Karya terkini dari rock Individual Distortion ini telah dirilis secara digital pada 5 Juli melalui situs Bandcamp-nya. Sebuah hasil imajinasi yang diharapkan dapat menunjukkan sisi lain dari Individual Distortion sebagai sebuah hembusan nafas segar dari nuansa yang tidak dapat ditemukan di album-album sebelumnya. Selain mencakup beberapa karya orisinil dari Individual Distortion, “Irrelevant” juga berisi sebuah lagu dari band asal Amerika Serikat Snapcase yang bertajuk “Twentieth Nervous Breakdown”.
Dalam “Irrelevant” dapat ditemukan berbagai cerita dari Individual Distortion, seperti "The Witching Hour of Jakarta" yang menjadi tajuk bagi sebuah potret akan Jakarta sendiri. Diwarnai dengan kekelaman akan sisi gelap dari Jakarta, karyanya satu ini tentunya menjadi salah satu bukti bahwa “Irrelevant” tetap akan menjadi relevan bagi audiens. "The Witching Hour of Jakarta" dan beberapa tajuk lainnya menjadi sebuah pendatang baru bagi skena musik Indonesia yang mungkin dibutuhkan bagi para pencari orisinalitas dan eksplorasi akan sisi yang gelap dari realita sehari-hari.
Irrelevant by Individual Distortion
After 25 years of being in the rap-game limelight, Snoop Dogg certainly made a statement that he’s still not going anywhere anytime soon. With Neva Left, he shows the world just how he still has it going on, and that age certainly is never going to be a stopper for his edge and mark in the industry.
While containing some reminiscence of his old glory days through his street-style rhymes and the nostalgic record cover of him back in ’93, Snoop Dogg manages to keep it fresh by not giving in to the perhaps common temptation among aged rappers to try really hard to sound young or dodging his age. Perhaps this is how he still wins a place within the audience’s hearts; let’s face it, nobody wants to hear a cringe-worthy or try-too-hard attempt of sounding like a cool old guy. It can be heard just how he still has his boogie on in "Bacc in da Dayz," and how he’s able to incorporate his concerns on current social issues on "Lavender (Nightfall Remix)." Through the bounce of the playful beats and fresh lyrical intakes, Snoop Dogg certainly reminded his audience why he’s still so relevant.
Overall, Neva Left is definitely Snoop Dogg’s proof that despite the common misconceptions, age is but a number in the rap game, as long as you’ve got the right moves to stay on track. 25 years into the scene and still sounding fresh as always, Snoop Dogg really ‘neva left’ and won’t be leaving anytime soon.
A picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Kendrick Lamar’s new video for "Element," perhaps the moving imagery that are based on the works of photojournalist Gordon Parks is worth more than just words; they’re worth emotions. The video definitely went the extra mile to create an accurate visualization of Element’s lyrics, which are the further exploration of the dynamics of black communities in the US.
The use of Parks’ iconic photographs (such as the row of black nuns dressed in white) could only be done justice by the lyrics. Through this song, the messages and emotions behind Park’s photographs are witnessed to come to live—of course, one of the reasons being that the photographs are shown to be not motionless and lively. But moreover, the emotions behind the photographs are emphasized along with Elements, with the words morphing together with the imageries, creating a whole new perspective on the issue while also keeping the feel of the rawness and originality of the images.
With the ever-evolving concepts for his recent videos, Kendrick Lamar presents his audience with this aesthetic piece of ‘moving’ tribute to the black culture. And this song definitely does justice not only in addressing sensitive social issues, but also bringing Parks’ imageries into notice to celebrate its emotions and presence of identity.
Indeed, the title itself may be a way to describe Drake’s latest album. A certainly fresh wake from Views, More to Life indeed shows the more there is to Drake, exploring emotions and personal expressions of his further, while also taking ‘dips’ into colorful grooves added to the tracks such as "Get it Together" and "Glow." A ‘playlist’ as the artist himself describes it, perhaps provide an explanation as to the vivid feel of sentiment present throughout the tracks.
An even more personal touch is added at the end of "Can’t Have Everything," where Drake’s mom is heard leaving him a voicemail. The extra attempt of being personal may be his way of redeeming himself after the lack of enthusiasm he received for Views. Drake definitely convinced the world that in spite of the ‘monotonous’ accusations aimed at Views, he hasn’t lost his touch and in fact has plenty of ‘Drakeness’ left to offer through a ‘more open peak into his life’ with this one.
It’s clearly been a while since anything was played on cassettes. Perhaps, most of us might think cassettes are soon to be gone for good. However, Moscow-based producer Zurkas Tepla proves us wrong with the release of his musical-storytelling-cassette entitled Bank Robber/In The Same Car; one side telling a story through the subconscious of a robber and the other featuring a meditative counterpart.
Tepla certainly aims to reintroduce his audience with the familiarity of developing imaginations from listening to sounds, inviting us to dive into a world constructed within our own minds with the help of his murky soundscapes, disquieting beats, and also ambient sounds with distant melodies. Perhaps Tepla is trying to ignite the power of imagination within his audience, the kind you get from reading books, listening to audio ones, which during this age where a huge percentage of entertainment becomes visually presented may become more of a challenge to some.
A journey of the mind may be a way to describe the experience brought by Tepla’s storytelling cassettes. Through each side’s tracks and chapters, who knows? Maybe listeners will be transported to the sceneries in the stories and live through the moments. Perhaps Tepla’s method may also provide audiences with the chance of taking their minds on a creative challenge to simply imagine.
Bank Robber by Zurkas Tepla
Creating his own ‘storylines’ within the Russian music scene is one way of describing Kuznetsov or Antoha MC’s (as he’s better known) unconventional yet offbeat new energy in it. Taking his music into a way of telling the story of everyday experiences, Kuznetsov describes his process as “(getting) rid of all the superfluous stuff and transform the raw material into what’s really necessary.”
A combination of dream-like vibrations, combined with a realist composition into the rhythms of his inspirations, Kuznetsov shows the world just how much positive vibrations may be channeled through music that speaks about everyday muses—books, travels, moods created by a balanced lifestyle, and so on. Safe to say that Kuznetsov’s music is a literal ‘soundtrack’ to daily life, as he delivers his sincere and uplifting energy into each note.
The fresh, unique, yet enjoyable works of Kuznetsov may be a worthy alternative to the usual cliche rap, as his transcendent twist on rap can take his audience not only on an uplifting trip, but also a journey of nostalgia through the lyrics.
