Wiz Khalifa / Future – ‘Pussy Overrated’

Chal Ravens: Real-time reporting from the frontlines of WTF. Naturellement, in the unreal reality of A-list hip-hop, pain and betrayal can be swiftly storyboarded and stage-managed into a fresh commercial edge. Paging Ciara, Amber and Mariah – there is a revenge record begging to be written here, and I for one would spend 79p on it. (1)

Alex Macpherson: All that purple prose about Future being a sensitive space-age romantic seems a bit hollow now, huh? Never trust men who go out of their way to make “sensitivity” their selling point. (Similarly, the realest song off Ciara’s last album was always ‘I’m Out’, not ‘Body Party’.) This is both repellent (for obvious reasons: if you can’t see why, have several words with yourself) and weak (it lands no blows but just reels off the kind of clichés favoured by MRA virgins). There are plenty of decent Mike Will beats in circulation already, should you crave a decent Mike Will beat. I’m ready for Ciara and Amber Rose – aided, no doubt, by Nicki Minaj – to sharpen their knives and kill all men. (1)

Chris Kelly: Irony of ironies: a perpetually middle-of-the-road rapper like Wiz Khalifa deeming anything — let alone (Amber Rose’s) pussy — overrated. Future does himself no favors by being the hook-man on this one — we know what you did to Ciara! (1)

Joe Muggs: Oh that beat is LUSH, but fuck these spoilt manchildren. Also, Future’s vocal schtick is suffering law of diminishing returns to an extraordinary degree at this stage, right? (3)

1.5

Jam City – ‘Unhappy’

Joe Muggs: High-end neo trip hop that sounds like it’s for rich people to take interesting drugs to while (ironically, given the title) not displaying anything in the way of human emotion. Which is quite seductive and all, but y’know… (6)

Angus Finlayson: Well. I expected many things from the followup to Classical Curves, but a sulky ballad falling somewhere between navel-gazing US bedroom pop and the Kinsella brothers wasn’t one of them. These are not unworthy reference points, but it’s not entirely clear what Jam City has to add to them. (6)

Chal Ravens: As this is an actual “song” with singing and hooks and melodies that repeat and so on, it’s easy to think of several existing artists to compare it with (Jai Paul and Connan Mockasin at one end, a heap of chillwave chancers at the other), and while on the face of it that seems like a regression for a Night Slugs artist, let alone the guy behind one of the most influential albums of the past five years, this is in truth well executed and full of chewy personality. So colour me surprised!!!! (7)

Chris Kelly: I wouldn’t want or expect Classical Curves 2.0, but why does this sound like Jai Paul and Blood Orange? Surely Jam City was being taken seriously enough without having to go the nostalgic singer-songwriter route. (4)

Alex Macpherson: Five years ago, when Night Slugs were everything I wanted in a dance label, I obsessed over a couple of early Jam City demos, one of which became ‘Arpjam’ and another of which, ‘In The Park’, remains unreleased. I’m still not sure whether the fact that everything the label has released for several years now has left me cold is because I’ve changed or they have. ‘Unhappy’ doesn’t change the pattern, but unlike Classical Curves – a forbidding edifice that I couldn’t find a way into – there are more prosaic reasons for my dislike: mumbling vocals and, strangely given its themes, a lack of real intensity of feeling. It’s grey drizzle and there’s more than enough of that around already. (4)

5.4

Murlo – ‘Vertigo’

Alex Macpherson: Murlo’s DJ sets are so full of rambunctious, head-spinning, body-moving energy that to hear something that just putters around “interestingly” can only be a disappointment. And that awkward stop-start rhythm that’s beset underground dance for years now needs to die swiftly, I can’t dance to it. (5)

Angus Finlayson: For me, Murlo’s at his best when he lassos a killer melody and rides it into the ground. ‘Vertigo’ is craftier than that maybe – certainly in the array of rhythms it lures into its orbit – but it lacks that all-important earworm. (6)

Chal Ravens: Love that wooshing trance build subtly going about its business in the background. Murlo’s going to get an easy ride in Singles Club so I don’t feel the need to big this up anymore that it already does for itself. Solid tune off a solid EP. (7)

Chris Kelly: Murlo has the lushest, warmest synths in the game, and while this doesn’t try anything new… if it ain’t broke, why fix it? (7)

Joe Muggs: Bassline house is still amazing, and this is amazing. The danger is always there with this new generation grime type stuff of gentrified production values taking over (which doesn’t mean BETTER production values: just a different set of codes), but this is fantastically bare and un-fancified, really rooted in proper soundsystem values. Strong, very strong indeed. (8)

6.6

David Bowie – ‘Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)’

Angus Finlayson: Big band dramaturgy is not on my critical radar at all but this is sick. (8)

Chal Ravens: “I love you Daviiieed!” I cried, choking back snotty tears as I realised there must be a parallel universe in which a more civilised Earth had elected Ziggy Stardust its supreme leader. ‘Sue’ is unfeasibly good for a man in the fifth decade of his career. (9)

Joe Muggs: He’s just categorically out-Scott Walkered Scott Walker! (7)

Alex Macpherson: Hearing that raggedy croak of a voice over limp dilettante jazz, smugly safe in a critical bubble where he can indulge himself in whatever he feels with scant regard to whether it’s any fucking use or not, makes me want to raze the rock establishment to the ground. There should be no such thing, anyway. (0)

Chris Kelly: More memorable than anything on The Next Day but it’s tough to get excited for 7-minute jazz experiments, no matter how noir. (6)

6

Bonobo – ‘Flashlight’

Alex Macpherson: The kind of electronic beats that BBC 6music would play, the kind of stuff you’d always put on as a compromise because no one minds it, the same as ever. There are bigger battles to care about. (6)

Chal Ravens: It’s easy to be sniffy about Boringbo but there are plenty of scenarios in which I’d be delighted to chillax to his vibey vibes. Say if Mary Anne Hobbs played this on her Sunday morning show, I’d be down with it, or like in the car with people you don’t know all that well or who have really different taste in music. I would though! (5)

Chris Kelly: Well produced, meticulously constructed, and — like most Bonobo — forgettable H&M house. (4)

Angus Finlayson: Like much of Bonobo’s output, this has “pension scheme” written all over it. (3)

Joe Muggs: I really rather liked The Northern Borders – Bonobo’s definitely continued to keep changing and stretching his horizons well beyond the millennial triphop-chillout zone that he started in. This isn’t grabbing me, though, it feels like mid-album filler (quite possibly on a Caribou album), not a standout. Nice: just nice. (5)

4.6

Skepta/Young Lord ‘It Ain’t Safe’

Alex Macpherson: If ‘That’s Not Me’ was the sound of Skepta time-travelling back to grime’s heyday to rediscover his magic touch, ‘It Ain’t Safe’ is the rebound of a revitalised MC back into the present day. The A$AP Mob are a natural fit – not in the sense of a contrived UK/US alliance, but in that they’re blank canvases who provide a yawning backdrop for Skepta’s prowling and menacing. Young Lord’s hook is circling and slightly disembodied, sinister like an automated loudspeaker warning, but Skepta’s the one enforcing it. (8)

Angus Finlayson: Something almost quaint about this. (6)

Chal Ravens: Interesting promotional material for the Red Bull Culture Clash, OH HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ABOUT IT? I’ve seen a few posters around. So there’s a linguistics essay in here somewhere about US hip hop as an export, rapping in a London accent, grime, clipped vowels, etc; but sadly this isn’t the space for it. Cute novelty number! (5)

Chris Kelly: It is very strange to hear a grime MC doing a Triple 6 tribute, but it’s a good reminder that these A$AP backbenchers bring nothing to the table. Points for “crack residue in the buttons on my phone.” (7)

Joe Muggs: Some fairly basic rap-boast hype over an absolutely tremendous simple beat and bass, with just enough grime in those strings and bass tone, adds up to something quite ugly but very addictive. (7)

6.6

Final scores:

Murlo – ‘Vertigo’ (6.6)
Skepta/Young Lord ‘It Ain’t Safe’ (6.6)
David Bowie – ‘Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)’ (6)
Jam City – ‘Unhappy’ (5.4)
Bonobo – ‘Flashlight’ (4.6)
Wiz Khalifa / Future – ‘Pussy Overrated’ (1.5)