This week, WTSR assistant music director Nelson Kelly highlights some of the best new albums that the College’s own radio station, 91.3 FM WTSR, puts into its weekly rotation.
Band: A Tribe Called Quest
Album: “We Got it From Here… Thank you 4 Your Service”
Release Number: 6th (first in 18 years)
Hailing From: Queens, NY
Genre: Alternative Hip Hop
Label: Epic
Can you say album of the year? This album knocked everyone on their butts when it came out. MC Phife Dawg’s last recorded verses resonate deep after his passing, but it seems fitting that he was able to record an album to leave as a gift for the world. The album contains a nice range of socially conscious songs and just good straight up hip hop. The production quality is excellent and does not sound dated at all despite this being the group’s first album in 18 years. Features from Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, Andre3000, Elton John, Busta Rhymes, Kanye, and more add to the excellence that is this album. If you have not heard it, please check it out, you will not be sorry.
Must Hear: “We the People,” “Whateva Will Be,” “Dis Generation,” “The Killing Season,” and “Conrad Tokyo”
Band: Crying
Album: “Beyond the Fleeting Gales”
Release Number: 2nd
Hailing From: NYC
Genre: Synthy Prog Rock
Label: Run for Cover Records
When most people hear Rush, they think it’s a girl singing. When people hear Crying, they think it’s Rush because there is a girl singing. Also there is a ton of synth and cool rhythms and time changes thrown all over this album. If you heard Crying’s first album, chances are you hate them because it was extremely chiptune-y to the point where you could only classify it as “Sega-orgy- core”. But they took all the obnoxious parts of chiptune and traded them in for all the nerdy parts of prog rock. Intricate guitar riffs, soaring synth leads, and vocal melodies that sound like the intro to an anime seal the transition from chiptune punk to prog rock. Overall, it is a welcome change.
Must Hear: “Premonary Dream,” “Wool in the Wash,” “Patriot,” “Revive,” and “The Curve”
