The R+L Section Weekly Review - ENTER NOW

[Gucci Piggy]

That supersoaker review is really good. Made me smile, too. You're right, it does sound much more impassioned than anything else they've done recently.

I wonder how we'd all be reacting to the song if Kings of Leon hadn't been so shit recently. Would we all be so positive about it, or is a lot of the positivity down the relief of them returning to some kind of form?

[Com Truise]

That supersoaker review is really good. Made me smile, too. You're right, it does sound much more impassioned than anything else they've done recently.

I wonder how we'd all be reacting to the song if Kings of Leon hadn't been so shit recently. Would we all be so positive about it, or is a lot of the positivity down the relief of them returning to some kind of form?

[Muppetmark]

The weight of your love review

The beginning of The weight gives the listener the impression that this album is going to be an emotional slow album. The vocals lend great strength to this conviction, especially the tone of voice. From the moment you start listening to the album, all expectations for a fast paced song evaporate quickly.

The songs flow well with each other and there is a lovely unified emotional slow vibe about the whole album. The whole album when played together is a masterpiece. Perhaps it lacks the killer single, the same flaw as delta machine, but I would argue that the entire album is brought together due to it. It means that you are more likely to listen to the whole album together instead of just siphoning of a song or two for your mega playlist.

This album is a masterclass for its unity and just great music. 9/10.

[rawaudioinput]

I'm hoping to get a review of The Weight of Your Love done tonight but I've also just published a review of the new (sort of) AlunaGeorge single You Know You Like It:

http://musicmallard.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/alunageorge-you-know-you-like-it/

If you have a look it'd be greatly appreciated

[robMUFC96]

I'm hoping to get a review of The Weight of Your Love done tonight but I've also just published a review of the new (sort of) AlunaGeorge single You Know You Like It:

http://musicmallard.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/alunageorge-you-know-you-like-it/

If you have a look it'd be greatly appreciated

[Com Truise]

rawaudioinput, you're too good at writing reviews hahaha

Disclosure – Settle

Settle’s a classic house album, and the first thing I hope they don’t do, now they’re commercial, is what Calvin Harris and David Guetta have done, and end up basing their music around the featured singers, rather than basing featured singers around their music, which is what has been achieved so well on their debut.

In my opinion, they showcase their producing skills better on the tracks without a featured singer, such as Stimulation, When A Fire Starts To Burn and Second Chance, which are all perfect club tracks. The latter of which you can draw comparisons with James Blake, and in comparison to Voices (the track beforehand on the album), the beat is a lot more imaginative. A few songs on the album I didn’t enjoy are Grab Her! which is incredibly repetitive, and Help Me Lose My Mind and January, both of which I find don’t reflect the quality of the rest of the album. Also, unlike others I’m not a fan of White Noise, I find the voice of AlunaGeorge quite irritating. Latch, however, I think is a great track, Sam Smith’s voice works perfectly with the beat, to create an incredible sound. It’s the stand out track on the album.

Overall, Settle is a strong debut; it flows well, and the first three tracks grab you straight away, however I would say that it’s too long for the casual listener, and you can lose interest quite soon after Latch. But they are very young, and they deserve all the credit they’re getting.

If you’re a fan of Four Tet, A Guy Called Gerald, XXXY, Burial, then you’ll probably enjoy this album. (I also recommend Kavisnky’s OutRun from this year.)

Rating: 8/10

[Gucci Piggy]

Disclosure – ‘Settle’:

Having heard ‘White Noise’ and ‘Latch’ before listening to this album in full, I approached my first listen with an open mind. Unlike a great majority of people, I've never been a fan of ‘White Noise’, and I find Aluna Francis’ vocals pretty irritating; however I find ‘Latch’ to be decent enough.

The album starts strongly enough, with a short atmospheric intro track setting the scene in the opening minute, followed by ‘A Fire Starts to Burn’, a brilliantly catchy track with repetitive vocals that harness the ability to stick in your head all day long.

Next up is ‘Latch’, the album’s lead single. Introduced by a hypnotic beat, with haunting backing vocals and glitchy bass stabs, it successfully continues the strong start to the album.

‘F for You’ and ‘White Noise’ bridge the gap between a strong opening salvo and largely forgettable final two-thirds. ‘F for You’ is a classic house track, which bounces along pleasantly enough and, along without a few other tracks, suggests that Disclosure are actually at their best when free from guest vocalists. ‘White Noise’, as I mentioned earlier, was a song which really didn’t do much for me. However, in the context of the album, I actually found it an enjoyable listen. I still find it hard to get on with the vocals in the verses, but the chorus is impossibly catchy, and this track serves the purpose of providing the duo with a huge hit, extremely well.

From this point onwards, though, there’s not much to keep a casual listener wholly interested, and a great majority of the tracks seem to merge into one big cluster of samey beats and forgettable guest appearances. The worst of these is ‘Grab Her!’, which begins with a beat sounding like something which has bounced it’s way over from Dizzee Rascal’s recording studio. The song as a whole is a tedious exercise in repetitiveness, with the lyrics “Grab her” and “Yeah” taking turns to be spoken over almost every line.

As a full album ‘Settle’ is decent, but nothing more, and this is one top heavy album if ever I did see one. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the album is how Disclosure flatter to deceive. The duo show some real glimpses of promise, albeit mostly in the first few songs – enough for me to be interested in what they do in the future – but there’s too much filler here for it to be considered a great album.

Rating – 7/10

[robMUFC96]

Entries closed

Begin voting for favourite review and hopefully this'll pick up next week (although I will be away so may not be on as often)

[Muppetmark]

Com Truise - Disclosure

[Com Truise]

Oh god there are only three of us who did it. I'm gonna go with Mark's, because he gave The Weight Of Your Love a deserved rating

[robMUFC96]

Oh god there are only three of us who did it. I'm gonna go with Mark's, because he gave The Weight Of Your Love a deserved rating

[Com Truise]

Haha, I know! Shame really, maybe if we keep going it could develop a fanbase

[Muppetmark]

Id have written a review for all three if i wasnt in asia

[Muppetmark]

Oh god there are only three of us who did it. I'm gonna go with Mark's, because he gave The Weight Of Your Love a deserved rating

[robMUFC96]

do you guys want to pick some albums between you?

[Com Truise]

I guess as only three of us entered, we could pick one each.

Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus

[robMUFC96]

I guess as only three of us entered, we could pick one each.

Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus

[rawaudioinput]

I haven't written any reviews of the albums selected yet (sorry) but I am writing a review/survival guide of Rock Werchter if anyone is interested in taking a look:

http://musicmallard.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/rock-werchter-2013-introtravel/

Thanks

[robMUFC96]

I haven't written any reviews of the albums selected yet (sorry) but I am writing a review/survival guide of Rock Werchter if anyone is interested in taking a look:

http://musicmallard.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/rock-werchter-2013-introtravel/

Thanks

Edited July 23, 2013 by robMUFC96

[rawaudioinput]

Body Music - AlunaGeorge?

[robMUFC96]

Body Music - AlunaGeorge?

[Dead throne]

I haven't written any reviews of the albums selected yet (sorry) but I am writing a review/survival guide of Rock Werchter if anyone is interested in taking a look:

http://musicmallard.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/rock-werchter-2013-introtravel/

Thanks

[robMUFC96]

Ok, 3 new albums are:

• Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus
• AlunaGeorge - Body Music
• Six By Seven - Love and Peace and Sympathy

Ill update OP shortly

[Gucci Piggy]

Eh what happened to my choice?

I was gonna go for letlive., but did that even come out this week?

Ah well, I'll get in there quicker next time.

[robMUFC96]

Eh what happened to my choice?

I was gonna go for letlive., but did that even come out this week?

Ah well, I'll get in there quicker next time.