February Favorites

While February flew by, it gave us some noteworthy projects along the way. Our blog staff shared their favorite projects of the last month, check it out below!

Twin Fantasy - Car Seat Headrest 

I imagined it near impossible for Car Seat Headrest to successfully follow their 2016 work of genius, Teens of Denial, but frontman Will Toledo has managed it. 7 years after its original Bandcamp release, Twin Fantasy has been reworked into an album that feels polished and complete while retaining its original raw emotion and droll self-assessment - typical of Toledo’s songwriting. The re-released project follows its narrator through his infatuation with a nameless man/lover. Highlights include the 13 minute tour de force “Beach Life-in-Death,” the candidly poetic “Cute Thing,” and the succinct and aptly named, “Stop Smoking (We Love You).” - Joe Bentham

Little Dark Age - MGMT

Little Dark Age is incredibly weird, and that’s why I absolutely love it. My personal favorites are the title track and “When You Die,” arguably the least strange tracks on the album in comparison to songs like “She Works Out Too Much” and “TSLAMP” (which are both still fantastic as well). Little Dark Age is definitely a diversion from MGMT’s traditional sound, but it’s the perfect segue into a new era of music and an end to their five-year hiatus. - Sarah Braddock

Black Panther The Album Music From and Inspired By - Various Artists

The world, rightfully so, lost it when it was announced Kendrick Lamar would be curating the soundtrack for one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and he did not disappoint. Lamar was able to seamlessly weave in afrocentric and afrofuturistic themes from the film while never sacrificing authenticity. Bringing together expected collaborators like from the TDE camp as well as the surprising like Jorja Smith and Khalid, the multifaceted album is impressive end to end and listening to it you tend to forget this has any connection to a project owned by Disney. - Aaliyah Weathers

Totep - Kero Kero Bonito

Kero Kero Bonito’s new EP, Totep, presents a surprising and refreshing new sound from the group.  This EP departs from their more “pop” sound and infuses heavy guitar and drum elements not seen before. “Cinema”, the final song from the EP, most effectively uses this new sound and was my personal favorite from the project. -Alvaro Baez

Crush EP - Ravyn Lenae

Up-and-coming Chicago R&B singer Ravyn Lenae delivered a beautiful collection of R&B jams at the top of the month. She kicks off the EP with the falsetto-tinged “Sticky”, channelling her inner Swae Lee over some slick Steve Lacy production. Lacy’s influence is apparent throughout the project, which he executive produced and even provided guest vocals on a couple tracks. His signature reverb-soaked guitar licks complements Lenae’s silky smooth vocals perfectly. Both Lacy and Lenae are only 19 years of age, and this project serves as a testament to how age isn’t a factor when it comes to creating timeless music. - Jack Connolly

Three/Three -Dabrye

In the tradition of albums like Peanut Butter Wolf’s My Vinyl Weighs a Ton and DJ Shadow’s The Outsider, the long awaited final album in Dabrye’s “Three” series gives us a real treat: a producer’s showcase featuring a smorgasbord of underground hip-hop’s heaviest hitters. Danny Brown, Ghostface Killah and the supervillain himself, MF DOOM, appear alongside newer voices like Nolan the Ninja and G&D. With tried-and-true boom-bap beats and winding piano lines running up and down many tracks Three/Three sticks to classic hip-hop aesthetics but it’s the noticeable electronic tinge to every track that reminds us that this is a forward thinking album that’s already among the choicest, most head-bobbing hip-hop to come out not only in 2018 but in the past year as well. - Peter Melero