All posts by Matt Monroe

Album Review: Wildheart | Miguel

BY MATT MONROE
BY MATT MONROE

Going into Wildheart, I was pretty much unfamiliar with Miguel. I knew he was in the leagues with guys like The Weeknd and Frank Ocean and I knew he accidentally gave a leg drop to a girl like he was Hulk Hogan. Oh, and he was sampled in a PARTYNEXTDOOR song my ex-girlfriend likes. Jokes aside, I’m trying to say I went into this album almost completely blind. Now usually after saying something like that, the writer would go on ahead and say he/she was blown away with how great the album was, but sadly I can’t really say that for this album, not to say that it is bad.

We start off with three of the album’s best tracks, ‘a beautiful exit’, ‘DEAL’, and ‘the vallety’. ‘a beautiful exit’ starts off with a news clip sample leading into a dirty guitar riff as Miguel gives reassurance to his love interest in the song, comparing his journey with this girl to a police chase (tying back to the opening sample), driving through red lights with no care in the world as they know they’re gonna die young. It’s a great intro to the album that really sets the pace for the next track, ‘DEAL’, which starts off somewhat slow in the intro mixing guitars and synths changed quickly with an ‘OH!’ as the song kicks into high gear with a killer bassline as Miguel puts himself into a position of power due to his riches. This track, along with ‘a beautiful exit’, seem to be in a fantasy world he’s created due to his vulnerability (which he discusses in a recent interview with Pitchfork)

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Album Review: Universal Themes | Sun Kil Moon

Sun Kill Moon
BY MATT MONROE

“I’ll tell you another story here because, you know, well what the fuck about it” from the song ‘Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues’aptly describes Sun Kil Moon’s newest album, Universal Themes. It’s a series of stories that many would normally not care about, but for some reason thanks to Mark Kozelek’s (who goes under Sun Kil Moon in this solo project) keen writing ability, you do care. From songs about finding a possum attacked by a cat, being apart of a film in a foreign country, to his thoughts while walking in New Orleans with his girlfriend, Kozelek makes the ordinary into something just slightly more than that.

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Lil Ugly Mane Releases “THIRD SIDE OF TAPE,” Comes With Preview of New Album

BY MATT MONROE

After months of silence, Lil Ugly Mane has finally come out of the shadows to release a new mixtape entitled THIRD SIDE OF TAPE. This tape is the third and final part of the “Three-Sided Tape” trilogy of unreleased material. If you bought the tape through Bandcamp, you received a less than two minute preview of Oblivion Access, the final album from Lil Ugly Mane.

You can check it out exclusively below.

Continue reading Lil Ugly Mane Releases “THIRD SIDE OF TAPE,” Comes With Preview of New Album

Earl Sweatshirt Releases New Song/EP, “solace”

BY MATT MONROE

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

A new surprise album from Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt wasn’t enough for you? Well don’t worry because Earl has given fans even more music, this time by dropping a 10-minute long track/EP, titled ‘solace’. Sweatshirt spoke about solace in an interview with NPR and said the project was for his mother. In the YouTube description, Earl describes the track/EP as “music from when i hit the bottom and found something.” Do yourself a favor and check it out now!

Listen to ‘solace’ below and check out our recent photos from Earl’s “Not Redy 2 Leave” tour.

Continue reading Earl Sweatshirt Releases New Song/EP, “solace”

New Mac Demarco Album Coming August 7th?

BY MATT MONROE

Mac DeMarco
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

According to a post on reddit, Mac Demarco will be releasing a new album on August 7, titled Another One.  A user on the “subreddit /r/indieheads” said that he met up with Demarco after a show in Pamona, CA and Demarco revealed to the user this information after asking about an Instagram video Demarco posted earlier in April, showing him mixing/mastering new material.

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Album Review: Cherry Bomb | Tyler, the Creator

Cherry Bomb
BY MATT MONROE

Over the years,  my relationship with Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future, the collective he helms, has become strained. I’ve simply grown out of them thanks to a large number of back-to-back mediocre projects and lack of progression. However, while I may not be a big fan of the other members of the group, I still have hope in Tyler and Frank Ocean. After his last album, Wolf, I was extremely impressed with the progression he made in his production and rapping, which made me excited to see if he would further hone his crafts on Cherry Bomb, his new album. Well, let’s just say he honed one craft and let one sit at the wayside.

The main progression Tyler made on this new album is obviously the production. Pulling from a number of jazz, funk, rock, and R&B influences, along with artists like the Neptunes and Death Grips, Tyler puts together his most diverse set of production yet. We see Tyler pull out punk-rock guitars from Black Lips’ Cole Alexander on ‘DEATHCAMP,’ noisey and distorted production on ‘CHERRY BOMB’ inspired by Death Grips, lush production on ‘FUCKING YOUNG / PERFECT’ inspired by the Neptunes, and jazz on ‘FIND YOUR WINGS’, which featured legendary jazz, funk, and soul producer Roy Ayers.

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Tyler The Creator Announces New Album “Cherry Bomb”, Launches Golf Media App

BY MATT MONROE

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Photo by Mark Peckmezian

[UPDATE: You can pre-order Tyler’s new album Cherry Bomb on iTunes now and receive ‘DEATHCAMP’ and ‘FUCKING YOUNG / PERFECT’ right away.]


Odd Future’s Tyler The Creator just launched a new application entitled “Golf Media”, which you can download here. The app’s description on iTunes reads:

Golf Media is basically my brain in one place. It does just about everything except cure asthma. If you find an app that cures asthma, definitely let me know.

Continue reading Tyler The Creator Announces New Album “Cherry Bomb”, Launches Golf Media App

Earl Sweatshirt Performs New Song on Not Redy 2 Leave Tour

BY MATT MONROE

Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration

At a concert in Detroit, MI, Earl Sweatshirt performed a brand new track. Despite just dropping an album over a week ago, he seems to have more material in the vault according to an interview he did with NPR and this song. Considering the subject matter of the new song and him saying Solace (the album he’s currently sitting on according to the NPR interview) is “for his mom”, it’s doubtful this is on that album. Listen to the track below via a fan’s video on YouTube:

Read our review for Earl’s latest album here.

The National Release New Single “Sunshine On My Back”

BY MATT MONROE

Photo by Deirdre O’Callaghan

The National just dropped a new single entitled ‘Sunshine On My Back.’ According to the band this song was recorded during the sessions for their last album Trouble Will Find Me and features Sharon Van Etten on vocals. The song came with every rental or purchase of the documentary Mistaken for Strangers, which was about the band. The song is also available on Spotify and iTunes. Check out the song below via YouTube:

Continue reading The National Release New Single “Sunshine On My Back”