Written by Louis Pelingen Ever since its creation, Careless Music Manila has been in a state of constant growth as it became independent in 2019, allowing the signed artists creative freedom when it comes to their visual and musical aesthetics. While the last two years have restricted these artists to tour around the world, it did allow them to focus on their musical projects that will push their careers through the door even more. This year, one of the artists in that label has put out their debut record and that is ‘Lahi’ by Massiah. To put it simply, it is a breezy and tropical record that centers on Massiah’s half-Filipino, half-Ghanaian heritage as well as his success in recent years. While it showcases Massiah’s talent and skill on the door, it doesn’t exactly showcase what makes him stand out. But before I discuss my personal nitpicks on this record, I would love to point out the positive aspects of this record. For one, the production is consistent for the entire runtime as afrobeat and trap beats are weaved throughout, supported only by chilly synth tones, chiming piano textures, and enough low-end presence that acts as a solid groove foundation for a lot of the tracks. And for how tropical this album is, it does make sense that Massiah tries to be loose and chill with his vocals to convey different tensions on most of the songs. And when the production and melodies are at their polished results, we get songs like ‘Frequency’ with its magnetic melodies and charming performance from Massiah and ‘Stay With Me’ thanks to the woozy synths and synth horns, low-key vocals that are elevated with multitracking and backing vocals that are nested at the best timing. However, there are multiple pushbacks in the production that don’t work well. While I loved ‘Paid for It’ due to the Spanish guitar chords playing amidst the trap rattles, the vocal mixing gets haphazard as it shifts to the back of the mix quite often and is not helped by the bass that swamps Messiah out of the picture. ‘Island City’ is also a mixed bag as well as it provides an interesting drill-esque beat that is coming from the sputtering trap drums and low-end presence, but it gets odd as the track suddenly transitions in slowed and pitched down effects which only makes the back half of the song to end in a jarring way. The production on the other tracks are mostly fine, ‘Higher’ with its hypnotic synth presence amidst solid trap and low-end grooves, the stable tropical afrobeat presence on ‘High off Life’, ‘First Time’, and ‘Tourist Chick’ with the latter having some horn accompaniments, and the sparse synths and bass presence on ‘Silhouette’. While some tracks could’ve used more of the guitar and brass instruments utilized in the album, I think my biggest issue here is the writing, the melodies and flows, and some missed opportunities that Massiah could’ve done in the record. While Massiah is a solid enough performer that showcases different sides in his vocal range, there are tendencies where he wears some influences on his sleeves when he raps and sings, especially from the likes of Amine, Drake, and Ty Dolla $ign. It’s also a missed opportunity for Massiah to have more interplay with his guest features especially when he is trying to different things in the record. He could at least try to play off with Because on ‘Island City’ and provide vocal harmonies with Fern. Official and Cavill on ‘Silhouette’. And while there is some vocal interplay in ‘High off Life’, there could’ve more opportunities for interesting vocal dynamics in the song. When it comes to the writing, I do get and understand the thematics of success and fleeting love that is in the record, but Massiah could’ve done more here. While the flexing is not really in the record, the constant mentions of the hustle and hard work just got stale and Massiah could’ve branched out in this topic, possibly towards introspection and how that success really means for him and those that he truly cares about. And then there are the love songs, which felt a bit flirty on the first track only to derail into unappealing tangents in the next couple of tracks. Massiah tried to sell that loose tropical vibe in the writing and production with his vocals, but it still doesn’t compensate for the bland and uninteresting songwriting and the melodies that can be stiff and derivative. Massiah’s brand of tropical afrobeat is fine and dandy, but treating this as a victory lap on his debut album may demand some folks more attention on what else he can do next after that hustle. Personally, it is a flawed record, especially with the influences wearing on Massiah’s sleeves, the production that stumbles on certain songs, and the writing that just doesn’t showcase his unique flair and ends up being one-dimensional as a result of it. While I applaud him for reaching that success and celebrating it on this record, I’m going to pay close attention to what else he can do in his future releases. Because now that he has showcased his victory lap, he will need to do more than just hustle bragging to sustain that audience. Support the art & the artist:
Tag: Louis Pelingen
EP REVIEW: Chimera Mix – My Pet Rat
Written by Louis Pelingen Sometimes, musicians can get very productive, which can result in them putting out multiple records or EPs that contain distinct or experimental ideas, both in the production and composition side. This gets frequent in the modern underground scene, where their work ethic, lack of label presence, or even just having an ear for creating melodic structures out of the gate allows them to put out music in a ballistic state of mind. In these cases, it is interesting to see how their musical output remains consistent across the board and how their growth keeps sustaining with every record they put out, especially with that kind of musical force they belt out. Introducing Chimera Mix, the musical side project of 17-year old Patorikku who hails from Paranaque, who also goes under the YouTube channel moniker under the Patorikku name that focuses on eerie creepypasta-esque videos dipped with a VHS aesthetic that’s pretty much the trend these days. His musical output under Chimera Mix is downright impressive, to say the least. While it does encounter the issue of being bloated, the fact that he has 9 records under his belt blitzing through indie rock, psychedelic pop, hypnagogic pop, and even hard rock with creative melodic and instrumental tendencies he can pull out in thin air is just remarkable. And on this EP that was released last month, Chimera Mix wastes no time concocting 4 tracks that dabble in his usual hypnagogic and psychedelic pop weirdness which ends up being a fascinating peak in his career so far. ‘Prelude’ introduces the listener to soothing atmospherics that breaks down with these hypnotizing synth, drum, and guitar melodies just before it slows down and eventually concludes into these relaxing vocal harmonies. ‘My Pet Rat’ is a jaunty cut that contrasts the downbeat lyrics of the protagonist’s guilt of his dead rat as the instrumentation shuffles and progresses into a pure frenzy, especially the piano work and the brass instrument thrown into the chaos. ‘Tommy’ provides similar melodic and vocal zaniness as the last track paired with existential, dark lyrics and some Beatles worship in the mix coming from the guitar solo and the piano work. It ends off with ‘215 – 300 Version’, a song that was in his 2019 record, Pliocene. It retains the original dream-like aesthetic from that record with the fleeting synthesizers that develop even further, paired with a surreal and bleak lyricism that ends the EP on a mysterious note thematically, but on a satisfying note musically. While Chimera Mix has afforded to create fascinating melodic and instrumental twists and turns in his past records, ‘My Pet Rat’ EP has shown his musicianship at a state of refinement that continues to impress me, even with the creative strides that he has showcased on his past albums. He’s a trickster with dozens of tricks up his sleeves. And with this EP, he’s someone you might want to pay attention to in the future, for you’ll never know what kinds of exciting magic he’ll put out next. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: SHNTI – Fuck it (im in love again)
Written by Louis Pelingen Even if this year’s Valentine’s day has passed, LIAB Studios‘ SHNTI shows that the declaration of love isn’t limited to that date. Like goodie goodie, this is a reworked version of the same song that was put out on her SoundCloud page a year ago. SHNTI described this as a new era for her music, which I do agree with. This reworked version shows the mixing of the keys and the vocals balanced out as there are now inclusions of bass and violins besides the glossy keys and simple drum beat to add to the melodic foundation and charming feel to the song in courtesy of Calix’s contribution as a producer. SHNTI’s rapping and singing have improved ever since, showing more control, confidence, and charisma that makes her musings of newfound love feel charming and believable. And unlike the Soundcloud version of the song, this version really goes all out with the strings, bass, harmonized vocals, and handclaps that conclude the song where that love becomes more blissful and exciting to grasp. While my nitpick would be the chorus that could’ve been developed a bit further, that’s just minor. It’s a simple, quaint love song that SHNTI breezes through with enough expressive charisma paired with balanced and necessary production choices from Calix that make it so damn charming and blissful. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: dia maté – FANTASY
Written by Louis Pelingen Island Records Philippines‘ Dia Mate lets you into her musings on her newest song, “Fantasy”. Her voice shows her passion and her struggle as she trudges through a relationship that she wants to keep alive despite the vulnerability that is shown in the lyrics. The sparse beats, hazy effects, and somber guitar licks help set the tone of this slow-moving ballad. It’s a song that presents her fantasy towards the relationship that she wants to keep alive, but it’s not exactly fully realized. It can be alluring for the most part, but that fantasy can get smothered as the percussion and hazy effects cover up the gentle guitar passages that provide an intimate layer to the overall tone of the song. The gorgeous pre-chorus transition to a simple yet brittle chorus makes Dia Mate’s yearning sentiments sound slap-dashed and a bit sloppy as a result. But still, Dia Mate carries through the song with her impassioned vocals and lyricism. It’s the production and melodic slip-ups that pull back her fantasy from resonating ever stronger. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Travelator – THE SINS OF YOUR CHILDREN
Written by Louis Pelingen In terms of creating an instrumental album centered towards a mood or a concept, the artist has to start thinking outside the box when creating tunes and textures especially if the said concept is a complex one, or at the very least, requires more thought into making it translate to the music effectively. Introducing: Travelator. Travelator is a solo project by Conrad Javier that essentially creates a musical backdrop to the chaotic swirls that have been a push-pull situation in the cities in the Philippines. His previous releases such as ‘Reset’ and ‘Travelator 2’ showcased Conrad’s skillset as a bassist, guitarist, and beatmaker with loopy grooves and cool textures making for a relaxed, but oddly tense listen. This was also the year where he released his debut album, ‘The Sins Of Your Children’. At first, given the album art, the album’s title, and the names in the tracklist, it may seem that Travelator is going somewhere with his concept. Possibly adding more interesting samples and textures to the mix to make the hypnotic, scorching mood of his past EPs feel more intensified and allow the melodies to slip into your mind with a bit of variety and clarity. After a dozen listens on this album, I was in an odd state with this project. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of samples that would really help emphasize the socio-political concept of this album even clearer, but on the other hand, I get why Travelator didn’t include more of them as the downtempo leaning tracks create more of a sifting, meditative backdrop against situations and figures that are creating much of the chaos in the Philippines. This record also reminds me slightly of Boards of Canada, and especially a vaporwave-tinged downtempo album from last year, NYSE’s Millennialism. On the surface, this album plays in a cohesive structure as the prominent presence of pulsating percussion, squelching and simmering synthesizers, somber and distorted guitars, and quaking bass all throughout the album, playing in tempos and textures that gallop on one side and submerge on the other. When the tracks hit hard, they really do stand out. I love the stomping and whirling atmosphere that comes on ‘Loveable Lies’, same goes for tracks like ‘A Bit of Flavor’ with the chiming synths and airy synth bass that is accompanied with distorted guitar at the end, and ‘The Sins of Your Children’ brings a steady beat and multiple synthesizers that provides layered melodies on top of that steady drum beat. I did like some of the meditative tracks on the record, like ‘Warlords’ that starts the record off with a calming charm coming off from the looping drums, guitar, and even trumpets, and the closer ‘The Gods That Hate You’ which brings in soothing guitar and varied synth textures on top of the steady percussion. However, when you take a closer look, the album starts to show its flaws as the inconsistent mixing, odd synth tones, and lack of rhythmic and melodic variance pokes through. I wasn’t crazy about the mixing on ‘Wasabi’ which kills off those punchy drum loops, kills an otherwise wonderful trudging atmosphere on ‘Walking on Mud’, and kills off what should be an explosive breakdown on ‘Victorious’. Some of the synth tones used on some of these songs like ‘State Beyond Sleep’, ‘Grace, Kindness, and Death’, and ‘An Abundance of Caution’ could’ve been modified at spots as they don’t exactly blend well and they do stick out like a sore thumb. And most importantly, while I do appreciate the consistent mid to low tempos peppered on this record to ensure the meditative feel of these songs, there could’ve been instances where the tempos ramp up for a few seconds to provide these songs some urgency, provide more melodic presence from the guitar when it was used not as frequent and sometimes mixed too low, and slip in more sampling cuts that would allow for variance from song to song. At the end of the day, I do understand and respect what Travelator is approaching in this record. It’s a contemplative respite from the whirling and somber aspects of the city life in the Philippines, especially when the album cover and track titles lean towards the socio-political aspects this time around. The vibe coming from these songs may be there, but it’s held back by mixing, synth tones, and lack of rhythmic variance that don’t make the tracks standout even more. It may hit the concept and feel that Travelator aims for, but it doesn’t snap consistently. Support the art & the artist: