CD reviews
BROCKHAMPTON Iridescence
WEIGHT might be the rap song of the year. The 14-member self-described “boy band” Brockhampton have delivered the goods on their first major-label album — following three albums last year — but Weight really stands out among the bevy of strong material. It is not normal in rap music to hear a whole lot of vulnerability, especially on the subjects of mental health or discovering your sexuality as a teen. It’s such a brash, macho corner of the music industry that for decades its homophobia has been one of rap’s largest faults. Over Weight’s delicate violins, band leader Kevin Abstract digs deep and speaks the truth. And he does so in a way that is closer to spoken word than rapping. It is powerful stuff.
Iridescence jumps around from new-school hip-hop with its over-the-top distorted bass through to cute and cuddly early 2000s pop-R&B. New
Orleans is a prime example of the former and Thug
Life the latter. The way they sequence and blend these two songs into one another is impressive. On Honey the band used pop, R&B, Beyonce adlib samples, sirens, guitar squeals and 50 Cent references like a sound collage to excellent effect. While they’ve come a long way quickly — from forming on a Kanye message board to a multimillion-dollar record deal and world tours in just a few years — they’ve not forgotten their roots. On Where the Cash At, Merlyn Wood spits the line: “I used to be broke, I don’t got amnesia.” You get the impression luxury cars and private jets are not in his immediate plans.
Tonya might be the album’s second most vital song behind Weight. This piano-driven tune addresses some of the controversies that led to a founding member of the group getting the boot from the band. Its message needed to be said.
MAX COOPER One Hundred Billion Sparks
A MAX Cooper album needs time to be digested. One Hundred Billion Sparks is a masterful showcase, a textural, colourful album that lands somewhere along the borderline of glitchy ambient music and techno. While his skills in sound design are beyond reproach, it is sometimes surprising that Cooper is equally impressive when it comes to penning beautiful, undulating, cascading melodies. These melodies act as a link between his quiet songs ( Reciprocity or Lovesong) and his louder, more raucous tunes ( Identity, Reflex). It would be interesting to see a graph of how many sounds came together to create these songs. I imagine it would look rather dense, like a LEGO castle that took months to erect. With headphones on — even cheap ones — these new Cooper tunes bounce around in dizzying fashion. They feel alive. When he started to work on this album, Cooper retreated to a remote location that was free from distraction. He made two dozen hours of live recordings, creating chaos, then paring these experiments down into something cohesive, immersive and amazing. Mission accomplished.