Album Review: MAGDALENE - FKA twigs

2019 is continuing to prove to be an extremely strong year when it comes to musical releases. After hearing lots of buzz online about FKA twigs’ newest singles for her upcoming album MAGDALENE, I decided to check it out upon its release. I’m glad I did, as this project has already secured a spot on my top 10 projects of the year. Let me break down why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

First of all, I’m entirely pleased that there has been such a healthy offering of amazing projects from strong female voices this year. The Highwomen, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Little Simz, Lizzo, Charli XCX, and now FKA twigs have released fantastic projects, and MAGDALENE is no exception. Its innovativeness and originality is hypnotizing, and FKA twigs is a siren with alluring vocals on almost every track. Her vocal ability is one of the album’s biggest appeals and a conduit for the introspective storytelling that takes place here. The production is simply fantastic, as well, and unlike anything I’ve heard before.

I’m a big fan of experimentation, and I was glad to find out that FKA twigs is not afraid to take risks. Tracks like “fallen alien” immediately catch my attention because they abandon traditional structure in order to convey a feeling not available through the norms of songwriting. I’ve been trying to compare this album to the sounds of other artists, and I’m having trouble doing so, which I think is a good thing. Bjork and James Blake have some sonic similarities, but no where near the emotional vulnerability of FKA twigs on this album. Some of the songs could’ve used slightly more direction and intent, but that doesn’t take away from this project too much for me.

I hadn’t kept up to date with the lead-up to this album, and didn’t listen to any of the singles beforehand, so I got to experience this project for the first time in its entirety. It was a very emotional and chilling listen for me, and that novelty hasn’t worn off even after multiple listens. FKA twigs is now on my radar, and MAGDALENE is one of my favorite albums of the year. Great stuff, go give it a listen.

Best tracks: “thousand eyes”, “home with you”, “holy terrain (ft. Future)”, “mary magdalene”, “fallen alien”, “cellophane”

Worst tracks: “sad day”

Score: 7/10

I'm Thoroughly Enjoying Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare

While free time dedicated solely to getting fully immersed in vibrant, enthralling digital worlds is getting harder and harder to come by, I still make time for the worthiest of games. Red Dead Redemption 2 was the most recent release that pulled me in for hours and hours of gameplay, and after months of anticipation, I’m glad to finally say that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is doing the exact same thing.

The single-player campaign, so far, is better than a lot of movies that get released. Its cinematic cutscenes, intriguing missions, and disturbing realistic depictions of war make it hard to put the controller down even after hours of play. I’ve heard that the ending of the story does not disappoint, so I’ll be eagerly and steadily making my way through the storyline. That is if I can put down the multiplayer…

It’s so good. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the Black Ops series consumed many of my teenage hours. The multiplayer game modes never over-stayed their welcome, and the grind was always worth it in attempts to level up, boost my K/D, and get as many red tiger camouflages as possible. Modern Warfare feels like Call of Duty 4 (which had the same name) in its simplistic gameplay, but an array of variances, unlocks, and game modes makes me think the multiplayer appeal will last for this installment from one of the world’s most popular series.

If only there were zombies (and not so much camping online), this might be in contention for my favorite Call of Duty game of them all. I’m hoping that once the honeymoon phase is over, I continue to come back and grind the multiplayer and play with some friends. It’s nice to finally have another game I keep running back to.

Album Review: Jesus Is King - Kanye West

After over a year of build-up, false release dates, and politically charged rantings and ravings, Kanye West has finally released his 9th solo studio album Jesus Is King. If you can’t tell by the title, Mr. West is proclaiming to have been recently saved by the Christian faith, and his most recent album is meant to tell his fans and listeners “what Jesus has done for him”, according to him during a conversation with esteemed interviewer Zane Lowe for Apple Music. In usual Kanye fashion this album is completely unique from any of his previous projects, but it still left me scratching my head and unsure of how we got to where we are with one of the most hard-to-understand artists in the genre. To put it bluntly, I miss the old Kanye.

Kanye West was once, in my opinion, one of the most creative artists in all of pop culture. A revolutionary producer, social provocateur, and always-unpredictable presence, Kanye represented the best qualities of a “woke” performer. His music was never too overtly preachy, but his older albums were packed full with well thought out social commentaries reflecting issues not only in his community but of those felt by millions across the country. Every album seemed purposeful, intentional, and crafted to a specificity only he could achieve, and unfortunately that magic has dissipated to the point of being nearly non-existent. Even if you remove the cultural context from Jesus Is King (which I think you never should - context informs all art), it just isn’t up to the high standard Mr. West has previously set for himself.

To clarify: I have absolutely no problem with Kanye West releasing religiously-themed music. Artists should feel free to share their life experiences with their audiences, and it’s becoming apparent that the last year has been a rebirth for Kanye personally. Some of my favorite Kanye songs, “Jesus Walks”, “Ultralight Beam”, and “Saint Pablo”, directly invoke religious imagery and symbolism in a beautiful and compelling way. The problem with Jesus Is King is that, to me, these themes feel hallow. There is a lot of musical potential on this project, and not every song is terrible (a couple are actually very enjoyable to listen to), but for some reason the project as a whole just totally falls short for me. Most of the lyrics on the album are nonsecular, but for some reason, I don’t feel like there’s a lasting message like there has been on previous faith-based Kanye tracks. I think there needed to be more thematic substance for this project to be successful in my eyes. I’m not going to go into too much depth about why I find this album problematic contextually, but I would also like to clarify that any disagreements I have with Kanye’s ideologies and opinions have nothing to do with his identity, but instead have to do with his logical inconsistencies and substantive shortcomings. That’s all I’ll say there… let’s not get riled up.

The worry I had for Kanye’s mental stability is starting to lessen as he seems more and more comfortable in his own skin with every public appearance he makes. I’m glad that he’s making music that seems to be speaking to a lot of people, but it just isn’t doing so for me. The intellectual artist that I enjoyed for so long seems to be of the past now, and I will still enjoy his older projects, but this just completely missed the mark for me.

Good tracks: “Selah”, “Follow God”, “Use This Gospel”

Bad tracks: “Closed On Sunday”, “On God”, “Hands On”

Score: 3/10

Best Foot Forward: A Sneaker Series (Part 7)

Spending yesterday’s rainy afternoon walking around SneakerCon Atlanta with my girlfriend has me excited to write and post Part 7 of Best Foot Forward. Two of the pairs that I will cover today are nostalgic to me, and the other two are new additions to my collection that I’m happy to have.

Pair 1 (Upper Left): Nike Blazer ‘77 in Vintage White

This 2019 release went under the radar to a certain degree. While the Nike X Off-White collaboration brought some attention back to the Blazer silhouette, this specific non-collaborative pair isn’t making many best-of lists for the year. That doesn’t take away from how much I enjoy this pair, though. A bold contrasting black swoosh stands out from the white leather upper, and this pair goes nicely with nearly any outfit. Perfect shoe going into the Fall season.

Pair 2 (Upper Right): Common Projects Achilles Low in Black / White

Since covering this pair in a recent clothing haul post, I’ve worn these multiple times and I’m loving them. A simple black and white color scheme pairs perfectly with monochromatic looks, and the sleek silhouette of the CP Achilles will never go out of style. Not much else to say here besides the fact that I see these getting a lot of wear over the next couple months.

Pair 3 (Bottom Left): Air Jordan 3 Retro “Black Cement”

This specific pair of Jordan’s are one of the first Jordan shoes I remember discovering, and upon seeing them I thought they were one of the coolest and most unique designs I had seen. Black and red is hard to mess up, but introducing elephant print is certainly a gamble. Luckily enough, the Jordan 3 pulls it off, and this iconic pair is one of the biggest streetwear staples.

Pair 4 (Bottom Right): Nike Air Force 1 High “Wheat”

This is a simple pair of Air Force 1s in a simple light brown colorway, but there is more significance that makes this pair special to me. I wore these a lot right around the time I met my girlfriend two years ago, so I associate them with very nostalgic and happy times. This will always be a special pair to me for that very reason.

What makes a pair of sneakers special isn’t how much they cost or how hyped up they are, but instead the personal significance they have to you. Every pair that I have in my collection makes me happy in one way or another, and I love being part of a sneaker-loving community who shares the same passion as I do for what is such a trivial thing to the average person. Thanks for reading my post!

Movie Review: Joker

Heath Ledger’s portrayal of Batman’s most infamous nemesis was widely heralded as a masterful performance after the 2008 release of The Dark Knight. Time has been kind to that film, and after Jared Leto’s failed attempt to recapture the magic that was Ledger’s haunting and larger-than-life Joker, fans were sure that there would never be another performance of this character that could compete with what Heath Ledger was able to do on-screen. While I’m not here to compare and contrast Joaquin Phoenix’s 2019 performance with Ledger’s in 2008, I’m confident saying this new take on Joker is unique enough to stand on its own as a masterful character piece in an incredible movie.

I truly didn’t expect director Todd Philips and company to take the direction they did with this film. Without spoiling too much, this is an entirely different take on Arthur Fleck as a character. Instead of cool and charismatic, Phoenix’s Joker is broken and hurt. Instead of the character’s iconic laugh being maniacal and strong in its intention, it was pained and weak in its impulsivity. Watching Arthur being beat down by life almost led me to feel sympathy for him, but in the end, I couldn’t help to root against what the cruel world had led him to become.

Joker works both as an incredibly well-delivered origin story and as a commentary on the darkest sides of ignored mental illness. I intensely disagree with the narrative that this film inherently promotes violence. This film instead encourages us to treat each other kindly despite our differences, and demonstrates the negative consequences that come from treating those who have less or are not as privileged in a rude way, in the most shocking fashion possible.

I can’t give enough praise to this film. Any awards that Joker can be nominated for, it should immediately be in the conversation to win. This movie thrives stylistically and thematically, and Phoenix gives a career-defining performance. This is a must-see, incredible movie with only minor problems that I would have to spoil to explain. Great stuff, albeit very, very unsettling.

SCORE: 9/10