1. 2 Chainz - Based On A T.R.U. Story
I feel a little like I'm trolling when I rep for 2 Chainz and actually made this the first rap album I bought on the release date in, I dunno, years, but then so is he, a little bit. Not that he's a whole lot smarter or more talented than the music he makes, but he definitely seems to have fun half-assing it. It'd be more fun if all his guest verses were as good as the one on "Mercy," which is probably the best verse on a radio hit this year (even if the song is otherwise not that great). But, as I've said before, I really identify with this tall, goofy, 30-something son of a bitch, he's the closest thing current rap has to a David Lee Roth figure. And as southern rap event albums go it beats the hell out of Ross or Wayne's last shits, even if it's musically a notch below Waka or Future's debuts. "I'm Different" and "Dope Peddler" are my jams. 

2. Elle Varner - Perfectly Imperfect
I found Varner's over-the-top personality and singing style pretty obnoxious on her first single, but then the hit follow-up "Refill" was so good, and provided the right context for her voice, that I ended up kind of anticipating this album, and have to say I enjoy it quite a lot. Occasionally she grates on me, as much for her limited melodic imagination than anything else (so many similar runs and melodic turns from song to song), but pretty much the entire album is produced by the duo Oak & Pop, who prove "Refill" was not a fluke with just a ton of great, varied beats. "Stop The Clock" in particular is just amazing, I hope it becomes a single.

3. Jeremih - Late Nights With Jeremih
Like the Elle Varner album, a lot of the appeal of Jeremih's two studio albums was, for me, that they were cohesive works by one producer, Mick Schultz. But I also really like Jeremih's voice, so it's fun to hear him on a mixtape with all sorts of producers like Mike Will Made It and Tricky Stewart, and the results are pretty dope, this easily could've been his third album without much change. "Late Nights (Interlude)" is so great. Hopefully Schultz is still doing the next album, though, that guy is dope.

4. Farrah Abraham - My Teenage Dream Ended
I've never watched "Teen Mom" (yes, there are shows on television I don't watch, I know, it's unbelievable), but I have an old friend whose fiancee works as a producer on the show, and when I visited them in New York earlier this year I heard a lot of stories. Anyway, when music nerds started talking about what a fascinating trainwreck the album one of the girls on the show made, I had to check it out, even though I hate that kind of rubbernecking. But wow, it's really strange and twisted -- lots of Autotune and generic drum machine tracks, but she doesn't seem to be trying to make pop music at all. It's the soundtrack to a memoir of the same name, and it's basically these strange, counterintuitive readings of confessional free verse. The fact that her kid's father is dead and there's a lot of real, raw emotion on here kind of saves it from being an ironic laugh riot, you really do feel her pain, even as the music sometimes causes you pain. "Unplanned Parenthood" is wild.

5. Raindeer - Raindeer 
Newish Baltimore band whose album I found on Band Camp while I was writing show blurbs and wanted to see who they were. Aesthetically it's not totally up my alley but for an indie synth pop thing it has a pretty good sound, cool production.

6. Height With Friends - Rock And Roll
I just interviewed Height for I guess, wow, the fourth time, and he's a good guy, it's always cool to hear what he's up to. This is very much of a continuation of the previous two Height With Friends records, though, and of those I think I still like Bed Of Seeds best.Very interested to hear the next album that he was telling me about, though.

7. Dan Deacon - America 
I didn't have this for very long before I reviewed it so I'm still really getting into it beyond my initial reactions. All of Deacon's albums are kinda slow burners for me, though, the more orchestral second half is sounding better and better.

8. Dwele - Greater Than One
Another album I reviewed in advance but am still getting into it, don't know if I like it more or less than the last Dwele.

9. Trey Songz - Chapter V
Every time Trey Songz comes out with an album I think "maybe I should check that out" and I never do, mostly because his singles are such a mixed bag. I liked all three of the advance singles from Chapter V, but I dunno, some of those other albums are probably better, this is really really long and rarely better than okay. I'm glad that Trey has finally stopped beefing with R. Kelly because it would be extra outrageous how much he's biting R.'s style on this album, there's actually two football metaphor songs (and "Hail Mary" and 'Fumble" really should've been sequenced in a row). It kind of amuses me that you don't hear any female voices on the album (amongst half a dozen male guest rappers) until an anonymous backup singer on track 14, which is called "Without A Woman."

10. DJ Khaled - Kiss The Ring
All DJ Khaled albums are kind of exercises in absurdity, but despite the shitty singles this might actually be the best since the first, Listennn. Even some of the songs that look terrible on paper are at least saved by good beats and hooks. Rapping-wise, though, a goofy Mack Maine verse is probably the lyrical highlight of the album.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 02, 2012 at 6:16 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.