and more unintelligible rap nonsense.

Next...

 

Come Down - more like it, Sugar Hill Gang bass line but more "nigga" shenanigans. Don't get it.

I like the groove.

 

Silicon Valley - slow and sparse, punctuated by the hand claps. I don't like those hand claps but that chorus is lovely. Really nice voice.

 

Celebrate rolls in with a big bass hook and happy drums, reminds me a lot of that Defamation of Strickland Banks album which we reviewed a year or so back.

Yes, another song I like. Nice.

 

The Dreamer is the final song and old dot Paak rather coasts here on an upbeat wave.

This one's for all the little dreamers who couldn't really give a fuck.

Charming.

 

As I said earlier, this sort of stuff really isn't my cup of tea, but regardless, I found myself really enjoying this record, especially the happy uplifting sounds.

 

I agree entirely with Jose that it's probably 3 or 4 songs too long, the sweet spot being that run of 4 or 5 tunes midway through.

 

Thanks to Shooter for another good, solid, fun pick.

 

I shall award Mr dot Paak 7 dot 0 out of 10.

 

[Guest]

@Jose Jones @Carvalho Diablo

 

Agree about the length of the album, I think his next album was more like 40 minutes and some of the content wasn't so suited to a jazz album - more suited to hip-hop which he tries to also align with. Definitely prefer his jazz stuff and I think the live set posted by @TheHowieLama shows that he recognises that not everyone is comfortable with his music as he seemed a little unsure about performing the third track knowing the language he was going to be using.

 

I wanted to include the album because the good outweighs the bad, really great musicians involved in the album.

[Carvalho Diablo]

44 minutes ago, Fluter in Dakota said:

@Jose Jones @Carvalho Diablo

 

Agree about the length of the album, I think his next album was more like 40 minutes and some of the content wasn't so suited to a jazz album - more suited to hip-hop which he tries to also align with. Definitely prefer his jazz stuff and I think the live set posted by @TheHowieLama shows that he recognises that not everyone is comfortable with his music as he seemed a little unsure about performing the third track knowing the language he was going to be using.

 

I wanted to include the album because the good outweighs the bad, really great musicians involved in the album.

Enjoyed it mate. Liked it better than both the Kendrick Lamar and the Flower Boy hip hop chosen in the club so far. More musical than either of those.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Whos next to pick in our rotation anyway?

[ZonkoVille77]

I'll get my Anderson Paak review up over the next day or so. In think Jose and CD have covered my feelings on it though so it'll be a short one. 

[Guest]

On 12/08/2020 at 14:29, Fluter in Dakota said:

 

@ZonkoVille77 <---

@TheHowieLama

@Jose Jones 

@Carvalho Diablo 

@Fluter in Dakota

[ZonkoVille77]

Anderson .Paak - Malibu

 

I enjoy a hip-hop/rap album from time to time but I hadn't heard this album from APaak. 
I know of him from his Dr Dre work but wasn't familiar with his solo stuff at all. This is excellent though. Reminds me of Lemar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" album.

 

There's 60s/70s soul on here alongside 90s/00s hip-hop and R&B. It doesn't clash at all and flows very well. 
Lyrically it comes across as a very personal album with a lot of references to his trying childhood and upbringing, yet it sounds quite sunny and uplifting at the same time. "Mama was a farmer, Papa was a gonner" from "The Bird".

 

He has a really smooth voice with a bit of gospel popping out every now and then, and he shows it off immediately on "The Bird".  The instrumentation is brave, bright and jazzy throughout. Talented bunch on show here with some great ideas that really work. 

 

It is perhaps too long but kept me interested enough not to mind that. 
I'm also not a fan of the "nigga" shit that Rap is eternally tied to. 

Best tracks:

 

The Bird
The Season/Carry Me
Am I Wrong
Room in Here

 

I'll give it a solid 8.2/10
 

Enjoyed it and will listen to it again. 

[ZonkoVille77]

14 hours ago, Fluter in Dakota said:

@ZonkoVille77 <---

@TheHowieLama

@Jose Jones 

@Carvalho Diablo 

@Fluter in Dakota

 

That came around fast. I don't know whether to continue your soul/hip-hop line or throw in a bit of modern post-punk rock which will be marmite.....

 

I'll have a think and post something later.

[Jose Jones]

@Carvalho Diablo and @ZonkoVille77 remind me of this scene from Sorry to Bother You

 

 

 

[ZonkoVille77]

50 minutes ago, Jose Jones said:

@Carvalho Diablo and @ZonkoVille77 remind me of this scene from Sorry to Bother You

 

 

 

Brilliant

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

 

That came around fast. I don't know whether to continue your soul/hip-hop line or throw in a bit of modern post-punk rock which will be marmite.....

 

I'll have a think and post something later.

For the selection I made, I thought about selecting three different albums and having people choose one to focus on. Just to freshen up a bit.

 

I'll put it to the others, how would you feel about having two or three albums to pick from and either all picking your own or all selecting the same one from the list?

[ZonkoVille77]

I'm easy. Whatever suits everyone.

[Carvalho Diablo]

I like it as it is. I like reading others reviews and opinions of the record I've just listened to, compare and contrast.

 

Not against trying something new though if the ayes have it.

[ZonkoVille77]

On second thoughts keep it as is. Trying to think of one album can be a burden let alone a few at a time. 

[ZonkoVille77]

I've dropped the 2 I've mentioned above and gone for "Nothing But Thieves" self-titled album from 2015. Might be something for everyone on it. 

 

 

 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

I've dropped the 2 I've mentioned above and gone for "Nothing But Thieves" self-titled album from 2015. Might be something for everyone on it. 

 

 

 

Heard this album many times, in no way is that necessarily a bad thing. Where is their second album?

 

 

 

[ZonkoVille77]

51 minutes ago, Fluter in Dakota said:

Heard this album many times, in no way is that necessarily a bad thing. Where is their second album?

 

 

 

 

2nd album Broken Machine is very good too, mate. Not sure if this link works?

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/0r7wrRVD77lNrD9t2QgZrq?si=Ri9Bw9ItQTyLo3HWDL9RtQ