Hello, music enthusiasts! We've got a heaping pile of in-depth album reviews for you, sourced from none other than WUVT AM trainees and FM DJs, Bryce McCormick, Gabriel Kadi, Georgia Nickens, Alex Van Marcke de Lummen. Be sure to catch their FM shows Mid-January!**

Pink Moon by Nick Drake

Bryce McCormick

Nick Drake is the quintessential “starving artist”. He began recording music in 1967 to little success or acclaim. He was a folk artist, and hoped to capitalize on the success of other similar artists of that time such as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to no avail. His first of three albums, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, only sold 6,000 units, and got very mixed reviews by the few critics that reviewed it. His following album, Bryter Layter, released in 1971 to more positive reviews but the sales didn’t reflect it. Struggling with depression, substance abuse, and the perceived failure of his music career so far, Drake recorded his third and final album with a bit of a twist. This album would be entirely his own work; no backing band, no collaborators, no other writers, just Nick Drake and his guitar. This experiment, dubbed Pink Moon, would be released in 1972. Recorded in only two nights, the twenty-eight minute long record would pass by critics and consumers just as his others had. At a short glance, it’s not hard to understand why. The album is quiet and fleeting, no flashes or frills, but under the surface there’s a lot more to see. The lack of success of Pink Moon didn’t help Drake’s depression, and he would later pass away from an overdose. Normally, someone like him would be forgotten, but his music has seen a consistent resurgence throughout the years. He would slowly gain recognition following his death until he gained a sizable cult following in the 90’s. The re-release of Drake’s albums on CD, along with a popular 1999 Volkswagen commercial that featured the song Pink Moon, would lead to a huge spike in sales. Drake was finally receiving the acclaim his work deserved, it just happened to be twenty-five years late. His three album run in a short time would be regarded as one of the best in folk music, with Pink Moon being his magnum opus.

Pink Moon is a very intimate experience. As said before, it’s just Drake and his guitar (besides a quiet piano on the title track) with no other collaborators. It almost feels like listening to your friend strum away at his guitar on the porch after a house party. The difference between Nick Drake and your friend though is the his skill. He’s an incredibly talented acoustic guitarist, one of the best I’ve personally heard. His style is very unique, at points it almost sounds like there’s multiple people playing, but it’s just him. The song Which Will showcases this the best. Oftentimes it sounds like he’s both plucking and strumming at the same time. Other songs like Horn and Free Ride show his finger picking talents. Often both reserved and complicated, his playing elevates the album to a different level than your average folk record.

The other aspect of Pink Moon that attracts listeners is his lyrics. Drake is usually singing about lost love or things of that sort, but for many of the songs there isn’t really a clear message. Songs like Pink Moon really leave the meaning up to interpretation, describing a pink moon coming that no one can escape from. Is the pink moon a good thing or bad? That’s all up to you. Much of Drake’s lyrics revolve around nature: the moon, sun, stars, trees, and oceans are mainstays. His lyrics are poetic and endearing, even if you aren’t completely sure what he’s talking about. His voice is very reserved too, never really projecting or leaving his usual baritone, but something about it draws you in. There are very few people that possess the playing skills, lyrical ability, and voice to pull off a record so intimate and unique by themselves, but Nick Drake is one of them. He leaves us with an album that'll stick in our head for days, even more than fifty years after its release.

How to Be a Human Being by Glass Animals

Georgia Nickens

Do you have a "What Could’ve Been" album? An album that a favorite artist of yours releases that sounds so unique and fun, but is forgotten because of a crappier, more mainstream version that comes out down the line? My "what could've been album" is How To Be a Human Being, the second studio album by Glass Animals, released in 2016. How To Be A Human Being has beautiful indie rock and pop-influenced songs, accompanied by perfect dashes of hip hop, and it’s brought all together with an electronic sound that backs almost every track. The best part? The songs don’t have the same sound. The beginning of the album is calmer, and features more of a fun pop / electronic, which contrasts nicely to the second half, which has more of a rock and R&B theme.

Another facet of this album is all of its interwoven storylines. How To Be A Human Being is an album about yearning for the past, resenting an old lover, dealing with death, even killing people you've loved! (There's even a song about that). This range is what makes the album so loveable, and the creation of these songs are bits and pieces of interactions that band members had with real people, and that makes the album relatable.

It’s sad that this album never got the attention that it so deserves, and honestly, you just have to chalk it up to just how 2016 unfolded. There were a lot of classics coming out in that year, and not everything could get the attention it deserved. Despite this, How It Feels To Be Human Being can be experienced and appreciated much more now than ever before. Songs such as The Other Side of Paradise, Take A Slice, and Pork Soda have all blown up online in online art spaces, and have been interpreted in so many different ways that accentuate the beauty of this album. How To Be A Human Being isn’t just an album, it’s a story of so many different people, told in ways that could be relatable to anyone!

MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE by MIKE

Bryce McCormick

For the last few years, MIKE has been one of the most influential, yet under-appreciated, artists in the abstract hip hop scene. MIKE has gained a cult following and often collaborates with other alternative rap artists. There’s an almost unofficial group of artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, Wiki, King Carter, The Alchemist, Zelooperz, etc. that all feature on each other's work and bring out the best in each other. Of these artists, MIKE's discography is the most prolific, with almost a dozen projects on streaming services in the last seven years. He’s been quietly releasing music for almost a decade now, having released at least one album a year since 2017. He hones his style more and more with each album, and has remained remarkably consistent.

MIKE’s style is very unique, taking influence from dozens of genres and artists ranging from MF Doom to King Krule. His style can best be heard on his breakout album MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE. The beats often sound very chaotic and psychedelic, lacking traditional structure but still getting stuck in your head. Despite the disorder of many of the songs, they still often flow into each other so smoothly that you may not realize where one ends and the next starts. The sixteen songs combine to form a trip that somehow sounds both entirely jumbled yet completely cohesive. MIKE isn’t afraid to switch the beat five times in a song or combine what could’ve been three songs into one. There’s points in the album where you’ll go from a slow, melodic track on one song, to a traditional trap beat on the next, then a hallucinatory Alchemist-adjacent instrumental after. It’s an interesting experience that may take multiple listens for it to click. The style goes past the music too, as MIKE’s album covers are eye-catching. The cover for Burning Desire is what originally made me interested in MIKE, and seeing the rest of the covers drew me in. They don’t follow a theme or tell you what to expect from the music really, so it helps add to the mystery of the music. If you’re interested in the current abstract hip hop scene or just want to get into one of the best young rap artists around, MIKE’s MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE is a perfect place to start.

Two Star & the Dream Police by Mk.gee

Alex van Marcke de Lummen

Mk.gee’s debut album, Two Star & the Dream Police, is a genre-bending album that sounds unlike anything else released this year. It somehow sounds both unique and unfamiliar, with clear influences jumping out at the listener at the same time. With a wide variety of songs and styles, it’s hard to pick just a few songs that can encapsulate the whole project. DNM stands out as my personal favorite, as the more upbeat feel contrasts a lot of the slower, more lo-fi sounds of the rest of the album. Probably most widely known for his work as a guitarist for R&B artist Dijon, Two Star & the Dream Police contains plenty of Mk.gee’s trademark watery guitar tone and expressive riffs. The track Candy highlights his talents, with much of the song leaving you questioning what instrument is playing, until he closes out the song with a guitar solo in his signature style. This is a must-listen album for any fans of pop, jazz, R&B, rock and anything in between, and is my clear pick for album of the year.

I Lay Down My Life for You by JPEGMAFIA

Gabriel Kadi

JPEGMAFIA has emerged as one of the most unique and experimental rappers and producers the 21st century has seen, from his glitchy in-your-face production to his distinct and intense delivery and flows and quite often out-of-pocket and bashful lyricism. Longtime JPEGMAFIA fans know that his growth as an artist and progression in sound has been nothing short of extraordinary, dynamic, and incredibly unpredictable. His innate talent for constantly reinventing his sound and persona continues to show on his new album I LAY MY LIFE DOWN FOR YOU in a profound way. This album manages to consolidate lots of stylistic elements and sounds from his previous albums, from the gritty, distorted production from Veteran to the gorgeous, melodic sounds from All My Heroes Are Cornballs. At the same time, he builds upon a unique new sound we've never heard before from Peggy, one that is lush, beautiful, and introspective, while also contrasted by a more intense and almost metal-esque style. Peggy's evolution is nonetheless remarkable and is what especially made this album to me the album of the year. The album begins with Peggy's signature rambunctious production and dynamic vocal delivery, with absolutely electric songs such as SIN MIEDO, don't rely on other men, and vulgar display of power which showcase this style while also introducing new elements such as intense electric guitar riffs and even live rock drum fills. Peggy begins to introduce a lush, almost grand orchestral sound in the song dont rely on other men, where the outro continues the songs motif but begins to introduce orchestral strings which lay the foundation for this album's incredible sound. Peggys ability to go from what almost sounds like death metal/dark trap to what sounds like a movie soundtrack is truly what puts this album at the top of the list of 2024's albums for me. We eventually transition to the songs JIHAD JOE and Ex-military which I think are some of the best displays of his versatility and dynamics on the album. The energy on the song former is unmatched, with the beginning sounding almost like something that would play in a haunted mansion and then later transitioning to what essentially sounds like death metal layered over an adrenaline-inducing tornado siren. The latter may have been the most enjoyable listening experience on this album, as it serves to be production curve ball after production curveball all while Peggy is talking smack to those who have hated on his out-of-the-box artistry over the years.

JPEGMAFIA's ability to make an almost old western-sounding sample mesh beautifully with orchestral strings and an almost video game-sounding synth melody is what defines his truly unmatched talent as an artist. It's the final song that put this album on top for me and made me realize just how brilliant JPEGMAFIA's ear for music is. On the song on or off the drugs, Peggy cleverly flips an AI-generated soul rendition of Future's Turn on the lights, interpolating it into an absolutely astounding work of art, with sentimental production and lyrics where he shows an introspective side of himself we often don't see too much in his music, reflecting on his time as an artist and the women in his life. This theme continues itself into loop it and leave it and Dont Put Anything On the Bible, where he immerses you in what genuinely feels like music made for cinema and continues to recall his friendship and woes as an artist, with this rarely observed sentimental storytelling from Peggy further immersing you in the lushness of the sound. The album ends perfectly with the last song I recovered from this, where we hear the climax of JPEG's vulnerability over a gorgeous guitar and choir. It's hard not to feel moved by the end of the album, and JPEG mafia's ability to transition from such an almost mindlessly intense sound to a heavenly sound that very rarely gets introduced to the forefront of rap music is genuinely something we've never seen before. JPEG Mafias' new album is an absolute must-listen, and I am very excited to see how his evolution as an artist continues as he begins to introduce a more emotional and vulnerable side to himself and a style that almost transcends genre.

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