Posts Tagged ‘Kindness’
The Two Raddest Albums of 2012
My attention span for music is pretty short these days so I don’t do much listening to complete albums other than a select few that really get me going. Hence the following short list of rad albums from the past year. Let us begin.
1: Breakbot – By Your Side
Breakbot is a smooth operator: that’s I like about him so much. His music has a likable funk that is utterly irresistible. Breakbot and his signature sound have been making waves in the blogosphere for years with various EPs, singles, and remixes but By Your Side is his debut full length album. While I was a initially disappointed by the over use of vocals and inclusion of previously released singles, I got over it and have fully embraced the radness of this album. I prefer Irfane’s vocals over Ruckazoid’s, but truly, from the start to finish this album is a joy. Breakbot’s production is second to none and his ability to write corny love songs that seem like they were written in the 70s keep me coming back in a way that make classic rock songs always listenable. My favorite tracks are “A Mile Away” and “Another Dawn.” Don’t miss out the radness this album will bring to your music collection.
Buy By Your Side // iTunes // Beatport // Amazon
2: Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind
I’ve been infatuated with Kindness ever since my ears were blessed with the bass line of “Gee Up” (yes I know the song is from 2009, but I just heard it last year). And just look at the dreamy hunk pictured above and tell me you wouldn’t want him serenading you with his funky pop prowess. This album is so good I actually took the time to do a rare track-by-track, semi-serious breakdown of the whole thing – read it here. I mean, that truly is a measure of this album’s radness. You know what else helps? Kindness makes really good music videos – there’s music videos for “Gee Up,” “Cyan,” “House,” and “That’s Alright” and they’re all fun, adorable, ironic, oh they’re just fucking rad! And seriously, “House” – song of the year of 2012 for me. You can’t really place Kindness in a standard genre but do know they get my official approval of being quite rad.
Buy World, You Need a Change of Mind // iTunes // Amazon // Female Energy Records
Be Rad. Enjoy.
Rad Video // Kindness – “House”
Kindess just released a new music video for “House” – easily my favorite song off their debut album World, You Need A Change of Mind. It is rad and will undoubtedly put a smile on your face.
Be Rad. Enjoy.
Rad Music // Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind review
Kindness, aka Adam Bainbridge, released a new album today called World, You Need A Change Of Mind and I really like it. I’ve been excited about this release as I completely fell in love with all that Kindness had put out before this debut release (I wrote about “Gee Up” and “Cyan” already). The album didn’t have enough Gee Uped hunky-funk to WOW me, but it’s still a good listen. Here’s my track-by-track break down:
1. “SEOD” – Old song, already heard it, it already got a release, but it’s a good song. Nice intro with silly lyrics about dancing. Can we just stop singing about dancing now? Still a good sounding song. You’ll listen to it more than once.
2. “Swinging Party” – Another old song, actually a cover of a Replacement’s song (which I’ve never heard but all the music critics act like they have cause they’re so in the know). It’s another groovy track that I like.
3. “Anyone Can Fall In Love” – Finally a song I haven’t heard yet! It’s kind of lame and the bass is overwhelming and annoying. I will probably skip this song most of the time. The lyrics are kind of cute.
4. “Gee Wiz” – Another new song! Yay! Nothing about this song really stands out. It has a kind of new age ambient sound that’s slowing growing on me.
5. “Gee Up” – Old song, new production! Killer song that peaked my interest in Kindess and will always be my favorite. So short though. Shucks.
6. “House” – New song and probably the best one of the album. The piano, the darkness, the bass (it’s not overwhelming on this track) – they all come together to make for amazing song that catches you off guard. This song will penetrate you. Good good stuff.
7. “That’s Alright” – This song sounds like what certain hipsters look like, and it’s good and fun. Listen to this song and feel the sexy sax!
8. “Cyan” – Old song, old production, still good and worth the listen.
9. “Bombastic” – The song opens up sounding like a cheap attempt at a jazz and/or lounge song, then it get’s all Serge Gainbourg. Skip/listen ratio of 1 to 1.
10. “Doingsong” – Funky song along the same lines of “Gee Up.” I wish the whole album was like this – it’s really what this guy excels at. Good track.
So what’s the verdict? Good or bad album? I’ll say good – it has its rad moments, which are unique and original, and listening to the whole thing is actually an enjoyable experience.
40% of the album is old material, granted 50% of that 40% got a new production polish that may or may not have been needed – they should have redone ALL the old songs. Of the remaining 6 tracks, 3 of them are stellar while the other 3 are just meh – but when I say meh, I don’t mean bad, just meh in the sense that I haven’t gotten used to them yet.
All in all, the album is funky, rad, and a good listen! Kindness totally created a new genre with this album – it’s called hunky-funk.
Buy World, You Need A Change of Mind here.
Be Rad. Enjoy.
Rad Music // Kindness
Adam Bainbridge is Kindness. He’s hunky, funky, and, like, kind of a big deal. Making his way onto my radar with the video for “Gee Up” (video below), I watched the video a couple times and was hooked. Prompted to find more, I found “Cyan” (video below) and some other songs and have since been seduced by Kindness’ good looks and good vibes alike. Feel the funk and listen to Kindness.
Kindness drops his full length LP, World, You Need A Change Of Mind next month on March 19.
Be Rad. Enjoy.
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