LIARS- WIXIW

Liars take their creepy atmosphere and redo it, with WIXIW. While they did this slightly better with Sisterworld, the new album still has plenty of great moments where the group continues to show it’s talents. But the biggest issue with this album is how much the sounds on this album sound like they’ve all been done before, specifically Radiohead. Radiohead’s music has always been an inspiration for Liars, but it all seem too apparent on WIXIW, with an album that sounds quite a bit like King of Limbs at times. While none of this is really a bad thing, this album isn’t going to offer much to people familiar with Radiohead’s work.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10.

USHER- LOOKING 4 MYSELF

Usher hasn’t gotten much attention for his music in several years, and I had my hopes up after hearing the fantastic single from this album, “Climax“. And while that Diplo produced track is still one of the best songs I’ve heard this year, the rest of Looking 4 Myself is a very typical R&B album with bits of dubstep and techno mixed in. There’s a decent rap track with “Lemme See” with Rick Ross guesting. While the sexually charged “Climax” worked with’s lyrics, all the other that deal with sex (most of them) sound stupid and gross. Usher doesn’t even give that much in the vocal department and the opening track ruins Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time”.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10.