Korn, Sean Kingston, Sum 41 and Chromeo.
the music press
wed 8/1/2007
- Nu-metal godfathers Korn, minus founding guitarist Brian “Head” Welch and drummer David Silveria, release their eighth studio album, Untitled. Billboard.com announces: "Korn is one step closer to crafting an album built for arenas and headphones alike," while Popmatters laments the untitled release "offers us nothing to remember and isn’t even particularly accessible."
- Sean Kingston, the 17-year-old behind the reggae-inflected hit Beautiful Girls, releases his self-titled debut. Entertainment magazine Variety admits that Kingston "can sound wise beyond his years and deliver hard-edged rhymes" but does so "in limited doses." Sputnikmusic goes straight for the jugular: "[The album] is entirely devoid of anything that makes a pop album worth listening to; even the catchy stuff is so wrapped up in the absolute fakeness that it's hard to take seriously."
- Pop-punkers Sum 41, now a power trio, take a stab at political rock with Underclass Hero, "the band's smartest and most mature-sounding album yet," according to the Onion's A.V. Club. The U.K.'s Guardian Unlimited isn't buying the band's new direction, labeling the Canadians "Green Day without the range and the charm."
- Fancy Footwork, the second album by electrofunk duo Chromeo won't "rank as one of the year’s finest long-players from an artistic perspective" but it's "guaranteed to get any house party started," concludes Drowned In Sound. The Quebec-based duo mines "the production work of Jellybean Benitez and Full Force" to create an album that is "playfully sleazy and full of cheap thrills," writes Stylus magazine.
lluvia, lluvia, arcoiris
daily dos
tue 7/24/2007
Nu-metaleros Korn have started on a new album that might include covers of songs by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and Debbie Deb.
Rich Boy, Lloyd, Amy Winehouse, Korn and Air.
the music press
wed 3/14/2007
- Rich Boy’s self-titled debut “has some real bangin songs and some garbage songs, but the good outweighs the bad,” admits Down-South.com. SF Gate warns that the Alabama-bred rapper might have a tough time following up his hit single Throw Some D’s because “nothing else on this otherwise solid disc reaches the anthemic heights of that radio hit."
- Street Love by R&B singer Lloyd “proves the up-and-coming balladeer can do more than just sing hooks,” says Yahoo News. About.com concedes that Lloyd comes across as "sensitive yet strong, and not as a sappy sucker."
- Amy Winehouse's sophomore release Back to Black is praised by the BBC for its vocal depth and exploration of “the joyful misery of being young, messy and in love/lust.” Blogcritics Magazine enjoys her "mature and diverse vocal talents," noting that “her voice morphs so much on songs, it feels like a vocal multiple personality disorder.”
- Korn’s MTV Unplugged will divide fans, with “half accepting Korn’s desire to evolve, the other howling like 5-year-olds sucker-punched on the playground,” predicts Billboard.com. Webzine 411mania.com declares the album as "nothing more than a small footnote on their already lengthy, bland career.”
- Air’s latest release Pocket Symphony is exquisite, yet "hard to hold in your head after the record stops playing,” laments Pitchforkmedia. The Village Voice describes the album’s mood as “lulling, narrative, and pictorial even when the lyrics disappear."
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