Haim: Women in Music Part III Album Review

I tried to listen to Haim before, because I heard a lot about them.  But I just didn’t really connect.  But some of their stuff was good on this album, and it made me want to listen to more of their catalogue again.

Las Angeles:  References to California Dreamin’, a pretty solid instrumental breakdown, and lamenting about the superficiality of LA.

The Steps:  “You don’t understand me” is such a a memorable refrain.  These gals know how to put together songs that will get stuck in your head!

I Know Alone:  The way this song could be a commercial jungle reminds me of Savage Garden’s “I Want You” and that’s an awesome thing.  If you’re writing is so catchy it’s mistaken for a jingle–that’s good.  And the production has a lot of little tid-bits to spice up the track.

Don’t Wanna:  This could very well be–Fleetwood Mac.  Not the Stevie Nicks-centered songs, but that other gal.

Another Try:  I like the chorus, as it is layered and pleasant to listen to.  My favorite thing about this song is the horn that peeks through. 

Leaning on You:  Beautiful harmony.  I know I keep saying on every song, they remind me of someone else.  But this one is reminiscent of an Indigo Girls song with the harmony and the guitar strums.  It’s rich and layered, yet stripped down.

I’ve Been Down:  It’s almost talk-singing, and that reminds me of Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do…is Have Some Fun” which is always good. 

Man from the Magazine:  “I don’t wanna hear,  ‘it is how it is’. . .  ‘it is what it is’” is an example of what Taylor has been talking about.  Just because you signed some $hitty contract as a nobody, doesn’t make it right for artists to never own their own creative output for life.  The industry needs modified.

All that Ever Mattered:  Inside the album, this song is catchy, with some of the best instrumentation of all.  But on a playlist, that screaming noise is jarring.  

FUBT:  This track has a hollow (acoustic?) sound to it that reminds me of being in a restaurant that has a featured band.  Aren’t those the BEST restaurants?!  But it’s not the best acoustics.  It’s better when more instruments filter in on the breakdown.

Hallelujah:  Sung angelically, I imagine this song brings chills to the skin and tears to the eyes when taken in live.  It’s original but still meaningful.

Summer Girl:  It’s a remixed version of the first song with a bit more jazzy vibe.  The repeated phonemes are super-catchy just as PopVerse told me they should be.  I like this version better, but both hold up.  And they’re different enough to each warrant their place as album bookends.

Jason Mraz: Look for the Good Album Review

This is a very light, and optimistic album.  And I have an ethical dilemma about supporting a “look for the good in everyone” or “make love not war” narrative, when it’s a matter of ethics violations, suppression, human rights, and life and death, as is going on right now.  It’s the right message for a different time.  Sorry (not sorry), but this hippy-dippy $hit ain’t gonna cut it right now, and it’s a pretty privileged position to be coming from when people are literally dying in the street.  At this time, I say, Jason, read the room.

Also, not to get too down on the artist of my first concert experience, but I really dislike the genre of reggae.  So each song was judged on my opinion, rather than on it’s own merits as I usually would.  Because there’s no way I’m putting even a good reggae song on my playlist!

Thirdly, listening to reggae I do not like made me wonder if there’s some sort of listener effect (scientifically speaking) where your opinion remains consistent.  For example, because I didn’t like 2 reggae songs in a row, am I more likely to hate that third song too?  Even if it’s not raggae? And this is only broken with an extreme like of that third song?  I was wondering because of the true reggae songs, I think there were 3-4, yet I really didn’t like any of the songs that followed….

My Kind:  It has a ska thing going on that I like.  

You Do You:  This one delves past untimely messaging into cheesy territory.  Though I will say Tiffany Haddish’s part is the best thing about the entire song.

Hearing Double:  This might be a cute little song of the repeat was used more sparingly.  As is, it’s fucking annoying to hear EVERY word twice.

Gratitude:  I had this rated a “meh” but honestly, the chorus singing “meow meow meow” made me increase the rating.  I like the idea of being thankful also.