Sean Sharp's Diary

I love Vince Staples. I've been a fan of every album I've listened to of his, but this one just didn't land with me, unfortunately. Partly due to the fact that I am so drained politically, it's hard to listen to music, a form of escape for me, that is also political. The music itself also felt a bit dry. The lyrics are top class but only "7 In The Morning" stuck out to me. Glad he's receiving praise even if it's not for my personal favorite, but I'll be certain to listen to his next project.

I know so many people that see Noah Kahan as co-worker music and then I also have friends that are the direct people that love his sound. I seem to split the difference but I certainly don't believe that it's nearly as bad as the people that dislike it make it seem. He just reminds me of a solo artist's Mumford & Sons. "The Great Divide" is nice and peaceful most of the time, which I have noticed is what people that do enjoy him like. He's the background music at a family friendly gathering. Or the music that is faintly playing while chores are being done. People seem to love him, seem to listen to his music almost casually. That said, I think this album is way too long for it's own good and a lot of the songs work perfectly well as background music but from the standpoint of, "I want to actively listen to a song or album". I think it doesn't really work that well. The lyrics are interesting but a lot of the musical elements are pretty tame and it's easy to drift off and think about something else. The two songs that really stuck with me were "Dashboard" and "Porch Light". "Dashboard" mainly for it's catchy chorus and "Porch Light" has a gorgeous chorus overall, even if it's not as much as an earworm.

Just more of the same from The Chainsmokers. It's neat to see them do a full collab EP, but there isn't enough Oaks in this. It's essentially a Chainsmokers EP with her featuring on every track. "Echo", while good, really just feels like a rehash of "The Fall" off of the deluxe version of "So Far So Good". "Already Know" is definitely my favorite on here. It by all means still has The Chainsmokers ' long-time identity in it, but still feels original enough, given the number of tracks that don't move the needle by them. The final three just feel like some of the most run-of-the-mill tracks I've heard from them yet. I put a more extensive review into The Chainsmokers' history on "Breathe", so I won't get into it too much, but I think they really need to take a step back for a while. I get that touring is probably what keeps their lifestyle afloat, so it will always be hard to completely get away and reshape their sound. Nor will they want to, given the massive crowds they still pull for their songs from 5-10 years ago.

A maximalist album where Oliver goes BIG in the name of love and hate. This feels like he's constantly trying to hit a home run with every swing. A lot of the lyrics are questionable towards the latter half, and many of the songs don't have anything that gripping. The opener "My Only Friend", "Joyride", "Someone Else", and "All You Ever Wanted" are the best as they happen to be when the stars align, and the crazy, bombastic elements collide properly. There is some cool heavy electronic production mixed with an almost grungy feel, but still far away from grunge or rock as a whole. When it hits, it hits well, and when it doesn't, it's a damn miss.

Pretty simple all things considered. It really sticks to the meat and potatoes of Indie Rock, but I don't think they really bring anything all that incredibly different. Feels pretty standard for the genre. My friend loves their music, and typically, I find his recommendations pretty high quality, but here just felt like neither here nor there. I really liked "moody" as a single but it was a single for a reason and a lot of the other tracks don't hold a light to it. "come on home" is the only other one that really stuck out to me in any sort of meaningful way. Otherwise, it just reminds me of a chill album that was supposed to come out in the early 00's.

I've never been able to get into KAYTRANADA's music the way others have. This album isn't really much different, there are certainly some interesting songs and moments of production but a good amount also just feels like his inspirations with extra polish. Channel Tres does make 2 good appearances on here. Given his unique talk-rap-sing style, he brings a needed breath of fresh air. The best song to bless this thing is "Witchy" with Gambino. Childish Gambino is a bit of a chameleon, able to bend his vocal style to fit whatever genre. He is no different here, and his performance creates a great listen.

John Summit seems like a nice guy, but what really drew me to this album was his comments about how EDM is currently all the same. Like most, I thought this was a moment where it didn't seem he could see past his own nose because he is also one of the leading contributors to that problem. Then I thought maybe he was working on something bigger, more grand, and envisioning something fresh. Up until the release of "ALL THE TIME", I let the hype get the best of me. While I like "ALL THE TIME", it tells me what I need to know. Just more of the same. I've written at least a dozen reviews by this point, talking about how EDM has turned into a cookie-cutter genre. I don't want to do more of the same here, but John Summit leaves me with little other choice. Pretty much every song on here falls under that generic umbrella, with the only real change being the range of vocal artists he collaborates with. This almost hurts more than it benefits, as the exact choice of artists does not all contribute to making this feel like an album. It's boring, unfortunately. The only standout thing on here is "WITH ME" with Julia Wolf, and if you listen to Julia Wolf, you know what the song is good.

Not too much to write home about. Despite being blessed by god himself with perfect pitch and a voice built for hits, Charlie's lack of ambition kills a lot of love I could have for his work. His inability to create a lane for himself is quite sad, considering how versatile he could be. I could be wrong in saying this, but the album features the first time I've ever heard him pitch his voice up or down an octave. Not that it's necessary to be a good artist, but it is a great way to keep the vocals feeling refreshed. He does use some other vocal synthesizers, which I have to give him credit for, but he almost relies too much on the quality of his raw voice. "Whatever's Clever!" dives down a slice of the 80's synthpop. Resorting to heavy bells and fuzzy synths of the time, it's trendy at the moment, and I don't think Charlie really brings anything greatly refreshing that I haven't heard already. The choruses here are some of the weakest I've heard from him. "Love in Exile" is my favorite so far, partly because the chorus is a bit more engaging, and the featuring of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins is quite suitable for the track and the album. The Jeff Goldblum jumpscare was interesting to hear, and while I don't think the song itself has much weight, it did make the album feel a bit more complete. Otherwise, a lot of this relied on the production to give it that vibe. Finally, there's the song "I Used To Be Cringe". Songs like this are always interesting to me because, of course, everyone looks back on themselves in a judgmental manner. To me, this song is a bit cringe in itself, even though I get the message. He reflects on how he was chasing status, money, and fame. Trying to live a life full of material possessions. I'm sure he changed his mind about what he wants, but for him to say he is no longer chasing it because he's changed is rather... lacking in self-awareness to a degree. While he isn't an A-List celebrity, pretty much everyone who grew up with him being popular knows who he is. He is famous. Google can be wrong, but I doubt it will be drastically far off. It says he is worth $35,000,000. Then there is the status part of it. I'm not exactly sure what he wanted to be part of, since he never explicitly says so in the song, but he is widely known for his perfect pitch. He is the definition of status, money, and fame. I find the song a bit tone-deaf, but not as bad as some other stuff I've seen online. Overall, Charlie is probably just going to release these random albums that are okay every once in a while and occasionally have a cool song. It's hard to envision anything from him where he really dedicates time and energy to making something groundbreaking or breathtaking. I hope that's the case, but my hopes are dwindling.

There will always be a lot of distaste for Alan Walker's style, considering it is literally the same exact thing it was a decade ago. I'm a bit in disbelief that he has been able to make only this style of music for so long. Like, surely he is getting bored doing this. Regardless, just more of the same here. I think the big difference between how I view this and how some other people do is that it isn't bad. It just... is. In 2014, I liked his music, and if this had come out then, I would have liked it. Now it's just repetitive and beaten to death. Still not bad though. Not entirely sure what this whole TV series thing he is going for because the music is just complete nonsense in comparison. I am happy to report that "Getaway" is his best song in years. I suppose that is why I keep listening. Deep down, I know he has a good song or two left in him.